A “controlled explosion” on a London film set sparked a fire that destroyed a van and damaged two other vehicles near the O2 arena. The London Fire Brigade was called to put out the blaze. Video from the scene showed a burning red “BBC News World” lorry, but BBC News said there was no BBC News involvement in the event.
In other news, the Israel Defense Forces said today that several bodies were found in the Gaza Strip which could be the remains of Israeli hostages, but the bodies have not yet been identified.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Dora, DV, JW, 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.
German Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly in August to 6.1%
The unemployment rate in Germany ticked up slightly in August compared to the previous month, rising by 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%, according to initial estimates released by the Federal Employment Agency on Friday.
The total number of unemployed people in Germany rose by 63,000 to 2.872 million in August compared to July due to seasonal factors, the agency said. The total is 176,000 more than in August 2023.
The Federal Employment Agency based the estimates on figures available up to August 14.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Home Prices Up 39% Since Kamala Harris Became VP
In an X post on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump noted how the average cost of a new home in the United States has risen by 39 percent since President Joe Biden was inaugurated and Kamala Harris became vice president. This comes as Democratic nominee Harris has vowed to give first-time homebuyers $25,000 to put toward their down payments.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No ‘Joy’ on Labor Day: Inflation Sends Cost of Cookouts Soaring
Americans are feeling less “joy” when firing up their grills and getting their marinades ready this Labor Day weekend, realizing that some of the classic barbecue staples are costing them a lot more.
It all begins with firing up the grill, which will cost more than it did three and a half years ago. According to data from the Bureau of Labor statistics, the price of propane, kerosene, and firewood has risen 16 percent from January 2021 to July 2024.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
American Farmland Seized to Advance Green Agenda
American farmland is being seized in order to advance the globalist green agenda of the Biden-Harris administration.
Five states in the Midwest are currently battling the construction of controversial carbon dioxide pipelines.
The pipelines are putting farms in jeopardy as land is being confiscated from owners.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bannon’s Lawyers Want a Hearing on Alleged Government Misconduct in Case, Judge Has Yet to Grant It
Months after the federal district court expressed concern about the government conduct during its investigation in Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress case, the court has yet to hold a hearing on the claims that the prosecuting attorneys invaded the privacy of Bannon’s lawyer by subpoenaing his phone records and emails and potentially damaging the attorney-client relationship.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Biden-Harris Department of Justice has threatened to sue two small towns in Wisconsin over their refusal to use electronic voting machines to cast and tabulate votes, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
In July, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke threatened to file a lawsuit against the State of Wisconsin, the state Elections Commission and Administrator Meagan Wolfe, and the towns of Thornapple and Lawrence, as well as the towns’ clerks and boards of supervisors, because the towns allegedly did not offer voting equipment at their polling places in the April presidential primary election.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bill Gates Working With UN to Flood Food Supply With Insects
Billionaire Bill Gates is using his vast resources to help the United Nations (UN) rapidly advance plans to eliminate traditional meat and dairy from the food supply and replace them with hyper-processed insect-based products.
Singapore recently became the latest country to authorize insect products for human consumption.
The Guardian described the move to flood the food supply with insects as one that “paves the way for plates to become wrigglier, leggier and more sustainable.”
The newspaper argues that authorization in Singapore is “a sign of things to come” on a global level.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Body Language Experts Say CNN Interview Suggests Harris Was ‘Uncomfortable, ‘ ‘Hollow, ‘ ‘Insincere’
Body language experts found that during Vice President Kamala Harris’ first media interview since announcing her candidacy for president this summer, she was “uncomfortable,” “hollow,” and not confident in her answers.
Harris and Walz sat down for a joint interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday where the Democratic presidential nominee discussed her first priorities for day one in office if she’s elected to the White House in November, her changing positions on policy issues, and her running mate’s military service record. Upon analyzing the interview, body language experts found that Harris was struggling to answer questions and sometimes appeared to be dishonest in her responses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking Update: Small Plane Crashes Into Row of Portland-Area Townhomes, 3 People Missing
A small plane has crashed into at least one house in a residential neighborhood near Portland, Oregon. The crash occurred on Saturday morning at around 10:20 am local time and a fire started. Three people are missing after the crash, per Fox 12. Two people from the plane and one person from the townhome that was hit by the plane have not been accounted for.
According to KATU2, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said that the twin Cessna 421C plane crashed into the suburb of Fairview.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gold Star family members from the botched Afghanistan withdrawal called out Vice President Kamala Harris in videos posted to Donald Trump’s Truth Social on Saturday evening. They were responding to a post that Harris made on Saturday saying that Trump going to Arlington a “political stunt.”
Earlier in the week, some of families had invited Trump to come with them to place flowers on the graves of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, Sgt. Nicole Gee, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss. Harris later criticized Trump for taking photos with them earlier in the week. On Saturday evening, several of the family members gave heartfelt statements calling on Harris to personally reach out to them.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vice President Kamala Harris is attempting to renegotiate the debate rules on unmuting the microphones for the Sept. 10 debate on ABC News with Donald Trump. This is despite ABC News rejecting her proposal to change the rules a few days ago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Bill Banning Voter ID Passes Legislature, Awaits Newsom’s Signature
A bill in California that would ban local governments from requiring voter ID in elections passed the state’s far-left assembly, and how awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval or veto.
The measure would ban local governments such as Huntington Beach — where the City Council was just given voter approval to impose such a requirement — from requiring voters to prove their identity, and passes jurisdiction for such laws to the state.
“I have repeatedly told the Huntington Beach City Council members pushing this issue that if they were to produce any evidence of widespread voter fraud, I would lead efforts to change California’s voter eligibility rules. They have not produced any such evidence,” said Irving Democrat. Sen. Dave Min, whose Senate Bill 1174 passed the assembly in a 57-16 vote on Aug. 27.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Colorado City Starts Taking Action After Venezuelan Gang Takes Over Apartment Buildings
The mayor of Aurora, Colorado, announced Friday that action was being taken by clearing apartment buildings that a Venezuelan gang has taken over. Aurora is Colorado’s third largest city and Denver’s largest suburb.
