Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley tonight in the South Carolina primary, beating her by 20 points in her home state. Mr. Trump also leads Ms. Haley by 94% to 5% in a CPAC straw poll.
In other news, King Charles has reportedly begun work on his succession plan, leading to speculation that his cancer diagnosis may be more serious than previously thought.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Dora, Insubria, JW, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
European Parliament Balances Health Budget Cuts With Aid to Ukraine
European Parliament members have given their approval for budget cuts impacting health initiatives, albeit with a deferral strategy, Euronews writes.
This decision comes as lawmakers aimed to mitigate the effects of diverting one-fifth of the European Union’s health funds to support Ukraine, pushing back efforts to reverse the cuts until the next term.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Millennials Lament Being Unable to Afford Homes, Pay Rent: ‘This is Insane’’
Young people are increasingly lamenting their inability to keep up with the high cost of affording a home or paying rent in America’s big cities on social media.
As reported by Business Insider, millennials complaining about their increasing rent have become a growing voice on TikTok.
Many have called recent rent price hikes “insane” and have vented their frustration about not being able to make ends meet with their jobs, much less live comfortably.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s FCC to Force Broadcasters to Report Employees’ Race and Gender
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 to reinstate a requirement for broadcasters to report the race and gender of their employees to the agency using Form 395-B.
FCC commissioner Brendan Carr revealed in a post why he dissented from the decision to enact the rule. He said, “Courts have already overturned the FCC twice for pressuring broadcasters into making hiring decisions in violation of the Constitution.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: President Trump Crushes Nikki Haley 94% to 5% in CPAC Straw Poll
To close out CPAC 2024, the results of a straw poll found that Donald Trump is by far the favorite candidate for the Republican nomination.
Trump received 94 percent of the vote, while former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley received just 5 percent. The announcement of the results comes as South Carolinians vote in their primary election.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Security Guard Shot & Killed by Armed Thug in Family Dollar Store
A Chicago security guard has been shot and killed by an armed thug at the Family Dollar store where he worked, according to police.
The Chicago Police Department said authorities were called to the discount store on the city’s West Side.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon at approximately 1:30 p.m.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CPAC Goes International as Foreign Leaders Flock to Conservative Conference: ‘We Need Trump Back’
Crowds at the Conservative Political Action Conference had a distinctly international flair this week, as foreign guests and leaders from around the world poured into the yearly event, including two sitting presidents and a former British prime minister.
Brexit boss Nigel Farage — a veteran of more than a decade of CPACS — was received warmly by the CPAC audience and proved even more popular at evening cocktail parties.
We “need strong leaders,” Farage railed during his speech, adding “we need Trump back in the White House.”
“What we’ve been defending are the basic concepts of the family, of the nation,” he said, according to a report.
Former Prime Minister Lis Truss was on hand through the conference, hawking her new book “Ten Years to Save the West” — and sounding off about how the British deep state doomed her famously brief time at 10 Downing Street.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats Nervous as Supreme Court to Soon Hear Several Major Cases on Leftist Issues
The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear several major cases over the next couple of months that will have a direct impact on multiple issues promoted by the Democrats.
Democrats are growing increasingly nervous about how the justices may ultimately rule as oral arguments will be heard over the next two months.
Those cases run a gamut of various issues that include abortion, climate regulations, gun control, and social media censorship, Utah’s Deseret News reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump Wins South Carolina Primary, Defeating Nikki Haley in Her Own State
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Donald Trump defeated GOP rival Nikki Haley in the South Carolina primary Saturday night, securing yet another win for the former president.
Fox News and CNN projected the former president to win the race shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m.
Haley — who was a two-term governor in the Palmetto State — was banking on doing better in her home state than she did in Iowa and New Hampshire. She has vowed to continue on through Super Tuesday on March 5, and has events scheduled in multiple states leading up to the major contest where 874 delegates will be up for grabs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Harvard presidential search team did not conduct a thorough review of embattled Claudine Gay’s scholarship before they handed her the plum role — which resulted in her beating out candidates with “far more extensive” academic work under their belts.
When Gay, 54, was announced as Harvard’s next president in December 2022, she edged out favorites Tomiko Brown-Nagin and John F. Manning, the Harvard Crimson reported.
Brown-Nagin is the dean of the University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and has published several books, The Crimson noted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Full Year After Chinese Spy Balloon, Biden Admin Slammed for Continued Secrecy Surrounding Craft
One full year after the US Air Force shot a Chinese spy balloon out of the sky, the FBI’s forensic report on the craft’s surveillance capabilities remains veiled in secrecy — sparking a blunt demand for “appropriate transparency” from the Biden administration, The Post has learned.
The giant balloon’s days-long journey across the entire North American continent in early 2023 — which dominated headlines around the world until its remnants were fished out of the ocean off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 17 — was a “major intelligence failure” caused by President Biden’s weakness, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wrote Friday to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Incorrect Process’: AT&T Claims National Outage Caused by Internal Error, Not Cyberattack
A major AT&T network outage that affected tens of thousands of customers nationwide on Thursday was not the result of a cyberattack, the company said.
