Aid workers in Ukraine have warned that the flooding of the Dnieper River after the destruction on the Nova Kakhovka Dam has dislodged thousands of landmines, which have now been dispersed with the mud into urban neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Ukraine accused the Russians of shelling civilians who were being evacuated from Kherson after the flooding.
In other news, Donald Trump announced that he has been indicted by the Department of Justice on seven counts, and will have to appear in a federal courtroom in Miami next week.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, JW, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed Wednesday that Americans are experiencing soaring costs for food because of “poor weather” and bird flu, and also claimed that illegal immigration is down 70 percent.
Americans have seen food prices soar by up to 12 percent on average since last year due to massive inflation, yet the Biden Administration wants you to believe its really because of “supply chain bottlenecks,” “avian flu,” “war in Ukraine,” and “poor weather,” basically anything other than their disastrous economic record.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The eastern Sydney-based RBA boss has sparked further outrage by suggesting Aussies can return to a positive cash flow position by cutting back on their spending habits.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australians have called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take some responsibility for domestic issues like the cost of living crisis after Vietnam was handed $105million to tackle climate change.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Heavy smoke enveloped Washington DC on Thursday as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCG) issued a “Code Purple” meaning the air is unhealthy for all people.
The Nationals baseball game was postponed, the National Zoo closed for the day and schools have moved recess indoors as smoke from Canada’s devastating wildfires moves south.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Americans are now identifying as socially and economically conservative than at any point in more than a decade, a new Gallup poll has found.
According to the poll, 38% of Americans say they are conservative on social issues, up from 33% last year and 30% in 2021. That is the highest percentage since 2012, when the same number of Americans identified as such.
Americans identifying as liberal dropped significantly, falling to 29% from 34% in both 2022 and 2021. Those identifying as moderate made up 31% of survey participants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Asian-American Student With 1590 SAT Score Rejected by 6 Elite Colleges, Blames Affirmative Action
For now, Students for Fair Admissions has but one goal in mind: to bring race-based college admissions to an end.
The affirmative action practice that has allegedly sidelined high-achieving Asian Americans now sits before the U.S. Supreme Court, awaiting a decision that, depending on the outcome, could alter the review process for college applications for the foreseeable future.
Its fate could also weigh heavily on the academic futures of people like 18-year-old Jon Wang, a Florida native who scored a 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT, with a perfect score on the math section. Combined with a 4.65 high school GPA, most would see him as a shoo-in for any elite university.
Somehow, the numbers still weren’t high enough.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Blackburn, Blumenthal Accuse TikTok of Misleading Congress on Handling of US Users’ Data
Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn are suggesting TikTok’s CEO provided false testimony at a recent congressional hearing about how the China-based app stores the personal data of U.S. customers and are urging him to be more forthcoming.
Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, and Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, raised their concern to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in a letter Tuesday in which they also wanted to know about the Chinese Communist Party’s access such data — stored by the apps parent company, ByteDance.
The senators’ concerns about potentially false testimony follows a Forbes report that concluded TikTok has stored on servers in China such personal information about U.S. users as their tax ID and driver’s license and social security numbers and that company employees have access to the data.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Cheese Pizza? Meta’s Instagram Facilitated Massive Pedophile Network
A comprehensive investigation by the Wall Street Journal and the Stanford Internet Observatory reveals that Meta-owned Instagram has been home to an organized and massive network of pedophiles.
But what separates this case from most is that Instagram’s own algorithms were promoting pedophile content to other pedophiles, while the pedos themselves used coded emojis, such as a picture of a map, or a slice of cheese pizza.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Detroit Clerk to Stand Trial for Locking Door Before Shoplifter Shot Customers
A judge on Tuesday ordered a Detroit gas station clerk to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter, saying his decision to lock the door and then taunt an angry customer contributed to the fatal shooting of a bystander.
Al-Hassan Aiyash “continued to pour gasoline on the fire,” said Judge Kenneth King, who found enough evidence to move the case to trial.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DHS Sought to Assign Social Credit Style “Risk Scores” to Social Media Users
In a sharp spotlight on the interplay between national security and individual privacy, newly disclosed documents have unveiled that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entered into a contract with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2018 to develop a project, dubbed “Night Fury,” designed to analyze and assign “risk scores” to social media accounts.
The Brennan Center for Justice procured these documents through a public records request, and Motherboard was the first to report on them. Project Night Fury aimed at utilizing automation to detect and evaluate social media accounts for connections to terrorism, illegal opioid distribution, but also disinformation campaigns.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Gets Digital Bill of Rights to Protect Online Privacy
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed Florida’s new data privacy law, making the sunshine state to be the 10th state to have such a law.
Like other privacy laws in other states, Florida’s law protects users’ rights, including the right to know what data is being collected and the right to get certain data deleted. It allows users to opt out of the collection of personal data via voice recognition. The law also defines geolocation information and biometric data as personal information.
The law also bans the collection of data of minors by banning services, products, and games from processing, collecting, retaining, sharing, or selling “any personal information that is not necessary to provide an online service, product, or feature.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Half of Americans Oppose Affirmative Action Ahead of Likely SCOTUS Decisions: Poll
Half of U.S. adults oppose institutions of higher education considering the racial backgrounds of applicants when admitting students, a recent survey shows.
Fifty percent of respondents to a Pew Research Center survey indicated opposition to the practice, though that sentiment varies dramatically by race and political affiliation. A further 33% supported affirmative action while 16% remained unsure.
Fifty-seven percent of white respondents and 52% of Asian respondents opposed affirmative action while 39% of Hispanics and 29% of black Americans did so.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Hazardous Air’ From Canadian Wildfire Cancels Broadway, ‘Hamilton, ‘ Hollywood Strike
The poor air quality in places like New York due to the ongoing Canadian wildfires has forced the cancelation of top Broadway musicals like Hamilton and the Hollywood writers strike.
The haze and smog have created a thick blanket over the New York City area and caused several Broadway and Off Broadway productions to shut down just days before the Tony Awards. Both Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton and the Lincoln Center’s revival of Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot have both been canceled due to poor air quality.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
— but ex-ambassador bemoans lack of ‘warmth’ between them and poll finds Brits believe US president prefers the EU
Rishi Sunak will meet the US president in the Oval Office on his first visit to Washington as PM, with economic issues and Ukraine high on the agenda.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Marjorie Taylor Greene Reveals Contents of Biden Bribery Doc
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Thursday revealed the contents of a document detailing an alleged bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden.
After weeks of resistance, the FBI finally permitted the members of the House Oversight Committee to view the form FD-1023 which includes allegations from a confidential human source detailing the alleged pay-to-play scheme.
At issue is Ukrainian oil company Burisma, which was facing an investigation from Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin in 2016. The company hired Hunter Biden to “make the problems go away,” Greene said. “That’s what they specifically said.”
“[Burisma’s owner] also said that he paid $5 million to one Biden and he paid $5 million to another Biden,” Greene continued. “And it was all a bribery to get Shokin fired and end the investigation into Burisma.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Montana AG Sues National Association of Attorneys General for Investing Public Funds in ESG
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the National Association of Attorneys General alleging that the organization invested state funds in environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives.
