During his visit to the southern border, President Joe Biden blamed the recent wildfires on Americans who do not believe in climate change, and referred to them as “Neanderthals.” Previously, President Biden seemed to mix up Ukraine and Gaza during an Oval Office meeting with the Italian prime minister.
In other news, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley warned that nominating Donald Trump for president would mean suicide for the USA.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, LP, MM, 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.
Poland Sees Economic Growth in Last Quarter of 2023
The Polish economy is poised for a rebound after a challenging 2023, claim economists at the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) after the latest data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS). They predict that in the upcoming quarters, Poland will experience growth rates exceeding 2 percent, fueled largely by increased household consumer spending.
In a preliminary estimate released by the GUS on Thursday, Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter saw a year-over-year increase of 1.0 percent, a slight improvement from the 0.5 percent growth observed in the third quarter of 2023. This figure aligns with the earlier “flash estimate” provided by the GUS.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Best Hunker Down”: Blizzard Pounding Sierra Nevada to Dump 10-Plus Feet of Snow
A powerful Pacific storm will dump up to 10 feet of snow across the highest elevations of Sierra Nevada through the weekend, forcing residents to already shelter in place. At the same time, at least one Lake Tahoe ski resort closed Friday.
“Your safe travel window is over in the Sierra,” the National Weather Service in Reno warned residents on X on Thursday morning, adding: “Best to hunker down where you are.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
40-Year-Old San Francisco Diner Chain Closes All Locations, Cites Economy and Homelessness
A San Francisco restaurant chain recently closed its last two remaining locations after 40 years of operation, with the owner citing the city’s economic challenges and homelessness.
“COVID has been a disease for us, let’s put it that way, so it’s been difficult, and we tried opening six or eight stores in the beginning in 2021, and it was ugly,” Lee’s Diner founder and owner Lee Quan told the local ABC 7 in a report published Wednesday. “There was just nobody around—we can’t do business.”
Quan, whose family-owned chain had 16 locations at its height, said after the pandemic, people were generally back to work only for three days out of the week. He also blamed inflation, minimum wage hikes in San Francisco, and a lack of support from government leaders from the city and state for his business’s closure.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Aaron Bushnell, Who Burned Himself Alive, Cheered Murder of U.S. Soldiers
“I work for the air force and would also have no right to complain about violent resistance against my actions.”
When Aaron Bushnell, an Antifa member and Air Force Airman, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C., Hamas supporters in this country made him into a martyr.
Cornel West praised Bushnell’s “extraordinary courage and commitment”, Roger Waters celebrated him as an “All-American Hero” and the media emphasized his military role.
In reality, Aaron Bushnell was a member of radical anarchist groups on social media, he wanted to leave the Air Force and cheered the killings of members of the U.S. military.
When three black Army soldiers were murdered in an Iranian-backed Islamic terror attack back in January, Aaron Bushnell posted it to the Antifa ACAB (All Cops are Bastards) Reddit group with a mocking “OhNoAnyway.jpg” meme.
“The cops are the domestic military and the military is the international police. They are bad for the exact same reasons,” Aaron Bushnell posted in the ensuing debate.
Bushnell believed that Islamic terrorists killing U.S. military personnel was justified, arguing that, “I work for the air force and would also have no right to complain about violent resistance against my actions.”
In a previous exchange he warned another user against joining the military and argued again that the murder of Americans was justified. “The US DoD is one of the most powerfully evil institutions to ever disgrace the face of this planet. You will have blood on your hands that you will never be able to wash off. There are many people who suffer under the imperial boot who would have every reason to wish you dead, and they would be justified. Don’t do it.”
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Within a year of graduating, about 52% of people who recently earned bachelor’s degrees in the US are working jobs that don’t require a college education, according to a new joint report by two research firms.
The vast majority of underemployed graduates — 88% of them — are working high school-level jobs such as office support, food service, and retail within five years of graduation, per the report by the data research firms Burning Glass Institute and the Strada Education Foundation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Adam Schiff is Trailing GOP Candidate Steve Garvey in California’s U.S. Senate Race, Polling Shows
The latest polling for the race in California for late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) old Senate seat shows all Democrat candidates are trailing Republican Steve Garvey.
The heated race includes several high-profile Democrats who are competing in the party’s primary for the general election.
However, GOP candidate and former professional baseball player Garvey inched out ahead of Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and other left-wing House members in a new poll.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Alex Soros Met With Jake Sullivan Days Before His Dad Gave $350K to Biden
George Soros’s son met with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House in November, days before the Democratic megadonor gave $350,000 to help reelect President Joe Biden.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Appears to Mix Up Ukraine and Gaza in Meeting With Italian Prime Minister
President Biden appeared to mix up Ukraine and Gaza while talking about the war-torn regions in a bilateral Oval Office meeting with Italy’s prime minister Friday.
“Today, I also, we’re going to discuss the Middle East and yesterday’s tragic and alarming event in north Gaza, trying to get humanitarian in there and the loss of life is heartbreaking,” the president said, referring to the dozens killed there Thursday, when humanitarian aid trucks came under fire. He had previously mentioned passing legislation in support of Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Unloads on ‘Climate Change Deniers’ During Texas Border Speech: ‘Neanderthals’
Democrat President Joe Biden appeared to veer dangerously off-script during his “immigration” speech at the Southern Border during his trip to Texas.
Speaking in the border city of Brownsville, Biden turned his attention to the devastating wildfire in the state’s panhandle and Oklahoma.
He then blamed the fires on Americans who believe “the idea that there’s no such thing as climate change,” before blasting them as “Neanderthals.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s DOJ Improperly Lengthened Some Jan 6 Defendants’ Sentences, Federal Appeals Court Rules
Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) improperly handed down extended sentences to Jan. 6 defendants, a federal appeals court has ruled.
On Friday, a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel found that some Jan. 6 defendants’ sentences were wrongly lengthened.
Extended sentences were wrongly applied when judges determined the defendants interfered “with the administration of justice,” the appeals court found.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Friday, Donald Trump appeared in a Florida courtroom to take part in a hearing regarding the timeline of his classified documents case.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who already hinted that she may delay the trial’s planned start date, is gathering more information as she prepares to announce the exact date proceedings will kick off.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Blaze Journalist Arrested on 4 Charges Over Jan. 6 Presence at Capitol
Update (1530ET): Steve Baker of The Blaze was arrested on Friday and charged with four misdemeanors related to his Jan. 6 coverage at the US Capital.
He turned himself over to the FBI in Dallas.
The charges are:
- Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly conduct in a capitol building
- Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) partnered with a Chinese Communist Party-tied businessman — allegedly connected to the triads — on an endeavor that brought Chinese mafia-linked businesses to California’s Bay Area when Newsom served as San Francisco’s mayor, Peter Schweizer reveals in his new book Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The inquiry in the US is based on fewer than two dozen cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome among more than 9.5million over-60s who got the vaccine.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Independence Police Department has confirmed that one of its officers and a Jackson County Process server have been killed — and two more officers are injured — after a shooting that began during an eviction in northeast Independence.
