Ukrainian forces continue their advance into Russia’s Kursk region, and have captured nearly 400 square miles of Russian territory. Meanwhile, Russia launched drone and missile attacks against eight Ukrainian regions last night.
In other news, three men have been jailed for a combined seven years and eight months for their role in violent disorder in Southport and Liverpool.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Dora, JW, LP, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, Roger, Seneca III, 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.
American Stock Ownership Back at All-Time Highs
Today, the proportion of Americans’ financial assets invested in public stocks is nearing record highs, just shy of the peak seen in 2021.
Investor confidence, a strong U.S. economy, and superior historical performance over the last several decades is driving allocations to equities. In 2024, 41.6% of U.S. households’ financial assets are tied to the stock market.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows the share of U.S. households’ finances invested in public stocks over time, based on data from the Federal Reserve.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Home Depot Says Consumers Are Spending Less on Home Improvement Amid Economic Uncertainty
Home Depot on Tuesday noted that consumers are not spending large amounts on home improvement projects this year, amid uncertainty about the country’s economy.
The home improvement giant was at the top of its game during the COVID-19 pandemic because consumers were stuck at home and decided to focus on home renovations and other home improvement projects. But now that the pandemic has passed, sales on building materials, lumber and construction-related equipment are lower, according to CNN.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
OECD: Italy Jumps to First Place in G7 for Real Income Growth
Italy has had the strongest growth in real household income per capita of all G7 countries in the first quarter of 2024, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports.
Households in Italy saw their wages in real terms increase by 3.4 per cent in the first three months of the year according to data published August 12.
The OECD said that the increase “is driven by a rise in compensation of employees and social transfers in kind,” meaning Italians on average have had a higher income rise by percentage than other G7 nations, boosting their purchasing power.
Real wage growth in Italy is now almost seven times greater than the G7 average and more than triple the OECD countries’ average real household income per capita increase of 0.9 per cent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Paramount Cuts 15% of US Workforce, Closes TV Studio, as Traditional TV Market Slumps
Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon, dozens of local TV stations, and Paramount Pictures, announced in an internal memo from top executives to employees that the first round of job cuts is set to begin.
The multinational media conglomerate in Manhattan plans to reduce its US-based workforce by 15%, or about 2,000 workers, by the end of September. This is troubling news for the company that struggles with migrating one-time TV viewers to its streaming video platform and an even bigger warning that the traditional TV market languishes.
“The industry continues to evolve, and Paramount is at an inflection point where changes must be made to strengthen our business. And while these actions are often difficult, we are confident in our direction forward,” Brian Robbins, the head of Paramount Pictures; George Cheeks, the head of CBS; and Chris McCarthy, the head of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, wrote in an internal memo to employees, first obtained by New York Times.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Records OECD’s Highest Growth in Real Household Income
Poland saw the OECD’s largest annual increase in real household income per capita, a key indicator of economic prosperity, in the first quarter of 2024, newly published data from the organisation show.
Poland was the only country to record a double-digit increase (10.22%) and was well above the OECD average of 0.92% for the 20 countries included in the data. The next largest increases were in Portugal (6.74%) and Chile (5.19%).
At the other end of the scale, seven countries saw a fall in real household income per capita, with the largest declines in Greece (-1.86%), the Czech Republic (-1.38%) and Belgium (-1.37%).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wages Grow in Poland at Fastest Rate in at Least Two Decades
The average wage in Poland rose by 14.7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024 — the largest increase in at least two decades — to reach 8,038.41 zloty (€1,864.63) per month before tax, new data from Statistics Poland (GUS), a state agency, show.
GUS’s quarterly data — unlike the more commonly reported monthly figures — take into account the earnings of a wider section of the population, including people employed in small enterprises and public administration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
2nd Circuit Rules Lawful Gun Ownership Doesn’t Justify a Warrantless Search
No one will ever mistake the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for a gun-friendly bunch of jurists. That should be a good indicator of just how over-the-line the violation of one man’s rights was that they have slapped down a cop for conducting a warrantless search of his car simply because he had a concealed carry permit and a gun.
A three-judge panel also ruled that the cop in question isn’t entitled to qualified immunity because he so egregiously chose to violate the civil rights of someone without any discernible probable cause.
Waterbury, Connecticut Officer Nicholas Andrzejewski conducted a traffic stop on Basel Soukaneh. Andrzejewski then . . …unlawfully and violently handcuffed and detained Soukaneh in the back of a police vehicle for over half an hour and conducted a warrantless search of Soukaneh’s vehicle after Soukaneh presented a facially valid firearms permit and disclosed that he possessed a firearm pursuant to the permit.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Blind Man Attacked With His Own Cane, Stabbed Inside Seattle Apartment
SEATTLE — A SWAT team arrested a suspect who assaulted a blind man with his walking cane and then stabbed him inside a Seattle apartment complex on Sunday.
According to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), on Aug. 11 at around 7:16 p.m., officers responded to an assault at an apartment complex on Rainier Ave. S near 39th Ave. S.
Officers arrived and found the 60-year-old victim bleeding and suffering from a stab wound to his abdomen. He was also complaining of a head injury. Seattle Fire Department medics treated him at the scene before bringing him to Harborview Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Initially, officers detained a woman at the scene due to misinformation. However, she was quickly determined to be a witness to the incident, not a suspect.
Authorities said the incident happened on the fourth floor of the apartment complex near the elevators. The investigating officer, who reviewed surveillance video of the incident, described the assault as “horrific”.
The video showed the suspect striking the blind man in the back of the head with his own walking cane. When the victim attempted to defend himself, the suspect stabbed him in the abdomen with what authorities say was a “three to four-inch switchblade”.
The victim stumbled backward, cried out for help and bystanders called 911.
The suspect, identified as 47-year-old Seattle resident Matthew Hadley, fled into his residence and refused to comply with officers’ orders to exit.
Police negotiators then arrived at the scene to try to get him to surrender, but he still refused to get out.
During the standoff, an officer obtained a search warrant approved by a judge. Given the felony nature of the assault and the involvement of a deadly weapon, SPD’s SWAT team was deployed to serve the high-risk warrant.
Eventually, the SWAT team arrested the suspect. According to the SPD, he was found in possession of a switchblade knife, believed to be the weapon used in the stabbing, and two other knives were also taken into evidence.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Colbert’s Own Audience Laughs at Him Seriously Stating CNN is “Objective”
There was an awkward but amusing moment when Stephen Colbert seriously stated that CNN was “objective” and “just reports the news as it is,” prompting his own audience to laugh hysterically at the notion when they weren’t supposed to.
The incident occurred during Colbert’s interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who has repeatedly betrayed her anti-Trump bias, including infamously during a town hall event she hosted with Trump last year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Corruption Charges Filed Against Election Worker Over 2022 Election Debacle
KTRH Local Houston and Texas News
Harris County DA Kim Ogg has announced corruption charges have been filed related to the 2022 elections against a former county elections worker,.
“Defendant Darrell Blackburn, who worked in the now defunct elections administrator’s office, has been charged with six felony charges, five of them, tampering with the document, one, theft by public official,” Ogg said.
