National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Canadian law endorsed by Trudeau government could impose house arrest for offenses they ‘will commit’ –Online Harms Act, or Bill C-63, would allow judges to imprison adults for life if they ‘advocate for genocide’ | 14 March 2024 | A Canadian law that aims to make social media platforms safer is getting flak for what some decry as government overreach. Introduced late last month, the Online Harms Act, or Bill C-63, would allow judges to imprison adults for life if they advocate for genocide. The law would also allow a provincial judge to impose house arrest and a fine if there were reasonable grounds to believe a defendant “will commit” an offense – a provision Wall Street Journal columnist Michael Taube likened to the 2002 film, The Minority Report. Writing in Public, conservative author Stephen Moore called it the “most shocking of all the totalitarian, illiberal, and anti-Enlightenment pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the Western world in decades.” Citing a government spokesperson, the bill would increase the maximum penalty specifically for advocating genocide from 5 years to life imprisonment and from 2 years to 5 years, on indictment, for the willful promotion of hatred.

Ex-Parliamentarian Sentenced to Year in Prison in Belgium Over Group Chat ‘Hate Speech’ | 13 March 2024 | Court rules group chat “jokes” were actually “Nazi ideology…white supremacy” hate speech, and that a group chat constitutes a public space, sentencing Flemish former parliamentarian to prison. The Ghent Criminal Court determined that former Parliamentarian Dries Van Langenhove “was infatuated with Nazi ideas” and “wanted to undermine democratic society,” while sentencing him to a year in prison, barring him from holding public office for 10 years, and ordering him to pay a fine of 16,000 euros (17,500). The founder and leader of the Flemish nationalist youth organization Schild & Vrienden, which advocates for independence for the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders to break away from the rest of Belgium, was reported in 2018 by public broadcaster VRT to have been involved in a Facebook group that shared alleged racist memes and messages as well as expressing sympathy for Nazi ideology.

America First Legal’s Litigation Against Biden State Department Unearths Orwellian, Internal USAID ‘Disinformation Primer’ | 14 March 2024 | (Press release) Today, America First Legal (AFL) released documents from litigation against the U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), exposing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s internal “Disinformation Primer.” Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO), founded by Mike Benz, analyzed these documents and discovered that: The US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Center on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) created an internal “Disinformation Primer” that revealed the agency’s explicit praise for private sector censorship strategies and proposed additional censorship practices and techniques; USAID’s censorship proposals were aimed at influencing private-sector technology companies, media organizations, education ministries, national governments, and funding bodies… USAID recommended Google’s Redirect Method and “pre-bunking” (i.e., psychological inoculation) as potential solutions to stop the erosion of traditional media influence over citizen hearts and minds…

Meet the Group Threatening Americans’ Freedom You’ve Probably Never Heard of | 11 March 2024 | For much of the twentieth century, the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) played an important, nonpartisan, uncontroversial role in helping states adopt uniform laws. But in recent decades, the group has become increasingly more radical. It now regularly pushes policymakers to adopt legislation that undermines the rights of individuals and enhances the power of governments, large corporations, and financial institutions. Take, for example, the disturbing model bill titled the Public-Health Emergency Authority Act (PHEAA). The ULC drafted and formally approved PHEAA in 2023, and it’s now asking legislators to pass it into law. n the event that a “public health emergency” breaks out in the future, the PHEAA would effectively turn governors across the country into all-powerful quasi-dictators. Under the ULC’s public health emergency bill, governors would have the right to seize control of virtually every part of their citizens’ lives. They would also have the authority to single-handedly regulate public-health-related “testing, isolation, quarantine, movement, gathering, evacuation, or relocation of individuals.”

FDNY reverses course on ‘hunt’ for firefighters who booed Letitia James, cheered Donald Trump –Cooler heads prevail after brass put alarming heat on FDNY hecklers of AG James | 14 March 2024 | Leaders of the New York City Fire Department have extinguished prospects for a “hunt” for rank-and-file members who jeered the Empire State’s Attorney General [and Grade ‘A’ sociopath] Letitia James when she took the stage at a ceremony last week. “At no point has there been an investigation into members booing,” an FDNY spokesperson told Fox News Wednesday, appearing to contradict reports of an internal email from brass that generated half a week of bad press for the department. FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens handed down a fiery list of talking points last week, according to the New York Post, after some members booed James and chanted “Trump! Trump! Trump!” as she took the stage during a promotion ceremony at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn.

