Earlier this week Russia and China conducted joint naval maneuvers near the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. Their ships never entered U.S. territorial waters, but the United States Navy sent four destroyers to shadow them anyway.
In other news, the junta in Niger closed off the country’s airspace in anticipation of a possible invasion.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, JW, Reader from Chicago, SS, WRSA, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Biden’s SEC Chief Warns AI Technology Could Trigger Financial Collapse
Democrat President Joe Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has issued a grim, dystopian warning about artificial intelligence (AI).
Gensler has warned that he fears AI technology could trigger global financial collapse.
The SEC chair said during an interview with the New York Times that AI will play a major role in upcoming financial crises, the outlet reported Monday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Rise in Food Prices Continues in Estonia
According to the latest data from the Department of Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased by 0.6% in July of the current year compared to June, but when compared to July of the previous year, it increased by 6.4%. The increase in the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages is particularly noticeable, accounting for more than half of the overall CPI growth.
When compared to July of the previous year, prices for sugar rose by 59.3%, cocoa by 38.7%, fresh fruits and berries by 34.8%, sauces by 33% and confectionery by 28.3%. However, some oils experienced a decrease in prices by 15.6%, and fresh fish prices declined by 14.9%.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
World Food Prices Jump Most in 18 Months
Global food prices increased the most in 1.5 years as trade disruptions from the El Nino weather phenomenon battered agricultural-producing countries, and Russia’s exit from a crucial UN-backed agriculture deal stoked supply concerns.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported Friday that the global food index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 123.9 in July, up 1.3% from the previous month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Yellow Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Union for “30,000 American Jobs Lost”
One of the biggest bankruptcies in US trucking history occurred Sunday when the nation’s third-largest less-than-truckload carrier, Yellow Corp., filed Chapter 11 in a Deleware court. The company has fallen victim to insurmountable debts, including a government loan and tense contract negotiations with the Teamsters Union. It listed assets and liabilities at $1 billion-$10 billion, with more than 100,000 creditors.
“It is with profound disappointment that Yellow announces that it is closing after nearly 100 years in business,” said Yellow CEO Darren Hawkins in a statement Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Alabama Police Issue Arrest Warrants for Riverfront Brawl Caught on Video
Alabama authorities on Monday said four arrest warrants were issued in connection with a massive brawl at a riverfront when a group of people appeared to attack a dockworker as onlookers screamed and recorded the chaos.
Montgomery Police Major Saba Coleman said more warrants could be issued after authorities review more footage of the brawl, that drew nationwide attention. Police said Sunday that several people were detained and charges are pending.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said police will hold a briefing Tuesday to provide an update on the situation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Armed Woman Shoots Road Rage ‘Aggressor’ Trying to Force His Way Into Her Car: DA
A legally armed woman in North Carolina acted in self-defense when she fatally shot a man during a road rage incident at a grocery store parking lot, according to the local district attorney.
“I think what’s really important here for people to understand is that provision in our law is not an invitation to vigilante justice, but it does allow when someone has a responsible fear for imminent death or bodily injury that you’re allowed to protect yourself,” Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told ABC 11.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s Department of Justice Asks Court to Limit What Trump Can Say
In a move that raises startling questions about speech limitations, the Justice Department has asked US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to implement a protective order in the case against former President Donald Trump. The request came on the heels of Trump’s strong-worded post on the Truth Social platform and seeks to cage his public comments concerning the pending legal issues.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese & Russian Warships Spotted Near Alaska, Triggering Forceful U.S Response
The United States military has issued a forceful response after Chinese and Russian naval warships were spotted near Alaska.
China and Russia conducted a joint naval operation near U.S. territory last week, officials have revealed.
The move triggered a considerable response from the U.S. Navy.
The joint operation, conducted by two significant American adversaries, consisted of 11 ships.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CNN Staffer Dies Suddenly During ‘Medical Emergency’ at New York Headquarters
A longtime CNN staffer has died suddenly after suffering an unexpected “medical emergency” at the network’s New York City headquarters.
Melissa Elkas was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced, according to Variety.
Elkas was just 52 years old, according to Adweek.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Facial Recognition Software Results in Wrongful Arrest of Pregnant Detroit Mother
A pregnant Detroit mother was wrongfully arrested after facial recognition technology identified her as a suspect in a case of robbery and carjacking.
Porcha Woodruff, 32, has since filed a lawsuit against the city and the detective whose use of the software and subsequent actions led to her spending a day in jail.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An FBI agent, Charles McGonigal, who investigated the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia in 2016, is changing his tune and will take a guilty plea in a case accusing him of illegally working for a Russian oligarch.
“The court has been informed that defendant Charles McGonigal may wish to enter a change of plea,” Manhattan federal Judge Jennifer Rearden wrote Monday while scheduling a hearing for Aug. 15.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FBI is Accused of Lying Under Oath About Knowledge of Hunter Biden Laptop and Talks With Facebook
In a striking revelation, evidence suggests that Elvis Chan, a San Francisco-based FBI special agent, made false statements under oath regarding his interactions with major tech firms related to the reporting of Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drive in the run-up to the 2020 election. This revelation is according to allegations following information gleaned from internal Facebook documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee.
In October 2020, The New York Post released explosive reports detailing purported involvement by the President’s son, Hunter Biden, in international business transactions with his father, Joe Biden. The subsequent discussions and correspondence between Chan and Facebook concerning these revelations have come into stark focus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Judge Comes Out Swinging Against DOJ Special Counsel in Trump Classified Docs Case
The federal judge overseeing the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump delivered multiple blows to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s efforts in a brief Monday.
Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida — who is presiding over the case that stems from a Miami grand jury’s June indictment of Trump — denied the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request for sealed filings, striking two from the record. Cannon also requested additional information from prosecutors about the continued use of an out-of-state grand jury to investigate the case.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Feinstein Gives Power of Attorney to Her Daughter But Remains in the Senate
In any sane world, this would be the final nail in the coffin for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) political career. We can’t abide by this in a self-respecting country, can we? What kind of national morale is possible in a country that is ostensibly run by a geriatric who can’t be trusted with her own affairs?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Harvard Scientist Says He May Have Proof of Alien Life in New Study: ‘We Should Welcome it’
A Harvard professor said Monday he may have uncovered evidence of alien life in the universe and told Americans it would fundamentally change their understanding of their existence.
Harvard Professor Avi Loeb said Monday on “Fox & Friends” that he examined an object moving through space “faster than 95% of stars near the sun” that had “material strength” and was tougher than most rocks.
The professor, who is also an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, explained that he could not “quantify” the object that he was studying just yet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
OAKLAND, Calif. — Open-air drug markets, narcotic tourism, rampant theft and lax camping regulation have made Oakland “unlivable,” a neighborhood advocate told Fox News.
“Oakland and San Francisco have become the promised land of milk and fentanyl, and people are coming here,” Seneca Scott, founder of Neighbors Together Oakland, told Fox News. “People who are homeless in Oakland now typically are not from here. They’re drug tourists.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley caught Joe Biden lying to the American public and warned that evidence now proves that the Democrat president is guilty.
