Ukraine has finally launched its long-anticipated counter-offensive against Russia in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. There are reports that Russian shelling has killed two people in the area. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Russia for the first time destroyed a German-made Leopard 2 tank.
In other news, the teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who is graduating from high school, vowed to continue her climate activism after graduation.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Fjordman, JW, McN, 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.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared he is ‘very positive and optimistic’ when asked how worried he was about a recession. The Commonwealth Bank fears a recession in 2023.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
20-Year-Old College Football Player Died Suddenly of ‘Natural’ Heart Failure, Coroner Confirms
A coroner in Las Vegas has finally ruled on the sudden death of a 20-year-old college football player who tragically died in February.
According to the coroner’s report, Ryan Keeler dies suddenly due to heart failure.
The Clark County coroner’s office listed Keller’s death as being the result of “natural causes.”
As Slay News previously reported, Ryan Keeler, a sophomore defensive end for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was found unresponsive in his apartment on February 20.
He was later pronounced dead.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Apple Creates Tech That Allows People to Present Digital ID to Businesses
Apple is planning to expand ways for people to use a digital driver’s license and state IDs on the Wallet App.
In a post, the company announced that soon people will be able to “present an ID to businesses.”
The feature will not require additional hardware from the business. Additionally, users will only be required to show the necessary information to authenticate an interaction.
Apple said the upcoming feature could be used to verify users’ age for alcohol purchases or admission to concerts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Marine veteran Daniel Penny has silenced civil rights grifter Al Sharpton by setting the record straight in a new interview with Fox News.
Last month, Penny restrained a deranged homeless man who was threatening passengers on the New York City Subway.
Unfortunately, the man, Jordan Neely, died following the incident.
Despite evidence from video footage online and eyewitness statements, Sharpton, radical Democrats, and their allies in the corporate media have claimed that Penny “murdered” Neely.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Deranged Lunatic’: Trump Attacks Jack Smith on Truth Social After Indictment Unsealed
Former President Donald Trump attacked Special Counsel Jack Smith after his unsealed indictment shows the ex-commander-in-chief was charged with 37 counts of criminal wrongdoing over his handling of classified documents, calling him a “deranged lunatic.”
Posting a photo of Smith to his Truth Social app, Trump accused the prosecutor of being behind a 2013 controversy in which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was revealed to be targeting political groups, mainly those on the right, for increased auditing.
“This is the man who caused the Lois Lerner catastrophe with the IRS. He went after Evangelicals and Great Americans of Faith. The United States had to apologize, and pay major damages for what this deranged lunatic did,” Trump wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ: Man Pleads Guilty to Arson During 2020 Charleston Protests, Sentenced to Five Years
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — A Saint Stephen man was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to arson during the 2020 protests and riots in Downtown Charleston.
Shabazz Akeem Isiah Watson, 27, pled guilty in United States District Court to causing $2.42 million in damage to four businesses between May 30 and May 31, 2020. His five-year-sentence will be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision and he was ordered to pay restitution in the full amount of the damage he was convicted of. There is no parole in the federal system, according to a June 7 press release from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to the press release, the arson charge is in connection with a protest that turned violent following the death of George Floyd.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence’s ability to trick voters creates a significant threat for the 2024 elections, several senators told Fox News.
“On a scale of one to 10, I would put my fear at 10 so far as the potential abuses for impersonation, false visual images, deepfakes, voice cloning,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, told Fox News. “Consumers deserve to know when the deepfakes and cloned voices occur.”
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who earlier this week released a set of “guiding principles” for future AI legislation, also rated his concern as a 10. AI already has the ability to create realistic deepfake videos, the Republican said, adding that he’s “very, very concerned by it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greenpeace Founder: Anti-Carbon Dioxide Agenda is a Hoax
Renowned environmentalist Dr. Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, has blown the whistle to warn the public that the anti-carbon dioxide narrative is a hoax.
Moore, an ecologist and environmental activist for more than 50 years, argues that an increased level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is beneficial.
According to Moore, claims that climate change is “human-caused” are “propaganda” which he describes as “dangerous.”
The comments from Moore, a leading expert in environmentalism, directly conflict with the green agenda being pushed by Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration and globalist groups such as the United Nations (UN) and World Economic Forum (WEF).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Johnny Depp’s days of playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the lucrative Disney franchise are officially over, according to a new media report.
Depp is still furious at how Disney treated him after his ex-wife Amber Heard lied and smeared his name in the press.
Depp was eventually vindicated and Heard was disgraced by a jury.
“They blind dropped him even though Amber had lied her a** off,” a friend told The Daily Mail.
“I would say that it’s likely he will spend most of his time in France, painting and making music.
“There could be the odd film.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A liberal organization says Gov. Gavin Newsom’s, D-Calif., proposal to curb gun rights through a new amendment to the Constitution is “offensive” grandstanding.
“I find it really frustrating as a liberal because we all know this is never gonna happen,” Lara Smith of The Liberal Gun Club told Fox News Digital. “I think it’s grandstanding, and I find it offensive.”
Newsom unveiled his proposal for the 28th Amendment to the Constitution on Thursday morning.
