Marine Le Pen is now more popular than French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the latest polls. Meanwhile, Éric Zemmour has appointed Ms. Le Pen’s niece Maréchal to lead his party, Reconquête.
In other news, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health refuses to rule out the possibility of new mask mandates.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Caroline Glick, Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Fjordman, LP, Reader from Chicago, Roger, 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.
Big Cut in Polish Interest Rate Shocks Markets
Poland’s central bank (NBP) had been expected to cut interest rates by just 0.25 percent, which would have brought the current 6.75 percent down to 6.50 percent. This is why it was such a shock when the NBP decided to go for a 0.75 percent cut, bringing the interest rate down to 6 percent.
The move will please mortgage holders, but not those trading Poland’s currency, the zloty (PLN).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bitcoin Up 365,999% Since Krugman Dismissed it at $7 Exactly 12 Years Ago
Authored by Reed MacDonald via BitcoinMagazine.com
Krugman’s dismissal of Bitcoin at $7.00 serves as a reminder of the potential for revolutionary technologies to reshape the world…
Twelve years ago, economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman first addressed Bitcoin and his opinion was skeptical to say the least.
In that now-famous article, penned for The New York Times on September 7, 2011, Krugman criticized and dismissed the cryptocurrency, which was then trading at an average of $7.03 per Bitcoin across exchanges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Tiger: Poland Ranks 2nd in Global GDP Growth From 1990 to 2020
Poland is among the global leaders in terms of economic development, with data from 1990 to 2020 showing that the only country in the world that grew faster than Poland was China.
Professor Michael Tanchum, an expert in international affairs, geopolitics and economic policy, who is affiliated with Harvard University, posted a graphic on X based on data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The CEOs of Australia’s Big Four banks all earn multi-million dollar salaries even though national savings have sunk to a 15-year low. High immigration boosts bank profits during a cost of living crisis.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Appeals Court Upholds Decision Barring Biden Admin From Colluding With Big Tech to Censor
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a low court decision in Missouri v. Biden barring the federal government from working with social media companies to remove First Amendment-protected content.
“Defendants, and their employees and agents, shall take no actions, formal or informal, directly or indirectly, to coerce or significantly encourage social-media companies to remove, delete, suppress, or reduce, including through altering their algorithms, posted social-media content containing protected free speech,” the decision reads. “That includes, but is not limited to, compelling the platforms to act, such as by intimating that some form of punishment will follow a failure to comply with any request, or supervising, directing, or otherwise meaningfully controlling the social-media companies’ decision-making process.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ATF Agents Carrying Rifles Raid Oklahoma Gun Dealer’s Home, Confiscate Guns
Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
As agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) left Russell Fincher’s house with 50 legally-owned firearms and his freshly relinquished Federal Firearms License (FFL), they offered him a tip.
“They said, ‘Tell all your FFL friends we’re coming for them next,’“ Mr. Fincher told The Epoch Times.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Whips Out Race Card to Dismiss His “Slow Start” and Other Criticisms
By Mark Glennon of Wirepoints
Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday night lambasted critics, arguing that he’s being held to a “different standard” as a black man, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
>From the Tribune: “There is a different standard that I’m held to. There is,” Johnson said. “And that’s not something that I’m mad at, but that’s just the reality. I’m not the first person of color, particularly a Black man, that will be held to a different standard than other administrations.”
Johnson apparently doesn’t like being called “slow,” which he says is a “microagression.” He has been criticized for a slow start as mayor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coach Who Got Job Back After Supreme Court Ruled He Could Pray on Field Quits, Claims Retaliation
Joe Kennedy, a Washington state high school assistant football coach who won his Supreme Court battle last year after fighting for his right to pray on the gridiron, said Wednesday he has resigned from his position after only one game.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Court Finds Arizona’s Signature Matching Process Unlawful in ‘Massive Win’ for Election Integrity
Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A judge has found that Arizona’s signature matching process for mail-in ballots is unlawful, delivering what the plaintiffs in the lawsuit called a “massive win” for election integrity.
Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper issued a ruling last week (pdf) in a lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes brought by public interest group Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), which alleged that Mr. Fontes broke the law regarding mail-in ballot signature verification procedures.
Specifically, the group argued that Mr. Fontes’ interpretation of “registration record” in the Secretary of State’s Elections Procedures Manual was unreasonably broad and improperly expanded the pool of signatures to which an early ballot affidavit signature could be compared, increasing the risk of false positives.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Marina Zhang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A recent study on the immune effects of Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine has scientists raising concerns over vaccine-acquired immune deficiencies.
Vaccine-acquired immune deficiency syndrome (VAIDS) is a new colloquial term coined by researchers and health practitioners since the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Though not recognized as a medical condition, some experts believe the COVID-19 vaccines may impair or suppress immune responses.
While the new study does not use the term VAIDS, the researchers recognized “a general decrease in cytokine and chemokine responses” to bacteria, fungi, and non-COVID viruses in children after COVID-19 vaccination.
“Our findings suggest SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination could alter the immune response to other pathogens, which cause both vaccine-preventable and non-vaccine-preventable diseases,” the authors of the paper published in Frontiers in Immunology wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
The second vice chairwoman for Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, who previously vowed to “dismantle” the Minneapolis Police Department amid widespread Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, is now calling for tougher crime laws after she was violently carjacked this week.
In a lengthy Sept. 7 post on Facebook, Shivanthi Sathanandan claimed the carjacking incident took place in the driveway of her Minneapolis home in front of her children, who are aged 4 and 7.
The incident left her with a broken leg, deep lacerations on her head, and bruising and cuts all over her body.
Ms. Sathanandan shared a photo of herself with what appeared to be blood pouring down her face alongside the post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Embattled Soros-Linked District Attorneys Leaving Office Amid High Crime, Complaints
Democratic megadonor George Soros has had great success in electing left-tilting district attorneys, but keeping them in office is proving more difficult.
More than a dozen prosecutors linked to Soros-funded campaign committees or organizations have left office after resigning, losing reelection or being removed, according to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund map.
They include embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who resigned in May; Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, who was removed last year by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who lost her 2022 primary after being hit with a federal indictment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FBI, HHS Stonewalling Congress Over Illegal Chinese COVID Lab in California
The Chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has threatened to subpoena the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after they refused to produce information on an illegal Chinese lab that was “caught red-handed conducting dangerous research related to COVID-19 and other deadly diseases without a license by FBI agents and California officials.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fear of Crime is Motivating Factor Behind 49 Consecutive Months of Rising Gun Sales, Experts Say
U.S. gun sales have topped one million for 49 consecutive months, according to newly released data that has Second Amendment advocates and gun violence prevention groups at odds over its meaning and causes.
