A leader in the Black Lives Matter movement said that she thinks Taylor Swift fans are slightly racist. In possibly unrelated news, the Virginia Senate voted to approve a bill to strip the United Daughters of the Confederacy of their tax-exempt status.
In other news, US military aircraft have intercepted another high-altitude balloon flying over the western part of the country.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, Fjordman, Insubria, JW, LP, Reader from Chicago, Roger, 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.
Bill Ackman is striking back at Business Insider, who recently wrote that Ackman’s wife, Neri Oxman, had “plagiarized from Wikipedia, scholars, a textbook, and other sources without any attribution” in her MIT academic writing. And as only Bill Ackman can do, he’s doing it exhaustively.
The allegations came weeks after Ackman’s outspoken criticism of Harvard’s Claudine Gay, who came under fire for plagiarism in the weeks following her self-immolation, along with that of other university presidents, in Congress while talking about bullying of Jewish students.
Ackman retained Libby Locke of Clare Locke LLP, “a firm best known for its recent representation of Dominion Voting Machine in its lawsuit against Fox that resulted in a $787.5 million settlement for Dominion”, he wrote in a post on X this morning, to try and avoid litigation with Business Insider by firing off a 77 page demand letter to BI’s parent company, Axel Springer, that he published publicly this morning.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘A Threat to Democracy’: J.D. Vance Calls to Break Up Google Over Its Leftist Search Bias
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) on Friday called to break up Google, calling it a “progressive technology company” with “monopolistic control of information.”
Vance wrote, “Long overdue, but it’s time to break Google up. This matters far more than any other election integrity issue. The monopolistic control of information in our society resides with an explicitly progressive technology company.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Abingdon Man Charged With Killing Woman, 73, and Sexually Assaulting Ex-Girlfriend in Bel Air
An Abingdon man has been charged with sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend and stabbing a woman to death.
On Thursday, Bel Air Police officers responded around 2:40 p.m. to the 700 block of Bedford Road and found 73-year-old Mary Bland with multiple stab wounds and a 17-year-old woman with non-life-threatening injuries.
Both victims were taken to a hospital where Bland was declared dead, police said.
The teen told officers that her ex-boyfriend Angelo Spencer, 24, of Abingdon, had stabbed Bland and then sexually assaulted the teen upstairs in their home, according to court documents.
She told officers Spencer orally and digitally penetrated her, according to court documents.
Officers found Spencer a few hours after the alleged attacks near the Monument Circle in Abingdon by Harford County Sheriff’s Office, according to court documents.
When he was arrested, Spencer told officers he went to Bland’s basement door to get the ex-girlfriend’s attention while texting her, according to court documents.
Spencer said she ignored him, and he left to go to Home Depot to buy a glass cutter, a pocketknife and a pair of gloves, according to court documents. Then, Spencer attempted to break into Bland’s home through the rear basement window and failed.
Spencer would go to the front door where he rang the bell and encountered Mary Bland, according to court documents. He pushed Bland into the home, and she yelled “call the police,” according to court documents.
Spencer said he panicked and stabbed her multiple times, according to court records.
Although Spencer denied sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend, he said he held a knife to her neck, kissed her on the cheek, then dropped the knife and fled the area, according to court documents.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
‘America is on the Line’: Elise Stefanik at CPAC on the State of the Nation
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York delivered a powerful speech on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, claiming that the US 2024 presidential election is the most important election in American history.
Stefanik encouraged conservatives to stay in the fight for the sanctity of the nation, touted the importance of supporting former President Donald J. Trump in November, and slammed President Biden and the radical left Democrats for destroying the greatest nation on earth.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin Wants to Spend Around $1 Million on University “Disinformation” Monitoring Program
The White House’s latest initiative to carry out its brand of combating misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (which is now referred to by the handy “MDM” initial) continues to co-opt the education sector.
The Department of Justice agency the National Institute for Justice (NIJ) is behind the funding effort that is said to be designed to study and research “effective technologies and tools for identification, moderation, and/or removal of extremist content.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Boasts Supreme Court ‘Didn’t Stop Me’ Wiping Student Debts
Democrat President Joe Biden is gloating that the United States Supreme Court has failed to “stop” him from using taxpayer money to wipe the student debts of college-educated voters ahead of the 2024 election.
The boasting has provoked a backlash on social media as many accuse Biden of launching an “assault on democracy.”
On Wednesday, Biden spoke at the Julian Dixon Library in Culver City, California.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden ‘Clearly in Partnership’ With Human Trafficking Cartels: Texas AG Ken Paxton at CPAC
Speaking on a panel at CPAC Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that President Joe Biden is “clearly in partnership” with cartels, with Biden reversing or attempting to reverse most of Trump’s policies and attempts to secure the border during his administration.
“It’s so obvious, we saw what worked under Trump. It’s called enforcing the very things he talked about, and literally day one, Joe Biden comes out and says I’m not deporting anybody,” Paxton told the crowd on a panel titled “The America First Bar Association,” which also featured Rep Dan Bishop and America First Legal president Stephen Miller.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago School Board Votes to Remove Uniformed Police Officers From Schools
The Chicago Board of Education voted on Thursday to end its contract with Chicago police and remove uniformed officers from the city’s schools.
The vote came at the end of a nearly eight-hour school board meeting in which teachers, students and elected city officials spoke.
The battle on whether to keep the uniformed police officers in the 39 city schools where they continue to patrol, out of 634 schools, has been going on since police were assigned to protect the schools in 1991.
Some students told school board members that police in the schools scare them.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Just hours after reports that embattled Democratic Dolton, Illinois Mayor Tiffany Henyard was under investigation by the FBI, multiple local businesses were said to be raided by local police.
On Tuesday, FOX 32 reported that six individuals have spoken to the FBI about Henyard’s conduct, including business owners, a former village employee and one or more public officials. One complained of difficulties renewing his business license, claiming to suffer from harassment, a raid on his business and being shut down by Dolton police. The U-Haul rental and trucking business owner believed it was retaliation after he refused to donate to a civic event sponsored by Henyard.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democratic Mayor Hands Out $10,800 for Economic Equity Program That Funds Lavish 5-Day Trip to Miami
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser distributed thousands of dollars to low-income moms with no strings attached as part of an “equitable economic recovery strategy” to offset the costs of childcare. In at least one case, the taxpayer dollars were used to fund a lavish trip to Miami.
The direct cash payments were part of a pilot program to determine whether the flush of cash could demonstrate “economic improvements among participants.” “Additional cash has allowed women to achieve further financial stability, financial security, food security, and health insurance coverage,” Bowser’s office had claimed.
