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Miscellaneous (News/Activism)

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  • Ghislaine Maxwell moved to women's prison in Texas

    08/01/2025 11:20:09 PM PDT · by RandFan · 23 replies
    BBC ^ | Aug 1 | BBC
    Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been moved from a Florida prison to a new minimum-security facility in Texas, authorities have confirmed. The move comes as Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, has pressed the Supreme Court to overturn her conviction while also seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump. Earlier in July, Maxwell held two meetings with the Deputy US Attorney General, the details of which have not been made public. Maxwell has been at the centre of controversy surrounding the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files, and the...
  • Woke ‘Banter Bill’ will destroy Britain’s last bastion of free speech: the local pub

    08/01/2025 4:21:49 PM PDT · by Vendome · 43 replies
    NY Post ^ | July 22, 2025 | Brendan O'Neill
    It’s official: Nowhere in Britain is safe from the woke speech police. First they stomped their jackboot on universities, where it’s now a risky business to express conservative opinions or even to state biological facts, including such sinful utterances as: “Men are not women.” Then they came for the workplace. Crack an off-color joke or voice a dissenting view and you might be made to take an “awareness-raising course” — or what the Soviets called re-education. Now the Woke Inquisition is feverishly eyeing yet another zone of British society for one of its joyless crackdowns, this time laying down its...
  • NASA Space X Crew 11 successfully launches to the ISS

    08/01/2025 3:23:54 PM PDT · by Whatever Works · 14 replies
    Youtube ^ | Video,from space
    NASA Space X Crew 11 successfully launches to the ISS. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rKdcot714Fs&pp=ygUbTmFzYSBzcGFjZSB4IGNyZXcgMTEgbGF1bmNo0gcJCccJAYcqIYzv
  • The Army Reserve Is Gutting Aviation Units. Thousands of Soldiers Are Being Left in the Lurch.

    08/01/2025 11:10:37 AM PDT · by Blood of Tyrants · 31 replies
    Military.com ^ | 7/31/25 | Steven Bsynon
    Thousands of Army Reserve soldiers are being forced to scramble for new assignments after the service abruptly ordered the dismantling of its helicopter units, a sweeping move that has caught commanders off guard and upended aviation operations across the country. The cuts, which are set to eliminate all of the reserve's helicopter units by the end of the summer, are part of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George's broader push to modernize the force by shedding legacy formations and redirecting resources toward emerging technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence. But the transition has left troops questioning both the...
  • Trump orders nuclear submarines moved near Russia

    08/01/2025 10:25:08 AM PDT · by jerod · 110 replies
    By Reuters ^ | August 1, 2025
    Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in regions near Russia in response to threats from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that," Trump said in a social media post that called Medvedev's statements highly provocative...
  • Rand Paul pandemic research bill breezes through Senate homeland security committee

    08/01/2025 7:28:45 AM PDT · by RandFan · 5 replies
    washingtonexaminer ^ | July 31 | Gabrielle M. Etzel
    A Senate panel voted Wednesday to approve a biomedical security bill sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that would create an executive branch board to conduct oversight of life science research with pandemic-causing abilities, a measure inspired by the research conducted in Wuhan, China, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Risky Research Review Act advanced from the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in an 11-2 vote, with two Democrats voting against. The panel also approved the bill last Congress in an 8-1 vote, but it never received a vote on the Senate floor.
  • FReeper Canteen ~ Just Hangin' Cafe ~ 1 August 2025

    07/31/2025 6:00:31 PM PDT · by beachn4fun · 49 replies
    FR Canteen Military Support Group
    FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. Pull up a seat and relax. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. Birthday wishes for all August babies.No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup or a glass, and start a conversation. You never...
  • Trump tirade against Grassley irritates Republican senators

    07/31/2025 1:34:54 PM PDT · by RandFan · 83 replies
    The Hill ^ | 07/31/25 6:00 AM ET | by Alexander Bolton
    Republican senators were appalled by President Trump’s rough treatment of 91-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the Senate’s most senior Republican, on social media and are pushing back on Trump’s attempts to squeeze the senator into abolishing an arcane procedure known as the Senate blue slip. GOP senators were not pleased that Trump piled so much pressure on Grassley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to get rid of a long-established Senate tradition. Trump piled on by reposting on Truth Social posts accusing Grassley of being a “RINO” and “sneaky” and standing in the way of Trump’s agenda. Sen. Thom...
  • Man injured in Tommy Robinson station probe leaves Hospital