ESG investing involves the use of investor funds by an asset manager to influence the adoption of such practices by the firms in which they invest. Critics of ESG investing contend it may constitute a breach of a firm’s fiduciary duty to investors in that it does not seek to maximize their returns.
The NAAG is a custodian of the state’s public funds and has confirmed that Montana money is included in “special purpose funds” for the public benefit. Knudsen previously threatened to sue the NAAG in February over its management of state funds, which he contended may have violated state law.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The latest Twitter Files uncovered the FBI requesting the social media company to censor accounts accused of spreading misinromation about the Ukraine-Russia war and collect their personal information.
A special agent from the FBI reached out to Twitter with a list of accounts according to The Grayzone News host Aaron Maté, who reported on the latest Twitter Files.
“The FBI is helping Ukraine censor Twitter users, including journalists,” Maté reported. “The FBI aided a Ukrainian intelligence effort to ban Twitter users and collect their data. Twitter declined to censor journalists targeted by Ukraine.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York Dems Want to Free ‘Son of Sam,’ All Serial Killers
by Daniel Greenfield
Last year, California’s Gov. Newsom announced that he was dismantling Death Row, providing relief to monsters like the “Grim Sleeper” serial killer who killed nine women, the “Yosemite Killer,” and Charles Ng, who raped, tortured, and killed unknown numbers of women.
New York Democrats have decided to go one better by offering parole to serial killers.
The campaign, promoted by celebrities like Common and John Legend, could set the worst monsters in prison loose on a city and state already drowning in crime.
Senate Bill S2423, known to its backers as Elder Parole, eliminates life sentences by offering parole to all prisoners regardless of how horrific their crimes may have been.
Any murderer, rapist, or pedophile over the age of 55, who spent at least 15 years in prison, will be automatically eligible for parole under a pro-crime bill that has 33 state senate co-sponsors.
Potential parolees could include the “Son of Sam” serial killer, mass shooter Colin “Black Rage” Ferguson, and Richard “Angel of Death” Angelo, a nurse who poisoned dozens of patients. Even if these monsters aren’t paroled immediately, numberless other killers, rapists and pedophiles will be set loose…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Plainclothes Cops at Capitol During Jan. 6 Riot, One on Video Exhorting Crowd, Key Lawmaker Says
The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. has confirmed to Congress that it had plainclothes officers at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot and that at least one was captured on video exhorting the crowd, a key House investigator told Just the News.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., the chairman of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, said in wide-ranging interview Wednesday night that MPD body cam video that leaked onto the video platform Rumble is authentic and confirms that officers in plainclothes were at the riot.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Lawmakers Fume Over Trump Indictment, Accuse Biden Admin of Political Motivations
Republican lawmakers on Thursday raged against the Biden administration following former President Donald Trump’s announcement that he had been indicted and ordered to report to the Miami federal courthouse network to face charges.
The case appears to stem from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation and to involve Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified materials. FBI agents raided Trump’s estate in August of last year seeking classified documents he may have taken from the White House. Prior to the raid, Trump voluntarily cooperated with a grand jury subpoena and surrendered some documents. He has maintained his innocence and insisted that, as president, he enjoyed sweeping powers to declassify documents, including those in his possession at his Florida estate.
Vance acknowledged that argument in a Thursday tweet lamenting the development, saying “[t]he former president will be indicted for ‘mishandling’ his own government’s classified info.”
“Yet everyone agrees the president has the authority to declassify anything. This is a moral and constitutional joke. Merrick Garland has disgraced this country,” he continued. “Biden is attacking his most likely 2024 opponent. He’s using the justice system to preemptively steal the 2024 election. This is what’s happening, plain and simple.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rural Oregon Movement to Join ‘Greater Idaho’ Gains Traction With Vote in 12th County
Wallowa County became the 12th Oregon county to join the “Greater Idaho” movement when special election results on the measure were finalized Tuesday.
The vote originally took place in May, with preliminary results showing support for the effort leading by only 21 votes. After all votes were finalized in June, the lead shrunk to only seven votes, narrowly avoiding the state requirement for a recount.
The “Greater Idaho” effort originally began in 2020 as an idea for large swaths of rural eastern Oregon to secede and join the more conservative Idaho to get away from the western, progressive part of the state.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Seattle City Council is taking heat from residents after it rejected a bill that would have allowed the city attorney to prosecute public drug use and possession.
Seattle radio host Jason Rantz is among many of The Emerald City’s residents lambasting the city council’s unwillingness to crack down on recreational drug use as addiction and homelessness epidemics sweep the area.
“My position on this is actually the position of Seattleites, which is about 70% of the folks here,” Rantz said Thursday on “Fox & Friends First.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Supreme Court Strikes Down Alabama Congressional Map
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against Alabama Thursday in a case considering whether its congressional district map diluted the influence of black voters.
The majority upheld a lower court decision that found the map violated the Voting Rights Act, requiring the Republican-drawn congressional map to be redrawn. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by Justices Brett Kavanaugh and the three liberal justices.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Third Circuit Appeals Court Rules Federal Ban on Former Felons Owning Guns is Unconstitutional
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down a ruling on Tuesday in favor of Second Amendment rights of ex-felons. The issue in question was the “felon-in-possession” law, which currently disallows ex-felons from possessing firearms. Jonathan Turley mentioned that the recent decision is sure to set up a “Supreme Court showdown over the Second Amendment.”
As it stands, the federal law does not allow any person who “has been convicted in any court, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” to “possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition.” In the recent case, Bryan David Range pleaded guilty in the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County of making false statements in an effort to acquire food stamps.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Says the DOJ Has Indicted Him in ‘Dark Day’ for the Country
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the Department of Justice has indicted him and that he must appear at a Miami courthouse on Tuesday.
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is ‘secured’ by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
CNN has reported that Trump faces seven counts, citing anonymous sources. The DOJ has not made any official announcement as of press time. Just the News has learned that the case will be heard by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who previously granted his request to appoint a special master to review the documents the FBI seized as part of its investigation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Fumes Over DOJ Indictment: ‘Warfare for the Law’
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday raged against news that the Department of Justice had indicted him, calling the move “election interference at the highest level” and contending that the case was merely the latest in a long line of hoaxes designed to derail his political prospects.
Trump announced via Truth Social that the DOJ had ordered him to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday to face arraignment. CNN has reported that he faces seven counts in relation to the case. Trump himself surmised that the charges relate the FBI’s August 2022 raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate and the seizure of materials he had stored there.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Seeks New Trial in E. Jean Carroll Case Over ‘Grossly Excessive’ Damages
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump are seeking a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll case, arguing that the damages awarded to her were “grossly excessive.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Lawyer Says He Witnessed ‘Blatant’ Misconduct From Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Team
On Wednesday, Tim Parlatore, a former attorney for former President Donald Trump, described on CBS prosecutorial misconduct undertaken by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team in the grand jury investigation on whether to indict the former president of mishandling classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
He said in the interview, “I was really stunned by what I saw in the grand jury room by the conduct of the prosecutors. They made many attempts to try to get privileged communications, they would ask me about conversations with my client. They would make improper references to the jury trying to mislead them about that.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tucker Carlson’s Twitter Show Surpasses 100 Million Views for First Episode
The first episode of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s new show on Twitter had more than 100 million views in less than two days since its launch.