Fox Business reports that AT&T reported that service disruptions beginning around 3:30 a.m. ET Thursday were likely caused by “the application & execution of an incorrect process” during network upgrades. The outage prevented users from making calls or sending texts, with major impacts reported in cities like Houston, Dallas, Chicago, New York and Miami.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
— and Kamala’s as popular as headlice in a hat shop. But what took them so damn long?
A series of pieces — with silken headlines like ‘The Challenges of an Aging President’ and even one by Establishment poster girl Maureen Dowd — were doubled down on by nepo-publisher A.G. Sulzberger.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Liberal commentator Fran Lebowitz has vowed to vote for Democrat President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, despite admitting that he’s “too old” for the job.
Lebowitz, known for her sarcastic and edgy public image, said she is voting for Biden because she wants to stop “horrible” President Donald Trump from being re-elected.
Lebowitz is the latest left-leaning figure to concede the obvious, but she said she will still vote for Biden because “life is not a menu” and Trump is the alternative.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Lock Them Up’: Steve Bannon Puts ‘Illegitimate’ Biden Regime on Blast in Epic CPAC Speech
War Room host Steve Bannon closed out CPAC on Saturday evening declaring that the Biden administration is an “illegitimate regime,” adding that Biden and other administration officials need to be locked up.
Bannon said that after three years of “peace and prosperity” under Trump’s term “before he was hit with a Chinese bio weapon … they stole the 2020 election.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Mean Tweet Brought US World Peace’: Kari Lake at CPAC on Trump
Kari Lake spoke to the audience at CPAC and told the audience that we need former President Donald Trump back in the presidency because he was an alpha male and that his “mean tweet brought us world peace.”
“Those mean tweet brought us world peace,” Lake told the audience about electing Trump back into the office of the president.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rutgers University is being slammed for “antisemitic” lectures that critics say spread “vitriolic hate” — including one from a professor who once appeared on a panel alongside a senior Hamas official.
Noura Erakat, an attorney and associate professor of international studies, gave a virtual lecture, “Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine,” on Tuesday that was organized by the embattled Center for Security, Race and Rights at Rutgers Law School.
In 2020, she participated in an online workshop along with senior Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad that was hosted by Palestinian nonprofit the Masarat Center, according to a post advertising the event.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Smoking Bag’ of Feces Left Outside Trump Tower: NYPD
It was a dung deal at Trump Tower.
A twisted individual left a “smoking bag” of feces outside the iconic 68-story building on Fifth Avenue shortly before 6:30 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Cops are looking for a white man in his 20s clad in a gray coat, black scarf and white sneakers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Spit Show’: Attacks on NYC EMS Workers Are Through the Roof
It’s a bloody dangerous — and sometimes revolting job.
New York City’s emergency medical technicians and paramedics were attacked or threatened 363 times in 2022 — including 64 times where a patient spat on them, according to the latest available records obtained by The Post.
The troubling tally is an eye-popping 2,320% higher than the 15 attacks reported on medics in 2011, when the agency began recording attacks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspect in Shooting of Washington State Trooper Was Bailed Out by Notorious Anti-Police Bail Fund
The man accused of shooting a Washington State trooper 9 times on Friday was previously bailed out of jail by an activist bail fund that is committed to defunding the police and abolishing prisons.
On Tuesday, Posada was charged with first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement, unlawful possession of a firearm, and theft of a firearm after allegedly shooting a Washington State Patrol (WSP) trooper multiple times.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Accused of Stabbing, Strangling 76-Year-Old Man to Death in Faribault
(KSTP) — A woman accused of stealing a dead Faribault man’s van earlier this month is now charged with his murder, court documents show.
Investigators say 32-year-old Arlene Bell stabbed, strangled and bound 76-year-old Gary Lehmeyer before taking his van and heading south for the Mexico border.
Police found Lehmeyer’s body on Feb. 5 while performing a welfare check at the home where they had both been living.
A state trooper pulled Bell over in Iowa the same day because she appeared as though she was high on drugs, the complaint states. She told authorities she had used meth a couple of days earlier and was still “coming down.”
Prosecutors note Lehmeyer was physically disabled and had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s dementia about a decade earlier.
Bell faces one count each of second-degree murder and motor vehicle theft. She remains in custody in Dallas County, Iowa, and officials are working to extradite her back to Minnesota.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian doctors have admitted that a Covid “booster” shot from Moderna is responsible for a young Ontario woman now being paralyzed for the rest of her life.
37-year-old mother Kayla Pollock is now paralyzed from the neck down after receiving the mRNA injection and says her life has become a “living hell.”
According to a report from The Liberty Daily, however, doctors have offered to “make up for it” by euthanizing the young mom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trudeau Says He’s ‘Standing Up for Minorities’ by Opposing Parents Rights
After delivering a housing announcement in Edmonton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed he’s standing up for minorities: when he opposes Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s parent-friendly policies on gender transition.
“I think everyone well knows my stance on standing up for minorities and being there for the LGBTQ community,” Trudeau told a reporter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ADHD Medication Usage Surges in Finland
The Finnish social benefits agency Kela has witnessed a substantial rise in the utilization of ADHD (one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood) medication reimbursements, with over 100,000 individuals benefiting from it last year. This marks a nearly tenfold increase compared to 2013, as written by Yle News.
