Tag Archives: conservative

Elon Musk Thinks Cannibals Are Invading the United States – Futurism

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In his latest racist outburst, multihyphenate billionaire Elon Musk joined other conservative pundits in accusing Haitian migrants of being "cannibals," arguing that they shouldn't be allowed to move to the US.

The news comes after political unrest in the island nation came to a head this week. On Monday, Haiti's prime minister Ariel Henry agreed to resign if other Caribbean nations were to form a transitional government on behalf of the country. The statement angered Haitians, triggering mass protests, with tires being burned in the streets.

Meanwhile, Musk took to his social media platform X to further unverified and sensationalist claims of cannibalism arising out of the conflict, as NBC reports.

Case in point, today, the mercurial CEO tweeted a link to a video that claimed to show evidence of cannibalism in Haiti in response to the report.

The video was promptly taken down by X, Axios reports, which stated that the video had violated its rules.

In other words, even Musk's own social media company isn't willing to support his increasingly racist anti-immigration posts.

Ever since Musk took over the company formerly known as Twitter, hate speech has flourished on the platform. The billionaire has spread his own share of misinformation as well, from bogus COVID-19 data to false information about the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Musk has also made plenty of his own racist remarks on his platform. In January, he argued that Black students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have lower IQs and therefore shouldn't become pilots ridiculous claims that were met with horror by civil rights groups.

Most recently, the billionaire took aim at the people of Haiti, playing into debunked tropes.

Over the weekend, Musk tweeted "cannibal gangs..." in response to a clip by right-wing commentator Matt Walsh about unrest in Haiti.

"Civilization is fragile," he wrote in response to another since-deleted video, which claimed to show footage of a "cannibal gang eating body parts."

This week, Musk joined right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong, who argued on X earlier this week that there were "cannibal gangs in Haiti who abduct and eat people."

"If wanting to screen immigrants for potential homicidal tendencies and cannibalism makes me 'right wing,' then I would gladly accept such a label!" an incensed Musk wrote in a reply to a separate post in which Cheong complained about the NBC report. "Failure to do so would put innocent Americans in [sic] mortal risk," he added, failing to provide any evidence for his outlandish claims.

As experts have since pointed out, the posts were likely the result of gang propaganda campaigns designed to stoke fear, as NBC reports. While it's still possible that the odd gang leaders are indeed capable of such ghoulish acts, generalizing these claims is not only misleading a State Department spokesperson told the broadcaster that it had received no credible reports of cannibalism but even clearly playing into racist tropes that date back to colonial times.

There's also the issue of basic human decency. Through no fault of its residents, Haiti is in crisis; instead of wondering how the country he immigrated to could help, Musk is punching down at the most extreme examples of social dysfunction he can find online.

"It is very disturbing that Elon Musk would repeat these absurdities that do, indeed, have a long history," Yale University professor of French and African diaspora studies Marlene Daut told NBC.

In short, it's yet another troubling sign of Musk's descent into extreme right-wing circles, while using his considerable following and social media network to further conspiracy theories and racist disinformation.

"A whole population is getting blamed for what some psycho gang members are doing," Washington-based lawyer and moderator of the subreddit r/Haiti, told NBC. "It is racist. It is dehumanizing."

More on Musk: Elon Musk Deletes Tweet Saying Ex-Wives Responsible for Collapse of Civilization

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Elon Musk Thinks Cannibals Are Invading the United States - Futurism

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas and Florida cases about free speech and social media platforms – Texas Standard

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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in two cases related to some of the worlds biggest social media platforms.

Considered by many to be two of the hottest free speech cases of the internet age, one case is from Texas, the other from Florida. And though there are slight differences between the two state laws being challenged here, the cases appear to center on a central question: do social media companies have the right to independently decide what content appears on their platforms, amplifying or removing content as they see fit?

The social media companies say their First Amendment free speech rights are being violated with the Texas and Florida laws. The states say those social media companies arent entitled to First Amendment free speech protection. And it may come down to whether a majority of the court sees social media as more like a newspaper or more like a telephone company.

Charles Rocky Rhodes, a professor of law at South Texas College of Law in Houston, said both of these laws are on hold and have not yet gone into effect because of pending court cases.

They were a response to some of the social media platforms de-platforming Donald Trump and other politicians in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, Rhodes said. And there was a concern from Texas and from Florida that [these politicians] were being targeted because of their conservative beliefs.

And so the idea of both of these laws was to try to keep social media platforms from banning individuals or discriminating against individuals based on the viewpoints of their speech. And it also placed some very onerous burdens on social media companies with respect to disclosure requirements of their terms and their policies with respect to data management and content, and the use policies that they would be using.

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The plaintiff in the case is NetChoice, an industry association that includes most of the big platforms we all think of Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, etc.

