A chef in the employ of former President Obama drowned last night while paddle boarding in a pond behind Mr. Obama’s mansion on Martha’s vineyard. Tafari Campbell, 45, was reported missing yesterday evening, and his body was discovered today. Based on videos posted to his Instagram account, Mr. Campbell was a competent swimmer, but even so he drowned in eight feet of water.
In other news, the right-wing Spanish parties PP and VOX performed more poorly than expected in yesterday’s parliamentary elections, falling short of the number of seats required to form a majority coalition.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Conservative Tree House, Dean, DV, JW, LP, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
Eyeball-Scanning Global ID System Worldcoin Launches
Skeptics are watching as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s venture, Worldcoin, announces its launch. This Monday, the Berlin and San Francisco-based Tools for Humanity unveiled Worldcoin’s blockchain-based digital passport system — the World ID, together with its own cryptocurrency token, WLD.
With the promise of a cryptographically secured “proof-of-personhood,” Worldcoin seeks to distinguish real people from AI bots, setting the foundation for potential universal basic income (UBI) distribution. It does so by introducing its unique hardware, the “orb” — a silver orb roughly the size of a bowling ball — that performs iris scans to confirm the user’s humanity.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Debt to GDP Falls to 48.1% Under Conservative Government, Far Below EU Average
Poland’s public debt-to-GDP ratio has fallen to 48.1 percent under its current conservative government, far below the eurozone average of 90 percent and the EU average of 80 percent.
Southern European countries and Belgium, meanwhile, have debt-to-GDP ratios of over 100 percent.
The ratio is one of the Maastricht criteria for accession to the eurozone, but according to the latest Eurostat data, only 8 of the 20 eurozone states actually fulfill the 60 percent target for that ratio: the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovakia, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Estonia. Even Germany, Austria and Finland have not hit the target.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
5th Circuit Denies ATF’s Request to Stay Decision Throwing Out Its Ban on ‘Ghost Guns’
Another defeat for Biden’s war on guns always gets the week off to a good start. On July 1, a Federal District Judge threw out the ATF’s “frame and receiver” that bans so-called ghost guns. The ATF asked the Fifth Circuit to stay the District Judge’s order, allowing them to enforce the ban while the case is being decided. Today, the Fifth Circuit told the ATF to pound sand.
You can read today’s ruling here, but in a nutshell, the court ruled that:
Because the ATF has not demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits, nor irreparable harm in the absence of a stay, we DENY the government’s request to stay the vacatur of the two challenged portions of the Rule. “[V]acatur . . . reestablish[es] the status quo ante,” Defense Distributed v. Platkin, 55 F.4th 486, 491 (5th Cir. 2022), which is the world before the Rule became effective. This effectively maintains, pending appeal, the status quo that existed for 54 years from 1968 to 2022.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin Launches Crackdown on Water Heaters
Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is launching a crackdown on the use of hot water heaters in American homes.
On Friday, Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to target water heaters.
The move is part of a string of proposed rules from the Biden admin on appliances that critics warn will limit consumer power.
The new proposed rule would tighten requirements for water heaters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Business Partner Comes Clean, Will Confirm Joe Biden’s Involvement in Hunter’s Business Deals
Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer will blow the whistle and testify to Congress against his longtime friend’s family.
Archer is planning to confirm to Congress details regarding Joe Biden’s involvement in Hunter’s shady dealings.
Archer will testify to Congress that Hunter would dial in his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone into meetings with his overseas business partners.
Archer is facing prison for his role in a $60 million bond fraud scheme.
He is scheduled to testify to the House Oversight Committee about meetings that were attended by Joe Biden either in person or via speakerphone.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin to Send Another $400 Million to Ukraine for War Effort
The US intends to send another military aid package for Ukraine worth up to $400 million. The package is expected to include artillery, air defense missiles, and ground vehicles in an effort to support Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
The announcement could happen as soon as Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The assistance package would be the 43rd approved package the US has sent to Ukraine since the conflict began in February 2022. The total cost amounts to more than $41 billion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Divers have found the body of a paddleboarder who went missing in the water off Martha’s Vineyard — that backs on to Barack Obama’s sprawling $12million estate.
The 43-year-old vanished on Sunday evening while he was out with another paddleboarder on Edgartown Great Pond, Massachusetts, and emergency crews were dispatched to Obama’s residence.
Witnesses told cops the man went underwater and then briefly reappeared as he struggled to stay afloat, before submerging again around 7.46pm.
A massive joint-agency search resumed Monday morning for the African American male who was last seen wearing all black without a lifejacket, MV Times reported.
His paddle board and hat were recovered Sunday — and his body was found in the eight-foot-deep waters approximately 100 feet away from shore at 10am Monday.
The dispatch address for the incident came from Obama’s Martha’s waterfront Vineyard home. It is unclear if the former president, 61, is currently staying at the estate.
| — Hat tip: Conservative Tree House | [Return to headlines] |
On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” CNN Senior National Correspondent Kyung Lah reported on crime in San Francisco and said she witnessed three instances of theft in one Walgreens location in the city in a 30-minute time period and noted that stores are having to lock up items like frozen food, coffee, and lotion.
Lah said that retail theft is “So typical that in the 30 minutes we were at this Walgreens, we watched three people — including this man — steal.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Offers Hunter Biden Investigator for Testimony Before the House
The Department of Justice is offering U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who led its investigation into Hunter Biden, for testimony before the House of Representatives after House Republicans demanded he, and more than a dozen other officials, appear for interviews.
In a Monday letter obtained by Fox, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that the DOJ has accepted the offer for Weiss to testify “at a public hearing before the committee.”
“The Department is ready to offer U.S. Attorney Weiss to testify shortly after Congress returns from the August district work period,” the letter reads.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Members of Seattle’s SWAT team took a man into custody who barricaded himself inside a homeless shelter in the Interbay neighborhood and held two staff members captive on Tuesday afternoon, threatening them with sexual violence.
According to court documents obtained by The Post Millennial, the suspect, Michael Glenn Stanley, 49, allegedly barricaded the door of his case worker’s office at the Department of Emergency Service’s Interbay Place facility on 15th Ave W. with a chair and prevented the victims, identified as ES, his caseworker, and HM from leaving, as well as staff and police from entering.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FBI ‘Still Analyzing’ Another Killer’s Manifesto the Public Will Likely Never See
The gunman who opened fire during a Lunar New Year celebration near Los Angeles in January, killing 11 people and injuring others, sent writings to law enforcement, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
When asked whether authorities had discovered a motive in the Monterey Park attack, Luna said the gunman, Huu Can Tran, had sent a “manifesto” to law enforcement that was still being examined.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Forced Release of Clinical Trial Data Raises ‘Serious Doubt’ About COVID Vaccine Safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been forced to release thousands of pages of data related to the clinical trials of mRNA Covid vaccines.
Conservative public interest advocacy group Defending the Republic (DTR) has obtained almost 15,000 pages of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial data.
The organization is now warning that the data shows an “utter lack of thoroughness” of the trials and calls the vaccine’s safety into “serious doubt.”
The group obtained the documents as a result of successful Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation against the FDA.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google Tests AI Tool to ‘Help’ Journalists Write News Articles
Google has reportedly been testing an AI-powered technology that will automate the production of news content, and probably put thousands of NPC journalists out of a job.
Known internally as “Genesis,” the new project aims to collaborate with organizations such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and News Corp, according to the NY Times, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
The Genesis AI tool possesses the capability to assimilate vast amounts of data, including current events and intricate details, and generate comprehensive news articles, the sources revealed. This development has ignited fervent debates over the future of journalism and the role of AI technology in shaping the news landscape.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EVERETT, Mass. — A gun control bill before the Massachusetts legislature has a long-time self-defense trainer on edge, concerned that it will create daunting regulations for law-abiding firearm owners.
“What the gun owners in this state need to know is that if this law passes, we are all in jeopardy of becoming criminals,” Tom Cheffro, who owns Boston Firearms in Everett, Massachusetts, told Fox News.