    07/31/2025 6:15:45 AM PDT · by RandFan · 22 replies
    BBC ^ | July 31 | BBC
    A man injured in an alleged assault at St Pancras railway station, over which police want to question far-right activist Tommy Robinson, has been discharged from hospital. Earlier this week, video footage on social media showed Robinson walking back and forth near a motionless man lying on the floor at the station. The clip did not show how the man ended up on the floor. British Transport Police previously said officers found a man on Monday evening with "serious but non-life-threatening injuries". The force confirmed on Thursday that he had now been discharged from hospital. Police said a 42-year-old male...
  • Man gets 5 years for stabbing girlfriend 258 times, took selfie with baby shortly after [Netherlands]

    07/31/2025 1:41:24 AM PDT · by grundle · 46 replies
    NL Times ^ | July 30, 2025
    The court in The Hague sentenced 24-year-old Arnold O. to five years in prison and mandatory psychiatric treatment at a tbs facility. The man murdered his 22-year-old girlfriend Jihaneve on July 18 last year by cutting and stabbing her 258 times in her home in Zoetermeer. The couple’s two-week-old baby was also present in the home during the incident. According to the court, the crime “absolutely falls into an exceptional category in terms of violence and brutality.” O. used the victim’s phone to film certain parts of the violence. According to experts, O. was psychotic at the time he killed...
  • Senate panel advances bill banning congressional stock trading

    07/30/2025 4:20:47 PM PDT · by RandFan · 7 replies
    Roll Call ^ | July 30 | By Paul M. Krawzak
    GOP senators sparred with fellow Republican Josh Hawley on Wednesday over a Hawley-authored bill that would ban trading and ownership of stocks and certain other assets by lawmakers, the president and vice president and their spouses and dependent children. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the bill on a slim 8-7 vote after earlier adopting a Hawley substitute amendment that extended the prohibitions beyond just members of Congress, reaching into the Oval Office. The compromise amendment would give officials elected before the date of enactment until after their current term to divest their assets. So President Donald Trump...
  • Vitol hands record $10.6 bn payout to its traders in energy boom year

    07/30/2025 4:13:30 PM PDT · by know.your.why · 1 replies
    Business Standard ^ | 07/29/2025 | Jack Farchy and Archie Hunter
    Vitol Group handed a record $10.6 billion to its executives and senior staff through share buybacks last year, as the fallout of the energy crisis continued to deliver extraordinary riches to the world’s commodity traders. The share repurchase — almost certainly the highest such payout in the industry’s history — means privately held Vitol has distributed over $31 billion to its partners in the past decade, according to the company’s audited annual accounts seen by Bloomberg News. The numbers show how the disruptions that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have handed a spectacular bonanza to a small group of commodity...
  • Trump goes off on Josh Hawley over insider trading bill

    07/30/2025 4:02:25 PM PDT · by RandFan · 48 replies
    The Hill ^ | 07/30/25 5:32 PM ET | by Alex Gangitano
    President Trump on Wednesday went off on one his closest allies in Congress, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) over voting in committee on a bill that would ban stock trading by lawmakers, presidents and vice presidents, arguing that Hawley teamed up with Democrats to advance the measure. The bill would ban congressional lawmakers and their spouses from trading stocks as well as presidents and vice presidents, but the latter would only apply to future administrations. Still, Trump, in a social media post, went off on Hawley claiming that he was being used by Democrats to target the president. He also questioned...
  • Man guilty of airport attack on police officers

    07/30/2025 8:22:32 AM PDT · by RandFan · 23 replies
    BBC ^ | July 30 | BBC
    A man has been found guilty of attacking two female police officers during a large violent disturbance at Manchester Airport. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was charged with assaulting the Greater Manchester Police officers during the fracas on 23 July last year, with a video of the incident being widely shared on social media. Following a three-week trail at Liverpool Crown Court, Amaaz was convicted of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing actual bodily harm, and the assault of emergency worker PC Ellie Cook. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on allegations that Amaaz and his brother, Muhammad Ahmed, 26, assaulted...
  • FBI source says agency has 'missing minute' from Epstein jail tape

