Serial Killer At Large in Middle East

An international arrest warrant issued by the ICC remains active for Benjamin Netanyahu. The allegations: Responsible for using starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing attacks against civilian populations; crimes against humanity including murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.

This man is dangerous. Do not approach and call INTERPOL immediately at telephone number 33 4 7244 7000 if he is seen or located.

Arrest Warrant: https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu

Netanyahu’s Thugs Bully Greta Thunberg

After Israeli police arrested antiwar Samaritan Greta Thunberg (bottom right of photo) for trying to feed the starving people in Gaza last week, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had Greta Thunberg watch death films of the 7 Oct 2023 Palestinian raid into Israel which was conducted to capture hostages for a prisoner swap. After she politely declined and this brutal chapter was completed, Greta was deported. Then Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a surprise attack on Iran called Operation Rising Lion.

The Donald Trumpf junta was aware of the imminent attack and had ordered non-essential State Dept and DoD personnel home from several locations in the Middle East days before the attack. US negotiators were about to begin the sixth round of nuclear talks with their Iranian counterparts in Rome.  Recall that Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Israel is not. Iran’s nuclear program was being monitored by the IAEA under the JCPOA agreement, until Dotard Trumpf recklessly pulled out of it during his first Reign of Terror. Note the number of Iranians previously assassinated by the Israelis and the recent victims of Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloodlust:

US and UK forces are ready to assist the belligerent Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The UK has sent Tornado fighter jets to the Middle East and the already US presence in the Middle East is on high alert.  The Iraqi government wants the remaining US military personnel out of the country because they did not like Israel using their airspace to attack Iran. Moreover, US personnel in Iraq are vulnerable to attack by pro-Iranian Shia militias who see the US as an ally of Israel, which it is thanks to AIPAC.

With nothing substantial or intelligent to convey at the G-7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada and still stinging from his humiliating birthday parade where his own wife Melania (AKA Melanoma) nodded off, President Dotard Trumpf used the Israeli war as an excuse to depart after the first day of talks on Monday. Air Force One is a ‘flying White House’ with all of the telecommunications necessary to prosecute a war so there was no technical reason for him to go. But with sharp Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukraine President Volodomir Zelensky scheduled to meet him Tuesday, Dotard Trumpf “chickened out,” living up to his new sobriquet ‘TACO Don’: Trumpf Always Chickens Out.

Ottawa allowed Trumpf to enter the country since as a convicted felon, he is prohibited by law from entry into Canada. While there, Trumpf unabashedly promoted Russian President Vladimir Putin (72), an ICC-indicted war criminal:

Netanyahu Plotted to Murder Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C), shakes hands with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Tehran, with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R). [Handout: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader]

Murder-Death-Kill Campaign Continues in Gaza

While the G-7 leaders enjoyed fine wine, food, and Canadian hospitality in Alberta, this is happening in the Gaza Strip. The abominable cruelty and misery inflicted on these poor people by the Israelis is unimaginable. Have they no pity? (Photo: Al Jazeera)

The IDF killed at least 65 Palestinians and wounded 315 others in the Gaza Strip this past weekend.  Since October 2023, the hardworking American taxpayer has helped to kill 55,362 Palestinians, with an additional 128,741 injured or maimed. The majority of the victims are women and children. After US Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) ensured US aid would flow uninterrupted to Israel by capitulating on the GOP budget, the IDF resumed ethnic cleansing on 18 March. Since then, the IDF murdered 5,071 Palestinians; 16,700 others were injured or maimed. In the West Bank, Israeli lunatics set fire to agricultural land in the town of Turmus Ayya northeast of Ramallah, destroying several olive groves.

So, while Americans and Canadians celebrated Father’s Day this past weekend, Palestinians mourned the deaths of their fathers, thanks to Western complicity. Adjusting for inflation, US aid to Israel from 1951 to 2022 totaled $317.9 billion, making it the largest recipient of American foreign aid since World War II. In March, USSECSTATE Marco Rubio expedited $4bn of American taxpayer money to Israel.  The Democratic Party, which has become an effective platform for AIPAC, will permanently lose seven to eight million antiwar Samaritans and progressives in future national elections against the GOP just as they did in 1968 and 2024. Their consciences will be clear.

Meanwhile Benjamin Netanyahu, a serial killer in the likes of John Wayne Gacy, Jack the Ripper, Son of Sam, the Zodiac Killer, or Charles Manson, remains at large in Israel, although the indicted war criminal makes occasional appearances at his criminal corruption trial in Tel Aviv. The Israeli National Police have not arrested and turned Netanyahu over to the Hague for prosecution.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of a law.

Sources:

https://www.state.gov/military-assistance-to-israel/

https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-military-aid-does-the-us-give-to-israel/

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/technology-science/artc-israel-ranks-10th-best-health-care-system-in-2024-review

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israels-pension-system-ranked-third-best-in-world-646239

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg7gl4zegyo

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/19/world-court-finds-israel-responsible-apartheid

UK: Blaise Metreweli Appointed as First Woman to Lead MI6

Blaise Metreweli has spent her entire career in the intelligence community and is of Georgian ancestry. She will take over from Sir Richard Moore later this year. (Photo: UK Foreign Office / AP / BBC)

Blaise Metreweli (47) will be the first woman to lead the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). She is currently Director General “Q”, the head of the crucial technology and innovation division that keeps the identities of operatives secret. “Q” comes up with methods to counter adversaries like China that uses biometric surveillance. Metreweli joined MI6 in 1999 and worked continuously as an intelligence officer, including director-level roles at MI5, the domestic intelligence service.

Historic note: The first head of MI6 was Royal Navy Captain Mansfield Cumming. He always signed his letters “C” and the codename has stuck. Captain Cumming wrote in green ink, so to this day, the head of MI6 is the only person in Whitehall who will write in green.

As predicted, a woman will take charge of MI6 for the first time. MI6 appointed an experienced and well-regarded insider who is fairly youthful over the other two qualified female candidates. Ms. Metreweli will run rings around the rank amateurs leading the USIC: ODNI Tulsi Gabbard, D/CIA John Ratcliffe, and D/FBI Kashyap Pramod “Kash” Patel. Dotard Trumpf appointed the first female D/CIA during his first administration, Gina Haspel.

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxyx04dv1wo

DNI Tulsi Gabbard Illegally Interfering in Inspector-General (IG) Offices

Senior Democratic lawmakers accused DNI Tulsi Gabbard of violating the law with personnel moves that threaten the independent oversight of the 18 intelligence agencies she oversees. In this letter, they provide new details of a standoff between Gabbard and her congressionally mandated inspector general. At stake is the fate of an office established by Congress in 2010 to provide independent oversight over what are now 18 US civilian and military intelligence agencies. Dotard Trumpf has frequently shown hostility toward inspectors general ” he fired one of Johnson’s predecessors during his first term in 2019 ” and in Jan 2025 he fired most inspectors general at federal Cabinet agencies.

