Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

Belgium Arrests Canadian NATO Intern on Charges of Spying for China

Belgian prosecutors this week announced the arrest of a Canadian intern for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) who was accused of espionage.

Media investigations soon revealed the suspect is a Chinese-born Canadian national who was allegedly spying for China.

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office said it made the arrest based on a tip from NATO security services, who warned the female suspect was spending an excessive amount of time at sensitive NATO facilities and asking too many questions.

The suspect was employed as an intern at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), which is located in the city of Mons, Belgium. SHAPE handles planning and execution for all NATO operations.

“She is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organization,” prosecutors said in a statement released Saturday.

The suspect’s home and workspace in SHAPE’s information technology department were raided when she was taken into custody. On Tuesday, prosecutors extended her pretrial detention by one month and the suspect immediately filed an appeal.

Canada’s CBC News on Wednesday identified the suspect as Biwei Zhang, a systems engineer who previously worked for the Canadian Space Agency and Statistics Canada. She has also used the names Claire Zhang and Catina Zhang.

CBC said Zhang’s personal and professional profiles matched the limited information provided by Belgian prosecutors, as do numerous posts she made on Facebook and LinkedIn. A group of European news outlets reached the same conclusion about her identity.

Zhang appears to be 32 or 33 years old and holds a master’s degree from the University of Ottawa, class of 2022. She reportedly worked as an economist for Statistics Canada from 2018 to 2022, then took a job as a systems engineer for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in May 2022. Her resume also includes work as a policy analyst for the European Space Agency (ESA) and a researcher for the World Trade Organization (WTO).

To date, there have been no details of the allegations against Zhang from Belgium, Canada, or NATO, beyond the vague description of her alarming behavior and assurances from SHAPE that her questionable activities did not interfere with operational readiness. The week since her arrest was announced has included some awkward excuses about who was supposed to vet her for a security clearance and how thorough a job they did.

The ESA told Reuters on Thursday that Zhang’s position with the agency did not require a security clearance, but she was subjected to “standard human resources screening procedures.” The WTO declined a request for comment about her work history.

NATO officials said responsibility for security clearances lay with contributing member nations, which in this case would mean Canada. Canadian Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree said on Monday that national screening procedures would be reviewed to “get to the bottom of what happened.”

According to CBC News, there was a rather large red flag in Zhang’s background: the Public Service Commission of Canada in 2023 found that she “committed fraud in an application for a position at the Canada Border Services Agency by applying under two different names and emails and failing to later clarify whether she had submitted multiple applications.”

Canada’s Globe and Mail explained that Zhang “submitted applications from two e-mail addresses, one from York University and the other from the University of Montreal and twice wrote the same standardized exams in an effort, the commission found, ‘to increase her chances of being appointed.’”

Zhang requested a judicial review of this finding in February 2024, but it was dismissed by a federal court judge.

“I think the concern level would be very high in government. Everybody wants to know what happened. There are a lot of questions to be asked,” former Canadian national security adviser Jody Thomas told the Globe and Mail.

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The Latest Wildfire Panic is Refuted by Data

Wildfires are in the news. With a hot, dry summer it was bound to happen. And, naturally, this is bringing with it talk of climate change.

The Independent is screaming and rending its garments:

Europe is on fire – will the continent’s climate change deniers finally wake up?

The Guardian has an opinion piece calling for prosecutions for climate crimes. Twitter experts are calling for changes to the way we live our lives.

Prince William is saying stuff:

Wildfires ‘stark reminder’ of extreme climate challenge, says William

I suppose we should make the usual point, that wildfires are a natural phenomenon that are an important part of the life cycle of many ecosystems. And that some years are bound to be worse than others.

But there’s just one issue, wildfire activity is actually down.

A new study from the University of East Anglia, published in May, found that 2025 was 16% below the average in terms of burnt area, and that’s despite policies known to increase both the chance of wildfires starting and the area they will burn.

But that was last year, this year must be different given the coverage, right?

Wrong.

Data from the EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service shows that, to the end of June, this year had substantially lower wildfire activity – across every continent – than any year since they began collecting data in 2003.

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Pirro Dismisses Lincoln Reflecting Pool Vandalism Criminal Case Against Former Olympian David Hearn

The Justice Department on Friday dismissed the Lincoln Reflecting Pool vandalism case against former Olympian David Hearn.

David Hearn, the former Olympian who was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for destruction of property for vandalizing the Lincoln Reflecting Pool last month, was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges earlier this month.

Hearn is a three-time Olympic canoeist.

David Hearn denied any wrongdoing.

Hearn was charged with felony destruction of government property. He was facing 10 years in prison.

A grand jury in the DC Superior Court returned the indictment.