Earlier this week, a video went viral of the armed Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua taking over apartment buildings in Aurora.
“The Aurora City Attorney’s Office is preparing court documents to request an emergency court order to clear the apartment buildings where Venezuelan gang activity has been occurring by declaring the properties a ‘Criminal Nuisance,’“ Mayor Mike Coffman wrote on Facebook.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Colorado Governor Jared Polis has reversed his position on an incident in which armed gang members reportedly occupied an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, stating that he is now taking the situation seriously. This comes just two days after he dismissed the incident as a product of “imagination.”
The controversy began earlier this week when shocking video footage went viral, showing what appeared to be an armed Venezuelan gang taking over an apartment complex in Aurora. Individuals in the video were seen walking around with rifles and speaking Spanish. The owner of the footage, captured through a video doorbell camera, claimed it was recorded right before a shootout that left one person injured and multiple vehicles damaged with bullet holes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia Task Force Finds ‘Troubling’ Pattern of Behavior Toward Jewish Students on Campus
In a new report from Columbia University’s antisemitism task force, a student described the situation on campus following the October 7 attacks in Israel.
“People that you sat in class with, you had drinks with, you had lunch and dinner with, the next day they say they hope your entire family dies,” the report read.
The testimony is just one example in a deluge collected as part of an overall report that incorporated testimonies of “hundreds” of Jewish and Israeli students. It led the task force to find what it called “a pattern of behavior toward Jewish and Israeli students that is troubling and violates norms of behavior and speech that are central to the values of our university.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Warns That Freedom of Speech is Under Worldwide Attack
Elon Musk warned that free speech across the world is under attack. This comes as multiple examples of censorship around the globe have popped up in recent weeks. Musk’s platform X has been banned in Brazil, the Telegram founder was arrested, and Mark Zuckerberg let the cat out of the bag that the Biden-Harris administration pressured Facebook to suppress information related to COVID-19.
Musk posted in response to an old clip of Kamala Harris vouching to suspend Donald Trump’s then-Twitter account in 2019, “Freedom of speech is under massive attack around the world.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Soros-linked Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill has been avoiding drug distribution charges for suspects unless they have over 200 pills of fentanyl, usually opting to charge for possession in those cases.
According to a recent police memo obtained by The Post Millennial, there have been many cases of fentanyl distribution sent from the Salt Lake Police Department to Gill for prosecution. “Recently we have received many cases involving the distribution of fentanyl. After sending several of these cases to the DA’s Office for screening the DA has returned with the charge of possession,” the memo stated.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Court Upholds Ban on “Let’s Go, Brandon” Shirts in High School
Authored by Jonathan Turley via jonathanturley.org
We previously discussed the case of a student (known as “D.A.”) in Michigan who was ordered to remove his sweater with the popular phrase “Let’s Go, Brandon.” We now have a ruling from U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in the Western District of Michigan. In D.A. v. Tri County Area Schools. Judge Maloney rejects the free speech claim and rules that school officials can punish a student for wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt. I believe that he is wrong and that the case sets a dangerous precedent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Feds Say Pharmacy Burglary Ring is Largest in DEA History
More than 40 people accused of running the largest pharmacy burglary stole approximately $12 million worth of controlled substances, according to an indictment.
The bust is the largest in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the Department of Justice.
U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross for the Eastern District of Arkansas said Thursday the group of 42 people worked together to burglarize over 200 pharmacies across 31 states. More than 11 of the affected pharmacies were located in Arkansas, according to Ross.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google Restricts Election-Related Content From Its AI Products
Google is implementing ‘new protections’ for its generative AI products into the election, announcing on Friday that it will extend its policies announced last December for its search and YouTube products.
The restrictions will include a lack of responses for a wide range of election-related queries, including candidates, voting processes, and election results, Axios reports.
Products affected include Search AI overlays, YouTube AI-generated summaries for Live Chat, Gems, and Gemini’s image generation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gov. Tim Walz’s Brother Criticizes Him on Facebook, Says He Doesn’t Have Good Character
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s brother Jeff criticized him on Facebook, saying that he does not have the kind of character to make decisions about the future of Americans.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked Walz earlier this month to be her running mate.
In March of 2023, Jeff Walz wrote in a Facebook post: “We’ve just become a third world banana republic.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Harris Economic Advisor Touts Tax Plan on CNBC, Hosts Laugh and Shred Claims Live on Air
Kamala Harris’s economic advisor appeared on CNBC to tout the Democrat presidential nominee’s radical tax plan to the American people, but the move severely backfired.
Bharat Rama appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box but ended up being humiliated by the show’s hosts.
While appearing on a network that’s supposedly friendly to the Harris campaign, Rama tried to sell the vice president’s Communist-style tax plan.
Rama sought to convince the audience that a key portion of his boss’s socialist $5 trillion tax plan “provides opportunity” for Americans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Charlene Wang, who is running for Oakland, CA city council to counter the city’s growing homeless problem and exploding crime, was a victim of that lawlessness herself on Sunday, when a homeless woman reportedly stole $1,000 in donations from her.
Wang said she called 911 to report the crime but the police never showed up. Video shows Wang and other campaign volunteers trying to negotiate with the woman as she refuses to give up an orange bag filled with money, Fox News reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kamala Harris is in a worse position in terms of her polling numbers stacked up against Donald Trump than both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton were in the 2020 and 2016 election.
According to the Real Clear Polling (RCP) average on Aug. 31, 2024, Harris is leading Trump by 1.8 points in the polls nationally. Without toss-up states, the Electoral College is in Harris’ favor by two electoral votes as of Saturday. Historically, in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, Trump overperformed. Clinton had been leading in the polls in 2016, but Trump still pulled away with the win. Although Biden beat Trump in 2020, several swing states came within thousands of votes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kamala Harris took aim at Donald Trump on Saturday for him taking pictures with the Gold Star families of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal earlier this week and added that she “will always honor the service and sacrifice of all of America’s fallen heroes.” The families have said that she has never spoken to them once.