The diagnosing of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has notably escalated across Finland. Kela disclosed in a press release that it disbursed approximately 22 million euros for ADHD medication reimbursements in the past year, reflecting a 28 percent surge from 2022’s expenditure of around 17 million euros.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Three Sex Workers Were Murdered in Vienna-Brigittenau
Their bodies were found mutilated in a small massage parlor called “Studio 126a” in the same area. A suspect, believed to be an Afghan, has been apprehended.
He was discovered near the crime scene holding a knife and is reported to be an Afghan asylum seeker. He sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital. The motive behind the suspect’s actions is currently uncertain and subject to speculation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Birthrate Falls to Record Low in England and Wales With Less Than One and a Half Children Per Woman
The birth rate in England and Wales has fallen to a new low since records began in the 1930s, with the rate falling to just one and a half children per woman in 2022.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the total fertility rate fell to 1.49 children per woman in 2022, far below the rate of 2.1 needed to maintain population levels and the lowest since records began in 1939.
According to the statistics, there were 605,479 live births recorded in 2022, a 3.1 per cent decline over the previous year and also the lowest overall figure since 2002.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Enraged French Farmers Forcefully Enter Agriculture Fair in Paris
Ahead of a planned visit by President Emmanuel Macron, a group of French farmers stormed into a prominent Paris farm fair on Saturday, expressing frustration over expenses, bureaucratic hurdles, and environmental regulations.
Inside the fairgrounds, amid a sizable police presence, the farmers voiced their discontent with chants and jeers, demanding Macron’s resignation and directing profanities towards him, reports Reuters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Farmers Plan Road Blockades at Polish-German Border
Farmers are planning to escalate their protest at the border with Germany by blocking important roads and border crossings, as reported by RMF24. They intend to use tractors to create disruptions on the A2 motorway near Swiecko and the S3 road near Mysliborz.
They aim to continue their protests, starting with a round-the-clock blockade of the S3 road in Mysliborz from Saturday, with plans to end only on March 20. After this weekend, they plan to resume protests at the Polish-German border in Krajnik Dolny, blocking traffic at the border crossing around the clock.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France Says Russian Intelligence Behind Antisemitic Graffiti Campaign
In November, soon after the Hamas terror attack of Oct.7 in southern Israel, mysterious graffiti appeared in the capital of France and in surrounding Paris suburbs.
More than 60 Jewish stars had been spray-painted, which began being observed in late October. They were all identical, and seemed connected to the ongoing war in Gaza, given some of them were accompanies by written slogans including, “From the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River, Palestine will be free.”
It was widely interpreted as a threat to Jewish people. Subsequently, a Moldovan couple was arrested and they were alleged to have ties to a “pro-Russian” Moldovan intermediary.
But contradictions abounded, seen in the fact that many news articles of the time include statements like the following buried deep within them: “Investigators have said they aren’t convinced the graffiti can be classed as antisemitic, but they are concerned about possible Russian meddling at such a sensitive time.”
Additionally, the other problem with being quick to seize on this narrative is that France has a huge population of Muslims — some of which have made no secret of their disdain for Jews in recent protests. The immense civilian death toll in Gaza has also outraged young demonstrators all over Europe.
But on Friday the AFP is reporting that France’s international security service DGSI believes this was all the work of Russia’s FSB, which is a successor agency to the Soviet KGB.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France Expels Tunisian Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi for Flag Comments Deemed Radical
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced the expulsion of Mahjoub Mahjoubi, an imam, for making contentious remarks regarding the French flag. Mahjoubi, who has resided in France for 38 years after migrating from Tunisia, faced swift deportation following a video surfacing online where he allegedly referred to the tricolor flag as “satanic” and having “no value with Allah,” as reported by BBC.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Cracks Down on Illegal Foreign Employment
Stringent measures will be taken against non-nationals engaging in unauthorized employment in Hungary, as reported by About Hungary.
The Ministry of National Economy has pledged to crack down severely on any foreigner found working illegally in Hungary, especially in light of the rampant issuance of counterfeit work permits in a specific county in eastern Hungary.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary to Seal Defense Deal With Sweden Ahead of NATO Vote
Hungary is on the brink of finalizing a significant defense industry agreement with Sweden, paving the path for Budapest’s parliament to endorse the Nordic nation’s NATO accession early next week, announced Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Hosting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday, Orban revealed in a radio interview that the impending arms deal represents the final step required to garner support from Hungarian lawmakers for Sweden’s NATO aspirations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Macron Berated by French Farmers: ‘You Gave Ukraine Colossal Sums, But Gave Us Crumbs!’
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday was surrounded by groups of farmers who chastised the neo-liberal leader for his green agenda and for prioritising Ukraine over his own people.
At the 60th Agricultural Show held in the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris on Saturday, agricultural unions and organisations clashed with security and breached the gates in order to air the grievances of farmers to Emmanuel Macron directly. After initially showing hesitancy, the French president acquiesced and held an impromptu debate with several farmers.