Americans’ aggregate purchase of firearms has modulated somewhat, with two slight but noticeable dips in 2009 and 2017, but have generally trended upward since then, according to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives data.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gavin Newsom Announces He’s NOT Running in 2024, Dubs Kamala ‘Natural Successor’ to Biden
California Governor Gavin Newsom, long thought to be the Democrats’ secret weapon against Donald Trump in 2024, announced on Friday that he’s not running for president in 2024, and that Vice President Kamala Harris is the “natural successor” to Biden.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Georgia Grand Jury “Went Insane”, Targeted Lindsey Graham and 38 Others Over J6
The Georgia grand jury, whose ‘lunatic’ forewoman came under fire in February after she went on national TV, giddy with excitement, and foreshadowed the coming indictments against former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants…
[…]went absolutely insane with indictment recommendations. As it turns out, the grand jury actually recommended charges against 39 people, including two former US senators for Georgia, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, as well as current US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said called him after the 2020 election to ask if it was possible to invalidate mail-in ballots that violated the state’s signature-matching law, and whether political bias may have played a role in counties where poll workers accepted higher rates of mismatched signatures.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hurricane Lee Continues to Track West-Northwest…when a Possible Turn to the North is Forecast
Hurricane Lee is forecast to continue on a west-northwest track through this weekend. Lee encountered some wind shear on Friday resulting in a dip in wind speeds. The weakening may continue before the storm enters a more favorable environment for some additional strengthening on Sunday and Monday.
Lee’s movement may start to slow down next week in the southwest Atlantic Ocean. By Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday a weakness in a ridge of high pressure to the north of the storm may start to shift east. This would allow Lee a path to start lifting north and remain 500+ miles east of the Southeast Coast.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Investigators Pinpoint House as Source of Explosion That Killed 6 Near Pittsburgh Last Month
Investigators rule out an outside cause as they say one of the houses is the cause of an explosion that destroyed 3 homes near Pittsburgh.
Investigators said Friday the location of an explosion that killed six people and destroyed three houses near Pittsburgh last month was inside one of the homes, ruling out an outside cause.
The Allegheny County fire marshal’s office said all potential outside factors were eliminated, including wells, pipelines and other utilities, pinpointing the source as a home on Rustic Ridge Drive in Plum Borough.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, the office said, and there is no time frame for when the probe will be completed. The investigation at the scene of the explosion has been completed and the property is being returned to its owners, the agency said in a release.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Dismisses Mercola Censorship Lawsuit Against YouTube
A court has ruled that YouTube holds no legal obligation to host videos by prominent natural health advocate, Dr. Joseph Mercola. The lawsuit, brought forth by Mercola after his channels were purged from the platform, has ultimately highlighted the digital behemoth’s potent authority and influence over what content is accessible to its user base.
Mercola is an authority in natural health, using his YouTube platform, which touted an impressive 300,000-strong subscribership, to provide a counter opinion to the prevailing narrative around the COVID-19 pandemic. His claims however, have sparked controversy, and have been termed as COVID-19 misinformation by YouTube which led to his channels being axed from the platform.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vice President Kamala Harris has stated that she’s willing to “take over the job of being president” as concerns continue to stack up about Joe Biden’s fitness for office.
Harris made the comments during a new Associated Press (AP) interview published Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
LA County Health Chief Refuses to Rule Out Public Mask Mandates
The Los Angeles County health chief has refused to rule out the return of mask mandates for the public, arguing that masking is “a reasonable request” during “this pandemic.”
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that “ever” is not a word she is willing to use in reference to future mask mandates.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lawsuit Filed Over Illinois Mandating All Constitutional Challenges be Filed in Just 2 Counties
A law limiting where people may file legal complaints for state constitutional violations is facing its own lawsuit — with plaintiffs claiming the law infringes on their rights by forcing their claims to be heard by judges they aren’t even allowed to elect.
The lawsuit was filed Aug. 29 by three St. Clair County residents represented by the Liberty Justice Center. They allege the new law limiting where they may challenge the constitutionality of state laws itself violates the Illinois Constitution by damaging their voting rights and stripping courts of jurisdiction over certain subjects.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nancy Pelosi Announces She’s Running for Reelection in 2024
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is 83-years-old, announced on Friday that she’ll run for reelection to another term in Congress, as Democrats attempt to win back the majority in 2024.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The new owners of the Washington Commanders appear to have some powerful support as they continue to grapple with a culture-war clash over the organization’s historic — and already discarded — Redskins name and logo.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), a major Native American rights organization, had issued calls to get rid of the Redskins name for decades. Last week, it touted its efforts at “fostering a proactive partnership” with the NFL team.
The NCAI is funded by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations as well as other left-leaning groups. It is also funded through American taxpayer dollars from an array of federal departments, according to claims by the group itself.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Texas man paralyzed below the waist was pulled from a burning car by a heroic woman — and then made it his mission to track down the previously unidentified good Samaritan so he could thank her properly.
Dennis Brown of Dallas heaped praise on Tammi Arrington after the Mississippi resident, who was visiting a friend in the Lone Star State, jumped into action when Brown’s rental car suddenly caught fire Sunday morning.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In retrospect, it’s surprising that it took so long.
With Case-Shiller reporting that the nation’s worst-by-far (not to mention feces-covered) real-estate market is that of San Francisco, where prices have seen annual declines for the past 8 months, half of which have seen double-digit drops…
[…]overnight RedFin reports more bad news for those unlucky enough to be living in the socialist utopia that is San Francisco: home sellers in this liberal bastion are four times more likely than the average U.S. home seller to take a loss, as the Bay Area metro reels from an outsized drop in home prices. In fact, according to the report, the typical San Francisco seller who takes a loss sells their home for $100,000 less than they bought it for.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Funded House Democrats’ ‘Socialist Sympathy Tour’ to South America, Records Show
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Maxwell Frost (D., Fla.), Greg Casar (D., Texas), Nydia Velazquez (D., N.Y.), and Joaquin Castro (D., Texas) traveled to Brazil, Colombia, and Chile last month as part of a trip organized by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-wing think tank. The delegation met with Colombian president Gustavo Petro, Chilean president Gabriel Boric, and advisers to Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to “strengthen diplomatic relations” between the House and Latin American leaders.
Financial disclosures submitted to Congress this week revealed that Soros’s Foundation to Promote Open Society provided a grant to the Center for Economic and Policy Research for the junket.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
State Corrections Officer Stands Trial for His Own Shooting
The officer Christopher Floe confessed to having sister shoot him, police say
SHELTON, Wash. — Prosecutors argued Friday that a state corrections officer accused of having his sister shoot him, on purpose, was under investigation for having a sexual relationship with a former inmate he was supposed to be supervising.
Former state Community Corrections Officer Christopher Floe pleaded not guilty in 2021 despite allegedly admitting to planning the shooting, which involved his sister, his sister, 34-year-old Caroline Harris, shooting him after he repeatedly asked her to.
Friday Floe’s trial went before Mason County Judge Monty Cobb. Floe waived his right to a jury trial.
Mason County Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Bickerton argued Floe had his sister shoot him to potentially get out of trouble, receive disability payments, and perhaps praise.
“Mr. Floe wanted a way out and that is why he came up with this agreement. He did not want to work at the Department of Corrections anymore, but he wanted to still be paid for it. He wanted to go out a hero. He did not want to go out as somebody who was under investigation,” said Bickerton.
Bickerton argued Floe should receive an exceptionally long sentence for what Bickerton called a “sophisticated” and planned event.