But an economic policy expert told Fox News Digital the policies were a misdirection of funds that should otherwise be used for public safety and education.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The FBI informant accused by special counsel David Weiss of fabricating a $10 million bribery allegation against President Biden and first son Hunter was rearrested Thursday under what his lawyers called “bizarre circumstances” two days after his release from jail.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, was taken into custody at the downtown Las Vegas law offices of his attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, as he consulted with them on his case, court documents show.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf Says Effectively Managing “Misinformation” is an Overarching Priority
One of the “recruits” in the “war on misinformation” that has been flaring up this election year thanks to those currently in office, is the US Food and Drug Administration Agency (FDA).
Not merely that, but FDA Commissioner Robert Califf has been heard saying that “managing misinformation” is one of the agency’s “overarching priorities.”
The FDA’s intent is to keep narratives and messaging around things like additives used by the food industry, CBD, and kratom — but also Covid — under control. Or as the agency’s representatives would put it, safe from “misinformation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gallup Poll: Biden Overall Approval 38% Even as 82% of Democrats Approve of Him
Feb. 23 (UPI) — A Gallup Poll published Friday shows President Joe Biden’s approval rating at 38%, a drop of three points. Biden’s numbers in the poll were underwater across five separate issues.
Among Democrats, Biden’s numbers are considerably better, with 82% approval of his overall job as president.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
It’s “Slightly Racist to be a Taylor Swift Fan”, BLM Co-Founder Says
Authored by Sarah Wilder via The College Fix
Melina Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State University Los Angeles who is a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement and once argued Jussie Smollet was framed, recently stated she thinks Taylor Swift fans are kinda racist.
Abdullah made the comments in a post on X during Super Bowl, prompting a lively debate on the platform as Swift attended the game to watch her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce, help lead his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, to victory.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Engoron Denies Trump’s Effort to Delay Enforcement of $355 Million Fine in NY Fraud Trial
On Thursday, the judge who oversaw Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York and ordered him to pay $355 million denied his motion to delay the enforcement of the fine by 30 days.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron argued that the former president’s legal team had failed to explain why stalling the process was necessary, declaring that the proposed judgment boasted about by New York Attorney General Letitia James earlier this week would be acted upon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vice Media Chief, Bruce Dixon, has announced plans to lay off several hundred employees and cease content publication on Vice.com, according to an internal memo. The move comes after an unsuccessful attempt by owner Fortress to sell the struggling digital publisher and its associated brands.
The company claims to be undergoing a shift towards a “studio model,” with affected employees expected to be informed about the next steps early next week. Refinery29, another media brand under Vice’s ownership, will continue to operate independently, focusing on diversified digital publishing. Dixon mentioned ongoing discussions about selling Refinery29.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia Police Department have taken a suspect in custody in connection with the suspected homicide of a 22-year-old nursing student from Augusta University who police found dead on the University of Georgia campus Thursday.
Police have charged Jose Antonio Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark said during a news briefing Friday evening. The suspect is not a U.S. citizen, according to authorities.
“The evidence is robust,” he told reporters, crediting campus security cameras in part for the arrest.
Clark said he believed the attack was a “crime of opportunity” and that the suspected killer had no known connection to the victim. Ibarra is not a UGA student, he added.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nathan Wade Visited Fani Willis’ Neighborhood Before Hiring, Cellphone Data Indicates
Nathan Wade appears to have made far more visits to the neighborhood of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis than previously admitted in court.
A Friday filing from the attorney of former President Trump claims to show at least 35 visits by Wade to the Hapeville neighborhood before he was hired.
Wade testified last week that he did not visit Willis’s condo more than 10 times before being hired in Nov. 2021. Willis and Wade maintain that their relationship began in early 2022.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oregon Voters, Lawmakers Turn on ‘Anti-Police’ Drug Law Amid Widespread Overdoses and Homelessness
A mid a massive uptick in overdose deaths, open-air fentanyl use and rampant homelessness, Oregon voters and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are turning on a law that decriminalizes drug possession.
“What we have done is caused the death of literally thousands of people in the name of harm reduction. So, I think as voters, as Americans, as compassionate people, we need to take a hard look at what we’ve done and look at how we’re going to fix it,” National Police Association Spokesperson and retired Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith told Fox News Digital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police Detain 20 Activists as Anti-Zionist Group Protests AIPAC, Pro-Israel Lawmakers
New York Jewish Week/ JTA — Twenty pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters led by an anti-Zionist Jewish group were detained on Thursday during rallies against pro-Israel lawmakers and AIPAC, the leading pro-Israel lobby.
The protesters from the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace wore black shirts that said “Not in our name” and prayer shawls outside the Midtown offices of Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader who is Jewish, and Sen. Kristen Gillibrand. The senators, both Democrats, are supportive of Israel and voted in favor of a $14.1 billion emergency aid package for the country earlier this month. The bill still needs to win approval in the House.
The protesters carried banners that said “Jews to Schumer: Stop funding genocide” as they linked arms outside Schumer’s office.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
President Biden Claims ‘Key’ to Successful Marriage With Jill is Having ‘Good Sex’
It looks like old age isn’t stopping President Joe Biden and the First Lady from hitting the sheets.
The 81-year-old president claimed that the key to having a great marriage with his 72-year-old wife Jill is having “good sex.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prosecution of Far-Right But Not Antifa for Same Riots ‘Constitutionally Impermissible’: Judge
Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A federal judge on Wednesday found that the “selective prosecution” of far-right groups without charging their far-left counterparts for the same acts is “constitutionally impermissible.”
U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney of southern California therefore dismissed charges against two men from the “white nationalist” Rise Above Movement (RAM) who violently clashed with members of the far-left group Antifa at three southern California pro-Trump events in 2017.
In his 35-page order, the judge stressed the importance of equal protection under the law. He said that although the two men may have been involved in violent acts, prosecutors were wrong to exclusively target them without also pursuing charges against Antifa members implicated in similar violent actions at political events.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Reddit Moves to Become Publicly Traded Company
On Thursday, Reddit announced that it had taken a crucial step in its journey to becoming a publicly traded company.
The social media platform successfully filed its S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is required to begin the initial public offering process.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Biden’s Reliance on Cheat Sheets at Fundraisers Concerns Donors
President Joe Biden’s unabashed reliance on pre-prepared notes to help him explain his own policies in response to questions he knows are coming is sparking concern about his age from party donors.
An Axios report sets out even in closed-door fundraisers, where prescreened donors can ask questions of the octogenarian, he can be seen consulting his notes to provide detailed answers, according to people familiar with the routine.
The staged Q&A sessions have left some donors wondering whether Biden can withstand the rigors of a 2024 presidential campaign let alone potential debates with former President Donald Trump, 77, according to the Axios story.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
San Francisco Store Requires Customers to Shop With Employee Escort to Curb ‘Rampant Shoplifting’
A San Francisco store is no longer allowing customers to roam around and shop without being escorted by an employee in an attempt to stop “rampant shoplifting,” according to a report.