An Act of Modernizing Firearms Laws, introduced last month, will require mandatory registration of all firearms and feeding devices, ban people under 21 from purchasing or carrying semi-automatic shotguns and rifles and prohibit firearm carrying on private property unless there is expressed permission.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hazy Skies as Canadian Wildfire Smoke Builds Into Alaska
Wildfire smoke shouldn’t reduce air quality, with hazier skies expected in the Copper River Basin
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) — We’re coming off an exceptional weekend of beautiful weather across Southcentral. Sunny to mostly sunny skies have been with us, with the introduction of hazy skies Sunday for the region. This haze comes as wildfire smoke catches a ride on the upper-level winds, which is spreading haze through Southcentral, the Interior and along parts of the Slope. While one shouldn’t smell any of the smoke, it will provide vibrant sunrises and sunsets in areas where the skies are clearer. The hazy conditions look to linger through the middle of the week, with a bit more cloud coverage and cooler conditions by week’s end.
We’ll see an extension of the beautiful weather from the weekend, as high pressure to our south influences our weather. Daily highs will warm into the upper 60s and lower 70s, with some diurnally driven showers and storms. This activity will primarily impact the Copper River Basin and the foothills of the Talkeetna Mountains. The warmest place across Southcentral will be through the basin, where temperatures could warm into the lower 80s. There is cause for concern throughout the day, as hot and dry conditions could lead to fire weather conditions throughout the day. Add thunderstorms into the mix, and the wildfire threat will increase into the evening hours.
Not only are there wildfire concerns for parts of Southcentral, but hot and dry conditions remain throughout the Interior. Many areas could once again top out in the upper 80s and lower 90s, with a chance for thunderstorms into the afternoon and evening. While dry lightning strikes don’t look likely, any wet thunderstorms could still lead to the potential for wildfire concerns.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Hunter Biden Sold Art to a Dem Donor Who Joe Biden Appointed to a Prestigious Commission
Despite President Joe Biden claiming there would be an “absolute wall” between his official duties and his family’s business dealings, a new report from Insider showed Joe told another fib.
Hunter Biden did learn the identity of two buyers of his art and you will not be surprised to learn that one of them got a favor from the Biden White House.
The buyer is Dem donor, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Los Angeles real estate investor and philanthropist. In July 2022, eight months after Hunter Biden’s first art opening, Joe Biden announced Hirsh Naftali’s appointment to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Longtime Lowes Employee Reinstated After Being Fired for Attempting to Stop Shoplifters
Donna Hansbrough, the 68-year-old Lowes employee who was fired for violating the company’s policy on stopping the theft of merchandise was reinstated earlier today.
In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, Lowes spokesperson said Hansbrough accepted the offer to return.
“After senior management became aware of the incident and spoke to Donna Hansbrough today, we are reinstating her job, and we are pleased that she has accepted the offer to return to Lowe’s. First and foremost, there’s nothing more important than the safety of our customers and associates. Products can be replaced; people cannot. We continue to work closely with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those who are responsible for this theft and violent attack,” the statement read.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
McCarthy Calls on Supreme Court to ‘Rein in’ Administrative State in Upcoming Case
Republicans in Congress including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA) backed amicus briefs Monday calling on the Supreme Court to unwind a landmark precedent that gives the federal government broad authority to interpret laws.
In the upcoming high court term, the justices will weigh a case known as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Gina Raimondo, which asks the justices to pare back the 1984 high court Chevron deference, which tells courts to defer to agency’s interpretations of statutes when the language written in them is ambiguous or vague.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Employee Dies Paddle Boarding Near Former President’s Martha’s Vineyard Home
The Obamas called Tafari Campbell, 45, “a beloved part of our family.” He was a sous chef at the White House and then stayed on with the family.
An employee of former President Barack Obama died while paddle boarding near the family’s Martha’s Vineyard residence, state police and the Obamas said Monday.
Tafari Campbell, 45, went missing around 7:45 p.m. Sunday on Edgartown Great Pond, Massachusetts State Police said.
Divers recovered his body in about 8 feet of water around 100 feet from shore just before 10 a.m. Monday, state police said.
The former president and his wife Michelle Obama said Campbell “was a beloved part of our family.”
“When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House — creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together,” they said in a statement Monday. “In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter.”
When the family left the White House, they asked Campbell to stay with them, and he agreed, the Obamas said.
“He’s been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone,” they said in the statement. “Today we join everyone who knew and loved Tafari — especially his wife Sherise and their twin boys, Xavier and Savin — in grieving the loss of a truly wonderful man.”
The Obamas were not at the Martha’s Vineyard residence when the accident occurred, state police said.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Chef ID’d as Paddleboarder Who Drowned Near Former President’s Martha’s Vineyard Estate
A paddleboarder who drowned near former President Barack Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard estate has been identified as Tafari Campbell, the Obamas’ personal chef.
Campbell, 45, of Dumfries, Virginia, was recovered Monday morning a day after disappearing in the waters of Edgartown Great Pond on Martha’s Vineyard.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ousted Soros-Backed Prosecutor Rakes in $210,000 at UC Berkeley
Former San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin is earning $210,000 a year to run a legal clinic at the University of California, Berkeley.
Boudin, who was one of many liberal prosecutors across the country who received support from billionaire megadonor George Soros, was recalled from office last year amid an increase in crime in San Francisco that was partly blamed on his office’s decision to avoid prosecuting certain crimes and seek lighter sentences that did not involve jail time.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Chinese Influence Campaign Promoted Protsts in Washington, Researchers Say
(CNN) — A Chinese marketing firm likely organized and promoted protests in Washington last year as part of a wide-ranging pro-Beijing influence campaign, according to new research.
The Chinese firm also used a network of over 70 fake news websites to promote pro-China content in an example of the more aggressive efforts by pro-China operatives to influence US political debate in recent years, according to security firm Mandiant, which analyzed the activity.
One of the protests was against a US government ban on goods produced in China’s Xinjiang region, where US officials have accused the Chinese government of systematic repression of the Uyghurs. The other protest was on the sidelines of a June conference on international religious freedom, Mandiant said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Proposed Ballot Measure Mandates Violent Offenders Serve Most of Prison Time Prior to Parole
DENVER —A man known for putting taxpayer protection initiatives on the Colorado ballot has shifted to criminal justice matters, saying the state legislature won’t do anything to get the criminals off the street, so he’s decided to take it to the people.
Michael Fields, President of Advance Colorado is currently pursuing a ballot initiative for 2024 that would mandate violent offenders serve a large percentage of their sentence before being released back into the public.
Fields said his initiative is the result of a 2021 crime in which Kenneth Dean Lee was arrested for impersonating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent to an Aurora family and then sexually assaulting their 7-year-old daughter while they were in the home.
At the time of his arrest, Lee was on parole for similar crimes he committed a decade earlier. For those crimes, Lee was sentenced to 23 years to life but was released after serving nine and half years, or just 40 percent of his sentence.
If passed, Initiative 71 — which it is known as for now — would force violent offenders to serve most of their sentences, possibly lowering the recidivism rates and reducing crime in Colorado, Fields said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
RFK Jr. Calls for Investigation Into Biden Bribery Scheme Allegations
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is calling for a full investigation into Joe Biden over allegations that the Democrat president and his family have been involved in an international bribery scheme.
RFK Jr. made the calls during a new interview where he discussed the explosive release of the FBI’s FD-1023 document that details the allegations against the Bidens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Santa Barbara Newspaper Goes Belly-Up After 168 Years in Print
The longest-standing newspaper in Southern California, the Santa Barbara News-Press, filed for bankruptcy on Friday. The paper has been running for 168 years.
The more than century-and-a-half-old newspaper filed for bankruptcy on Friday through a Chapter 7 filing submitted by Ampersand Publishing, LLC, according to the Santa Barbara Independent. Thomas M. Stroke of the News-Press was the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1962 a series of editorials exposing the John Birch Society.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Some politicians seem either unwilling or unable to pick a lane: are they pro, or against censorship?