Blackburn was hired by the county in April of 2021, but took another full time job in October of that same year. Blackburn was “working from home” for the county and was in charge of allocations of equipment including ballot paper.
On Election Day two years ago, Blackburn reported working 18 hours for Harris County from his home, but was working at his other job in The Woodlands for eight hours. Several polling locations ran out of paper that day, causing long lines and frustration among voters.
“While chaos was ensuing at polling places all over Harris County, Darryl Blackburn was at work at his other job—the real job—and was not minding his post. [He] came back, but it was too late.”
Blackburn stole the “right to vote,” said Ogg, who also blamed the two elections administrators the county had, Isabel Longoria and then Clifford Tatum.
“This cost residents a great deal,” Ogg said.
The DA says this was not an attempt to to rig the election, but the motive was greed.
Blackburn turned himself in earlier on Tuesday. His bond was set at $65,000.
Reaction to the charges was swift, with Harris County GOP Chair Cindy Siegel pointing the blame at County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
From today’s order by Judge Mark Scarsi (C.D. Cal.) in Frankel v. Regents:
In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. UCLA does not dispute this. Instead, UCLA claims that it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students because the exclusion was engineered by third-party protesters. But under constitutional principles, UCLA may not allow services to some students when UCLA knows that other students are excluded on religious grounds, regardless of who engineered the exclusion….
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democratic Congressman Proposes Bill to Extend Secret Service Security Perimeter at Events
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) proposed a bill on Tuesday that would require the Secret Service to extend the guarded security perimeter for events such as political rallies with protectees like former President Trump.
The legislation would expand the perimeter to at least 500 yards to consider semiautomatic weapons that could be used in an assassination attempt such as the shooting in Butler, Pa., during Trump’s outdoor rally last month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DNC Protesters Vow to Appeal After Federal Judge Sides With City Hall on Parade Path
The legal battle over the protest path during Chicago’s Democratic National Convention could continue into the final days before the big event after leaders of high-profile demonstrations promised to appeal a federal judge’s ruling in favor of City Hall.
U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood late Monday said she would not force the city to alter the path it offered to groups aiming to protest the Israel-Hamas war, finding that the city had satisfied the First Amendment while addressing significant security and safety concerns.
The challenges made in court boil down to complaints that City Hall has “not offered the exact route” protesters desire, even though it “allows them to speak near their intended audience,” Wood concluded in her 24-page ruling.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Following a two-hour-long interview with former President Donald Trump on X, CEO Elon Musk extended an invitation to Vice President Kamala Harris to join him for an interview on the platform. Musk posted on his social media platform after the interview Monday night, “Happy to host Kamala on an X Spaces too.”
Harris has not held or scheduled a single interview since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and she was nominated in his place three weeks ago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Trump Adviser Warns Hezbollah Could Strike on U.S. Soil, Biden Has Lost Ability to Deter Attacks
Robert Greenway, a retired intelligence officer who advised former President Donald Trump, warned Tuesday the Biden administration is losing the ability to deter future attacks by Iran and that a strike on U.S. soil by the Tehran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah “is a very real possibility.”
Greenway criticized President Joe Biden’s failed efforts to secure an elusive nuclear deal with Iran as “appeasement,” noting the administration had freed billions of dollars in oil sales and sanctions relief for Tehran only to see Iran ramp up its worldwide terrorist activities through proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Kansas Police Chief Charged in August 2023 Raid of Marion County Record Offices
The former Kansas police chief has been charged in the August 11, 2023 raid of the offices of the Marion County Record.
Gideon Cody, who had resigned from the Marion Police Department about two months after the raid took place, was charged with one count of interference with the judicial process.
The police raided the Marion County Record’s office as well as the home of the owner, when they suspected that an employee of the publication may have committed a crime.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In May 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis as well as Covid-19 lockdowns, law enforcement shot paint rounds at residents standing on their porch in Minneapolis under Tim Walz’s governorship.
The video, as reported by the Daily Mail at the time, shows several Minneapolis residents standing on their porch in the later part of May as law enforcement is passing by. At the time, a curfew was being enforced amid the chaos going on. As the officers walked by the house, the residents were ordered to go inside with the officers yelling, “Go inside!” as well as “Get in your house now!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Senator Says Harris Should Try Answering Press Questions for More Than 1 Hour Like Trump
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. said on Tuesday that he would like to see Vice President Kamala Harris hold a news conference for more than one hour like former President Trump has done.
Schmitt noted that voters have not seen Harris answer media questions in an unscripted setting since she emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee after Biden dropped out on July 20.
“I think his ability to stand in front of a hostile media and answer questions for over an hour is something I would love to see Kamala Harris try to do,” Schmitt said on CNN.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Green Party Survives Dems’ Ballot Challenge in Battleground State — Kamala Shudders
For a party that’s constantly crowing about the need to save Our Democracy, the Democrats have been working awfully hard to limit Americans’ choices in November. Happily, Democrats’ drive to exclude the Green Party from the ballot in the battleground state of Nevada was defeated on Monday — sending shudders through Democrats who blame Green presidential candidate Jill Stein for enabling Donald Trump’s 2016 victory.
Stein, who’s back at it in 2024, wasn’t even on the Nevada ballot when Trump upset Hillary Clinton that year. However, Democrats point to Stein’s share in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — which was larger than the margin by which Clinton lost those pivotal Rust Belt states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Harris Campaign Busted Spoofing News Outlets in Headline-Altering Ad Scheme
Despite corporate media’s unabashed u-turn to support Kamala Harris, her campaign has been busted creating made-up headlines next to the names of real news outlets to trick people into thinking they’ve stumbled upon the real thing, Axios reports.
Upon hearing the news, The Guardian lost their s**t, telling Axios: “While we understand why an organization might wish to align itself with the Guardian’s trusted brand, we need to ensure it is being used appropriately and with our permission. We’ll be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice.”
The ads include links to real articles from the outlets, however the headlines and supporting text were altered.
Spokespeople for other spoofed outlets such as CNN, USA Today and NPR, said they had no idea their brand was being featured this way.
Examples include The Independent UK, NPR, AP, The Guardian, USA Today, PBS, CNN, CBS News, Time and others, including local outlets like North Dakota radio station WDAY Radio.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Hawaiian man was arrested Tuesday after his fingerprints were found on tape holding together an explosive device found near an elementary school, according to authorities.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii said 47-year-old Robert Francis Dumaran of Kahului, Maui, appeared in U.S. District Court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield after his arrest on charges of possessing an unregistered destructive device and attempting to damage property with explosives.
A criminal complaint alleges that, on July 23, 2024, officers with the Maui Police Department (MPD) encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) near Lono Avenue in Kahului.
The device was located in the roadway near Kahului Elementary school and contained explosive powder, a battery and shrapnel.
An investigation discovered Dumaran’s fingerprints were allegedly on the packing tape used to build the IED.