Fredericksen’s Hardware and Paint in the city’s Cow Hollow neighborhood has put up a sign announcing that during certain hours it will be taking customers only one at a time to curb the incessant thefts.
The shop is blocking off part of the store’s entrance and corralling shoppers in a waiting area until an employee is able to help them, KRON4 reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Teamsters Pledge Major Donation to GOP After Meeting With Trump
Major labor union the Teamsters that has donated to Democrats for decades pledged a $45,000 donation to the Republican National Committee last month after meeting with former President Donald Trump.
The reported donation is not an endorsement of the Republican nominee or Trump as the frontrunner, however, it is a move in stark contrast to the union supporting every Democratic nominee for the president since Al Gore.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top Doctor Raises Alarm Over ‘Unprecedented Excess Deaths’ of Young People
Esteemed critical care physician Dr. Pierre Kory is raising the alarm after revealing disturbing new data that shows excess deaths among young people are continuing to soar at “unprecedented” levels.
Kory issued the warning during a new interview with British podcaster Russell Brand.
The top doctor was referring to data from insurance actuaries.
As Kory points out in the interview, the data used by insurance companies is the least corrupt information on death rates available as the entire industry revolves around these risk factors.
Actuarial data shows that young people have been dying at “unprecedented” and “historic” rates, Kory explains.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Attorneys: Jack Smith Unlawfully Appointed, Court Must Dismiss Classified Documents Case
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump filed several motions to dismiss a federal indictment led by Special Counsel Jack Smith on Thursday surrounding Trump’s handling of classified documents.
The former president is ultimately facing 40 counts in the Southern District of Florida stemming from allegations that he unlawfully retained national defense information and then tried to stall a federal probe into his handling of the documents. Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to handle two investigations into Trump, the other being related to January 6 and the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tulsi Gabbard Inspires Trump VP Rumors After Strong CPAC Speech
On Thursday, Tulsi Gabbard fueled rumors that she is eyeing the position of vice president, delivering a powerful speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in which she praised Donald Trump and warned that the country will fall further into disrepute if he is not elected.
Her comments come just days after the former president confirmed that the Democrat defector was on his list of potential VPs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Colorado college student charged with killing his roommate and another person in their dorm threatened to “kill” one of the victims weeks ago in a dispute about trash, court documents alleged.
New details emerged Friday in the Feb. 16 slayings of Samuel Knopp, 24, and Delie Rain Montgomery, 26, at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Nicholas Trevon Jordan threatened to kill Knopp on Jan. 9 as the two bickered over garbage, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Post.
“Mr. Jordan threatened Mr. Knopp and told him that he would ‘kill him’ and there would be consequences if Mr. Jordan was asked to take out the trash again,” the document said.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
US Commission to Examine Facial Recognition Technology’s Impact on Civil Liberties
The US Commission on Civil Rights has scheduled a public briefing regarding the civil rights implications of the use of facial recognition technology.
The briefing will be held on March 8, and the Commission said that the investigation will look into how the tech is used by federal agencies, but also how it is developed.
The reason to take a closer look at this, according to an announcement, is to learn about “emerging civil rights concerns, and safeguards the federal government is implementing to mitigate potential civil rights issues.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Jets Intercept High-Altitude Balloon Over Utah
US military aircraft have intercepted a high-altitude balloon flying over the western part of the country and determined it was non-threatening.
The small object is not manoeuvrable and presents no hazard to flight safety, US officials said, though its origin and purpose were unknown.
The aircraft was spotted on Friday over Colorado and Utah, drifting east.
Last year, the US shot down a Chinese balloon after it crossed the country from Alaska to the east coast.
Friday’s object, detected floating around 44,000ft (13,400m), prompted US officials to scramble fighter jets to investigate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Virginia Senate Votes to Revoke Tax-Exempt Status for United Daughters of the Confederacy
On Tuesday, the Virginia Senate voted 23-17 in favor of a bill that would strip the United Daughters of the Confederacy of their tax-exempt status in the state. The UDC was founded in 1894 and was comprised of women’s groups that had aided soldiers during the Civil War. After the war, they worked to support veterans of that war and erect monuments in their memory.
A supplementary measure seeking to force the United Daughters of the Confederacy and a number of other related groups to pay property taxes was also passed in the Senate, but will need to be voted on by members of the House before it can be attached to the original bill and sent to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk for signing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman in Critical Condition After Boyfriend Allegedly Pushed Her Into Oncoming Traffic, HPD Says
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A woman is in critical condition after allegedly being pushed into oncoming traffic after a fight with her boyfriend, who has since been arrested, according to Houston police.
Charles Lee Jones, 64, is accused of assaulting his 42-year-old girlfriend in front of a moving vehicle following an altercation.
The incident happened in the 6500 block of Lockwood Drive on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Detective Chheav with the Houston Police Department said Jones and the woman got into an argument that escalated into him reportedly assaulting her.
Witnesses nearby saw the incident and tried to stop Jones, but the suspect then allegedly struck one of them in the head with an unopened can, HPD said.
After that, Jones then pushed the victim onto a moving lane of traffic, causing her to be hit by a car, according to police.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Alberta Town Bans Pride Crosswalks and Non-Government Flags After Town Vote
An Alberta town has passed a bylaw allowing only government flags and banning any non-standard crosswalks — removing the town’s current pride-coloured crosswalk.
The ballot question presented to Westlock’s residents had three parts.
“Only Federal, Provincial, and Municipal flags may be flown on flagpoles on Town of Westlock municipal property. All crosswalks in the Town of Westlock must be the standard white striped pattern between two parallel white lines. The existing rainbow coloured crosswalk in the Town of Westlock be removed.”
The final vote results, tallied Thursday night, were close, with 663 people voting yes and 639 people voting no.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
At the recent Munich Security Summit, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, a first-term Republican from Ohio, was the skunk at the garden party. Vance, a Trump ally, has long been an outspoken skeptic of American involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, and has angered his more establishment GOP Senate colleagues for his penetrating criticism of Washington’s conduct of this proxy war.
Yet his critique is making headway. Politico, the voice of mainstream Washington, conceded this week that “J.D. Vance has a point” in saying that the U.S. cannot produce munitions and weapons to continue backing Ukraine. Immediately after the Munich conference, the Financial Times published a tough Vance column calling on Europeans to shoulder more of the burden for their own defense.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
62,000 People Linked to Gangs in Sweden, Police Say
62,000 people in Sweden are active in — or linked to — criminal gangs. More than 5000 of them are under the age of 18. The estimate was presented in a new report by the Swedish police today along with Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Angry French Farmers Drive Their Tractors Into Paris in Fresh Protests
Dozens of tractors drove peacefully into a neighbourhood in western Paris carrying flags from Rural Coordination, the farmers’ union that staged the protest. The protesters then posed with their tractors on a bridge over the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower in the background, before heading towards the Vauban plaza in central Paris.