When The Post Millennial spoke to the parents of deceased military members Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, Sgt. Nicole Gee, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, they and others close to the families told TPM that Harris has never once spoken to them personally or reached out. Fox News also reported that the families have all said the same: that Harris has “never once reached out” to them.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Knives Out: Administrative State Begins Leaking Information About the Bidens
Maybe President Joe Biden was never a serious member of the Washington, DC, establishment — like the Clintons, the Bushes, or the Obamas — or, maybe, the establishment just had no more use for him.
Either way, the knives seem to be out for the Biden family after Joe Biden stepped aside from the 2024 presidential election. In three leaks in the last month, members of the permanent political class in Washington disclosed damaging information about the Biden family.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Memes Under Fire: Democrats Push to Muzzle Political Satire With Grok AI
They either don’t grok the situation at all, or grok it all too well but are pretending not to: either way, Democrats are once again on a warpath against memes, satire, etc., and in the same token against constitutionally protected political speech.
All this is happening months ahead of another presidential election.
Here the target is the Grok-2 AI art generator, which X released earlier this month. Now House Democrats have written to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Acting General Counsel Lisa Stevenson in a bid to have it censored.
The seven members of Congress who signed the letter claim that restricting what can be done with Grok-2 is “critical for US democracy.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Most Americans See Kamala Harris as Deceptive, Trump as Authentic, Poll Shows
Most Americans say they view President Donald Trump as authentic but don’t feel the say way about his Democrat presidential rival Kamala Harris, a new poll has revealed.
A recent poll by Economist/YouGov has unveiled significant perceptions among Americans regarding the sincerity of Harris and Trump.
In a revealing contrast, the majority of American voters view Harris as insincere and deceptive.
Trump, meanwhile, is considered genuine in his expressions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly 600 CA Officials Have Been Convicted on Federal Corruption Charges Over Past 10 Years: Report
Justice Department reports show that 576 public officials in California have been convicted on federal corruption charges over the last 10 years.
According to an exclusive report from The New York Times, a real estate boom was behind driving the corruption specifically in the city of Los Angeles.
The Times report cited Jose Huizar as an example. Huizar, a graduate of Berkeley, Princeton and UCLA law school was on the school board and City Council. He was eventually arrested after FBI agents found out he received about $1.8 million worth of casino chips and other favors from Chinese developers which were used to influence how he made decisions on multi-million dollar commercial development projects.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio Election Boss Wants Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants the Legislature to allow him to require proof of citizenship on voter registration forms following a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Both state and federal laws already make it illegal for noncitizens to vote to vote in federal and state elections.
In a letter to letter to state legislative leaders in the House and Senate, LaRose asked for legislative action to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pennsylvania Gets $20 Million in Uncashed Checks — Hard Part is Finding Owners
An interstate saga that stretched almost a decade finally came to an end as Delaware agreed to a settlement to send over $20 million back to Pennsylvania.
The settlement, which requires Delaware to pay out up to $120 millionto 30 states, comes from a dispute over what to do with uncashed checks sent through MoneyGram.
Delaware would keep the unclaimed property because MoneyGram was incorporated in the state, rather than send the money to the states where they were bought.
A 2023 Supreme Court ruling went against Delaware and required the money to be returned to the respective states where the MoneyGram was purchased, depriving Delaware of a significant revenue source for its budget.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Vaccine Doctors Skeptical of New COVID-19 Boosters: ‘I’d Really Like to See the Data’
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pushing new COVID-19 boosters, claiming that people who don’t stay “up to date” with shots — regardless of how many they’ve already taken — “are more likely to get very sick” while those who take them annually are “much less likely to get very ill, be hospitalized, or even die” from COVID.
The Democratic nominee for president is so committed to staying up to date on jabs that Vice President Kamala Harris made COVID boosting a requirement to work on her campaign, “unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law.” They can also ask the human resources department for a “reasonable accommodation … prior to reporting to an office location.”
What’s the evidence for these interventions recommended to Americans and required of those who would work for the de facto incumbent?
That’s what critics of the public health agencies are asking as officials and mainstream media hype a rise in positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 and some schools shutter — in red states, no less — rather than let the demographic at the lowest risk from COVID learn in person.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
State Court Stops PA From Tossing Out Mail-in Ballots Due to Incorrect Dates on Envelopes
A court in Pennsylvania ruled Friday that the state cannot throw out mail-in ballots just because they have incorrect handwritten dates on the envelopes.
This ruling will likely stop thousands of Pennsylvania votes from being tossed out for the upcoming election in November.
The decision was made in a 4-1 ruling.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Film ‘The Apprentice’ Set for US Premiere Saturday, Trump Team Calls it Election Interference
A movie about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is now scheduled to hit American theaters in October, just one month before the 2024 election.
The film is titled “The Apprentice” and it stars Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump.
According to Deadline, the film will debut tonight at 10 p.m. at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, but won’t hit theaters until Oct. 11. It was already shown earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film portrays Trump as a powerful businessman who “falls under the sway of the demonic lawyer and power broker Roy Cohn,” according to the film’s description.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Echo: California Republicans Propose No Tax on Tips, Democrats Vote No
In a mirror of national politics, California Republicans followed former president Donald Trump’s lead by proposing to end taxes on tips.
While Vice President Kamala Harris, who formerly represented California in the U.S. Senate, embraced the measure, California Democrats said no, shooting down the proposed amendment in the California Senate.
“Even Trump and Harris both say we should eliminate the ‘tip tax,’“ said the California Senate Republican Caucus in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former President Donald Trump advocated for legislation in Florida that would prevent marijuana from being used in public spaces, adding that people did not need to smell it everywhere.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump spoke about Florida’s Amendment 3, which would allow adults 21 and older to possess, buy, or use marijuana for non-medical reasons.