“You gave Ukraine colossal sums, but you gave us crumbs,” one farmer said to Macron according to broadcaster BFMTV.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police Report: Approximately 62,000 Individuals Linked to Criminal Gangs in Sweden
Police in Sweden report that approximately 62,000 individuals are associated with criminal gangs, highlighting the persistent challenge of organized crime in the country, as reported by Reuters.
Over the past decade, deadly shootings have surged, exceeding levels seen in neighboring nations. National Police Commissioner Petra Lundh disclosed that 14,000 individuals are actively involved in criminal networks, with an additional estimated 48,000 having connections to these groups.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protesters Dump Dung at Russian Ambassador’s Home in Poland on Ukraine War Anniversary
WARSAW (Reuters) —A pile of dung was dumped outside the home of Moscow’s ambassador to Poland on Saturday as protesters marked the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Hundreds of people also gathered outside the Russian embassy in Warsaw.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The top universities said that examples of microaggressions include telling people that ‘everyone can succeed if they work hard enough’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Shortage of Prison Guards Threatens Prison Security in Portugal
The shortage of prison guards is threatening the security in prisons, leading the Directorate-General for Rehabilitation and Prison Services (DGRSP) to prohibit guards from changing careers, as reported by jn.pt.
The personnel shortage has prompted the DGRSP to seek help from the heads of the Prison Guard to deal with violent inmates, while hundreds of guards are on sick leave and more are nearing retirement. Recruitment efforts to fill these gaps have faced challenges, with the DGRSP preventing prison guards from leaving their positions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Synthetic Meat a Threat Say Rome-Paris-Vienna to EU
Backed by 9 other countries ahead of farm meet Tue
Rome, Paris and Vienna on Wednesday warned the EU of the risks posed by synthetic meat ahead of a farm ministers’ meeting in Brussels Tuesday.
Lab grown meat, they said in a joint note backed by nine other countries, is “a threat to genuine methods of food production that are at the centre of the European agricultural model”.
Italy, France and Austria warned of the risks of “new practices that include the production of meat with stem cell technology, which requires tissue from live animals.
“The development of this production of lab grown food raises many questions that must be discussed in depth”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Teenagers in Germany Attacked Two Homeless Individuals; One Victim Died
Three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17 years old attacked and injured two homeless men in Moers, near the Lower Rhine. One week after the incident on February 8, one of the victims, a 58-year-old man, died in the hospital, according to police and prosecutors, as reported by Spiegel.
The police are investigating whether the injuries from the attack caused the man’s death. The necessary forensic results are still pending.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Marcih Kervinsky, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of Poland, announced to journalists that former chief police commissioner of Poland, Jaroslaw Shimchik, has been accused of the illegal import of grenade launchers from Ukraine.
The incident occurred over a year ago when an explosion happened in Shimchik’s office from a gift he received during a visit to Ukraine. As a result, two people, including Shimchik himself, were injured. It was later discovered that the source of the explosion was a grenade launcher. Shimchik claimed he thought he was given two used grenade launcher tubes as souvenirs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Polish Police Are Investigating a New Incident Involving Spilled Rapeseed
The Polish police have begun an investigation into a new case of spilled grain cargo from Ukraine. A statement from a police representative in the city of Chelm cites PAP.
Currently, law enforcement officers are at the scene conducting investigative actions.
“We are checking information about spilled rapeseed from a train that entered Poland from Ukraine and was standing on the railway tracks in the Dorohusk commune,” the police noted.
On Friday morning, unidentified individuals opened the hatches of two grain wagons from Ukraine at the railway station in Dorohusk, causing rapeseed to spill onto the tracks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Conservative Party Suspends Lee Anderson MP After Claiming Sadiq Khan Controlled by ‘Islamists’
The Conservative Party has announced that it has suspended former deputy chairman Lee Anderson from the party after he refused to apologise for asserting that London Mayor Sadiq Khan is controlled by “Islamists”.
The Conservative MP for Ashfield and former deputy chairman Lee Anderson had the whip suspended from him on Saturday evening as the Tory Party bowed to pressure from leftist Labour Party London Mayor Sadiq Khan and liberal members of the political and media classes who expressed outrage on his behalf.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Militant Just Stop Oil activists have circulated a sinister manual to help protesters track down and occupy politicians’ homes.
In a disturbing new tactic, it recommends studying photos of MPs clapping for carers during Covid for clues to their addresses.
Last week Ministers urged police to take robust action against eco-zealots after The Mail on Sunday revealed they are plotting to target politicians’ offices and homes ahead of the General Election.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: King’s Cancer ‘May be More Dangerous Than We Have Been Led to Believe’, Warns Expert
King Charles has reportedly begun work on his succession plan, sparking fears his cancer diagnosis may be ‘more dangerous than we have been led to believe.’
Earlier this month Charles revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer after being admitted to hospital for a separate issue regarding an enlarged prostate.
The type of cancer has not been revealed to the public, but it was reportedly caught early and the King has been undergoing ‘regular treatments’ ever since.
Nevertheless, the issue has reportedly prompted the King to start formalising his succession plans earlier than intended and ensure that Prince William is at the heart of them, sparking rumours that his illness could be more serious than we have been led to believe.