In other words, they’re dedicated to trying to eat their cake and have it, too. Take Democrat Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, who on one hand wants to silence people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK), and on the other, complains when faced with criticism of advancing censorship.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
by Robert Epstein
Big Tech companies are deliberately manipulating the outcomes of our elections and the thinking and beliefs of our children. And they are having an enormous impact.
If you doubt that, consider this latest snippet of data from my lab, the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT).
Consider this: The GOP currently has a slim 10-seat majority in the House of Representatives. Without Google’s interference in 2022, it would likely now have a majority of more than three times that size.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Users Up in Arms After Musk’s ‘X’ Name Change: ‘Rip Twitter’
Some Twitter users are complaining after billionaire Elon Musk changed Twitter’s name, and thousands of visitors to Twitter.com were greeted by a new black-and-white “X” logo early Monday morning.
In a highly publicized attempt at rebranding, Twitter has changed its name to “X,” with Musk himself changing his profile picture on the platform to the new logo, and telling users that eventually “all” the iconic blue birds long associated with Twitter will disappear from the site.
Twitter’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, defended the decision in a series of posts Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Walls close on in President Joe Biden as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre changed the official story about Joe and Hunter. She now says Joe “was never in business with his son.”
Megyn Kelly broke down the changing story: “Aug 2019: Biden: “I have never discussed, w/my son or my brother … anything having to do w/their businesses.”
“Sep 2019: Biden: I have “never spoken” to Hunter about his “overseas business dealings. 2022: WH press sec Psaki is asked: Does the President stand by that claim? “Yes.”
“6/2023: Biden is asked, “Did you lie about never speaking to Hunter about his business dealings?” A: “No”
Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, noted the change in Jean-Pierre’s story of the Biden family corruption.
He said: “White House @PressSec says Biden “was never in business with his son” but does not actually say whether he was put on speakerphone when Hunter was conducting business and introduced to partners.”
Eric Schmitt, United States Senator for Missouri, said: “Very precise statement. Almost like it’s from his lawyers.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Toronto Principal Killed Himself After Being Singled Out During DEI Training
This story was already being cited as cause for concern about corporate DEI training even before last week when it took an even darker turn. Earlier this month the National Post reported that retired Toronto principal Richard Bilkszto was suing the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) over the treatment he received during diversity training sessions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Conservatives Oppose EU’s ‘Scandalous’ Planned Expansion of Ukraine Funding
The European Union’s desire to increase budget contributions from member states to continue funding Ukraine’s drawn-out conflict with Russia is scandalous, the conservative Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) has claimed.
Prominent FPÖ politicians sharply criticized the Austrian government for supporting the pro-war efforts in Brussels. Petra Steger, the party’s spokesperson on European affairs, insisted the European Union should not be fueling the conflict by providing an endless supply of military and financial support to Ukraine, and should instead be promoting peace talks in the region.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Tries to Justify Support for Scanning Private Messages With Manipulative Public Poll Results
Recent findings from a poll conducted by the EU Department of the Interior DG Home via the Eurobarometer platform have drawn criticism for their alleged manipulation of public opinion in favor of total chat control. Advocates for privacy, such as European MEP Patrick Breyer, claim that the presented results do not truly represent the desires of the EU populace.
The crux of the controversy revolves around the nature of the questions posed to the respondents. The poll primarily inquired whether automatic detection of online child sexual abuse content should be mandatory—a proposition that a large majority of respondents endorsed. However, privacy proponents argue that these queries were misleading, as respondents weren’t clearly informed that the proposed measures included the universal scrutiny of private messages via fallible algorithms, and effectively end privacy for all.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Lobbying Blamed for Lease of ‘Needless’ Building in Strasbourg
A decision by the European Parliament’s budget committee to approve the rental of a new building in Strasbourg has left-wing and federalist MEPs complaining of excessive EU waste. The whole transaction has been blamed on a French desire to influence EU decision-making.
French MEPs were crucial in securing the 26 to 11 vote in the committee Wednesday, July 19th, to rent 15,000 square metres of office space from French local authorities in Strasbourg as part of a 99-year lease after Parliament refused to purchase the building in question outright.
The decision has been labelled as almost entirely needless by many MEPs, while French authorities are heavily subsidising the building to secure its location on French soil.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Child Abuse Survivor Sues Meta for Scanning Messages
In a landmark legal challenge, a survivor of child sexual abuse from Bavaria has teamed up with the German Society for Civil Liberties (GFF) to contest Meta’s policy of scanning private messages.
The plaintiff, Schneider (pseudonym), aims to secure a safe and private space for dialogue with fellow survivors without the threat of their communications being deemed suspicious by Meta’s algorithms.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Merz Open to CDU-AfD Cooperation at Local Level
CDU leader Friedrich Merz in an interview over the weekend stated that he is open to doing away with the Brandmauer or firewall against the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and cooperating with the party at the local level, prompting a sharp rebuke from politicians inside and outside his party.
In a “summer interview,” aired on Sunday, July 23rd, by the public broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Merz, who assumed the leadership of the liberal-establishment Christian Democratic Union (CDU) a year and a half ago, shocked everyone when he announced the dismantling of the firewall—at least at the local level—against the AfD that he had previously pledged to uphold no matter what.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Shootings Up 31%, Stabbings Up 24% as Violent Crime Soars in Hamburg
Violent crime on the streets of Hamburg has reached unprecedented levels according to the latest figures from the state’s interior ministry.
In the first half of 2023, there were 193 reported stabbings across the city, up 23.7 percent from the 156 reported in the same period of 2022.
The number of shootings also soared, up 30.9 percent from 55 to 72 from January to the end of June.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Advances Armed Forces With Purchase of Cutting-Edge Kamikaze Drones
Hungary’s Defense Minister, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, revealed plans to enhance the country’s armed forces by acquiring advanced loitering munitions. Speaking at a summer university event in central Romania, he emphasized that the modern “kamikaze drones” are equipped with cutting-edge technology and exceptional precision, allowing them to be called back if no target is present, reports About Hungary.
Minister Szalay-Bobrovniczky expressed satisfaction with Hungary’s military progress, as the country continues to replace outdated Soviet technology with state-of-the-art alternatives. He highlighted that the development of the armed forces is now following a German-French direction. In recent years, Hungary has been a significant customer of Germany’s military industry, spending approximately one billion euros on purchases.
The decision to purchase German-Israeli loitering munitions was influenced by the insights gained from the war in Ukraine. To facilitate this acquisition, Hungary will collaborate with Germany’s Rheinmetall-UVision to obtain the recallable drones.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary May Leave EU — Former Banking Chief
Leaving the European Union may soon become “a real alternative” for Hungary, the former governor of the Hungarian National Bank claimed in a television interview on Sunday.
Speaking on Hungary’s ATV network, Andras Simor said that while a Brexit-style departure from the bloc is an unlikely scenario, “it is a possible one.”
“It’s probability,” he explained. “If it was 10% last year, by now it has risen to 20%, to 30%.”
Citing the country’s rising inflation rate and the EU’s withholding of $30 billion in funding to Budapest, Simor stated that he is “afraid that Hungary’s government will maneuver the country into a situation where an exit from the European Union becomes a real alternative.”
Although Hungary is a net beneficiary of EU aid, much of this assistance has remained frozen for several years, with officials in Brussels citing Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s hardline anti-immigration policies and alleged crackdown on judicial independence and media freedoms as reasons for the holdup.
While Orban’s government successfully gained access to some of this money by lifting a veto on EU economic aid for Ukraine last year, the Hungarian PM has continued his criticism of the bloc’s support for Kiev. Orban has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, and accused “pro-war Brussels bureaucrats” of stoking conflict with Russia “at the expense of European interests.”
Orban’s disagreements with the EU go beyond the realm of geopolitics. Speaking at a youth event in Romania on Saturday, he declared that the bloc “rejects Christian heritage, carries out the replacement of its population via migration… and conducts an LGBTQ offensive” against conservative societies.