During a press conference earlier this month, US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said Hearn “violently and forcefully” ripped up the sealant.

However, on Friday, Pirro said the damage to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool was the result of “flawed installation by the contractor.”

“It was not until after the return of the indictment [of Hearn], that the [Department of Interior] provided additional documents to the [US Attorney’s Office in DC] indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026,” Pirro’s office wrote.

Hearn’s attorneys said in a statement to CNN reacting to the decision:

“The Trump administration’s case against David Hearn should never have been brought.

Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong.

The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”

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Trump: Minnesota’s ‘gross incompetence’ — not Iran — behind water system hacks

President Donald Trump says Minnesota is to blame for a recent cyber-attack against the state’s water system.

While speaking on Friday at his cabinet’s historic Camp David meeting, President Trump called the North Star State’s leadership grossly incompetent after the breach reportedly affected over 30-water systems.

“We heard in ⁠Minnesota there was a cyberattack, ​and they blame it on Iran. ​I don’t think so,” Trump said. 

“I think I blame it on ​Minnesota because they’re grossly incompetent,” he continued.

“I think the governor is behind it,” he said of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D-Minn.). “I don’t think there was an Iranian cyberattack.”

His statements follow a New York Times report citing federal investigators who concluded that the cyber incident was likely carried out by Iranian threat actors.

“The tradecraft used, and the absence of a ransom demand, had led analysts to tentatively conclude that it was the work of Iranian hackers,” the Times reports. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is continuing its investigation into the breach, which authorities say might have affected utilities across at least six other states as well.

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Students Seek To AI-Proof Their Careers With Trades Over College

For years, students were told the future belonged to college graduates with a four-year degree. Now, some of the fastest-growing opportunities are in skilled trades, where there is an escalating demand for labor and a higher level of job security amid the rise of artificial intelligence.

Vocational schools and specialized training programs are seeing a surge of interest among Gen Z students and younger workers who are considering options beyond traditional higher education.

And the timing couldn’t be better. Major infrastructure projects and the rapid buildout of AI-related facilities are fueling demand for workers with hands-on technical skills. Workforce experts say the convergence of these trends could reshape how Americans think about education and career pathways going forward.

“The past couple of years, people have been flocking to things that are considered safe from AI, but then this tailwind came in where there’s also a lot of need for these roles to support the labor movement,” said Brady Colby, head of market research at Validated Insights, which analyzes trends in higher education and trade school.

He told The Epoch Times that while interest in vocational studies had seen slow, steady growth in recent years, it “really took off” in the past six months.

“It’s harder to recruit for some of these skilled trades than it is for computer programmers now,” he said.

Validated Insights noted in its June report that trade school revenue surpassed all expected growth in 2025, expanding 11.4 percent and surpassing $19 billion. That’s nearly double the original growth forecast.

The Philadelphia Technician Training Institute states on its website that many Gen Z members are choosing vocational colleges “because these institutions provide quick applied education that leads directly to rewarding professions with reliable salaries.”

Mike Nager, author of The Smart Student’s Guide to Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0, told The Epoch Times: “For decades, four-year degrees were seen as the only path for a safe future. Trades were seen as a fallback for those who couldn’t or wouldn’t go to college and get a degree.”

But now when it comes to choosing a four-year degree path as the default, “the payback just isn’t there anymore in many cases,” he said.

He also believes an interest in education alone won’t be enough to replenish the widening gap in America’s skilled talent pool.

“Kids have to be shown what the trades are, get some firsthand experience. This is where the industry needs to step up, create outreach programs to address the ‘awareness gap’ for trades,” he said.

The “awareness gap” is the disconnect between rising demand for skilled professionals and the public’s perception of these careers. For years, some say it fostered the societal stigma that vocational career paths led to either overly physical or just low-paying work. On the flip side, this perception created a favorable atmosphere for standard university education.

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Leftist Smithsonian Exhibit Frames Embattled Anthony Fauci in Heroic Terms

Aspects of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s career are prominently displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the news coming as he declined to answer questions during a congressional hearing about the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

The former leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is featured in the museum’s “Entertainment Nation” exhibit, highlighting how the the mask-wearing doctor threw the first pitch for Major League Baseball in 2020 while there were no fans in the stands, Fox News reported Thursday.

The museum’s placard described Fauci in heroic terms.

“Amidst a cacophony of misinformation and denial, advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading epidemiologist, urged leagues to make decisions about resuming play ‘based on scientific evidence and public health judgment.’ When baseball became the first league to retake the field, Fauci threw the ceremonial opening pitch — wearing a facemask in a stadium empty of fans,” it read.