Trump noted that in an effort to make sure marijuana legalization is “done correctly,” the State Legislature needed to “responsibly create laws that prohibit” marijuana from being used in public spaces, “so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tucker Carlson Launches 16-Day Tour Featuring Trump Allies
Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson is launching a 16-day media tour to take his show on the road and talk to allies of former President Trump.
“Join Tucker Carlson and friends from coast to coast as he hits the road for his first live tour,” the former Fox News host’s website said. “Tucker will be joined on stage by some of the most fascinating and recognizable guests, responding to everything that is happening in real time.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. ‘Hates Women,’ Faces Future of Cannibalism, ‘Forced Breeding Camps’: ASU Event
PHOENIX — Two professors discussed dismantling capitalism and electing a female president to restore reproductive rights, and warned of a dystopian future with “cannibalism” and “forced breeding camps,” at an event held Wednesday at Arizona State University.
“Jenny Irish’s HATCH: A Speculative Future for Reproductive Rights” was held both in person and via Zoom.
It featured Irish, a poet and English professor at ASU, as well as Professor Angela Lober, director of the Academy of Lactation Programs at ASU’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Court Rules Germany’s AfD Must Allow Journalists at Election Party
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party must allow several journalists, whom they intended to exclude, access to their election party for the Thuringia elections, following a court ruling.
The Regional Court of Erfurt on Saturday ruled in favour of the media companies that saw press freedom threatened, a decision made one day before the election for the regional parliament in Thuringia on Sunday.
The judgement is not yet legally binding. The AfD can appeal the verdict at the Higher Regional Court. It is unclear whether there will be any legal steps before the election party, given the short timeframe.
The news magazine Der Spiegel, the Springer brands Bild and Die Welt, and the daily Die Tageszeitung, or taz, had jointly approached the regional court to challenge the exclusion of their journalists from the AfD election party, which they intended to cover.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czechia: Explosive Experts Safely Detonate a Rare World War II Bomb at Major Chemical Plant
Czech explosive experts detonated a World War II bomb on Friday at a major chemical plant in northwestern Czech Republic where it was found last week, authorities said.
Besides a few broken windows, the controlled explosion didn’t immediately seem to cause serious damage, police said in a statement. The plant near the city of Litvinov belongs to Polish oil company PKN Orlen.
The bomb was found during construction work last week on Aug. 21 away from a building. Experts decided not to transport the 250-kilogram (550-pound) bomb to a safer place to dispose of it, because it contained a chemical mechanism designed to delay the explosion, a rare discovery in the country.
They covered the bomb with hundreds of sandbags before the explosion. A nearby road was closed and trams halted operations before the explosion at about noon (1000 GMT). Police sealed off an area 2 kilometers (more than a mile) from the site of the explosion.
The refinery, which was located on Czechoslovak territory occupied by Nazi Germany during the war, was producing fuel for Nazi troops. It was repeatedly targeted by Britain’s Royal Air Force.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Justice Minister Under Fire for Pushing Encryption Ban While Using It
The unprecedented case of the attack on Telegram via the arrest of Pavel Durov — and the nature of the charges against him — has clearly emboldened not only the lovers of censorship (such as the EU) but also the enemies of encryption (the EU).
Encryption itself has long been in the crosshairs in the bloc, but also in various individual countries in Europe individually, and others around the world. This push to undermine encryption — despite it being the key component of security, and privacy online — is habitually justified as necessary for law enforcement to do its job.
Now EU member Denmark is trying to come for end-to-end encryption, and not only Telegram, but also Signal, WhatsApp, and others. In this particular instance, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard’s preferred course of action would be to just block these apps (perhaps as a stopgap measure) rather than taking the much longer path of building encryption backdoors.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Needs ‘More Nuclear,’ European Commission President Says
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the European Union to be more self-sufficient in energy production in a speech on Friday in Prague.
“When we speak about our energy, we have to produce our own energy, more renewables, more nuclear, more efficiency,” she told a security conference in the Czech capital.
Nuclear energy in the EU however is hotly disputed with France pushing for the technology to get more public investment, and be a bigger part of the bloc’s energy system, against stiff opposition from Germany.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Tightens Grip on Telegram With New Probe Following France Arrest
The EU is putting additional pressure on Telegram, after one of its member countries, France, arrested the platform’s co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov.
The EU has launched an investigation into the number of users the platform has in the bloc, and whether the number reported by Telegram is correct.
The importance of this is the EU’s ability to censor using the Digital Services Act (DSA), which applies services with over 45 million users.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Far-Right AfD to Appeal Over Media Access to Election Party
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has logded an appeal against a court order ruling that the party must grant national journalists access to an election night event in the eastern state of Thuringia, a spokesman confirmed to dpa on Friday.
The Erfurt regional court has scheduled a hearing on the matter for 11 am (0900 GMT) on Saturday, just one day before voters in Thuringia go to the polls.
Several prominent German media outlets took legal action against the AfD in Thuringia after the AfD denied their reporters access to the election results party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Weighs Steep Tourist Tax as European Backlash Against Visitors Grows
Italy is weighing a steep increase in tourist taxes to counter the impact of overtourism, the latest European country to take steps against unmanageable visitor numbers that have led to protests across the continent.
Under the proposed measure, the tax to spend the night in an Italian city, currently €1-€5 ($1-$5.50), could increase to up to €25 for the most expensive hotel rooms, the Financial Times reported — with the country’s Tourism Minister saying it would make tourists “more responsible.”
Europe has become the epicenter of a movement against mass tourism this summer, with protests erupting in several countries including Spain, the Netherlands, and Greece, as residents object to the negative impact excessive visitor numbers have on their quality of life.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protest Against German Far-Right AfD in State Capital Ahead of Poll
Some 3,000 people took part in a protest action against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Saturday in the city of Erfurt, capital of the state of Thuringia, the day before the election to the regional parliament there.
A demonstration march, called for by the alliance “Auf die Plätze” (On Your Marks), made its way through the city centre to the main Cathedral Square, or Domplatz, where the AfD — which is riding high in the opinion polls — held its rally to mark the end of the election campaign.