Police have identified the deceased victims as 35-year-old officer Cody Allen and Drexel Mack, a Civil Process server in his early 40s.
Jackson County, Missouri, Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced Friday morning that 69-year-old Larry Acree has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action in connection with Allen and Mack’s deaths.
Acree also faces a first-degree assault on a special victim charge and an additional armed criminal action charge in connection with the wounding of another officer who remains hospitalized.
The fatal exchange, which began around 1:09 p.m. on Thursday at a home located at 1111 N. Elsea Smith Road, started as what Peters Baker called part of a year-long eviction process.
Acree remains hospitalized for injuries he sustained during the incident.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Chris Wallace, Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper on the ‘Chopping Block’ at CNN
CNN’s new CEO is planning to fire some of the network’s biggest names, according to a new report.
Network insiders reportedly told In Touch that new CEO Mark Thompson is considering firing Chris Wallace, Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer, and others.
As TV ratings at the network plunge, Thompson is reportedly looking to make some major cuts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Climate Activists Face Felony Charges After Allegedly Defacing US Constitution in DC
Felony charges have been brought against the two climate activists who allegedly defaced the US Constitution in the National Archives in Washington DC last month.
On Friday, the Department of Justice charged Donald Zepeda of Maryland and Jackson Green of Utah with felony destruction of government property, according to Fox News.
Zepeda and Green have been accused of dumping red powder on the case that displayed the historic document. The incident occurred on Feb 14 and the DOJ said their stunt caused more than $50,000 worth of damages.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
While conservative states like Florida have passed legislation to institute the death penalty for criminals guilty of child sexual abuse and child trafficking, it’s becoming more and more difficult in blue states to punish pedophiles at all. No other issue so fully reflects the growing rift between the political left and everyone else in America today. If we can’t even agree that child sex abusers should face severe punishment, then how can we possibly agree on anything else?
Colorado Democrats have recently struck down House Bill 1092, a bill that would have instituted minimum sentencing for offenders convicted of selling or buying children for the purposes of exploitation. The bill was heard in the House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, which is also known as the “kill committee.” On Thursday, the panel lived up to its nickname, killing the bill on an 8-3 party-line vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia University Hospital DEI Chief is Serial Plagiarist, Complaint Alleges
The chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer of Columbia University’s medical school, Alade McKen, plagiarized extensively in his doctoral dissertation, lifting entire pages of material, without attribution, from sources that include Wikipedia, according to a complaint submitted to the university on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Court Confirms Reaction Videos Are Fair Use
A court has ruled that the reaction (in this case, YouTube) video “genre” represents fair use under copyright rules (DMCA).
The case involves Thiccc Boy Productions suing Kyle Swindelles for alleged copyright infringement.
Thiccc Boy claimed that the violation happened regarding videos of a podcast the company produces — The Fighter and the Kid, hosted by Brendan Schaub.
Swindelles included a number of segments from Thiccc YouTube material in his own reaction videos.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk’s X, Samsung Partner to Send Users Photos Taken From Space
Samsung decided to test out the camera on its new Galaxy S24 smartphone by sending it into space to take pictures of the Earth — and X users have exclusive access to the snaps for a limited time.
The electronics giant and social media platform partnered up for the promotion that allows X users access through the end of March to request one of the 150 images the Galaxy S24 Ultra collected from U.S. locations using its zoom capabilities, including Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Sierra Nevada and Los Angeles.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Hits OpenAI With “Breach of Contract” Lawsuit for Abandoning Foundational Mission
Elon Musk claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday evening in the San Francisco Superior Court that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, among others, have breached the artificial intelligence startup’s founding agreement that puts humanity over profits.
“These events of 2023 constitute flagrant breaches of the Founding Agreement, which Defendants have essentially turned on its head. To this day, OpenAI, Inc.’s website continues to profess that its charter is to ensure that AGI [artificial general intelligence technology] “benefits all of humanity,”“ the lawsuit reads.
It continues: “In reality, however, OpenAI, Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft. Under its new Board, it is not just developing but is actually refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk: ‘People Who Get News From Legacy TV Live in a Fake Alternate Reality’
X boss Elon Musk has taken a major swipe at establishment news outlets and warned that people who rely on the corporate media as a source of information are being lied to.
In recent years, the corporate media, particularly legacy TV networks, has lost its icy grip around the throats of the American people as citizens increasingly question agenda-driven narratives.
In response, the public has been shifting to independent media outlets, such as Slay News, to get real, uncompromised reporting on current events.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Penn President Signed Off on Sanctions for Speech of Controversial Conservative Prof…
She Let an Anti-Semitic Literary Festival Proceed Under the Banner of Free Expression.
The former president of the University of Pennsylvania, Liz Magill, who resigned in December after telling a congressional panel that calls for genocide of Jews did not necessarily constitute bullying or harassment, signed off last year on sanctions for a professor who had criticized diversity initiatives.
Magill accepted the recommendations of a Penn hearing board in August to suspend Amy Wax, a tenured law professor, for a year at half pay and to strip her of a named chair, according to a report from Philadelphia Inquirer and documents obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Haley: Nominating Trump Means “Suicide for Our Country”
Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClearPolitics.com
As Nikki Haley stubbornly clings to life ahead of Super Tuesday, warning that nominating Donald Trump for president a third time would mean “suicide for our country,” some of her closest supporters take solace in the fact that the future is unknowable.
Perhaps there is a “fatal landmine” that the former president “could step on at any minute” or a lurking controversy that could “land him deep in the bottom of a well,” speculated Michigan State Rep. Mark Tisdal, who served on Haley’s leadership team for that state. “She is an alternative,” added Utah state Sen. Todd Weiler, who campaigned with Haley earlier this week, “and nobody knows what the future holds with the lawsuits and the age of both of our leading candidates.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House GOP Demands Answers as to Why FBI Turned on Informant Alexander Smirnov in Biden Bribery Case
that the FBI turn over records related to the indictment of former confidential human source Alexander Smirnov.
The letter, obtained by The Federalist, was sent by House Oversight Chairman James Comer and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to FBI Director Christoper Wray, and requests documents related to special counsel David Weiss’ indictment of Smirnov. They questioned why the FBI decided to conduct a review of Smirnov’s credibility as a confidential human source (CHS) around three years after the statements were made, with the CHS form FD-1023 being dated June 30, 2020 and finally being able to be reviewed by Congress members in June of 2023.
Smirnov has been accused of falsely telling the FBI that executives at Burisma had paid $5 million both to Hunter Biden as well as the president.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
James Biden Testifies to Congress That Joe Received $40,000 From CCP-Linked Gas Company CEFC in 2017
President Biden’s brother, James Biden, confirmed to Congress that he used funds from his Chinese-government linked company to issue a $40,000 check to Joe Biden.
