COULD USE SOME DONATIONS! THANKS!
“I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either. … Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty. When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation.” – John Adams
A German member of parliament says his account with Deutsche Bank-owned Postbank has been closed for political reasons, claiming his being a politician from the right has made him a target for debanking.
Alternative for Germany (AfD) member of the Bundestag and party co-chairman Tino Chrupalla claims to have been debanked, telling national television: “On Friday my account was cancelled by Postbank because I am an AfD member”. This is part of a process of excluding and discrediting people outside the political mainstream, he claimed.
Postbank is owned by Deutsche Bank, one of the largest global banks. The AfD is a right-wing populist political party that campaigns on issues like mass migration, the European Union, and failures of the legacy political establishment. Critics say the party is racist and should be banned as unconstitutional.
German broadsheet newspaper Die Welt reports the comments of a Postbank spokesman, who stood behind client confidentiality to avoid discussing the case, but stated nevertheless they had the right to cancel any account they wanted to without having to give a reason.
A Michigan judge ruled that Ethan Crumbley, the teen who killed four high school students and wounded seven others, is eligible for life in prison without chance of parole.
On Friday, Judge Kwamé Rowe ruled that 17-year-old Crumbley, who was 15 when he opened fire at a high school in 2021, is eligible for imprisonment without the possibility of parole, which is the harshest punishment possible in the Great Lake State.
The teen pleaded guilty to one crime of terrorism resulting in death, four counts of first-degree murder, and 19 additional offenses in connection with the fatal attack.
Adults in Michigan face an automatic life sentence for first-degree murder. However, since the shooter was 15 at the time, the judge had the option of giving the teen life in prison or a lower term anywhere between 25 and 40 years at a minimum with the possibility of eventual release.
In this case, prosecutors needed to prove to the judge that life without parole was an appropriate sentence for Crumbley.
Rowe said that the prosecution disclaimed the presumption that life without parole is unfair to the teen.
The Trudeau government’s recently passed Online Streaming Act is moving into its next phase of regulation by requiring podcasters to register with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
The government claims the regulation will “ensure online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content.”
But critics worry the move is just the Liberal government’s latest attempt to control what Canadians are able to see and hear online.
“The CRTC now wants to regulate podcasts,” said the Toronto Sun’s Brian Lilley. “Here is my simple message to them. Go to hell.”
CRTC’s announcement states that podcasters meeting certain criteria “need to provide information about their activities in Canada.”
Online streaming services operating in Canada that offer audio or video content that generate $10 million or more in annual revenues must complete a registration form by November 28.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who passed away Friday at age 90, once assailed illegal immigration as a net drain on working and middle-class Americans.
In 1993, while giving a press conference in the Senate building, Feinstein spoke about the prospects of the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was set to go into effect the following year. As part of NAFTA, Feinstein said Mexico ought to be required to enforce its side of the United States-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration in its tracks.
“I think you’ve seen the figures [for] state and local governments of what the cost is. It’s over $2 billion in California alone…that’s why the issue is now joined with two million illegal immigrants,” Feinstein told reporters before explaining how illegal immigration crushes Americans:
It’s a competition for space, whether the space is a job, the space is a home, [or] a place in a classroom, it becomes a competition for space. This is a country that’s based on immigration…and yet at times, you become so overtaxed you have to concentrate on saying, the people who should be here are those who come legally at this time…And for the time being, we’ve got to enforce our borders. [Emphasis added]
I wrote two articles about the late Senator Feinstein.
The second one was: Dianne Feinstein: Thy Name Is Corruption:https://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/dianne-feinstein-thy-name-is-corruption/#comment-60122
The first article in this series related how her Senate bill, the Desert Wilderness Protection Act, transferred hundreds of billions of dollars of gold to Southern Pacific’s real estate subsidiary.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has received scrutiny due to her husband Richard Blum’s government contracts and extensive business dealings with China and her past votes on trade issues with that country. Perini Corporation is controlled by Blum. URS Corp, which Blum had a substantial stake in, bought EG&G, a leading provider of technical services and management to the U.S. military, from The Carlyle Group in 2002; EG&G subsequently won a $600 million defense contract. In 2009 it was reported that Blum’s wife Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to provide $25 billion in taxpayer money to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, a government agency that had recently awarded her husband’s real estate firm, CB Richard Ellis, what the Washington Times called “a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms.”
In 2009 the University of California Board of Regents, of which Blum is a member, voted to increase student registration fees (roughly the Univ. of California equivalent of tuition) by 32%. Shortly thereafter, Blum’s Capital Partners purchased additional stock in ITT Tech, a for-profit educational institution. These events suggest a conflict of interest on Blum’s part.”
She was for six years the top Democrat on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (or “Milcon”) sub-committee, where she may have directed more than $1.5 billion to those two military contractors, URS Corporation and Perini Corporation controlled by her husband. She resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee.
The Russian Ministry of Defenses has provided a detailed summary of Ukrainian losses during week seventeen of the so-called spring counteroffensive.
According to the ministry, the Russian military carried out nine group strikes with high-precision long-range missiles and drones between September 24 and 29. The strikes hit ammunition depots, military-technical hardware, saboteurs training sites and accommodation points for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries.
As a result of the strikes, the control center of the so-called International Legion and two large arsenals with weapons and ammunition were destroyed.
“The supply of foreign-made weapons and logistical support for Ukrainian troops operating in Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions were disrupted,” the ministry said.
The ministry also provided details about the combat situation in different directions within the special military operation zone over the past week.
In the Donetsk direction, Kiev forces continued to attempt offensive actions close to Artemovsk, Avdeevka and Marinka over the past week. The Russian Yug Group of Forces repelled 31 attacks there.
Former vice president of France’s National Front and president of Les Patriotes, Florian Philippot, said in a social media post that it is necessary to “stop supporting the Nazi excesses of the Kiev regime” following the double scandals of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s honouring of a Nazi and his backing of anti-India Sikh separatist forces, known as Khalistanis.
Philippot, in a post on X about Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote:
“These two recently honoured a former Waffen-SS soldier in the Canadian Parliament! An old Ukrainian Nazi. Now, they are trying to pretend they did not know about it. What an ‘unfortunate tribute’ is that? Let us no longer accept these lies: let us stop supporting the Nazi excesses of the Kiev regime! Let us stop financing this horror! Let us work for peace! Quickly!”