The AfD attracted some 1,300 supporters, municipal officials told dpa. Alongside local firebrand AfD member and top candidate Björn Höcke, the party’s federal chairwoman Alice Weidel was also on hand.
In end, the AfD and the “On Your Marks” rallies were about 100 metres apart in Erfurt’s city centre.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Film Set Explosion Causes Blaze Opposite O2 Arena
A “controlled explosion” on a London film set sparked a fire that destroyed a van and damaged two other vehicles near the O2 arena.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said they had sent 25 firefighters and four fire engines to the scene, near Dock Road and Trinity Buoy Wharf in Silvertown, at 7.51pm on Saturday.
Images from the scene showed a burning red lorry with the words “BBC News World” emblazoned on its trailer.
But BBC News can confirm there was no BBC News involvement in the event.
A “controlled explosion” on a London film set sparked a fire that destroyed a van and damaged two other vehicles near the O2 arena.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said they had sent 25 firefighters and four fire engines to the scene, near Dock Road and Trinity Buoy Wharf in Silvertown, at 7.51pm on Saturday.
Images from the scene showed a burning red lorry with the words “BBC News World” emblazoned on its trailer.
But BBC News can confirm there was no BBC News involvement in the event.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
When Chrissie glanced out of the window of her basement flat in west London over the bank holiday weekend, the last thing she expected to see was two strangers having sex in her front garden.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Kamar Williams, 33, was arrested at Notting Hill Carnival after he allegedly got out of a van and stabbed bus driver Derrick Thomas (pictured), 53, to death with a large knife.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Starmer Dealt Hammer Blow as Voters Label Labour ‘Dishonest’ Over PM’s Tax Raid
Starmer has been branded “dishonest” for failing to disclose the Labour party’s tax plans during the general election, a new poll has revealed.
More than half of voters (56 per cent) believe that Starmer’s party was “not very honest” or “not honest at all”, totaling 24 per cent and 31 per cent respectively, when it came to revealing their tax policies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Two People Injured During Notting Hill Carnival Have Died, Police Say
LONDON (AP) — Two people who were critically injured in attacks while attending London’s Notting Hill Carnival earlier this week have died, police said Saturday.
The Metropolitan Police force said 32-year-old Cher Maximen died early Saturday after being stabbed in the street on Aug. 25. She had been visiting the carnival, billed as Europe’s biggest street party, with her child, who was not hurt.
A 20-year-old local man was arrested and charged with attempted murder, and is now likely to face a murder charge.
Police also announced the death of Mussie Imnetu, 41, who was found unconscious in a west London street with a head injury on Monday night. The chef had been visiting Britain from his home in Dubai.
A 31-year-old London man has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm, and police said the charge would be reviewed after Imnetu’s death.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Arrested as Six Injured in German Bus Knife Attack
BERLIN (AP) — Police arrested a 32-year-old woman after six people were hurt in a knife attack on a bus headed to a festival in western Germany. Authorities said Saturday that there was no evidence of a political or religious motive.
Three of those attacked are in life-threatening condition, police said on Friday evening.
The knife attack took place in Siegen, east of Cologne. The bus was on its way to a local festival in the town and at least another 40 people were on board when the attack took place at about 7:40 p.m.
Police and prosecutors said the six people wounded were aged between 16 and 30 and all were from the region. By Saturday morning, three of them had left the hospital after outpatient treatment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
First Children in Gaza Given Polio Vaccines a Day Before Planned UN Rollout
Several children in Gaza have been given polio vaccines a day before a large-scale campaign to inoculate children against the virus and a planned pause in fighting in the besieged territory, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Reporters from The Associated Press news agency saw roughly 10 infants receiving doses of vaccine in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Saturday afternoon.
“I was terrified and waiting for the vaccination to arrive and for everyone to receive it,” said Amal Shaheen, whose daughter received a dose.
The WHO has confirmed that the official larger rollout of the vaccine will begin on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
IDF Finds Bodies in Gaza That May be of Hostages; Identification Process Underway
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday night that troops had located several bodies in the Gaza Strip which could be the remains of Israeli hostages, but cautioned that the bodies had yet to be identified.
The announcement, which came after other bodies of captives were recently returned from the Strip, drew immediate furious reactions against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, who have been accused of failing to secure a deal to return the hostages and thus abandoning them to their deaths.
“At this stage, the forces are still operating in the area and carrying out a process to extract and identify the bodies, which will last several hours,” the military said Saturday night.
The military called on the public not to spread unverified rumors.
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Soldier Killed in Fierce Clashes in Jenin as IDF Continues Major West Bank Operation
An Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded during fierce clashes with Hamas gunmen in the West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The IDF has been carrying out a major raid in the northern West Bank since early Wednesday. The action was now largely focusing on the Jenin area, after raids in Tulkarem and the Far’a camp near Tubas concluded.
The slain soldier was named as Staff Sgt. Elkana Navon, 20, a squad commander in the Bislamach Brigade’s 906th Battalion, from Petah Tikva.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Joint Raid Targeting Islamic State Leaves at Least 15 Dead, 7 US Troops Hurt in Iraq
The U.S. military and Iraq targeted Islamic State group militants in a joint raid Friday that left at least 15 people dead, and seven U.S. troops hurt in Western Iraq.
Five U.S. troops were injured in the raid that took place Thursday, while two of them suffered injuries from falls that occurred during the operation, The Associated Press reported, citing a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Evidence: Ukraine Commander Says Western Intelligence Was Behind Kursk Attack
Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com
A Ukrainian soldier speaking to the Japanese broadcaster NHK has said that Western intelligence was used to monitor Russian troop activity in Russia’s Kursk Oblast before Ukrainian forces launched an invasion of the region.
“He says the Ukrainian military surveilled Kursk using drones and satellites, and detailed intelligence data provided by the West was crucial for the operation,” NHK reported.
The US has denied that it was involved in the planning of the invasion but has offered strong support by allowing Ukrainian forces to use US-provided armored vehicles, missiles, and bombs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Shelling in Ukraine’s Eastern Donetsk Region Kills at Least Five
Russian shelling against the frontline Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar killed at least five people on Saturday, according to the regional governor.