Theyre making the play that when they are deciding which messages to amplify and which messages that they want to remove from their platform, that they are acting as the modern editor of a newspaper, and there are good precedent for the United States Supreme Court saying that a state cant tell a newspaper what to print, Rhodes said.

Theyre arguing that the same principle applies to them, that they are allowed to make editorial decisions on their private platform. And this is something that people have to keep in mind that the social media companies, as big and important as they are, are not the government. They are actually privately-owned.

Texas and Florida, however, say these companies are acting as a common carrier and therefore do not have a claim to free speech.

Theyre trying to say that social media companies are a modern equivalent of what used to be a very familiar idea of the common carrier, that they dont have the ability to discriminate with respect to their service. They have to accept everyone, Rhodes said. And the social media companies come back and say, well, common carriers were different because they never engaged in their own expressive activities.

Common carriers did sometimes transmit the speech of others, like a telegraph would be the old example, or telephone But they did not actually engage in their own expressive activities. And the social media companies are claiming that we do because we are trying to communicate messages. Were creating news feeds for individuals. Were trying to increase, of course, advertising streams that we are engaged in expressive activities in a way that your internet service provider or in a way that your telephone company is not.

As this case goes forward, Rhodes said the states arguments are rooted in political ideology.

The Texas law has a specific exemption for companies under 50 million users. So it wouldnt cover conservative sites like Parler, he said. The Florida law had exemptions for Disney and for Universal that were then taken out once Disney and Universal started criticizing Florida [political leaders]. A big part of the underlying motivation for these laws was the political concern that conservatives thought that their voices were being removed from the site and the marketplace of ideas.

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U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas and Florida cases about free speech and social media platforms - Texas Standard

Idaho White Nationalism: Inside a New Class of Republican Power – The Daily Dot

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So this place is Satans temple, Dan Gookin said ironically. The cozy confines of the pub in downtown Coeur dAlene, Idaho dont bear any resemblance to a place for worshiping anything but a cold pint or bangers and mash.

Gookin explained that they used to have a poster for Menstruatin with Satan, a fundraiser for menstrual supplies organized by the Satanic Temple of Idaho. The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic organization that encourages benevolence and empathy, rejects tyranny, and advocates for bodily autonomy. In recent years, its become best known for fighting for reproductive freedom. Members dont worship or even believe in Satan.

Nevertheless, it drives conservative Christians wild.

Gookin has a frank manner and strong, clear voice. He tends to speak quickly with a serious delivery belied by the occasional flash of a dry wit. On an evening in late November, he said the poster convinced some local right-wingers that the pub is affiliated with the dark lord, a ridiculous, inaccurate assumption thats also convenient for his purposes. They wont step foot in the place.

We had campaign meetings here because we knew that there would be no spies, Gookin said. See, we can talk freely in here because we know there will never be a wacko anywhere near us.

The whackos are the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) and their allies. Gookin, a conservative best known nationally for creating the For Dummies books, is a longtime city councilman and KCRCC member. These days hes persona non grata with the committee, not that he seems to mind.

They didnt count on me calling them out, Gookin said on a recent episode of his YouTube show, Kootenai Rants.

Idaho Republicans are in the midst of a civil war between the far-right wing and relative moderates like Gookin. In recent years, far-right extremists have moved to the heavily white and conservative state as part of an ideological migration that accelerated during the pandemic. Far-right comedian Owen Benjamin now lives about an hour-and-a-half north of Coeur dAlene.

Rather than reject the extremists, some powerful Republicans have embraced the Holocaust deniers and white nationalists whove made Idaho their home. This outrages many longtime locals of the county that famously defeated the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations decades ago. Gookin and other conservatives are fighting back in the press, election booth, and courts.

Its an uphill battle; the opposition is well-funded, organized, and willing to get its hands dirty. It even has a network of print and online publications steadily pumping propaganda into the information ecosystem.

This story is part of a series exploring far-right figures and groups impact on communities theyve relocated to in Idaho, West Virginia, Florida, and Maine; and what, if anything, those communities are doing about it. The Daily Dot spent the last several months visiting these communities, talking to locals, consulting historic and public records, and interviewing experts on extremism.

As the 2024 election approaches, the far-right will become more visible and vocal.

Former President Donald Trumps 2016 victory emboldened the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who coalesced at the deadly Unite the Right rally. His 2020 defeat inspired militias, conspiracy theorists, and hate groups to attack democracy. Both corresponded with increases in hate, antisemitism, and white supremacy that came screaming from the internet into the real world.

They may have failed on Jan. 6, 2021, but theyre back, mobilized, and ready to fight. Seizing control of places like Coeur dAlene is one of the ways theyre plotting their comeback.