Carlson shared his show, “Tucker on Twitter,” Tuesday evening. It consisted of a monologue where Carlson spoke for more than 10 minutes about the media’s coverage of Ukraine and the government’s control of information.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canada Shatters State-Sponsored Suicide Record
Canada reached a new high in the number of assisted suicides last year, registering a 34% increase in people opting to end their lives under the world’s most liberal euthanasia laws in just one year, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday, June 7th. Anti-euthanasia activists blame the “heavy promotion” of assisted suicide for this steep incline.
While Ottawa is expected to publish the official statistics for 2022 next month, based on already available state-level data, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition assessed that MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) cases rose from just over 10,000 in 2021 to around 13,500 in the next year, a 34% increase nationwide.
On the state level, Quebec saw the greatest hike during the period, where assisted suicide cases went up by 51%—meaning that with 7% of all deaths, MAID is now the third most prevalent cause of death in the province after cancer and heart disease—followed by Alberta with 41%, and Ontario with 27%.
The reason assisted suicide rates skyrocketed in recent years is because the “heavy promotion of MAID within [the Canadian] medical system normalized lethal injections,” Alex Schadenberg, the director of the leading international anti-euthanasia advocacy group argued.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Companies Band Together to Advance Digital ID Agenda
In Canada, a number of huge corporations have banded together to back up the efforts to introduce Digital ID.
Throwing their considerable weight behind the idea are Desjardins, Beneva, KPMG, TELUS and Videotron, who have come up with a white paper on digital identity, describing the move toward the scheme as a necessary evolution.
Evolution of what, you may wonder.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
What’s Believed to Have Sparked the Canadian Wildfires
Canadian wildfires are burning out of control and smothering many U.S. cities this week with smoke.
Nature created the perfect storm of conditions a year in the making, turning huge portions of Canada into literal tinderboxes. And as it turns out, lightning likely sparked many of the hundreds of fires burning across Canada.
Lightning ignites 45% of all wildfires, according to Natural Resources Canada.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AfD Party Should be Banned, Argues German Human Rights Group Funded by German Government
The conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) is soaring to record highs in the polls, which has left Germany’s political and media establishment not only scrambling to explain the rise, but also putting forward fresh arguments to ban the party.
The latest broadside comes from the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR), which has labeled the party “dangerous” for democracy. The institute argues that the conditions for banning the AfD are all there in its latest report, with the institute stating that the party is taking “active and planned action to implement its racist and right-wing extremist goals.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brexit Vindicated: EU-Australian Free Trade Talks on the Ropes
A free trade agreement between Australia and the EU looks increasingly in doubt as a disagreement over Australian agricultural products derailed any hope of a quick deal this side of the European elections.
Aussie trade minister Don Farrell left bilateral talks in Brussels frustrated, bemoaning that an agreement between the EU and Australia was likely to be kicked into the long grass due to an unresolved dispute over the import of Australian agricultural products into the European market.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Pension Reform: The Final Debate?
The debate on pension reform in France has taken a final twist. On June 8th, the LIOT group of centrist MPs was due to have an alternative bill examined by MPs, designed to reverse the main provisions of the law imposed by the government a few weeks ago, but the government party has used various constitutional tools to invalidate their approach.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Julian Assange Will Fight UK High Court Decision in Last Legal Option Against Extradition to the US
Australian Julian Assange will fight to overturn a United Kingdom High Court ruling that rejected his appeal against extradition to the United States.
The 51-year-old WikiLeaks founder is wanted in the US for espionage, where he faces 18 charges related to publishing of tens of thousands of military and diplomatic documents.
Mr Assange last year lodged an appeal in the United Kingdom’s High Court after the UK government signed an order authorising his extradition to the US.
The court rejected his appeal in a three-page written decision from Justice Jonathan Swift issued this week.
The latest High Court decision means the WikiLeaks founder is “dangerously close” to being extradited to the US, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Knife Attack at Park in French Alps Critically Wounds 4 Young Children as People Cry for Help
PARIS (AP) — As bystanders screamed for help, a man with a knife stabbed four young children at a lakeside park in the French Alps on Thursday, assaulting at least one in a stroller repeatedly. The children between 22 months and 3 years old suffered life-threatening injuries, and two adults also were wounded, authorities said.
The helplessness of the young victims and the savagery of the attack sickened France.
A suspect, identified by police as a 31-year-old Syrian, was detained in connection with the morning attack in the Alpine and lakeside town of Annecy. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said he had refugee status in Sweden.
Witnesses reported scenes of terror as the man roamed the park, ambushing victims with his blade.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Man in Charge of UK Crackdown on Lockdown Sceptics Now Deputy PM
The man at the helm of Britain’s digital crackdown on lockdown sceptics is now the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, a report claims.
Senior Conservative Party MP Oliver Dowden, who now serves as the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, was the man at the helm of the UK’s crackdown on lockdown critics, reportedly instructing the Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU) to start targeting so-called COVID-19 “disinformation”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rasmussen said Poland would likely be willing to drum up military support for Ukraine among NATO nations should Kyiv be unable to win concrete security guarantees from US and other allies.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Poland’s vital Turów coal mine is once again under threat due to a Warsaw administrative court. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, however, stated that the ruling was “illegal” and that the Polish government will resist attempts to keep the mine closed.
“This is lawlessness and a clear blow to Polish interests,” said Morawiecki. “There is no need to carry out this ruling because a court ruling that does not take into account the interests of Poles but takes into account the interests of foreigners is illegal.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Super-Rich Abandoning Norway at Record Rate as Wealth Tax Rises Slightly
A record number of super-rich Norwegians are abandoning Norway for low-tax countries after the centre-left government increased wealth taxes to 1.1%.
More than 30 Norwegian billionaires and multimillionaires left Norway in 2022, according to research by the newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv. This was more than the total number of super-rich people who left the country during the previous 13 years, it added. Even more super-rich individuals are expected to leave this year because of the increase in wealth tax in November, costing the government tens of millions in lost tax receipts.
Many have moved to Switzerland, where taxes are much lower. They include billionaire fisher turned industrial tycoon Kjell Inge Røkke who moved to the Italian-speaking city of Lugano, just over the border from his favoured hangout Lake Como and the fashion capital Milan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The German Arms Giant Making a Killing in Wartime Europe
As the conflict in Ukraine drags on and nations across Europe take stock of their own defense capabilities, the return of war to the continent appears to be paying the bills for German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall.
“We need to ramp up production,” stated NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to an audience of EU Defense Ministers in March. The Düsseldorf-based defense contractor heeded the call, increasing production across the board from its Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and Leopard 2 battle tanks to its Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers and ammunition.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Deputy Prime Minister Was in Charge of Secretive Unit Monitoring COVID Dissent
The UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, led the Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU), a secretive pandemic-era censorship and surveillance unit. At the time, he was the culture secretary.