Floe’s attorney, Richard Woodrow disputed that, calling it “unsophisticated.”
“Almost ridiculous buffoonery that occurred here,” said Woodrow.
Woodrow did not dispute the facts or evidence presented in the case, but he said his client did not deserve a long sentence.
“What Mr. Floe did was wrong,” said Woodrow, “But it’s wrong to hold him responsible for things he didn’t do.”
Woodrow said Harris could have said no when Floe asked her to shoot him.
“If Mr. Floe asked me to shoot him, and I shoot him, then I’m the person committing the crime,” said Woodrow.
Judge Cobb is expected to announce a verdict in the coming weeks.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
The ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt Says the Organization Isn’t Pressuring X Advertisers
In an interview this week on CNBC’s show Squawk Box, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), steered a conversation toward alleging that criticism of the ADL’s social media censorship efforts were being driven by “white supremacist” factions.
The ADL recently met with Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino. It apparently ignited the fuse for a fast-spreading hashtag campaign: “ban the ADL.” According to Greenblatt, the culprit for this viral trend was not those that were tired of the ADL trying to censor online speech but were none other than the “white supremacists” pervading across the online platform.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Warns Auto Workers’ Union: Biden’s Electric Car Agenda Will Destroy Michigan Motor Industry
President Donald Trump has issued a warning to members of the United Auto Workers Union about the impact the Democrats’ radical green agenda will have on their industry.
Trump warns that Democrat President Joe Biden’s electric car agenda will destroy the auto industry in Michigan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dima Tower, 21, allegedly stabbed his adopted parents Robbie and Jennifer Tower to death in their home in Florida, seven years after they rescued him from a Ukrainian orphanage.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Wyoming Mayor Says ‘Third-World Stuff’ Happening in City Overrun With Homeless People
Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A city in Wyoming has been overwhelmed with a growing number of homeless people, who have damaged a local hotel that would require millions of dollars to fix and left hundreds of pounds of human feces in the downtown area, according to its mayor.
Casper Mayor Bruce Knell, in an interview with local news media Cowboy State Daily published on Aug. 31, said the city’s homeless population had topped about 200 people, creating “a mess” as they roam the city’s parks and streets.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s third-world country stuff happening in Casper, Wyoming,” Mr. Knell said.
“They destroyed everything,” he added. “It’s horrible.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
X Sues California Over Content “Moderation” Law
In the recent wave of internet regulations emerging from California, one stands out as particularly contentious: AB 587, labeled the “transparency” bill. While the overarching concept of transparency has been applauded by some, the real-world implications of this particular legislation have raised alarms across the digital space as, in this instance, it’s being used as a form of censorship.
Elon Musk and X, with his notable influence and resources, has stepped into the spotlight to challenge this law’s validity and is welcomed since a similar lawsuit against the bill failed in recent weeks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nine gold pendants with rare horse symbols, ten gold beads, and three gold rings from the 6th century were recently discovered by a metal detectorist in Southwestern Norway.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘AI Took My Job, Literally’: Tech Outlet Replaces Spanish-Language Staff With AI Translators
Tech outlet Gizmodo’s parent company, G/O Media, has laid off its Spanish-language editorial team and replaced them with AI-generated translations. The move is a stunning turnaround for leftist media outlets that once snidely suggested blue collar workers “learn to code.”
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Austria Refuses to Deport Draft-Eligible Men to Ukraine
With Ukraine increasingly desperate for men to send to the front, it is pushing for countries in the area to send draft-eligible Ukrainians who fled at the beginning of the war. However, some countries are balking at the demand, including Austria. The country’s Internal Ministry said it will not extradite draft-age Ukrainian men back to Ukraine.
Ukraine expects that all Western European countries that have taken in Ukrainian refugees will send back men of conscription age to their homeland so that they can be drafted into the military and sent to the frontlines, which was announced by the leader of the parliamentary faction of the Servant of the People party, Davyd Arakhamia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Censored for “Safety”: Swedish Cultural Centre Cancels Iran-Critical Artist
After her art exhibition was shut down over safety concerns by a Swedish cultural centre, artist Sadaf Ahmadi has been invited to Brussels by Sweden Democrats (SD) MEP Charlie Weimers to display her sculptures of women wearing the Islamic Chador.
Ahmadi’s sculptures, which have been displayed previously in parts of France, were set to be displayed in the city of Borås, Ahmadis’ hometown, but the Borås Cultural Centre shut down the exhibition claiming, according to a report from the newspaper Aftonbladet, that the exhibition would pose a possible safety risk.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Elections: Farmers Party Plummets as Greens Propose 75% Livestock Cull
The tide looks to be going out for agrarian populists in the Netherlands as recent polling shows the Dutch Farmers Movement (BBB) collapsing in the polls two months before national elections, as EU-backed Greens look to steady the boat on populist discontent.
The BBB was only founded in 2019 and, energised by the Netherlands’ running battle over the imposition of nitrogen quotas on the country’s agricultural sector, came in first in last March’s regional elections.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Enlargement Commissioner at Odds With VDL on EU Expansion
Setting a clear timeline for the next phase of EU enlargement has long been the subject of sensitive internal debate among the institutions. Commissioner Olivér Varhelyi’s latest remark suggests the division runs even deeper.
The European Commission should be ready to welcome the new EU members by 2030, the bloc’s Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Varhelyi said after a meeting with Turkish officials in Ankara on Wednesday, September 6th, taking the opposite stance from his boss, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Politico reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commissioner’s Job Hunt is Risk-Free
Few workplaces allow you to hand your job over to a co-worker, while you look for a better-paid position elsewhere, and then give back your old job should the hunt fail. But the EU Commission is no ordinary workplace.
This is the position Margrethe Vestager now finds herself in. The Danish politician took on the role of EU competition chief in 2014 and is now hoping to move on to a different, better-paid position: president of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU ‘Globalists’ Waging War on Hungary — Parliamentary Speaker
Hungary’s parliament speaker has accused the European Union of waging a “hybrid war” against his country, saying the organization is withholding funds owed to Budapest as a means of political control.
Speaking to the Mandiner magazine on Wednesday, National Assembly speaker Laszlo Kover agreed that Hungary’s relations with the EU had reached a “low point,” amid a row over some €28 billion ($30 billion) in funds earmarked for Budapest and currently frozen by the bloc until it implements various legal reforms.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former German Green Party politician and current Tübingen Mayor Boris Palmer made a plea in Budapest for a greater willingness from German and Hungarian politicians to engage in dialogue with each other.
Palmer gave a lecture entitled “Across the Green Border” at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium in the Hungarian capital on Tuesday. In it, Palmer accused the German government of double standards in its dealings with Budapest.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Le Pen Tops Macron in Recent Poll
Marine Le Pen, the conservative party leader, is now the second most popular political figure in France, with a steadily growing positive perception among voters, the French ViaVoice Institute found in its latest survey, published on Tuesday, September 5th.
Overall, 37% of French people describe the National Rally (RN) leader in positive terms, which is second only to Le Havre Mayor and former PM Edouard Philippe.