Gookin isnt cowed. We need to fight this.

The week after Thanksgiving, Coeur dAlene was decked out in 1.5 million holiday lights sparkling off the lake and into the darkness beyond. Business was in full swing in the town of 55,000. Each night sold-out boats took excited children to see Santa Claus while adults packed into warm bars and restaurants for a bite and a bit to take the edge off.

Washington is less than an hour west and in another political world compared to Idaho, one of the most consistently Republican states in America. More Idahoans voted for Trump in 2020 than 2016. The state hasnt voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson, and it chose Richard Nixon (R) over John F. Kennedy (D) in the election before that.

Its also a longtime harbor for racists.

From the mid-1970s to the turn of the century, the white supremacist Aryan Nations had a 20-acre compound in Kootenai County, which encompasses Coeur dAlene. Aryan Nations declared bankruptcy following a $6.3 million verdict against it in a case brought by a mother and son who were shot at and beaten by its security guards.

Fluffy white snow blanketed Coeur dAlene as Kate Bitz, 38, recalled hearing stories about all-ages punk shows turning into brawls when skinheads showed up and seeing news coverage of white supremacists marching down Sherman Avenue when she was growing up just across the border in Washington. On outings to Farragut State Park, theyd sometimes have to make a snap decision if the guys with the white power tattoos are showing up, do we leave and give them the whole beach, or stay.

Growing up in a hotbed of extremism led Bitz to a career opposing it. She works for the advocacy nonprofit Western States Center.

Bitz isnt surprised that the far-right is resurging. Idaho is the longtime home of a variety of extremists, ranging from evangelicals to neo-Nazis. People forget how multifaceted it was, she said, adding, This has all happened before in a different form.

Extremist groups have been active in Idaho for decades, Bitz said. For example, Northwest Front was described by Politico as Americas worst racists in 2015; racist mass murderer Dylann Roof highlighted the group in his manifesto. Northwest Front has been encouraging people to move to the Pacific Northwest to create a white ethno-state for years. American Redoubt, which has been described as white Christian nationalist (it identifies as a non-racist preparedness movement for Christian patriots), has been recruiting people to move to the area for over a decade. Idaho GOP Chair Dorothy Moon is a member of the far-right John Birch Society.

Now theres a new crop of extremists.

David Reilly and Vincent James Foxx are two of the most notorious newcomers in Idaho politics. Theyre part of far-right efforts to take control from the bottom up via the precinct strategy championed by Steve Bannon. Both are affiliated with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Reilly has professed being a fan of Fuentes and reportedly attended his CPAC alternative, America First Political Action Conference. Foxx is the national treasurer of Fuentes America First organization.

Reilly became the focus of a scandal about his attendance of Unite the Right in 2017. He subsequently resigned from his fathers radio station where he was a host. InvestigateWest reports he sported a pin with the logo of the neo-Nazi Identity Evropa to the rally. In his resignation letter, Reilly denied being racist, white supremacist, or a neo-Nazi. A judge later threw out his lawsuit against a Pennsylvania-based news outlet and individuals he claimed had defamed him by calling him racist.

In recent years, Reilly called himself a Fuentes stan. Reilly is also purportedly an ally of the Unite the Right marcher best known for the catchphrase Hitler did nothing wrong. He has a lengthy history of antisemitic posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. Reilly did not respond to interview requests.

Reilly made his way to Idaho a few years ago.

In 2021, Reilly sought a seat on an Idaho school board, which he lost with 47% of the vote. (KCRCC endorsed him.) During the campaign, a group from his Pennsylvania hometown urged people to vote against him because of his involvement in Unite the Right.

When Reilly left our community, he acknowledged himself, not even McDonalds would hire [him]. Please consider if you, the voter, would want to hire Reilly to create policy for your schools, Bloomsburg Stand Against Hate wrote.

He didnt have as much trouble finding employment in Idaho.

During his failed 2022 gubernatorial campaign, anti-government militant Ammon Bundy paid $30,000 to a firm the Inlander reports was linked to Reilly. KCRCC also paid Reillys company $11,000 for videos.

Bitz said of KCRCC Chair Brent Regans association with the men, I think he sees Reilly and Vincent James as his pet white nationalists who he can push consulting money to during elections.

Regan did not respond to interview requests.

In December, InvestigateWest reported that Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), which Regan also chairs, employs Reilly to help with its communications strategy. The piece noted that Reilly has claimed Jews invented terrorism and control the media.

In response to the story, Regan penned an op-ed claiming he has no authority over IFFs hiring decisions and claiming its Jewish president, Wayne Hoffman, interviewed Reilly. I believe it is fair to say that Wayne Hoffmans sensitivity to anti-Semitism is greater than mine so that if he is okay with Reilly, so am I and so should you, Regan wrote. He also denied that Reilly is antisemitic or a white supremacist.