The testimony was given to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committee on Feb. 21 during a closed-door deposition into the Biden family’s alleged illegal foreign business dealings.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Jewish Reggae Star Says His Concerts Were Canceled Due to Antisemitism of Venue Staff
Grammy-nominated reggae star Matisyahu said Thursday that venues were canceling his sold-out shows because staff refused to work the Jewish artist’s concerts.
In response, Matisyahu posted on social media, “They do this because they are either antisemitic or have confused their empathy for the Palestinian people with hatred for someone like me who holds empathy for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Following dueling visits to the Texas border on Thursday by 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced that he is endorsing Trump for president.
“After seeing both our current President and President Trump at the border, and having been there myself last week, it is evident to me that the only candidate that will keep our country safe, our border secured, reduce inflation and can coherently lead our country forward is President Donald J. Trump,” Suarez wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is attacking her Democratic primary opponent Sean Teare with a commercial linking him to billionaire philanthropist George Soros. The ad ignores the fact that Soros was a major donor to Ogg’s first campaign 2016.
According to campaign finance records from the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, in October 2016, George Soros donated $740,000 to the political action committee Texas Safety & Justice. The PAC used $550,000 of that to fund Kim Ogg’s first run for DA.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Megyn Kelly Says Trump Now Has Upper Hand in His Criminal Cases: ‘Incredible’
Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly has said that she believes President Donald Trump has now “pulled the inside straight he needed to beat” the Democrats and their politically motivated criminal cases against him.
The Supreme Court’s stunning decision to hear Trump’s immunity claim on his Jan. 6 case has left Democrats in despair.
Democrats are now panicking that the 45th president may never face trial for the so-called “insurrection.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, allegedly stole millions of dollars from military funds and blew it on jewelry, clothing, luxury vehicles and real estate in one of the biggest fraud cases the military has ever seen
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Far-left “news” network MSNBC dedicated an entire segment to smearing white voters in rural communities as a “threat to American democracy.”
MSDNC’s “Morning Joe” gave airtime to two leftist authors who explained why white rural Americans are the “most racist” in the country.
Professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Thomas Schaller, and journalist and opinion writer Paul Waldman argued why they believe this “geodemographic” is “anti-democracy.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents on social media will plead guilty in federal court.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Following a mandate by the Florida Board of Governors, the University of Florida has fired all DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion) staff, effective immediately.
“To comply with the Florida Board of Governor’s regulation 9.016 on prohibited expenditures, the University of Florida has closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors,” reads a statement from Provost J. Scott Angle.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Georgia state judge heard closing arguments Friday on allegations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade benefited her financially and should disqualify her from the case against former President Donald Trump.
Willis and her office are leading the sweeping racketeering cases against the former president and 18 co-defendants. Several co-defendants, including Michael Roman, earlier this year accused Willis of hiring Wade while they were romantically involved and that she benefited from his government salary through lavish vacations they took together.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Will Remain on Illinois Ballot Pending Appeal, Virtue-Signaling Judge Clarifies in New Order
Update (1400ET): Less than 24 hours after she ordered Donald Trump removed from Illinois’ primary ballot (because ‘meh, insurrection’), Cook County Circuit Court Judge Tracie Porter clarified the duration of a stay she placed on her removal order on Wednesday when she ruled President Trump “disqualified” and that any votes for him would be void if the order went into effect.
As The Epoch Times’ Caden Pearsen reports, Judge Porter had initially stayed that original removal order until March 1, anticipating an appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, or the Illinois Supreme Court, and/or pending a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case from Colorado.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Cammy Vaughan gripped her victim impact statement during her rapist’s sentencing when the presiding judge — Robert Adrian — overturned his conviction, a nearly unprecedented move that stripped him of his judgeship two years later.
The Quincy, Illinois, judge said during the January 2022 sentencing that “these things happen” when teenagers engage in underage drinking and “coeds and female people” swim in their underwear. Drew Clinton, then 18, was off the hook.
“The evidence was there. The judge could see it. Everyone could see it. We were all very happy that he was finally going to be going to prison,” Vaughan, who was 16 at the time of her attack, told Fox News Digital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A cache of documents from Canada’s top intelligence services reveals that Trudeau government virologists had a “clandestine relationship” with Chinese agents, the Counter Signal reports.
Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng — two scientists at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada were stripped of their security clearances and fired over questions about their loyalty to Canada, as well as the potential for coercion or exploitation by a foreign entity, according to more than 600 pages of documents made public Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Belgian Police Probe Suspected Poisoning of Qatargate Cop
Disturbing news emerged in Brussels on Thursday afternoon of an alleged plot to poison a lead federal investigator in the Qatargate corruption probe. Press sources reported that the officer was hospitalised in late January with a near-fatal dose of amphetamines found in his system.
Belgian federal police this week launched an attempted murder investigation into the incident. Reports say the investigator had been behaving erratically at a cafe where he was drinking socially with two police colleagues.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Belgian Spy Scandal Reveals Cronyism in Pandemic Procurements
Belgian politics was shaken this month by a bizarre spy saga, prompted by a Belgian medical supplier hiring the Israeli surveillance team used by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The ensuing corruption scandal has dragged in the country’s lead candidate for the European Commission, Deputy Prime Minister Frank Vandenbroucke.
This scandal first emerged in the Belgian press in December and relates to allegations that the Ministry of Health, run by Vandenbroucke, awarded vaccine contracts to the medical logistics firm Movianto on the basis of cronyism.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Could the AfD and National Rally End Alliance? Le Pen, Weidel Feud Isn’t Over
Although the two right-wing European leaders held a meeting to smooth over their differences last week, there are reportedly still conflicts over what Alternative for Germany (AfD) plans in terms of “remigration.”
A letter from Alice Weidel to Marine Le Pen appears not to have entirely convinced the leader of France’s National Rally in parliament as to AfD’s stance on the issue of migration. Le Pen also appeared to be irked that the contents of the letter were released to the press before she had a chance to read it herself.
“Many questions remain unanswered,” she said in Paris on Wednesday this week, adding, “I didn’t particularly like finding out the content of the letter from the press before I received it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Socialists Juggle Gaza and Green Deal at Rome Manifesto Launch
EU socialist party leaders are converging on Rome this weekend to set out their case for votes in June’s European elections. The backlash against the Green Deal, the Israel-Hamas war, and the rise of the populist Right all pose existential questions for the traditional pro-EU leftists.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez are among the socialist dignitaries touching down in Italy for a meeting of the Party of European Socialists (PES). Luxembourg socialist Nicolas Schmit is expected to be chosen as the group’s Spitzenkandidat (candidate) for the EU Commission’s top job.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In this exclusive interview conducted in Warsaw, Polish lawyer Jerzy Kwasniewski, the chairman of the Polish lawyers’ association Ordo Iuris, exposes the Tusk government’s record on the rule of law after less than three months, comparing it to that of their predecessors
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Finland Has Taken Final Step Into Western Community by Joining NATO, Says New President
HELSINKI (AP) — Alexander Stubb was sworn in Friday as Finland’s new president and said the Nordic country has taken “the final step into the Western community of values” by becoming a NATO member.