This represents a solid ten-point increase since November 2021 and a four-point jump in the last three months. In addition, 29% of respondents also said that their perception of Le Pen has evolved positively in recent months.
Furthermore, Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) came out as the absolute winner of the survey in terms of voter confidence, as 20% of respondents believed it would perform well in certain issues on average, followed by Macron’s liberal Renaissance (15%), the leftist coalition NUPES (14%), and the smaller conservative Les Républicains (13%).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Maréchal to Lead Reconquête in EU Elections
Marion Maréchal, granddaughter of former Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, will lead ex-presidential candidate Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête party in the 2024 European elections, putting her in direct competition with her aunt Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National.
Formerly an MP for Front National (now Rassemblement National), the 33-year-old Marion Maréchal left the party in 2019 and endorsed the candidacy of populist anti-mass immigration candidate Éric Zemmour in the 2022 presidential election, in which he received 7.07% of the vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Museum Bans White People From ‘Colonialism’ Exhibit
A museum in Dortmund has come under fire after it was revealed that an exhibition on colonialism involved a section in which white people were specifically banned from entering, leading to accusations of racism from critics.
The “This is Colonialism” exhibition has a special space reserved for non-white people and has been going on every Saturday for several months, with organisers claiming that the policy is meant to provide a so-called “safe space” for black people and other minorities, a report from Euronews states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Joins Three Seas Initiative, Becomes 13th Member
Greece has been admitted as a member of the Three Seas Initiative at the Bucharest summit of the format. In addition, Moldova and Ukraine have become associate partners.
The Three Seas Initiative is a diplomatic and economic format that has been joined by 12 EU states that lie between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas. It aims to increase cooperation on transport, energy and digitalization. The current 12 nations, which include Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Estonia, Croatia, Czechia, Latvia and Lithuania, have now become 13 with the accession of Greece.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden’s NATO membership is supposed to be imminent, but there are now signs that Hungary is balking at the possibility of Sweden in NATO, with the Hungarian speaker of the house, Laszló Kövér, stating in an interview that his Fidesz party has a number of security concerns about Sweden and even Finland’s membership.
Kövér said that contrary to claims of the mainstream liberal media, Hungary is not waiting for Turkey in order to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership, and this will be a sovereign decision of the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
IBM Makes Proposals for a Digital Euro Implementation
In the wake of IBM’s recent guidelines on the rollout of a digital euro, aimed at bolstering the European Central Bank’s (ECB) digital currency initiatives, concerns around privacy and civil liberties are becoming increasingly urgent. While IBM meticulously outlines a series of recommendations for the integration of the digital euro into the Eurozone’s financial infrastructure, it leaves open questions about how these measures might compromise individual freedoms.
IBM’s blueprint, which aligns with the European Commission’s (EC) legislative proposals, emphasizes the importance of building on “existing rails.” Yet, the company’s push for greater expansion raises concerns that a centralized digital currency could exacerbate surveillance capabilities and governmental control over personal finances. The focus on “simplicity” as a catalyst for adoption conveniently omits a detailed exploration of the trade-offs in privacy and autonomy that may result from this supposed simplicity.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Plays Diplomatic Hardball With EU Over Detained Swedish Diplomat
EU officials triggered international intrigue this week when they confirmed that a 33-year-old Swedish EU diplomat had been detained in Iran on grounds of espionage, a fact only revealed more than 500 days following his arrest.
Brussels accused the Iranian government of hostage diplomacy as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell verified rumours that the Swedish-born diplomat, Johan Floderus, had been held in a Tehranian prison since April 2022, after vacationing in the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ryanair CEO Pied in Face by Eco-Activists During Brussels Press Conference
The CEO of the Irish airline Ryanair suffered the misfortune of being pied in the face by eco-activists on Thursday as he delivered a petition to the European Commission headquarters in Brussels.
Michael O’Leary was accosted by two female protesters as he stood next to a cardboard cutout of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a press conference outside the Berlaymont building in the de facto EU capital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Gangs Use Fake Spotify Hits From Affiliated Gangster Rap Artists to Launder Money
Swedish criminal gangs are using Spotify to launder money by engineering artificial hits on songs owned by gang affiliates to receive big payouts from the streaming platform.
The revelation comes from an investigative report by the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), which cites a whistleblower who recounted how gangs are exploiting the Swedish streaming giant to convert their dirty cash into legitimate income.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism Suspect Eludes Scrambling UK Police for Days
Police in the United Kingdom continue in their massive manhunt to find for terrorism suspect Daniel Khalife after the 21-year-old former British soldier escaped from Wandsworth Prison on Wednesday morning.
Khalife, who is suspected of spying for the Iranian regime and accused of plotting a bombing hoax, was working in the kitchens at Wandsworth prison when, on Wednesday, he strapped himself underneath a delivery truck that left the prison, and was able to escape despite security procedures in place meant to prevent smuggling and prison escapes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
As the United Kingdom nears the final stages of ratifying its controversial online censorship bill, known as the “Online Safety Bill,” the government faces an uphill battle in the move to curb end-to-end encryption.
The government has long pushed the idea of curbing child abuse as the guise through which to complete eradicate digital privacy.
Recently, Culture Minister Stephen Parkinson addressed the House of Lords to articulate that the enforcement arm, Ofcom, would only force companies to use proactive technology to detect illegal content like child sexual abuse if it were “technically feasible.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The British government has suspended payment of a £2.175 million grant to a mosque in Birmingham after a social media clip went viral of its imam giving a sermon on how to stone a woman “correctly” for adultery and appearing to incite the murder of homosexuals.
The footage, which surfaced late last month, purports to show the head imam of the Green Lane Mosque, Sheikh Zakaullah Saleem, preaching the teachings of Sharia law on how to serve justice on unfaithful women.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Postpones Mass Surveillance Plan Until it’s “Technically Feasible”
The British government decided to leave out the so-called ‘spy clause’ from its upcoming Online Safety Bill at the last minute, but the decision’s only temporary until the technology behind scanning encrypted messages becomes accurate enough, The Register wrote on Thursday, September 7th.
“If the appropriate technology does not exist that meets [certain] requirements, then [the regulators] will not be able to use Clause 122 to require its use,” Stephen Parkinson, a Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport minister said in Westminster on Wednesday. “A notice can be issued only where technically feasible and where technology has been accredited as meeting minimum standards of accuracy.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Scores ‘Own Goal’ and Press Cheers
Everybody agrees that it is in Britain’s interest to rejoin Horizon Europe, the scientific research initiative of the European Union. That, at least, is the impression one gets reading the papers this morning.
Positive reports in the country’s more Eurosceptic papers—The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, and The Times—read like government releases, partly because they have copied and pasted so much from the Downing Street document announcing the news. Even The Daily Express, which was the first mainstream paper to come out for Brexit in 2010, has hailed the move as a “victory,” failing in the paragraphs below this title to demonstrate even the slightest lick of scepticism.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Hungarian government will no longer accept any criticism from the United States due to the state of democracy in the United States, with officials and government entities working to exclude likely presidential candidate, Donald Trump, from the election race there, said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjartó while in Budapest on Thursday.