Turley also called out the Democrats’ allies in the corporate media for helping Biden get away with it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lawsuit Accuses Hospital of Sharing Private Healthcare Data With Facebook
An emerging Seattle-based class-action lawsuit condemns a major hospital for allegedly sharing sensitive patient information with Facebook and associated third parties. The claim puts into question the ethical dimensions of little-known data-monitoring tools that could have devastating impacts.
The litigant, Jacq Nienaber, has accused Overlake Hospital Medical Center of effectively allowing Meta Pixel, and its Conversions Application Programming Interface, to act as a kind of surveillance within its infrastructure.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mitch McConnell Brutally Heckled in Home State With Chants of ‘Retire’ — Watch
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was brutally heckled in his home state of Kentucky at the annual “Fancy Farm Picnic” on Saturday.
McConnell was booed by the crowd and drowned out with chants of “retire.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York Raised the Age of Criminal Liability to 18. You Can Imagine How That Turned Out
New York State was inspired to raise the age for a person to be criminally liable under the law to age 18 back in 2018. It’s all the rage in progressive jurisdictions to treat violent, juvenile offenders like Father Flanagan’s kids (“There’s no such thing as a bad boy”).
“The purpose of the Raise the Age law,” according to a juvenile justice advocacy website, “was to ensure that more youth would benefit from the Family Court’s rehabilitative focus and sealed records policies. The law also barred all minors from adult correctional settings, with few exceptions.”
More than “a few,” says Albany District Attorney David Soares. He’s been calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to repeal the “Raise the Age” law because of the chaos and mayhem it has caused.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio voters on Tuesday will decide on a ballot measure to make it harder to amend the state constitution, a change conservatives say is needed to protect the state from a radical anti-gun, abortion and education agenda that could soon find its way to other states.
It’s an issue that has already prompted a massive early vote turnout — one that has some election offices straining to manage the load.
“This is gubernatorial-level turnout,” said Regine Johnson, deputy director of the board of elections in Stark County.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police: Pregnant Woman Dies, Baby in Critical Condition After Shooting in Avondale
CINCINNATI — A pregnant woman who was shot and killed over the weekend in Avondale has been identified Monday morning.
According to the Hamilton County Coroner, 34-year-old Nia Booker died after a shooting around 6 p.m. Saturday night at Rockdale and Harvey avenues.
Police said Booker was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of a car. The driver of the car rushed Booker to UC Medical Center, where she later died.
According to Cincinnati police, the baby survived and is in critical condition as of Sunday. Police said any further medical update would come from Children’s Hospital.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Pramila Jayapal Spends Over $45,000 for Personal Security After Backing Plans to Defund Police
Progressive Caucus chair and defund the police advocate Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) reportedly spent over $45,000 this year alone in campaign donations to fortify her home as crime has spiked in Seattle.
According to Jayapal’s latest Federal Election Commission filing, between January and June, the antisemitic congresswoman paid over $23,000 from her campaign funds to an elite Seattle security company, as well as over $17,000 to a fence company for security purposes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Reporter Who Got Driver Suspended for Liking Meme Suggests NASCAR Fans Are ‘Toothless Hicks’
Daniel McFadin, the journalist that reported on Noah Gragson for liking a meme that led to the NASCAR driver being suspended, has come under fire for liking a post that called fans angry with the action “toothless hicks.”
In response to the suspension of Gragson, many NASCAR fans took to Twitter, now known as X, to vent their frustrations. When one person defended McFadin’s reporting calling NASCAR fans “toothless hicks” McFadin liked the tweet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ridiculous: Police Investigating Shop Owner Who Took Down Armed Thief With a Stick
Just when it appeared that a law abiding business owner had scored a victory against a scumbag shoplifter for once by subduing him with an almighty thrashing, the police have stepped in to criminally investigate the shopkeeper for assault.
Yes really.
KCRA.com reports that the clerk at a 7-Eleven in Stockton, Northern California, who was captured on video taking down a man threatening to pull a gun and filling up a barrel full of products is now the one under investigation by the cops.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has made history with her appointment of former U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland of Little Rock to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
The appointment hands Republicans majority control of the high court for the first time in the state’s history.
Hiland will fill the vacancy created by the death of state Supreme Court Justice Robin Wynne.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Scientist’ Wants to Catch an Asteroid and Block Out the Sun With it
The latest demented idea being pushed to stop the world ending from climate armageddon is to catch an asteroid, put an umbrella on it and use it to block out the Sun.
What could possibly go wrong?
The Daily Mail reports:
Istvan Szapudi, an astronomer from the University of Hawai’i, argued his far-fetched concept was merely an enormous ‘solar shield’.
The shield — which would be made of the ultra strong ‘wonder material’ graphene — would block energy from the sun and cool down our planet.
Szapudi’s paper on the subject has been published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
This is the terrifying moment a Sherwin-Williams paint plant exploded, sending balls of fire into the night sky.
Explosions could be heard as far as five miles to the north of the Garland, Texas plant, NBC DFW reports, before fire department and hazmat crews rushed to the scene early Monday morning.
Officials say the explosions started at 1.21am, and caused a massive fire at the plant. Crews were then able to extinguish the blaze after an hour and a half.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Freedom of Information Act and How to Use it
On a sweltering day in July, 1966, a historic event unfolded in the hallowed halls of power in Washington, D.C. A monumental law was signed, one that would change the landscape of American governance and redefine the relationship between the people and their government. The law was called the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and its birth was no accident, but a result of years of tireless advocacy and momentous shifts in the social and political fabric of the nation.
Let’s take a step back and embark on a journey to the tumultuous 1960s, when America was riding on waves of rapid change. It was an era of escalating Cold War tensions, a protracted conflict in Vietnam, and groundbreaking civil rights movements that were shaking the very core of society. With growing uncertainties on all fronts, there was an increasing disillusionment amongst the citizenry about the lack of transparency in the government’s dealings. This sentiment was particularly prevalent in the press, who were often met with opaque responses and bureaucratic walls when they attempted to pierce the veil of secrecy around governmental affairs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Think Tanks File Suit to Block Biden Administration’s Plan to Cancel $39B in Student Loans
Two think tanks are urging a federal court to block the Biden administration’s scaled-back plan to cancel $39 billion in student loans, arguing that the plan exceeds the administration’s authority.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in Michigan by the New Civil Liberties Alliance on behalf of free market think tank Mackinac Center for Public Policy and libertarian think tank the Cato Institute.
The groups accused the administration of overstepping its power in announcing student loan debt relief for 800,000 borrowers worth $39 billion — a plan the Department of Education rolled out shortly after the Supreme Court struck down a broader student loan handout plan pushed by President Biden.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UNC Will No Longer Consider Race, Including in Essays, During Admissions
The University of North Carolina (UNC) will no longer use race as a factor in its admissions and hiring decisions, including in the applications essays, following the monumental decision by the Supreme Court to overturn affirmative action in college admissions.
The UNC Board of Trustees approved the resolution that prohibits the university from using “race, sex, color or ethnicity” in admissions and hiring decisions last week. The move amends a previous resolution that operated under affirmative action, which the Supreme Court struck down in its landmark ruling in June against Harvard and UNC’s race-conscious undergraduate admissions policy, which it said violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Sent Destroyers After Stunning Russia, China Joint Naval Operation Off Coast of Alaska
China and Russia conducted a joint naval operation near the coast of Alaska earlier this week in a “highly provocative” move amid the war in Ukraine that triggered a robust US military response.