Islamophobic, homophobic Tulsi Gabbard is the most underqualified person to ever lead a US intelligence organization. This shrew was chosen to lead the USIC to gut it, not empower it to protect US interests. These moves to fire the IGs protect Felon Musk and other cronies from being scrutinized of the abominable and massive larcenies they are perpetrating on the American taxpayer. Moreover, without independent IGs, there are no watchdogs keeping the Trumpf-filled USIC from abusing its tremendous powers of surveillance, wire-tapping, and data collection.

Emptyhead Tulsi Gabbard admitted use of the Signal App chat was a mistake. Then she used ArtificiaI Intelligence (AI) to de-classify the JFK assassination files, which led to the disaster of people’s personal information– specifically their social security numbers– being made public. This became a bonanza for identity thieves. At least 200 Congressional staffers personal data was exposed, as well as others.

Sources:

https://democrats-intelligence.house.gov/

https://www.rawstory.com/tulsi-gabbard-ai/

Dotard Trumpf Pick to Lead FAA Lied About His Pilot License

Republic Airways President and CEO Bryan Bedford testifies in Washington, 11 Jun 2025. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

Bryan Bedford, the nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration, for years erroneously stated in his Republic Airways bio that he is a pilot with a “commercial” rating.

Bedford’s biography at Republic Airways, the regional airline where he has been CEO since 1999, said until Thursday that he “holds commercial, multi-engine and instrument ratings.” The word “commercial” has since been removed. The FAA registry that houses data on pilot’s licenses does not list any such commercial credentials for Bedford.

Similar language asserting commercial credentials for Bedford appeared in his Republic bio since at least 2010according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

The ‘President Plane Crash’ meme has proven to be generally true, as US aviation safety has declined since Dotard Trumpf’s inauguration.

A far better choice to head the FAA would be any number of retired USAF generals, rather than a political donor who for decades has been lying about his aviation credentials.

Sources:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/04/16/has-flying-in-america-become-more-dangerous/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/15/trumps-faa-pick-has-claimed-commercial-pilot-license-he-doesnt-have-00406090

Germany Has Evidence of Russia’s Plans to Attack NATO

Bruno Kahl, President of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), stated that Russia is preparing to test the credibility of NATO’s Article V, adding that German intelligence has concrete evidence of the Kremlin’s preparations for potential aggression against the Alliance. The BND chief emphasized that Moscow no longer believes in the reliability of NATO’s collective defence system ” particularly Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty, which guarantees a joint response in the event of an attack on a member state.

 “We are very sure, and we have intelligence evidence to back this up, that [Russia’s full-scale invasion of] Ukraine is only one step on Russia’s path towards the West.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has issued similar warnings in the past, repeatedly stating that Germany must be “ready for war” by the end of this decade. Ukraine’s intelligence chief publicly echoed the same analysis.

Putin and his protege at the 2018 Helsinki Summit (Photo: Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

The Trumpf junta has already signaled the US military won’t be participating in NATO drills after 2025. This year CIA abruptly withdrew the name of Ralph Goff, an experienced senior officer with impeccable anti-Russian credentials, to lead the Directorate of Operations. The EU and NATO recognize the threat from Vladimir Putin (72) and with Canada, initiated the Rearm Europe program. Meanwhile in the US, AIPAC will ensure that Israel continues receiving US military aid at the expense of Ukraine and NATO.

Sources:

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/06/11/7516583/

https://www.bnd.bund.de/EN/Home/home_node.html

Hybrid Warfare: Ukrainian Civilians Targeted in Europe

Ukrainians in Europe are being attacked by pro-Kremlin assailants. In Berlin, a 51-year-old man was attacked by two men wielding a knife after he was heard speaking Ukrainian and asked about his nationality. When he replied that he was Ukrainian, one of the assailants stabbed him in the abdomen. Last year, a 15-year-old refugee was stabbed in the German city of Dortmund and the body of a 27-year-old Ukrainian woman was found in Gochsheim. A 46-year-old woman and her six-year-old daughter were found dead in their Belgium home this month. The paterfamilias is serving in the Ukrainian Army.

These crimes against soft Ukrainian targets fall under the rubric of asymmetric or hybrid’ warfare of attacking weak links in the enemy’s armor to undermine morale and waste precious resources protecting vulnerable targets. These defenseless Ukrainian civilians didn’t stand a chance against their attackers. The NATO sabotage alert level remain HIGH because of the Kremlin’s continuous nefarious activities in Europe to weaken the coalition by exploiting weaknesses in defenses.

Sources:

https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2024/04/26/russias-hybrid-war-against-the-west/

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/06/14/7517150/

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/tragedy-in-belgium-wife-and-daughter-of-ukrainian-1749294338.html

Mexico: Drug Cartels Recruiting Former Colombian Soldiers

Colombian military veterans should not be underestimated by any organization.

Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels are recruiting former Colombian soldiers, prompting Mexican authorities to turn away Colombians trying to enter the country. Last week twelve Colombians in the western state of Michoacan were arrested in connection with a mine attack that killed eight Mexican soldiers. Close underworld ties have long existed between organized crime groups in Mexico and Colombia. For many years, Colombian drug traffickers produced cocaine and heroin and moved it themselves by boat or plane to the US. Later, as US authorities cracked down on trafficking in the Caribbean, Mexican cartels’ power grew as they moved Colombian drugs over land and via small plane to the US border and smuggled them across.

Decades of internal conflict in Colombia have produced tens of thousands of former soldiers, paramilitaries, and guerrillas with weapons training and combat experience. Many officers were trained in the US Army’s School of the Americas. Colombian military veterans have also joined Ukraine’s army for the money, adventure, and camaraderie. These veterans make for formidable adversaries for any military or law-enforcement agency to deal with.

Sidenote: Colombia is still dealing with internal strife. At least four people were killed as rebel groups detonated bombs near police stations in the city of Cali and the neighboring Cauca province. The attacks were blamed on the FARC-EMC, a group led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who broke away from the group after it signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.

Sources:

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexicos-security-chief-drug-cartels-recruiting-former-colombian-122709311

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/jun/10/least-4-dead-wave-explosions-outside-police-stations-southwest/

NJ: Legendary Gang Member Returns to Pagans Motorcycle Club

Legendary Pagans exile Robert DeRonde (61) AKA ‘Hellboy’, once cast out by the club, had been welcomed back. Hellboy rejoins as the Pagans face threats on multiple fronts from rival outlaw motorcycle groups looking to grow in New Jersey, including the hated Hells Angels and the Warlocks.

“Hellboy is the symbol of Pagan Nation,” said Edwin Torres, a special agent with the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, referring to DeRonde by his nickname. “He was a huge part of the Pagan culture. He was the go-to guy, well-liked and respected by everyone.” DeRonde was repatched into the Pagans in late May after three years of inactivity. There’s also uncertainty within the group about what happens now that the former president, Keith “Conan” Richter, is out of prison. Richter took over the Pagans by force in 2018 and has rapidly expanded its ranks, taking the club from several hundred to more than 3,000 members by recruiting light-skinned Latino members from traditional street gangs, like the Latin Kings, though they still prohibit Black people from joining their ranks..