The CDU started monitoring Covid-realated “misinformation” and “disinformation” in March 2020. Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that the CDU monitored discussions about criticism of vaccination in children and lockdown policies using various methods including artificial intelligence. The outlet obtained documents showing that the unit monitored content published by Britons, including renown activists and scientists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Just Stop Oil Protester Pinned to Wall as Bystanders Push Group Off Road
A Just Stop Oil protester was pinned to a wall as members of the public pushed the group off the road as they staged a slow march on Pall Mall in London on Thursday, 8 June.
The group has staged marches for the last seven weeks to demand that the government stops “all licences and consents for new oil, gas and coal projects.”
The Metropolitan Police tweeted that the group was issued with a section 12 order to move onto the pavement.
“Ordinary people going about their daily business have a right to be angry but violence is not the answer,” Just Stop Oil told The Independent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police say the conflict has helped fuel a 300 per cent rise in machinery theft in England and Wales in the first quarter of the year.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
US Ambassador Claims Hungarian Government is ‘Strengthening Its Ties With Russia’
U.S. ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, known for his outspoken attacks against Hungary’s conservative government, claimed that Hungary is aligning with Russia.
“Hungary is stubbornly maintaining and even further strengthening its ties with Russia. […] It is wrong to continue to rely on Russia while it tries to decapitate its democratic neighbor Ukraine,” among other things, Pressman said at a reception on Wednesday evening in honor of US-Hungarian scientific cooperation, news portal Telex reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Five Killed in Crime-Related Shooting in Arab-Israeli Suburb
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Five men were killed in one of the deadliest crime-related shootings in Israel’s recent history on Thursday, in a suburb of the northern city of Nazareth, Israeli police said.
“We arrived at the scene with large forces and saw that it was a very difficult scene,” senior medic Ataf Salem from Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said, adding that “five wounded lay unconscious and suffered serious injuries to their bodies.”
The five men were treated and sent in critical condition to hospital, where they later died, medics said.
Israeli police said they had dispatched large forces to the area and were searching for suspects, confirming that the incident was criminal.
Videos on social media showed a car was still blazing after having gone up in flames following the shooting.
Deadly incidents of criminal violence and specifically of gun violence in Arab communities across Israel are well above the national average.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
It Begins: Ukraine Officially Announces Counteroffensive
The Ukrainian armed forces have officially announced the start of a much-anticipated counteroffensive against the Russian armed forces, with sources close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claiming that Ukrainian forces were engaged with Russian forces, according to a report from ABC news.
Heavy fighting has been reported in the region of Zaporizhzhia, which, according to the Washington Post, is likely due to a Ukrainian strategy to cut off Russian forces from the Crimean Peninsula and reduce Russia’s ability to resupply its forces deeper inside Ukraine.
So far it is unclear how much progress Ukrainian forces have made in the initial stages of the counteroffensive, although Ukraine is said to have already deployed Leopard II tanks on the southeastern front, many of which were supplied in recent months by NATO members such as Germany, following demands for more equipment by Ukrainian officials.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NATO States May Send Troops to Ukraine — Ex-Chief
Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen has claimed that some member states could volunteer to send soldiers to Ukraine, if the country is not offered security assurances on a wide range of issues at an upcoming summit.
Rasmussen, who serves as an adviser to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and worked with his predecessor, Pyotr Poroshenko, said Kiev should be given written guarantees before NATO leaders meet in Vilnius, Lithuania next month, including for Western intelligence-sharing, weapons transfers and joint military training.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Predicts Ukrainian Victory in Counterattack, Says Russia is a ‘Paper Tiger’
American oligarch of Hungarian origin George Soros believes Ukraine will win the war, and it will be a “positive shock” for global relations. The billionaire made the predictions in a new column in Project Syndicate, which is partly funded by his own Open Society Foundations.
In the column, Soros borrows a term from U.S. economic historian Adam Tooze, writing of a “polycrisis” in the world and pointing to the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence, climate change and the war in Ukraine.
Regarding Ukraine, the controversial billionaire states that “the actual outcome (of the Ukraine war) is much better than could have been expected. The Ukrainian army put up heroic resistance and, with strong support from the U.S. and Europe, turned things around. The Russian army proved to be a paper tiger, badly led and thoroughly corrupt.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Dam Explosion Has Dislodged Thousands of Landmines, Aid Workers Warn
The explosion of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine has resulted in thousands of undetonated landmines and unexploded ordnances flooding into residential areas from the battlefield, the Red Cross has warned.
More than 40,000 people have already been evacuated from towns and cities surrounding the dam on the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast. However, as crisis teams tackle the flooding, there are questions about how inhabitable the environment will be should residents one day return.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine War: Kyiv Accuses Russia of Shelling Kherson Evacuations
Ukraine has accused Russia of attacking evacuation points for those affected by the Kakhovka dam breach, after a person was killed by shelling in Kherson.
The Kherson prosecutor’s office said two others were also injured, while the interior ministry said eight more were hurt by shelling in Korabelna Square.
The attacks came as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the city, where he met with locals affected by the flooding.
2,000 people have been evacuated from the area, Kherson’s governor says.
Speaking in a video statement posted to Telegram, Oleksandr Prokudin said the “evacuation from zones of flooding is continuing” despite the “immense danger and constant Russian shelling”.
But he said that 68% of the flooded territory in the Kherson region was on Russian-held territory on the east bank of the Dnipro River.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Ivo Dawnay was ‘knocked sideways’ by what he discovered during his trip to Shanghai. ‘Visit it and perhaps you will get a glimpse of the future,’ he writes.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Dominance in AI Would Result in ‘No Freedom, No Representative Government’ Warn Experts
China and the U.S. have been developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems at a rapid pace that has evolved into a race for dominance, but should China surpass the U.S. in its technological capability, experts warn of dire consequences for America.
If China does win an AI race, its actions would impact the U.S. societally, militarily and culturally, putting Americans at their mercy as they shape free speech and power in modern society.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hong Kong Banks Deplatform Pro-Democracy Activists
HSBC, Bank of China, and Hang Seng Bank suspended the accounts of four members of the Hong Kong pro-democracy League of Social Democrats (LSD).
Protesting the move outside of HSBC Hong Kong headquarters, LSD’s chair Chan Po-Ying said the decision by the bank was tarnishing the city’s international financial hub reputation.
“It’s like we’re going back to the stone age,” Chan said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
— as the PM is grilled over Labor’s role: ‘The PM needs to be honest’
The PM, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher have all denied colluding with Ms Higgins to ‘weaponise’ accusations to damage Scott Morrison’s government.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Questions are being asked about the speed of the settlement and the haste of the Labor government to finalise a deal without even hearing from key witnesses.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa Won’t Enforce ICC Putin Warrant — Minister
South Africa will not enforce the International Criminal Court’s warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Thursday.
“The Deputy Chairperson of the Security Council of Russia has indicated that anyone who arrests President Putin will be tantamount to a declaration of war,” Ntshavheni said, referring to a statement by Dmitry Medvedev in March.
At the time, Medvedev declared that if Putin were to be arrested by “say, Germany… all our missiles would fly to the Bundestag, to the Chancellor’s office.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Suspect in Natalee Holloway Case En Route to Face Charges in America
The main suspect in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance reportedly left Peru Thursday for the United States accompanied by several Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents.