Regans editorial made no mention of Unite the Right.

Last week, amid rising criticism, IFF announced that Hoffman had been replaced with a far-right former lawmaker. It did not say if Hoffman quit or was fired.

Holocaust denier Foxx is another white nationalist who found more welcoming pastures in Idaho in recent years. In 2017, ProPublica described Foxx as a 31-year-old video blogger and livestreamer with a fondness for white supremacists and radical right-wing politics. It reported that Foxx was essentially an unofficial propagandist for Rise Above Movement (RAM), a violent, racist group at the center of much of the violence at Unite the Right. Three members were convicted for violence they committed at Unite the Right.

He didnt merely document RAMs violence, per ProPublica. The outlet reports that Foxx could be heard screaming, Get that f*cking cuck! in a YouTube video he posted of a RAM member and several others pummeling a man in California. Identity Evropa founder Nathan Damigo fought alongside RAM that day.

In 2021, Foxx moved from California to Idaho.

He was photographed with then-Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R); Media Matters for America reported he said he had deep connections to her. Last January, he gave a speech to a group of north Idaho Republicans in which the Southern Poverty Law Center reports he echoed the racist great replacement conspiracy theory that whites are being intentionally displaced by nonwhite immigrants. In September, a former school board member who was once a KCRCC committeewoman claimed he said political leaders convinced him to move there.

Since becoming an Idahoan, Foxx has continued to espouse white nationalist talking points. He did not respond to interview requests.

Foxx is the national treasurer of Fuentes America First organization. In 2022, Foxx gushed great clip!! of a video of Ye (formerly Kanye West) praising Hitler. After Fuentes infamously had dinner with Trump, Foxx bragged, We have in fact infiltrated the mainstream flank of the GOP. Just look at what Tucker Carlson is talking about lately. We have parts of the nation talking about secession, talking about banning gay marriage. Last month, Foxx posted a video of actor Michael Rapaport claiming people would be thrown off a building for asking where to find an LGBTQ business in Gaza. Foxx captioned it, Wait a minute. Do I love Gaza now??!

Right Wing Watch unearthed a video of him saying, We are the Christian Taliban and we will not stop until The Handmaids Tale is a reality and even worse than that.

Last year, Foxx ran for chair of the Idaho Young Republicans. In his pitch for votes, he advocated using the precinct strategy to install extremists in positions throughout the state.

He lost.

People agree that Foxx and Reilly are just the tip of the spear.

Sarah Lynch is the executive director of North Idaho Pride Alliance (NIPA). Over coffee at Evans Brothers Coffee, a cheerful space on the same street where white supremacists used to march during Aryan Nations heyday, Lynch said after she and her wife moved to the area, she noticed it was a weird mix of like Nazis and granola hippies.

The darker side of the picturesque town was front and center in June 2022 when 31 members of the white nationalist Patriot Front were arrested en route to Pride in the Park in Coeur dAlene.

The incident stunned the nation. Patriot Front is one of the most active white supremacist groups in America and it often posts photos of its activities in Idaho. But a few dozen men in riot gear in the back of a U-Haul is a significant escalation from sneaking around at night to spray paint stencils and hang banners, which the hate group usually sticks to.

All the men were charged with conspiracy to riot; many have been convicted or pled guilty since then. Charges were dismissed against Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau last fall.

Police officers were doxed and received death threats after the arrests. Police Chief Lee White told media that they got 100 calls afterwardhalf from supporters and half from critics.

While Patriot Front generated headlines and fear, Lynch said it couldve been much worse.

Despite all the hateful rhetoric that was going on last year, and despite the events that occurred, we still had our largest ever Pride in the Park. It was our first one back since COVID, there were over 2,500 people there, Lynch said.

Lynch, a retired veteran with a Ph.D. in public safety, said that theyd established a communication line with law enforcement before the event, which has strengthened with time. The arrests also spurred some local and state officials to publicly support LGBTQ equality. Mayor Jim Hammond (R) declared June as Pride Month. Weeks before Lynch sat down for coffee, Hammond was named a Pillar of Idaho for his public stance against extremism.

These developments may have some feeling optimistic, but it isnt all sunshine and rainbows in Kootenai County.

Lynch said some families with queer children have moved away; others have said their queer adult relatives wont even come home for Thanksgiving because they dont feel safe there.

She described the homophobic and transphobic segment of the extreme far-right as a very loud minority.

As long as nobody else stands up and says anything, then thats the only narrative thats heard, she said.