The latest protest comes three weeks after farmers lifted roadblocks around Paris and elsewhere in the country after the government offered over €400 million ($433 million) to address their grievances over low earnings, heavy regulation and what they describe as unfair competition from abroad.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Communists Top the Polls in Brussels, Backed by Muslim Vote
A Marxist-Leninist party with a strong Islamic voter base is polling in first place in the city of Brussels prior to national and European elections, overtaking erstwhile Wallonian liberals and Greens as it rallies Muslim voters disaffected by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB) has grown popular over the past decade by tapping into Turkish and Arab voters with its vocal ‘anti-Zionism’ and now seems to be Brussels’ most popular political party, with 21% of public support—eating up votes previously held by other socialist parties.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Constitutional Court Judge Tamas Sulyok Nominated to Take Over Hungarian Presidency
Hungary’s governing Fidesz-KDNP has agreed on Tamas Sulyok as its joint candidate to succeed Katalin Novak as president of Hungary.
At a countryside meeting of the ruling parliamentary group, the delegates approved the suggestion of Prime Minister Viktor Orban for Sulyok to become the next head of state.
“We propose Tamas Sulyok, president of the Constitutional Court, as head of state,” caucus leader Maté Kocsis told the gathering in the popular resort town of Balatonalmadi.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Farmers Fear Carbon Tax Could Curtail Production
Danish farmers are expressing apprehension over proposed plans to impose a carbon emission tax on farming, fearing it may lead to reduced production and the closure of farms, Reuters writes.
Denmark, known for its significant pork and dairy exports, is contemplating becoming the first country globally to implement such a tax on agriculture, a move supported by various political factions within the nation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Days-Old German Conservative Party Hit by Mini-Exodus
Barely two days after its official founding, the new conservative Values Union (WerteUnion) party in Germany has lost two of its most prominent members.
The party, formerly a rightist wing of the nominally center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is headed by former spy chief Hans-Georg Maaßen and was intent on running in this year’s elections in the eastern German states of Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg.
Maaßen, who early this month had been placed under surveillance for ‘right-wing extremism’, previously stated repeatedly that he would work with all parties that are “ready for a change in policy in Germany,” including, in what is a departure from all other parties’ official line, the anti-globalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
However, following comments made by Maaßen in which he cited his ex-party as a “premium partner,”and not the “radical” AfD, former chairman Max Otte and economist Markus Krall on Monday evening decided to jump ship and leave the party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dr Robert Malone Warns French Law to Jail Anti-Vaxxers is Spreading to Other Nations
Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor of mRNA vaccine technology, is warning that France’s tyrannical new law targetting anti-vaxxers is spreading to other nations.
As Slay News reported, the French government has passed new laws to begin jailing critics of experimental vaccines such as Covid mRNA shots.
On Wednesday, February 14th a highly controversial law was pushed through the National Assembly in France.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch MEP Calls for EU Parliament Spy Agency
After a series of spyware and espionage scandals over the past month, MEPs are considering a revamp of security at the European Parliament, with one Dutch lawmaker calling for the parliament to establish its own counterintelligence service. The move, however, has caused concerns among the Right.
Security services in Brussels and Strasbourg are this week coming to terms with the news that multiple MEPs on the parliament’s highly sensitive defence committee had their phones hacked with spyware by an unknown third party. The revelations come after MEPs sounded the alarm on potential Russian espionage operations after one Latvian MEP was named as a Russian intelligence asset.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commission Chief Courts Conservatives in Re-Election Bid
After officially announcing her bid for a second term at the helm of the EU Commission earlier this week, Ursula von der Leyen has already switched to campaign mode and begun courting MEPs from outside the center-left coalition that confirmed her presidency 5 years ago as polls show their support might not be enough this time.
In 2019, von der Leyen only barely got enough votes from the European Parliament to confirm her as the Commission president, despite the coalition behind her—the center-right EPP, the socialist (S&D), and the liberal Renew—enjoying a much more comfortable majority than it can hope for this time.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Interior Minister Looks to Ban Private Gatherings of ‘Right-Wing Extremists’
As a part of her ongoing oppression campaign targeting the political opposition, Germany’s activist interior minister has announced that the state will take action to ban the assembly of ‘right-wing extremist’ groups—namely the ascendent AfD, its exponents, and any other group she considers a threat to the left-liberal order.
The radical measures, set to be implemented as a part of Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser’s 13-step plan to combat the so-called ‘extreme right,’ have been revealed by an information request submitted to the Federal Ministry of the Interior by the German portal Apollo News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Parliament to Elect New President on Monday
Hungary’s Parliament will elect a new President of the Republic on Monday, February 26th, most likely to be Tamas Sulyok, the head of the Constitutional Court, who is the conservative ruling party, Fidesz’s nominee. As the party’s parliamentary group leader, Maté Kocsis said on Friday that Tamas Sulyok is the only candidate for the position, because opposition parties did not select a joint candidate, and the names put forward separately by opposition parties did not have the backing of 40 MPs, the number needed to officially become a nominee in the 199-seat parliament.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary and Sweden Rebuild Trust Through Cooperation Agreements
Hungary agreed on Friday, February 23rd, to buy four Gripen fighter jets from Sweden—adding to its current total of 14 such aircraft— and to also extend its contract with Sweden to provide support systems and service provision for the planes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Investor Flight? World’s Largest Electric Battery Producer Quits Poland
Chinese electric battery producer CATL has followed in Intel’s footsteps and announced that it is abandoning its plans to construct a factory in Jaworzno in southwestern Poland.
The move comes after a series of setbacks for the Polish economy, with CATL’s decision seen as a major blow. The company will no longer construct a factory in the Jaworzno Economic Zone, as revealed by the city’s mayor, Pawel Silbert, through social media channels.
Silbert wrote on social media that CATL’s withdrawal can be attributed to delays in securing adequate electricity supply, with the mayor also emphasizing infrastructure and utility provision shortcomings.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More fear mongering related to elections (right now in Europe) — and yet another attempt to force more censorship on the strength of that fear.
This time, in Ireland, where the head of the country’s electoral commission, Art O’Leary, had a meeting with Big Tech to discuss how they are handling whatever gets branded as misinformation or disinformation.
And O’Leary came out of the meeting satisfied, in fact — “very happy.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Meloni Blasts ‘Decades of Unforgivable Silence’ on Foibe Mass Killings
Premier takes part in ceremony for day of memory of massacres
Premier Giorgia Meloni blasted decades of “unforgivable” silence about the Foibe on Saturday as she took part in a ceremony on the national day of memory of the mass killings by Tito’s Yugoslav Partisans of Italians living in the area that stretches from the Trieste zone in Italy’s Friuli Venezia Giulia region across the Istrian peninsula to Dalmatia in Croatia during and immediately after WWII.