The attack struck a high-rise building and a private home, Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said. The victims were reportedly aged between 24 and 38.
Filashkin urged the remaining civilians in the town — which had a pre-war population of around 12,000 — to leave the front line.
“Normal life has been impossible in Chasiv Yar for more than two years,” he said, “Do not become a Russian target. Evacuate.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed to have captured the town of Pivnichne, also in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia Begins Rolling Out National Digital IDs
The government of Indonesia has begun rolling out digital IDs for the Southeast Asian nation’s citizens.
The move was announced by Indonesia’s Minister of Apparatus Utilisation and Bureaucratic Reform Abdullah Azwar Anas.
According to Anas, issuing digital IDs is vital for the optimum use of the Electronic-Based Government System.
He insists that the new digital-only system will streamline access to integrated government services.
While the new digital IDs won’t technically be mandatory, they will be required for citizens who wish to access basic services.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Japanese Researchers Link COVID Shots to Permanent Blindness
A new study from Japan is raising major concerns among medical experts after a team of top Japanese researchers found a link between Covid mRNA shots and permanent blindness.
The study was led by Dr. Shin-ichiro Ohmura at Japan’s Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital Department of Rheumatology.
The results from the study were published in Moderna Rheumatology Case Reports.
Dr. Ohmura’s team sought to better understand how Covid mRNA injections are associated with some patients to the development of systemic rheumatic diseases.
The study noted that cases of rheumatoid arthritis, myocarditis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and giant cell arteritis (GCA) have been surging in people after receiving Covid shots.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Korea: Study of 9 Million Vaxxed: COVID Shots Cause VAIDS
A damning new study is raising major concerns among the medical and scientific communities after researchers concluded that Covid mRNA shots have caused a global surge in cases of AIDS-like vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (VAIDS).
The researchers analyzed the data of a staggering nine million people who had received at least one dose of a Covid mRNA “vaccine.”
The explosive peer-reviewed study was conducted by a team of world-renowned South Korean researchers, led by Professor Solam Lee at Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Korea: Father Expresses Deep Regret After Forcing Daughter to Take COVID Shot That Killed Her
A devastated father has issued a statement expressing his deep regret at forcing his young daughter to take the Covid mRNA shot that killed her.
The father, Yi Geun-jae from the town of Pyeongtaek, South Korea, has issued a video statement with a warning for others about the dangers of blindly trusting government advice.
Ye-won, a healthy young girl, died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage caused by the Covid mRNA injection she received.
Her family is now calling on citizens around the world to carefully consider all the facts before making important decisions about health.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Perfect Storm of Events Sparks Rice Shortage, ‘Panic Buying’ Across Japan
TOKYO — Rice has become scarce or gone completely missing from shelves at some stores in Japan thanks to the threat of a megaquake, typhoons and a weeklong national holiday.
Japan’s agriculture minister asked consumers to refrain from “panic buying” rice, assuring them at a news conference Tuesday that this year’s harvest will arrive soon in their local grocery stores.
Demand for rice was high in August, when stocks are typically low, thanks to a conflation of events: earthquakes and a government warning to prepare for an imminent megaquake in central Japan, along with two typhoons, so far, this season, said Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tetsushi Sakamoto.
Plus, transportation companies delayed their deliveries during the Obon holiday, a weeklong and usually offseason event, he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Controversial British politician Nigel Farage says Australia’s anti-smoking laws and high taxes have led to an organised crime spree.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Vax Australian Leader Admits Government Was ‘Wrong’ to Push COVID Shots
A pro-vaccine Australian leader has made a major U-turn and admitted to the public that the government was “wrong” to force citizens to take experimental Covid mRNA shots.
Dominic Perrottet is the former New South Wales (NSW) premier.
He has now gone on the record and admitted that vaccine mandates, which he helped to enforce during the pandemic, were wrong.
The vaccine mandates were pushed onto the public via the corporate media.
Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the nation’s national broadcaster, was complicit in the government’s push to “vaccinate” the general public.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Army Withdraws From Niger as Military Regime Turns to Russia
The German armed forces have ended an eight-year deployment to Niger after surrendering control of a key airbase in the West African country.
A military plane carrying the remaining 60 German troops stationed at the base in the capital Niamey landed in Germany on Friday evening.
A second A400M transport aircraft carrying equipment was also on its way back.
The airbase in the outskirts of Niamey was staffed by up to 120 German military personnel and had been considered a key asset in Western efforts to contain terrorism in the region.
After failing to reach agreement with Nigerien authorities on legal immunity for its military personnel, Berlin agreed to surrender control of the base in July.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
From Brexit to Trump: Brazil’s Uses Rise of Populism to Justify X Ban
Yesterday’s order by Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes to halt the operations of the social media platform X has ignited international debate over free speech and governmental overreach. The order, which spans over 50 pages, cites concerns over the platform’s role in spreading what it deems anti-democratic speech and “misinformation” ahead of Brazil’s 2024 elections. US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr has voiced significant concerns over this move, describing it as a “broader blow against free speech.”
We obtained a copy of the order for you here: Original, English.
In his detailed ruling, Moraes explicitly references global political events such as Brexit and the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, describing them as “types of extreme ‘populist’ outcomes” that his decision aims to prevent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DoorDash Driver Says Illegal Immigrants Are Taking ‘Work From Struggling Americans’
Ruby Nicole Day, who describes herself as a “working-class American who drives for DoorDash,” wrote recently for Newsweek that she was paying particular attention to the Democratic National Convention to see if the party’s leading lights would propose any policies that would help her.
Day was particularly “eager to hear about immigration” given the impact of the soft-border policies of the Biden-Harris administration and record high levels of illegal immigration has had on her as well as her family. But Day wrote that she was disappointed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German State-Funded Website Teaches Migrants How to Avoid Deportation
An investigation by the German outlet Apollo News revealed the existence of an online platform funded by the German government and the European Union, one of the aims of which is to provide practical and legal advice to migrants so that they can oppose their possible deportation, in the name of a “right to remain for all” on German soil.