Robert DeRonde earned the nickname “Hellboy” because he tends to turn red when angry like the comic book superhero. DeRonde has, or at least seems to have, superhuman strength and a resistance to injury. A muscular 5-foot-11, he’s a scrappy fighter who doesn’t often lose. DeRonde was the unquestioned enforcer of the Pagans before his ouster. Pagans have attacked innocent motorists and would then intimidate them from testifying against them in court.

The term “outlaw motorcycle gang” (OMC) was coined by the journalist Hunter S. Thompson in 1966 and was subsequently adopted by federal and local law enforcement agencies in the US and elsewhere. The US FBI and Criminal Intelligence Service Canada have designated four MCs as “outlaw motorcycle gangs”: the Hells Angels, the Pagans, the Outlaws, and the Bandidos These “outlaw motorcycle gangs” operate illegal businesses like drug and weapons trafficking, extortion, or as you read here on Coriolanus, murder for hire, all under the guise of being a legitimate club. The members of these “OMCs” are dangerous mofongos and of course they should be avoided at all times and at all costs.

Source:

Link One

Ex-CIA Analyst Sentenced Three Years for Posting on Social Media Israeli Murder-Death-Kill Attack Plans Against Iran

Former CIA analyst Asif William Rahman (34) of Vienna was sentenced to 37 months in prison for unlawfully leaking classified information on social media platforms in October 2024. Rahman accessed and released Top Secret documents regarding Israel and its planned actions against Iran on social media platforms. Some of the documents referred to Israel’s nuclear capabilities, which have never been officially acknowledged. He then engaged in a deletion campaign of his work products on his Top Secret work station. Continuing through Nov 2024, Rahman repeated the process. Rahman, who worked abroad, was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia and brought to the US territory of Guam to face charges. On 17 Jan 2025, Rahman pleaded guilty to two counts under the Espionage Act and has remained in custody since his arrest. The BOP has not yet released information as to which prison Asif William Rahman (USMS #46561-511) will be confined in.

Asif William Rahman leaked this information last year in a vain attempt to prevent the war that bloodthirsty Benjamin Netanyahu started anyway on 12 Jun 2025. Nota Bene: Another young man, a DIA employee, was recently arrested for attempting to sell classified information after growing disgusted and disgruntled with the Trumpf junta.

Source:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-cia-analyst-sentenced-over-three-years-prison-unlawfully-transmitting-top-secret

White Supremacist Terrorism

Apprehended Minnesota Political Assassin Had List of 70 Victims

Vance Luther Boelter (57) is a Christian evangelical zealot.

White supremacist Christian terrorist Vance Luther Boelter was arrested after a manhunt for assassinating a US lawmaker and her husband and brutally shooting another couple. He had a list of at least 70 Democrat lawmakers and other private citizens he was planning to murder.

Here is footage of the maniac, Vance Luther Boelter, in an African church celebrating God:

Footage of the Minnesota assassin Vance Luther Boelter, a life long registered republican and "Christian" nationalist incel that hated women. He's 100% MAGA.

Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) 2025-06-15T08:02:45.517Z

During Boelter’s bloody rampage, this Christian lunatic also shot a beloved golden retriever, a defenseless rescue dog named Chester, who was later euthanized.

 

Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted this photo below on social media after news broke that two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses were shot and killed in Minnesota.

During “No Kings Day” activities in the US, several incidents occurred against anti-Trumpf citizens and there are simply too many to detail here. One example of a “useful idiot” answering the call to harm Democrats and liberals is this white supremacist terrorist below, who allegedly drove his SUV into a crowd of defenseless people in Culpepper, Virginia. At the tender age of 21, Joseph R. Checklick Jr. recklessly threw his life away:

Joseph R. Checklick Jr. (21)

Members of the dangerous MAGA cult of Christian white supremacists are acting more brazenly and boldly against liberals, atheists, Democrats, pro-Palestinian volunteers, antiwar Samaritans, and minorities, all inspired by their spiritual leader, Dotard Trumpf.

Dotard Trumpf attending an evangelical Christian brain-washing event on 29 Oct 2018. (Photo: NY Times)

Sources:

https://www.insidenova.com/culpeper/police-man-arrested-after-driving-into-crowd-of-no-kings-protesters-in-culpeper/article_21466e1d-7284-4754-8584-5fd9cdcb7bcd.html

Accomplice Arrested in California Fertility Clinic Bombing

Daniel Jongyon Park and the Palm Springs fertility clinic in California after the kamikaze attack.

Daniel Jongyon Park (32) was arrested for providing material support to the Palm Springs fertility clinic bomber. The suicide bomber, Guy Edward Bartkus (25), was motivated by pro-mortalism, anti-natalism, and anti-pro-life ideologies, which is the belief that individuals should not be born without their consent and that non-existence is best. Park, who shares Bartkus’ psychotic views, provided him with at least 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate. Both maniacs ran experiments with chemicals and used AI to assist with their attack planning. Bartkus liquidated himself in the kamikaze attack and Park fled to Europe, but was extradited to the US from Poland. If convicted, Park would face a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Mental illness is increasing in the US, as is membership in dangerous online cults, like the ‘Zizians.’ Meanwhile, phantom insurance’ companies are not treating the unwell and the Trumpf junta is slashing the budgets of HHS and the CDC. Trumpf also loosened firearm regulations, so Americans should expect to see an increase in violence from lunatics like Daniel Jongyon Park, Guy Edward Bartkus, or Vance Luther Boelter, either by firearms, explosives, stabbings, or vehicle ramming.

Sources:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-state-man-arrested-federal-charges-alleging-he-provided-material-support-palm

USAFacts.org 

GNET

US: Painful Invasive Species of Ants Spreading

Asian needle ant.

The invasive Asian needle ant is a stinging, carnivorous pismire that has been slowly spreading across the US. Last year at least three cases of life-threatening anaphylactic reactions were reported in Georgia, making this little (and little-known) insect a growing problem. Asian needle ants will reach their yearly peak numbers in July and August. They are small and blend in so well that stings often occur when someone, perhaps while gardening or moving wood, unknowingly disturbs them. “Imagine somebody inserting a needle directly into your flesh,” said one researcher. These ants are now widespread on the East Coast. For some, the stings can be life-threatening. For others, it’s an unusual pain that can come and go for hours. Pet owners should be vigilant about where their dogs and cats venture to

Interactive map here:

Brachyponera chinensis roughly translates as “short, wicked ant from China,” though they’re actually native to China, Japan, and the Koreas. And by some older translations it could also be “short constricted ants from China.” These ants were first discovered in 1932 in Decatur, GA, but was only recognized as a serious pest in the past two decades as it began to spread significantly throughout the southeast.