Eleven Russian and Chinese ships neared the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska earlier this week near the maritime boundary Russia shares with the US, but the fleets never entered US waters, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The fleet of ships have since left, and were tailed by four US destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft, officials confirmed to the newspaper.
“It is a historical first,” Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a retired Navy captain, told the oulet. “Given the context of the war in Ukraine and tensions around Taiwan, this move is highly provocative.”
| — Hat tip: WRSA | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ‘Barbie’ Post Divides Twitter: ‘Messed Up’
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went to the movies over the weekend and declared that he was “team Barbie” in a Sunday Twitter post that has proved to be highly controversial.
“We’re team Barbie,” Trudeau wrote in a viral post with over 24.5 million views on Twitter that featured a picture of him and his son going to see the film.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Eritrean Festival Canceled by Toronto Following Outbreaks of Violence
A weekend of Eritrean cultural festivities in Toronto was canceled by city officials following outbreaks of violence and demonstrations by oponents of the Eritrean government.
Clashes between attendees and protestors left nine people in hospital and were the latest in a string of global skirmishes that have drawn fresh attention to human rights abuses in Eritrea and tensions between diaspora populations.
The violence in Toronto followed similar confrontations in Sweden, where more than 50 people were injured, and in Seattle, involving Eritrean protesters who say the cultural events offer support to one of the world’s most repressive regimes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Airlines’ Hopes Dashed as Europe’s Business Travel Rebound Stalls Amidst Obstacles
Since the end of the pandemic, major airline groups in Europe had been anticipating the return of corporate travelers to boost their revenues. However, the rebound has proven to be slower than expected, leaving airlines grappling with challenges hindering their progress.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, once optimistic about a 90% rebound in corporate travel, has only recovered about 60% of pre-Covid business volumes, with a target of reaching 70% by year-end. British Airways, under IAG SA, is experiencing a similar sluggish trend, with CEO Luis Gallego admitting progress has been slower than anticipated.
Air France-KLM’s CEO, Ben Smith, doesn’t foresee the French domestic market ever fully recovering. The hurdles faced by airlines are diverse and formidable, including the fact that business fliers usually pay more for last-minute, flexible tickets, making them more profitable customers than leisure travelers who primarily drove the initial recovery.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: No Majority for Main Establishment Parties, Poll Reveals
With national legislative elections roughly a year away, the latest polling data has revealed that Austria’s two main establishment parties—the center-right People’s Party (ÖVP) and center-left Social Democratic Party (SPÖ)—lack the popular support required to form a so-called ‘grand coalition.’
The opinion poll, carried out by the German market research firm INSA, revealed that, if elections were held today, the ÖVP and SPÖ would collectively garner 46% of the national vote, just short of the majority required to govern, making it so the two parties would need the support of either the left-liberal Greens or the liberal EU federalist NEOS to form a ruling coalition, Exxpress reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Baltic Countries to Sever Links With Russian Power Grid
The prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed a joint declaration on Thursday in which they agreed to disconnect from the Russian electricity grid by the beginning of 2025 at the latest, Estonia’s government press service reported.
The Baltic countries, all of which are NATO and EU members, remain part of the BRELL grid, along with countries such as Russia and Belarus. In 2018, they agreed to leave BRELL by the end of 2025 and join the alternative electricity grid ENTSO-E via Poland. The network, which was set up in 2008 under an EU mandate, now extends beyond the bloc’s borders and covers 35 countries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Scientists Are Primed to Create the Next Pandemic Vaccine in 100 Days
British scientists are leading the charge to create a vaccine to halt the next deadly pandemic within 100 days of it breaking out.
Experts are working on a high-security project at Porton Down, the top-secret government laboratory, to develop prototype vaccines to tackle ‘Disease X’ when it hits.
The ambitious target would smash the 362 days it took to develop a Covid jab, potentially stopping crippling lockdowns in future.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Banks to Abandon ‘Racist’ Term ‘Black Market’
The term ‘black market’ should not be used because it is racist, an umbrella group representing leading UK bankers has said, advocating the use instead of a more tolerant phrase, ‘illegal market.’
UK Finance, a lobby group that represents the interests of British banks and financial-services firms, has issued a list of phrases that banks and financial institutions should avoid using, arising from concerns that many terms and phrases in common usage could be deemed offensive or discriminative.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Britons Fear Chinese Electric Cars Could be Trojan Horses
As Rishi Sunak soldiers on with the Conservative Party’s drive towards carbon ‘net zero,’ there are increasing fears around new powers being handed to Beijing.
Chinese electric vehicles are expected to flood the British market in the coming years ahead of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. The Tory government has been urged to drop the restriction, but as former cabinet minister Sir John Redwood earlier this year told The European Conservative, Mr. Sunak’s administration has “so far” proved itself “unwilling” to reconsider.
It is now feared that the prevalence of Chinese electric cars on British roads will not only allow Beijing to paralyse motorists, as we previously reported, but also to spy on citizens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Countries Across the World Bid for Polish Submarine Contract
Several top companies from 11 countries are bidding to sell their submarines to Poland, the Polish agency responsible for the procurement of armaments has revealed.
Colonel Grzegorz Polak, the spokesman for the Armaments Agency, said that top companies and producers have come forward with bids that will be verified and analyzed. The Poles will have to consider the purchase of submarines together with the transfer of technologies necessary to operate the subs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU 2024: AfD’s Turn Right Rattles EPP President
The President of the centrist European People’s Party (EPP) Manfred Weber has registered his concern about an ideological shift to the right within the German AfD after the populist party outlined a Eurocritical and NATO-critical programme ahead of EU elections next year.
His comments come on the back of a year-long internal EPP dispute as the group is torn on whether to embrace populist factions in the next EU parliamentary session to fend off the left after Weber himself made direct overtures to Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
AfD delegates gathered in the East German city of Magdeburg throughout last week for their annual congress and to decide on a slate of candidates for European elections in a move many pundits believe solidified the hold of radical factions from the regional Thuringian branch of the party.
In the party’s subsequent election manifesto, released Sunday evening, the AfD described their wish to create a “federation of European nations” instead of the current homogenising EU structures as well as to curtail the influence of “non-European great powers” in EU foreign policy, a likely jab at Atlanticist influence over the Continent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The former deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Arnold Vaatz, settled accounts with German politicians and former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) in clear words. “Germany is a dictatorship of language rules, the use or non-use of which determines a person’s career prospects,” he told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
According to the former GDR civil rights activist, the CDU and CSU have “developed into followers who are now aping what the Greens, the left-wing parties, and the media they control think up in terms of such rules”. As soon as you don’t follow the mainstream on nuclear power, immigration, corona vaccination, or climate, “you are right-wing, you will be removed from the media relevance zone and silenced”.