Foibe are natural pit-like karst sinkholes typically found in Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Slovenian part of Istria into which victims were thrown, sometimes alive.
It is estimated that as many as 15,000 Italians largely, but not always, identified with Fascism were tortured or killed by Yugoslav communists who occupied the Istrian peninsula during the last two years of the war.
Many of the victims were thrown into the narrow mountain gorges during anti-Fascist uprisings in the area and the exact number of victims of these atrocities is unknown, in part because Tito’s forces destroyed local population records to cover up their crimes.
Many Italians were forced to flee their homes because of the massacres.
Italy established Foibe Remembrance Day only in 2004, as the tragedy had been swept under the carpet by anti-Fascists in the postwar years.
Remembrance of the Foibe massacres has found new impetus under the Meloni’s right-centre government, which at the end of January approved the creation of a dedicated museum on the proposal of the premier herself and Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.
“I came here many times, as a girl, at a time when, if you did so, you were pointed at, accused, isolated,” Meloni said at the Basovizza National Monument for the victims of the Foibe, near Trieste.
“And I came back as an adult to finally celebrate the day of remembrance that swept away, once and for all, the unforgivable conspiracy of silence that had shrouded the tragedy of the Foibe for decades and kept the drama of the exodus in the oblivion of indifference”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Only 1 in 10 Europeans Think Ukraine Can Win as War Pessimism Sets in
It’s an open secret that the Ukraine war and the EU’s continued tens of billions sent to Kiev are becoming increasingly unpopular among the European public, and hard data is beginning to reveal just how much the discontent has risen.
A new survey by no less than the (ultra-establishment entity) European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) has found not only are Europeans extremely pessimistic about Ukraine’s chances of victory at this point, but more and more Europeans want to see their leaders push hard for negotiated peace.
What’s more is that the new poll included a wide array of people, with responses coming from 17,023 European citizens across a dozen EU-member states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Outgoing Dutch PM Close to Winning NATO Chief Bid
Two-thirds of NATO member states have signaled their support for outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to take up the mantle of the NATO Secretary-General after the current leader Jens Stoltenberg’s term runs out in October this year. The latest endorsement came from U.S. President Joe Biden and is expected to sway the remaining ten member states so that Rutte can be approved unanimously.
NATO’s European wing has always been somewhat of an extension of the U.S.’ overwhelming military power, which is why the tradition emerged that the alliance’s secretary-general would always come from Europe. The current boss, Jens Stoltenberg, was the prime minister of Norway before replacing the former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the top of NATO in 2014, whose predecessor had been a Dutch foreign affairs minister, Jaap de Hoop Schaffer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
PM Tusk Moves to Crush Polish Farmer Protests at Ukrainian Border
Poland has classified border crossings with Ukraine and some nearby roads and railways as critical infrastructure in order to deal with mass blockades by farmers protesting against Ukrainian agricultural imports and EU climate policy.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the move, made on Feb. 22, is designed to give “a 100 percent guarantee that military and humanitarian aid will reach the Ukrainian side without any delays.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Opens Abrams Tank Service Center in Poznan
Poland has announced the opening of its new Regional Competence Center for the Abrams family of main battle tanks (MBT) in Poznan, western Poland. The facility will serve as a regional hub to maintain and sustain Abrams for users in Central and Eastern Europe.
It is ideally situated in a country that received its first Abrams tanks last year and is geographically situated next to Ukraine. In January 2023, the U.S. government announced the supply of 31 M1A2 Abrams tank vehicles to Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Kaczynski is Willing to Continue as Leader of Conservative PiS Party
Jaroslaw Kaczynski has told reporters that if the Law and Justice (PiS) party congress is willing to see him continue as leader, he will not insist on resigning.
This is a reversal of the position Kaczynski adopted after last October’s parliamentary elections when, upon PiS losing power, Kaczynski said that he would be retiring from his leadership position in 2025 at the latest after having reached the age of 75, the age at which he noted that Catholic cardinals retire.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rumour: Anti-NATO Left Forging New European Parliamentary Bloc
Less than a year after splitting from a moribund Die Linke party and only a month after founding her own “left-wing conservative” alternative, Sahra Wagenknecht is apparently laying the foundations for a new anti-NATO alliance within the European Parliament, in a move that is unnerving many on the establishment left in Brussels.
With Wagenknecht’s BSW party projected to become the largest socialist delegation within the European Parliament later this year with seven seats, the German firebrand indicated her intention to potentially form a new explicitly anti-NATO grouping away from the pre-existing Left faction, a move that could potentially torpedo the influence of established leftist delegations
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Shamima Begum, ‘ISIS Bride’ Loses Appeal to Get British Citizenship Back
LONDON (AP) — A woman who traveled to Syria as a teenager to join the Islamic State group has lost her appeal against the British government’s decision to revoke her U.K. citizenship.
Shamima Begum, who is now 24, was 15 when she and two other girls fled from London in February 2015 to marry IS fighters in Syria at a time when the group’s online recruitment program lured many impressionable young people to its self-proclaimed caliphate. Begum married a Dutch man fighting for IS and had three children, who all died.
Authorities withdrew her British citizenship on national security grounds soon after she surfaced in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s Farmers Bring 500 Tractors, List of Demands to Madrid
Following a large demonstration blocking the port in Valencia on Thursday, Spanish farmers are revving up their tractor engines and heading to the capital, El Debate reports. This follows government failure to meet any of their demands, following a meeting between Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAPA) and its major farming associations.
Following weeks of nationwide protests, farmers sat down last week for talks with agricultural minister Luis Planas. But on Monday, the farmers, under the umbrella organization Union of Farmers and Ranchers Unions (Unión de Uniones de Agricultores y Ganaderos), rejected his proposals as insufficient to address their concerns.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Back Among EU’s Poor Countries
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has presided over the EU’s worst-managed economy in the last five years, letting per capita income fall so sharply that the country now qualifies for the “club of poor countries,” that is, EU member states that qualify for cohesion funds.
The numbers came from an in-depth study published at the end of January by the Juan de Mariana Institute.
Between the years 2019 and 2023, the period in which Pedro Sanchez has served as the country’s prime minister, per capita income in terms of purchasing power has fallen by 5.5%,
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Islamists Are in Charge in Britain Now, Laments Braverman in Wake of Gaza Vote Shambles
Britain’s institutions are being bullied into submission by “Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites” while politicians hide behind the lie of a “successful multicultural society”, Britain’s former Home Secretary Suella Braverman writes in the wake of a miniature constitutional crisis in Britain’s Parliament this week.