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Part of Our Home and We Will Defend It — Meloni at G7
Ukraine is a part of our home and we will defend it, Premier Giorgia Meloni said ahead of Italy’s first Group of Seven (G7) summit in its presidency, on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, speaking at an airport outside the Ukrainian capital where unexpected Ukrainian resistance denied Moscow a key strategic site and thwarted its plans for the quick capitulation of Kyiv.
“This land is a picee of our home and we will do out bit to defend its,” Meloni said at Antonov Airport at Hostomel, 10 km outside Kyiv.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Officials to Meet on a Proposed Pause in Gaza While the Cabinet is Set to OK a Rafah Plan
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli officials will meet Saturday night on the next steps after the latest talks with the United States, Egypt and Qatar in search of a deal on pausing the fighting in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
But Netanyahu announced that he’ll convene the Cabinet early next week to “approve the operational plans for action in Rafah,” including the evacuation of civilians, despite widespread warnings from the international community about a military ground operation in the southern city where more than half of Gaza’s population shelters. “Only a combination of military pressure and firm negotiations” would achieve Israel’s aims in the war, he said.
A senior official from Egypt, which along with Qatar is a mediator between Israel and the Hamas militant group, said mediators were waiting for Israel’s official response to a draft deal that includes the release of up to 40 women and older hostages held in Gaza in return for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, mostly women, minors and older people.
The Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said the proposed six-week pause in fighting would include allowing hundreds of aid trucks to enter Gaza every day, including the northern half of the besieged territory. He said that both sides agreed to continue negotiations during the pause for further releases and a permanent cease-fire.
Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan around March 10.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
“Ecological” Western Equipment on the Ukrainian Front Has Been Nibbled by Mice — Le Figaro
Mice have eaten cables on some “eco-friendly” Western equipment on the Ukrainian front, reports Le Figaro.
In particular, some protective sheaths for electrical wires are made of corn fiber, according to one French soldier, “with a mix of irony, dissatisfaction and horror.” As a result, rodents have gnawed cables on some vehicles.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On the second anniversary of invasion, a brutally honest assessment
Two years after Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine, and after a series of embarrassing battlefield setbacks, the tide my be starting to turn in his favour. But is he actually winning?
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Two Years After the Invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Economy is Thriving
The West aimed to use sanctions to cripple Russia economically and halt the war against Ukraine. However, ordinary Russians feel little impact from this in their daily lives, reports Focus.
Even as some major Western chains departed due to the conflict, others swiftly took over in Moscow’s bustling shopping scene. Vacancies in places like the Evropeisky shopping center are now scarce.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two years since Russia invaded Ukraine and in Moscow’s Victory Park, those we spoke to felt their country was on course.
“We’re doing the right thing, victory will be ours,” says a woman out for a midday stroll with her family. It’s a common enough phrase, but what victory actually means depends on who you ask.
“Victory means full defeat of the enemy,” her son, Temikhan, declares. “The principal enemy, the Nazis who are based there.”
“The Ukrainians are our fraternal people,” his mother adds. “They are not guilty of this.”
Temikhan is 15 and says he forms his opinions based on YouTube videos, Russian, Ukrainian, Sky News too.
“The people who wreak havoc there are monsters, they are not even human,” he says.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
15,000 Ukrainian Refugees in Britain Left Homeless — Daily Telegraph
At least 15,000 Ukrainian refugees in Britain are left without housing after “ending relationships with local sponsors,” writes The Daily Telegraph.
Those left homeless have already turned to authorities for housing support, constituting approximately 7.5% of all Ukrainian refugees (slightly over 200,000 people) in the kingdom, according to data from the Ministry of Regional Development and Housing Construction.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AOC Calls Biden Border Invasion a ‘False Narrative’ Promoted by Conservatives
On Friday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claimed that the crisis at the border is a “false narrative” created by Republicans who are being “xenophobic.”
In an interview with Alex Wagner on MSNBC, Ocasio-Cortez said “The idea that Republicans, in order to win an election, say we need to hermetically seal the border when they know that that would be— that is economic self-sabotage to the US economy, and they are saying let’s do it anyway. And to compensate for the negative effects we’re gonna allow and throw people’s kids into factories. That is what they are doing in rolling back child-labor laws while being as xenophobic and anti-immigrant as they are, and while ginning up this, this false narrative about this being a crisis.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
— as NYC dishes out $10k credit cards, hotel stays and meals to migrants
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was booed and heckled by her constituents at a heated town hall on Thursday.
AOC was interrupted by angry voters when presenting the benefits of the Green New Deal at an event in Queens.
One of the hecklers, Jonathan David Rinaldi, stood up while AOC was on the stage and announced that he was challenging Ocasio-Cortez for her congressional seat.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
During his speech at CPAC, Trump took to the stage to and told the audience of hundreds that if he takes office in 2024, he will conduct the “largest deportation’ in American history” and focused on the border crisis that has occurred under President Joe Biden.
“It will be the largest deportation in the history of our country…They’re killing our people. They’re killing our country. We have no choice!” Trump said of the wave of illegal immigration that has come into the United States.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Alien Arrested on Multiple Child Abuse Charges in Virginia
An illegal alien from Honduras has been arrested on multiple sickening child abuse charges in Virginia, authorities have revealed.