Merkel has robbed Germany of its future
Merkel is “a catastrophe for the whole of Germany, in which, embarrassingly, I personally played a part because I didn’t want to admit it for a long time.” The chancellor at the time robbed the country of its future.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Tries to Ban Government Parody Account
The Germany Foreign Ministry pushed Twitter to temporarily ban a parody account lampooning Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Bild reported on Monday. The fake Baerbock apparently triggered a diplomatic crisis by tweeting about the coup in Niger.
Although the @Baerbockpress Twitter account only has 55,000 followers to the real foreign minister’s 600,000, its satirical posts — making fun of the Green politician’s fondness for jet travel, her poor English, and her liberal worldview — regularly clock up more likes and shares than anything Baerbock herself posts.
“Our economy isn’t growing any more, but our feminism is growing every day,” the account tweeted on Saturday. Another post from Saturday promised “diplomatic immunity abroad with immediate effect” for all of Baerbock’s followers.
The foreign ministry has taken a dim view of the account’s popularity. Speaking to German tabloid Bild on Monday, a ministry spokesperson said that it reached out to Elon Musk’s company, now renamed X, last month and urged its staff to “take measures” against the profile. Twitter complied, and the account was removed, albeit temporarily.
The account came back online over the weekend, with the word “parody” made more prominent in its title. Its profile and header photos remain the exact same as Baerbock’s actual account.
“Parody has its place in our democracy. Public figures have to endure it; Of course, that also applies to the Foreign Minister,” the spokesperson said. However, the ministry decided to take action after the parody account “retweeted a tweet from the democratically elected Nigerien foreign minister…with a French comment that was not immediately recognizable to all users as a fake,” they added.
“This came immediately after a telephone call between the Foreign Minister and her Nigerien counterpart in the midst of a dangerous crisis.”
In the offending tweet, the fake Baerbock responded to a plea for help against Niger’s ruling military junta by the country’s foreign minister with “Salut, salut. Je suis Annalena. Vive la démocratie!”
This tweet was followed by an announcement that ‘Baerbock’ had landed in Niger and would “negotiate with the military,” and an assertion that “If Niger had a feminist military, it would be a lot easier to take action now. I will propose to the currently imprisoned President Bazoum a mandatory quota for women in the military and cabinet.”
X currently allows parody accounts to impersonate public figures, provided they clearly identify themselves as such.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Uses Accounting Trick to Meet NATO Defence Obligations, Report Claims
NATO requires its members spend two per cent of GDP annually on defence, a figure that only a handful manage. Germany has promised to meet its obligation, but to make sure it does so before the next election the government is apparently rolling in previously uncounted spending, like interest payments.
Germany will reclassify some other government expenses as “defence-related” to inflate the proportion of the economy devoted to military spending to hit the NATO treaty obligations by next year, a report in broadsheet Die Welt claims. Per those claims, one of the newly “defence-related” areas of spending will be a proportion of federal debt servicing — interest payments — that will swell the theoretical defence spend by five billion euros ($5.5 billion) over the next year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Tourist Attacked in Berlin: Media’s Under-Reporting of Assailant’s Background Criticized
German media have been reporting an incident involving an attack on an Israeli tourist in Berlin, but the assailant’s ethnic background has been conspicuously omitted. The victim, an Israeli youth, was brutally assaulted by three individuals of Arab descent in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, a fact only explicitly mentioned by BILD newspaper.
The incident is an example of a violent assault where the victim’s Jewish identity appears to have been a factor. However, most mainstream media outlets have provided vague descriptions of the attackers, steering clear of mentioning their origins. This approach aligns with the prevailing media narrative that generally portrays right-wing Germans as threats to Jews, while often representing Arab migrants in a more positive light.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Townsfolk in Uproar After Clock Tower Bell Ban
Residents of the small Tuscan town of Pienza were outraged when tourists demanded that the bells of the local clock tower be silenced overnight.
“We are not the only ones who have taken such a decision,” said the mayor in his defense after locals complained.
Pienza in Tuscany, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is famous for its 15th-century buildings. As well as being home to the Pienza Cathedral and the Piccolomini Palace, it is the summer residence of Pope Pius II and the location of Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet.
The characteristic clock tower is 560 years old, and the buildings surrounding the square date back to 1459. The Renaissance clock tower used to chime every 30 minutes, regardless of the time of day.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joran van der Sloot does not expect that he will ever be released, he told De Telegraaf in an interview on Saturday. “To be honest, I expect never to be released. I don’t have anybody to blame but myself,” the Dutch main suspect in the case of missing American Natalee Holloway said.
De Telegraaf spoke to Van der Sloot via a video link from the prison in the U.S. state of Alabama, where the 35-year-old Dutchman has been detained since June.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lithuania and Latvia Expel Russian and Belarusian Citizens Deemed National Security Threat
Over 900 Belarusian and 200 Russian citizens who live in Lithuania have been deprived of their residence permits after being deemed “a threat to national security.”
Lithuanian authorities announced the action they had taken to strip citizens of the two belligerent nations in the war with Ukraine of their right to reside in the Baltic nation on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Only 5% of First-Time Voters Support PiS as Poland’s Young Turn Populist
Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) is facing an uphill battle to attract younger voters ahead of the October elections. New polling reveals that the party has the support of just 5% of first-time voters aged 18-21.
Warsaw is gearing up for eagerly anticipated autumn elections that will pit the current PiS administration against the EU-backed liberal opposition Civic Platform led by Donald Tusk amid the sudden emergence of a right-wing challenger: in the form of Confederation (Konfederacja) that is challenging PiS’s dominance on the right, particularly among the youth.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Renowned Czech Doctor Warns of Healthcare Crisis and Inadequate Pandemic Response
Miroslav Havrda, a renowned Czech doctor and founder of Czech pediatrics, has criticized the state of Czech healthcare and government officials. He believes that the chronic problems in the healthcare system are being ignored and are now jeopardizing patients’ well-being, reports Parlamentni.
The system’s issues include patients not receiving proper medical care despite paying health taxes, difficulty finding available doctors and long waiting times for appointments and treatments.
Havrda blames the flawed socialist and overregulated system for the decay of healthcare, stressing that it’s not the doctors’ fault.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The resort town of Baden-Baden, located in southern Germany, is offering to host peaceful negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
It was stated by its Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) Dietmar Späth to the newspaper Badische Neueste Nachrichten.
“Baden-Baden is the best example of how Russians and Ukrainians can peacefully coexist,” Dietmar asserts.
He referred to his resort as a “meeting place for the entire world” and a “peaceful point of intersection.”
This proposal for peaceful negotiations, which is his own initiative, Dietmar intends to soon present to the federal government of Germany.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Differences Between Poland’s and Hungary’s Approach to Russia and the War in Ukraine Explained
An exclusive interview during the MCC Feszt in Esztergom with Attila Demkó, a Hungarian security expert and writer as well as a former diplomat and the current head of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Center for Geopolitics
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.K. Banks Have Closed a Million Accounts in Just Four Years, With the Rate of Closures Accelerating
Amidst the backdrop of the Coutts banking scandal, figures obtained by the Mail on Sunday reveal that U.K. banks are on the verge of breaking account closure records, with over a million accounts shuttered in the past four years. Here’s an excerpt:
More than a million bank accounts have been shut since 2019 — and the rate of closures is accelerating, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request show that banks are on track to smash the previous record of 343,500 accounts closed last year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Anti-SUV Group Slashes Tires on 60 Land Rovers on Dealer Lot
SUV sales are booming, but not everyone is in love with modern high-rise family cars. One group vehemently opposed to SUVs has just claimed responsibility for an attack on a UK JLR dealership during which the tires on around 60 Land Rover vehicles were slashed.