If convicted, Dumaran faces up to 10 years in prison for possessing an unregistered destructive device and a minimum of five years in prison and up to 20 years for the explosives charge.
While Dumaran has not been charged with additional crimes, the detonation of IEDs near Kaamana Street in Kula Aug. 7 and the explosion of an IED that damaged a vehicle in Pukalani Aug. 8 were mentioned in the affidavit.•
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
If Harris Rejects ‘Unscripted’ Face-Offs, Two Proposed Debates Will Become Trump Town-Halls
Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A pair of proposed presidential debates could instead become town hall meetings for former President Donald Trump, his campaign confirmed with The Epoch Times on Aug. 11.
The Republican presidential nominee and his Democrat opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, have both agreed to participate in a Sept. 10 debate on ABC News. This comes despite the former president’s concerns over a conflict of interest with the network, which faces a lawsuit in which Trump alleges the network defamed him.
He is now waiting for Harris to accept two additional proposed debates — Sept. 4 on Fox News and Sept. 25 on NBC News.
If she rejects those proposals, which Trump made during an Aug. 9 news conference, Trump will appear solo on those national TV networks, a Trump campaign adviser said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Jim Banks Questions Whether Walz Violated His Security Clearance in Trips to China
House Chair of the Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee Jim Banks on Tuesday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, raising concerns on whether Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s violated his security clearance when traveling overseas.
Walz, who was recently selected to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, said he made roughly 30 trips to China between 1989 and 2005, some of which occurred while he was in the National Guard. A service member with a security clearance is required to report foreign travel to the military.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kamala Campaign Pushes Proven Hoax That Trump Called Neo-Nazis “Very Fine People”
Kamala Harris’ official campaign has regurgitated the proven hoax that Donald Trump called neo-nazis at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia “very fine people,” something that even far-left ‘fact checker’ website Snopes acknowledges is “false”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kamala Harris is still without a policy platform as the Donald Trump and JD Vance campaign has 20 core promises to “make America great again.” This comes as Harris has made vague policy suggestions in recent rallies, but nothing has been made an official position of the Harris-Walz campaign as of Monday. One of her key positions, to eliminate taxes on tips for hospitality workers, was a direct rip-off of one of Trump’s campaign promises.
The Harris-Walz campaign website still does not have any solid political positions listed as of Tuesday afternoon. This is opposed to the Trump-Vance campaign’s platform, that is listed as Agenda 47. This includes “President Trump’s 20 CORE PROMISES TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Maricopa County Agrees to Test Ballot Tabulators Used in Elections, Not Just Backup Machines
The Republican Party of Arizona has secured an agreement with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to test ballot tabulators used in elections, rather than only testing backup equipment.
The agreement states that the board “will inform the Secretary of State that it wants the test to be of at least six of the tabulators and twelve of the accessible voting devices scheduled to be deployed to early voting locations and vote centers.”
On Tuesday, the Arizona GOP announced the agreement, reached with Maricopa County on Monday, to perform logic and accuracy testing on accessible voting machines and ballot tabulators that are used for Election Day and early voting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former wine and coffee bistro owner Lisa Hanson was sentenced to prison for 90 days for violating Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential pick Tim Walz’s Covid-19 lockdown orders in Minnesota in 2020. In a recent interview, Hanson told Fox News that Walz “shut down and destroyed” her small business in the state, and that Americans “do not want tyranny at this level.” Hanson is the mother of eight children and 18 grandchildren.
Hanson at one time owned The Interchange Wine & Coffee Bistro in Albert Lea, which is about 90 miles south of Minneapolis. Her small business had been open for eight years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. In March 2020, Hanson complied with the laws initially, but then saw that liquor stores, strip clubs, and big box stores all stayed open as they were deemed “essential.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Palestine Protest Shuts Down LA Freeway During Peak Rush Hour
(The Center Square) — Pro-Palestine protesters shut down a major Los Angeles freeway during the height of rush hour, leading California Highway Patrol to detain several protesters.
The protest of several dozen individuals, the organizers for which include pro-Palestinian Jewish organization IfNotNow Los Angeles, started at around 9:00 a.m., which is peak rush hour. Protesters, who demanded an arms embargo on Israel and an immediate ceasefire, were largely cleared out by the end of the hour.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rumble Scores Big as Miami Dolphins Embrace the Freedom-Focused Cloud
The Miami Dolphins, one of the esteemed franchises of the NFL, alongside the Hard Rock Stadium will be strengthening their infrastructure through a partnership with Rumble Cloud, the freedom-focussed Big Tech rival.
Chris Pavlovski, who sits at the helm of Rumble as CEO and Chairman, warmly welcomed this new collaboration with the NFL heavyweights, stating “I am thrilled that one of the NFL’s premier franchises, the Miami Dolphins, is adding Rumble Cloud to its infrastructure. Onboarding such an established client to our platform is extremely validating as we continue to scale. We look forward to seeing their business operations exponentially grow and innovate with our cost-effective, high-performing cloud services.”
Rumble, known for its rapid expansion, is more than just a video platform — it also provides cloud services, with an aim to bring the free and open nature of the internet back to its roots; acting as an autonomous infrastructure.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The DNC is Coming to Chicago, the Nation’s Homicide Capital 13 Years Running
By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner of Wirepoints
When the DNC delegates come to Chicago, they’ll be visiting the city that for more than a decade has experienced the most murders in the country. Chicago suffered 617 total homicides in 2023, marking the 12th year in a row it has led the country.
And it will be 13 years in a row if Chicago’s 2024’s homicide numbers continue at their current pace. The below chart shows how the top five cities nationally for total homicides may change from year to year, but what always remains true is Chicago’s position at the very top — often the extreme outlier.
That’s just one of the findings from Wirepoints’ analysis of publicly-available 2023 homicide data from the nation’s 75 largest U.S. cities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Campaign Announces $1 Million+ Haul From X Space With Elon Musk
The Trump campaign announced on Tuesday that it had raised more than $1 million through a fundraising link attached to his X space with platform owner Elon Musk.
The former president participated in a live conversation with Musk on Monday evening in which the pair discussed campaign issues and the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., that led Musk to back Trump’s candidacy.
The campaign on Tuesday announced the fundraising haul and further posted the interview’s viewership statistics as of 12 p.m. EST. A total of 25 million X users listened to the whole interview while total impressions exceeded 2.9 billion. The interview also boasted roughly 1.5 million listeners at any given time.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump slammed the liberal and corporate media outlets that ran wall-to-wall negative coverage of the record-setting X Spaces conversation between himself and Elon Musk on Monday night. Most of the headlines highlighted the brief technical difficulties, which likely stemmed from the number of listeners trying to access the live interview, and reduced the two-hour, wide-ranging conversation as nothing new and a “ramble.”
“I spent 2 1/2 hours last night talking to Elon, a fantastic guy, getting all-time record Views/hits,” Trump said, “and all the Fake News wants to report is that the servers crashed (because of the tremendous volume!), and the show opened a little late. What they should be reporting was the incredible number of people that were listening. I absolutely HATE the Fake News Media. So bad for our Country!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Washington Democrats Try to Boot RFK Jr From November Ballot
The Washington State Democratic Party has launched an effort to keep independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the November ballot in the Evergreen State.