The Speaker of Britain’s House of Commons broke with convention this week to change the normal business of the house to, he claims, reduce the risk of its members and servants being murdered by terrorists. While an ostensibly laudable notion, the admission that the business of a Western democracy is being steered by the threats of radical extremists from without has triggered alarmed responses from several political figures, not least among them former Home Secretary (interior Minister) Suella Braverman, who has been one of the more forthright voices on migration and security in recent years before she was unceremoniously removed from post by her more progressively-minded master.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tractor Protests: Farmers From Ten Countries Join Forces to Push Back Against EU Green Tyranny
PRAGUE (AP) — Czech farmers were driving their tractors and other vehicles to several border crossings on Thursday to meet their colleagues from neighboring countries and join forces in their protests against European Union agriculture policies, bureaucracy and overall conditions for their business.
Farmers complain that the 27-nation EU’s environmental policies, such as the Green Deal, which calls for limits on the use of chemicals and on greenhouse gas emissions, limit their business and make their products more expensive than non-EU imports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Parliament in Total Chaos Over Gaza Ceasefire Debate
The UK Parliament—supposedly the “mother” of all parliaments—last night descended into total chaos during a debate on Gaza, the details of which will have no bearing neither on Britain nor the Middle East.
As debates on Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, uncontrolled borders and woeful defence capabilities quietly rumble on, politicians are spending more and more time considering how to instruct Israel in its fight against Hamas. Their latest squabble over wording ignored the fact that various calls for “an immediate ceasefire,” “an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides” or even “negotiations to agree a … pause” would all have an equal—that is, nonexistent—impact on Israel. Not to mention Hamas, which has vowed to repeat its October 7th terror attacks “again and again,” even if British politicians ask it not to.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Thousands Get Emergency Alert Texts Ordering Evacuation After Half-Ton WW2 Bomb Found
There was a rare activation of the emergency alert system in the United Kingdom on Friday as thousands of residents in a regional city were evacuated from a Second World War bomb.
A 500kg (approximately 1,100lbs) Second World War era bomb was discovered under a garden by a construction crew on Thursday. A 300-meter (330 yard) exclusion zone around the property was established by police, and after it was decided the military would carry the bomb out to sea for disposal the evacuation area was extended around the planned route as well.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ursula Puts Ukraine on Ice: Commission Chief Delays EU Accession Talks
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has surprised everyone by pouring cold water onto Kyiv’s fast-tracked EU accession expectations. Talking to reporters on Wednesday, February 21st, the head of the EU executive said she did not expect the Commission to finalize the negotiation framework before the European elections in early June.
Until now, imminent publication of the document—detailing a set of specific guidelines, milestones, and basic principles—was taken for granted, so that after the 27 member states approved the paper, Kyiv and Brussels could begin accession talks in earnest.
The claim that delaying Ukrainian EU membership would intentionally strengthen Putin’s Russia appears to have been quietly forgotten.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘We Can and Will Win European Elections,’ Orban Tells Governing Party Colleagues
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has expressed his confidence in his governing party’s ability to win the upcoming European Parliament elections and drive a stake through the heart of the liberal ideologues in Brussels.
Addressing the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group at its season-opening meeting in Balatonalmadi, central Hungary, Orban stressed the need for change in Brussels.
“The migration pact has entered into force in Europe, and Hungary will be punished for not accepting migrants,” he told party colleagues.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
X Commits to Abiding by Ireland’s Online “Hate Speech” Censorship Law
In a recent private meeting with the Irish Oireachtas Media Committee (the parliamentary media committee), X indicated its willingness to comply with Ireland’s upcoming hate speech legislation.
This announcement comes as a surprise, particularly in light of X’s owner, Elon Musk, previously expressing support for legal action against these proposed online speech laws.
The company’s representatives, who agreed to attend the committee only under the condition of privacy, affirmed their commitment to the proposed Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Strike Kills 23 at Family Home of Gaza Comedian: Ministry
Gaza Strip (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) — An Israeli air strike on Friday destroyed the home of a well-known Palestinian comedian in Gaza, killing at least 23 and injuring dozens more, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Mahmoud Zuaiter’s family home in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza was flattened, with most of the victims women and children, it added.
Zuaiter, who was injured in the attack, has more than 1.2 million fans on Instagram while his videos have been seen widely on YouTube.
…
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine faces a catastrophic shortage of artillery and ammunition as the country’s war against Russia enters its third year — and US lawmakers playing political games over military aid are holding the smoking gun.
As a result, Ukraine’s much-hyped counteroffensive is dead, while the Kremlin’s military spending “is setting new records,” Ukrainian officials warn.
Russia now outnumbers Ukraine’s artillery strikes by roughly six to one.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Says Navalny Died of Natural Causes as Western MSM Anoints Widow “Newest Opposition Leader”
Russian authorities have said that the opposition activist Aleksei Navalny died of natural causes while in prison in a far northern Arctic penal colony. It comes nearly a full week after Russian prison services announced he died on Feb.16.
There’s now a public fight over his body, and the question of a funeral service, as his family and legal team have complained they are being denied access to the deceased. Condemnations have come in from various Western countries, and have pointed at the Putin government, ultimately blaming the Kremlin for his death while in custody. This has included US and European officials.
Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, has newly accused Russian officials of seeking to pressure her into accepting a secret burial, presumably to prevent it from becoming a major televised memorial event.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Says it Shot Down Another Large Russian Spy Plane
Ukraine says it has shot down a large Russian spy plane over the Sea of Azov on Friday, and social media footage is widely circulating of the alleged downing, though it remains unconfirmed and the circumstances remain unclear.
Forbes is reporting of the breaking story, “Incredibly, the Russian air force has lost another one of its rare Beriev A-50U/M Mainstay radar early-warning planes.” It adds “Video that circulated online on Friday reportedly depicts the A-50’s burning wreckage in Krasnodar Krai, in Russia just east of the Sea of Azov.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US and EU Pile New Sanctions on Russia for the Ukraine War’s 2nd Anniversary and Navalny’s Death
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and European Union on Friday heaped hundreds of new sanctions on Russia in connection with the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine and in retaliation for the death of noted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last week in an Arctic penal colony.
The U.S. government imposed roughly 600 new sanctions on Russia and its war machine in the largest single round of penalties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
The EU, for its part, added sanctions on several foreign companies over allegations that they have exported dual-use goods to Russia that could be used in its war against Ukraine. The 27-nation bloc also targeted scores of Russian officials, including members of the judiciary, local politicians and people it said were “responsible for the illegal deportation and military re-education of Ukrainian children.”
President Joe Biden said the sanctions come in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “brutal war of conquest” and to Navalny’s death, adding that “we in the United States are going to continue to ensure that Putin pays a price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Putin Co-Pilots Supersonic Nuclear-Capable Bomber
Russian President Vladimir Putin just sent the Western military alliance a not-so-subtle message just days after his top national security official Dmitry Medvedev warned that Moscow stands ready to use its entire strategic arsenal on London, Washington, Berlin and Kiev if Russian territory comes under direct attack from NATO.