Despite his regular broadsides against Brussels, Orban has repeatedly dismissed the idea of leaving the EU. Polls taken since the 2016 Brexit referendum have consistently found high public support for staying in the bloc, although a recent Eurobarometer survey recorded a 12-point drop in those with a “positive image” of the EU, with only 39% now viewing the union favorably.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian PM Orban Claims Czechia Has Been Lost to the EU Federalists
The Czech government has issued a response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after he accused Czechia of abandoning the Visegrad Group and getting into bed with the EU federalists.
In his keynote speech at a Hungarian summer university in Tusnadfürdo, Transylvania, on Saturday, Orban lamented the demise of the Visegrad alliance, which he believes has become fractured, evidenced by both the split in the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine and also the controversial migration pact proposed by Brussels.
“The European federalists launched an attack against the Visegrad four, and we can all see the result,” Orban told attendees.
“The Czechs have essentially switched sides, and Slovakia is wobbly. Only the Poles and the Hungarians are holding out,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: XR Demonstration at the Torentje in the Hague, Three Activists Taken Away by Police
Three protesters from Extinction Rebellion (XR) demonstrated briefly near the Torentje in The Hague early Saturday evening. They stood in and near the water of the Hofvijver Lake to draw attention to global warming. An XR spokesman said the protesters were taken out of the water by the police within minutes. They were detained by the police for trespassing, AD reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Trend: The Number of Rent Defaulters in the Czech Republic is Increasing
Landlords are running out of patience: in the Czech Republic, the number of people who cannot afford to pay rent is increasing. In some areas, the number of debtors has multiplied compared to last year.
This reflects the worsening economic situation and problematic aspects of rental relationships. Rental housing in the Czech Republic is still secondary compared to ownership but interest in it has started to grow in the context of the crisis and inaccessibility of mortgage loans. And with it, rental prices began to rise, which is likely to continue due to the increase in property tax. The problem lies in the relationship between tenants and landlords. Tenants often face a chain of annual contracts, which does not give them much confidence in the future, while landlords face property damage or inability to evict defaulters. Recently, the number of such tenants has increased significantly. According to the Idealni najemce (“Ideal Tenant”) service, the number of defaulters increased by 11% in the last quarter of the previous year, and in January 2023 — by 34%.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Orban: World in a Dangerous Place as Top Superpower Senses Its Slide Into 2nd Pace
The European Union has rejected its Christian heritage, is carrying out a population swap, and is conducting an LGBTQ campaign the Hungarian prime minister said in his speech in Transylvania. “Day by day we are moving towards a clash in world politics because the number one superpower senses it is sinking into second place.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
With 97% of the votes counted, Spain’s political Right is ahead of the Left but may still be unable to form a government.
At 11:30 Sunday night, the ruling socialists, Partido Socialista Obero Español, were 14 seats behind the centre-right Partido Popular.
The conservative VOX obtained 33 seats, 19 less than in the previous elections.
The PSOE’s ally, Sumar, has won 31 seats.
The absolute majority is 176 seats in the 350-seat congress of deputies, which elects the president and his accompanying cabinet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
While the leftist media has rounded on Sound of Freedom as some kind of QAnon production for being about combatting international child trafficking, Vox went one further by declaring that the movie is “as dangerous” as the practice of child trafficking itself.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Coup Rumours Against PP Leader Alberto Feijóo After Poor Election Results
The leader of Spain’s conservative Partido Popular (PP) Alberto Feijóo is facing internal pressure from the right of his party to resign after failing to secure a working majority in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
Both PP and the nationalist VOX party seriously underperformed in the weekend vote which saw a stronger-than-expected showing for incumbent socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his PSOE Party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Swedish court on Monday fined climate activist Greta Thunberg for disobeying police during an environmental protest at an oil facility last month. Thunberg, 20, admitted to the facts but denied guilt, saying the fight against the fossil fuel industry was a form of self-defense due to the existential and global threat of the climate crisis.
“We cannot save the world by playing by the rules,” she told journalists after hearing the verdict, vowing she would “definitely not” back down.
The sentencing appeared to have little effect on her determination — just a few hours later, Thunberg and activists from the Reclaim the Future movement returned to an oil terminal in the southern Swedish city of Malmö to stage to another roadblock. A photo then showed her being carried away by police officers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Leader of Norway’s Parliamentary Party Has Resigned After Stealing Sunglasses
Bjørnar Moxnes, the leader of Norway’s left-wing parliamentary party Rødt, is stepping down from his post.
It became known earlier that he had stolen Hugo Boss sunglasses at the Oslo airport. In a Facebook post, Moxnes wrote that he will continue to remain a member of the Rødt party and a parliament deputy.
“I also want to do everything in my power so that members and union representatives across the country could talk about politics,” he wrote. Moxnes took sick leave on July 3, three days after it became known that he was caught stealing Hugo Boss sunglasses at the Oslo airport.
The theft occurred on June 16 of this year when Moxnes was on a private trip. He himself stated that he forgot that he took the glasses from the store, while the police believe that he stole the glasses intentionally.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trucker in Germany Drags Radical Climate Protester With Vehicle During Brutal Confrontation
A 41-year-old trucker in Germany got into a brutal confrontation with radical climate protesters, dragging them each to the side of the road and later dragging a protester forward using his vehicle.
Climate activists from the Letzte Generation — “The Last Generation” — have been staging protests, blocking major roads and highways and even causing airplane delays. The protesters, who wear a uniform of orange vests, have worn down the public’s patience after the frequent delays — some lasting hours.
A trucker’s encounter with the activists at a roadway — the Heinrich-Heine-Ring — an intersection in Stralsund used by 20,000 drivers daily went viral. It showed a man emerge from his truck, slam the door and charge at the activists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two Protesters Burn Koran in Front of Iraqi Embassy in Denmark
Two protesters set fire to a copy of the Koran, Islam’s holy book, in front of the Iraqi embassy in the Danish capital on Monday, risking a further deterioration of relations between the two countries.
Protests have raged across Iran and Iraq after Denmark and Sweden allowed the burning of the Koran under rules protecting free speech. Protesters in Iraq set alight the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday.
The two protesters were from a group that calls itself “Danish Patriots”, which held a similar demonstration last week and live-streamed the events on Facebook.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
This whole saga represents a stunning victory for Farage and the right to banking.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Anjem Choudary Charged With Three Terror Offences by London’s Met Police
Pakistani-British Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary has been charged with three terror offences, including leading a terrorist organisation, London’s Metropolitan Police revealed on Monday.
Choudary, 56, who was arrested at his home in Ilford, London last week, was charged with three offences under the Terrorism Act of 2000 on Sunday. The charges include directing a terrorist organisation, being a member of a proscribed organisation, and encouraging support for a proscribed organisation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Counter-Protesters Disrupt Just Stop Oil Banquet With Rape Alarms
Counter-protesters in London disrupted Just Stop Oil’s “Beyond F***** Banquet” on Sunday night by setting off rape alarms hidden inside balloons as climate activists were gathered in a church to “step back, grieve for what will die and disappear but also to celebrate what we have achieved”.
The counter-protesters, billing themselves as “Just Stop Pissing Everyone Off” — a small group of UK YouTubers—crashed the banquet, claiming to have an undercover mole in the group. YouTubers Josh Pieters and Archie Manners say they are protesting Just Stop Oil because of the public rage the group is engendering.
In an interview with the MailOnline on Sunday, Manners reportedly said: “Climate Change is the greatest crisis facing our generation — but if we’re going to solve it we need to work together. JSO’s tactics over the last 18 months haven’t worked; indeed people across the country are put off this vital cause as a result of their protesting.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Partnership With Algeria Set to Unsettle North African Geopolitics
Beijing is deepening its influence in North Africa after Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune signed a cooperation agreement on defence and investment with Chinese President Xi Jinping after a week-long state visit to China.