According to The Washington State Standard, the party has claimed that the 4,181 signatures submitted by We the People in support of Kennedy’s nomination were not collected at a party convention as required by state law, and that because of that he is ineligible to be listed on the ballot.
Lawyers for the party argued in a letter sent to Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs last week claimed that Kennedy’s campaign website listed various events and locations where registered voters could sign nomination petitions that don’t comply with state law.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
White House Can’t Name a Single Achievement From Kamala Harris
When asked during Monday’s White House press conference what Joe Biden sees as Kamala Harris’ accomplishments while serving as vice president, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre could not name a specific policy achievement.
“Given that they’ve worked so closely together in that time, what does the president see as the vice president’s biggest achievement during their time in office together?” one reporter asked.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
X Conversation Between Musk and Trump Generates Over a BILLION Views
A conversation between Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk has generated over a billion views, as Trump officially returned to the platform Monday.
Elon made the observation following the 2 hour conversation between the two.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadians Prefer Carney as New Liberal Leader Over Trudeau: Poll
Canadians have a more positive view of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney than they do of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Liberal party leader.
However, Carney’s addition to the Liberal cabinet may not be enough to regain support from voters.
A new poll by Nanos Research asked Canadians how much Carney’s potential addition to the Liberal cabinet would have on their decision in the next election and the results revealed that while it may help their image, it won’t be enough to sway voters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gov-Funded “Anti-Hate” Network’s Report Labels Catholic, Feminist Orgs Far-Right Hate Groups
The Liberal government-funded Canadian Anti-Hate Network lumped Canadian pro-life, feminist and civil liberties organizations into a list of alleged “far-right / hate groups” alongside recognized terrorist entities.
As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter the report is meant to be used by far-left activists to organize against groups CAHN determines to be “far-right” in Canada.
In the report titled “40 ways to fight the far right,” CAHN listed Campaign Life Coalition, a pro-life advocacy group, and the civil liberties organization Liberty Coalition of Canada among a “non-exhaustive list” of “Christian Nationalists,” “far-right,” and “hate groups” that it hopes to help fight, an accusation the groups listed call false and ridiculous.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No Arrests After Anti-Israel Protesters Clash With Police and Disrupt Montreal Pride Parade
Police have reported no arrests after a Pride parade in Montreal was disrupted by anti-Israel protesters and a face-off with police.
Fierté Montréal, or Montreal Pride’s march, was disrupted by several anti-Israel LGBT+ activist groups on Sunday, which claimed that Montreal Pride is funding genocide with its apparent support of “Zionist and Israeli companies.”
Police told True North that no arrests or injuries were reported despite the clash.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Container Ship Accused of Damaging Baltic Gas Pipeline Between Finland and Estonia
Beijing authorities have acknowledged a Chinese-owned container ship caused damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline in October of last year, describing the incident as accidental, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
The pipeline, critical for natural gas transport between Finland and Estonia, experienced a significant drop in pressure on Oct. 8, prompting immediate international concern.
According to SCMP, the Chinese government has conveyed the findings from its “internal investigation” to Finnish and Estonian authorities, both of whom are conducting criminal investigations into the incident. The report, drafted in Chinese, attributes the accident to a severe storm and asserts that its own investigation adhered to International Maritime Organization principles.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
European Commission President Did Not Approve Letter Warning Musk Over Trump Interview
The European Union official who posted a letter warning X platform owner Elon Musk about promoting hate speech ahead of his interview with former President Donald Trump did not receive approval from the president of the European Commission, the body confirmed Tuesday.
“The timing and the wording of the letter were neither co-ordinated or agreed with the president nor with the [commissioners],” the European Commission stated, according to the Financial Times.
EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton on Monday posted the letter to the platform, suggesting that the content of the Trump interview could potentially be relevant to an ongoing probe of X.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French PM Race Heats Up After End of Olympic ‘Truce’
With France at the end of its so-called Olympic truce or “trêve olympique,” President Emmanuel Macron will have to get back to trying to choose a prime minister.
Pundits view him as having five main candidates to pick from — three official candidates and two possible technocrats, with an announcement expected as early as Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: BioNTech Posts Massive Losses as COVID Vaccine Demand Drops
Demand for coronavirus vaccines is falling, and the pharma company BioNTech is facing a severe financial crisis as a result.
According to several reputable German newspapers, including Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, BioNTech is facing a massive loss in the second quarter. Katalin Karikó, the first Hungarian female Nobel Prize winner, was previously vice-chairman of the company for nine years.
According to the company, the second quarter deficit was €807.8 million, which is much higher than the €190.4 million loss in the same period last year. In the first half of the year, the net loss amounted to €1.12 billion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Land Grab: Leftist UK Govt Hopes to Take Private Land Without Paying Full Market Price
Property owners who don’t want to be turfed off their land by the government face being effectively punished by a compulsory purchase order (eminent domain) paying less than the open market rate for massive development projects wanted by the state to house the soaring, immigration-fuelled population.
Britain’s new Labour government is set to give local council the power to buy ‘Green Belt’ land, 65 per cent of which is farms, at a special new below-theoretical market price if the owner refuses to sell up. The change in rules comes as the state moves to rapidly embark on housebuilding to deal with the mass migration-driven population explosion, which has resulted in a supply crunch and vastly inflated home prices.
To overcome the government policy-created shortage, the state is now eyeing Britain’s Green Belt land, originally protected from development since around the time of the Second World War to guarantee easy access to green spaces for urban dwellers and to stop urban sprawl destroying the countryside in large swathes of the nation altogether. Attacking the Green Belt remains deeply controversial, and many farmers and landowners may not wish to be ejected from their own land without a choice, but the state at least has a way to make it cheaper for itself.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Joost Klein “Very Happy and Relieved” That Case Against Him Was Dropped
Joost Klein is “very happy and relieved” that the investigation into the alleged violent incident during the Eurovision Song Contest has been dropped, his manager told ANP. The singer was disqualified this year because he allegedly made a threatening movement toward a female employee. On Monday, the Public Prosecutor in Sweden announced that there was insufficient evidence.
“The last few months have been terribly difficult. Although we love performing all over the world, it didn’t feel quite right,” his manager said. “As a team, we are very happy and relieved that this uncertain period has now come to an end. We can finally say it out loud: there was never a reason for this case.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Leeuwarden Mayor’s Car Goes Up in Flames; Police Suspect Arson
Leeuwarden mayor Sybrand Buma’s car went up in flames in the driveway of his home early on Tuesday morning, local media reported. The police suspect arson.
Records show firefighters were dispatched for a car fire on Zwaluwstraat near Pelikaanstraat in the Friesland city at about 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Firefighters struggled to extinguish the fire in the hybrid car. The 2022 Audi Q3 E-Tron was badly damaged and towed away by a salvage company.
The police believe arson was involved, a spokesperson for the Noord-Nederland police confirmed to Dagblad van het Noorden. They are investigating. The spokesperson could not confirm that it was Buma’s car.