    07/30/2025 7:35:45 AM PDT · by RandFan · 39 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | July 30 | By KATELYN CARALLE
    The minute of surveillance video allegedly 'missing' from the footage of the night Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell has apparently been found. A source familiar with the investigation told the Daily Mail that the FBI and DOJ are both in possession of the minute of video that the agencies previously said was not there because of a tape transition that occurred automatically every night. The Justice Department released earlier this month nearly 11 hours of surveillance footage of the area of the prison leading to Epstein's cell the night he died. It was meant to prove...
  • Roy Cooper breaks fundraising records as he kicks off expensive NC campaign

    07/30/2025 3:31:37 AM PDT · by RandFan · 21 replies
    Politico ^ | July 30 | By Elena Schneider
    Roy Cooper broke fundraising records in his first 24 hours as a Senate candidate — a massive cash boost the former North Carolina governor will need for what’s expected to become one of the most expensive statewide campaigns in U.S. history. National and North Carolina strategists from both parties said the race — likely between Cooper and Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement — could be one of the costliest Senate races in the 2026 midterms, topping out at $650 to $800 million, according to private estimates described by both parties. That would crack...
  • Spirit Airlines furloughing 270 pilots, demoting another 140 amid slower schedule

    07/29/2025 1:17:55 PM PDT · by crusty old prospector · 32 replies
    The Hill ^ | Filip Timotija
    Spirit Airlines is furloughing about 270 pilots and demoting another 140 later this year as the budget carrier looks to slim down the workforce and adjust to a slower schedule. “We are taking necessary steps to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible as part of our efforts to return to profitability. Among these steps, we have made the difficult decision to furlough approximately 270 Pilots, effective Nov. 1, 2025, to better align staffing with our flight schedule,” the airline said Tuesday in an emailed statement to The Hill. The demotion of approximately 140 captains will take place Oct. 1....
  • Hardwired to obey: Why we keep believing the lie

    07/29/2025 5:58:48 AM PDT · by cuz1961 · 24 replies
    Bizpacreview ^ | July 28, 2025 | | Maureen Steele
    ...The Russia collusion hoax wasn’t just a political scandal. It was a masterclass in obedience psychology. Americans didn’t believe it because it made sense. They believed it because someone in authority told them to. . ...Fast forward to COVID. A doctor appeared on your television and told you to stay inside. Wear a mask. Take the jab. If you hesitated, you were selfish. A threat. An enemy of the people. The same experiment was being run again, but this time, at scale. And just like Milgram’s results, most people obeyed. Not because they understood the science. Not because they evaluated...
  • Trump blocks Taiwan’s President Lai from New York stopover

    07/28/2025 3:36:47 PM PDT · by TBP · 65 replies
    Financial Times ^ | July 28, 2025 | Demetri Sevastopulo and Kathrin Hille
    Donald Trump’s administration has denied permission for Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te to stop in New York en route to Central America, after China raised objections with Washington about the visit. Lai planned to transit the US in August en route to Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize, which recognise Taiwan as a country. But the US told Lai he could not visit New York on the way, according to three people familiar with the decision. ***** The White House’s decision will deepen concerns among Taiwan’s supporters in Washington that Trump is taking a softer stance on China as he pushes to hold...
  • France denounces US-EU trade deal: ‘Submission’

    07/28/2025 10:15:53 AM PDT · by RandFan · 15 replies
    The Hill ^ | 07/28/25 12:28 PM ET | by Sarah Fortinsky -
    French Prime Minister François Bayrou is criticizing the trade deal struck by President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as an act of “submission” by the European Union (EU). “It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” Bayrou said in a post on social platform X early Monday. The agreement sets tariffs at 15 percent for European imports, including automobiles. That’s lower than the 30 percent tariff Trump had threatened to impose on the EU but higher than some European officials would...