A group calling itself ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ says its supporters ambushed the Vertu Land Rover retailer in Exeter, targeting scores of SUVs parked outside the showroom on Matford Way. A grainy POV video of the rubber wreckers in action was posted to the group’s twitter feed. Though it’s too dark to see the tires being cut you can hear the rubber being sliced by one of the activists as he or she moves from vehicle to vehicle.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Big Banks Have Shut Nearly One Million Accounts Over Past Four Years
Big banks in the UK have shut down nearly a million accounts over the past year, a paper revealed amid the Nigel Farage debanking scandal.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Coronavirus: Globalists Used Communication Giant to Spread a Single Version of Truth
UK Column recently reported a £320 million media buy-in contract awarded to OMD Group, the brief for which was redacted from the publicly available information on the UK Government’s Contract Finder website. This represents just 20% of the £1.6 billion in media buy-in contracts the Government has awarded to Omnicom since 2018.
Headquartered in Manhattan, Omnicom is a global media, marketing and corporate communications holding company. It is currently considered the second largest advertising agency in the world, eclipsed only by WPP.
Omnicom is an advertising giant which specialises in public relations, lobbying, communications strategy, and the planning and purchasing of targeted advertising space. It builds comprehensive media campaigns for its extensive client list. Omnicom heads a North America-based network of prominent advertising and public relations agencies with a world wide collective reach.
Omnicom has been awarded a number of sizeable contracts by the UK Government. These have included a December 2018 advertising campaign contract for the Cabinet Office, worth up to £184 million; a £119 million October 2020 media buy-in contract with a £230 million extension clause; and a £112 million media contract for the Ministry of Defence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: You Dare to Preach to Us?! Extinction Rebellion Murdering Druggy Scumbag is Jailed
An Extinction Rebellion activist stabbed her lover through the heart in a London street and walked away leaving him to bleed to death. Ready to take moral guidance from people like that?, asks Paul Baldwin.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Unpunished Crime: The 1944 Wola Massacre in Warsaw by Nazi Germany Forces Remembered 79 Years on
On the anniversary of the massacre of the inhabitants of the Warsaw district of Wola in 1944, the Memory March took place through the city streets.
The Wola Massacre, which took place after the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, is one of the biggest crimes committed by the Germans on civilians during World War II. The number of murdered is, according to different estimates, between 25,000 and 60,000.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Use of Cash Should be Constitutional Right, Says Austrian Chancellor
In what might be a rarity among contemporary European leaders, Austria’s Chancellor is calling for the right to use cash to be enshrined in that nation’s constitution, a move Reuters in a headline chose to refer to as a “far-right idea.”
Austrian news outlet Exxpress commented the Reuters headline:
One rubs one’s eyes in amazement: the term “right-wing extremism” covers ultranationalist, fascist, neo-Nazi or neo-fascist ideologies. The fact that the demand for anchoring cash in the constitution is suddenly considered right-wing extremist is new. Cash has proven itself as a means of payment since the development of metal coins in ancient times. It is a millennia-old commodity, also for storing value.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Grain Silos Hit in Huge Explosion at Turkey’s Derince Port, Injuring 12
At least 12 people were injured in an explosion at a warehouse belonging to the Turkish Grain Board (TMO), located at the state-run Derince Port in the Turkish province of Kocaeli on Monday.
The forceful blast occurred at around 2:40 p.m. local time, and its impact was reportedly felt throughout the town.
Emergency responders were promptly dispatched to the scene.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Peace in Ukraine Elusive as Jeddah Talks Conclude
Over the weekend, top representatives of 42 countries, including the U.S., China, and India convened—in person or remotely—in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to develop key principles which they hoped would serve as a starting point for bringing the war in Ukraine to a close.
Importantly, while it would monitor the proceedings, Russia did not attend, casting doubt on the future viability of the initiative. In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said there could be no cease-fire while Ukrainian forces were “on the offensive.”
While Al Arabiya reports that the talks have not yielded an official statement, it was agreed that another round of talks would be held later in the year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The USA Has Deployed Over 3,000 Military Personnel to the Middle East
The United States has deployed an additional military contingent of over 3,000 service members to the Middle East. This was reported by the press service of the U.S. 5th Fleet and covered by France 24.
“On August 6th, more than 3,000 American sailors and marines from the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in the Middle East,” the statement said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
According to the young woman, a wave of dismissals among emergency medical staff for their social media activity is gaining momentum in the Ukrainian capital. She made this statement on her own account.
“I worked in the ambulance service for three and a half years. I did a fairly good job, and here’s my ‘reward’ for my many years of work. It’s just utter cringe. In Kyiv, there’s a mass dismissal of doctors and paramedics from emergency medical services for engaging in social media, including TikTok.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The court sentenced the head of the Tulchin Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in Vinnytsia Oblast, to 5 years in prison with confiscation of property, the prosecutor’s office reports.
Vinnitsa Metropolitan Jonathan was found guilty of infringing on the territorial integrity and justifying the aggression of the Russian Federation.
The case concerned his article on the website of the diocese of January 2022 about the leading role of the “Moscow Patriarchate” in Orthodox Christianity and the denial of the independence of the OCU.
The investigation also stated that he kept “propaganda leaflets” on the computer.
In the spring, Ukrainian citizenship was taken away from Jonathan because, as the SBU stated, he had a Russian passport.
Jonathan himself does not admit his guilt and considers the accusations against him a provocation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Powerful Explosion Heard in Kiev — Media
MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. A powerful explosion rocked Kiev on Monday evening, the Zerkalo Nedeli media outlet reported.
According to the media outlet, the blast was heard in the city’s left-bank part. An air raid warning was not issued.
No further details were given. No comments have come from the local authorities as of yet.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Several Killed in Russian Missile Attack in Pokrovsk, Eastern Ukraine
At least five people have been killed and 31 others wounded after two Russian missiles hit residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukraine’s interior minister said.
Videos and pictures released by Ukrainian officials on Monday showed people sorting through the rubble including a badly damaged five-storey apartment building. An ambulance was on the scene treating the wounded.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
The Deputy of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Released From Custody
The deputy of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel, was released from custody on Monday, according to his lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, who announced it in his Telegram channel.
He reminded that earlier, the Solomiansky District Court of Kyiv had changed the pretrial measure for Metropolitan Pavel from round-the-clock house arrest to being held in custody with a bail set at 33,300,000 hryvnias (approximately 1 million dollars).
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church website published the details through which anyone could contribute and pay bail for Metropolitan Pavel, expediting his release from investigative detention.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Leader in Black Market of Human Organ Trafficking — Russian Foreign Ministry
Rampant corruption and lawlessness in Ukraine have effectively turned the country into a veritable paradise for organ traffickers eager to take advantage of cheap and abundant supply of human tissue.