The 55-year-old former prime minister replaced President Sauli Niinistö, who held the job for two six-year terms.
Stubb, a conservative, was elected head of state in a narrow Feb. 11 runoff victory against independent candidate and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto of a left-leaning party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Friends Respond to Sudden Death of British Royal Thomas Kingston at 45: ‘Utterly Shocking’
British Royal Family member Thomas Kingston, the husband of Lady Gabriella “Ella” Windsor, was found dead on Sunday in Gloucestershire, England.
The healthy British royal was just 45 years old when he died unexpectedly.
According to the New York Post, authorities noted that there’s no foul play suspected and the death is not “suspicious.”
However, the cause of death hasn’t been revealed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been scolded by a governing Conservative lawmaker in Britain for a “blatant abuse of secret intelligence” after claiming on Monday that British troops were helping the Ukrainian army to launch long-range missiles at Russian forces on the frontline.
Speaking in Berlin, the German leader told reporters that he would not deliver German-made long-range missiles because it would require German troops to assist on the ground, claiming that to follow Britain’s example would see his nation become a “participant in the war,” according to the Daily Mail.
Scholz said the delivery of Taurus weapons systems would bring German troops close to the front lines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
QUENTIN LETTS: Rishi Sunak confronted the ‘poison’ of Islamist and far-Right extremism. It needed saying and it needed saying well. Our Prime Minister did that.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Left-Wing Firebrand Galloway Wins UK by-Election Dominated by Israel-Hamas War
After running pro-Palestinian campaign, 69-year-old wins over Muslim community by attacking both Labour and governing Conservatives for supporting Israel in the conflict
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
New Polish Government Plans Globalist Overhaul of Education
Poland’s new left-liberal government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, is facing sharp criticism over plans to radically overhaul the national school system’s curriculum. Once implemented, it will replace the classical national educational material with a program more favorable to cultural and political globalism.
Former Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek, a member of the Polish parliament (Sejm) for the Law and Justice (PiS) party, has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Tusk government’s planned transformation of the educational system, arguing they pose a serious risk of disconnecting young Polish students from “tradition, their culture, and Poland.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Spanish Law Deprioritizes Large Families
The Spanish government is ready to send parliament a new family law that would change the current rules around Spain’s familia numerosa designation. At present, any family with three or more children can receive the designation of “large family,” which comes with a slew of social benefits ranging from discounts at museums and free school lunches to lower university tuition. The number of children a couple or single parent has is also taken into account when awarding state benefits.
Former Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, who originally wrote the bill during the last legislature, said the object of the law was to “reverse legislation designed for the traditional family.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
President Duda Doesn’t Believe That Russia Will Attack Poland
Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a new interview that he does not believe that Russia will attack Poland, provided the country maintains a strong military.
“The strong do not get attacked. It is the weak that are vulnerable to attack,” he told daily tabloid Fakt in an interview.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Purge Right-Wing Judges for EU Funds’: Brussels Plans Bonanza for Poland
Poland’s liberal coalition is in line for an unprecedented windfall this week as the European Commission approved a €137 billion financial package for the country, despite claims that the cash injection amounts to political favouritism in support of a new regime that continues to clamp down on the opposition.
Under the guise of digital and green investment, Poland is to receive €137 billion, beginning with €60 billion to be dispensed in grants and loans immediately, in comparison to a national budget of €115 billion annually. To neutral observers, this looks like a ‘cash for wokeness’ trade-off.
The EU isn’t bashful about the partisan aspects of its decision, directly linking the move to “horizontal enabling conditions” and an alleged reform of Polish institutions—such as the judiciary—and a commitment to promoting the LGBT agenda.
[Comment: Right-of-center parties in Europe should support withdrawal from the European Union.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The new Polish left-liberal government took over the whole of the Polish public media at the end of last year, and did so in contravention of legislation on public media. Its nominees took TVP’s news channels, TVP Info and TVP World, off-air using police force. TVP Info has been back on air since the new year, and TVP World is scheduled to restart broadcasting next week. However, scores of conservative-leaning journalists have been purged from TVP and Polish radio after the government takeover.
On Feb. 29, TVP announced that the Polish Foreign Ministry-funded channel TVP World will, from the start of March, be led by Michal Broniatowski, who has in the past worked for Reuters, ITN, Associated Press, Politico, and the Russian news agency Interfax; he has also been chief editor for the Polish version of Forbes magazine. Michal Broniatowski’s father was a senior Polish communist security official, Mieczyslaw Broniatowski.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s High Court to Hear Charges of Terrorism Against Catalan Separatists
Spain’s Supreme Court agreed on Thursday to hear the state prosecutor’s case against MEP Carles Puigdemont on charges of terrorism for his 2019 involvement in violent riots by Catalan separatists.
The judges unanimously agreed that, both for Puigdemont and member of the regional Catalan Parliament Rubén Wagensberg, it is “necessary and pertinent that they be called to the procedure, in order to be heard as investigated, with all the rights and guarantees provided in our legal system.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A speeding car has driven into a pedestrian crossing in the city of Szczecin in northwestern Poland, injuring 17 people including three children.
‘We have an incident here with currently 17 people injured, including three minors and two in critical condition. The person who caused the accident has been detained,’ governor Adam Rudawski told reporters, without providing additional details.
According to preliminary findings, the speeding car drove into the crowd of pedestrians in downtown Szczecin, close to the border with Germany, before crashing into three other vehicles.
It took place after 3pm at Rodla Square and the man involved was driving a Ford, local outlet wSzczecinie.pl portal reports.
The driver fled at Rodla Square in the city centre, before smashing into another vehicle several streets away and fleeing again, firefighter Tomasz Kubiak told Polish national broadcaster TVP.
Police spokesman Pawel Pankau said the driver was a 33-year-old Polish citizen, adding: ‘This was not a terrorist act.’
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden’s Gripen Fighter Jets Are a Perfect Fit for Hungary’s Expanding Air Force
Last week, Hungary ordered an additional four JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighters from Sweden, and both the original procurement of the aircraft and the move to further increase its inventory were the best decisions for the country, according to a review by the Magyar Nemzet newspaper.
After joining NATO in October 2000, the first administration of Prime Minister Viktor Orban formally requested bids from 14 NATO countries for the purchase of second-hand combat aircraft. The government was finally faced with a choice: the American F-16 or the Swedish-British Saab Gripen.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Talk to the Chatbot: UK Will Replace ‘Dogsbody’ Civil Servants With AI
The UK Cabinet Office is harnessing the skills of artificial intelligence (AI) to cut the size of the civil service and slash its multi-billion pound wages bill.
Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister and Cabinet Office secretary, announced his plans to expand the use of AI to drive efficiencies across all government and public sector institutions in an address to reporters on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The election of George Galloway isn’t just a problem for Rochdale, it is a disaster for the country. The veteran rabble-rouser has poisoned politics with nasty extremism for decades.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK Collaborates With UN for Big Tech Inclusion in Project Linking Digital ID to Bank Accounts
Despite the serious controversies arising from Big Tech/government “coordination” (lawsuits in the US say, it’s actually “collusion”), this concept seems to be taken as normal behavior in the UK.
Currently, Home Secretary James Cleverly (whose department is in charge of the police) is in Silicon Valley for talks with representatives of Google, Meta, and Apple. And in New York City, he will be meeting those from X.
Reports are saying that the purpose of Cleverly’s US trip is to “discuss how the UK government and tech players can work together to tackle a number of challenges facing democracies in the digital age.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Government Pressures Social Media Giants to Tackle “Misinformation” Ahead of Elections
The UK has a new Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy, Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti, and the politician seems very enthusiastic when talking about things like “cooperation” with Big Tech, particularly in terms of elections.
That’s because, critics will say, those in power want to absolutely control the conversation, what can and can’t be said online, and thus directly influence the vote; whereas those in power say, it’s all just a perfectly benevolent effort to make sure misinformation plays no part in the campaign.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Prime Minister Decries ‘Mob Rule’ of Country He’s Theoretically in Charge Of
Rishi Sunak has spoken out against the emergence of “mob rule” endangering democracy, despite his party’s governments having been responsible for policing, law, and order for nigh-on 14 years.
Having discovered issues in British society at the very last possible moment when, after over a decade in charge, it is probably now too late to do much about it the leader of the UK’s Conservative government has expressed concern about intimidating factions impacting politics. Rishi Sunak’s comments followed now months of regular Gaza protests in London and other cities, with emboldened protesters also launching what the BBC called “intimidatory protest[s] at MPs’ homes”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘This is for Gaza’: Far-Left Special Election Win After Courting Muslim Vote
Far-left campaigner ‘Gaza George’ declared both Labour and Toriess “are two sides of the same backside” who got “well and truly spanked”.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Arrests at Birmingham Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion Protest in City Centre
Police made arrests at a climate protest after campaigners occupied an insurance building in Birmingham today, Friday, March 1. The demo was held by supporters of Extinction Rebellion in coalition with Just Stop Oil — billed as a Birmingham Day of Action.
The protest, initially around Victoria Square, was described as peaceful and inclusive. It ended with a ‘lie-in’. Just Stop Oil supporters occupied The Colmore Building, which is home to three insurance companies: Allianz, Chubb, and Zurich.
It said the action was in solidarity with Students Against EACOP, a Uganda-based campaign group sad to be resisting the construction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline — a project it said had “wrought huge environmental destruction and mass displacement of people.” West Midlands Police said the rally passed largely without incident. But three arrests were made by officers using powers under the Section 11 Public Order Act.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Galloway Victory Marks Rise of Religious-Based ‘Sectarian Politics’
There are many losers in this morning’s Rochdale by-election result. The Conservative Party never expected to do well, but will still be frustrated at having failed to capitalise in any meaningful sense on Labour’s failings. Labour HQ has seen just how electorally damaging its Gaza stance could be if majority-Muslim areas back other, more anti-Israel candidates. Even Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party, which made significant gains in two by-elections earlier in February, performed badly.
Labour managed to turn this safe seat into a disaster zone. Recordings emerged of official candidate Azhar Ali telling a meeting last year that Israel deliberately “allowed” the Hamas terror attacks on October 7th in order to get a “green light to do whatever they bloody want”. He doubled down by blaming “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for hostile press coverage, a version of the antisemitic cliché about Jews controlling the media. By the time he was investigated and then suspended over his conspiratorial remarks about the October 7 pogrom, it was too late for Labour to field a replacement.
Ali stayed on the ballot paper as the official Labour candidate, disowned by his former party, and finished a distant fourth. In response, Starmer has promised greater vetting of candidates in future—but harsher criticisms of Israel could hold the key to winning over Muslim voters.
But the biggest loser, according to ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage, is British politics itself, for which the vote offers “a very, deeply disturbing, worrying” sign of things to come.
There is, of course, a winner: George Galloway—or, as he calls himself, “Gaza George.” His campaign was focused not on Rochdale but on the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Health Chiefs ‘Failed to Sound Alarm Over Potential Dangers of COVID Vaccines’…
— MPs accuse regulator of putting Brits ‘at serious risk’ by not immediately sharing how Pfizer jabs could trigger extremely rare heart side effect
A cross-party group of politicians have called for an urgent investigation into the medicines regulator after uncovering evidence it knew about Covid jab side effects months before issuing warnings.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Britain’s cancer survival is lagging behind similar countries because patients are less likely to get chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the first research across three continents found.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UN Advances Plan to Link Digital ID to Bank Accounts
The unelected United Nations (UN) is advancing its plans to usher in digital IDs for the general public that will be linked to individuals’ bank accounts.
Despite the serious controversies arising from Big Tech/government collusion, plans are still moving forward for technology controlled by private companies and foreign bureaucrats to play a critical role in the everyday lives of people around the world.
In the UK, the concept seems to be taken as normal behavior as the government joins forces with Big Tech companies to test out the UN’s digital ID plans on the British public.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Prime Minister lashed out at the ‘horrifying’ win by George Galloway in the Gaza-fuelled Rochdale by-election, which followed months of mass protests over the fighting in the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan’s King Abdullah Joins Aid AirDrop to Gaza as Humanitarian Crisis Grows
With monarch aboard, Jordanian military plane drops medical supplies for field hospitals in enclave; UNRWA says massive supply of food has been blocked from leaving Israeli port
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Rishi Sunak tonight lashed out at the ‘alarming’ win by George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election. Mr Galloway told Sky News that he ‘respects the right’ of Hezbollah to operate in Lebanon.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Says Failure of West’s to Adhere to UN Resolution is Issue
Russia’s foreign minister said Friday there is no fundamental problem with the UN and highlighted that the real issue is the failure of the West to adhere to UN resolutions.
Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye, highlighted that multipolarity is already a reality, citing that the economies of China and India are growing at record levels and utilizing modern technologies.
He stressed that China is viewed as a rival to the US, pointing out that Beijing has begun to voice concerns about unfair competition in the world, especially since it has started to hinder the operations of the World Trade Organization.
Lavrov underscored that while the UN Charter is a magnificent document, the West does not adhere to it and does not view Russia as a “respectable” country.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Study Finds Majority of Patients With Long COVID Were Vaccinated
Authored by Megan Redshaw via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A recent study found that the majority of patients who suffered from long COVID during a time when vaccines and antiviral treatments were widely available were vaccinated.