Both Algeria and China have strong historic ties, going back to Algeria’s national liberation struggle in the 1950s, which the Chinese Communist Party supported to the tune of billions in structural funds through the years.
President Tebboune was quoted in the Algerian media as saying that China would invest $36 billion into multiple economic sectors across Algeria, including transport and manufacturing, after the North African leader agreed to a strategic partnership with China to increase military cooperation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Parliament Approves Key Part of Judicial Overhaul Amid Protests
Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved a key portion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s divisive plan to reshape the country’s justice system despite massive protests that have exposed unprecedented fissures in Israeli society.
The vote came after a stormy session in which opposition lawmakers chanted “shame” and then stormed out of the chamber. Mass demonstrations erupted outside the parliament building in Jerusalem and in central Tel Aviv after the vote.
It reflected the determination of Netanyahu and his far-right allies to move ahead with the plan, which has tested the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattled the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawn concern from its closest ally, the United States.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Israeli Official Orders German Abbot to Hide His Cross While Visiting Western Wall
Viral video shows a Catholic German abbot being ordered by an Israeli official to hide his cross while visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Bans Companies From Advertising on Twitter
Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority has delivered a blow to free speech by enforcing a ban that inhibits Turkish citizens and corporations from placing ads on Twitter. The move is a reaction to Twitter’s failure to comply with a contentious digital law that requires the appointment of an official representative to oversee censorship on the platform.
The BTK’s resolution against “X Corp. formerly known as Twitter, Inc” has prohibited any new ads from “natural and legal persons.” This decision was published in the Official Gazette, following the company’s non-compliance with Turkey’s new digital law adopted in 2022.
This digital law, which has drawn widespread condemnation has ignited a controversy over increased government control and censorship on social media platforms. Critics argue that the legislation amounts to an assault on digital free speech.
Under the new law, social media companies are obliged to designate official representatives within Turkey. These individuals would be accountable for processing government demands and notifications, which would predominantly encompass requests for content removal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moscow Struck by Ukrainian Drones, Says Russia
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on Moscow early Monday that saw one of the aircraft fall near the Defense Ministry’s main headquarters, while the Russian military unleashed new strikes on port infrastructure in southern Ukraine.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties when the drones struck two nonresidential buildings in Moscow. Separately, a Ukrainian drone struck an ammunition depot in Russian-annexed Crimea, forcing a halt in traffic on a major highway, Russian authorities said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Outcry After Missile Damages Odesa’s Historic Cathedral
Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa the night of July 22nd hit several cultural sites, killed one person, and injured 22 civilians, provoking Kyiv’s anger.
The Saturday night strikes hit the historic Cathedral of the Holy Transfiguration, and images of the resulting damage quickly went viral.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Red Cross Admits Taking Ukrainian Children to Belarus
Evidence is mounting that Ukrainian children who reside in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine are being taken out of their country.
The head of the Belarus Red Cross told Belarusian state television earlier this week that the organisation is bringing Ukrainian children across the border into Belarus for “rehabilitation.”
Belarus is a close ally of Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
This fall, Russian children will return to the classroom for lessons in the usual subjects like math and science, as well as a few unusual ones, such as how to operate combat drones.
Lessons in drone warfare will join others on hand grenade skills and assault rifle training as part of a “Basics of Life Safety” syllabus for year 10 and 11 students, the UK Ministry of Defense said Monday. The drone lessons will be focused heavily on “how to conduct terrain reconnaissance and ways to counter enemy uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs),” according to the report.
Elementary school kids aren’t going to become proficient in combat drone operations though. These classes are not really about that. It’s likely less of an effort to “develop genuine capability” in students than it is to “cultivate a culture of militarized patriotism,” the ministry said.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Claims Explosives Were on a Cargo Ship Collecting Grain From Ukraine
Ships travelling to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports are now considered as potential military targets
Russia’s FSB security service has alleged it found traces of explosives on a cargo ship travelling to Ukraine to pick up grain, less than a week after Moscow pulled out of a deal allowing for the global export of cereals from the war-torn region.
The unnamed vessel may have been used to deliver explosives to Ukraine, where it had docked two months earlier, the service claimed, but did not offer further evidence.
The ship was stopped and searched in the Kerch Strait where it was heading from Turkey to Rostov-on-Don.
The allegation came after Russia said ships travelling to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports will be considered as potential military targets, claiming they are being used to transport war equipment. Ukraine later issued a similar warning against Russian cargo vessels.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko reportedly told Vladimir Putin on Sunday that mercenaries from the Wagner Group now stationed in Belarus “are keen to take a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszów” to take revenge for Poland’s military help to Ukraine, according to reports in the Polish media.
The pair met in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg over the weekend, and Lukashenko brought with him a map showing the deployment of Polish troops, which he argued proved Poland was preparing to attack Belarus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Aashifa, an 18-year-old woman who lived in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, had eloped with her partner Chand Babu. But, her brother Riyaz disliked the match and brutally murdered his sister.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
On realising that a mobile camera was placed inside the toilet, Hindu students picked up a fight with Muslim community for their shameful activities to tarnish the modesty of women….
ladies_toilet_sign1B Upendran | HENB | Mangaluru | July 23, 2023:: Close on the heels of the detection of a mobile camera in the toilet of a private eye hospital and nursing home, as alleged, three Muslim girl students were placed under suspension in Udupi recently. The accused Muslim girls tried to capture the nude scene or otherwise for sharing those to their Muslim boyfriends to exploit the Hindu girls in a truce of blackmail. The eye hospital also offers optometry courses for intending students.
The startling incident surfaced in Udupi of Karnataka. Three Female Muslim students Alimatul Shaifa, Shabanaz & Aliya of the prestigious Netra Jyothi College put spy cameras in Hindu girls’ toilets, recorded Hindu girls showering and using toilets, and shared those with Muslim men.
100s of Hindu girls’ lives were ruined by these Muslim girls and many Hindu victims committed suicide as per reports and as picturized in the Film, “The Kerala Story” and the present inputs could be a part of the film as a real story of it. Muslim girls are now a definite part of ‘Love Jihad’, ‘Forced Conversion’, and ‘Islamic Nikah (marriage)’ and are obviously posed as dangerous and deceitful friends of their Hindu counterparts.
In this way, Muslim male youths are taking the help of Muslim girls and women to exploit the Hindu girls to ease the ‘Love Jihad’ or ‘Forced Conversion’ through psychological trauma and torture.
According to sources in the hospital, the girl students of the Muslim community had placed a mobile camera in the toilet to take pictures of girl students from the Hindu faith. The pictures of girls taken inside the toilet were circulated on a WhatsApp group, as alleged.
On realizing that a mobile camera was placed inside the toilet, students from the Hindu community picked up a fight with Muslim girls to protest the heinous work to tarnish the modesty of women.
Interestingly, the three accused Muslim girls took part in the Hijab row in Karnataka (for the use and promotion of Burka and Hijab in the educational institutions) are now found connected with the videography of nude scenes of Hindu girls in the toilet by a hidden way…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
China to Wage War on America From the Arctic
This month, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported that the Shanghai-based Polar Research Institute of China revealed that “China has completed the field testing and evaluation of an underwater listening device that will be deployed on a large scale in the Arctic Ocean.”
The innocuous-sounding report tells us that China intends to wage war against the United States and Canada from the Arctic.
China had installed the “polar subglacial shallow surface acoustic monitoring buoy system” on floating ice in the Arctic on August 9, 2021. Information obtained by the device was uplinked to Chinese satellites.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The funds were awarded via the Australian Office of National Intelligence and their Department of Defense to give ‘Australia a significant strategic advantage’ in AI and tech
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
AGL, Origin Energy, Energy Australia Increase Prices: What it Means for You
Millions of Australians will pay more for their power bills in yet another cost of living blow with energy prices surging by up to 50 per cent in some states.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Tony Abbott has slammed Anthony Albanese for wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words ‘Voice, Truth, Treaty’ despite previously claiming the Voice to Parliament wasn’t about a treaty.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
CFMEU Calls for Labor to Introduce a Tax on Big Business to Pay for Social and Affordable Housing
The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining And Energy Union national secretary Zach Smith will outline his reforms for an economy-wide super profits tax at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
City Mural Aims to Paint a Picture of Assange’s Plight
Imprisoned Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been immortalised in a Sydney graffiti mural in a bid to boost awareness of his long-running fight for freedom.