According to Omrop Fryslan, Buma is the second well-known Friesland politician to get his car torched in less than a year. Last November, D66 parliamentarian Tjeerd de Groot’s car was set on fire in Nagele in the Noordoostpolder.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Opposition Launches Website to Record Tusk Regime’s Abuse of Law
Polish conservative opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) has launched a website that allows citizens to report anonymously on cases of the government violating the law, according to Notes from Poland.
The website was launched in response to legal violations, as well as the witch hunt by the current left-liberal government against members of the former conservative cabinet (2015-2023) led by PiS.
While European Union institutions frequently attacked the former PiS government and withheld funding from Poland for so-called ‘rule-of-law’ violations, the current government’s blatant purge of its political opponents has been ignored by the Brussels establishment—which has even rewarded Donald Tusk by releasing billions of euros in EU funds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s EU Funding Failures: Billions Left Unused and Mismanaged
The European Court of Auditors (TCE) has singled out Spain as the country that used EU funds the least efficiently for the period 2014-2020.
Spain receives the third-highest level of EU structural funds, behind only Italy and Poland. However, according to an analysis of the EU’s July report by Spanish news site Voz Populi, it is the worst country at actually using the funds.
On average, EU member states used 90% of their allocated funds. For example, Poland has managed to distribute 99% of the EU funds it receives while Italy, lagging far behind the EU average, has used 78%. But Spain has only distributed 74% of its EU structural funds, leaving 11 billion euros “pending absorption,” that is, still to be requested from the European Commission. Spain was allocated 45 billion euros from Brussels, Poland 79 billion, and Italy 49 billion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Cities Get Creative to Sidestep Low Emission Zone Rules
In Spain, barely one-fifth of the country’s cities have complied with national Low Emission Zone (LEZ) laws, El Debate reports. At the same time, the Catalonia region has now gone far beyond the national legislation, passing a law that will ultimately only allow cars with the highest environmental rating to circulate in cities.
Non-compliance indicates that, at the very least, municipalities are being forced to confront the drastic consequences of environmentalist anti-car ideology.
Since 2021, Spanish national legislation has required that all cities with more than 50,000 residents establish low emission zones. In such zones, where car access and circulation is restricted, only cars with a top environmental rating of A are allowed to circulate and park easily. This law now affects 150 cities in Spain, according to El Debate. The news site also reports that only 20% of cities have even applied the law and put LEZ in place.
Additionally, many cities that have implemented the law have used such tricks as putting the LEZ in areas that were already dedicated to pedestrian traffic only, or in parks, to evade restricting car use.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Specialist UK Police Teams Target “Hate” on Social Media
The UK authorities and the media either willing to or feeling pressure to take their cues from the government, continue to assert that the root cause of the serious rioting that hit the country this month is to be found on — social media.
This, in turn, makes for a convenient excuse to ramp up police surveillance of online content. Special police teams are now going through social sites in order to identify those said to have “incited” the riots, and there’s a special name for them — “hate influencers.”
The said teams consist of what reports refer to as “specialized” officers, those investigating serious crimes (i.e., murder and the like) and terrorism, as well as local units whose job is normally to investigate organized crime.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Support for Adopting Euro Currency in Poland Declines
Support for the introduction of the euro in Poland “in a few years” currently stands at 30.7 percent, marking a decrease from 34.9 percent year-over-year, according to a study conducted on behalf of the Economic Freedom Foundation.
It was also noted that opposition to the euro has increased from 50.8 percent to 56.5 percent.
Respondents were asked, “Are you generally for or against the idea of introducing the euro in Poland in a few years?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Police Detain 13-Year-Old With Loaded Handgun Following Malmö Shooting
Police briefly arrested a 13-year-old suspect after a shooting that injured a 25-year-old man in central Malmö early Sunday evening. The suspect was found close to the crime scene carrying a loaded handgun. Because of his age, the shooter was handed over to social services.
Swedish law considers anyone under 15 a child, which means they cannot be tried in court. Crimes by children are investigated and social services decide on what “support and care” is needed. In cases when children commit serious crimes, such as rape or murder, an “evidentiary action” can be held by the court system. The court’s task in such cases is only to determine guilt. Children found guilty in such cases often receive care.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
– as ex claims he subjected her to psychological violence when they were dating
The Norwegian Royal Family is being rocked by scandal after it was revealed the future King’s stepson is being accused of allegedly physically attacking a woman in her home and threatening to set her clothes on fire.
Marius Borg Høiby, 27, the tattooed stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, faces preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage, and could face up to a year in prison.
Police reportedly confirmed the alleged victim was in a ‘relationship’ with the motorcycle mechanic. He had only just announced his relationship with Rebecca Helberg Arntsen in July.
Borg Høiby, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, was raised by his mother and Haakon with his half-siblings, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18, but unlike them he has no official public role.
Since news of his arrest last weekend, when he spent 30 hours in police custody, one of Borg Høiby’s ex-girlfriends, Juliane Snekkestad, claimed to have been ‘subjected to psychological and physical violence by the person in question’ while they were dating.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Timmermans Bemoans Impersonal Relationship With ‘Ruthless’ Von Der Leyen
Frans Timmermans, the former vice president of the European Commission and architect of the European Union’s Green Deal, has opened up about his impersonal relationship with EC President Ursula von der Leyen, describing the Eurocrat as being “ruthless” in her dealings with certain political opponents.
Speaking to the Belgian left-wing magazine HUMO, Timmermans said that, despite having worked with the German politician for four years, he “hasn’t heard a word” from her since he left Brussels in August 2023.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top German Paper Blasts EU’s Censorious Attempt to Save Freedom by Killing Freedom
The “primal fear” among the European left of dissent has driven them to believe Elon Musk and X are actually a greater threat to democracy than the “totalitarian censorship” being enacted in the name of freedom, the lead reporter in a top European newspaper writes.
The European Union is developing a pretty taste for paradox in its quest to save freedom by killing freedom, so says the leader editorial in Germany’s newspaper of record Die Welt in response to the Commission’s petulant letter addressed to Elon Musk on Monday night.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Blasts EU After Commissioner Demands X Censorship
Former US President Donald Trump has blasted the European Union after a senior Brussels bureaucrat demanded his podcast interview with X owner Elon Musk be subjected to EU bureaucrat censorship.
The European Commission’s self-styled “digital enforcer,” Thierry Breton, took to X late on August 12 to demand that all content that “promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation” be censored in relation to Musk’s conversation with Trump.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Last year, Sir Ratcliffe witnessed someone being stabbed to death on CCTV outside his Knightsbridge office on Brompton Road over a Rolex watch.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Children to be Taught in School How to “Spot Extremist Content and Misinformation”
The new leftist government in the UK has announced it will change the school curriculum in order to teach children what “extremist content and misinformation online” looks like, in order to “arm them against putrid conspiracy theories.”
The Guardian reports that the education secretary Bridget Phillipson “said she was launching a review of the curriculum in primary and secondary schools to embed critical thinking across multiple subjects.”