The Asian needle ant is difficult to eradicate because it doesn’t lay pheromone trails that can be disrupted or easily used to get the ants to inadvertently take poison back to their nests.

The painful Asian needle ant has been detected in Florida where President Dotard Trumpf wastes a preponderance of his time golfing, all paid for the by the hardworking American taxpayer.

Perhaps these Asian needle ants would be kind enough to oblige us one day:

Sources:

USDA Info

Ant Map

Stinging Asian needle ants spreading across US and nearing Illinois

US: Two Sadists Indicted for Torturing and Killing Monkeys

Katrina D. Favret, of TN and Robert M. Craig, of NC, conspired with previously charged defendant Ronald P. Bedra, of Etna, OH, to create and distribute so-called “animal crush videos.” The videos alleged to have been created included depictions of monkeys being sodomized with a heated screwdriver and a monkey having its genitals cut with scissors. The conspirators used encrypted chat applications to direct money to individuals in Indonesia willing to commit the requested acts of torture on camera.

A year-long BBC investigation has uncovered a sadistic global monkey torture ring stretching from Indonesia to the US. These maniacs mutilate and kill baby long-tailed macaques on film:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/Iot1dIWVS5/hunting-the-monkey-torturers

Below, Mike Macartney, a key video distributor in the US known by his screen name, “The Torture King.”  “It went from baby bottle teasing to fingers being snipped off.” No one should be surprised at the Confederate and Dotard Trumpf flags adorning his Virginia home. This lunatic is facing five years in prison and appears to be still be at large.

“Torture King” Michael Macartney – pictured at his home in Virginia – is facing up to five years in prison on animal abuse charges (Photo: Joel Gunter / BBC)

Unwell people are not getting the treatment, medications, or therapy they need to function as normal members of society. Austerity cuts to the social safety net under the Trump junta and “phantom insurance” companies that won’t pay for treatments will only exacerbate the problem of spreading mental illness in the American population.  

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/grand-jury-indicts-two-individuals-involvement-online-groups-dedicated-monkey-torture-and

Canada: Samaritan Couple Rescue Beautiful Collie from Demise in the Nick of Time

Josee and Vic on their wedding day.

When Vic and Josee read in the news that a beautiful abandoned young collie was about to be euthanized, they immediately drove several hours south to Montreal from northern Quebec.

Arriving at the nick of time, the couple immediately rescued the poor creature whom they re-christened “Mike.” Here he is in Vic and Josee’s car for the first time.

Mike the collie on his way to his new home.

Josee, who is a naturo-therapist, herbalist, entrepreneur, and avid reader, and her husband Vic were already managing a robust menagerie of fauna and flora in their habitat. They quickly began training this highly intelligent and affectionate canine.

The two new best friends.

In his illustrious career, Vic was a fireman, English teacher, and former Cold Warrior who flew on intelligence missions against the Soviet Union during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Another avid reader, Vic also maintains his private pilot license to this day. This gentleman and scholar also sang bass-baritone with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) when it was led by Maestro Kent Nagano years ago. Incredibly, Vic was fortunate to have met and shaken hands with President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and baseball legend Jackie Robinson, and is never without an anecdote or history lesson about the US Civil Rights movement or the Cold War.

“Thanks Josee and Vic! Arf!”

Mike has now acclimated to his wonderful new forever home. Our thanks to Samaritans Vic and Josee for quick thinking, speed of plan, and opening their wallets and hearts to Mike.  

Putin Widens Scope of Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on 25 Sep that a conventional attack on Russia by any country that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack.

Putin made the statement as he outlined revisions to Russia’s nuclear doctrine at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council in Moscow.

Russia’s current nuclear doctrine says Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.

The revised version of the document says that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack posing a “critical threat to our sovereignty.”

“It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any nonnuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Putin said.

The conditions for Russia’s transition to the use of nuclear weapons are also clearly fixed,” Putin said, adding that Moscow would consider such a move if it gets reliable information about the start of a mass cross-border attack by air from strategic and tactical aviation, cruise missiles, drones, and hypersonic weapons.

Putin also said the list of states and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence should be expanded but did not mention which countries would be added.

A top Ukrainian government official denounced the revisions, saying they proved Moscow had nothing left but nuclear blackmail to intimidate the world.

“Russia no longer has any instruments to intimidate the world apart from nuclear blackmail,” Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said on 25 Sep on Telegram. “These instruments will not work.”

Since Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, he and others in the Kremlin have threatened the West with Russia’s nuclear arsenal to discourage it from ramping up support for Kiev.

The revisions come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy seeks permission from his allies in the US and Europe to use the longer-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory.

The change follows Putin’s warning to the US and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war. Putin said the revisions were carefully calibrated and commensurate with the modern military threats facing Russia.

This is dangerous nuclear saber-rattling and shows how desperate Putin is. He makes this announcement while the UN General Assembly is convening in NYC, a clear snub at the international body. As the recent Russian attack on the civilian cargo ship carrying grain in the Black Sea demonstrated, Putin will attack vulnerable economic targets to discourage the US and NATO from allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons against Russia. A war in the Middle East benefits Putin as this could cause oil prices to rise, sparking inflation in the US and the West.

Such a revision to Russian nuclear doctrine may have required consultation with key allies, Beijing and Pyongyang. The more rational, profit-oriented Xi Jinping probably disapproved of this change. He already has concerns about a nuclear mishap on his eastern border with North Korea and wouldn’t want to expose China to nuclear fallout from the west. Also, Beijing profits from a long, conventional war so China, “the world’s factory,” could continue making money selling everything from A-to Z to Russia. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is also studying tactics, weapons, communications systems, and techniques used in the Russo-Ukrainian War in order to see what would work in a potential conflict with Taiwan and the US. Kim Jong-Un probably approved of this change, having recently become formal allies with Putin and himself rattling his nuclear saber to maintain his grip on the Hermit Kingdom and his starving people.

Source:

Putin Widens Scope Of Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine (rferl.org)

Maryland Female White Supremacist Sentenced for Conspiring to Destroy Baltimore Region Power Grid

A woman believed to be Sarah Beth Clendaniel is shown wearing tactical gear containing a swastika, holding a rifle and with a pistol in a drop holster on her left leg. (Photo: FBI)

Sarah Beth Clendaniel (36) of Catonsville, MD, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for conspiring to damage or destroy electrical facilities in Maryland and a concurrent sentence of 15 years in prison and three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The defendant will be 54 years old when she is released from prison.

In 2018, Clendaniel became acquainted with Brandon C. Russell, a Florida resident, who is currently charged with conspiracy to damage or destroy electrical facilities in Maryland and is awaiting trial. Clendaniel and Russell espouse a white supremacist ideology and advocate a concept known as “accelerationism.” To “accelerate” or to support “accelerationism” is based on a white supremacist belief that the current system is irreparable and without an apparent political solution, and therefore violent action is necessary to precipitate societal and government collapse.