According to a statement by the ministry, the minister, answering journalists’ questions at a joint press conference with his northern Macedonian counterpart on recent developments in U.S. domestic politics, asked all members of the U.S. administration to “put their lecturing statements on the state of Hungarian democracy in the drawer.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Despite ongoing reporting that billionaire oligarch George Soros is shutting down operations from his Open Society Foundations (OSF) in Europe, his son, Alex Soros, says that those reports are not true and that the focus will instead shift to Eastern Europe.
According to Alex Soros, who is set to take over the foundation from his father, the restructuring means a shift of emphasis, with plans to step up activities in countries like Poland or Hungary. In addition to continuing a number of programs, they will also support the Central European University (CEU), which is partly based in Budapest.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The European Union has continued to provide funding for liberal projects backed by U.S.-Hungarian billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations while simultaneously blocking payments due to the Hungarian government, according to reports by the Magyar Nemzet newspaper.
In June, more than half a billion Hungarian forints (€1.3 million) was awarded to national and local non-government organizations (NGOs) that support the liberal agenda in Hungary, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to the Soros network.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: A Nazi Speech in Ramallah Tells a Much Bigger Tale
On September 28, Israel’s Supreme Court is expected to rule in favor of a petition from the far-left Movement for Quality Government to overturn the November 1, 2022 elections.
In January, MQG petitioned the Supreme Court asking the justices to ban newly sworn in Netanyahu from serving in office. MQG argued that with all due respect to the 2.4 million Israelis who voted for Netanyahu, as a criminal defendant, Netanyahu is legally “incapacitated” from performing his duties in office and therefore, the Supreme Court should order the Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara to declare Netanyahu “incapacitated “and oust him from power.
MQG’s petition was ridiculous on its face. The Supreme Court ruled in an 11-0 judgment in March 2020 that Netanyahu may serve as Prime Minister while standing trial.
Basic Law: The Government, stipulates that a Prime Minister can only be compelled to leave office if he has been convicted of criminal charges, and even then, only after he has exhausted all appeals.
Until the MQG submitted its petition, the incapacitation clause of the law was understood to refer only to physical or mental incapacitation. Moreover, no law empowers the Attorney General to deem the Prime Minister incapacitated. That power was vested in Israel’s elected leaders in the government and Knesset. All the same, the justices agreed to adjudicate the petition.
Baharav Miara also didn’t reject the notion that she has the power to oust the Prime Minister. Instead, the Attorney General installed by the previous government and still acting on its behalf to paralyze the Netanyahu government, claimed that Netanyahu cannot be deemed incapacitated so long as he upholds the conflict of interest agreement he signed upon entering office. Baharav Miara insisted the agreement bars Netanyahu from dealing with judicial reform. By implication, Baharav Miara intimated that the converse was also true.
Immediately after Baharav Miara expressed that position, Coalition Leader MK Ofir Katz (Likud), submitted a bill to amend the Basic Law: The Government to explicitly prevent Baharav Miara from ousting Netanyahu from power, and so overturning the elections. Katz’s draft bill, which was passed in March, made explicit what until then had merely be understood. The Prime Minister may only be deemed incapacitated if he is physically or mentally incapable of continuing to fulfill his duties. The power to make such a determination lays not with the unelected Attorney General, but with Israel’s elected leaders — the government and the Knesset. The amended law stipulates that three fourths of the government and two thirds of the Knesset must support such a determination in order to oust the elected leader of the country from power.
While Katz’s bill made its way through the Knesset, Netanyahu studiously avoided all involvement in his government’s central effort. His absence left a leadership vacuum that arguably doomed the government’s first effort to pass its judicial reform agenda. Without Netanyahu at the helm, a handful of Likud MKs led by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant lost their nerve in the face of the Left’s riots and indicated they would vote against judicial reform.
Immediately after the Knesset passed the amendment to the Basic Law, Netanyahu reasserted his leadership. His move played a significant role in the coalition’s successful passage of its first judicial reform bill in June.
For its part, MQG quickly submitted a new petition to the Supreme Court asking the justices to abrogate the amendment to the Basic Law: The Government, and empower Baharav Miara to oust Netanyahu.
If there was any doubt regarding Baharav Miara’s intentions, her reaction to the legislation’s passage dispelled them. Baharav Miara penned a letter to the Court supporting the abrogation of the amendment to the Basic Law. Her behavior showed that if the Court abrogates the amendment, Baharav Miara will either oust Netanyahu by declaring him incapacitated, or use her power to unseat him at any time to force Netanyahu to abandon his government’s judicial reform plans. Either way, Baharav Miara obviously plans to nullify the results of the November 1 elections.
Here is the place to note that MQG’s petition has no legal basis. The Supreme Court has no legal authority to abrogate or change Basic Laws. Indeed, there is no law that permits the Supreme Court to abrogate regular laws.
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Dubai-based Emirates airline has never faced the same human rights scrutiny before approval of its flights into Australia which has seen Qatar Airways banned from expanding its local service.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
“No One Ever Said This Would be Easy”: NATO Chief Defends Slow Ukrainian Progress
The risk of the Ukrainian war escalating in the Black Sea, the shock presence of Cuban military forces on the battlefield, and the final steps to confirm Swedish NATO membership were all topics of discussion as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg addressed the European Parliament Thursday morning.
On September 7th, Stoltenberg was addressing a joint meeting of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence committees, where the NATO boss was accused by various anti-war MEPs of overpromising Ukraine on NATO membership at a recent meeting of the alliance in Lithuania.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Over 200,000 Ukrainian Men at Risk of Conscription Have Fled to Germany Since Start of War
More than 200,000 Ukrainian men of fighting age have fled their country to Germany since the beginning of the war with Russia, according to the federal government’s written response to a question posed by the Alternative for Germany’s foreign policy spokesperson Petr Bystron.
Despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration banning men aged between 18 and 60 from leaving the country, a total of 203,640 male Ukrainian citizens facing conscription have arrived in Germany since February last year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland’s Top Military Official Warns of Ukraine’s Defeat in War
A top Polish general, Rajmund Andrzejczak, warned of the consequences of Ukraine losing the war.
During the Economic Forum in Karpacz, the general argued that a Russian victory in Ukraine and Russia’s complete subjugation of Belarus would make it clear to Poland that even defense expenditures at 5 percent of GDP a year and a 300,000-strong army would not be enough.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine has begun exporting grain through Croatian seaports in a bid to widen its export routes as its Black Sea ports are blocked, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday.
Ukraine’s main grain export route used to be through Black Sea ports, but Kyiv has been looking for alternatives since Russia’s invasion last year and Moscow’s decision in July to withdraw from an agreement allowing safe transport on the Black Sea. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said during a visit to the capital of Zagreb at the end of July that Ukraine and Croatia had agreed on the possibility of using Croatian ports on the Danube and the Adriatic for Ukrainian grain exports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Missile Attack Kills Policeman, Wounds 73 People in Zelenskyy’s Hometown in Central Ukraine
The strikes came days after 16 people were killed in a Russian attack on a market in eastern Ukraine
A Russian missile attack Friday on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown killed one policeman and wounded at least 73 people, including nine policemen, Ukrainian officials said. Another attack in the southern Kherson region killed three people.