On Thursday Putin entered the co-pilot’s seat in a nuclear-capable strategic bomber for a 30 to 40 minute flight, parts of which were filmed and quickly released by Russian state sources. Putin’s brief flight in the upgraded Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber also comes ahead of next month’s Russian election, though of course we all know pretty much what the outcome will be. Watch below as Putin goes ‘nuclear-capable’…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Argentine President Javier Milei said on Thursday evening that he will present a bill to Congress to punish with jail time any Central Bank official that issues money to the National Treasury to finance fiscal deficits.
Milei, in an interview with the news channel Todo Noticias, said that the intention is to define the practice of printing money — known as seigniorage — as a criminal offense.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
El Salvador’s Bukele Slams Soros at CPAC
El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele blasted George Soros, globalism, and the American financial system.
In a fiery address at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Bukele — who won re-election by a staggering 84% of the vote, said of Globalism: “It’s already dead,” adding that in America “dark forces are taking over your country.”
He said that the reason El Salvador ended up becoming the “murder capital of the world” was that the people were not equipped to understand just how radically their society was changing because it happened over a period of decades, one increment at a time.
Bukele likened this to boiling a frog, saying that if you keep turning up the heat and slowly boil the frog, it won’t realize what is happening until it is too late. The Latin American president urged Americans not to despair, however, as “you can still jump before the water boils.” —Lifesite
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson Accused of Directing EU Border Chief to Let in Illegal Immigrants
Former head of the EU’s border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, has accused EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson of instructing him to admit immigrants, purportedly stating that they “come for love.”
This claim, reported by the French publication Le Point, alleges that Johansson made these remarks shortly after assuming office as the unelected EU Commissioner for Home Affairs in 2019, Le Point reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants desperate to get into the US from Mexico often pay human smuggler “coyotes” thousands of dollars to help sneak across the border in high-risk operations with no guarantees of safety or success.
But for travelers from a growing number of countries, gaining legal entry into Canada is simple, which has made The Great White North — with a much larger US border and less officers patrolling it — a more attractive option for illegally entering the US.
“It’s really easy for Mexican citizens to come into Canada as visitors, and then they have the opportunity to cross illegally into the United States,” Canadian immigration consultant Fernando Torres told The Post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Chinese Migrants Now Crossing San Diego Border Than Mexican Nationals: Report
Thousands of Chinese nationals are being arrested for illegally crossing the besieged southern border near San Diego each week, presenting a significant security risk, according to sources.
Border agents have encountered 21,000 Chinese nationals illegally entering the US in just one border sector in California since October — a higher number than even Mexicans arrested, which numbered 18,700, according to information obtained by Fox News.
The number of Chinese nationals crossing into the US has exploded and in the 2023 fiscal year, which ended in September, CBP officials apprehended 24,048 Chinese migrants at the US-Mexico border — a record high.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Teen Stabbed During Brawl Among Illegal Immigrants in Times Square
On Thursday, a brawl involving illegal immigrants broke out in Times Square during which a 17-year-old, among the many who took part, was stabbed.
The fighting took place just steps from where two police officers were brutally attacked by a group of illegal immigrants in January.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Colorado town has voted to affirm its status as a non-sanctuary city, over fears that migrants from nearby Denver could flood the area.
The town of Monument, 45 miles south of Denver, voted 7-0 to confirm the new resolution during a council meeting on Tuesday.
The town council reviewed the resolution and drafted it in part after news of migrants arriving in nearby Colorado Springs, according to The Gazette.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ADL Refuses to Classify Nashville Trans School Shooter as Far-Left Extremist
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has claimed that the Nashville killer who shot up a Christian school was not a left-wing extremist because the transgender shooter used the term “f*ggots” in the manifesto.
“Hale left some writings, not released by police, that they described as lacking any specific political or social issues. Three pages of a document were later leaked that contained hateful epithets directed at white and LGBTQ+ people, which did not provide evidence of any particular extremist ideology, but rather primarily resentment and grievance at students from the shooter’s former school perceived to be better off than the shooter was,” the ADL told the Daily Signal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian High Schoolers Given Pornographic Book, Wooden Penises, Condoms for Sex Ed
A Canadian High School sent students home with condoms, wooden penises, and a sexually explicit pornographic book about gay sex as part of its sex education curriculum, according to Reduxx.
The incident occurred at Virden Collegiate Institute in Manitoba, Canada.
Janine Stephanie Penner, the mother of one of the teen students who received the items, documented the controversy in a Facebook post on Feb. 19. Penner explained that her son in grade 10 was given a “gay porn graphic flip book at school as a method of learning how to use condoms and in addition, received 15 condoms and a wooden pecker for practice.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former President Donald Trump said he supports in vitro fertilization treatment after Alabama’s highest court ordered hospitals to stop offering the procedure.
Trump took to Truth Social Friday to call on the state’s lawmakers to preserve access to IVF days after The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.
“Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” Trump railed online.
“Today, I am calling on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Pledges to Defend Christianity Against the Left, Which He Says Wants ‘To Tear Down Crosses’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump promised to use a second term in the White House to defend Christian values and even suggested he’d shield the faith’s central iconography, warning a convention of religious broadcasters on Thursday night that the left wants “to tear down crosses.”
“Remember, every communist regime throughout history has tried to stamp out the churches, just like every fascist regime has tried to co-opt them and control them. And, in America, the radical left is trying to do both,” Trump told hundreds of cheering attendees at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention in Nashville.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Armed Forces Allowing Transgender Personnel in Female Accommodations
The British Armed Forces have determined that biologically male transgender military personnel can stay in female-only accommodations to match with their “affirmed gender”.
A document outlining the official guidance from the UK military on the management of transgender personnel stated that as soon as an individual claims to being going through a so-called gender transition they should be provided “accommodation that is appropriate to their affirmed gender,” meaning that biological males could be housed in female-only barracks and other accommodations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“A leader in the Black Lives Matter movement said that she thinks Taylor Swift fans are slightly racist.”
It came to me as a thought how all this “Racism Issue” may be just a projection of the black races onto others…
I mean – we all know that the whites are – in fact – the least racist people in the world. Therefore it doesn’t come to the mind of a white person that other races are evil genocidal supremacists.
But what does it say about black people (or gipsies for that matter, because they also use the same dindunuffin systemic racism excuses)…
I mean – if the blacks think whites are racist – what if it’s really just a projection of the blacks of their thinking onto whites. Because that’s what the blacks would do, if they got “race privilege”. They would enslave whites, and beat them down, and use systemic racism against them.
I know that I am just generalizing here but statisticly speaking…
…what does it really say about the Leader of BLACK lives matter when she or he or it thinks WHITES are racist?