From Dec 2022 through Feb 2023, Clendaniel conspired with Russell to damage energy facilities involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity and to cause a significant interruption and impairment of the Baltimore regional power grid. The intended monetary loss associated with the planned attacks would have exceeded $75 million.

As set forth in her plea agreement, Clendaniel admitted that she communicated and planned over encrypted communication applications (ECA) to carry out attacks against energy facilities. Russell and Clendaniel communicated their plans to commit an attack on the Baltimore region power grid to a confidential human source (CHS-1).

On 3 Feb 2023, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Clendaniel’s residence in Catonsville, MD. Law enforcement agents recovered various firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Federal law prohibits Clendaniel from possessing these items because she is a convicted felon, including convictions in Cecil County, MD, for robbery in 2006 and robbery and attempted robbery in 2016.

Brandon Russell mugshot from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office via AP.

Brandon Clint Russell is a Bahamian and American Neo-Nazi leader, terrorist, and founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division. He studied nuclear physics at the University of South Florida (USF) as an undergraduate and became a Florida Army National Guardsman.

These two are incredibly dangerous miscreants with histories of violence and hatred. The sooner his trial concludes and he is incarcerated for decades, if not life, the better. Where all of this hatred comes from in white Americans can be attributed to hate messages propagating on right wing radio stations and cable programs, as well as social media, like ‘X.” The next article discusses hate crimes catalogued by the FBI.

Brandon Clint Russell is innocent of all charges until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Maryland Woman Sentenced for Conspiring to Destroy the Baltimore Region Power Grid | United States Department of Justice

Atomwaffen Division | Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org)

FBI: Hate Crimes, Particularly Against LGBTQ Community, On the Rise

Hate crimes motivated by gender-identity and sexual orientation rose from 2022 to 2023, according to FBI data, sparking concern among LGBTQ advocates about the potential impact of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation.

Though violent crime is down about 3% overall from 2022 to 2023, hate crimes are up across the US, according to the FBI’s statistics. Sexual orientation and gender identity were the third and fourth most prevalent bias motivation in 2023, behind race/ethnicity and religion.

The FBI counted 2,936 incidents related to sexual-orientation and gender-identity bias in 2023 – up roughly 8.6% from about 2,700 in 2022.

Sexual orientation, excluding heterosexuality, was the motivation for 2,389 incidents in 2023 – up from about 2,188 in 2022, and about 1,300 in 2021, according to FBI data report.

The FBI report also shows gender identity-based incidents have been on the rise for several years, from 307 offenses in 2021, to 515 in 2022, to 547 in 2023.

In June 2023, Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the US, which is still in effect, citing an increasingly hostile environment and the record-breaking wave of legislation negatively impacting the LGBTQ community.

Sources:

Hate crimes, particularly against LGBTQ community, on the rise: FBI data – ABC News (go.com)

CDE (cjis.gov)

Canadian Auto-Theft Plague: 78 Stolen Vehicles Seized in Montreal Port in One Month as Numbers Continue to Skyrocket

This stolen Lexus was recovered in a storage container at the Port of Montreal in 2019. It was one of 97 high-end vehicles recovered by police during Project Shildon. Police say the Lexus and other stolen vehicles were destined for Africa. Photo: Ontario Provincial Police

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seized 78 stolen vehicles valued at nearly $6 million and transferred them to the local police. The CBSA seized 348 vehicles in Quebec in the entire year in 2018.

In 2023, the CBSA reported that 1,204 vehicles were seized, topping the 1,050 vehicles seized in 2022.

With just over three months to go in the year, 1,061 vehicles have so far been seized in Quebec.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) reported that the cost of insurance claims for replacing stolen vehicles skyrocketed in 2023 to $1.5 billion, and 2024 is likely to be similar.

The IBC said that between 2018 and 2021, auto theft claims averaged $556 million.

“Canada’s auto theft crisis is also placing pressure on drivers’ insurance premiums – as auto theft continues to increase, so do the associated costs,” said IBC vice president Liam McGuinty. “Auto theft is not a victimless crime.”

From 2018 to 2023, claims have increased by 56 per cent and the cost of those claims increased 254 per cent.

The destinations of these stolen cars include China, West Africa, and the Middle East, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Source:

78 stolen vehicles seized in Montreal, Quebec numbers skyrocketing | CTV News

Wagner Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) Update

Unidentified Wagner fighter. On 26 Jan 2023, the US Treasury sanctioned the Wagner Group as a Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) and the UK designated them as a terrorist entity in Sep 2023. (Undated photo / TASS)

Wagner’s late leader and founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in late June 2023 that 32,000 former inmates recruited by his group from prison had returned home after being granted clemency as part of their remuneration for fighting in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said those fighting in Ukraine must become “Russia’s new elite” and allowed to occupy state posts. So now more than 300 soldiers who fought Ukraine have become elected officials, the majority of them from Putin’s ruling United Russia party.

Former Wagner mercenary Mikhail Ostryansky who fought in Ukraine has been elected speaker of a local parliament in the Perm region. Ostryansky, a 65-year-old former police officer, now holds the highest position by a returning soldier since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But the reintegration of prison recruits has been a disaster for Russia over the past two years. Hundreds of cases of violent crimes, including murders and sexual attacks, have been committed by former Wagner mercenaries and other returning soldiers, some of it reported here on Coriolanus.

Russian courts tend to hand mitigated sentences to such perpetrators, citing their “patriotism” and “contributions” they made to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In October 2023, Putin urged state-run media outlets to refrain from covering crimes committed by returning soldiers. In January, because of the crime wave committed by these veterans, Putin ended the practice of exonerating prison recruits. These convicts were officially granted “a release on parole,” maintaining their criminal records.

According to a new report by the US-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), JPMorgan and HSBC unknowingly processed payments for companies controlled by Wagner.

Wagner established an early foothold in Africa during the mid-2010s thanks to access it had to an international “network of financial services and transportation networks to move supplies and generate revenue. Intermediary banks and shipping companies formed crucial linkages between PMC Wagner’s early mining activities and the wider international economic system,” C4ADS said.

For example, Prigozhin’s Sudanese mining firm, Meroe Gold, purchased industrial equipment, diesel generators, and spare parts from China in 2017. The payments, made from a local bank account, were processed through JPMorgan Chase and HSBC Group’s Hang Seng Bank as intermediaries. The Financial Times, which first reported on the C4ADS findings, wrote that neither JPMorgan nor HSBC were found to have knowingly handled transactions for Wagner’s front companies.

Footnote: In July 2012, the US Senate Sub-Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs accused HSBC of exposing the US financial system to money laundering, drug, and terrorist financing risks. See official findings linked below.

Following Prigozhin’s death in August 2023, Russia’s Defense Ministry absorbed Wagner’s operations across Africa. The group is estimated to have approximately 5,000 mercenaries operating in Africa, many of whom were former Russian soldiers and convicts. Three of them were recently detained in Chad for unspecified reasons. The Russian foreign ministry identified them as Maxim Shugaley, Samer Sueifan and E. Tsaryov.