“The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support — while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition,” the California Democrat said in a press release.
Newsom’s proposed amendment would not abolish the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear firearms. However, it would increase the federal minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, mandate universal background checks, implement a waiting period for all gun purchases, and ban so-called “assault weapons.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FIRST ON FOX — A Democratic Maryland city council member, who was recently criticized for claiming Muslim children speaking out at a school board meeting were “on the same side… as White supremacists,” also has a history of bashing “White women” and “Zionist Jews,” Fox News Digital found.
Kristin Mink — a former public school teacher — was elected in December to the Montgomery County council, representing District 5.
While declaring “this is equity,” she reasoned Tuesday evening at a school board meeting that Muslim children who spoke out against an LGBTQ+ curriculum were “on the same side… as White supremacists.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Molly Moon’s Sues Seattle Over Losses, Damage During 2020 Capitol Hill Organized Protest
SEATTLE — Another lawsuit has been filed against the city of Seattle over the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, also known as CHOP, in June 2020.
Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the city over losses and property damage that incurred during the protest in Capitol Hill.
The CHOP zone emerged from early June until July 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Tents and demonstrators blocked police and fire crews from the neighborhood in an effort to seek racial justice and an end to police violence, but it became something very different.
The lawsuit claims Molly Moon’s constitutional rights were “overrun” after the city decided to abandon the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct during the protest.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moving to Miami From New York Can Save Some Americans Nearly $200K
Wealthy Americans who move to Miami from New York can save close to $200,000 a year thanks to lower taxes and a cheaper cost-of-living, according to a new study.
Financial information provider SmartAsset analyzed just the amount of money people with six-figure salaries in New York, San Francisco and Chicago could save if they relocated to the biggest city in Florida.
A Manhattan resident earning $650,000 would save as much as $195,000 in Miami, the findings show. Wealthy New Yorkers pay some of the steepest taxes in the nation, facing a combined 45% effective rate when accounting for federal, state and local levies. That effective rate drops to about 35% in Florida, which does not have a statewide income tax.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter owner and billionaire Elon Musk argued that former President Donald Trump’s indictment by the Department of Justice risks losing the trust of the American public.
Trump is the current front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
“There does seem to be far higher interest in pursuing Trump compared to other people in politics,” Musk tweeted Thursday night. He added, “Very important that the justice system rebut what appears to be differential enforcement or they will lose public trust.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A California history professor is taking a stand for First Amendment rights, filing a lawsuit last week alleging his employer, which fired his former colleague for sharing personal political beliefs, has since stifled his own.
The lawsuit, filed by The Institute for Free Speech on behalf of Bakersfield College Professor Daymon Johnson, alleged the school terminated Johnson’s colleague Professor Matthew Garrett for expressing conservative views in various spaces, including via op-eds and radio appearances, adding that Johnson himself fears what may happen if the college continues to crack down on his own expression.
“Plaintiff Daymon Johnson has special reason to be concerned about his future as a Bakersfield College professor should he continue to express his views,” the lawsuit reads, in part.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former President George W. Bush’s press secretary Ari Fleischer has called for prosecutors in Republican-led states to launch investigations into Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Fleischer argues that conservative prosecutors should seek to indict the Clintons in response to the weaponization of the justice system against President Donald Trump.
The latest effort by Democrat President Joe Biden to take out his main rival in the 2024 presidential election comes after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg launched a politically motivated indictment attack against Trump in April.
After Bragg went after Trump, Fleischer urges Republican prosecutors in other states to use the same dirty tactics against top Democrats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republicans Revolt on House Floor, Deal McCarthy Historic Humiliation
Several House Republican members of the Freedom Caucus have revolted against Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over his Debt ceiling deal with Democrat President Joe Biden.
Republicans have been outraged that McCarthy struck a deal with the Biden White House to raise the debt ceiling last month.
Twelve Republicans voted with the Democrats to defeat the GOP’s attempt to bring four bills to the House floor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Gov Greg Abbott Officially Designates Mexican Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed new legislation into law to officially designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
The Republican governor signed a series of border security bills this week as the frontier state continues to face the full force of Democrat President Joe Biden’s border crisis.
One of the bills Abbott signed seeks to target dangerous drug cartels that use the open border to smuggle people and drugs into America.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump, Lawyers Part Ways After Federal Indictment
Former President Donald Trump and two of his top attorneys representing him in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation parted ways Friday, just a day after he was indicted.
Trump, the current front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, was indicted on at least seven counts involving obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and illegal retention of classified government material. He has been ordered to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday. The indictment remains under seal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 37-count indictment of former President Donald Trump reads with “a lot of fury” but lacks key elements of typical document-mishandling cases, the former chief of staff in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department said Friday.
Mark Levin, host of “Life, Liberty & Levin” and the top staffer for then-Attorney General Edwin Meese III, said Smith’s criminal indictment lacks evidence Trump destroyed or substantively mishandled classified information.
Levin said the former Kosovo War crimes prosecutor who led the Obama Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section for a time, has a history of overprosecuting certain cases.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tucker Carlson’s Final Monologue at Fox Leaks: AOC Had Lucky Escape
The final monologue that Tucker Carlson was planning to deliver for Fox News has been leaked online.