The strikes were among multiple Russian attacks across the country overnight, officials said. Meanwhile, Moscow is trying to strengthen its position politically with local elections in the four regions it illegally annexed last year, even though it doesn’t fully control any of the four. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it does not recognize the “fake elections.”
The strikes came days after 16 people were killed in a Russian attack on a market in eastern Ukraine and drone debris was found in Romania. That sparked fears among local residents that the war could spread into the NATO-member country bordering Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Threatens to Sue Poland and EU in the WTO Over Grain Embargo
The embargo on Ukrainian grain exports in five EU states neighboring Ukraine is set to expire on Sept. 15. Poland is lobbying the EU to extend the embargo, and Kyiv is working hard in Brussels to ensure the ban ends. Now, Ukraine is threatening to sue Poland and the EU itself in the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the issue.
Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka warned that “despite being grateful to Poland for its help, if the limits on the export of our grain are introduced, we will be forced to take the matter to the WTO in the form of a lawsuit.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Forcing ‘Fight to the Last Ukrainian’ — Kremlin
Dmitry Peskov has claimed following reports that Washington is planning to provide more weapons to Kiev. He insisted that the additional aid would not change the course of the conflict.
“We have many times heard statements that [the US] is going to continue helping Kiev as long as necessary,“ Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Intel Official: Media Misleading Americans About Ukraine’s Battlefield Success
Authored by Kyle Anzalone via AntiWar.com
In an interview with renowned reporter Seymour Hersh, a US intelligence official scolded the media for misleading the American public about Ukraine’s battlefield failures during the Spring counteroffensive. The unnamed official additionally told Hersh he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the assassination of PMC Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin to deescalate tensions with NATO.
Responding to reports in recent weeks that Ukrainian forces were gaining momentum and recapturing territory, the official remarked, “Where are the reporters getting this stuff?” he asked. “There are stories talking about drunk Russian commanders while the Ukrainians are penetrating the three lines of Russian defense and will be able to work back to Mariupol.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Zelensky on Starlink-Gate: Musk “Committing Evil” & Driven by “Big Ego”
Update(1640ET): Amid the continuing controversy over Elon Musk having previously made the decision to block Kiev from utilizing Starlink satellites to attack Crimea, Zelensky’s office has lashed out in what we might call a “bite the hand that feeds you” moment.
Musk “committed” and “enabled evil” by denying the ability of Kiev to launch massive drone attacks on Crimea last year, Mikhail Podoliak, a senior aide to President Zelensky said Friday. Somewhat ironically, he wrote this charge on the Musk-owned platform X. Here’s what he said, framing the most hard-hitting lines suggesting Musk is doing “evil”… awkwardly in the form of a question (likely fearing Musk could at any time switch off Ukraine’s Starlink comms altogether):
“Sometimes a mistake is much more than just a mistake,” Podoliak wrote. “By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via Starlink interference, Elon Musk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities.”
“As a result, civilians, children are being killed. This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego. However, the question still remains: why do some people so desperately want to defend war criminals and their desire to commit murder? And do they now realize that they are committing evil and encouraging evil?
To recount, Musk has pointed out amid an avalanche of mainstream media “outrage” that—
“The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Georgia’s Balancing Act: EU/NATO Goals vs. Russian Threats
The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell touched down in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Thursday September 7th, in the hopes of advancing Georgia’s beleaguered EU membership bid. The country is being criticised by liberal civil society groups for authoritarianism and business ties with Moscow. LGBT groups have also turned their ire on Georgia after a gay pride parade was attacked in July by right-wing nationalists led by members of the Orthodox clergy.
Engaged in a border dispute with Russian-backed separatists since its independence in 1992, Georgia applied for EU membership in March 2022 but has had its bid frustrated by the European Commission, which demands greater reforms in the area of press and judicial freedom, as well as the “deoligarchisation” of the Georgian economy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nepal is Under the Growing Threat of Islamic Communalism
Muslims in Nepal are now threatening Hindus with open cow slaughter and beef eating. Mosques are built here and there at random. Islamic conspiracy is looming large in Nepal.
Upendra Bharti | HENB | New Delhi | Sept 7, 2023:: At the end of August this year, the peace locality of Dharan in eastern Nepal. Dharan is situated in Sunsari District of Koshi Province which is the third most populous city in Eastern Nepal having 95% population from the Omkar family in its Hindu roots and less than 5% others out of which hardly 2% are Muslims. However, the Muslim population in Nepal has crossed 5% mark (Hinduism-81.34%, Buddhism-9.04%, Islam-4.39%, and Kirat-3.04%, Christanity-1.41% etc. as per 2011 Census) and started to claim their Islamic share in every sphere of life in a motive to grab the social, political and economical power.
Now, only 2% of Muslims in Dharan created a situation for which Nepal administration and police had to impose strict restrictions in the city and outskirts to neutralize communal tension.
It was a frantic end of August. The posts on social media were evident which caused confusion and fear among people, leading to further distress. The situation escalated in Dharan to a point where security forces had to be put on high alert in the city to avoid communal clashes.
What happened actually, some Muslims of Dharan were seen eating bull’s meat in a feast that was live-streamed on social media. The feast was organised after two Muslims from Dharan, who were arrested for slaughtering a bull, was released from police custody. The feast was marked to celebrate their release. Not many were watching the stream. However, soon it became viral with the passing of time…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Monica Morgan, who is the CEO of the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation, revealed why First Nations people in her community were voting No.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Bourke Street, Melbourne: One Person Killed and Five Injured After Car Mows Down Crowd
At least two people have been hit by a car in Bourke Street in Melbourne.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Charles Darwin University in the NT has distanced itself from the furore after Associate Professor Bea Staley sent a pro-Voice email to speech therapy students
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A 14-year-old ‘known gang member’ has been arrested over the alleged abduction of a high school student.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Two cousins killed in a tragic dirt bike accident during a Father’s Day party at their uncle’s house have been farewelled by more than a thousand mourners.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Perth Mum Milica Pudney Dies Suddenly — Leaving Behind Her Husband to Raise Their Kids Alone
A mum who put her law career on hold to raise a family and follow her dreams to become her own boss has suddenly died unexpectedly.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Uranium Prices Fuel Anti-French Protest in Niger
Niger is jacking up the price of its uranium—at least that is the rumour circulating in African media and on social media.
“The new administration in Niger has raised the price of uranium exports. Niger provides 25% of the uranium that Europe consumes. The West African state has taken the bold step of increasing its uranium prices from €0.80/kg to €200.00/kg. Will EU states need firewood for the coming winter?” the Mint Press tweeted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elise Stefanik Decries Surge in Illegal Migrants at the Northern Border: ‘Unprecedented’
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) decried the surge in illegal immigration at the U.S. Northern Border in the wake of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s warning that the city will be dramatically changed by the sudden surge.