Joran van der Sloot is the prime suspect in Holloway’s disappearance, which occurred in 2005 while the young woman from Alabama was on a high school senior trip in Aruba, Fox News reported Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
3-Nation Police Raid Dismantles Romanian People Smuggling Operation
On June 7, officers of the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), in cooperation with German and Serbian police, raided 11 locations and dismantled an international people smuggling ring moving illegal migrants from the Middle East to Germany.
DIICOT said in a press release that “between 2022 and 2023, several persons of Romanian and Turkish nationality, coordinated from outside the country by Turkish and Syrian nationals, set up a cross-border organized criminal group with the aim of committing the crime of smuggling migrants (of Turkish and Iraqi origin) on the route Turkey — Bulgaria/Serbia — Romania — Germany.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The sheriff for Yuma County, Arizona, applauded Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Thursday for visiting the southern border to see firsthand how the crisis has impacted the community.
“He’s spent more time at the border than our border czar,” Sheriff Leon Wilmot told “America’s Newsroom,” referencing Vice President Kamala Harris.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Greens Clash Over EU Migration Pact
EU plans to reform asylum policy have spurred a grassroots revolt among the German Green Party: Splitting from the asylum-friendly party line, some members, including senior officials, signed an open letter denouncing moves to tighten border security. Internal critics have accused party top brass of selling out their principles for their role in a coalition led by the social democrats.
A total of 730 members lent their voices to an open letter objecting to the party implementing a new EU migration pact which ostensibly promises to clamp down on illegal migration. The letter was signed by figures such as Hamburg’s Justice Senator Anna Gallina and former ambassador to Pakistan Martin Kobler, as well as the leader of the party’s youth wing.
The discontent is particularly acute among younger members, as critics say the Green’s compliance with the pact plays into the hands of right-wing populists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Wants 2,000 Migrants Returned to Poland
The German government has requested a total of 1,878 migrants, including those who have “abused the asylum procedure,” be transferred to Poland according to a Twitter post by Straz Graniczna, the border agency of Poland. The agency noted that a total of 2,182 migrants had been transferred to Poland from countries across the European Union so far this year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meloni Meets With Tunisia to Curb Illegal Migration
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held a meeting with interim Tunisian Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh at the Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the Italian PM, just a day after Ms. Meloni travelled to the Tunisian capital on Tuesday, June 6th, to meet with President Kais Saied.
According to a report from the newspaper Il Giornale, the meetings largely focused on several ongoing issues, including illegal immigration in the Central Mediterranean as Tunisia is the primary country used for illegal entry into Europe.
Following her brief visit to Tunisia, Meloni remarked on social media that she was pleased there had been a reduction in illegal arrival numbers in both March and April compared to the prior months and stated that Italy was focused on supporting both stability and democracy in the North African nation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Member States Resist ‘Voluntary’ Obligation of EU Migration Pact
Several EU member states are reluctant to sign off on the bloc’s “voluntary” migrant redistribution scheme, possibly putting the adoption of the entire new Migration Pact on hold, because it would force them to choose between accepting refugees or paying up to €20,000 for each migrant they turn down, Politico reported on Tuesday, June 6th. However, they won’t be able to rely on their veto power to prevent it from being introduced in a few weeks.
Despite all the promises made by various EU institutions, it seems no EU member state will be able to opt out of the bloc’s migrant relocation scheme—also known as the migrant quota system—designed to take the stress off frontline countries that absorb the most serious migratory pressure.
Whatever the outcome of this week’s negotiations, the Commission stated on Tuesday that the decision does not have to be unanimous, meaning that smaller EU countries won’t be able to veto its eventual adoption.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Texas is putting up an inflatable wall in the center of the Rio Grande River to create an additional barrier for migrants attempting to illegally enter the U.S.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced the new measure to help quell the southern border crisis.
The 1,000-foot inflatable barrier will be placed in the middle of the river near Eagle Pass, Texas — a highly popular crossing spot for migrants across from Piedras Negras in the state of Coahuila, Mexico.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rents have surged by more than 30 per cent over the year in parts of inner-city Sydney, and by more than 20 per cent in areas of Melbourne and Brisbane following an immigration surge.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Shock Video: Syrian ‘Refugee’ Stabs Toddlers, Elderly Victims During Rampage in France
A Syrian ‘refugee’ was arrested following a brutal stabbing rampage that left at least six victims seriously injured, including four toddlers, at a playground in France, according to reports.
The shocking incident unfolded at around 9:45 a.m. on Thursday in Annecy, a city in the department of Haute-Savoie.
Authorities were alerted about a man wielding a knife who had attacked children and adults near the Pquier promenade, a beautiful lakeside park in the French Alps.
Videos shot by witnesses have been circulating on social media, although many have already been deleted by Twitter.
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The monster who stabbed toddlers in a playground in France was a legal refugee. The authorities rubber stamped his residency in Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
If net migration into Britain continues at its current rate of 606,000 a year, the U.K. population will surpass 80 million by 2046 and the government will need to build 18 more cities the size of Birmingham just to keep up with the housing demand, a damning new report has revealed.
A briefing paper published on Thursday by Migration Watch UK estimates Britain would need to build between 6 and 8 million new houses before the mid-century.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Militia Group Sued Over Assault at Fort Worth ‘Family Friendly’ Drag Show
A number of Dallas Antifa members belonging to the infamous Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club have been sued for allegedly assaulting three men who were peacefully protesting a “family-friendly” drag brunch at a restaurant in nearby Fort Worth.
The lawsuit, which lists fourteen members as well as the club itself, accuses the far-left extremists of conspiring to inflict, and actually inflicting injury on plaintiffs Joshua Finecy, Anthony Long, and Kyle Randle, all of whom belong to a Catholic fraternity and were expressing their faith-based objection to the drag brunch at the time.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Backlash as Air Force Tweets Image of Solider SALUTING LGBTQ+ Flag
The U.S. Air Force has received backlash after tweeting out an image showing a soldier saluting a LGBTQ+ flag to ‘Celebrate Pride Month’.
The image shows a silhouetted individual throwing up a salute along with the rainbow, black and brown and trans colours and the Air Force seal.
The gender of the individual isn’t clear, but it is clearly a depiction of a uniformed service member.
The caption reads “June is #PrideMonth! The Department of the Air Force proudly recognizes and celebrates generations of LGBTQI+ service members and their contributions to our #AirForce & #SpaceForce.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Creates ‘Anti-Book Ban’ Coordinator Among ‘New Actions to Protect LGBTQI+ Communities’
On Thursday, the Biden administration revealed a set of new measures aimed at protecting the rights and safety of LGBTQI+ communities across the country, including the creation of a new position within the Department of Education responsible for overseeing “book bans.”
The measures focused heavily on “LGBTQI+ kids,” promoting actions addressing mental health and “helping families to affirm and support their LGBTQI+ child.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Christian UK Doctor Fired for Refusing to Use Trans Pronouns Again Appealing Case
A Christian doctor in the U.K. who lost his job for refusing to use a hypothetical patient’s preferred pronouns is appealing his firing once more after being vindicated by a medical council.