The mural, sprayed on the side of a building on George Street in the CBD, shows a bronze-faced Assange above the words “#Free Assange”.
Street artist Scott Marsh, known for controversial murals including of former prime minister Tony Abbott, is due to complete the work on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CommSec has rated Victoria as Australia’s worst performing state on economics just days after Premier Daniel Andrews cancelled the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Indigenous Voice to Parliament Debate: Jacinta Price Takes Brutal Swipe at Victoria Over Yes Support
Senator Jacinta Price radio in Melbourne on Monday that Victoria was a state where ‘everything is about ideology and not common sense’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Narre Warren-based residential builder Kleev Homes Pty Ltd quietly went into liquidation with $3.3 million in debts earlier this month in Melbourne.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The company was based in inner-city Footscray and its staff boasted about surrounding themselves ‘with a team of experts that work’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Two Million Australians Could Have Their Rent Frozen for Two Years
Victoria’s Daniel Andrews has declared he is open to the idea of a two-year rent freeze. The Labor premier is the first state leader to agree with the Greens on a radical plan to address the rental crisis
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Shabaab Suicide Bomber Kills 20 Soldiers in Somalia
A suicide bomber on Monday struck a military training camp in the Somalian capital Mogadishu, killing at least 20 soldiers, officials said.
The attack at the Jaalle Siyad Military Academy was swiftly claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group.
“Over 20 people were killed in the explosion,” Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, a member of the Somali parliament told AFP.
“The victims were not ordinary youths, they were servicemen who stood to defend their country from the terrorists,” Moalimu said, adding that he felt “pity about the tragedy”.
Another legislator, who asked not to be named, said the toll stood at 27 with nearly 60 others wounded.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Cameroon to Flood Its Largest City With Mass Surveillance
In a remarkable development from Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, the implementation of an extensive facial recognition video surveillance program has begun, according to recent reports.
The program consists of an impressive assembly of over 3,000 surveillance cameras, and 95 base stations, along with two central control centers and eight regional centers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria Tanker Explosion Leaves 8 People Burned to Death
Victims died while attempting to extract highly sought-after fuel from tanker
A tanker exploded in Nigeria’s southern Ondo state on Monday, burning eight people to death, the road safety agency said.
The tanker was carrying gasoline and exploded while the victims were trying to extract the much sought-after fuel, according to Ezekiel Sonallah, head of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Ondo.
Sonallah said the driver lost control of the tanker on Sunday and veered off the road and crashed in Ondo’s Odigbo district. Both the driver and his assistant escaped unscathed. He said that the “problem was the scooping,” hinting it was the reason for the explosion.
Authorities said all the victims were burned beyond recognition and couldn’t be identified.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Video Shows Moment Suspected Gas Explosion Rocks Major City During Rush Hour, Killing 1
A suspected gas explosion rocked South Africa’s largest city on Wednesday, leaving at least 1 person dead and dozens injured.
Authorities in Johannesburg are investigating the cause of an explosion that resulted in the death of a man whose body was found by firefighters underneath a vehicle.
In addition to the man’s death, at least 48 people are said to have been injured.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Attacks Continue on Polish Border Guards by Migrants at the Border With Belarus
A Polish border guard was injured in an attack by illegal migrants on Saturday during another restless day at the Polish-Belarusian border.
The Polish Border Guard reported 78 illegal border crossing attempts on Saturday and another 54 attempts on Sunday as border officials continue to repel illegal migrants flown into Minsk who trek to the Polish border in a bid to reach the European Union.
Every day, attempts of illegal entry are reported and incidents involving migrant attacks on Polish servicemen also occur.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Biden Admin Sues Texas for Protecting National Border Where White House Has Failed
On Monday, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice announced that it would be taking Texas to court over floating razor wire barriers installed in the Rio Grande at the direction of Governor Greg Abbott.
The leader of the Lone Star state has defended the use of the buoys, pointing out that they would be unnecessary if the federal government had done its job to secure the border in the first place.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Republic Eyes International Workforce to Fill Employment Shortfall
The Czech government has emphasized the critical role international employees could play in strengthening the nation’s economic structure.
Czech companies are experiencing a workforce deficit of approximately 200,000 individuals. Labor Minister Marian Jurecka identified this shortage during a Government Committee for Strategic Investments meeting on Tuesday 18th July. Jurecka expressed concern that the limited labor supply in the country is hindering the Czech Republic’s GDP growth. Addressing the 200,000 job vacancies could potentially introduce an extra CZK 40 billion into the budget, he added.
The country’s Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, who was also present at the meeting, suggested that without prompt action, the Czech economy could lose momentum. He criticized past administrations for neglecting various aspects of national development, which, if left unaddressed, may undermine Czech competitiveness.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Human Trafficker Arrested in Prague: Overcrowded Vehicle Leads to Discovery of Illegal Immigrants
During a standard patrol in Prague, local law enforcement identified a vehicle carrying Syrian migrants beyond its capacity, which led to the arrest of an individual engaged in human trafficking.
The offender had squeezed eleven passengers into a vehicle designed for seven occupants. The culprit did not have his driving license but was able to present a residence permit. He could potentially face up to two years in prison. The passengers, barring a woman and her two children, were sent back to Slovakia, their point of origin. The remaining three have been ordered to leave the Czech Republic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sixty-Two Arrested in Europol-Interpol Human Trafficking Crackdown
Law enforcement authorities from five countries have collaborated in a joint operation led by Europol and Interpol to dismantle a transcontinental criminal network engaged in trafficking migrants from Cuba to the European Union, according Reuters.
This operation resulted in the apprehension of 62 individuals involved in the criminal network. According to a statement issued by Europol, the network primarily targeted vulnerable Cubans and offered to facilitate their journey to Europe along with providing fraudulent documents in exchange for 9,000 euros per person.
It is estimated that the criminal network managed to smuggle approximately 5,000 Cuban nationals into the EU. Apart from the arrests, the police also seized 18 properties, 33 vehicles, and froze 144 bank accounts, along with significant amounts of cash in various currencies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Cubans Flown Illegally Into Europe
An intercontinental criminal network smuggled 5,000 Cuban citizens into Europe via Serbia, taking advantage of the lack of visa requirements to enter Serbia, according to a press release on Monday, July 24th, from Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency.
An investigation by Europol and Interpol was triggered in October 2021 after Serbian, Greek, North Macedonian, and Finnish authorities reported an increased number of Cuban citizens attempting to enter Europe with false documents.
EU agencies noted a shift in migration routes last year caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
President Joe Biden’s Justice Department in October awarded the lucrative grant to Taller Salud, a “feminist, culturally specific nonprofit organization” in Puerto Rico. The money comes from the department’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, which aims to address crime through police alternatives. Taller Salud, which receives funding from liberal billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, will use the $2 million to further implement its “community violence intervention program,” which includes “public education campaigns” to address “structural racism and toxic masculinities” among Puerto Rican men between the ages of 15 and 30.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Video Jumps to 16 Million Views After Backlash
The CMT’s decision to remove legendary country music singer Jason Aldean’s music video for his newest hit song “Try That in a Small Town” has exponentially backfired. The music video has now exceeded more than 16 million views as fans pushback against CMT’s decision to pull the video.
The song’s on-demand audio and video streaming have grown by 999 percent, from 987,000 to 11.7 million, according to Luminate, a company that measures music sales and streams, in the week following its removal by CMT, according to Hollywood Reporter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Begins Removing Non-Biological Parents From Birth Certificates
The northern Italian city of Padova has begun to remove the names of non-biological parents from birth certificates, prompted by a new law passed by Giorgia Meloni’s conservative administration.