In a statement released on her website, Stefanik cited a declaration from Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia saying that there have been “over 6,100 apprehensions from 76 different countries in just 11 months, surpassing the last 10 years combined.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Marion Maréchal, the niece of French nationalist firebrand Marine Le Pen, has been selected by Éric Zemmour to lead his Reconquest party’s candidate list for next year’s European parliamentary elections.
In an exclusive interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Zemmour, a former French presidential candidate, explained that he was entrusting Maréchal with the task of defending his “conception of Europe and civilization,” and called on French voters to make the election a de facto referendum on immigration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Immigration Into Germany Soared by 40% in August as 15,000 Detected Crossing the Border
The head of the German Federal Police Union has slammed Interior Minister Nancy Faeser for failing to defend Germany’s borders after more than 15,000 illegal migrants were detected entering the country last month — a record monthly high for the year.
A total of 15,100 illegal entries were registered by authorities in August, up a considerable 40 percent from the previous record of 10,714 recorded in July.
The consecutive monthly rises in illegal activity represent a concerning trend for Germany’s federal police, and union chiefs have expressed their anger at the federal government for its inaction on border control.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian authorities are searching for six residents from the Roma district of Quarticciolo after viral footage published on social media showed a spontaneous group of vigilantes beat an Indian migrant suspected of mugging an elderly lady on Thursday.
In the video, filmed by a fellow resident, a group of around six individuals can be seen detaining a 26-year-old Indian national on a run-down street in the Italian capital, before proceeding to punch and kick the man as he lay defenseless on the road.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Male Tourist Raped by ‘North African’ Suspect in Paris
French authorities are seeking a ‘North African’ suspect following the rape and robbery of a male tourist in Paris this week, according to reports.
The shocking incident unfolded at around 5 a.m. on Tuesday in the 5th arrondissement of France’s capital city.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mayor Eric Adams Predicts Migrant Crisis ‘Will Destroy New York City’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams gave his most ominous prediction yet for the fate of the Big Apple, which is grappling with the influx of more than 110,000 migrants so far.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Backup law enforcement units rushed to a Chicago police station yesterday morning after migrants “revolted” against officers.
Crowds of illegal border crossers “tried to physically intervene” when officers tried to arrest another migrant for assault, police said.
Several officers were battered and threatened by the aggressive migrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant in Swedish Viral Home Break-in Video Sentenced to Two Years
A video of an Algerian man armed with a knife climbing a ladder to the balcony of a Swedish man’s apartment went viral on social media earlier this week after it was posted to X by several prominent users including Timcast contributor Josie Glabach, known on X as the Redheaded Libertarian and Rebel News writer Ian Miles Cheong.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Local authorities in the German city of Dresden have ordered the removal of a bronze sculpture depicting a naked woman from the vicinity outside a new asylum shelter, with critics claiming they have done so over fears the new arrivals would find the statue offensive.
The removal of Die Sinnende (The Sinner) sculpture took place ahead of the first of 140 migrants moving into the all-inclusive accommodation on Friday; the facility is expected to eventually house 280 migrants in total, which Remix News reported on earlier this week. The city has taken over the building on a 10-year lease for €432,000 a year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Predicted Large-Scale Migration Waves Threaten Europe
Two separate reports published this week have both sounded the alarm over a rising number of migrants arriving in Europe. In its Risk Analysis for 2023/2024, the European Union’s border agency, Frontex, warns that “geopolitical instability in countries to the east and south of Europe may result in large-scale refugee outflows.” These “could pose a severe challenge to the EU’s capacity to host these populations and strain local people’s willingness to help.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
— as Mayor Eric Adams warns crisis will destroy the city, with schools already overwhelmed
New York City’s migrant crisis will cost the city more than $4billion this fiscal year if the situation continues — as mayor Eric Adams warned the influx of asylum seekers could destroy the city.
Despite mayor Adams’ cries for help from the state and federal government, the city has not received aid to cover the extra costs, so the $4.7billion would come from the city’s budget. That amount is equal to the budgets for the city’s sanitation, fire and parks departments combined.
More than 110,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the city since the Spring of 2022, with over currently 10,000 arriving every month, and about 1,000 every single day.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In a case that has made national headlines in France due to the level of brutality, 29-year-old Mégane has now awoken after being raped into a coma with a broomstick by Oumar Ndiaye, who has been dubbed “the monster of Cherbourg” by politician Damien Rieu.
The 29-year-old woman has been in an artificial coma for over a month since the attack on Aug. 4; however, her health still remains “fragile,” according to relatives.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden to Tighten Citizenship Laws
The Swedish government announced on Thursday, September 7th, a decision to overhaul its current system of obtaining citizenship, officially launching an investigation into how to most efficiently tighten the rules, SVT reported.
“Swedish citizenship marks membership in Swedish society and has a very high value, both legally and symbolically,” Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said, explaining the rationale behind the government’s decision.
Among other things, the officials proposed requiring further knowledge of Swedish culture, advanced language proficiency, proof of self-sufficiency, and no criminal record.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A sector of the US-Canada border has seen a staggering surge of more than 6,000 migrants from 76 countries detained so far this fiscal year — more than the last decade combined, according to officials.
Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia sounded the alarm on Wednesday about the Swanton Sector, which covers the New York, New Hampshire and Vermont borders with Canada.
‘Over 6,100 apprehensions from 76 different countries in just 11 months, surpassing the last 10 years combined,’ Swanton Sector Chief Garcia posted on X. ‘Swanton Sector Agents are resolute and determined to hold the line across our 295 miles of border.’
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An interesting exchange about “diversity” happened between a journalist and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen at the Venice Film Festival.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Creeps Love Bud Light: Bill Gates Buys 1.7 Million Shares of Anheuser-Busch Valued at $95 Million
Bill Gates has acquired 1.7 million shares of Anheuser-Busch Inbev through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation trust during the second quarter of this year. The billionaire may have made the investment on the hopes that the company can get past its Bud Light fiasco, or he may think its new brand image fits with his infamous reputation as an “office bully” and friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
EU to Continue Aid to Uganda Despite Anti-LGBT Laws
The European Commission confirmed this week that it will not suspend humanitarian aid to Uganda despite the East African nation’s criminalisation of homosexuality. Under the new law, practicing homosexuality can result in punishment up to the point of the death penalty, as part of a cultural pivot away from the West by President Museveni.
The Commission was responding to a parliamentary question by conservative Swedish Democrat MEP Johan Nissinen concerning approximately €248 million in aid that Uganda has received from the EU since 2017, most recently to combat the spread of Ebola.
The African nation with a population of 46 million is responding to pressure from conservative pastors and looks to court China and Russia as alternative development partners, hoping to culturally detach from the West.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google Wants to Use People’s Browser History to Target Them Ads
It appears the omnipresent tech titan Google is turning to its users’ browsing history to accentuate its ad strategies. With the successive deployment of “Enhanced Ad Privacy” across its Chrome user base, Google’s professed aim of tailoring advertisements to individual users’ interests and online interactions may well be masking profound implications for users’ privacy.