The state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported that Shugaley and Sueifan are “sociologists” that had been held at the airport of Chad’s capital since 19 Sep. The pair were reportedly detained without explanation.

Shugaley heads the Moscow-based NGO “Foundation for the Defense of National Values”, which is part of a media group the US claims is linked to the late Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. He is under EU sanctions, listed as working directly under Prigozhin’s supervision as the “public relations arm of the Wagner Group,” and spreading “propaganda and disinformation.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said a Belarusian citizen had also been detained along with the three Russian men in Chad, identifying him as A. Denisevich.

Undated photo of Wagnerites Samer Sueifan and Maxim Shugaley, who were described as “sociologists.” In May 2019, both Shugaley and Sueifan were arrested in Libya and accused of election interference on behalf of Russia. They were freed after 18 months of captivity.

Sources:

Treasury Sanctions Russian Proxy Wagner Group as a Transnational Criminal Organization | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Unearthed-C4ADS.pdf

JPMorgan, HSBC Handled Payments for Wagner’s Africa Operations – Report – The Moscow Times

HSBC Exposed U.S. Financial System to Money Laundering, Drug, Terrorist Financing Risks – Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs (senate.gov)

3 Russian Men Arrested in Chad, Foreign Ministry Says – The Moscow Times

News – RFE/RL (rferl.org)

NYS Announces Statewide Action After Man Dies of Mosquito-Borne Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE)

After an Ulster County man died of EEE, NYS issued a Declaration of Imminent Threat to Public Health and urged New Yorkers to follow recommendations to reduce risks of mosquito-borne illnesses.

State measures Include mosquito spraying, more insect repellent for visitors at state parks and campgrounds, and greater outreach to residents.

State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald:

“Eastern equine encephalitis is different this year. While we normally see these mosquitoes in two to three counties each year, this year they have been in 15 counties so far, and scattered all over New York State. This life-threatening mosquito-borne disease has no commercially available human vaccine and must be taken seriously. Mosquitoes, once a nuisance, are now a threat. I urge all New Yorkers to prevent mosquito bites by using insect repellents, wearing long-sleeved clothing, and removing free-standing water near their homes. Fall is officially here, but mosquitoes will be around until we see multiple nights of below freezing temperatures.”

Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire, have also reported human EEE cases this year. Eighteen cases of EEE have been in identified in horses across 12 counties in New York State this year.

Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a rare but severe viral disease spread by infected mosquitoes that can affect people and horses. People of all ages are susceptible to infection, but people over 50 and younger than 15 are at a high risk of acquiring the virus.

While most people bitten by an infected mosquito will not develop symptoms, severe cases may begin with the sudden onset of headache, high fever, chills and vomiting. The illness may then progress into disorientation, seizures, encephalitis and coma. Approximately a third of patients who develop EEE die, while many patients who survive EEE experience neurologic impairment.

There is no commercially available human vaccine for EEE and the best protection is to prevent mosquito bites.

This is a direct consequence of global warming. As the planet warms and climate change lengthens the mosquito season, the world’s deadliest creature will expand its geographical range to new regions and re-emerge in areas where mosquito numbers had subsided for decades.

Sources:

Governor Hochul Announces Statewide Action Following Confirmed Case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis | Governor Kathy Hochul (ny.gov)

2024-09_eee_declaration.pdf (ny.gov)

Donald Trump Bashes Catholics Voting for Harris: ‘Should Have Their Head Examined’

The Trump Crime Family (TCF) met with the first Jesuit pope in 2017. This photo reminded the author of the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein. In most of the photos of this 2017 visit, only Trump is seen smiling. Compare with the image below when Pope Francis met President Biden.

Vatican Media Handout via REUTERS

Former President Donald Trump criticized American Catholics who plan on voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that they need a brain exam of some kind. Last week, the ex-president has said the same thing – repeatedly – about Jews who vote for Democrats, stating they should also have their heads examined. He upped the ante by claiming that if he loses, Jews will be largely to blame.

On Monday, he tried a different tack by going after Catholics who will vote for the Democratic nominee.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced he will attend the Al Smith Dinner in New York, as is custom for the two major party nominees in an election year, though Harris is not attending. Smith, a Democrat, was governor of New York in the 1920s and was the first Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party. He lost the 1928 election at a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was a substantial factor in US electoral politics.

At the 2020 Al Smith Dinner, which was held virtually because of the COVID pandemic, Trump slammed the Democratic Party as “anti-Catholic.”

Here’s what the ex-President recently posted:

“We know the Spirit of Al Smith, the first Catholic Nominee of a Major Party, and John F. Kennedy, the FIRST Catholic President, will be in the room with us that night. It was a virtual event in 2020, and I was delighted to speak to our Catholic friends that day and, of course, it was a HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL evening in 2016 when we were there in person with Crooked Hillary Clinton. The reviews of my remarks were TREMENDOUS. It’s sad, but not surprising, that Kamala has decided not to attend. I don’t know what she has against our Catholic friends, but it must be a lot, because she certainly hasn’t been very nice to them, in fact, Catholics are literally being persecuted by this Administration. Any Catholic that votes for Comrade Kamala Harris should have their head examined….

Trump expressed similar frustration toward Catholics in July when he said, “I don’t know how a Catholic can vote for the Democrats.”

This is absolutely breath-taking that an irreligious WASP can dictate to Jews and Catholics who they should vote for. With this type of trajectory, we can see the ex-President criticizing blacks or Buddhists for supporting Kamala Harris.

But more importantly, despite his being a presidential candidate, Donald Trump was convicted in a NYS court on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Donald Trump was also impeached by Congress for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. So why are the organizers of the Al Smith Dinner validating this impeached felon by even inviting him? Custom? Tradition? Would Benedict Arnold, Jefferson Davis, or Richard Nixon been invited to the Al Smith Dinner if they were alive?

Source:

Trump Bashes Catholics Voting for Harris: ‘Should Have Their Head Examined’ (msn.com)

New Ghost Shark Species with Unusually Long Nose Discovered in Deep Seas off New Zealand

The new species of ghost shark was discovered in the Chathams Rise, roughly 750km east of New Zealand’s coast. Photograph: NIWA

A new species of ghost shark, with an unusually long nose and a whip-like tail, has been discovered in the inky depths of New Zealand waters.

Scientists at New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospherics (Niwa) initially believed the creature was part of an existing species found around the world, but further investigation revealed it was new, genetically distinct, species. The newly described Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish is only found in New Zealand and Australian waters.

Ghost sharks – also known as chimaeras and spookfish – are a group of cartilaginous fish closely related to sharks and rays. They have smooth skin, beak-like teeth, and feed off crustaceans such as shrimp and molluscs. They are sometimes referred to as the ocean’s butterflies for the way they glide through the water with their large pectoral fins.

The mysterious fish are typically found at great ocean depths – up to 2,600 metres – and little is known about their biology or the threats they face.