According to official data, these birth certificates belong to 33 children of Italian lesbian women who were registered as parents in 2017 under the municipal government of Sergio Giordani. As of Thursday, 27 of these documents had been amended to remove the names of non-biological parents.
Giordani was elected mayor in 2017 on a promise to abolish the traditional “mother” and “father” designation on birth certificates, but this was overturned when Meloni’s government ordered local authorities to stop registering children of same-sex parents with both parents’ names.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
LGBTQ-centric Middle School to Open in Phoenix
An LGBTQ-centric middle school is set to open in the state of Arizona to offer students an alternative education centered around LGBTQ+ history and curriculum. This comes after the Arizona state legislature passed Bill 2853, otherwise known as “school choice” last year, which grants parents the decision on where to send their child to school through taxpayer-funded scholarship grants, or education vouchers.
Through Arizona’s education vouchers, middle schoolers will be able to enroll at the Queer Blended Learning Center in August located in downtown Phoenix at an LGBTQ+ youth nonprofit called one•n•ten, according to AZ Central.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Canceled After Declaring ‘Climate Crisis’ Narrative a Hoax
The world-renowned Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. John Clauser has become the latest target of a cancel campaign after he declared that the so-called “climate crisis” narrative is a hoax.
Clauser’s comments drew widespread attention following recent reporting from Slay News.
Clauser, the co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Physics prize and one the world’s leading authorities on quantum mechanics, spoke out to warn the public that the “climate crisis” narrative being pushed by the global elite and their allies in the corporate media is a hoax.
He blasted “climate emergency” claims as a “dangerous corruption of science that threatens the world’s economy and the well-being of billions of people.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Overwhelming Majority of Poles Are in Favor of Banning Sex Changes for Minors
More than two-thirds of Poles support a ban on sex changes for minors either through surgery or hormone therapy, recent polling has revealed.
According to a Social Changes study for the wpolityce.pl news outlet, 69 percent of respondents opposed the availability of sex change operations and medication for minors. On the contrary, just 12 percent supported the move, while 19 percent had no firm opinion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top WEF Official: ‘Global Cabal Theory’ is ‘Nonsense’
One of the highest-ranking officials in the World Economic Forum (WEF) has insisted that the notion of a “global cabal” of all-powerful globalist elites is just a “conspiracy theory,” which he slammed as “nonsense.”
Yuval Noah Harari, a senior advisor to the WEF and its founder Klaus Schwab, blasted “the global cabal theory” as a “fantasy” because it would be “impossible for a small group of people to control… everything.”
Harari, one of the key architects behind Schwab’s “Great Reset” agenda, made the comments during an appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Air Force Head Declares Support for ‘Demi-Genders’
During testimony before Congress last week, Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard Clark declared that he fully supports programs that are pushing gender ideology, including ‘demi-gender’, but then admitted that he doesn’t know what on Earth that even is.
Under questioning from Congressman Matt Gaetz, Clark revealed that he cannot define the gender ideology terms that are being encompassed in active training programs.
Pinpointing one program supported by the Air Force called the Brooke Owens Fellowship, which is supposed to be for women, Gaetz noted “you’re literally pushing a program in the academies that says, if you’re a cisgender woman, a transgender woman, a non-binary, a-gender, bi-gender, two-spirit, demigender — what’s demigender?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
*********************************************************************************
The Lancet refuses to publish study on
deaths after Covid-19 vaccinations
https://word.harrietsblogg.se/
24 July, 2023
Alternative media, Big Pharma, Bill Gates, Corona vaccine,
Research on Covid-19, WHO
“The Lancet is a British medical journal published by the Lancet
Publishing Group. Since 1995, Richard Horton is the editor-in-chief. The journal is considered very important for the publication of general medical findings.” Wikipedia
But general medical findings on side effects and death after corona vaccinations were too much, and when the Lancet reviewed the study before publication, it went into the trash.
All medical journals and state media are saying that this medical scandal with genetic vaccines must not be revealed, it is too big and would risk that the sleeping and duped people would wake up and cause doubts before the next pandemic with its forced vaccinations and lock down orders.
In addition, Big Pharma’s generosity would certainly be drastically reduced to the medical profession with its journals, and the power of Bill Gates, who with his billions controls the WHO and its new pandemic plans, could be jeopardised.
Fear of disease and death risks being transferred to rapidly produced and poorly tested genetic vaccines using mRNA technology.
A bombshell study authored by Dr Peter McCullough appeared in a Lancet pre-print, but was then quickly withdrawn by the publisher, as it showed beyond doubt that the covid vaccine has killed many millions of people around the world (so far).
Of course, The Lancet immediately tried to bury the study to make sure more people are wiped out by the global depopulation agenda….
According to the data, 74 per cent of all deaths that occur in people who were injected for covid deaths are caused by the injections themselves. This is a damning indictment of the gene therapy drug products, which were pushed on the masses as “safe and effective” through Operation Warp Speed.
Read the study’s design, content and conclusions.
https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-07-10-lancet-study-proves-covid-vaccines-kill-coverup.html
Operation Warp Speed was a public-private partnership initiated by the United States government to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics. Wikipedia
CV19 Wax an ongoing global criminal experiment – Karen Kingston From Exposing The Darkness Newsletter on July 17, 2023
“Karen Kingston is a biotech analyst and former Pfizer employee who was one of the first to warn of the dangers of the so-called CV19 ‘vaccines’. She pointed out the danger of the nanotechnology called mRNA, which according to Big Pharma patents is actually an electromagnetic device.
Kingston was also one of the first to warn that the CV19 vaccine was “the beginning of transhumanism”, a bioweapon and not a vaccine at all.
With all the negative facts about the vaccines and mRNA nanoparticle biotechnology, the vaccine is still injected unabated.
676 million CV19 injections have been given in the US alone with more than 13 billion CV19 injections worldwide.
This is a massive global crime, and it is still going on.
Kingston explains, “These (vaccines) were designed to cause harm, disease, and we’re being experimented on. Many say, well, why don’t they just kill us?……./ These research psychopaths are experimenting on humans to come up with a way to favor artificial intelligence. That’s what’s going on.
It is criminal human experimentation with weapons.
What I just said sounds like a conspiracy theory. You can go through my letter, which is all the Pfizer documents and government documents. I have the military DMED (Defense Medical Epidemiology Database) document there. . . . All the hard evidence is there….”
Think, that it is primarily the United States that conveys evil to humanity!
Gradually, it reluctantly came to light that the vaccine did not help against the virus’s mutations. Over time, viruses die out, as more and more of the population have been infected or have been sick, have developed natural antibodies, while a hell began to be made visible to many who were vaccinated if they did not die immediately after the injection in anaphylactic shock (life-threatening autoimmune hypersensitivity reaction).
Autoimmune diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, miscarriage, reduced fertility, etc. soared and the excuses from those responsible as well. The reason was that the spikes/thorns of the gene vaccine were introduced into healthy cells and disrupted the body’s natural immune system.
This is the biggest medical scandal deliberately inflicted on humanity.
+++
more COVID-19:
https://gatesofvienna.net/2023/07/gates-of-vienna-news-feed-7-23-2023/#comment-594037
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VIDEO: Danes burn the Koran outside the Iraqi embassy
Published in 2023
On Monday, Danish critics of Islam returned to Iraq’s embassy in Copenhagen, where the Koran is now being burned. Furthermore, the Iraqi flag can also be seen lying thrown on the ground and one pair of shoes is attached on top of another copy of the Koran.
Last Friday, Islam-critical ‘Danish Patriots’ carried out an action outside the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen. Now the group has returned to the site.
The people behind the action were previously involved in Rasmus Paludan’s Stram Kurs party but have since broken with him and started their own movement.