Dr. David Mackereth, 60, lost his job at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under the National Health Service four years ago. He confessed that he could not refer to patients by their gender identity instead of their biological sex during a work training session because of his Christian beliefs. Mackereth said his supervisor pressured him to refer to a “man six foot tall with a beard” as “she” and “Mrs.,” but he refused.
His employer declared that failing to do so would fall under “harassment” under U.K. law and fired Mackereth from his role as a Health and Disability Assessor, the Christian Legal Centre said in a press release.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Connecticut parents are outraged after school officials reportedly showed elementary-aged students a Pride Month video without obtaining their consent beforehand.
Father of four Kyle Reyes pulled his kids out of the Granby School District after the incident, citing his concerns surrounding far-left indoctrination in the classroom through the LGBTQ+ video.
“Ainsley, this is the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Reyes told Earhardt during “Fox & Friends” Thursday. “There have been growing issues with not just our school district, but frankly, across the country where our kids are being read books about transgender crayons and racist police officers, and now the indoctrination has taken the place of education.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Korean Christian Spa in Seattle Forced to Allow Males to Bathe Nude With Women
A female-only nude spa in Washington State has been forced to give biological males access to its facilities following an unsuccessful legal battle against the Washington State Human Rights Commission. A Seattle court ruled that Olympus Spa, which has locations in Lynnwood and Tacoma, could not constitutionally prevent biological males from bathing naked with women.
The WSHRC had previously found that the business discriminated against a trans-identified male, and ordered the owners to change their policy to accept those who simply call themselves female. The man, Haven Wilvich, first submitted his complaint in 2020 after being refused entry on the grounds that his male genitalia were still present.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Louisiana Passes Ban on Transgender Sex Change Procedures for Minors With Bipartisan Support
Republican lawmakers in Louisiana successfully led a ban on transgender treatment for minors, voting to pass the law in a “veto-proof” majority, according to the Republican sponsor of the bill.
The bill’s sponsor, Louisiana State Rep. Gabe Firment, a Republican, is a public opponent of transgender surgeries for children. In a statement that he shared with Fox News Digital, he celebrated the passage of the bill.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mayo Clinic Suspended Professor Over Comments on COVID and Transgenderism
The Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science suspended a professor for deviating from “prescribed messaging” and placed a gag order on him, Foundation For Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) says. The college handed down the punishment despite its free speech promise to faculty and students.
On March 5, professor Michael Joyner was suspended without pay for speaking to the press, which is common for him as he is a prominent academic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nashville Shooter’s Parents Seek to Give Manifesto to School’s Children
The parents of transgender Nashville shooter Audrey Hale have informed a court that they wish to release the contents of Hale’s manifesto to the children who attend the school that was the site of the incident.
Ronald and Norma Hale claim intestate possession of their daughter’s documents, according to the Tennessee Star, and have argued that they have the right to provide any party they see fit ownership of the materials. They have further indicated that they would give those materials to the children who attended the school.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against Anti-Abortion Group
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit today against members of an anti-abortion group, Red Rose Rescue, for “invading reproductive health care clinics, threatening staff and clinicians, and terrorizing patients,” according to a press release from the New York Attorney General’s Press Office.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polling Shows Britons Overwhelmingly Oppose Trans in Female-Only Spaces
Not even a third of Britons think men should be allowed inside women’s only spaces, to compete in women’s only sports, or to provide “female-only intimate care”, a national poll finds.
The overwhelming plurality or majority of Britons, when asked, say individuals and organisations should be legally permitted to exclude so-called ‘transwomen’ from certain roles and places to preserve female-only spaces. The findings came from a poll by an independent pollster for the advocacy group Sex Matters, who polled a typical sample size for a UK nationwide poll and asked a series of questions about different circumstances where what they call “men who identify as women” may wish to be in women’s spaces.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pride Flag Hanging Outside Arizona City Hall Taken Down and Burned, Police Investigate
Police were investigating Tuesday after someone took down and burned a Pride flag that was hanging outside Tempe City Hall.
City officials said they have already replaced the Pride flag and flagpole that was damaged and the Pride flag was the only one vandalized.
“This act of aggression does not represent our community,” City Manager Andrew Ching said in a statement. “Hate has no place in Tempe. We are committed to championing diversity, inclusion and equity and ensuring that our community is safe and welcoming for everyone.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
One of the Antifa members involved in a violent clash with parents outside a school board meeting in Glendale, California on June 6 has been identified as Erik Boyd. The childless 35-year-old was arrested for his involvement in the incident and charged with a misdemeanor, however, his $10,000 bail was quickly posted.
The crowd of parents, mostly Armenian, Hispanic, and Christian, were protesting the school board’s Pride celebrations and the indoctrination of their children into radical gender ideology when far-left agitators showed up, many in full riot gear. Chaos ensued, and numerous arrests were made.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s director of Intelligence Project, Susan Corke, met with the White House in Jan 2023, who recently added Moms for Liberty, Parents Defending Education, and other parent organizations to its “hate map.”
According to the White House visitor logs, Corke met with National Security Council counterterrorism director John Picarelli, the Free Beacon reports. The “hate group” designation puts parent organizations in the same boat as neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Virginia dentist was allegedly murdered by his transgender daughter during a fight over the weekend, police said.
Dr. Abbey Horwitz, 68, suffered “multiple” stab wounds shortly before 9 a.m. Saturday in their $2.1 million Virginia Beach home and was pronounced dead by 9:13 a.m, police said.
Horwitz’s daughter, a biological male who is in the process of transitioning to a woman, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and stabbing in the commission of a felony.
Police named the suspect as “Michael (Norah) Horwitz” in a press release and used the pronoun “she.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Winning: School Cancels ‘Full-Blown Drag’ Child Event for LGBTQ Pride Day After Backlash
An English secondary school has cancelled its LGBTQ+ Pride day in which children as young as 11 were reportedly encouraged to dress in “full-blown drag” for, sparking widespread backlash.
In a letter to parents, the New Mills School, in Derbyshire reportedly encouraged students to come to school in drag to celebrate its “Drag ‘n’ Rainbows’ themed event to be held on June 16th to celebrate Pride month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
.
Will we ever know the truth about who blew up Nordstream?
Ingrid Carlqvist’s sources in the intelligence community have
a clear idea, at least.
IMAGE: Coast Guard
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The truth about Nordstream
Published June 7, 2023
Who blew up Nordstream 1 and 2 in September 2022? Will the truth ever become clear and will there be consequences for those responsible? Very few facts have been leaked about who did what during the blowing up of the gas pipelines. Yesterday the Washington Post published an article pointing the finger at Ukraine, but they don’t have the full picture – here’s more meat on the bones!
The closest we have come to the truth is Seymour Hersh’s high-profile revelation earlier this year. He identified the US as the mastermind of the operation and Norway as the country that pushed the button. But according to my sources, the Norwegians are probably innocent – the most likely scenario is that the six Ukrainians on the sailboat Andromeda triggered the explosive device. Something that the Washington Post also wrote about on June 6, even though they fail to mention how influential the US was in the course of events. WaPo concludes that the White House received advance information about the sabotage plans, but it was not that simple according to my sources.
Multi-award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh identified the US and Norway as the culprits in the blowing up of the Nordstream pipelines. But he did not have the full picture. IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons.