The new ghost shark was found in the Chathams Rise, roughly 750km east of New Zealand’s coast. It is distinctive for its very elongated snout that can make up half of its entire body length and has likely evolved to aid its hunt for prey. The chocolate-brown fish can grow up to a meter long, has large milky-coloured eyes, and a serrated dorsal fin to deter predators.

Roughly 55 species of ghost shark have been discovered globally, with about 12 of those found in New Zealand and South Pacific waters.

Source:

New ghost shark species with unusually long nose discovered in deep seas off New Zealand | New Zealand | The Guardian

At Least 51 Killed, 219 injured in Russian Missile Strike in Central Ukraine

An Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile launcher. Russian forces have been firing such missiles from mobile launchers across the border into Ukraine. (Credit: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA, via Shutterstock)

At least 51 people were killed and 219 were injured on 3 Sep in one of Russia’s deadliest attacks in a single strike since its all-out invasion of Ukraine. Two missiles struck a building of the Military Communications Institute in a morning attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine.

The victims didn’t have time to evacuate to a bomb shelter after hearing the air-raid alert. 15 people may still be under the rubble as search teams were continuing to work at the scene.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office announced that it launched an inquiry after President Zelensky ordered a “full and prompt investigation” into what happened.

The attack is believed to be the deadliest single strike since May 2022 when 87 soldiers were killed at a military training center in the northern Cherniv region. Ukraine’s defense readiness came under scrutiny after the strike on Poltava, and some observers questioned why a large number of people were left vulnerable to a single attack.

Vladislav Seleznev, a Ukrainian military analyst and former spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian military, said Ukraine can blame the Kremlin for the strike on Poltava, but there must also be a clear understanding of Kiev’s responsibility.

President Zelensky had previously requested 25 Patriot air defense systems to fully defend its airspace and protect the entire country from Russian missile attacks.

Sources:

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-strikes-poltava/33105117.html

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-27ea21c05a2fc336ac4fdbbce31b77bc

Former Aide to New York Governors Charged with Acting as Agent of Chinese Government

Undated image of Linda Sun.

A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was charged with acting as an agent for the Chinese government.

Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to Hochul and a Cuomo aide, was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registrations Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment.

Her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, was also charged with conspiracy to launder money and commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification.

Sun acted as “an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain.”

Prosecutors allege Sun blocked Taiwanese diplomacy and ensured then-Governor Andrew Cuomo praised China for help during the Covid-19 emergency. The defendants used shell companies, iCloud accounts and WeChat messages – with everything in Mandarin – in their alleged crimes.

Sun and Hu were arrested at their palatial Long Island residence and both pleaded not guilty to all charges in federal court Tuesday afternoon. Sun’s bond is set at $1.5 million and her husband’s is set at $500,000. Both will have their travel limited to NYC, Long Island, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to testify at a Congressional hearing on 10 Sep regarding his response to the Covid-19 response.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Former High-Ranking New York State Government Employee Charged with Acting as an Undisclosed Agent of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party | United States Department of Justice

BREAKING: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to Testify at Public Hearing on September 10 – United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

American Warzone: Man Kills Four People on Train Near Chicago

Rhanni S. Davis (30) of Chicago was charged with four counts of first-degree murder after he allegedly killed four people on a Chicago Transit Authority train in Forest Park, Illinois, early Monday.

The Forest Park Police Department received a 911 call about three people shot on a westbound train at the CTA Blue Line station in Forest Park, just west of Chicago, around 5:30 a.m. local time.

Authorities cleared the station, finding four victims. Three were pronounced dead at the scene and the fourth died later in a hospital.

Law-enforcement agencies used video surveillance to help identify the alleged murderer. The suspect was taken into custody and a firearm was recovered. The shooting appears to have been an isolated incident with no immediate additional threat to the community.

In an average year in Illinois, 1,657 people die and 4,994 are wounded by guns.

With a rate of 13.2 deaths per 100,000 people, the Land of Lincoln has the 35th-highest rate of gun deaths in the US.

Sources:

Man charged in fatal shooting of 4 people on train near Chicago – ABC News

Gun-Violence-in-Illinois-2024-05.pdf (everystat.org)

US Justice Dept Indicts Hamas with One Hand; US State Dept Negotiates with Hamas with Other

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv, Israel, hold placards showing support for hostages who were kidnapped during the 7 Oct 2023 attack.

The Justice Department announced criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with the 7 Oct 2023 rampage in Israel, marking the first effort by US law enforcement to formally call out the masterminds of the attack.

The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in NYC includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder US nationals, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, that were used in the attack.

The charges come as the White House says it is developing a new cease-fire and hostage deal proposal with its Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to try to bring about an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza. A US official, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was no reason to believe the charges would affect the ongoing negotiations.

A State Department spokesman said that reaching a cease-fire and release of the 100 or so remaining hostages “will require both sides to show flexibility. It will require that both sides look for reasons to get to yes rather than reasons to say no.”

The full unsealed complaint is linked below.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The fabled Pushmi-Pullyu from the Dr. Dolittle canon.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Justice Department Announces Terrorism Charges Against Senior Leaders of Hamas | United States Department of Justice

dl (justice.gov)

US charges Hamas leader, other militants in Oct. 7 attack on Israel (voanews.com)

US issues new call for Israel, Hamas to reach cease-fire pact (voanews.com)

Canada Turning Away More Foreigners Amid Rise in Anti-Immigration Sentiment

At a 2020 rally, protesters called on the federal government to grant permanent status to all refugees across Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)

Canada is taking steps, both official and unofficial, to curb the number of people coming to the country, highlighting the way in which immigration has become a political flashpoint ahead of a federal election.

The ratio of refused visitor visa applications to approved ones was higher in recent months than at any point since the height of the Covid pandemic. Immigration officials rejected more applications than they approved in January, February, May, and June 2024. At the same time, the number of approved study and work permits dropped. And in July, Canada refused entry to nearly 6,000 foreign travelers, including students, workers and tourists – the most since at least January 2019.

Recent polling has shown a sharp change in how Canadians perceive of immigration, amid a mounting cost of living crisis. One immigration lawyer in Nova Scotia said his firm has seen an increase in rejections – and mounting hostility towards the firm’s clients. The sudden growth of the Canadian population stressed the affordable housing and medical care infrastructure.

The immigration minister said he would reassess the number of people applying for permanent residency. PM Justin Trudeau added his government would scale back the controversial temporary foreign workers following a surge in applications. The program was recently condemned by a UN special rapporteur for being a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”.

The prime minister also mentioned reducing the number of permanent residents Canada accepts each year, dramatically upending years of increased immigration levels under his tenure. In late 2023, the federal government said it would freeze permanent resident targets over the next three years to ensure inflows were “sustainable”. Ottawa intends to bring in 485,000 permanent residents in 2024, but only 500,000 in both 2025 and 2026.