The observational study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, researchers interviewed 390 people in Thailand who contracted COVID-19 during the “fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic” when the omicron variant was dominant. Patients were followed by phone from three months after their diagnosis for a year to monitor their physical condition, mental health, sleep disturbances, and quality of life.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Swiss tourist has taken aim at Australia’s taxes for being too high, with too much money spent on the civil service and the government.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
COVID-19 and Its Vaccines Linked to Sudden Hearing Loss, Considered an ‘Emergency’: Doctor
Authored by Marina Zhang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Dr. Clarice Saba, an otorhinolaryngologist in Brazil, developed sudden hearing loss in her right ear a week after receiving her first dose of the COVID-19 adenovirus vaccine.
“I did all the exams and could not find any other reason other than because of the shots,” she told The Epoch Times.
Several studies have linked sudden hearing loss to the vaccine, with the most comprehensive study coming from France. Four hundred cases of post-vaccine sudden sensorineural hearing loss were evaluated, with 345 medical reports assessed by two audiology experts for potential causality.
“[Sudden sensorineural hearing loss] after COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are very rare adverse events,” the French authors concluded, adding that these rare adverse events “do not call into question the benefits of mRNA vaccines but deserve to be known given the potentially disabling impact of sudden deafness.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Apparently, Vladimir Putin is Also to Blame for Mass Migration to Europe
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news
A new narrative has dropped claiming that the massive numbers of illegal immigrants flooding into Europe is all a plot cooked up by Vladimir Putin.
Yes, really.
The Telegraph cites nebulous “intelligence documents” it has seen that detail a plan for Russia to “set up a 15,000-man strong border police force comprising former militias in Libya to control the flow of migrants.”
“If you can control the migrant routes into Europe then you can effectively control elections, because you can restrict or flood a certain area with migrants in order to influence public opinion at a crucial time,” a source told the newspaper.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
President Joe Biden called on Donald Trump to work with him on border security instead of ‘playing politics’ after touring the Rio Grande with border agents.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
British Taxpayers to Pay a Minimum of €200,000 Per Migrant Sent to Rwanda
The astronomical costs involved with the U.K.’s Rwanda deportation scheme have been laid bare in a new report by the government’s spending watchdog which revealed that each migrant sent to the West African nation will set the British taxpayer back at least £171,000 (€200,000).
According to the National Audit Office (NAO) report published on Friday, the British government has paid Rwanda £220 million already through the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF), which is designed to support economic growth in the country, despite not sending a single migrant to Kigali.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Judge Rules on New Arizona Voting Laws Requiring Proof of Citizenship
A federal judge is upholding new Arizona laws that would require registered voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship in order for their votes to be counted.
Arizona legislators faced accusations of discrimination when they adopted the laws requiring counties to verify the status of registered voters but, in a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled that such requirements were not discriminatory.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Migrants With Convictions for Murder, Rape and Child Molestation Captured at US Border
Border Patrol agents guarding the southern border continue to apprehend dangerous migrants attempting to cross illegally into the country.
U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) Chief Jason Owens posted on X Tuesday that in the previous 72 hours, 11 people with violent criminal histories were arrested along the southwestern border.
“Their criminal histories include: child molestation, aggravated assault, rape, murder, [and the] manufacture/trafficking of firearms,” Owens wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Maine’s Soros-Funded DA Will No Longer Charge Illegal Aliens for Some Traffic Violations
The District Attorney of Maine’s most populous county will no longer charge individuals, including illegal aliens, who are caught driving without a license, driving with a suspended registration, or driving an unregistered motor vehicle.
The new policy change, which will take effect on March 1, was announced in a memo distributed this week by Cumberland County District Attorney Jacqueline A. Sartoris.
Although the new non-charging policy will apply to all drivers in Cumberland County, the traffic violations in question are commonly associated with individuals who are present in the U.S. illegally and therefore cannot obtain Driver’s Licenses or vehicle registrations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The flow of illegal aliens into Eagle Pass has slowed considerably as large numbers of Mexican soldiers continue rounding up unauthorized migrants and human smugglers, proving that mass illegal migration CAN be easily controlled.
A crackdown in the Mexican state of Coahuila has forced illegals to be more cautious about the routes they take to reach the U.S., with many choosing to apply for asylum appointments on the CBP One app and hide in a shelter in Piedras Negras in the meantime.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYC Housing Rents Spike as Democrats Welcome Endless Line of Illegals
New Yorkers are grappling with skyrocketing housing rents despite rents across the nation slowing, if not reversing, in some cases. A lack of affordable housing is driving shelter costs higher in the progressive metro area plagued with elevated living costs, a migrant crisis, and a worsening violent crime wave.
With new data from the rental site Zudmper indicating that one-bedroom rentals in NYC surged 18% in February to a record high of $4,200, it’s puzzling to consider who would choose to live there. Additionally, even median rents in Jersey City, located across the Hudson River from Manhattan, rose 5.4% to $3,140.
Meanwhile, rents across the country have decreased by .7% this month compared to last year, primarily due to a surge in the construction of new rental units.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Public schools are buckling under the strain of unchecked migration, with last year’s 146,000 child arrivals alone jacking up education costs by more than $2 billion nationwide, researchers warn.
Lindsey Burke and others at the conservative Heritage Foundation say the arrival of children — some unaccompanied, others with families — are straining school systems in the states where they end up.
Research on this topic is mixed. Some scholars have found that immigration actually raises educational success for native-born kids, and some teachers say foreign arrivals sprinkle diversity into classes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
White House Blames Republicans — Not Illegal Immigration — for Laken Riley’s Murder
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blamed Republican lawmakers for the tragic death of 22-year-old Augusta University student Laken Riley in an CNN inteview this week. The suspect in her murder is Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who entered the US in September and had previous charges against him and Jean-Pierre did not refer to him direclty in the interview.
Jean-Pierre placed blame on Republican lawmakers for failing to pass legislation such as the border bill package tied to Ukraine and Israel funding that would have increased some funding for security but also would have streamlined the asylum process for more illegal immigrants. The White House press secretary suggested it was Republicans who have “gotten in the way” of fixing immigration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
American Psychological Association Policy Promotes K-12 Transgenderism
The American Psychological Association has adopted a policy statement that promotes K-12 transgenderism and denounces child-protection laws.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Czechia: Conservative Compromise Stalls Gay Marriage for Now
Prague’s Chamber of Deputies has stopped short of legalising same-sex marriage and gay adoption Wednesday after a coalition of right-wing parties successfully inserted amendments to a bill that would have put homosexual relationships on par with heterosexual ones.