Pentagon wants $6.5 billion to replenish stocks depleted by aid to Ukraine – Bloomberg –By providing military aid to Kiev, the US has strained its own arsenals; the Congressionally approved m-ney pot has run dry | 15 March 2024 | The U.S. Defense Department has asked the nation’s Congress to allocate at least 6.5 billion to replenish its stocks, which have been depleted after two years of constant weapon deliveries to Ukraine, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. The Pentagon alerted Congress that spending on replenishment was a high priority in the proposals it submitted last month, the outlet reported on Thursday. The shopping list reportedly includes a wide range of weapons, ammunition and critical components for the production of 155mm shells, HARM anti-radar missiles, Patriot interceptors, GMLRS rockets and anti-tank TOWs.

U.S. has created ‘Frankenstein’ states – British MP –Israel and Ukraine now dictate to Washington, George Galloway has claimed | 14 March 2024 | The American policy of giving billions in aid to Ukraine and Israel has created “monster” states, British MP George Galloway has claimed. Appearing on Direct Impact broadcast on RT, Galloway discussed the debate surrounding Western aid to Ukraine, as well as the rift between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the situation in Gaza… Comparing Washington to the fictional scientist Frankenstein, Galloway told Sanchez: “When you make a monster…it’s no longer yours. It’s a monster that can do monstrous things. And that’s what they have done with Netanyahu and people like him who now run Israel.” Israel is the biggest cumulative recipient of U.S. military aid, provided with around 3.8 billion worth of weapons and defense systems each year. Galloway also used the Frankenstein analogy to refer to the Ukrainian government, which he claimed has become a “client state” that now “tells the paymaster what to do.”

U.S. deploys Marine anti-terrorism unit to Haiti to protect embassy | 13 March 2024 | A Marine anti-terrorism unit has now been deployed to protect the American embassy in Haiti, U.S. military officials say, as violent gangs continue to generate unrest in the Caribbean nation’s capital. The U.S. Southern Command said in a statement early Wednesday that at the request of the State Department, it deployed a “U.S. Marine Fleet-Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) to maintain strong security capabilities at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and conduct relief in place for our current Marines, a common and routine practice worldwide.” The deployment of a multinational force to Haiti with a price tag of 100 million was announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken following a meeting with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica on Monday.

Boeing whistleblower found dead in hotel parking lot just days after testifying against airplane giant | 11 March 2024 | A Boeing whistleblower was found dead in his truck in the parking lot of his South Carolina hotel after he failed to show up for the second part of his testimony for a bombshell lawsuit against the company, a report said Monday. John Barnett, 62, had raised safety concerns at the airline’s factories and provided his first testimony just days before he was found dead from an apparent “self-inflicted” gunshot wound, the Charleston County coroner told the BBC. The whistleblower had been staying at the hotel to provide a deposition in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company…He worked as a quality control engineer.

Just say no: House GOP exposes ‘woke’ items in Biden’s $7.3 trillion budget –Biden’s budget includes 3 billion to ‘advance gender equity and equality worldwide’ | 12 March 2024 | House Republicans are furious over “woke” programs Joe Biden wants to fund in his 7.3 trillion budget request. Biden released his 188-page proposal to fund the federal government on Monday. It lays out roughly 5 trillion in tax increases overall, which the White House said would be split evenly between corporations and the top 2% of earners. A new memo by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, highlighted billions aimed at green energy initiatives and equity programs. Meanwhile, the U.S. national debt is currently just under 34.5 trillion, according to the latest data. The document pointed to 3 billion for the State Department to “advance gender equity and equality worldwide,” as well as 1.5 billion for the Transportation Security Administration’s “pay equity initiative.”

Comer moving forward with public impeachment hearing ‘with or without’ Hunter Biden | 15 March 2024 | House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer urged Hunter Biden on Friday to show up to next week’s public impeachment inquiry hearing that the first son had previously demanded, vowing that it will be held “with or without” him. Biden, 54, rejected an invitation Wednesday to take part in the March 20 hearing related to his father’s alleged role in the family’s business dealings, with his lawyer blasting it as a “carnival sideshow” and arguing that the first son has a scheduling conflict because of a court date in California the next day. “The only conclusion that one can reach is that Mr. Biden knows his public testimony would not withstand scrutiny,” Comer (R-Ky.) told attorney Abbe Lowell, in a letter released by the Oversight Committee.