The site, called Handbook Germany, takes the form of an information site aimed at immigrants arriving on German soil, with an apparently harmless programme: ‘orientieren—informieren—austauschen’ (find your way around, get informed, exchange information).
But on closer inspection, the site turns out to be a weapon in the service of a militant and openly declared political programme: “against deportations and for the right to freedom of movement for all.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Record 1.6 Million Out of Work Migrants Costing the Taxpayer £8.5 Billion Per Year: Report
The British taxpayer is footing the bill for a record number of out-of-work migrants, who are reportedly costing the government up to £8.5 billion per year.
A record 1,689,000 foreigners are currently unemployed or otherwise “economically inactive” in the UK, according to analysis of government figures by the Centre for Immigration Control. The think tank noted that the current level is the highest in British history, surpassing the previous high in 2012 of 1,628,000.
Centre for Migration Control researchers calculated that support for unemployed immigrants could cost the taxpayer as much as £8.5 million per year. However, this estimate did not include the costs of asylum seekers and foreign students to the state, meaning the total financial drain of mass migration policies is likely much higher.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Says He Will Vote No on Florida Initiative Allowing Abortion Through 9 Months
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Friday that he would vote “no” on a Florida ballot initiative that would add constitutional protections for abortion up to nine months.
On Thursday, Trump had said that he disagreed with Florida’s current six week abortion ban, saying it was too short.
“I’m going to be voting that we leave more than six weeks,” Trump said, according to The Daily Wire.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Women’s College in Virginia Bars Transgender Women From Attending Over School’s Charter
Sweet Briar College in Virginia has banned transgender students that identify as female from attending the women’s school next year, citing language in the college’s charter.
Sweet Briar President Mary Pope Hutson told the college community earlier this month that the school’s charter must be interpreted as it was intended at the time, and therefore applicants need to be biological women who live and identify as female.
The 20th century private liberal arts school was founded in 1901.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top Study Warns of Continued Surge in Cancer Deaths
Leading oncology experts are warning that surging cancer deaths are going to continue rising over the next few years.
Cancer cases in men are predicted to rise by 84 percent by 2050, a new study has revealed.
Deaths from the disease are also expected to almost double in the next 25 years from today, despite surging dramatically in recent years already.
During a study using official data from 185 nations, scientists concluded that the global burden of cancer in younger men is only going to get worse.
An estimated 19 million cancer cases are predicted to be diagnosed in 2050 if current trends continue.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
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Karl-Olov Arnstberg, professor emeritus of ethnology and author of some 50 books, should be well known to all visitors to GoV – if anyone pays attention at all to what is published under ‘Replies’ to the News Feed.
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Sunday Chronicle:
The last man
Published on September 1, 2024 by Karl-Olov Arnstberg
(from Swedish by LN)
Today’s column is based on a text that the historian and anthropologist Charles Cornish-Dale wrote in February of this year under the pseudonym ‘Raw Egg Nationalist’ in the journal American Mind.
It is based on Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin, where he asks the opening question why Putin invaded Ukraine. He expected a short answer, but Putin spoke for more than half an hour about the history of Russia, about Prince Rurik and Yaroslav the Wise, about what the Ottomans and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did hundreds of years ago. Tucker Carlson was initially annoyed but later realized that Putin’s “procrastinating ramblings” were actually a window into how he thinks about Russia and Ukraine.
Unlike Tucker Carlson, Western critics could see no value in what Putin had to say. Yes, Putin’s response was a window, but only into the mind and soul of a tyrannical madman, who would say anything to justify his naked will to power. For a couple of days after the interview, Twitter was flooded with Putin-Tucker memes. Putin explained why the chicken crossed the road by referring to the first domestication of red junglefowl in ancient Burma 6,000 years ago. The American Civil War actually began with the arrival of the Saxon warlords Hengist and Horsa in post-Roman Britain in 449. After the interview, Putin called Tucker Carlson because he had missed the significance of Russian leaven at the siege of Belgorod in 987.
But now that the laughter has died down, we should realize that there is a lesson here, and it is not a lesson about the excesses of tyranny. The lesson is not even about Putin. It is about ourselves. Tucker Carlson seemed to understand that in the next few hours after the interview, and no doubt he does now. The lesson is this: the West is divorced from its own history in a way that is unique in history and this is not a strength but in fact a devastating weakness.
It’s not just that a leader like Biden wouldn’t be able to talk about America’s history for 30 seconds, let alone 30 minutes. Rather, it’s that Biden wouldn’t do it even if he could. That’s not how Western leaders talk about their nations, and that’s not how we should think about our nations either, or for that matter about ourselves.
That something is missing at the very heart of our way of life, and that this lack has the potential to lead us catastrophically astray, if it has not already done so, is not a new or original idea in Western thought. It’s a thought that also appears in what is often considered the most shameless example of Western hubris, American political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s book The End of History and the Last Man. The book is not just a celebration of all the ways in which modern liberal democracy is wonderful and better than any other form of government that has ever been created or can ever be created. The End of History is also a warning about democracy’s inability to satisfy man’s most basic desires. Above all, Fukuyama warns us, democracy cannot satisfy the human need to be different from others, the need the ancient Greeks called megalothymia. For some reason, this last chapter is very easily forgotten, even though it is a fifth of the book’s total length.
Thymos, according to the Greeks, was the part of an individual’s soul that seeks recognition or dignity. It is a quality that all people possess and can develop. The Greeks believed that there were different forms. There was isothymia, a desire to be recognized as equal to everyone else.
Then there was megalothymia, a desire to stand out from others. In the final stage of liberal democratic history, where all people are a priori of equal value, isothymy is the standard and megalothymy an unwanted deviation.