24-year-old Gherson Gonzales Hernandez was arrested on multiple counts related to child pornography.
The shocking crimes included filming young children being sexually abused.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday insisted the “the Crossroads of the World” is still safe despite the migrant crisis fueling a flurry of recent crimes there, including a recent stabbing of a 17-year-old.
“We had 62 million tourists last year; we will continue to surge this year; NYPD is ever present,” boasted Adams when asked about the Times Square crime wave during an unrelated event in Lower Manhattan.
“I was walking up there [in Times Square] the other day. You see the presence that’s there. It is safe.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The illegal immigrant arrested for killing a Georgia nursing student crossed the border in Texas Sept. 8 last year and was sent to a processing facility there, but was quickly released before being put on a bus to New York City, where he was later busted and set free again, his wife told The Post.
Jose Antonio Ibarra and wife Layling Franco of Venezuela entered El Paso together with her 5-year-old son, she said.
The family was then sent to the Big Apple Sept. 15, where Ibarra posted smiling, carefree pictures of himself on social media in Times Square and Rockefeller Center.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A parking lot near a Queens shelter has turned into a violent scene ripped straight out of the film “Fight Club” — with migrants brawling on camera as bloodthirsty onlookers bet on the bouts, The Post has learned.
For at least a month, migrants living in a nearby La Quinta Inn shelter on Queens Boulevard in Long Island City have slipped on boxing gloves to pound each other to oblivion in a McDonald’s parking lot across the street, according to footage of the wild scene and an area worker who has witnessed several brawls.
“Hit him, hit him!” one spectator urged in Spanish as wiry migrants threw wild hooks and haymakers at each other in broad daylight, a Feb. 17 clip posted on the Instagram account New York S—ty showed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Secures Access to EU Intelligence on Human Trafficking
Britain and the EU have struck a deal allowing the UK access to EU intelligence regarding human trafficking rings. The agreement was formalized with Frontex, aims to enhance collaborative efforts in preventing illegal migration across the Channel, as reported by InfoMigrants.
The accord, inked in London, involves sharing intelligence on criminal networks engaged in human trafficking. No financial transaction is involved in this arrangement, clarified a Home Office spokesperson.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Reportedly Scraps US Deal to Deport Illegal Migrants as Some Commit Crimes to be Deported
Venezuela has stopped accepting flights of migrants deported from the U.S. and Mexico, while Venezuelan migrants in Chicago are allegedly committing crimes just to get a free ride back to their home country on the taxpayer’s dime.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, President Nicolas Maduro’s authoritarian regime is refusing to cooperate with deportation requests after Washington reimposed some of the economic sanctions it had previously lifted on Venezuela.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The company memo states the sartorial changes have come about due to ‘recently observed instance of poor dress standards that may pose a potential food safety risk and/or injury in our stores.’
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Leading Bishop Blasts Politico Reporter’s Critique of ‘Christian Nationalists’
ROME — A prominent U.S. Catholic bishop has blasted a Politico reporter’s commentary on Christian nationalism, calling it “one of the most disturbing and frankly dangerous things I’ve ever seen in a political conversation.”
Robert Barron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona—Rochester and founder of the Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire, took issue with reporting by Politico’s national investigative correspondent, Heidi Przybyla, who claimed Christian nationalists are dangerous because they think human rights come from God rather than government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Red-Faced Google Apologizes After Woke AI Bot Gives ‘Appalling’ Answers About Pedophilia, Stalin
Google on Saturday admitted to Fox News Digital that a failure by its AI chatbot to outright condemn pedophilia is both “appalling and inappropriate” and a spokesperson vowed changes.
This came in the wake of users noting that Google Gemini gave indecisive answers to serious moral problems, including pedophilia and whether infamous Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin is a more problematic cultural figure than Libs of TikTok, a conservative social media page.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Riley Gaines Calls Suspension of College’s Investigation Into Her Hostage Assault ‘An Abomination’
Former NCAA swimmer and women’s sports activist Riley Gaines joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss her reaction to a San Francisco college’s suspension of the investigation into a hostage incident where she was held for ransom.
Police said the alleged charges she made were “unfounded,” but Gaines hit back, calling the decision by the university police, “abysmal.”
Gaines, the director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute and an Outkick contributor, is an advocate for girls in women’s sports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top Climate Scientist Admits ‘Global Warming’ Alarmism is ‘Rewarded’ by Green Agenda ‘Industry’
One of the world’s most cited climate scientists has blown the whistle on the true motivations behind alarmism about so-called “global warming.”
Dr. Judith Curry, who was once celebrated by the corporate media, the United Nations (UN), and other “climate crisis” narrative advocates, has lifted the lid on the green agenda “industry” during a recent interview.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
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Karl-Olov Arnstberg is a Swedish writer, ethnologist, and retired university professor. His essays are posted at the blog Invandring och mörkläggning. Below is today’s edition of his “Sunday Chronicle”. From Swedish by LN.
Sunday column:
Published on 25 February, 2024 by I&M
Russian and American, a culture clash.