While reports about organs being illegally removed from the bodies of the deceased in Ukraine started emerging as early as in the late 1990s amid the decline of the Ukrainian economy, the illicit organ harvesting and trade in the country started becoming more widespread during the 2000s, noted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Biggest Recipient of US Aid Since WWII — WaPo
The United States has committed in excess of $60 billion in aid to Ukraine since the beginning of Moscow’s military operation last year, according to the Washington Post.
A recent analysis has shown that various US aid packages to Kiev have included $43 billion in direct military aid, making it the US’ biggest investment in a country since World War II, according to the paper.
“These are off-the-charts numbers,” Michael O’Hanlon of the think tank Brookings Institution told the WP.
He added that Washington’s financial assistance to Ukraine could only be historically compared to the Marshall Plan — a US foreign aid package issued to Western Europe after the end of World War II. Adjusted for inflation, that initiative funded war recovery efforts to the tune of around $150 billion over three years.
The paper notes that Washington’s aid to Ukraine vastly surpasses the financial support issued to some of the US’ more traditional foreign partners, such as Israel, which was sent $8.6 billion in 2022 and 2023, and the $6.2 billion that was sent to Egypt and Jordan combined during the same period. It also significantly eclipses US financial support for Taiwan.
The US Department of Defense has an annual budget of $1.77 trillion, according to government data.
Some signs have shown that public support in the US for continued military assistance is weakening as the conflict enters its 18th month. Research in June found that 44% of Republicans or right-leaning independents believed that Joe Biden’s administration was spending too much on Ukraine aid.
However, O’Hanlon pointed out that the US could continue to fund Ukraine indefinitely. “We could do it forever,” he said. “It’s not economically unsustainable. But it’s probably politically unsustainable.”
Moscow has frequently cited Western support for Ukraine as a primary factor in prolonging the conflict. Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the US, responded to a renewed military package from the US to Ukraine last month by saying it is “beyond morality and common sense.” He claimed that while Washington seeks to portray itself as Kiev’s “selfless benefactor,” in practice it only strives for “more human suffering and deaths.”
Russian officials have repeatedly warned that shipments of heavy weapons and other military aid to Ukraine make NATO members de facto direct participants in Moscow’s conflict with Kiev. Moscow also insisted that Western support would not change the course of the outcome.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Hits Two Bridges Connecting Crimean Peninsula to Mainland
Two of the three bridges connecting Crimea to mainland Ukraine were hit by Ukrainian missiles on Sunday, August 6th.
Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian governor of the Republic of Crimea, said that both bridges, the Chonhar road bridge linking mainland Ukraine to the Crimean Peninsula and a smaller bridge linking the town of Henichesk in the Kherson region with the peninsula’s northeast coast, were temporarily closed to traffic, Russian news agency RIA reports.
The surface of the Chonhar road bridge was damaged, traffic diverted, and repairs had begun, he said. The governor added that Ukraine had fired 12 missiles, nine of which Russia’s air defense managed to take down, a claim which cannot be independently verified.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian Counter-Offensive Takes Toll With 2,040 Men Lost Since Friday
Recent reports reveal that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have suffered a massive blow, losing an additional 2,040 men over the weekend in the ongoing “Counter-Offensive” against Russian forces, reports The Gateway Pundit.
The situation escalated as Russia launched a counterattack against the Ukrainian “Spring Offensive,” claiming to have seized control of the village of Novoselivka near Luhansk. The Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian military of losing over 43,000 troops and thousands of pieces of military equipment since their counteroffensive began.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Continues Trading With Russia Despite the War
Even during the war, Ukraine continues to sell titanium to Russia, which is used in the production of aircraft and rockets, according to RBC-Ukraine, citing sources in the industry and obtained documents.
Ukraine holds 20% of the world’s titanium ore reserves, yet there is minimal production from this material. The concentrate is primarily exported.
From July 2022 to April 2023, the State United Mining and Chemical Company exported 82.2 thousand tons of titanium-containing ores.
According to sources from the publication, a significant portion of this production reached Russia through intermediaries from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Says it Has Foiled Russian Assassination Attempt Against President Zelensky
A woman allegedly aiding the Russians to take out President Zelensky in an airstrike was caught “red-handed” and faces 12 years in prison, Ukraine’s FBI equivalent has said.
An “informant of Russian intelligence” who was allegedly collecting information on President Zelensky’s planned visit to a region close to the Crimea frontline has been arrested, Ukraine’s intelligence and security agency announced Monday.
The arrest related to a trip to the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine, which was impacted by the destruction of the Kakhovka, last month by President Zelensky. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the unnamed woman, who appeared in heavily-pixelated form in a picture from her arrest published by the agency, had attempted to gather intelligence about Zelensky’s travel including “the time and locations of the approximate route” he would take.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CCP Was ‘Planning to Launch Pathogen’ From Illegal California Biolab, Says China Expert
The Chinese Communist Party was likely planning to release pathogens from an illegal makeshift biolab recently discovered in California, according to China expert Gordon Chang.
Chang, author of “The Great U.S.-China Tech War”, explained that the hundreds of genetically engineered mice discovered along with dozens of infectious agents at a warehouse in Reedley, California last week means China was readying a deliberate bioweapon attack on U.S. soil.
“The other thing they found was nearly 1,000 mice, 175 of them dead, that had been genetically engineered to transmit disease,” Chang said Friday on Fox News. “So, the only conclusion that fits the facts is that China was preparing to launch a pathogen from this lab, and I’m sure there must be others around the United States as well.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
High profile politicians and Yes campaigners celebrated at Garma this weekend, where tickets were up to $5,000 a head. Meanwhile, Alice Springs was gripped by crime.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Disney Begins to Wind Down Physical Media, Starting in Australia
In a world where major studios such as Disney have been censoring and editing older works, physical media has been important for those that want to preserve history and watch works that haven’t been censored for modern sensibilities. But now, physical media from major studios could soon be a thing of the past if Disney has its way, signaling a move towards a digital-only future.
In a staggering move reflective of the rising streaming and digital era, the Walt Disney Company has declared the discontinuation of physical disc production for its movies and TV shows in Australia, effective immediately.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No Mums and No Partners… ‘Male Only’ Adelaide Barber Shop ‘Robbie’s Chop Shop’ Tries to Ban Women
A barber shop in South Australia is applying for an exemption to ban women from its premises in order to protect the ‘male sanctuary’ so that men have a safe space to come together and talk.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Plumbing Company Collapses: Victoria-Based C & S Plumbing Pty Ltd Goes Bust Owing $12million
C & S Plumbing Pty Ltd, located in Benalla in Victoria’s northeast, collapsed on March 27 owing $12.2million to over 100 creditors.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The owner of a popular convenience store in Sydney has vented his shock to his social media fans after receiving a massive power bill.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Tribal Aboriginal Woman Reveals Why She Hates Australia’s Welcome to Country
Aunty Narelle McRobbie spoke about her view in a video question on ABC’s Q+A program Monday night, broadcast from the Garma Festival in the Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Public servants are facing the confusing situation of potentially being forced to do work to support a Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, but to not personally support it in the workplace.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Violence has marred a junior soccer game in Sydney’s western suburbs after an all-in brawl spilled into the stands, with a female spectator repeatedly punching a man in the face.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
X CEO Elon Musk called for a boycott of The New York Times over its dismissal of South African leader Julius Malema’s song calling for white genocide.