Carlson had prepared the monologue but never got the chance to deliver it on his Fox News show before he was suddenly fired last month.
Journalist Emerald Robinson obtained a copy of Carlson’s final monologue and published it.
According to the monologue, radical Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had a very lucky escape.
Carlson had dedicated almost the entire monologue to shredding AOC and her far-left agenda.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tucker Carlson Questions Obama’s ‘Highly Creepy Personal Life’ in Episode 2 of Twitter Show
Tucker Carlson has just dropped Episode Two of his newly relaunched smash hit show on Twitter.
In the latest installment, Carlson questions former President Barack Obama’s “highly creepy personal life.”
Carlson seemed to suggest that Obama is gay and his marriage is a sham.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meta (Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed recently that the scientific “establishment” asked his platform to “censor” posts about COVID-19 that ended up being “debatable or true.”
In his comments during Thursday’s episode of the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” Zuckerberg discussed the “issues and challenges” of executing his platform’s policies on removing “misinformation.”
He said it can be “really tricky” when some content is false, “but may not be harmful, so it’s like, alright, are you going to censor someone for just being wrong, if there’s no kind of harm implication of what they’re doing?’“
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
5 Arrested at Tense Faceoff Between Group Protesting ‘Gender Ideology’ and Counter-Demonstrators
Five people were arrested on Broadview Avenue in Ottawa on Friday, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered to “drown out” and counter a man who was protesting what he calls “gender ideology.”
The two groups chanted slogans like “protect trans rights” and “leave the kids alone” at each other, at times separated by a line of police officers.
Three schools and a medical centre sit along or near Broadview Avenue close to where the demonstration was held.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Sees Reprieve From Smoky Haze, But Canadian Wildfires Are Still Raging
The skies above parts of the eastern United States were starting to clear up Friday, giving a reprieve to residents after more than two days of acrid air and orange haze. But hundreds of ferocious wildfires were still raging in Canada, meaning that more smoke could waft across the U.S. in the days to come.
The blazes in Canada, stretching from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, burned through millions of acres and vividly highlighted the brutal realities of global climate change.
In Canada, 422 fires were burning as of Friday afternoon, including 228 considered out of control. More than 120 active fires were devastating Quebec on Friday, according to fire authorities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bank of Poland Buys Gold Reserves for Second Consecutive Month
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) increased its gold reserves by nearly 20 tons in May, according to calculations by bankier.pl. This marks the second consecutive month Polish monetary authorities have increased their holdings of the precious metal.
At the end of April, the NBP reported holding 7.83 million fine troy ounces of gold, and according to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) data, at the of May, its holdings were more than 8.47 million fine troy ounces.
If the calculations are accurate, this means that approximately 640,000 fine troy ounces of gold were added to the National Bank of Poland’s balance sheet in May, equivalent to some 19.9 tons. As a result, Polish gold reserves have increased to approximately 263 tons.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Commission Insists New Anti-Corruption Body Will Make a Difference
The anticipated EU ethics body will have appropriate enforcement mechanisms, Vera Jourova, EU Commission vice president for values and transparency, promised at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday, June 8th. Jourova revealed proposed details of the ethics body that is meant to oversee corruption and conflicts of interest within the EU institutions in the wake of the still-raging Qatargate scandal.
Despite what the Commission says, however, the proposal looks pretty much like the paper tiger everybody expected it to be. The ethics body will have no authority to investigate or punish EU officials on its own and the MEPs will be able to retain their diplomatic immunity. Instead, the anti-corruption authority will only develop and oversee the implementation of new standards, but their enforcement will remain an exclusively institutional competence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he was stepping down as a Member of Parliament in a lengthy, defensive statement Friday.
The embattled politician left the premiership in September 2022, after he was accused of hosting parties at the prime minister’s official residence — 10 Downing Street — that violated COVID-19 social distancing during the height of the pandemic.
He represented Uxbridge and South Ruislip in Greater London in Parliament until Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
François Astorg, the mayor of the town that was the site of one of the most heinous crimes in Europe’s recent history on Thursday, waxed lyrical about the town’s dedication to inclusivity and diversity just days before a Syrian migrant embarked on a stabbing spree targeting toddlers.
“Annecy is a land of resistance to fascism, a land of solidarity, a city of refuge for those fleeing war, misery and misfortune in the world,” Astorg tweeted on May 23, describing it as his administration’s “duty” and “honor” to receive new arrivals to Europe.
Astorg had sent his tweet in condemnation of a nationalist march that had taken place in the town on the evening of May 16 as activists carried torches and French flags through the streets before stopping in front of the Notre Dame church.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
John Foster, a pensioner from Sunderland who appeared in a Channel 4 Dispatches programme called Britain’s Forgotten Pensioners, said he has turned off his empty fridge.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Meloni Says ‘Not Convinced’ by EU Stability Pact Reform
(ANSA) — ROME, JUN 9 — Premier Giorgia Meloni said on Friday that she is “not convinced” by the proposal from the European Commission on reform of the Stability and Growth Pact establishing the fiscal rules for EU member states.