We usually describe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago as an assault. Sometimes it is claimed to be unprovoked, which is a blatant lie. But there is no denying that it was Russia that invaded Ukraine and that the invasion soon grew into a full-scale war. Ukraine is defending itself.
The Russian perspective is different. They see the invasion as Russia’s defence against an attack from the West in general and the US in particular. The war did not actually start in 2022 but much earlier, with Georgia’s 2008 bid to join NATO, which was as unthinkable to Russia for security reasons as Russian missiles in Cuba were to the US in 1962. They invaded Georgia in a blitzkrieg, only to withdraw when the risk of NATO membership was removed.
The next level of the conflict that led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine was the so-called Maidan revolt in Kiev in 2014, orchestrated by the US. Ukraine’s democratically appointed Russian-orientated President Viktor Yanukovych was deposed. The new leadership was divided in its political goals and long lacked a clear leader, but it was clearly an unacceptable provocation to Russia, which responded by annexing the Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol. They organised a referendum in which a majority of the population voted in favour of belonging to Russia. Not surprisingly, they were Russians.
Civil war ensued, with Western Ukraine attacking Eastern Ukraine, with its Russian population. Vladimir Zelensky won the 2019 elections and became president. When he wanted to apply for membership in both NATO and the EU, he was soon out of luck. In February 2022, the Russians launched the special operation that they thought would quickly change the minds of the Kiev regime. They were wrong.
With the US and NATO behind them, Ukraine was confident that it could defeat Russia. The peace talks that began in Istanbul a month after Russia’s invasion were rejected by the West, but above all Ukraine was uninterested. They wanted a war – the Russians should be thrown out!
The entire Western world was on Ukraine’s side, including Sweden, which has sent more than SEK 22 billion worth of weapons. Now Sweden is planning to send more military material and other support, for the equivalent of SEK 7.1 billion. This is small money compared to the more than SEK 74.2 billion that Norway has promised Ukraine in long-term support. At the same time, the EU has pledged 50 billion euros.
I do not understand the total support for this madness. I am a utilitarian, i.e. whether an action is good or bad can only be determined by looking at the consequences. More money and more weapons do not make Ukraine win. It leads to more destruction and more deaths. Prolonging the war is pure evil and no one seems to understand this, at least not in politics and the media.
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán made an interesting comment in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson last year. He said that the Biden administration completely misunderstands the Russians. The West wants to weaken Russia, but it doesn’t work that way. They are being strengthened and they will not kill or depose Putin. They will never give up. The Russians are uniting and defending their country. If we invest more, so will they. If we send technical equipment, they will produce even more. Do not underestimate the Russians.
While democratic freedoms and human rights are the first priority in the West, this is not the case in Russia, where national security comes first. The Russians therefore have no problem buying drones from Iran and ammunition from North Korea. The overriding task of the state is to keep the vast country together.
Putin’s Russia not only withstands the economic punishment of the West, but also has a strong and growing economy. It was not Russia but Europe that fell into recession. Russia also proved able to produce more and more advanced weapons than the US. A partial explanation is that 23 per cent of Russians in higher education study technology, compared to 7 per cent in the US.
In this context, it should not be forgotten that Putin has four successful war operations behind him: the second Chechen war, the blitzkrieg against Georgia in 2008, the swift and popular invasion of Crimea in 2014, and the intervention in the Syrian war the following year. Now it was no longer a Muslim desert country like Iraq or Afghanistan that the US was challenging. Russia is one of the world’s most advanced military powers.
continuation follows
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Part 2
To summarise: Russia is winning both the battlefield and the economic war. The West, and in particular the US, EU and Ukraine, had grossly overestimated its ability to defeat or even weaken Russia.
From Russia to the US. With its 800 military bases around the world, the US sees itself as the guarantor of a world order with a market economy, human rights and democracy. It considers itself to have a moral mission and both invades and fights countries with unfavourable regimes. The US has interfered in the domestic politics of other countries on an unprecedented scale. Usually they have ended in chaos or Americans have been kicked out. Millions of people have lost their lives.
There is a breathtaking dogmatism among the entire Western elite, a kind of ideological blinders that prevent them from seeing the world as it really is.
A major and growing problem is that the US ruling elite has lost touch with reality. As globalists, they feel no strong connection to the American nation or the American people. More than a nation state, the US is a nihilistic empire, in constant revolt against its own traditions and past. There is a breathtaking dogmatism among the entire Western elite, a kind of ideological blinders that prevent them from seeing the world as it really is.
The HBTQ revolution is a prime example. Between 2005 and 2015, virtually every country under US influence legalised same-sex marriage. Most went even further, normalising and accelerating transgenderism. Sweden, Europe’s most US-orientated country, is on patrol. Julian Assange aptly called Sweden the Saudi Arabia of feminism.
An overwhelming majority of the world’s countries are homophobic and have a strict patriarchal family structure, which also has evolutionary support. They have no interest in the moral aberrations of the West. How can societies whose fundamental structures are based on the difference between male and female accept an ideology where a man can become a woman and vice versa? The reaction is that the West has gone mad.
In the first phase of the Vladimir Putin era, Russia was open to all kinds of cooperation with the West. Russian political culture was pragmatic, technocratic and authoritarian. Now it takes a more ideological stance. The Putin regime sees the West not only as a geopolitical enemy but also as the carrier of a destructive moral and cultural contagion.