Top red state official demands answers on Biden executive order ‘attempting to register’ illegals to vote –Mississippi SOS Michael Watson says the Biden executive order creates ‘numerous opportunities’ for ineligible voters to vote | 11 March 2024 | Mississippi’s Secretary of State has sent a letter to Joe Biden’s Department of Justice asking it to stop enforcing a Biden executive order that he warns is being used to attempt to register ineligible convicts and illegal immigrants to vote. “As you are aware, on March 7, 2021, President [sic] Biden issued Executive Order No. 14019 which sought to turn the Department of Justice agencies from their historical missions of law enforcement to voter registration and get out the vote operations,” Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland this week. “These efforts are an intrusion into state matters and are a misuse of federal revenue and resources. In addition, it appears that these efforts have led to agencies under your charge attempting to register people to vote, including potentially ineligible felons and to co-opt state and local officials into accomplishing this goal.” …The letter specifically addresses concerns that illegal immigrants in the Mississippi prison system could potentially be registered to vote through this executive order if the program is not closely monitored.

FBI director ‘very concerned’ about ‘ISIS ties’ to human smuggling network that uses southern border | 11 March 2024 | FBI Director Christopher Wray warned Monday the bureau is “very concerned” about a human smuggling network with ties to ISIS [I-CIA-SIS] terrorists that utilizes the southern border to gain entry into the U.S. Wray confirmed the potential threat during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing and said the FBI, along with other federal authorities, have been actively investigating the human trafficking cell. “So, I want to be a little bit careful how far I can go in open session, but there is a particular network that, where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we’re very concerned about and that we’ve been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating,” the FBI director said in response to a question from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Canada surrenders to crime, urges people to leave car keys out to avoid violence | 15 March 2024 | Car theft has surged in Toronto, so police have a new idea: Make it easier for criminals to steal your ride. Local officials, including cops, suggest residents leave their car keys conveniently near their front doors, explicitly for thieves to find them effortlessly. This approach aims to minimize the risk of burglars intruding into homes by tempting them with an open target — unattended vehicles. The assumption is that with easy access to the keys, criminals may opt to take the car without fully entering the residence, potentially reducing the risk of violent encounters.Toronto Police Service Constable Marco Ricciardi made the key point at a town hall last month, saying criminals are “breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else.”

Leave car keys by the front door to avoid home invasion, Toronto police officer says | 14 March 2024 | A Toronto police officer suggested that residents leave their car keys by the front door to avoid a home invasion, seemingly to let criminals steal their vehicle if they break in, leave and avoid injuries. The Toronto Police Service issued a statement Wednesday confirming that an officer made the remarks at a recent community meeting. The officer suggested “that people leave the keys to their vehicle in a faraday bag by the front door,” the statement said. “While well meaning, there are also other ways to prevent auto theft motivated home invasions,” it continued… In Toronto, home invasions and break-ins for auto thefts rose 400 per cent last year, the Toronto Police Service said.

Nathan Wade steps down after judge rules Fani Willis can only remain on Trump election case if ‘lover’ prosecutor resigns | 15 March 2024 | Fani Willis’s “lover” prosecutor Nathan Wade has dramatically stepped down from his role as lead prosecutor in Donald Trump’s election interference case in Georgia after a judge’s ruling earlier today. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, escaped with a slap on the wrist as the judge decided she could stay on the case. But the judge said she could only do so if Wade removed himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Wade’s resignation letter was addressed to Willis, his now former boss, who accepted it. Former President Donald Trump was unpersuaded by Wade’s public appeals to democracy and the rule of law, after hearings that took the spotlight off his alleged conspiracy to overturn the election results and focused on sensational revelations about the office romance. “The Fani Willis lover, Mr. Nathan Wade Esq., has just resigned in disgrace, as per his and her reading of the Judge’s Order today,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network, before poking at Wade, Willis, and January 6 Special Counsel Jack Smith.