The group also has a large banner with the text “F*** ISLAM” hanging between poles for the embassy staff to see. Watch video:
https://samnytt.se/just-nu-danskar-branner-koranen-utanfor-iraks-ambassad/
Didn’t the Swedish embassy in Iraq get torched?
Blacks were going to be imported to Russia. Fix the demographics. Strikingly cynical language. I lived under the Soviet Union and I remember Soviet propaganda. They told us about the so-called. “Friendship of peoples”, but never to mix and replace the people.
Some hell of an experiment. Has anyone been to Russia? Can you imagine how to survive for months (!!!) at a frost of 30 degrees Celsius? And then they will reproach us that we tortured blacks with our frosts.
= = = =
How to intensify migration from Africa to Russia
Intensification of ties with the Black Continent will lead to an increase in the number of Russians of mixed origin
…The intensification of work with African countries, the intensification of ties with them, will obviously lead to an increase in the scale of economic, educational, and later forced migration from there to Russia, an increase in the number of Russians of African descent and the Russian population mixed with Africans. In this regard, a comprehensive program for the adaptation and integration of African migrants, combating xenophobia and migrant phobia will become even more pressing issues. It is also necessary to prepare Russian society for the changing migration situation, and not just the Africans themselves.
https://www.ng.ru/vision/2023-07-24/2_8781_migration.html
The demography of Russia is a disaster with WOMAN refusing to carry 3 + children. Not as bad as Ukraine’s, the lowest in Europe for years, but bad.
Now let the Tajiks give birth to slaves for the Kremlin. This area is not suitable for life. We must give a chance to bears, foxes, arctic foxes, etc.
Slavic untermensch “Norma Gin” is not supposed to.
https://unser-mitteleuropa.com/das-letzte-aufgebot-us-influencerin-als-emotionale-stripperin-und-mehr-an-ukrainischer-front/
So far, their children and women are being put under Arabs and Negroes.
Hungarian PM Orban Claims Czechia Has Been Lost to the EU Federalists
…and he’s not mistaken.
On the bright note though – I believe that the current Czech government has shown so much disrespect to its own population right now, that they basically chased the Czechs out to the “Alternative” as they call it, and alternative news channels have exploded, calling it out as it actually is: The Czech Republic is a colony of Germany and the USA, squeezed dry of all resources, and people are waking up to this fact.
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Muslim violence shows that freedom of expression must be defended
Editorial – Published 00:10, 22 Jul 2023
Sweden usually proudly highlights the fact that we have the world’s first freedom of speech regulation. But recently, Sweden’s public sector has begun to waver in its support for freedom of expression. This week’s events in Baghdad where the Swedish embassy was stormed and set on fire are very serious. The conclusion of these attacks on the Swedish state should not be to join the attackers, but to defend freedom of expression even more strongly.
Three major value cultures meet in the public square in Sweden today. For a long time it was in practice a clash between two worldviews: the secular in opposition to the Christian. For the secularists, freedom of expression was therefore very central, and several early leading social democrats proudly served their prison sentences for blaspheming the hated Christianity. But Muslim immigration has changed the playing field. Islam is now an active player in Sweden, and those who follow radical Islam are not content to be a voice among others. They expect the rest of society to show high respect for the foundations of the religion. Calls for a ban on Koran burning are therefore hardly the end of the line, but rather the first step in a longer list of demands. Sweden therefore needs to deal with these demands for what they actually are: attacks on open society.
Progressive voices have long defended freedom of expression because it secured their right to rebel against established norms, not least those held sacred by Christians. Now that the issue has shifted to Islam, the sympathies have shifted and taken on an identity-political dimension. The same groups that zealously defended the right to mock Christianity are now taking the opposite position, based on the view of Muslims as a disadvantaged group in need of societal protection.
However, the violent events in Baghdad and other Muslim-dominated places should put an end to this attitude. Islam is not a religion like others. Both Christians and Jews have been aware for millennia that mockery and persecution can be part of belonging to a different people. The Islamic movement reacts the opposite, and today functions as a kind of collective honor culture. If someone, somewhere in the world, tramples on what Islam holds sacred, a violent reaction is required to preserve the honor of the religion. And this is precisely why a broad counter-movement is needed to ensure that such a culture of honor does not prevail.
Despite the obvious differences in worldview, there are similarities between the most totalitarian expressions of Islam and secular individualism. Both movements claim more than just to exist on an equal footing; they demand to be unquestioned. In reality, these two groups clash head-on on almost every issue, but the old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” seems to take precedence over their differences.
Shouting aggressively and causing chaos is rarely a sign of being morally right. There is no need to try to intimidate anyone into silence if your motives are sound and you are right. It is therefore urgent to debate the basic ideas of these groups, expose their intolerance, and continue to uphold freedom of expression as a cornerstone of an open society.
It should never be the case in a school class or in an accident situation that the person who shouts the loudest gets all the attention. Instead, teachers and emergency services need to be extra perceptive to ensure that the silent ones in need of help and support get it first. The same must also apply in politics. Sweden should look at protests against the Christian faith, Pride marches and the Koran with the same glasses – even when the criticism is conveyed in a disrespectful way.
Per Ewert
ledarsidan@varldenidag.se
Swedes will likely lose Freedom of Speech as powerful internal forces want spending on the military industrial complex and NATO triggers that money grab. Since Sweden’s support for Nazi Germany, I’m afraid I’m not a big fan.
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Hear the Swede reason:
There are still so many rapes,
so a few more don’t matter.
So many murders are committed, then some more
has no meaning.
And then the Swede’s given, economic standard phrase:
“There is still so much else that we pay to,
so why not this too?”
Finally, the suicidal phrase:
Muslim or Christian, does it matter?
Religion as religion.
The lame story about Russia blowing up the Odessa cathedral needs refutation.
It’s similar to the accusations that Russia blew up the Dneiper dam near the nuclear power plant it controls and that the Russians blew up Nordstream, not Biden’s war saboteurs.
ALL WAR LIES FROM OUR SIDE.
Larry Johnson, a retired CIA analyst, has reported the destruction at the church was reported on Wiki BEFORE the explosion occurred, compliments of our shabby propaganda machine. This false accusation smells of Western propaganda, particularly given the background:
We know the West, led by our fiendish Neo-Con apparatchiks, has caused a schism between the Russian and Ukrainian churches, accomplished last year, after 1000 years of unity. Zelenskiyy has overseen the eviction and imprisonment of Christian religious. Archbishop Kirill, who has had close ties to this cathedral, is Zelesnkiyy’s Public Enemy #2, after Putin. All of this is beyond cavil. Behind the lies is the absolute censorship of the reality of this war by our lying MSM. If folks knew, or even cared about, the Truth, and the horrible death toll imposed by us on a rump nation, we might negotiate an end to this lost war, which both Merkel and Macron have admitted was initiated by their lies.
When will we ever learn?
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Across the West, People Are Dying in Greater Numbers.
Nobody Wants to Learn Why
JONATHAN COOK
• JULY 18, 2023
• 2,800 WORDS
• 206 COMMENTS
• REPLY
There’s only one plausible explanation for continuing silence on excess deaths: governments, media and regulators are frightened of what the research may uncover During the pandemic, the challenge for each of us was to maintain critical distance: spurning both the tribalism of those insisting Covid was a hoax and the counter-tribalism of those who demanded…
READ MORE
https://www.unz.com/jcook/across-the-west-people-are-dying-in-greater-numbers-nobody-wants-to-learn-why/
Yeah, but some heavily vaxxed countries like Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary don’t have much if any excess deaths. So far, I have not seen anyone do the analysis.
https://www.denik.cz/cesi-v-cislech/covid-koronavirus-umrti-smrt-obeti-chripka-priciny-srovnani-pocty-20230323.html
Yes, but as for comparison to world graphs, it’s a drop in the bucket. I mean… comparing with Britain, Germany, US.
Of course, the numbers are so corrupted that arguing about it is pointless. It just seems to me that if the vaxxes cause a huge spike in deaths, you would see it in Czechia after the vax campaign, as you can see it in other places.