You get South Africa.
The prosecution against me due to “discrediting the Russian army” was terminated due to exceeding the deadline for bringing me to administrative responsibility.
The judge is a good person. At first he refused to initiate the process due to insufficient evidence of my guilt, and after the prosecutor’s office put pressure on him, he simply delayed it a little. He looked at me sadly and said, “Please don’t write anything else on the Internet…”
I’m glad to hear the good news!
Ditto Baron’s comment.
It is good news but also bad news in a way: the legal procedure you went through is a warning not to criticize the military. In the US there’s a saying ,“the process is the punishment”.
“In the US there’s a saying ,“the process is the punishment”.”
In the US, there’s a founding document that says, “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness] it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
Just sayin’..
Indeed.
Glad you are out of jeopardy, at least temporarily. As a matter of casual inquiry: would any discussion of government malfeasance or misgovernment be considered “discrediting the Russian army” or is it limited to critiques of military operations/methods specifically?
Re-reading Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago (unabridged) for the third time, once in the 1980’s out of curiosity, in 2020’s as projection, 3/4’s through it again as a close reading gleaning survival tips. Amazing how closely the Bolshevik pattern of “justice” is followed by their heirs in the U.S./E.U./et al.
Diana West was nearly correct. The U.S. lost the Cold War circa 1947. The reason our District of the Capital hates Russia so viscerally is because Russian ideological “weakness” collapsed the U.S.S.R. just as the U.S. government was coming totally within the grip of Bolshevism, thereby delaying the completion of the borderless proletarian workers paradise.
Everyone is subject to pressure – both liberals and people with right-wing views. What is happening is more like a sacrifice of the Russian and Ukrainian people. A disgusting action reminiscent of the war between the Tutsi and the Hutu. Pain and shame. I left a comment regarding military casualties. During interrogation by the FSB, I explained that I had watched enough video clips on Telegram channels and wrote a comment in a state of passion. If I had publicly declared my pacifist position, the punishment would have been much harsher. Doublethink.
Actually, I publicly offended the personality of the Russian Defense Minister. Obviously, this is a sacred personality. Of those who, according to Voltaire’s famous expression, cannot be criticized.
Now I, like the ancient Chinese, “sit on the bank of the river and wait for the corpse of my enemies to float past.”
“The reason our District of the Capital hates Russia so viscerally is because Russian ideological “weakness” collapsed the U.S.S.R.”
I think it’s got more to do with Russia’s stone-cold refusal to accept the west’s increasingly sycophantic fascination with sexual deviance, pathological lying and infantile Bolshevism (aka commie-toddlerism). Cults tend not to like those who refuse to accept the cup [of BLACK Lunatic Madness] when it’s offered to them.
Спасибо небесам! (Thanks be to heaven!)
Oh yeah! Since I adhere to Hellenism, I turned mentally to Themis, Athena and Zeus. I also turned to the god of cunning, Hermes, for help. A strange thing happened. In the comment under the article I wrote “Tuvan degeneral needs meat.” But for some reason, in the court case, these words were transformed into “The Tuvan general needs meat.” I didn’t argue. I think that the fine for “Degeneral” would be greater than for “General”.
I didn’t indicate the name, I didn’t specify what kind of meat, but everyone immediately understood who needed “meat for the guns” (cannon fodder)
Such idiocy! If this story had not happened to me, I would have laughed for a very long time.
I am glad to know this case against went away, just watch your back, you have a target on you now. Stay safe.
In Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” the main question was asked: “Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?” . The fear has passed, only anger remains.
I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, so, I’m good. What a relief!
“A leader in the Black Lives Matter movement said that she thinks Taylor Swift fans are slightly racist.”
“The normal, everyday foibles that ALL of us experience, are viewed by racial hypochondriacs through a narrow, one-way microscope of “racism”. It’s really just a simple case of those with positive outlooks and those with negative outlooks.
If you view life as a series of problems to be solved, racism isn’t a thing. But if you view life as a series of problems that are someone else’s fault, racism is EVERYTHING…and EVERYWHERE.” —posted to fb (Nov 2018)
“There are few leaders as committed to bipartisan collaboration than Joe Biden!” —The Blacktivist Queen (aka Kamala Harris) (23 Feb 2024)
“I’ve served with real racists. I’ve served with Strom Thurmond (“a SEGREGATIONIST” —Buzzfeed)…But guess what? These guys [Republicans] are WORSE.” —Prince Aricept (22 Feb 2024)
“The Rule of Racial Law
If the facts’re against you, argue the law.
If the law’s against you, argue the facts.
If the facts and the law’re against you, SCREAM RACIST!” —posted to fb (Aug 2008)
This is why diversity has never worked in the history of the world and end as it always does when it becomes this toxic. Think Balkans on steroids.
“Apparently, it took Milei [Argentina’s “Trump”] just nine and a half weeks to balance a budget…In US terms, he turned a 1.2 trillion-dollar annual deficit into a 400 billion surplus. In 9 and a half weeks. How did he do it? Easy: he cut a host of central government agency budgets by 50% while slashing crony contracts and activist handouts.”
https://mises.org/wire/javier-milei-ended-dc-sized-deficit-innine-weeks” —Mises Institute (24 Feb 2024)
Perhaps, Prince Aricept should travel to Oz to see if the Wizard would give him a [working] brain..
“Iran’s Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, announced plans to establish a military presence in Antarctica and claimed the country’s rightful possession of the continent.” —Marine Insight (16 Feb 2024)
https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/iran-navys-plan-to-establish-a-military-presence-in-antarctica-sparks-global-concerns/
Aloha Snackbar!!
LOL Their boats will freeze in those waters and they will be begging for help to get them out, too funny.
“LOL Their boats will freeze in those waters and they will be begging for help to get them out, too funny.”
“A convoy of two [Russian] NUCLEAR icebreakers and two polar-class heavy lift vessels is making slow but steady progress through Russia’s Arctic waters carrying the final modules for the second train of Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project…where ice thickness routinely measures 1.5m during winter.” —gCaptain (Feb 2024)
https://gcaptain.com/nuclear-icebreakers-escort-russian-lng-modules-through-thick-arctic-ice/
Just fyi..
Those pesky Ruski’s have always been at the forefront of ice breaker development.
Baron: I apologize for the double-post…I hit the enter key at the wrong time.
“Iran’s Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, announced plans to establish a military presence in Antarctica and claimed the country’s rightful possession of the continent.” —Marine Insight (16 Feb 2024)
https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/iran-navys-plan-to-establish-a-military-presence-in-antarctica-sparks-global-concerns/
“Prediction: As Harris (Biden) takes control of the US, China, Iran and N. Korea will take aggressive action to “test” the incoming administration. The incoming administration will falter.” —posted to fb (Jan 2021)