OK, critical thinking sounds good.
Read further though and you find out that what that critical thinking entails is thinking exactly what the government wants kids to think.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Metropolitan Police said a man, 32, thought to be the only suspect, had been arrested after the attack in the tourist hotspot in broad daylight on Monday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour Responds to Riots by Going After Free Speech
More evidence has emerged that the recent rioting across Britain—prompted by the killing of three young girls and the injuring of others in last month’s Southport stabbing—is being used as a pretext for further limiting freedom of speech.
As demonstrators took to the streets last week, the director of public prosecutions of England and Wales highlighted that “dedicated police officers” had been assigned to “scouring social media” for “insulting or abusive” material, “and then [to] follow up with arrests.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Leicester Square Child Stabbing: Ioan Pintaru Charged With Attempted Murder
A man has been charged with attempted murder and held in custody in relation to the stabbing of a young child in broad daylight central London on Monday morning.
32-year-old Ioan Pintaru has been charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, the Metropolitan Police stated on Tuesday. The charges follow police being called to the scene of a stabbing at Leicester Square, a popular tourist destination in central London, on Monday morning.
An 11-year-old girl had been stabbed and has serious but non-life threatening injuries. It was stated by police and the ambulance service on Monday that a34-year-old woman, now stated to be the child’s mother, was also injured in the attack but after both received medical attention it was discovered the mother was physically unharmed and the blood on her body was her daughter’s.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Man Charged With Attempted Murder in Stabbing of 11-Year-Old Girl in a London Tourism Hot Spot
LONDON (AP) — A man accused of stabbing an 11-year-old girl in London’s bustling theater district was charged Tuesday with attempted murder.
Ioan Pintaru put the girl in a headlock and stabbed her eight times, seriously wounding her, prosecutors said.
The girl was hospitalized and required plastic surgery for wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck area, prosecutor David Burns said.
Authorities haven’t offered a motive for the attack, but police said that there was no suggestion the stabbing was terror-related and they don’t believe the suspect knew the mother or daughter.
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Staff at Wembley Stadium Told to Look Out for ‘Strange People’ During Taylor Swift Concerts
Staff at Wembley Stadium will be trained to watch out for ‘strange people’ during five consecutive Taylor Swift concerts in London later this week following a plot by Islamic terrorists to attack a Swift gig in Vienna, Austria.
The pop star was set to perform a series of concerts at the Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium last week, but the events were cancelled after Austrian authorities busted a plot by two jihadists to commit acts of terror.
A 19-year-old of Macedonian origin planned to “kill himself and a large crowd at the concert,” according to Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.
Chemicals and technical devices that were part of “concrete preparatory actions” for the attack were found during a search of the suspect’s home.
With Swift set to perform for five consecutive nights in London later this week, Wembley Stadium has reportedly upped security over fears of a copycat plot.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three men have been jailed for a combined seven years and eight months for their role in violent disorder in Merseyside.
They appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today, Tuesday 13 August, following the disorder in Southport on Tuesday 30 July and in Liverpool city centre on Saturday 3 August.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
THREE white police officers have won a discrimination battle after being unfairly passed over for promotion because of their race.
Detective Inspector Phillip Turner-Robson, Inspector Graham Horton and Kirsteen Bishop, a custody inspector, brought the case to court.
They claimed Thames Valley Police made them feel disadvantaged because of their race, which was described by the tribunal as “white British”.
The experienced officers had been working with the force for between 19 and 26 years when they were blocked from applying for the role of detective inspector.
In a bid to improve the diversity of its senior staff, a Thames Valley Police superintendent was told to “make it happen” by appointing an “Asian” sergeant instead.
This was despite the force being warned about the legal risks of not holding a competitive process.
Employment Judge Robin Postle concluded the officers were directly discriminated by reason of the protected characteristic of race.
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
In a shocking example of how low the bar is now, a man in the UK was imprisoned for 2 months for posting the words “coming to a town near you” alongside images of Muslim men on Facebook.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US and Romania Fight for Olympic Bronze… in Court
Although the scandals of the Paris Olympics have come to an end, various cases are likely to continue for a long time. One such case is the battle between Romania and the U.S. for Bronze in the women’s gymnastics floor competition.
The winner will now be decided by legal experts in court.
In the women’s floor routine final, Romania’s Ana Barbosu was originally supposed to finish third, but the Americans contested the result with the judges because they thought their competitor, Jordan Chiles, deserved more points than she received.
The judges allowed the appeal and awarded Chiles a one-tenth higher score, knocking Barbosu off the podium.
But the Romanians did not leave it at that. They also appealed, not to the tournament judges, but first to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and then, after the FIG’s refusal, to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin Sanctions Israeli Goat Farm
The Facebook page for Manne Farm features a goat wearing sunglasses. The goat (and possibly the sunglasses) along with the rest of the farm have now been sanctioned. Anyone feeding the goat (or any of the sheep) faces legal and criminal consequences from D.C.
The State Department has sanctioned the Israeli farm under the “transnational criminal organizations designation” while describing its activities as the “raising of sheep and goats”.
This probably makes Manne Farm the first transnational criminal organization that raises sheep and goats. In addition to raising them (and putting sunglasses on goats), the farm sells big juicy burgers, which look pretty good, and if that wasn’t enough, it also rents out a guesthouse for families looking to spend a weekend at a farm. The farm hosted a prayer event for the high holidays and held craft workshops for kids for Chanukah. Now praying there might be a crime.
But while the Biden administration sanctions Jewish shepherds, it offered exemptions to sanctions on Hamas that knowingly allowed the terrorist group to benefit from aid to Gaza.
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Rejects European Leaders’ Call to Refrain From Any Retaliatory Attacks
Iran rejected a call Tuesday by three European countries urging it to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional tensions. Iran calls it an “excessive request.”
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany in a joint statement Monday asked Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Iran has blamed Israel.
The European leaders also endorsed the latest push by mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. Talks are expected to resume Thursday. And they called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Moscow Steps Up Attacks After Ukraine Incursion Into Russian Territory
Following Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia’s Kursk province, Moscow has stepped up its assaults on key energy targets across Ukraine.
Russia launched 38 attack drones and two missiles at eight Ukrainian regions overnight on August 12 and has advanced on the Pokrovsk front on Ukraine’s East.
Ukrainian regional authorities in the Sumy region reported that the Russian assault there had injured one person and damaged a power line and a gas pipeline, leaving some residents of the city of Sumy without energy
A hospital building and several cars in the region were also damaged, the authorities said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish-Made Tanks Lead Ukrainian Assault in Russia’s Kursk Region
As the Ukrainian offensive unfolds in the Russian Kursk region, the involvement of Polish-manufactured tanks has come to light, with significant impacts on Russian defenses.
The 22nd Ukrainian Mechanized Brigade has been at the forefront of the attack, utilizing PT-91 Twardy tanks, which have a history of being manufactured in Poland.