Several years ago, Army veteran Sam Rowland moved back to the area where he was born. Rowland, a musician, has a thick red beard and eyes that seem older than his 39 years. He did a couple tours in Iraq; he said Coeur dAlene reminded him of the small town in Saudi Arabia where he grew up.

Then 2020 happened and it exposed itself. He paused. It re-exposed itself.

During the civil rights protests inspired by George Floyds murder, people took to the streets of Coeur dAlene to protect the community from antifa. Photos from the publication that Reilly purportedly runs show heavily armed men, most of whom appear to be white, gathered on the sidewalk downtown.

Rowland said some wore insignias identifying themselves as members of militia-type groups like the III Percenters. Prominent white supremacists were out there, he said. I was followed home.

He and others said that churches in the area have become breeding grounds for extremism, with pastors making little to no effort to separate politics from theology.

Rowland sees whats happening in Coeur dAlene as part of a larger strategy. You have to take the little towns first, he said.

It appears that they would like to have it turned into a very conservative quasi-religious institution that still has the benefit of public funding.

A large Coeur dAlene rejects hate sign hangs in the window of Crown & Thistle Pub. Jennifer and Ben Drake spent years making plans for the British-style pub, which served its first half-pint in 2019. Every detail, from the cask ales to the 120-year-old bar and the menu, which includes bangers made by Ben and a delectable Guinness short rib pie, is designed to make you feel like youre steps away from London Bridge, albeit in a snug in northern Idaho. (A snug is an enclosed booth from when it was faux pas for women to be seen drinking alcohol in public.)

Jennifers family has been in Coeur dAlene for five generations. Running the Crown & Thistle in her hometown is the fulfillment of a dream first glimpsed attending the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Its come with nightmares that have nothing to do with Scotch eggs or ales.

Shes the type of person who stands up for what she thinks is right. Rejecting hate aligns with those values.

Over the din of the suppertime crowd on a snowy Friday night in December, Ben said they originally put up an 8 x 11 sign. Then, he said, We started getting hate mail.

They brushed it off, deciding to increase the size of the sign each time they received another hateful missive.

When she was a kid, Jen said the town was united against the Aryan Nations. Now theyre divided between people who fall in line and those who take a stand.

Both Drakes are Republicans. Yet theyve ended up on the opposite side of Regan and the partys radical flank.

Theyve infiltrated the community to the point that they say they are the community, Jen said.

The incidents, Jen said, escalated gradually. People call them liberals online. They dogpile the pub with one-star reviews. Insane misinformation floats from the internet to the streets.

They honestly think Im a Satan-worshiping communist witch, Jen said in a pained voice. And its too much for me. Im Lutheran. Im tired.

As chair of both IFF and KCRCC, Brent Regan is a powerful force in Idaho politics. IFF rates politicians based on their voting records; the more conservative, the higher the rating. KCRCC recruits and endorses candidates. These efforts have been effective. Various positions of power in Kootenai County are now held by people who score high on IFFs ideological purity tests and have the KCRCC stamp of approval.

Several people said that the candidates might check the right boxes, but they can struggle to govern effectively. They pointed to North Idaho College (NIC), whose board is under far-right control.

NIC has been hemorrhaging money since they took over. Worse, the 90-year-old community colleges accreditation is hanging by a thread.

A bust of Patrick Stewart circa Star Trek gazed down from the shelf in Dan Englishs office at Healing Hearts, the mental healthcare clinic he runs with his wife. A quilt hangs on the wall by his desk; English mentioned with endearing husbandly pride that his wife made it. Bagpipes softly played holiday music as English shared memories of the town where he was born and raised.

English, the lone Democrat on the city council, has been an elected official in Coeur dAlene for 30 years. He previously served on the school board and as clerk-auditor. He describes himself as an election geek who enjoys crunching data. The numbers from 2020 were extremely illuminating to him.

Eighty-five-plus [percent] had been a registered voter here less than like, you know, two years or four years or something. So its no wonder they have a hard time passing bonds for schools, he said.

English said that some of the transplants are from the extreme right and others are more traditional conservatives. The newcomers include a lot of retired police, so many from Los Angeles, in fact, that the area is sometimes called LAPD North. Theres also a contingent of liberals. The combination creates what he calls a weird melting pot.

It pains him to see his hometown torn apart by politics.

The sad part is how much time, energy, and financial resources is wasted over these ideology battles, or just peoples inflated ego, like the college, English said.

After the far-right took over NICs board, it fired the college president, who sued for wrongful termination and received a $500,000 settlement. NIC later put his replacement on leave; a court in a separate lawsuit determined this was without cause and ordered it to reinstate him and for the school to pay his attorneys fees.