Sources:

Canada turning away more foreigners amid rise in anti-immigration sentiment | Canada | The Guardian

UN envoy calls Canada’s use of migrant workers ‘breeding ground for slavery’

Read more

Russia Orders French Researcher Accused of Spying Held for Six More Months

French researcher Laurent Vinatier during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, on 31 July 2024. © Yulia Morozova/Reuters

A court in Moscow on Tuesday ordered a French researcher to remain in jail until at least February 2025, on the first day of his trial for unlawfully collecting sensitive data. Laurent Vinatier was arrested in June for gathering information on Russia’s military without being registered as a “foreign agent”.

The 48-year-old French national has been charged with collecting information on Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” and he faces up to five years in prison if convicted. After he was first arrested, he admitted to the charge of not having registered as a foreign agent, saying he did not know that he was legally required to do so. Vinatier has been held in pre-trial detention since June, despite several requests to be placed under house arrest.

Vinatier is a specialist on the former Soviet Union and worked with the Swiss NGO Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), which helps to mediate conflicts outside of standard diplomatic channels. He was reportedly working on mediation efforts in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

His detention has increased tensions between Moscow and Paris, already strained since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and France’s subsequent support of Kiev. Arrests on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia since the start of the war.

After the biggest post-Cold War prisoner exchange between Russia and the West in early August, which did not include Vinatier, France called on Moscow to free all people “arbitrarily detained in Russia.”

Source:

Russia orders French researcher accused of spying held for six more months (rfi.fr)

Indigenous Mothers Fight to Search Former CIA Experiment Site in Montreal, Quebec

Anthropologist Philippe Blouin poses with Mohawk mothers Kahentinetha and Kwetiio at the Allen Memorial Institute in Montreal. (Image: Alexis Aubin/AFP)

Between 1957 and 1964 (though possibly beginning as early as 1948), psychiatric experiments were conducted at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, a psychiatric teaching hospital affiliated with McGill University. Scottish-American psychiatrist Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron led and conducted these experiments which exposed patients to electroshocks, hallucinogenic drugs, and sensory deprivation. The program is widely believed to have been partly funded by the US CIA as part of their top-secret MKULTRA program, as well as the Canadian government.

Today, a group of Indigenous women are trying to stop the bulldozers at a former Montreal hospital which they believe could hold the truth about children still missing from that grisly half-century-old CIA experiment. They have spent the last two years trying to delay the construction project by McGill University and the Quebec government.

The mothers are relying on archives and testimonies that suggest the site contains unmarked graves of children formerly interned at the Royal Victoria Hospital and Allan Memorial Institute, a neighboring psychiatric hospital.

In the fall of 2022, these activists obtained an injunction to suspend work on a new university campus and research center at the site — a project worth Can$870 million (US$643 million).

In recent years, Canada has opened its eyes to past atrocities. Generations of Indigenous children were sent to residential schools where they were stripped of their language, culture, and identities in what a 2015 truth and reconciliation report said amounted to “cultural genocide.”

Between 1831 and 1996, some 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their homes and placed in 139 such schools. Several thousand never returned to their communities.

In May 2021, the discovery of unmarked graves of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia started a national reflection on this dark chapter of Canadian history, while sparking searches for more graves across Canada.

“It was not only residential schools, it involved hospitals, sanatoriums, churches, and orphanages too,” said Kwetiio (pictured above).

Last summer, sniffer dogs and specialized probes were brought in to search the hospital’s expansive and dilapidated buildings. They managed to identify three areas of interest for excavations. But, according to McGill and the government’s Societe Quebecoise des Infrastructure (SQI), “no human remains have been discovered.”

The Indigenous activists were not satisfied with the search and want another investigation conducted by a party unaffiliated with the government or the university.  

Sources:

Montreal MKULTRA Experiments | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Indigenous mothers fight to search CIA experiment site in Montreal – Raw Story

‘The American People Deserve to Know’: Dems Demand Answers from Trump on $10M Egypt Donation

Donald Trump with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah-el-Sisi on 23 Sep 2019.

On top of his stumbling campaign, Neanderthalic VP running mate JD Vance, imminent due dates for criminal and civil liabilities, and hideous, incoherent speeches, ex-President Donald Trump has another headache to deal with. On 2 Aug, Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. David reported that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi “sought to give” Donald Trump “$10 million to boost his 2016 presidential campaign.” The journalists also noted that in January 2017 — five days before Trump was sworn in as president — almost $10 million was withdrawn from a bank in Cairo.

A month after that article was published, Leonnig and David report that the top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) — have sent a letter asking Trump “if he ever illegally received money from the government of Egypt, and whether money from Cairo played a role in a $10 million infusion into his 2016 run for president.”

“As members of the House minority,” Leonnig and David explain, “Raskin and Garcia do not have the power to subpoena documents or witnesses, and Trump is under no obligation to respond to their inquiries. But the Democrats said the public deserves answers now that Trump is running for president again.”

Should Donald Trump elect to answer the inquiry (the entire six-page letter is linked below), his legal team would advise him to answer truthfully. Making false statements (18 U.S.C. § 1001) in “any matter within the jurisdiction” of the federal government of the US, is punishable up to five imprisonment as well as a fine. This law generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or concealing information, even by merely denying guilt when asked by a federal agent. One of the charges George Santos pleaded guilty to was making false statements to the House of Representatives.

Sources:

Copy of the official six-page letter to ex-President Donald Trump: 2024-09-03.JBR to DJTrump re. Egypt.pdf (house.gov)

‘The American people deserve to know’: Dems demand answers from Trump on $10M Egypt donation – Alternet.org

What Are the Penalties for Lying to Congress? – FindLaw

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-congressman-george-santos-pleads-guilty-fraud-and-identity-theft

Norway’s Forests Have More Than Tripled in One Hundred Years

Norwegian forest development since 1919. Forest volume has more than tripled (dark blue); logging has long been fairly steady (yellow); forest growth (red) has decreased in recent years. (2024 Data and graphic: Landskogtakseringen/NIBIO).

In good news for the world, Norway has tripled its forest volume over the past 100 years to one billion cubic meters of forest; ten percent grew in the last ten years alone. These forests valuably convert the world’s carbon dioxide to oxygen. In 2023, approximately 18 million tons of CO2 (and greenhouse gasses) were absorbed by Norwegian forests.

Several factors account for this phenomenal growth. In the 1960s, schoolchildren planted almost 100 million spruce trees in Norway. Another factor has been higher temperatures and longer summers, as well as increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Jane Goodall believes that planting one trillion trees before 2030 can reverse global climate change. See how this can be accomplished here: A platform for the trillion trees community. | 1t.org.

Sources:

Statistics Norway: “Standing forest volume has passed 1 billion cubic meters”, 30 Aug 2024

NIBIO: “Major changes in The development trend for Norwegian spruce forests”, 6 Feb 2024

Energy and climate: “What is it that is happening to our forest?”, 21 May 2024

Why We Believe Planting 1 Trillion Trees Can Save the Planet | TIME

Our forest has more than tripled in a hundred years (forskning.no)