Czech progressives had originally hoped that the country would become the latest EU country, after Greece earlier this month, to legalise gay marriage. A bill to that effect, backed by the liberal ANO party, failed to win over Christian Democrats and MPs from the ruling conservative ODS party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
El Salvador Takes ‘Gender Ideology’ Content Out of Schools
El Salvador banned all gender ideology content from its public school system, education minister José Mauricio Pineda announced this week.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
French Senate Approves Enshrining Abortion in Constitution
By a vote of 267 to 50, the French Senate on Wednesday passed a text that enshrines “the freedom to have an abortion” in the constitution of the Fifth Republic. As in the French National Assembly, conservatives, including the three senators from Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the change.
The Senate also struck down an amendment that would have given doctors the right to refuse to perform abortions—again, with the support of many conservatives.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google’s ‘Echo Chamber’ Workplace Clouding Its Impartiality: Former Employee
A former Google software engineer sounded off against the tech giant and its company culture following the launch of its new Gemini AI that has garnered harsh criticism over its large language model.
Speaking exclusively to FOX Business, Mike Wacker, who worked at Google from 2014 to 2019, says the flaws at Google run much deeper than the algorithm, which led its Gemini AI chatbot to generate historically “woke” and inaccurate images.
“The AI is more humanlike. But, on the flip side, it is more susceptible to the biases of the humans who are training these systems,” said Wacker “The echo chamber problem has always been there for a long time, but the introduction of AI has really amplified it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Irish Pool Champion Kim O’Brien Bows Out of Tournament Featuring Transgender Opponent
Irish pool champion Kim O’Brien has pulled out of the European Pool Championships after officials allowed a man to compete as a women.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
During a Thursday meeting of the Kentucky Senate Standing Committee on the Judiciary to discuss a bill to make the possession or trafficking of child sex dolls a felony offense, one member of the committee spoke in support of the use of these objects by pedophiles.
“I was completely unfamiliar with child sex dolls, so I had, of course, to Google it last night,” State Senator Karen Berg said. “I was scared to put it in my search engine, but I did, and apparently, there is research on the subject, not much.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Letitia James wants to force Christian baker Jack Phillips of Colorado to make a cake celebrating gender transition for the same individual who requested a cake with a dildo-licking Satan topper in celebration of the Satan’s birthday. In addition to posting her opposition to the baker’s right to religious liberty, James is one of 18 attorneys general who filed an amicus brief in support of Autumn Scardinia, a trans-identified Satanist who dragged Phillips into court alleging discrimination.
“Masterpiece Cakeshop, a Colorado bakery, refused to make a customer a cake when they found out it was to celebrate her transition,” James said. “This bakery has discriminated against LGBTQ+ people before, and I’m urging the Colorado Supreme Court to stop this transphobic discrimination.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The two largest pharmaceutical chains in the U.S. will begin selling the abortion pill mifepristone this month, just weeks before the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the drug’s approval, which the Biden administration defends.
CVS and Walgreens completed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification process to dispense mifepristone, the companies separately confirmed to Fox News Digital. The pill will not be sent through the mail, and the companies will follow the FDA’s guidelines issued last year — the same guidelines that will be challenged in the high court on March 26.
Walgreens on Friday told Fox News Digital that it “expects to begin dispensing within a week” across select pharmacies in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An all-ages LGBTQ drag show is being promoted by Heartland Pride in Omaha, Nebraska.
The group is using a young child dressed in drag to promote the show, which will occur on Sunday, March 10 at Urban Abbey coffee shop in Omaha. The child is reportedly a 6-year-old drag performer known as “Lulu Lovely Twirls.” Twirls will be performing at the event, the group said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk’s platform X/Twitter has reinstated woke rules against “misgendering” and “deadnaming” transgender people after dropping the rules to great fanfare last year.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Transgender Space Force Colonel Says Using Pronouns in Emails Will Help Win Wars
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news
During a speech to the U.S. Air Force, transgender Space Force Col. Bree Fram demanded everyone use pronouns in their emails as a way to enhance “winning war fighting strategies”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
WEF Pushes Ban on Home-Grown Food to ‘Fight Climate Change’
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is calling on governments to ban the general public from growing their own food at home by arguing that they are causing “climate change.”
According to so-called “experts” behind a recent WEF study, researchers apparently discovered that the “carbon footprint” of home-grown food is “destroying the planet.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
X Says it Will Reduce the Visibility of Posts That Purposely Ignore a Person’s Preferred Pronouns
For some reason quietly, X has started enforcing revised rules, detailed in its platform guidelines for users — among other things, adding a section to the “Abuse and Harassment” that concerns the use of pronouns, and speech referring to persons “transitioning” (in terms of transgenderism).
The “amended” rules came into force at some point between January 24 and 27 this year, and should an X user be found to “purposefully” address another using a pronoun different than what that user has chosen for themselves, they can expect to be (and they ostensibly already are) punished by having their posts’ visibility on the platform “reduced.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST ideas in his administration should the former president return to power.” —Politico (20 Feb 2024)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-allies-christian-nationalism-00142086
“Prediction: “Christian Nationalism” (whatever that is??) is gonna be The Party’s next “Trump-Russia collusion” SCAM.” —posted to fb (June 2023)
Somebody just invented that term. I wonder who.
When the American political left – which is to say the communists – run out of things to call their opponents, they simply invent something else. It’s very childish and utterly ridiculous, but since when has that ever stopped them from behaving like children in the midst of a temper tantrum? Or a child afraid of some imaginary monster hiding in the closet or under the bed…
We’re not dealing with mentally-sound people here. That’s the bottom line.
As for who invented the neologism in question, take your pick: The deep-state itself, or one of its mouthpieces such as the NY Times, or any number of other possible true believers.
Speaking of which, in his superb study of mass movements, “The True Believers,” the great Eric Hoffer said that while mass ideological movements can function without gods, they need a devil, an opponent around which to coalesce.
That’s what “Christian nationalists” are to the left; a threat around which to mobilize. Whether that threat is real or fictive doesn’t seem to matter much. An imagined monster under the bed is in some ways preferable to an actual one, as far as the shaping of leftists perception is concerned.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”
~ H. L. Mencken
“When the American political left – which is to say the communists – run out of things to call their opponents, they simply invent something else.”
I reckon that’s because they—The Party (i.e., “the American political left”…aka the commie-toddlers)—have never had a logical argument to support their FEELINGS. I think it fair to say that they’ve been LYING about everything for decades.
“Do progressives lack a core set of values (which might explain their ever-“evolving” political views) or have they just been lying all along?” —posted to fb (July 2018)
As some of us’ve been suggesting (for decades!), The Party easily fits the definition of a CULT.
“Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.
Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
Followers feel they can never be “good enough”.
The group/leader is always right.
The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing “truth” or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.” —Rick Ross, Expert Consultant and Intervention Specialist
https://culteducation.com/warningsigns.html
“Somebody just invented that term. I wonder who.”