Late last year, Russia’s Supreme Court labelled the international HBTQ movement an extremist organisation. The Kremlin is now preparing a law requiring all foreigners entering the country to sign a loyalty contract. It will make it a criminal offence for visitors to advocate sexual ideas without traditional support.
Regional officials have proposed banning young women from wearing trousers. It is unlikely to pass, but it says something about Russian traditions. One of the Duma’s leading politicians is pushing for education where boys learn to use tools and girls to cook traditional dishes like borscht. Beetroot soup is also part of a political game in other ways. Ukraine has succeeded in getting it on UNESCO’s list of endangered intangible cultural heritage; Russia protests because ‘endangered’ relates the soup to the Russian war of aggression. The war of soups?
While the West has been in the doldrums since the turn of the millennium, regardless of the regime or the country, Russia under Putin’s leadership has had a fantastic career.
From 2000 to 2017, Russian mortality due to alcoholism fell from 25 to 8 per hundred thousand, suicide from 39 to 13, and homicide from 28 to 6. The infant mortality rate, a measure of a country’s level of development, fell under Mr Putin from 19 to 4.4 per 1 000 live births. The US figure is currently 5.5.
Before American journalist Tucker Carlson interviewed Mr Putin, he had never been to Moscow. While waiting to meet Putin, he wandered around the city. He walked into a large supermarket and saw that the shelves were full, despite the sanctions, with chocolate and other Western sweets. Amazed, he noted that Moscow is cleaner, safer and more aesthetically pleasing than any major city in the US.”
Unlike New York, where many people refrain from using the subway because of the risk of being robbed, assaulted or even raped, the subway in Moscow is completely safe. Tucker Carlson surmised that these are the qualities that matter far more on a day-to-day basis than which regime rules the country.
Karl-Olov Arnstberg
All texts are © on this blog. It is allowed to distribute the texts provided that you always link to the source here on the blog.
https://morklaggning.wordpress.com/2024/02/25/sondagskronika-ryskt-och-amerikanskt-en-kulturkrock/
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Ukrainian Nazism
https://gatesofvienna.net/2023/03/ukrainian-nazism/
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Previous posts by Karl-Olov Arnstberg:
“We Need Not Celebrate Our Own Disintegration”
What I Understand About Ukraine
Talking to the Elephants
Socialism is the Loser of History
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The Clever and the Stupid
https://gatesofvienna.net/2023/01/the-clever-and-the-stupid/
Did Fjordman start writing essays under his real name?
https://www.document.dk/2024/02/23/import-af-islam-betyder-import-af-vold/
Yes, he has been doing that for quite a while now.
“he allegedly referred to the tricolor flag as “satanic” and having “no value with Allah,” as reported by BBC.”
As far as I am concerned, Islam is satanic and of no value and allah des not exist,
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The stupid Swedes are becoming more and more ‘stiff in the cork’, that is: stupid in the head, now that they are to get US combat forces in their own terrain.
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Today, the Swedish government received this letter from its Chinese counterpart in response to a statement by the Swedish so-called Security Police (Säkerhetspolisen).
Remarks by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Sweden on the Content Relating China in Säkerhetspolisen’s Situation Picture 2023-2024
2024/02/22
We have noticed that Säkerhetspolisen has published the Situation Picture 2023-2024 on 21st February, 2024. This report wantonly hypes up “China threat theory” without any factual basis, makes groundless accusations against, slanders and smears China. It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts. We strongly deplore and firmly reject this.
China has always adhered to the path of peaceful development and has the best record on issues relating to peace and security among major countries. Rather than a threat to anyone, China’s development is an opportunity for the entire world. China has never invaded any country, never interfered in other countries’ internal affairs, never violated other countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. China has always been developing friendly and cooperative relations with other countries including Sweden under the principle of equality and mutual respect. The Chinese side has always asked Chinese companies, institutions and personnel to conduct cooperation on the basis of international rules, local laws and regulations. Relevant Swedish authority’s act to politicize and overstretch the concept of security on bilateral exchanges and cooperation not only damages the atmosphere for bilateral friendly cooperation, but also harms the fundamental interests of the two peoples.
We urge the Swedish side to abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, respect facts and the truth, view China and China’s development in an objective and rational way, stop spreading disinformation and provocative remarks targeting China, and take more actions that contribute to the development of China-Sweden friendly and cooperative relations.
EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Address:Lidovagen 8, 11525 Stockholm, Swed
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http://se.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/sgxw/202402/t20240222_11248176.htm
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Scott Ritter
talks about Hamas and the Children of the Camps – Ask The Inspector highlight
https://swebbtube.se/w/1ZPozTiTwJwHSsahFArgbW
The more Christianity embraces LGBTQI and pedophilia the more satanic it will be viewed by the global south. Propaganda about the immorality of the west is easier to generate as the west is becoming more immoral. Plenty of evidence in US media that can be used. Vilification is the first step in dehumanising a foe and then killing them is justified. USA is making it easy for us to all be killed.
Only those who are unarmed. So what does that tell ya?