When award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh published his exposé on Substack on February 8 this year, the world gasped. Had the US blown up the gas pipelines supplying Germany with cheap energy, putting its NATO counterpart in an extremely dangerous and vulnerable position? Is that any way to treat your friends?
Before we get into the gas pipeline game, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: the first casualty of war is always the truth. Winston Churchill put it brutally honestly:
“In wartime the truth is so precious that it must be provided with a bodyguard of lies.”
Victoria Nuland has been remarkably straightforward about Nordstream.
IMAGE: Brookings Institute/Flickr
But the lies about Russian President Vladimir Putin blowing up his own gas pipelines were not very credible. Especially since President Joe Biden, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had, long before the blast, stated unequivocally that Nordstream would “disappear” if Russia entered Ukraine. That the US had its fingers in the cookie jar seemed fairly obvious, not least after Polish MEP Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted a picture of the blast with the text: Thank you, USA. A tweet he later deleted.
+
The media condemned the revelation
But because the mainstream media never seriously investigated who was behind the blast, it seemed for a long time that we would never get the whole truth. That’s when Seymour Hersh’s article dropped like a bombshell. Would the now 86-year-old journalist, who had been right about so many events from the Vietnam War onwards and won numerous awards for his revelations, turn out to be telling the truth once again? And how many years would it take for the truth to become apparent to everyone this time? In any case, the mainstream media did its best to condemn the article as the confused conspiracy theories of a demented man.
Seymour Hersh is not at all demented, but it seems that this time he has been used to spread a half-lie about the attack. According to my sources, he has been used by the bodyguards of lies who protect the truth.
Everyone agrees that no ordinary scuba divers carried out the sabotage – only governments whose military has the capacity to go down to those depths and plant the explosives can be considered suspects. Russia, the US, Norway and the UK are countries with a proven track record of diving at great depths, and the major naval exercise Baltops 2022 conducted in the days before the blast points heavily towards the US, Norway and the UK.
We can exclude Russia
The Russian navy also has an underwater sabotage and espionage unit, which in Russian is called Главное управление глубоководных исследований, transcribed to Glavnoye upravlenie glubokovodnikh issledovanii, and in Swedish becomes the Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research, abbreviated to GIGU. But since all GIGU ships were in Murmansk and not on the Baltic Sea these days, we can safely rule out Russia as the culprit for blowing up its own gas pipelines.
One of the Russian ships identified in various media is an SS-750 with a mini-submarine. However, it is a rescue ship that is not designed for sabotage activities and was not in the vicinity of the attack sites. This has been established by the Swedish investigation. What the Russians did in the area in the days after Baltops 2022 was to check if there was anything left behind that could be interesting to pick up after the exercise. And the most obvious reason to absolve the Russians of blame: Why blow up two gas pipelines worth hundreds of billions of kronor, when they only had to turn a tap to stop gas deliveries?
The Russian SS750 was initially identified as suspect, but is not designed for this type of operation.
IMAGE: Russian Defense Forces
+
What Seymour Hersh revealed in his article was that Biden’s statement was not about a slack jaw, but about his administration declaring its ability to “remove” Nordstream. This meant that the White House did not have to inform Congress of a CIA-led covert operation, but could proceed under the classification of “classified intelligence operation supported by the US military”.
Pointing the finger at Norway
After many secret meetings, Hersh wrote, it was decided that divers from the US Navy’s Dive and Rescue Center in Florida would carry out the actual sabotage with the help of their Norwegian NATO colleagues. According to Hersh and his sources, Norway had its own motives for removing Nordstream – it could sell more of its own natural gas. An important advantage was that these American divers belonged to the navy and not to the US Special Operations Command, like the Navy Seals’ attack divers. If the Navy Seals had been used, it would have had to be reported to Congress.
Norway’s first P8 Poseidon was delivered in February 2022 to Evenä Air Base.
IMAGE: Norwegian Armed Forces
During Baltops 2022, the American divers placed explosive devices on both Nordstream 1 and Nordstream 2 – the latter of which has not yet been deployed. According to Hersh, the Norwegians then dropped a sonar buoy from a maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft called the P-8 Poseidon. However, according to my sources in the intelligence and security community, this is completely impossible, as the various Russian and Swedish sonar systems deployed on the bottom of the Baltic Sea would have detected this immediately. Despite diligent listening to recorded sounds, no one has found any such transmission or signal. If a sonar buoy had been used, it would have been found and used as evidence. But is Norway completely innocent? Perhaps not, but in any case it cannot have happened as Hersh describes it.
The next reasonable conclusion is that the US and the UK are behind the sabotage. But then we come to the important concept of casus belli.
Casus belli means “an event giving rise to a declaration of war”. Nowadays, under international law, this means that only decisions of the United Nations constitute a legitimate casus belli. Even though the US used “retired naval divers” or people from the diving industry, the sabotage was an act of war by the US – because it used US warships as a platform for the operation. Since this could have triggered World War III while carrying out a hostile act of war against an allied country (Germany), it is less likely that the US would have hired Norway or the UK to “push the button”.
+
US and UK entangled
Liz Truss made a complete fool of herself when her phone was hacked and all her text messages were leaked.
IMAGE: Flicker/UK Government
But both the US and the UK are involved in the operation. The then British Prime Minister Liz Truss made a complete fool of herself when she sent a text message to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shortly after the blast saying “It is done”. So somehow Britain was involved.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear – all countries engage in psy-ops to make the public think and believe certain things. And while I have the utmost respect for Seymour Hersh, it seems to me that he has been used to spread disinformation about Nordstream. The retired American Colonel Douglas Macgregor has said just that and I understand that attempts are being made to provide accurate information to Hersh.
As a journalist, I evaluate and investigate every piece of information and data I receive, even from my own sources. I weigh the facts before deciding to share what I believe to be as close to the truth as possible, and I expect my readers and listeners to be smart enough to think independently, evaluate the information and draw conclusions from the material I present.
A very popular practice among governments is to spread as much false information as possible about major and crucial events – the assassination of John F Kennedy, the Palme murder and Nordstream to name a few. Why do they do this? Well, because once the truth comes out, no one will believe it, everyone has already decided on their own favorite truth …
Ukraine’s history of sabotage
So what is the truth in this messy Nordstream soup? There is one country that has shut down and sabotaged pipelines, pumping stations and ships guarding such infrastructure – Ukraine. The latest was the attack on the Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs guarding the Turkstream/Bluestream, the attack on the Druzhba pipeline, attacks on Russian oil and gas platforms in the Black Sea, on oil tankers and pipeline pumping stations. While it is understandable that Ukraine wants to stop the Russian flow of gas and oil, the strange thing is that they actually desperately need the money from these supplies. At the same time, they themselves are buying Russian fuel for their own use via third parties, in this case Bulgaria.
TBC
+
.
+
part 2
Do we see a pattern here? The answer is yes! And this is where we start tying up the loose ends. Was the US involved in the attack on Nordstream? The answer is yes! The United States has trained Ukrainian divers in Florida (Panama City) and provided Ukraine with equipment in the form of MK 29 Rebreathers which means that you as a trained diver during careful descent and ascent do not need a pressurized chamber (unless an accident occurs) and GPS equipment for underwater use which means that you do not need a wire to keep track of where the mother ship is, the GPS takes care of that for you. This is familiar equipment to military divers, but less familiar to recreational divers.