Meloni also said she would “say what I think about the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)” EU bailout fund “when I am told what the framework is”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland’s Confederation Party Has Facebook Account Restored and is Surging in the Polls
The right-wing Confederation party has enjoyed a recent surge in the polls and has now succeeded in having its Facebook account restored, although it is still being sidelined by much of Poland’s mainstream media.
The Confederation party’s attorney, Michal Wawer, told Onet.pl news outlet that a year ago a Polish court had ordered Facebook to lift its ban on the Confederation’s account pending the resolution of a legal dispute. However, it was very difficult to get Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to actually implement the court’s decision.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
As scores of Corpus Christi processions took place across Poland on Thursday, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz told the faithful in Warsaw that the Church is needed to preach the message of love and justice to all people of goodwill and beyond divisions of nation, language, or political leanings.
“The Church is one and common for all. It is not tied to any nation even if some would like it to be,” said the Cardinal, adding that the Church “cannot be instrumentalized for any national cause nor limit itself to one option as it must preach the gospel for everyone and to everyone.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A report released Thursday into a deadly shooting during Oslo’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride festival last year blasted Norway’s domestic security agency, saying it had intelligence an attack was imminent and could have prevented the bloodshed.
The report focused on how the police and the Norwegian Police Security Service handled the June 25, 2022, attack in which two people were killed and 20 wounded. The report was commissioned by the Norwegian police.
It said the domestic security agency, known by its Norwegian acronym PST, had been warned by the Norwegian Intelligence Service during an emergency meeting that an “operation” was about to take place in a Scandinavian country, with several clues pointing at Norway.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
School-Striking Greta Thunberg Vows to Continue Protesting After Graduation
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg said Friday she will no longer be able to skip classes as a way to draw attention to climate change because she is graduating from high school.
Thunberg, 20, started staging Friday protests outside the Swedish parliament building during school hours in 2018. Teenagers from around the world followed her lead, leading to an international student movement called Fridays for Future.
Because she won’t be a student anymore, Thunberg noted that her future Friday activities that “technically” won’t be school striking. But in a tweet, she vowed to continue protesting, saying, “The fight has only just begun.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain and the Fear of Electoral Fraud
The recent regional and municipal elections have dealt a thorough change to the Spanish electoral map.
Regions and cities that were key to the ruling coalition will now shift to the centre-right PP (in some cases, with the support of VOX). This, together with those regions in which the Right already governs, leaves very little room for the socialist-led national government to maneuver, especially given the country’s high degree of administrative decentralization.
Ordinarily, Prime Minister Sanchez would have congratulated the winning party, showing up before the cameras to recognize his share of responsibility, so far as his party’s losses are concerned and, perhaps, to outline some reasons for so resounding a failure.
This did not happen, however.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s Supreme Court Affirms Rape Sentence Reductions Under Left’s Law
Under the left anti-rape law, sentence reductions for rapists are justified. That is the final verdict from Spain’s Supreme Court, handed down on June 7th, regarding the recent slew of sentence reductions for convicted sexual assailants caused by the country’s short-lived but controversial sex crime legal reform.
Best known by its nickname, ‘Solo Si es Si’ (only yes is yes), the reform of the criminal code regarding sexual misconduct was passed last year, only to quickly undergo a reform of the reform that passed into law in May of this year.
The initial reform removed the crime of sexual abuse from the penal code to make it easier to legally define non-consensual sexual acts as assault, which is considered a worse offense. But it also lowered the minimum sentence for the crimes, resulting in sentence reductions for violent sexual assailants already convicted and, in some cases, their immediate release from prison, as the Spanish constitution provides that the most favourable version of laws be applied to prisoners.
Thousands of imprisoned convicts have asked to have their sentences reviewed, and so far, almost 1,000 sentences have been reduced, in approximately 100 cases leading to prisoners being released. The day after the Supreme Court’s pronouncement, another rapist had his 12-year sentence reduced by five years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Government to Employ 101 Journalists
Just days after calling snap elections, but with the official campaign still weeks away, Spanish President Pedro Sanchez is hiring 101 journalists for his lame-duck government ministries. His strategy is to lay the ground work for a communication-propaganda campaign aimed at employing every means possible of remaining in the Moncloa, the presidential residence.
The executive has posted 101 positions for journalists to be distributed among ten ministries, open to applicants until June 28th.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Blobonomics’: Break Up the Oxbridge PPE Clique to Save the Country, Says Sunak Critic Tory
A Tory radical has warned the Conservatives they need to “blow up” the ‘the blob’ — the Westminster deep state — to have a hope of winning the next election.
Jake Berry, a “low tax Conservative” — a rare thing these days as the mainstream of the party has drifted towards a big state approach to government — is warning his colleagues they must take on the deeply embedded “blob” deep state to keep working-class voters onboard.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Extinction Rebellion Protesters Glue Themselves to Slb Cambridge Centre
The SLB Cambridge Centre (formerly Schlumberger) building on Madingley Road was targeted by climate change activists who glued themselves to the front door on Friday morning (June 9).