Between litigation with the president it was deemed to have placed on leave without cause and a separate case the local newspaper brought over public records (NIC lost that too), attorneys fees, travel costs for officials from the accreditation agency, and training for the board itself, the Coeur dAlene Press reports that its spent $1.2 million. An Idaho Statesman columnist recently referred to this as an incompetence tax.

Now English says NIC cant afford the light bill to keep the library open a few extra hours on Sundays.

Its ironic that people get elected are a lot of those, anti-education, anti-science, and yet they want to be in positions of monitoring educators, he said. It appears that they would like to have it turned into a very conservative quasi-religious institution that still has the benefit of public funding.

Education has been thrust into the forefront of the conservative culture wars across the country.

KCRCC candidates won control of the library board last year by campaigning on reducing childrens access to sexually explicit books. During the campaign, KCRCC reportedly circulated a letter falsely accusing the incumbents of giving kids access to graphic books with text and pictures describing every imaginable sex act, books so explicit that if you were to give them to a child, you would be committing a crime.

They may have gone too far. The two women who allege they were smeareda lawyer and a longtime member of the library boardare suing Regan and KCRCC for defamation.

City councilman Gookin is also wrapped up in a defamation suit with KCRCC. Its suing him over what he characterizes as mean tweets. KCRCC claims that Regan has demonstrated profound ill will and malice toward many KCRCC officers and affiliated candidatesin particular, KCRCCs chairman, Brent Regan on his YouTube show, Kootenai Rants, and posts on X.

The KCRCC appreciates that Gookin is entitled to engage in speech that is protected by the First Amendment, the complaint states. However, his recent statements have crossed the line from protected speech into unprotected defamation because they accuse KCRCC of rigging its 2023 candidate rating and vetting process, perpetrating a fraud on its members, and violating campaign finance lawsthings which simply have not happened.

Gookin views their case as an attack on his free speech right to criticize them. He seems eager to have his day in court.

Its ping-pong time, he said in an email earlier this month.

Gookin describes the political migrants who are pushing Idaho further to the right as people who were p*ssed off living in more liberal areas. He said this migratory pattern accelerated during the pandemic because they thought theyd have more freedom there. (The libertarian Cato Institute actually ranks Idaho 49th in personal freedom.)

But it didnt absolve their anger.

They hate our governor. They hate our legislators. They hate elected officials like me, they hate people whove made it a conservative state, Gookin said. And they want to replace them with their own people who, like we see in Washington, D.C., are incompetent and incapable of governing.

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Idaho White Nationalism: Inside a New Class of Republican Power - The Daily Dot

Project Veritas’s First Amendment Claim to the Diary of Biden’s Daughter Denied By Judge – Vanity Fair

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Criminal prosecutors are expected to get their hands on nearly 1,000 documents related to the alleged theft of the diary of Ashley Biden, the only child of President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, after a judge rejected the conservative group Project Veritas's First Amendment claim.

Project Veritass attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, said Monday that the group is considering appealing the ruling, according to a report from The Associated Press. The organization has until January 5 to turn over the material.

The documents stem from November 2021 FBI raids on the homes of the organizations founder, James OKeefe, and two of his associates. Federal agents ultimately seized 47 cell phones, computers, memory sticks, and other electronic devices, according to a report from New York Magazine. OKeefe left the organization last February following a management dispute.

Since the raid, O'Keefe has maintained that the FBI investigation into Project Veritass activitieswhich he argues were legitimate attempts at newsgathering violates the First Amendment. In this effort, hes drawn support from the American Civil Liberties Union, which warned after the raid that, despite Project Veritass well-documented disgraceful deceptions, the precedent set in this case could have serious consequences for press freedom.

In its written arguments before Judge Analisa Torres, lawyers for Project Veritas and OKeefe argued the investigation seems undertaken not to vindicate any real interests of justice, but rather to stifle the press from investigating the Presidents family.

Torres ruled that Project Veritass First Amendment arguments were inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent and that the groups claim to be protecting the identities of a confidential source was voided by the fact that both people who sold the diary to the group pled guilty in August 2022.

In their guilty plea for conspiring to traffic in stolen goods, Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlanderboth of whom are currently awaiting sentencingadmitted they stole Bidens diary from a house in Florida and sold it to Project Veritas for $40,000, hoping to embarrass the then-presidential candidate as he challenged former President Donald Trump. (Before he was elected, Trump was a donor to the organization.)

Project Veritas has admitted it paid Harris and Kurlander, but OKeefe has said the group did not publish any information from the diary after it could not confirm its authenticity.

The court ruling comes two weeks after Hannah Giles, OKeefes replacement as CEO, announced on social media that she was quitting, saying she had stepped into an unsalvageable mess one wrought with strong evidence of past illegality and post-financial improprieties. Giles added that she had brought evidence of illegal behavior to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.