This is where the last man of Fukuyama’s book title, a character first identified by Friedrich Nietzsche, comes into play. The last man is a product of Christianity’s long triumphal march, culminating in liberal democracy. As Fukuyama explains: Nietzsche’s last man was basically the victorious slave. Nietzsche fully agreed with Hegel that Christianity was a slave ideology and that democracy represented a secularized form of Christianity. The equality of all people was a realization of the Christian ideal of the equality of all believers in the kingdom of heaven. But the Christian belief in the equality of men before God was nothing more than the embittered denial of those stronger than themselves by the weak.
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part one of three
2
Simply put, the last man is what happens at the end of history, when there is no longer anything particularly important, something worth living for. When the great ethical, economic and political questions have been resolved, what higher purposes are there for man to strive for? None, it seems. Life becomes unbearably boring. This is the essence of Fukuyama’s warning about the end of history: human nature cannot be denied, and if it does, there will be trouble. While it is entirely possible that man will be happy now as one among many billions of equals, each pursuing his own limited goals, such as making money, buying things, having sex, and going on vacations, it is equally possible that man, or rather some men, will rebel in the name of satisfying his desire to be different – to be better. What we may see instead of a future of contented fools enjoying simple gratification are “enormous spiritual wars”—and Fukuyama literally means war—with wild men wreaking havoc in the name of personal glory and some higher purpose, what it can now be. Just something other than endless, monotonous peace, recreational sex and consumption.
The last man believes that he lives outside of history. He has no place for it. And we are right now, says Fukuyama. It is also the reason why we cannot understand Putin and his long expositions about Russian history.
Growing discontent and eventually self-annihilation is a potential consequence of our ahistorical way of life. A nation that knows its history and that knows its classics, a nation that knows itself and knows what it owes itself, does not allow itself to be voluntarily led out of history. As the French critic of civilization Renaud Camus makes clear, the total disappearance of the indigenous peoples of Western countries – which he calls “the great exchange” – is not possible without a profound oblivion, a total self-effacement from notions of people and place. A people’s history disappears first, then the people disappear.
Dismissing the idea of a well-thought-out “conspiracy theory” behind the Great Exchange, Camus suggests instead that it is industrialization, scientific management, mass entertainment, and, of course, democracy that have combined to transform the world’s peoples—and not just the nations of the West—into interchangeable things but unique identity, which can be moved around and replaced at will, by powers beyond their control. But since the movement is only in one direction, the victims of this process are the peoples of the West. They are being subjected to an onslaught of mass immigration that threatens to erase them from history forever.
Camus believes that a “small compensation” preceded the big compensation. This was a long period of profound cultural decline in which the old aristocratic values of Western civilization, including the assumption that natural inequality, talent and hierarchy were both necessary and good, values that had been preserved by the bourgeoisie, were challenged and then overthrown. Changes in public education, as well as mass entertainment, have been particularly to blame. First, individuals become interchangeable, one with another, and then entire peoples. This is the essence of the attitude that Camus calls “remplacism”, after the French word for exchange, remplacement.
But perhaps the roots of this attitude go even deeper than the last century of modern mass democracy. According to the Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, the forces that are destroying the West and cutting it off from its own identity and traditions can be traced back to the Middle Ages, to the universities of Europe and the rise of nominalism. Unlike essentialism, the opposing doctrine, nominalism claims that there are no natural categories, only conventions. Consequently, all forms of identity are ultimately considered arbitrary forms chosen by humans to create order in chaos. In our time, nominalism is captured in the claim that, for example, race or gender do not really exist but are social constructions.
The immediate effects of nominalism’s victory in the ivory towers of medieval Europe were quite mild, although nominalism was briefly banned by the papacy. But in the long run, it placed at the heart of Western history a liberation from conventions rooted in all forms of group identity—religious, ethnic, national, social, economic, gendered, even species-based identity. Globalization, transgenderism and now transhumanism are a kind of “liberation stages” in the history of the West and then the world, until finally we are left with a single form of substantial identity to free ourselves from: being human in itself.
– – – – –
3
We’ve come a long way since Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin, but the importance of the issue it raises, our relationship to history, should be clear by now. Putin believes that Russia is fighting for its own life, because the country is fighting for its history and a nation is nothing without its history. We in the West, on the other hand, believe that Ukraine is fighting for our lives, for the right to be free from history. Both cannot be right.
Karl-Olov Arnstberg
All texts are © on this blog. It is permitted to spread the texts on the condition that you always link to the source here on the blog.
https://morklaggning.wordpress.com/2024/09/01/sondagskronika-den-sista-manniskan/
3
Vi har kommit ganska långt från Tucker Carlsons intervju med Vladimir Putin, men vikten av den fråga som den tar upp, vår relation till historien, borde vara tydlig nu. Putin anser att Ryssland kämpar för sitt eget liv, eftersom landet kämpar för sin historia och en nation är ingenting utan sin historia. Vi i väst tror däremot att Ukraina kämpar för våra liv, för rätten att vara fria från historien. Båda kan inte ha rätt.
Karl-Olov Arnstberg
Alla texter är © på denna blogg. Det är tillåtet att sprida texterna under förutsättning att ni alltid länkar till källan här på bloggen.
https://morklaggning.wordpress.com/2024/09/01/sondagskronika-den-sista-manniskan/
The bodies of 6 Israeli hostages, shot in the head by their Hamas captors within the last 48 hours (according to preliminary forensics) were discovered by the IDF in Rafah (Hamas stronghold in Gaza), and brought back to Israel for burial. This latest news is having the sad result of further tearing apart Israeli society, with an Israeli labor leader calling for a massive stike on Monday to shut-down the Israeli economy.
“This latest news is having the sad result of further tearing apart Israeli society, with an Israeli labor leader calling for a massive stike on Monday to shut-down the Israeli economy.”
From 2002..
“Far too much time, energy and blood has been expended in the Middle east. It’s time to take decisive action. We need to take out the terror regimes in Iran, Iraq and Syria. Then say to the Palestinians: “You have two choices: You can live as civilized citizens or you can be next.”” —”Terrorism Isn’t Rocket Science”
http://www.triumphpc.com/psst!/jul02/rocket1.shtml
History keeps repeating itself and only the names and dates change….BECAUSE only the names and dates change.