The action was an escalation of an 18-month joint campaign by Extinction Rebellion Cambridge (XRC) and Extinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge (XRYC) to demand that the University of Cambridge cuts ties with the company, which develops technology for fossil fuel companies including BP and Shell.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Roxy-Mae Barber, 11, was found dead in her bedroom in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, on May 4 last year, when her father Michael Barber went to wake her up for school, an inquest heard
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Green Obsession is Keeping EU Laws Alive, Warns Badenoch
UK Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has blamed the UK government’s obsession with green ideology for keeping EU laws alive in the country.
The government’s obsession with green ideological goals has prevented it from getting rid of EU laws post-Brexit, the business secretary has reportedly claimed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
While it has long been understood that a woman’s level of education is a key predictor for fertility, a new study finds there’s a considerable impact of the level of education a woman’s own parents has on that metric as well.
Total fertility has plummeted in the United Kingdom this century an Oxford University study on birth rates reminds us, and women of all educational groups are now having fewer children than ever. But the lowest ‘Total Fertility Rates’ are reserved for women whose own parents are well educated, it has found.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A dramatic video shows the moment a furious HGV driver rips a phone from the hands of a Just Stop Oil protester as the eco-zealots’ tactics continue to enrage drivers.
The angry HGV driver leaps from his cab to chase a cameraman across Gunnesbury Avenue in Ealing, before smashing a phone out of the hands of a filming protester.
Slow-walking marches were held on key commuter roads throughout the morning, causing significant delays for those trying to get to work in central London.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Young Catholic Challenges Murderer in Annecy
In the hours following the terrible attack in Annecy, in which a Syrian refugee seriously injured six people in a park, including four young children, videos taken at the time of the tragedy showed that a young man courageously stepped in to try to stop the murderer. Since then, he has been nicknamed “the hero with a rucksack” (le héros au sac à dos).
His name is Henri d’Anselme, and he is 24 years old. A few weeks ago, after studying philosophy and international management, he set off on a tour of France’s cathedrals. A practising Catholic from a large family, he is also a former scout leader who attended a famous independent Catholic school in the Paris region, Saint-Dominique du Pecq. Symbolically, his journey began at the Benedictine abbey of Le Barroux, in the hills of Provence—a Mecca for traditional spirituality in France.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU and U.S. Chide Kosovo Over Stalemate With Ethnic Serbs
The U.S. and the EU have put Kosovo on notice over its continued standoff with ethnic Serbs in its northern region. If it does not back down—U.S. and EU envoys warned on Wednesday, June 7th—the country would surely face “consequences,” a not-so-veiled hint at it risking possible NATO and EU membership by not obeying.
The envoys’ joint shot across Pristina’s bow came after they had concluded visits to Kosovo and Serbia to bring calm after last week’s flare-up in violence, when dozens of NATO-led peacekeeping soldiers were injured during fierce scuffles with Serb protesters in northern Kosovo.
Wary of the potential for another conflagration in the Balkans—over 20 years have passed since the end of the Kosovo War—the incident prompted NATO, which stationed around 4,000 troops in Kosovo, to send in an additional 700, which have since started to arrive.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After the Deluge: Dam Disaster Proves Devastating
As Ukraine and Russia continue to point fingers at each other for the breaching of the Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam on Tuesday, June 6th, the extent of the devastation it has wrought is sinking in.
Two days after the hydroelectric dam’s destruction, an area of about 600 square kilometers (230 square miles) has been flooded, satellite images show.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Destroys Western Tank in Ukraine for First Time, Reports Claim
Ukraine has sent Western tanks into battle with Russia for the first time as the counteroffensive appears to have started in earnest.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Drone footage shows the first German-made Leopard 2 tank being destroyed in Ukraine, with Germany’s Bild newspaper confirming the tank is indeed the advanced main battle tank. The footage comes at the same time that U.S. officials, while speaking with CNN, indicated that Ukraine is facing “significant” losses during its offensive.
The drone footage shows a Ukrainian column of armored vehicles that consists of German-made Leopard 2 tanks, although they are not the latest, A7 iteration, but the A4, which is three generations older. These tanks are traveling together with U.S.-made M113 armored personnel carriers. The drone footage shows that the column came under artillery fire, with one of the Leopards catching on fire and smoking.
The footage comes after a number of reports of German Leopards being destroyed by the Russian side turned out to be fabrications; however, this footage appears authentic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Shelling Kills Two in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Region — Governor
KYIV: Two people were killed and four others were wounded on Friday in Russian shelling of the village of Komyshevaha in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, the regional governor said.
Yuriy Malashko said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had hit a multi-story residential building in the small village close to the front line in southeastern Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainians Face Homelessness, Disease, Floating Bombs as Floods Crest From Burst Dam
Urkainians face new hardships from the busting of the Kakhovka dam, including floods, food shortages, disease, and floating land mines.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Army Attacks Russian Forces in Southern Zaporizhzhia Region
Ukraine’s military has launched attacks on occupying Russian forces in the key southern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian officials and military bloggers say.
They say Ukrainian troops — backed by tanks, artillery and drones — are trying to advance south of the town of Orikhiv for the second night running.