EFF leader Julius Malema led a chant and song last week in front of thousands of supporters called “Kill The Boers,” a slur for white farmers in South Africa.
The New York Times, always an outlet to overhype racism in virtually any issue, simply dismissed the white genocide anthem and lambasted conservatives for taking the “old anti-apartheid chant” too literally.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Niger’s Junta Closes Airspace, Bolsters Troops in Capital, Citing Invasion Threat
Niger’s coup leaders have closed the country’s airspace as an alliance of neighboring West-backed countries prepares a possible military intervention to restore the democratically elected government under President Mohamed Bazoum.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had at an emergency meeting days ago declared that Bazoum must be reinstated by Sunday, or that the junta could face military action.
On the same day, the military government announced the airspace closure until further notice due to threat of military invasion from neighboring countries.
“Faced with the threat of intervention which is becoming clearer from neighboring countries, Niger’s airspace is closed from this day on Sunday… until further notice,” the junta announced. The statement further warned of a “vigorous and instantaneous response” if any outside power violates Niger’s airspace.
Niger’s military leadership also claimed ECOWAS has initiated “pre-deployment in preparation for the intervention” in two Central African countries, but they weren’t named. “Any state involved will be considered co-belligerent,” the statement said. For the time being, it appears Niger’s junta has called ECOWAS’ bluff.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Gang of Migrants Attack Women Returning From LGBT Festival
A group of women traveling home from an LGBT festival was attacked by a gang of male migrants aboard a train in Germany over the weekend, according to authorities.
The disturbing incident unfolded at around 1 a.m. on Sunday near the town of Winsen in Lower Saxony.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Police Cover Up Migrant Rape Again
A Tunisian raped a 15-year-old girl in Halle. But the police and prosecutors are keeping quiet about the case. The victim has been in the hospital for days.
In Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, a Tunisian raped a schoolgirl so brutally that the girl is still in the hospital. The case happened on Wednesday afternoon but only became known at the weekend through a report in the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
The police and prosecutors had decided to keep the serious crime from the public. The 29-year-old migrant was arrested and is in custody.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Law and Disorder: Legal Migrants Protest Illegal Aliens Living in Brooklyn Park
Woke New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has caused perfectly understandable anger as illegal aliens flood into his “sanctuary city.” Legal immigrants to the U.S. are so upset that they staged protests at a Brooklyn Park that has turned into a migrant camp.
Ying Tan, a Republican running for the 43rd City Council district, is among the residents furious at the results of sanctuary city policies. “As first-generation immigrants, we understand that everybody comes here to go for a better life but this is not fair for the taxpayers of New York City,” she said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The UK government intended to introduce a five year trial which would see asylum seekers sent to Rwanda via a one way ticket, where they could claim asylum.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said from January 1, 2022, ‘anyone entering the UK illegally’ could be relocated to Rwanda.
But on June 19, 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled the government’s plans to ship asylum seekers to Rwanda as unlawful.
The government is set to challenge this ruling in the highest court in the country — the Supreme Court.
But in case their Rwanda scheme falters, it is said the government is in the early stages of a radical ‘Plan B’, which will see illegal migrants transferred 4,000 away to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.
But where is Ascension Island? What is the population of the territory? And will it be Rwanda’s plan ‘B’?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Skilled Migrants Say They Regret Moving to Australia Because of ‘Heartless’ Limits on Parent Visas
Australia has been slammed as a ‘heartless nation’ as migrants lash out at the lengthy wait times for their parents to be granted a visa.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisian Migrant Arrested in Germany for Rape of 15-Year-Old Schoolgirl
A Tunisian migrant has been arrested in Germany for the alleged rape of a 15-year-old schoolgirl in the city of Halle, the largest in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The attack took place on Wednesday but was initially unreported at the request of German authorities until the newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung ran the story on Saturday, sparking claims in the German media of a police cover-up.
“The police and prosecutors had decided to keep the serious crime from the public,” reported German news site Junge Freiheit, with German newspaper Bild citing a spokeswoman for the authorities who explained that this decision was “in consultation with the public prosecutor’s office.”
It is understood from the basic reporting of the incident that the victim was lured to an apartment on Streiberstraße in the south of the city where she was brutally raped by her attacker.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sunak Triples Fines for Housing or Employing Illegal Migrants
Employers and landlords of illegal migrants in Britain will face hefty fines under new plans being drawn up by the Home Office. The measure, which has been touted as an attempt to deter dangerous Channel crossings, will see current penalties triple.
Describing the ability to work and rent in the UK illegally as a “significant” incentive, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said increasing fines will make it “harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK.” He added:
Unscrupulous landlords and employers who allow illegal working and renting enable the business model of the evil people smugglers to continue.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An heir to Anheuser-Busch said his ancestors would have “rolled in their graves” if they knew the beer company threw it all away over a marketing stunt with a transgender influencer.
Billy Busch is the grandson of Anheuser-Busch founder Adolphus Busch.
Busch said: “I think my family, my ancestors, would be rolling over in their grave.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hilarious: PBS Rolls Out ‘Climate Psychology Therapist’ for Armageddon Coping Session
In a segment that looked like something out of Monty Python, PBS NewsHour brought on a therapist to help people suffering from ‘climate anxiety’ on Sunday.
Anchor John Yang announced the “climate psychology therapist,” noting “This summer, millions of Americans are experiencing firsthand the effects of climate change. Triple-digit temperatures for days on end, smoke from record-setting wildfires fouling the air, warming oceans, bleaching coral reefs…”
“Psychologists say that can be a positive thing, spurring people to action. But for some people, it becomes an overwhelming sense of despair or anxiety,” Yang continued, adding “Psychologists call it climate anxiety. This week, we asked people about their emotional responses to climate change.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Four insurance companies have told the college to pound sand. Have you ever rooted for insurance companies ever? There’s a first for everything.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Porsche Edits Giant Jesus Statue Out of Ad, Apologizes for Offending Christians
High-end car brand Porsche is getting backlash after they released an advertisement that edited out the Cristo Rei—the large statue of Jesus Christ that overlooks Lisbon, Portugal—in celebration of 60 years of the Porsche 911 model.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former NCAA Division 1 athletes Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan were among those who were targeted by “hostile” protesters that gathered in Texas on Monday in opposition of the “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was joined by Gaines and Scanlan at the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame at Texas Woman’s University in Denton for a ceremonial signing of the bill, which was previously signed into law in June.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Banning woman from barber shops would indeed be a great step. Women ought to be far from any shop – but try and find even a male barber these days. There is a major difference of a barber from a hair stylist. I know of only one near, and I give the shop my business. High time to re-build male space where men are the focus, and NOT what women want.
“Miroslav Havrda, a renowned Czech doctor and founder of Czech pediatrics, has criticized the state of Czech healthcare and government officials. He believes that the chronic problems in the healthcare system are being ignored and are now jeopardizing patients’ well-being. Havrda blames the flawed socialist and overregulated system for the decay of healthcare, stressing that it’s not the doctors’ fault.”