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Vance: WH Task Force to Eliminate Fraud has identified $230B in improper payments, systemic waste and criminal fraud across fed. agencies

Vice President JD Vance announced that the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud has identified approximately $230 billion in improper payments, systemic waste and alleged criminal fraud across federal agencies since its inception.

Speaking at a White House gathering alongside senior administration officials and state enforcement leaders, Vance highlighted the tally as evidence of widespread vulnerabilities within federal safety-net programs, disaster relief initiatives, and government procurement channels that were left largely unaddressed in previous years.

“There are a few things that I want to talk about and celebrate. The first is that just since the beginning of the fraud task force that I started under the president’s leadership and direction, we have identified 230 billion dollars of fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American people, and we have halted already 56 billion dollars of that,” Vance said during a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

“It’s sometimes hard once the money has already gone out the door; it’s hard to get it back. But stopping it from going out the door is how we save the American people. $56 billion, and of course, we’re going to keep on working on that,” he added.

Established by presidential executive order, the interagency task force chaired by Vance was charged with launching a comprehensive federal crackdown on illicit operations exploiting public funds.

The $230 billion figure encompasses a broad array of uncovered abuses, including tens of billions in fraudulent or delinquent pandemic-era small business loans, improper Medicaid and Medicare billing claims, unauthorized government contracts and improper benefits disbursements across state-administered welfare programs.

Vance emphasized further that the task force’s rapid findings demonstrate the urgent necessity of restoring more rigorous oversight and pre-payment integrity standards across the executive branch. Notably, a central component of the enforcement drive involves structural coordination with the newly established National Fraud Enforcement Division within the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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China-Focused Influence Program Courted Senior US Media Figures With Sponsor-Paid Trips

A journalist’s review of Committee of 100 (C100) records has renewed scrutiny of sponsor-paid trips that brought senior figures from major U.S. news organizations to China and recorded changes in their views and professional plans.

In response to questions from The Epoch Times, C100 confirmed that it covered travel costs, selected the participants, set their itineraries, and chose whom they met.

The organization rejected journalist and media host Natalie Winters’s description of the trips as “pay-for-play,” saying no coverage was exchanged for the travel and participants retained editorial independence.

Winters published her review on Substack on July 28, characterizing the multiyear journalist delegation program as a “propaganda pipeline.” Her report drew attention to documents posted on C100’s website.

A 2012 trip report on the website marked “Internal Use” placed the cost of a nine-day delegation for five journalists at approximately $60,000.

The report said the program sought to improve perceptions of China and encourage participants to share their experiences with professional peers.

The five journalists represented The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and WNYC. A page about the delegation on the C100 website says they traveled through Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou from Nov. 25 through Dec. 3, 2012.

The trip report described lodging, meals, transportation, sightseeing, corporate and cultural visits, and about 20 arranged meetings with Chinese officials, academics, media representatives, students, and business executives.

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Obama Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Ending Temporary Protected Status for Somalis – DHS Responds

A federal judge on Friday once again blocked the Trump Administration from terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis.

The termination was supposed to take effect on March 17, however, a federal judge previously halted the termination.

On Friday, US District Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee, issued a new administrative stay after the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint and an emergency motion.

There are more than 100,000 Somalis living in the US. An estimated 5,000 Somalis are eligible for Temporary Protected Status.

The Justice Department responded to the judge’s order.

“Judge Allison Burroughs just entered yet another order preventing the termination of Somalia TPS. There is no serious debate about what is going on in these cases—defiance, obstruction, and delay,” Homeland Security general counsel James Percival said.

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Argentina’s Milei Borrows Warren Buffett’s Idea To Punish Deficit-Spending Politicians

More than two years after campaigning to “blow up” Argentina’s central bank, President Javier Milei has announced his “Fiscal Shackle” bill – a permanent rule aimed at preventing Argentina from approving or maintaining budgets with fiscal deficits that could have consequences for politicians.

On Thursday, in a speech recorded at the Casa Rosada and broadcast nationwide, Milei proposed an overhaul that would restore the Central Bank of Argentina’s sole mandate of preserving the currency’s value, stop direct and indirect financing of the Treasury, provinces, and municipalities, and expose officials who violate the rules to criminal charges. “It will be considered fraud and illicit association,” he explained.

Milei said this is the “most important set of structural reforms in the last 91 years,” taking the year of the Central Bank’s founding, 1935, as the starting point for that period. He argued that the central bank has functioned as “a tool for theft” and indicated that his reform proposal seeks “to put an end to the scam of counterfeiting money to finance high-level politics, whose most evident manifestation is the inflation rate.”

The plan would also strengthen independence of central bank officials, making them more difficult for future administrations to remove. Milei said the reforms were an effort to end decades of deficit monetization, the primary source of Argentina’s recurring inflation and currency crises.

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