A senior Ukrainian defence official said the enemy was in “active defence”.
Several military experts have said the focus of Ukraine’s long awaited counter-offensive will be Zaporizhzhia.
They argue Kyiv is trying to regain access to the Sea of Azov, splitting the occupying Russian forces in the region into two detached groupings.
That would not only weaken Russia’s combat capability but also eliminate a land bridge to Crimea, the southern peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Ukraine has been planning a counter-offensive for months, but it has wanted as long as possible to train troops and to receive advanced military equipment from Western allies.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
US Preparing Another $2 Billion in Arms for Ukraine — Bloomberg
The Pentagon is set to unveil another $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine, hoping to bolster the country’s air defenses as Kiev launches its much-touted counteroffensive against Russian forces, Bloomberg News has reported.
The announcement is likely to come later this week, the outlet said on Thursday, citing unnamed US officials. The arms will be provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which has furnished billions of dollars in American weapons to Kiev since fighting erupted with Moscow last year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fields across southern Ukraine could be turned into “deserts” due to massive flooding caused by the destruction of Kakhovka dam, the country’s agricultural ministry has warned.
Flooding across southern Ukraine caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on Tuesday is likely to have a massive negative effect on Ukrainian farming yields, with the country’s agricultural ministry warning that large swathes of land are likely to turn into “desert” due to irrigation systems being taken offline.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How Arctic Ice Melt Raises the Risk of Far-Away Wildfires
As millions of people in New York and other major North American cities choke on acrid smoke, they could point their accusatory fingers farther North than the wildfires ravaging Quebec — all the way to the global Arctic.
Rising temperatures in the region are contributing to the weather conditions that make wildfires more likely to occur, especially in higher and middle latitudes, experts say.
Global warming releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, raising temperatures, which dries out forests and raises the risk of wildfires. The top of the planet is warming much faster than the global average — at four times the rate, by some estimates — and that pace is accelerating as reflective ice, which shields the Earth from some of the sun’s heat, melts and permafrost thaws, releasing still more CO2.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Korean Media: Poland Finances Weapons Purchases in Korea With Korean Loans
Poland has taken out loans to purchase weapons in the Republic of Korea worth nearly €8.8 billion and will soon make purchases worth double that amount, according to a report from South Korean television SBS made during a visit by Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak to Seoul.
Poland borrowed €8.5 billion from the Republic of Korea, so double that amount would be €17 billion, calculates the Defence24.pl military news portal. Meanwhile, the previous Polish purchases had a similar value, which involved K239 Chunmoo rocket artillery launchers, costing €4.6 billion for 218 units, along with 48 FA-50 aircraft costing €2.9 billion, K9 Thunder howitzers costing €2.9 billion for 212 units, and 180 units of K2 tanks costing €4.4 billion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The project has been at the centre of a long-running row with neighbours in the quiet suburban street who bitterly opposed the traffic and disruption it will bring.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The PM was questioned over the behaviour of his finance minister Katy Gallagher amid claims she helped ‘weaponise’ Ms Higgins’ rape allegations to use against then-PM Scott Morrison.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Rundown Abandoned Home That’s ‘Well Past Its Prime’ is Expected to Sell for Millions — Here’s Why
The real estate agent for the two storey home in Redfern just 5km from Sydney CBD, has called its auction a ‘rare and special opportunity’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Would-be Liquor Store Thief Stopped in His Tracks by Locked Door: Video
A would-be bourbon thief was left visibly dejected when his grab-and-go liquor store robbery was foiled by locked automatic doors, security cam footage shows.
An unidentified man was caught on camera trying to steal a 10-pack of Wild Turkey 101 from The Bottle-O Beechboro liquor store near Perth, Australia, on Tuesday.
Kellie Gordon, who was working as cashier the day of the attempted robbery told 10 News First Perth how the bungled bourbon heist unfolded.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Applicable to All’: Mandatory Solidarity Adopted
Following a long day of negotiations between the bloc’s home affairs ministers on Thursday, June 8th, the Council finally agreed on two key files of the EU’s flagship Migration Pact: border procedures and migrant relocations. The breakthrough was announced by Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, representing the Council’s Swedish presidency.
As expected, the controversial migrant redistribution scheme was adopted, but only because the decision did not need a unanimous vote, only a qualified majority, meaning that no member state could have vetoed it individually.
Only two countries persisted in their objections until the end: Poland and Hungary. Five others abstained, including the two other Visegrad countries (Czech Republic and Slovakia), as well as Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Malta.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Must Prepare for More Migrants After Ukraine Dam Explosion — PM
Europe must be ready to support even more migrants in the wake of the Kakhovka dam explosion in Ukraine, Ireland’s Prime Minister has declared.
Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s current neoliberal Taoiseach (Prime Minister), has speculated that the destruction of the Kakhocka dam in Ukraine could see more refugees stream into Europe.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Martial Artist Saves Teen Girl From Gang of Egyptian Sex Predators
A martial artist is being hailed as a hero after he ran to the rescue of a 17-year-old girl who was being sexually attacked by a group of African migrants on a beach in Greece, according to reports.