…
Yes well it all comes down to money$$.
The Czech Collonial Central Bank, a branch of the MoneyChangers International, will never ever let the Czech Crown to rise above its collonial status, requiring our Collonial Central Bank to continuously devalue the Czech Crown against the world currencies – the Euro, and the Dollar.
Back in 2008 Financial Crisis – the Czech Crown really had so much hot air in the balloons that it would go stratospheric together with the Swiss Frank – so much hot air that even the Banks had problems keeping our little collonial currency down. But – they succeeded, and the Czech Crown never rose above its foreign competitors.
This adventure of the subsidiary branch of the Moneychangers International had some disasterous – unintended consequences, though.
One of these consequences is that all qualified personnell – be it doctors, welders, technicians, engineers, dentists, cooks, nurses, pilots… Everyone who knows how to work a serious job can now make 4 times as much money over in Germany, or Scandinavia, or Britain – or even the USA, and the Arab nations…
And so it is, in our little Bohemia, that we are running out of proffessionals. Why work here for a quarter to one sixth of a wage one can make 50 kilometers from here, over in Austria, or Germany?
Oh – the joys of life in a colony of the EU/USA.
I have a schadenfreude deathwish to the MoneyChangers International. If they die, then maybe – The Czech Republic has a chance to survive. But so far it looks they will kill our little republic – before they die.
Training doctors for free, then expecting them to stay for much lower pay? Without the iron curtain to hold them in? Look at the incentives before you blame anyone else.
Not to excuse the money changers for the ills they bring upon the world. 🙂
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Representative greetings from the Swedish asylum
https://swebbtube.se/w/oTzSjpEq1xm1jbijMU8EvX
counter fire
https://swebbtube.se/w/mcARjpiSV2uAuRUpJJUMF6
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Obama’s hidden pages
8/8-23
https://rumble.com/v359my0-the-real-story-behind-obamas-secret-life.html
The Real Story Behind Obama’s Secret Life
By Hans Rustad
In 1999, a man named Larry Sinclair comes to Chicago to have “a good time”, and by that he means meeting other men. The limo driver understands his desire and sets him up with a young black man. They start drinking. Sinclair snorts cocaine and the young man smokes marijuana. Sinclair strokes his thigh without resistance.
At the hotel, he performs oral sex, a blowjob, on the young man. The next day, the doorbell rings where he lives outside the city, and there is the same young man. Now the roles are reversed.
It’s not until years later that Sinclair discovers who it was he met. That’s when he sees the young man on TV. He is a member of the state assembly, as a senator, in Michigan, and his name is Barack Obama. In 2004, he gives a speech at the Democratic National Convention where he is presented as a rising star. Four years later, he is a presidential candidate.
Dinesh D’Souza interviewed Sinclair, and he has more: Sinclair stood up at a press conference and talked about his experiences with Obama. Shortly afterwards, he is arrested by the police in Washington. The Delaware State Attorney General has issued a warrant for his arrest for theft. Beau Biden is the son of Joe Biden, the man who would become Obama’s vice president.
The accusation was an act of revenge. Before the press conference, Sinclair had been contacted by a third person, Donald Young, who was the choir director at Obama’s church in Chicago where Jeremiah Wright was the pastor. Wright embarrassed Obama during the election campaign when several sermons appeared in which he asked God to punish America. Wright is far-left and rabid. Obama has to distance himself from his friend.
Donald Young tells Sinclair that he has also had a relationship with Obama for several years. Young warns Sinclair that “they” will “come after you”.
A while later, someone breaks into Young’s apartment and kills him. The murder is never solved. His mother publicly asks why her son had to die to protect Obama.
This could have been a story about Obama’s dark past, but it also implicates the liberal establishment that has elevated Obama to a god, not least the media.
The media deliberately covered up any aspect of Obama that could ruin his chances with Middle America. His university thesis was so radical that he would never have been elected if it had been made public during the election campaign. The US is such a racist society that even blacks are racist – against their own, according to Obama.
Dinesh D’Souza has become Obama’s nemesis. He is the one who tracked down Sinclair and did the interview with him. But D’Souza is smart. He compares it to the media’s gluttony in Stormy Daniels. Juxtaposed against their glorification of the porn star, the cover-up of Obama’s past becomes all the darker.
Trump came after Obama. He was the polar opposite. Why did Americans vote for him when heir apparent Hillary was ready? It was a rejection of Obama’s legacy and will, which was an act of rebellion. Therefore, voters needed to be punished. The first thing they did was to want to destroy Trump. A porn star was embraced as if her profession was as respectable as any other.
Her lawyer was Michael Avenatti, who did nothing but talk about porn. Avenatti had a free pass to CNN, which suggested him as a presidential candidate. Until it came to light that he defrauded Daniels of money and tried to extort money from Nike and from clients who were in wheelchairs. Avenatti is now serving a years-long sentence.
Then the media, including NTB, stopped writing about him.
It’s when you see these two sides of liberal America that you realize that the media no longer knows what morality is.
People who are around these people have a sad tendency to meet a sudden death. They have formed a cartel to destroy their opponent – Donald J. Trump – by any means necessary.
But the more that becomes known, the more they sink in people’s esteem.
Americans have long since realized that Obama was not at all what he was sold as. He wanted to transform America into something completely different from America.
Never before has a vice presidential candidate gone on television and expressed support for looters and arsonists as Kamala Harris did in the fall of 2020.
The media remains on her and Joe’s side. They are fighting for the hegemony and narrative of the 68-culture, which is rotten to the core.
(To Danish by Snaphanen)
To English by LN.
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Choir conductor Donald Young
2007: Murder of a Gay Man at Trinity Church:Who killed Donald Young?
Choir conductor found murdered and Choir director found slain in apartment
There is a book written about the case called Obama and the MURDER of Don Young: Sylvia’s Last Case? Getting Away with MURDER?
Oddly enough, Obama’s chef Tafari Campbell has just been found dead in two meters of water, despite being a good swimmer; Barack Obama’s personal chef found dead in Martha’s Vineyard lake :
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/25/barack-obamas-personal-chef-found-dead-in-marthas-vineyard-lake
“The Real Story Behind Obama’s Secret Life”
I’ve been hearing whispers in ‘n’ around DC for 20 years about President Affirmative Action (PAA) and his…..well, let’s just say his “dance card” history pre-DC. But none’ve ever come by way of a reliable source.
And while I can’t dispute the claim that PAA was “a member of the state assembly, as a senator, in Michigan”, I’m only aware of his having served in the Illinois senate. But, then, it probably wasn’t my week to watch him then..
The trouble with alotta these stories is they appear long after the fact and, generally, are sourced from a small number of people, who themselves have rather sketchy histories (i.e., homosexuals, disgruntled lovers, criminals, etc.).
Unfortunately, D’Souza’s lost alotta credibility over the years with his “documentaries” of [VERY] unsolved mysteries. But I could be wrong.
This year, it has been nothing but the battle of victimhood.
But to see whole countries now playing the perpetual victim, not just individuals, or groups, is beyond a joke….
Who will be the biggest victim?
Find out after the break…
The most important asset shadowing the Russian and Chinese surface force was the P-8 patrol aircraft.