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Project Veritas's First Amendment Claim to the Diary of Biden's Daughter Denied By Judge - Vanity Fair

Project Veritas First Amendment | News | thedailyreview.com – Towanda Daily Review

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Criminal prosecutors may soon get to see over 900 documents pertaining to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Bidens daughter after a judge rejected a First Amendment claim by the conservative nonprofit Project Veritas to stop investigators from seeing the records. The group's attorney says Monday that Project Veritas is considering appealing last week's ruling by Manhattan federal court Judge Analisa Torres. The documents were produced from raids in which electronic devices were also seized from the residences of three members of Project Veritas, including James O'Keefe, the fired founder.

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Project Veritas First Amendment | News | thedailyreview.com - Towanda Daily Review

Project Veritas First Amendment | News | thedailyreview.com – Towanda Daily Review

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Criminal prosecutors may soon get to see over 900 documents pertaining to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Bidens daughter after a judge rejected a First Amendment claim by the conservative nonprofit Project Veritas to stop investigators from seeing the records. The group's attorney says Monday that Project Veritas is considering appealing last week's ruling by Manhattan federal court Judge Analisa Torres. The documents were produced from raids in which electronic devices were also seized from the residences of three members of Project Veritas, including James O'Keefe, the fired founder.

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Project Veritas First Amendment | News | thedailyreview.com - Towanda Daily Review

Judge Dismisses Project Veritas Claim, Paves Way for Investigation into Alleged Theft of Ashley Biden’s Diary – BNN Breaking

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Judge Dismisses Project Veritas Claim, Paves Way for Investigation into Alleged Theft of Ashley Bidens Diary

In a significant turn of events, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres dismissed a First Amendment claim by the conservative group Project Veritas. This ruling paves the way for over 900 documents related to the alleged theft of President Joe Bidens daughter, Ashleys diary, to be accessible to criminal prosecutors. The documents, obtained from authorized raids in November 2021, can now be handed over to investigators by January 5, 2023.

A group known for its hidden camera stings, Project Veritas has consistently targeted news outlets, labor organizations, and Democratic politicians. In the case at hand, Project Veritas sought to prevent investigators from viewing the records related to Ashley Bidens diary. However, Judge Torress decision has effectively negated this effort, permitting the examination of these documents by the prosecution.

Two individuals, Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander, have already pleaded guilty to charges associated with the diarys theft and are currently awaiting sentencing. Interestingly, Project Veritas, while heavily involved in the proceedings, was not charged with any crime. The group maintains that its actions were part of legal and ethical newsgathering.

The recent developments in this case also include the resignation of Hannah Giles, the then-chief executive of Project Veritas. Giles stepped down citing evidence of past illegality and financial improprieties within the organization. This move has added yet another layer to the unfolding narrative around Project Veritas and its operations.

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Judge Dismisses Project Veritas Claim, Paves Way for Investigation into Alleged Theft of Ashley Biden's Diary - BNN Breaking

Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Greece, says ex-Brexit minister – Yahoo News UK

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Lord David Frost argued the ancient sculptures housed in the British Museum were 'a special situation' (Image: PA)

THE UK should hand back the disputed Parthenon Marbles to Greece in a grand gesture, former Brexit minister Lord Frost has said.

The Conservative peer argued the ancient sculptures housed in the British Museum were a special situation which required a special solution.

Cautioning against a loan to Athens which keeps the issue and the arguments alive, he pressed for a permanent settlement with the formation of a new Anglo-Greek cultural partnership to the benefit of both nations.

He was speaking during a debate in the House of Lords after Rishi Sunak sparked a diplomatic row with Greece by refusing to meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, when he compared the artefacts removal with cutting the Mona Lisa in half.

READ MORE:Neal Ascherson: 'Elgin Marbles' and British Empire's racist history

Greece has long demanded the return of the historic works, which were removed by Lord Elgin from occupied Athens in the early 19th century when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Part of friezes that adorned the 2500-year-old Parthenon temple on the Acropolis, the ParthenonMarbles have been displayed at the British Museum in London for more than 200 years.

Most of the remaining sculptures are in a purpose-built museum in Athens.

Lord Frost, who previously served as chief Brexit negotiator, told Parliament: I do think that Lord Elgins actions possibly were a little murky, but I do think nevertheless our legal case is good. I also think its not the point. The point is what we do now rather than what happened in the past.

I have never personally been so convinced by the moral, artistic and cultural arguments for the position we take. I think the Parthenon Marbles are a special situation and we should try and find a special solution.

They arent just random museum exhibits. For as long as they are not seen as a whole they are less than the sum of their parts.

Lord Frost, who learned Greek in Greece and has lived in Cyprus, said: For Greece they are part of the national identity, they are a national cultural cause.