The modest notification box announcing this transformative functionality has been rearing its head since the July release of Chrome 115, signaling the incorporation of Google’s Topics API. The discerning user, however, may perceive this as just another turn of the screw on privacy. But the caveat here lies not so much in the announcement as in the fine print that stipulates agreement acceptance and targeting based on regional regulations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The LGBTQ dating app company Grindr forced 45 per cent of employees to resign when they refused to work in-person.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Prominent Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and award-winning filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel have defended the lack of diversity in their latest film, with the latter claiming it would “be a bit weird” to have included ethnic minority actors in a production set in 18th century Denmark.
The star and director of “The Promised Land” were responding to questions fielded during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival where the film premiered earlier this month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Knock Knock, it’s the Green Police
Energy companies, backed by police, will have “reasonable force” power of entry to invade people’s homes to install smart meters.
Those who refuse to comply with ‘net zero’ restrictions could be locked up for a year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Only Fat Dumb Criminals Can Make the Air Force ‘Diverse’
by Daniel Greenfield
Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr, Biden’s nominee to replace Milley as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had signed off on a memo to impose a 43% quota for white male officers in the Air Force. That would be catastrophic at a time when the Air Force is struggling with recruitment, faces a shortage of over 1,000 pilots and 86% of its pilots are white men.
Brown, who claimed that America is racist and that he faced racism when someone questioned whether he was parked in the right spot, has been obsessed with remaking the Air Force in his own image. Even with only 1 out of 2 key aircraft and bombers ready to fly, the woke chief of staff has emphasized diversity in hiring and promotion at the expense of merit and ability.
Now a Rand report funded by the Air Force shows what it will take to achieve diversity. And diversity, which is more important than winning, won’t be achieved as long as the Air Force clings to basic qualifiers like weight, test scores and no criminal record.
“The most-important barriers for all gender and racial and ethnic groupings,” the report argues, are the Air Force’s “BMI” or Body Mass Index and “height requirements” as well as the “minimum standards” for the Armed Forces Qualification Test and education standards.
Earlier this year, the Air Force had lowered BMI standards from 20% for men to 26% and from 28% for women to 36% for women. And in 2020, the Air Force had dropped a waiver for a minimum 5’4 height requirement for pilots in order to attract more women. There were also complaints that aircraft had been designed around the height of the average white man.
The fighter jets of tomorrow will need to come in a variety of height and weight cockpits to accommodate every possible body shape no matter how impractical that may be.
“For black men, the greatest barrier is the AFQT and education requirement, which decreases their representation by roughly 3.5 percentage points. For Hispanic men, the BMI and height requirements decrease their representation by more than 2 percentage points,” the Rand report notes.
Armed Forces Qualification Test score standards have already been lowered. The Navy will be accepting those who score as low as “the 10th percentile, lower than 90 percent of all test results”.
The Air Force currently expects an AFQT score of 31. Back in 2004, the Air Force’s chief of testing had argued that, “we don’t want people to think we are lowering the standard of quality coming into the Air Force. It appears that way because 36 is lower than 40, but it will still be the same quality of applicants we are accepting into the Air Force today.”
31 is even lower than 36. But somehow it still isn’t low enough…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sunak Prioritises Image Over Parental Rights
British parents are increasingly concerned by the prospect of being kept in the dark while their children change gender identity at school. Yet Rishi Sunak appears more preoccupied by his image.
There has been some talk in recent months of the prime minister barring schoolchildren from changing gender without consent from home; for example, by preventing the unapproved use of new names at school. This inevitably hit a stumbling block, when the government’s most senior lawyer said it was currently unlawful to hamper the ability of children to act as though they are the opposite sex with their peers and would require a change to the law.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sorry. I have a private question for Upananda Brahmachari.
I have seen a rise in Indian consciousness lately. I read a number of Indian publications in English via Google Translate.
And I had a question: is India going to change the chronology system as part of decolonization?
I look around me and come to the conclusion that it is most reasonable to calculate chronology from the beginning of Kali Yuga. Such a nightmare is happening all around.
Rishi Sunak is just another sign that England is under foreign occupation.
The coloureds have destroyed the white race.
And they relish in it too.
But hey, at least they are nit speaking German right?
RIP England.
You were too good for this sheet hole planet.
Very sad. Ireland too. They choose the gay life for all. Too late to take it back.
Muslims should show more gratitude. Such an incredible completely free no strings attached ride.
You have continued to use multiple throwaway nics, a different one for each comment. This is the last time I’ll let them through. I’m putting you on notice that in future if you do not use a single, consistent nic for all your comments, I’ll delete them, regardless of what they say.
Ooops! Sorry. Will do.
Oops! Sorry and will do
Excellent Article
German migration policy – they just don’t get it
…
In the case of the protagonists of current migration and integration policy, we are dealing with ideologues – with people who are not prepared to question the basic theoretical assumptions underlying their explanations, and certainly do not come up with the idea of thinking about the meaningfulness and the legitimacy of their political objectives.
…
When someone has lived in Germany for decades without being able to communicate in colloquial German, we are told that the support measures offered by the state have been inadequate. When criminals who have just been released from prison re-offend, it is believed that the care in the prison was inadequate and this did not prevent them from re-offending.
If an asylum seeker or someone who has to leave the country can’t think of anything better than starting a career as a dealer , people show understanding because the German state has not granted them a work permit. In general, society is seen as having failed in not showing newcomers, regardless of whether they entered the country legally or illegally, the necessary respect and giving them the feeling of belonging.
…
Translation
https://jungefreiheit-de.translate.goog/debatte/forum/2023/migration/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en
Original Link
https://jungefreiheit.de/debatte/forum/2023/migration/
California wins today’s GoV News Headline Moonbat Award with a quad pack of moonbattery: Governor Newsom, VP (and former CA Attorney General) Harris, LA County Health Commissioner Ferrer and the biggest moonbat of them all, Nancy Pelosi.
Poland is in recession which is why they are easing back interest rates. https://think.ing.com/articles/polands-industrial-production-and-producer-prices-fall-sharply-july/ Many businesses have gone broke and many people can’t pay their mortgages. Freeze in the Ukraine war will mean there will be no bonanza from destroying Russia, grabbing western Ukraine and no massive US funded rebuild.
Russia has already started rebuilding the bits of Ukraine it is keeping and have built too many apartments in Mariupol which are now empty. 1000’s of empty apartments while in western countries our mass migration means we have people sleeping in the street. Central planning versus capitalism?
When I hear this of the air force I am reminded of a joke that I read on wirecutter in 2018:
Goofd evening ladys and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are currently 12 feet above ground and the scraping and tearing sounds are from the baggage door I forgot to close and that I retracted the wheels while we are too slow for flying so our fuselage is ripped to shreds and in about 3 minutes the tearing will have reached the heights of your feets. If you look to the right you see that already two engines are on fire because being tearing across the tarmac has consequences. If you look to the left and through the burning wing, you can see the terrified faces of your loved ones who came to the airport to wave you off.
I know that you are afraid of the torn up fuselage but dont worry, we will crash into the departure hall and your loved ones like a flaming arrow of doom before that happens. By the way: I have absolutely no idea what all those lights, switches here in the cockpit are for as I never had pilot training and never flown before.