The shocking incident unfolded at Freattyda Beach in Piraeus, a port city near Athens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Special Forces Free Migrant-Hijacked Ship
(ANSA) — ROME, JUN 9 — Italian special forces have freed a Turkish ship that had been hijacked by migrants off Naples, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Friday.
“Italian special forces, stationed in Brindisi, are freeing a Turkish ship with 22 crew members seized by some 15 migrants who were on board the vessel off the coast of Naples”, said Crosetto at the ‘Forum in Masseria’ Puglia TV event, interviewed by veteran host Bruno Vespa.
Crosetto said the action of the special forces is ongoing and the minister is being continuously updated.
[Comment: Very interesting!]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After an Italian-led coalition opposing the plans crumbled, only Hungary and Poland ended up voting against the proposed EU Migration Pact.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The east London docks, beside City Airport, was named in reports this week as a potential new site to house asylum seekers as part of Government efforts to crack down on Channel crossings.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Members of the Czech opposition have requested an extraordinary session in parliament to object to Interior Minister Vit Rakusan voting through the EU’s planned mandatory migrant relocation scheme.
Both ANO leader Andrej Babis and SPD leader Tomio Okamura have criticized the Czech government for signing off on the migration reforms proposed by Brussels, regarding it as a betrayal to the country.
Czechia was part of a cohort of EU nations seeking to block the radical plans that will mean member states must accept their fair share of migrants entering the bloc or face a hefty fine for each individual refused access.
However, along with Italy and a number of other opponents, Rakusan backed off his initial position and waved the plans through after late-night talks in Luxembourg on Thursday. Only Poland and Hungary held firm in their opposition to the reforms, while Bulgaria, Malta, Lithuania and Slovakia all abstained.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bud Light Lost Out to Modelo for Title of America’s Most Popular Beer in May: Report
Bud Light has been dethroned as America’s most popular beer, according to consumer data obtained by CBS News.
That title was won in May by Modelo Especial, which has increased sales by $333 million since 2022, according to behavior analytics firm Circana in data cited by CBS. Bud Light, in comparison, sold $297 million worth of Bud Light for the “four weeks ending May 28,” according to the same report.
Modelo is a Pilsner-style Lager that was first produced in Mexico in 1925, according to its website.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Activision, the titan behind the legendary Call of Duty franchise, has flexed its corporate muscles by pulling the Nickmercs Operator skin from its in-game store.
The decision followed comments made by Nickmercs, a high-profile streamer and Faze content creator. The cancelation has been met with backlash from some gamers.
Nickmercs had been a colossal figure in the Call of Duty community, so much so that Activision had previously honored him with a Spartan-themed Operator skin. A skin is a “look” that players can choose for their character.
The drama ignited when Nickmercs tweeted a comment in response to a thread posted by MLG’s Chris Puckett, which featured a recent brawl that broke out between Antifa groups and parents that had been attending recent meetings to request transparency regarding their kids’ curriculum, which the Glendale School Board had refused to provide.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Charges Dropped for ‘Unlawful Arrest’ of Christian Man Quoting Bible in Public
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania have refused to charge a Christian man who was arrested by police for publicly quoting the Bible in the streets of Reading.
As Slay News reported, Damon Atkins was arrested for trying to quote the Bible to Pride attendees who were across the street from him.
However, the Berks County District Attorney has dropped the charges against Atkins and warned the City of Reading and the police department responsible to prepare for “legal action” in response to their “unlawful arrest.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The former Olympic swimmer (pictured) has trenchant views on the institutionalised doping that cost her the ultimate sporting accolade.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Life Activist Sues to End Anti-Protest Zone Around Abortion Clinics: ‘Unconstitutional’
A pro-life activist in Denver is challenging state and local laws that prohibit counseling women within 100 feet of an abortion clinic, which she argues violates her constitutional rights.
Wendy Faustin filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado on June 1 against Democrat Gov. Jared Polis as well as other state and local officials with regard to a 1993 “bubble law” that she alleges violates the First Amendment and her 14th Amendment right to equal protection.
“The basic idea is that free speech means the government can’t squash or silence messages it doesn’t like; it can’t punish people who voice those messages,” Roger Byron, lead counsel in Faustin’s case, told Fox News Digital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Richard Dawkins Says Affirmative Action and White Guilt for History Are Racist Ideas
British evolutionary biologist and leading figure of the “New Athiest” movement Richard Dawkins has declared that affirmative action based upon skin colour is “racist” and decried the pervasiveness of white guilt for the actions of their ancestors.
In an interview with Freddie Sayers of Unherd, University of Oxford emeritus fellow Richard Dawkins continued his attempts to dismantle the woke ideology that he feels has become near tenets of faith among the left in the West.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Religion of the Left: Sacred Destruction and the Search for Lost Gods.
by Daniel Greenfield
“Abortion is sacred,” Planned Parenthood declared. Biden told Dylan Mulvaney that banning transgender child mutilation is “immoral”. The head of the Public Religion Research Institute preaches about the “sacred work of white discomfort” in defense of critical race theory.