The mother ship can slowly circle your dive position and pick you up and transport you using a small motorized dinghy. This is where GPS coordinates from the Norwegian ship KNM Magnus Lagaböte come in. The force of the explosion is said to have been 100 kilograms of TNT, which does not mean that it was 100 kilograms of explosive, but it was the force of the explosive together with the gas/pressure in the pipe that corresponded to about 100 kilograms. Note that the explosive used is Semtex, also known as Hexacomposite.
The sailboat Andromeda
And now we are back to the Andromeda sailboat. In March, media around the world revealed that six Ukrainians rented the yacht in Rostock, Germany, via a Polish-registered vessel. On board were five men and one woman and their mission was to sabotage Nordstream. Many people immediately dismissed this theory – how could they have fit the explosives on a sailboat? That’s not a problem, we’re not talking about a few hundred kilograms of semtex. And to transport the explosives down to the wires, they could have used a so-called underwater sled, a Seabob.
The sailboat Andromeda. I
MAGE: Screenshot Youtube
Or perhaps even more likely – the explosives may have been left at the wires by the US/UK during Baltops 2022 and with the help of GPS coordinators they were easily found. Exactly how the operation was conducted my sources won’t go into – probably because it would give them away. However, remnants of explosives were found on board Andromeda, suggesting that they may have actually carried the charges.
According to Seymour Hersh, there were meetings in the White House itself to discuss the attack. This totally dismisses my sources, as the crew of the Andromeda appears to be consultants or private contractors who are not actually members of the Armed Forces or intelligence services in Ukraine. Those of you who have read my article Black ops in Sweden know that governments often use consultants to deny their own involvement in these covert operations.
+
However, my sources say that Hersh is right about the following: “It would be the first in a series of top-secret meetings, in a secure room on the top floor of the Old Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House, which was also home to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.” This is where the idea of taking Nordstream out of production first came up.
Independent consultants
CIA Director William Burns is certainly one of those who know exactly what happened.
IMAGE: CIA/Wikimedia Commons
Since an independent team of consultants was used, no coordination was required, only training people on the Rebreathers MK 29 equipment, handling the underwater GPS, the seabob and a review of the explosive devices. In all likelihood, a subordinate of CIA Director William J Burns contacted his Ukrainian counterpart and requested the interest and ability of Ukraine to provide the right consultants. It requires that they would have had some basic training or have a military training with diving.
Too many people must not be involved and not people who can leak information – then it becomes difficult to deny involvement. The way it usually works is that the White House Chief of Staff/Security Advisor gives a verbal order to the CIA Director: “Make sure thing X is taken care of without our involvement”. Then the right consultants are contacted and given training and the right equipment. When the job is done, a verbal message goes back the same way: “It’s done.”
One thing that made people’s heads spin is that one of the six Ukrainian consultants was a woman, but that in itself is not surprising. Women also work with black ops nowadays. What has been revealed about the six consultants is not much – they had fake identities and companies behind facades. According to my sources, the whole thing reeks of black ops.
We can only speculate what the different roles of the consultants were, but there may have been a skipper, a paramedic, four divers who alternated as dive assistants and communications. The choice of boat also puzzles many, but where do you hide a tree if not in the forest? You’ll need a civilian boat with enough space for equipment, it may be cramped but it will do as long as you know it’s only for a few short days.
A fairly simple operation
You don’t want to use a shield on a boat that can be detected by radar or otherwise stand out. The dive itself should be a fairly simple operation as the information they needed to carry out the mission came from downloaded underwater GPS with coordinates. It was no more difficult than a simple diving expedition, where you simply and quickly get to the right coordinates at depth, apply the explosive charge, start the timer, make a controlled ascent and then proceed to the next target coordinate. Anything is possible with the right equipment.
+
So, if the Americans just came up with the idea and Ukraine carried out the operation, why is the US implying that they did? It is to protect Ukraine and prevent Germany from withdrawing its support for Ukraine. This attack has the potential to divide NATO, while giving Russia a casus belli for an all-out war with Ukraine, rather than the current Article 51 of the UN Charter – a Special Military Operation. That is why the US, which is de facto involved but did not pull the trigger, hints at its involvement but denies that it did so. And by the time the truth comes out, it will be too late for Germany and the EU to back away from supporting Ukraine.
And in all likelihood, there will be perpetual confusion about who did what. The US does not want a direct war with Russia and Ukraine does not want to lose German support. However, both countries want to give Russia various nosebleeds and the US wants to prevent Germany from returning to cheap Russian gas.
Was Sweden involved?
Was Sweden in any way involved in the attack? Here my sources are very quiet because they absolutely do not want to damage Swedish security policy, regardless of government. The little I can find out is that Sweden has a good picture of the course of events but pretends that it is raining. My guess is that Sweden, like Norway, mapped the exact position of the gas pipelines, which was then used by the Ukrainian saboteurs.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – did he face fait acompli?
IMAGE: Pixabay/fsHH
The final piece of the puzzle is what happened during German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s lightning visit to President Joe Biden in Washington DC on February 7. They had a 90-minute one-on-one meeting and without a single press conference, Scholz returned to Germany. According to my sources, President Biden laid his cards on the table and told Scholz what had really happened. The script Biden read from allegedly contained threats that if Germany reveals the secret, the US will make a big fuss about the Chancellor’s tax evasion. The US certainly has a dossier on Scholz filled to the brim with things the chancellor wants to keep secret.
The recent attack just north of Istanbul on the Russian ship Ivan Khurs is said to have prompted President Erdogan to make a chilling phone call to President Zelensky. If Ukraine decides to attack Turkstream/Bluestream, Turkey may withdraw its support for Ukraine and block any attempts to join NATO.
The US does not want Turkey to get closer to Russia, so we can assume that Ukraine will not dare to knock out Turkstream/Bluestream as it did with Nordstream.
+
Geopolitics and money
Because Nordstream is not just about blown gas pipelines – it is about geopolitics, energy policy and money. Strong forces want to keep a proxy conflict going between the major powers, while making money, laundering money, keeping certain industries running and bleeding Russia.
It is, as always, the same story where states try to gain geopolitical advantages and benefit their own nation in different ways. As long as ordinary people are not affected by a direct war or blockades that lead to starvation, ordinary people will not care much about the truth behind these black ops – they have enough on their minds.
Yet it is actually up to us ordinary citizens, journalists, politicians, workers, civil servants – people from all walks of life to seek the truth. It is our responsibility to keep our politicians and authorities under the microscope. We can’t let them play “truth or dare” without consequences, because then our society is very dangerous.
Ingrid Carlqvist
—
source
https://www.ingridochmaria.se/2023/06/07/sanningen-om-nordstream/
Excellent analysis. Thank you.
Many current Australians will be living in shanty towns on the outskirts of the cities they built while being replaced by millions mainly from the developing world. They will own nothing and be told they should be happy giving their country away to all these needy people from other countries.