Retired General Waldemar Skrzypczak, former commander of the Polish Land Forces, noted the sufficiency of the equipment for the operation, reflecting confidence in the effectiveness of these tanks on this front. It was only after a week into the offensive that Ukraine eased its information blackout, allowing the emergence of photos and videos from the early days of the operation, revealing PT-91 tanks leading the charge. These tanks, long familiar within Poland, have contributed to considerable Russian casualties, drawing attention not just in Poland but also in Russia, where their presence has been exploited by Russian propaganda to allege the involvement of Polish mercenaries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Scrambles as Ukraine Advances Troops Along ‘Dormant Front’ in Border Security Operation
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scrambling to counter Ukrainian offensives amid a weeklong invasion in Russia’s Kursk region in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy argued Monday night was a border security operation.
“Our operations are purely a security matter for Ukraine — the liberation of the border area from the Russian military,” Zelenskyy said in an overnight address.
Zelenskyy’s comments were among the first he has made publicly acknowledging Ukraine’s invasion and came just hours after Ukrainian General Oleksandr Syrskyi provided an update on the operation in Kursk in which he said Ukrainian troops have captured nearly 400 square miles of Russian territory.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Digital Clampdown: Signal is Banned as Government Tightens Grip on Private Communication
Russia’s official telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, disclosed on Friday that it has banned the Signal messaging app from operating in the country. This action is part of a wider pattern of widespread repression of information channels that hinder the state’s agenda, in light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The regulator unmasked the reasoning behind the decision, citing Signal’s “violation of the requirements of Russian legislation which must be observed to prevent the messenger’s use for terrorist and extremist purposes.”
Signal’s trademark feature is its end-to-end encryption, which fortifies the platform against government scrutiny of private conversations. Russian leaders, however, have grown wary of such platforms.
In a series of additional restrictions imposed on media freedom in Russia, the authorities have cornered numerous independent outlets delivering news in Russian that dare to critique the Kremlin.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian forces are still “advancing further” into the Russian border region of Kursk as Moscow scrambled to open hundreds of shelters amid a mass evacuation.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said geolocated footage showed that despite Russian claims that the cross-border assault had stabilised, Kyiv’s forces were still pushing forwards.
Russia’s emergency ministry said 400 temporary shelters across the country had been opened to house around 30,000 people forced to fleeUkraine’s offensive which began last week.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian military chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed his troops had taken nearly 390 square miles of territory in Kursk, a huge portion of land in just a week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Study Finds TikTok Manipulates Content to Favorably Promote Chinese Government
TikTok uses an algorithm to promote content that puts the Chinese government in a favorable light in order to sway users’ views, according to a new study from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI).
The study builds off a previous report from December that found the social media site likely promotes pro-China content, as the app faces bipartisan criticism over national security concerns. The app is already facing a potential ban in the United States if the Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t divest its shares of the platform on time.
An analysis of TikTok’s algorithm found “compelling and strong circumstantial evidence” that the app’s content is manipulated by the Chinese government, but the study said the evidence is “not definitive proof of state orchestration.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Nicaraguan migrant who allegedly raped a woman next to the Coney Island boardwalk was jailed for another sexual assault last year.
David Davon-Bonilla, 24, allegedly attacked the 46-year-old on Surf Avenue and 16th Street outside a hotel housing asylum seekers about 9 pm on Sunday.
The victim was with her boyfriend when the attack happened, and he was allegedly bashed with a pipe by Mexican migrant Leovando Moreno, 37.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Republicans Demand Answers From DHS on Palestinian Nationals Illegally Entering US
Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security requested information from the Department of Homeland Security on three Palestinian terror suspects that entered the U.S. illegally.
“These recent arrests highlight a systemic pattern in the rise of known or suspected terrorists attempting to, and successfully, crossing the Southwest border,” Four GOP chairmen wrote in the letter to Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The signatories were Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Clay Higgins, Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Dan Bishop, and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have located and arrested a Haitian immigrant who had previously been released on a $500 bond despite facing charges of raping a child in Massachusetts.
ICE had issued a detainer on the suspect, Cory Alvarez, but the local sheriff’s office ignored it and released the 26-year-old on a low bail number. A detainer is a request by which authorities alert ICE about an individual they believe to be subject to deportation so they can take the individual into federal custody and deport that person.
Alvarez was arrested in a so-called sanctuary city and the detainer was therefore ignored.
ICE officers found Alvarez in Boston on Monday, law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Illegal Migration Drops 62% as Meloni’s Policies Take Effect
Seaborne illegal migration into Italy has seen an unprecedented drop this year as the deterrent policies of Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government have begun to bear fruit, the local daily Il Giornale reported on Tuesday, August 13th.
According to newly published official data, Rome registered a shocking 62.4% drop in illegal arrivals in 2024, with 37,000 migrants landing in Italy as of August 12th compared to nearly 100,000 in the same period last year.
2023 was especially bad in terms of illegal arrivals with the Southern Italian island of Lampedusa being the hardest hit of all landing sites. Around 120 boats carrying between 6-7,000 migrants arrived on the island on a single day in September, prompting commentators and lawmakers alike to describe the event as an “invasion.”
While Italy celebrates, however, other Mediterranean countries are being targeted by the same people smugglers in much higher numbers than before—Spain registered a 155% increase this year, and Greece a whopping 222%—showing that the problem of illegal migration has not gone away but simply pivoted to more vulnerable shores.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Massachusetts is set to see a record number of deportations in 2024, coming as the sanctuary state has spent millions to provide for illegal immigrants who have arrived in the state as a result of the Biden-Harris’ administration’s border disaster. The state has urged illegal immigrants coming across the US-Mexico border not to go to the Bay State.
According to Boston 25, the US Department of Homeland Security has filed over 44,000 new deportation cases in immigration courts in the state in the first nine months of the 2024 fiscal year, which runs from October 2023 to September 2024.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NY Times: Feds Accelerating Naturalization of Immigrants to ‘Reshape the Electorate’
The New York Times reports that the federal government is accelerating the naturalization of immigrants in America as part of a process of “reshaping the electorate, merely months before a pivotal election,” according to one observer quoted in the piece.
“The federal government is processing citizenship requests at the fastest clip in a decade, moving rapidly through a backlog that built up during the Trump administration and the coronavirus pandemic,” reports the newspaper.
One Honduran woman marveled at the fact that authorities were able to process and approve her application in as little as six months.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Salvini: ‘Will Opposing Illegal Immigration be Declared a Thought Crime Too?’
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has spoken out on the dire state of free speech in the UK, asking how long it is before opposing illegal immigration becomes a thought crime too.
In the aftermath of the UK riots, dozens if not hundreds of people have now been arrested over social media posts commenting on the unrest.
In some cases, these have included violent threats or incited violence against others.
However, other examples have been patently ludicrous, including the case of a man who received two months in prison for a Facebook post stating, “Coming to a town near you,” alongside an image of Muslim men.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Bishops Reject Accusations of ‘Complicity’ in Illegal Immigration
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has released a statement denying “false claims” that Catholic nonprofit organizations are complicit in human trafficking, smuggling, harboring, or child exploitation across the country’s southern border.