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As we saw from the, I am afraid, slightly dismissive treatment of Prime Minister Mitsotakis the other week they do have the capacity to disrupt a relationship that really ought to be a lot better than it is.

READ MORE:Top SNP MSP calls out Scottish estate over its private 'Elgin Marbles'

I do also wonder whether a loan is the right way forward. I admit I am slightly unconvinced by it.

It seems like a solution that has been shaped by the existence of the 1963 Act which rightly prohibits the museum from alienating its collections, and I am afraid nowadays that is a very necessary protection against the tendencies of too many museum curators.

But the problem with a loan is that it keeps the issue and the arguments alive. I think we should try and settle this for good.

My personal view on this is that it is time for a grand gesture and only the Government can make it. It is to offer to return the marbles as a one-off gift to Greece from this country, but as part of and on condition of a new wider Anglo-Greek cultural partnership.

He added: Such a partnership would have to definitively set aside for good the rights and wrongs of the individual acquisition. It would also have to be clear it wasnt a precedent for restitution demands for any other museum exhibit.

But it would show that we actually mean it when we see these marbles as part of our common inheritance, that we can move beyond the what we have we hold approach we take on so many occasions.

Perhaps we could rise to the occasion this time.

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Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Greece, says ex-Brexit minister - Yahoo News UK

DeSantiss Education Policies in Florida Drive Out Liberal-Leaning Professors – The New York Times

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Gov. Ron DeSantis had just taken office in 2019 when the University of Florida lured Neil H. Buchanan, a prominent economist and tax law scholar, from George Washington University.

Now, just four years after he started at the university, Dr. Buchanan has given up his tenured job and headed north to teach in Toronto. In a recent column on a legal commentary website, he accused Florida of open hostility to professors and to higher education more generally.

He is not the only liberal-leaning professor to leave one of Floridas highly regarded public universities. Many are giving up coveted tenured positions and blaming their departures on Governor DeSantis and his effort to reshape the higher education system to fit his conservative principles.

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DeSantiss Education Policies in Florida Drive Out Liberal-Leaning Professors - The New York Times

Chichester MP criticised by Liberal Democrats over sewage compensation vote – Yahoo News UK

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Swimmers have expressed frustration at the government over sewage spills (Image: Jolly Swimmers)

Liberal Democrats have criticised education secretary and Chichester MP Gillian Keegan for voting against a compensation scheme for swimmers who get sick from sewage.

The amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, would have allowed anyone who gets sick as a result of illegal sewage dumping to claim compensation from water companies.

However, the proposal was voted down after MPs, including Gillian Keegan, voted against it.

Ms Keegan said the Conservatives have been the first to face this problem square on.

But Toby Wilsher from the sea-swimming group The Jolly Swimmers expressed his disappointment at the sewage situation in Sussex.

Toby, from West Wittering, said: It is a sad state of affairs when swimmers are falling seriously sick from sewage while water company bosses trouser millions in bonuses.

Jess Brown-Fuller, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Chichester constituency, said: Its shameful that Gillian Keegan and this Conservative government have once again put water companies profits before peoples health.

It is a complete slap in the face to all those in Chichester constituency who expect their MP to stand up and fight for them, instead of for massive companies who have dumped filthy sewage into our harbours, rivers and waterways.

The Liberal Democrats have exposed the sewage scandal and will continue to hold these polluting firms to account even if Gillian Keegan refuses to.

Gillian Keegan said that she has always been clear that sewage spills are completely unacceptable.

She said: I share the concerns of residents, but rather than playing political games like the Liberal Democrats - my Conservative colleagues and I have been the first to face this problem square on.

Locally, I have convened a forum with MPs from across the Solent region as well representatives from Southern Water, Ofwat, Environment Agency, Natural England, RSPB and Chichester Harbour Conservancy to drive improvements in water quality in local harbours and the wider Solent region.

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I continue to hold the Environment Agency and Southern Water to account and meet senior leaders regularly for progress updates on the key asks for my campaign to stop the spills.

As well as more transparent monitoring, Ive made clear I want to end sewage discharges entirely, but as we work to that goal I am campaigning for UV treatment, which kills bacteria, at every discharge point around the harbour, including at Thornham, and better sealing of the network.

At a national level, the Conservatives are the first government to take steps to address storm overflows, with vastly improved monitoring.

This has increased from approximately seven per cent when we came to power in 2010 to 91 per cent now, with 100 per cent coverage by the end of this year.

We have implemented the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan and enforced stringent targets to protect people and the environment, backed up by up to 60 billion in capital investment.

The government have also removed the limit of fines for water companies who dump sewage in our waterways.

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Chichester MP criticised by Liberal Democrats over sewage compensation vote - Yahoo News UK