In my experience, pretty much every new [politically-charged] word/phrase that’s entered the pop culture lexicon since PAA’s election (2008)—e.g., “whataboutism”, “dog-whistle”, “narrative”, ending declarative statements with “….right?”, etc.—has been the result of focus-group-testing.
If a trigger word/phrase tests well, it’s immediately picked-up and hawked (generally in tandem!) by CNN, NYTimes, Washpost, et al, the next day.
fred x 3: Labeling Trump with “Christian Nationalism” will be be very effective. The media will run with it and people will gobble it up.
“Labeling Trump with “Christian Nationalism” will be be very effective. The media will run with it and people will gobble it up.”
Yup. The [ever-distracted] masses always do.
If you can segregate an individual or group as being somehow DIFFERENT from the masses, it’s then easy to place blame for the worlds’ ills on them. Read “Psychology of Crowds” (Le Bon).
“President Joe Biden blamed the recent wildfires on Americans who do not believe in climate change, and referred to them as “Neanderthals.””
He ain’t called “Prince Aricept” for nothin’.
“It’s time for someone to state the obvious: Joe Biden is an incompetent, anti-American stooge; possibly (even likely) funded by enemies of the United States.” —posted to fb (Aug 2021)
I wonder how much CO2 was emitted to drag his demented rotting carcass down to the border?
Al Gore is a stupid man. His hoax is a lie.
IF we get rid of all the carbon, plants and trees cannot give off oxgen.
Without oxygen every one will choke to death because of lack of oxgen.
Al is like a type of anti-Christ. I have tried to call his office to remind him that his lie is impossible but his phone is disconnected .
“Al Gore is a stupid man. His hoax is a lie.”
That’s an understatement!
Speaking of “The Great Humanitarian” (Al Gore), who once knocked me over—literally….on purpose.
True story: Many years ago, my work often took me to Capitol Hill. Once, as I was leaving Bob Packwood’s (R-OR) office with a female co-worker (I’d developed a personal friendship with the senator and his son and often stopped in to see him whenever I was “in the neighborhood”), I was knocked over by Gore who I collided with as he was walking the other way, brutishly (and cartoonishly) PUSHING me to floor with his shoulder.
I’d been carrying a large, heavy box, which flew up in the air, crashing, spewing its contents all over the floor around me. My co-worker, a very attractive woman in a business suit, stopped in her tracks and yelled at the top of her lungs, “You [epithet]! Aren’t you gonna apologize?!” Gore, turned to face us, slyly smiled and just continued on his way as if he’d run into a gnat. There must’ve been 20+ people that witnessed the entire episode, all of whom stood there, aghast, with their collective mouths open.
This and other experiences (e.g., having spent a summer working as an intern for a VERY ‘toddler NY senator) have taught me a lifelong lesson: PUBLICLY, political conservatives are uncaring, but, PRIVATELY, they’re the nicest, most caring folks you’ll ever meet; in contrast, PUBLICLY, ‘toddlers are “the nicest, most caring folks you’ll ever meet”, but, PRIVATELY, these [epithets]’re ALL cold, conniving creeps (with apologies to the rest of the creeps for having to include ‘toddlers in your gene pool).
Just fyi…
Once again, I must ask you to restrain yourself from using obscenities and vulgarities, including all the cute workarounds.
My finger is starting to itch to just hit the “delete” button…
MASS MIGRATION will not be stopped because property prices would fall, there would be mass unemployment and there would be a depression.
Mass migration has pushed up the value of property in UK,Canada and Australia and if it was reduced, property prices would fall, elites would lose all the insane billions they gained by buying up early, many home owners would have negative equity, I think our GDP would go backwards etc. We are on a runaway train to nowhere.
Rishi Sunak will do nothing because all those who have got rich on the “buy to let” would have no tenants and property prices would fall. The elites , who really run the country, would become poor.
Australia is the same. If we don’t have mass migration our property prices would fall, everyone would be broke and the world would realise we don’t have an economy, just an illusion. The curtain would be pulled back like in the Wizard of Oz.
I talk to migrants at work and explain to them that “there is nothing here”. Australia deindustrialised in the 1990’s.
Australia has been bankrolled by mining and iron ore prices have finally weakened as China had made as much metal as they could store and is now dumping it. Nickel prices are 30% of what they were so many mines will be shut in waiting for better times. If you are watching, Lithium prices have also fallen and many of our Li mining projects haven’t come onstream yet. If EV demand continues to decline it won’t be worth completing them. Massive losses.
The only “real economies” are in Asia and Russia etc.
“Smirnov has been accused of falsely telling the FBI that executives at Burisma had paid $5 million both to Hunter Biden AS WELL AS THE PRESIDENT [i.e., President Affirmative Action (PAA)].” —Post Millennial (1 Mar 2024)
“Pondering: What if the “BIG GUY” isn’t Prince Aricept, but, instead, PAA—the systemic-racism-in-chief—who was wetting his beak.” —posted to fb (Oct 2020)
“President Joe Biden was referred to as the “big guy”…an FBI record reveals.” —Washington Examiner (10 June 2023)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1840121/joe-biden-referred-to-as-big-guy-in-dealings-with-ukraine-fbi-record-reportedly-reveals/
“The former “Goldwater Girl” [Hillary Clinton] was student body president at Wellesley College and had just finished her senior thesis about [Saul] Alinsky, who two years later would release his most enduring work, Rules for Radicals: A Political Primer for Realistic Radicals…The FBI’s Baltimore report includes a copy of Alinsky’s 1972 interview…in which he describes his connection with [Al] Capone and the status he earned as the Chicago mob’s college-boy “mascot.” He worked his way into Capone’s circle by kissing up to Big Ed Stash, “a professional assassin who was the Capone mob’s top executioner.”…By his own account, Alinsky worked within the mob for two years to hone his skills at organizing for outcomes.” —Washington Examiner (4 Jan 2019)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine-features/113540/the-godfather/
“As Vice President, Joe Biden allowed his son to travel on Air Force Two with him to court business around the world. Vice President Biden brought Hunter Biden along to at least 15 countries where he sold “The Brand” to enrich the Biden family.” —House Oversight Committee (13 Sept 2023)
“I still believe the “Big Guy” was PAA “wetting his beak”. After all, most of this was going on in—and, presumably, with the knowledge of—the PAA White House. Having lived and worked inside the Beltway for most of my life, I know it’s virtually impossible for a VP’s son and business partners to be flown around the world on Air Force 2 without the knowledge of the president (PAA). That, alone, is more than sufficient to raise questions about the identify of “H” and why a dodgy character like PAA would risk fallout without benefit. And since The Prince was already getting half of Hunter’s boodle—”Unlike Pop, I won’t make you give me half your salary” (email verified from Hunter’s laptop)—why would there be an ADDITIONAL “10 held by H for the big guy?…if the “Big Guy”? Since The Prince is already getting half, why would he need the additional “10 held by H”? But I could be wrong.” —posted to fb (June 2023)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w9kTLBd7qk