“Catholic organizations cooperate in providing humanitarian aid with local, state, and federal officials,” the statement reads. “This includes working with law enforcement to identify and counter criminal activity, such as human trafficking, and assisting those who have been victimized by crime.”
The bishops go on to say that agencies such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) “often rely on Catholic organizations for their expertise and as trusted partners within local communities.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More than 700 illegal immigrants crossed the English Channel from France to the U.K. on Sunday as the new left-wing government in Westminster struggles to contain the long-running crisis.
Home Office figures released on Monday revealed a total of 703 migrants were escorted to British shores, a new record since Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour Party took office last month.
The figure is the third-highest daily total this year, with illegal immigration showing no signs of slowing down under the new administration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A senior Labour Party politician has accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government of being “too frightened” to tackle mass migration and warned that the left-wing party ignores the concerns of the working class in Britain to their “peril”.
Dame Margaret Hodge, who served as a Member of Parliament for three decades and who served in the governments of former Labour Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, has issued a stark warning to the fledgling Starmer administration over its failures to address concerns about mass migration in the wake of the protests and riots following the Southport mass stabbing attack that left three young British girls dead last month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainians Will Need a Residency Permit to Work in Lithuania
The Lithuanian Government has announced that starting from September 1 Ukrainians in Lithuania will need a residence permit to work there.
“The new rules apply only to those Ukrainians who came to Lithuania for the purpose of work, not because they were fleeing war,” the Lithuanian migration department told Brussels Signal.
Prior to the policy shift, large numbers of Ukrainians had permission to work in the country even if they did not have temporary protection.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A woman who was allegedly raped at knifepoint under Coney Island’s boardwalk said she feared for her life during the hellish ordeal.
The homeless victim, 46, who is not named, was allegedly set upon by two migrants on Sunday evening, with one said to have held her boyfriend back as he watched the attack.
‘It was attempted murder,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘He was putting a knife to my throat, was slashing my face, choking me… it’s attempted murder.’
She recalled that she was smothered and attacked for over 45 minutes, and claimed one of the men called out ‘she’s enjoying it.’
It comes as Nicaraguan migrant Daniel Davon-Bonilla, 24, was charged over the brutal assault, with alleged accomplice Leovando Moreno, 37, also accused of fending off her boyfriend with a brick.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, representing 11,000 members or over 90 percent of those working in the field in the US and Canada, has raised concerns over surgical sex changes for minors, telling Manhattan Institute fellow Leor Sapir that “the existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty.”
The organization told Sapir that it “has not endorsed any organization’s practice recommendations for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria,” and acknowledged that there is “considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions.”
The ASPS said that it “is reviewing and prioritizing several initiatives that best support evidence-based gender surgical care to provide guidance to plastic surgeons.” The organization’s statement, Sapir said, marked the first major medical organization in the country to break away from the consensus that “gender-affirming care” for gender dysphoric youth.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: King’s Counsel Slams Justin Welby for Selling Out Anti-LGBT Priest
King’s Counsel Gregory Jones has ruled that Archbishop Justin Welby was “plainly wrong” in failing to defend a priest who was barred from preaching for five years after giving a sermon at a private school telling children they could question gender ideology.
In 2021, the Reverend Dr. Bernard Randall, Anglican chaplain of Trent College, was firedfrom his job and reported to the British government’s anti-terrorism program for telling students it is okay to question the LGBT ideology being taught at the school.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
This is some kind of fake war to destroy East Slavic men and clear fertile territories of population. A note in the main Russian media.
Gas supply through Ukraine to the Sudzha GIS has returned to its maximum.
Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the volume confirmed by the Ukrainian side through the Sudzha GIS – 42.4 million cubic meters as of August 13.
The supply route through the Sudzha gas metering station in the Kursk region is currently the only one for gas transit from Russia through Ukraine to Europe. https://ria.ru/20240813/gazprom-1965865801.html
At the same time, Sudzha is occupied by Ukrainian troops. People know nothing about the fate of their relatives who remained in this territory. And refugees are resettled deep into the country. NATO weapons are killing Russian people, but the Kremlin supplies gas to NATO countries,
I agree, the whole purpose of the war seems to be to keep on fighting. Every time peace seems to be in sight “something happens” that makes the war longer. It’s been happening since the start.
If the goal was to “depopulate Ukraine” – this war seems to be doing the job. Not just by killing, but also by all the Ukrainians who ran west and east.
I get the feeling Ukraine was chosen as ground zero for “The Great Reset”.
The US sanctioning of Manne Farm in Israel really gets my goat.
Manne Farm is Hebrew land in the West Bank.
The Palistinians have no rights because they are not indigenous people in Israel.
Those Palistinians are South Jordan squatters.
They’re more varied than that, Theresa; they’re not even all arabs.
In the film “Lawrence of Arabia”, when he’s being interrogated by the Turks, he explains his fair hair and blue eyes by saying by saying he’s Circassian; Jews and Muslims fled to “Palestine” from persecution in the Russian empire in the C19th.
When the Austro-Hungarians won their war with the Turks over Bosnia in 1905 (last war they did win!), many non-arab Bosnian Muslims fled in the same direction.
There are other examples, but these will do.
The settlers in Israel are Ashkenazi Jews, who are not Middle Eastern Semites by genetic makeup. The fact that this is THEIR territory is nothing more than an Abrahamic mental virus.
Excuse late reply, Elena, but only about a third of Israeli Jews are Ashkenazi. More than half came from Muslim countries in the middle East and north Africa, mainly fleeing persecution; they can’t go back to Iraq, Libya etc.
Oh, and if you have to be genetically Jewish to qualify, don’t you have to be Arab to be Muslim? Only a minority are.
“A key suspect behind the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea has been identified by German prosecutors.” —Newsweek (14 Aug 2024)
https://www.newsweek.com/ukrainian-diver-wanted-germany-nord-stream-sabotage-1938928
“Today’s Rhetorical Question: Are yesterday’s Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions the 21st Century’s Tonkin Bay?” —posted to fb (Sept 2022)
“Prediction: Although it’ll likely never be proven, I believe last year’s destruction of Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline—potentially an Act of War!—was planned by a small cadre of The Party’s White House comrades and involved CIA and military personnel, who were only too happy to carry out The Party’s bidding. As was the case with the Watergate crime, it’s unlikely that the president was informed of The Party’s plans (or directly involved) PRIOR to their execution. However, as was the case with the Watergate crime, the president may be proven to’ve played a central roll in the subsequent cover-up.” —posted to fb (Feb 2023)
“You are being LIED to. You are being MANIPULATED. This is Goebbels-style propaganda.” —Glenn Beck (14 Aug 2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8NTPzwnVqA&t=151s
Just figured that out, huh?
“I haven’t seen such blatant PROPAGANDA since Joseph Goebbels told the German people that Germany’s enemies “will lose the war and bear all the fateful consequences” just days before he committed suicide (following Hitler’s suicide) and the Soviets overran Berlin.” —posted to fb (3 Aug 2023)