It is a mistake to think of the Left as a secular movement. People don’t throw their lives away for a set of ideas. They don’t turn on their parents, societies and entire way of life over abstractions. Only something that touches their deepest selves and offers them that sense of purpose and meaning in a broken world that religious people call revelation and holiness summons that fire.
That leftists don’t believe in a central deity is confusing to monotheists, but what they believe in is far older, a hybrid of primitive mysticism, laboriously revived by western romanticism, and theoretical acadamese nurtured by over two centuries of dilettante students, professional radicals and assorted megalomaniacal cranks who litter the history of socialism.
What these two strands of the western leftist worldview have in common is their conviction that there is an underlying sense of order, found in sociological patterns or energy auras, theories of race or tarot cards, that explain everything and that by mastering them we can transcend and fundamentally transform the universe, and everything in it, including our societies and ourselves.
This is the continuum linking paganism, academic theories and conspiracy theories…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Trans women Haven Wilvich had attempted to apply to join the spa but was denied, alleging the spa told her ‘transgender women without surgery are not welcome’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Woke Marvel Eliminates the Punisher Due to “Problematic” Conservative Fan Base
A year ago progressive news outlets were calling the idea of the culture war a “right-wing conspiracy theory” that had no basis in reality. Yet, the injection of far-left politics into entertainment media had already started years previous, with noticeable propaganda efforts in movies, streaming television, children’s shows and books, even commercial advertising was replete with progressive ideological imagery by 2016 onward.
The goal is relatively obvious — To erase competing ideals and viewpoints while saturating the market with only one political vision; a woke vision. It’s called social engineering, and anyone who claims this is not happening in the US today is gaslighting.
Strangely, the American comic book industry has become a major battleground in the culture war, with heroic symbols being increasingly erased or hijacked as vehicles for woke talking points. A vast array of comic book characters are now race-swapped, converted to LGBT or they have had their histories rewritten to make them more “acceptable for modern audiences.” At the same time, they promote everything from BLM, to climate change propaganda, to gender identity politics and anti-gun messaging.
Why would leftists target something as frivolous as comic book heroes? Because pop-culture is first and foremost a playground where children grow up, and by rewriting heroes as social justice crusaders and communists they hope to indoctrinate the next generation.
However, one hero figure in particular is seen as so egregious and so triggering that leftists want him memory-holed altogether — The Punisher.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
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The EU’s migration commissioner, country traitor Ylva Johansson (S) and Sweden’s migration minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) were involved in negotiating the controversial agreement.
Clear: The government agreed to the EU’s forced distribution of immigrants
June 9, 2023
The EU’s so-called immigration pact has now been officially hammered through by the Council of Ministers.
The Swedish government finally agreed to let the union forcibly distribute asylum seekers – with hefty fines for member states that refuse to cooperate.
“Brussels abuses its power.
They want to move migrants to Hungary by force,” writes Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s spokesperson Zoltán Kovács on Twitter.
He also accuses the EU of trying to forcefully turn Hungary into an “immigrant country” against its will.
The background is that the EU countries have finally come to an agreement on migration policy, which involves forced quotas for asylum seekers from the third world.
The member state that refuses to accept its share of the burden is forced to pay approximately a quarter of a million kroner in fines per refused immigrant.
This is called “compulsory solidarity”.
Promised not to agree under duress
In the Council of Ministers, only Hungary and Poland voted against the settlement. Bulgaria, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia abstained.
The Swedish government promised in May not to agree to any forced distribution.
– In the negotiations that I lead in the council, however, mandatory redistribution is not on the table, and it is nothing that will be accepted, said Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) at the time.
Despite that, she thus voted for the new proposal.
M minister: “Extremely satisfied and proud”
– I am extremely pleased and proud to be able to announce that the ministers have adopted general guidelines. These two files constitute the two main parts of the reform of the EU’s asylum system, said Maria Malmer Stenergard after the negotiations, according to Europaportalen.
On social media, the party describes its effort as a success and uses it to recruit new members:
SD threatened to bring down the government
The agreement must now be finalized with the EU Parliament.
SD leader Mattias Karlsson demanded in April that the government should stop the so-called immigration pact “in the EU Parliament’s draft”, designed by the Swedish Reinfeldt moderate Tomas Tobé.
“If not, I have a hard time seeing how the basis for our government cooperation can continue,” Karlsson wrote on Twitter.
A flood of empty words – such is democracy.
So Bud Light lost out to Modelo Especial. The only problem is that Modelo is also one of AB Inbev’s brands.
I’ve heard that too.
When Modelo starts pushing perverts grooming kids I won’t buy or drink it either.
A major problem is that the relationship amongst these corporations and the capital management firms like Blackrock and Vanguard is that they are so incestuous it’s impossible to track where all the tentacles are, or they control so much market share that it doesn’t matter much what you buy since they indirectly control it all.
But where their perversion is overt I certainly will boycott the products they pedal.
“A flood of empty words – such is democracy.”
One would have to be a moron or educated in public schools to think that “democracy” is desirable or a good form of government.
In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride) he declares: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Jonny Depp and Pirates of the Caribbean was one of my favourites and I was so upset when that lying Amber Heard destroyed the chance of another movie. Trivial I know but not much to look forward to these days.