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.

Conservative Journalist Nick Sortor Detained in Minneapolis After Driving Through Rioters Who Were Threatening to Kill Him

Conservative journalist Nick Sortor has been detained in Minneapolis after he was forced to drive through a mob of violent anti-ICE protesters, who surrounded his vehicle, smashed his windows, and threatened to kill him and his colleague, Cam Higby.

Sortor has been on the ground in Minneapolis covering ICE activity and the protesters that follow them.

Earlier on Sunday, Sortor was attacked by the mob rioting outside an ICE facility. Law enforcement had to deploy tear gas and pepper balls to stop it.

Later, while attempting to drive his vehicle, Sortor and Higby were surrounded by protesters who pushed trash into his windows, dumped it on the hood, and even spat on the vehicle.

“Thank GOD federal agents were nearby, or this could’ve gotten ugly,” Sortor reported.

As the evening went on and they attempted to leave, rioters surrounded their vehicle, began smashing windows with frozen waterbottles, spray painting it, and threatening to kill them.

Sortor, clearly fearing for his life, drove them out of harms way — through the rioters.

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2 ex-NYPD cops sentenced for sexually assaulting passed-out woman, as survivor details trauma: ‘I feel nothing but anger and rage’

Two former NYPD cops were sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman after a night out at a Bronx bar — as the survivor of the heinous crime urged others to report their stories, no matter the title of their assailant.

Julio Alcantara-Santiago, 40, and Christian Garcia, 32, were sentenced on Friday at Bronx Supreme Criminal Court after taking a plea agreement for the assault that unfolded on July 9, 2023.

Alcantara-Santiago appeared nervous in an orange blazer and pinstriped pants as he was sentenced to six years of sex offender probation.

Garcia sported a two-piece navy suit and glasses as he accepted one year of probation and was ordered to complete a behavioral treatment program.

On the night of June 8, 2023, the unidentified woman went out with co-workers at Zona De Cuba lounge in Grand Concourse, according to a victim impact statement she read aloud to the courtroom.

After going up to a rooftop area of the establishment and having some drinks, the next thing she recalled was waking up to being sexually assaulted by two men in a stranger’s home.

“The next thing I remember is slightly waking up in someone’s home. And then what hurts more is that I see two men over me and feel hands in certain parts of my body,” she said.

“I start to make movement so that the men can stop. I’m terrified and scared that if I say something or if they notice that I’m awake while they’re doing certain things, they will harm me or even kill me,” she told the courtroom.

She said she continued to lie there and fell asleep, and woke up the next morning, realizing she was still in the strange apartment near the lounge.

After desperately calling her sister and best friend for help, she escaped the home and decided to go to a local Bronx hospital to be evaluated. There, she was given a rape kit and spoke to multiple police officers, the victim said.

The two officers were arrested in April 2024 after surveillance footage helped connect them to the crime. Both cops were suspended without pay, the NYPD said at the time.

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Somali Refugee in Lewiston, Maine Resigns After Controversial Swearing In Despite Active Investigations and Criminal Charges

Last week, Iman Osman, a Somali migrant and community leader, was sworn in as the Ward 5 Councilor despite facing two felony charges related to stolen property, including the unauthorized taking and receiving of stolen firearms from two estates.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that, according to court documents obtained by WMTW, the alleged crimes involve weapons taken from two separate estates between November 15, 2023, and October 11, 2024.

Although his lawyer initially said he would not resign, in a letter to Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline and City Council President David Chittim, he tendered his resignation.

WMTW-TV reports that in his letter, Osman said he “did not come to the decision lightly.”

The letter reads in part:

“For the betterment of our community and in the best interest of our city, I believe it is time for me to step aside. I hope my resignation serves as a call to action for those who remain — an opportunity to reflect on the values of respect, inclusivity and kindness that should guide our public service,” Osman said.

“I am grateful for the support I have received from my family and friends, my community and my constituents during my time in public office. I remain committed to our city’s progress and will continue to advocate for positive change in Lewiston.”

On Wednesday, Osman was arraigned in Lewiston District Court.

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Cloudflare Vs Italy: The Battle For Digital Freedom And Global Internet Sovereignty

Italian authorities are attempting to force the internet service provider Cloudflare to delete and block certain online services. Cloudflare is resisting and has turned to the U.S. government for support.

The fight for a free internet is intensifying.

The struggle over control of information, censorship, and economic dominance in the digital space is increasingly becoming a fundamental civilizational question. That the European Union now sees not only the EU Commission but also national governments and security apparatuses siding with information diktats, against the fundamental principle of free speech, sends a dangerous signal to the world. The EU has effectively withdrawn from the circle of freedom-oriented state actors.

Into this picture fits a recent report from Italy. A tweet by the founder and CEO of the internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare, Matthew Prince, has caused a stir.

Prince reports that Cloudflare has been hit with a $17 million fine by a — as he calls it — clandestine cabal in Italy. The accusation: Cloudflare refused to participate in an Italian censorship mechanism at the behest of this group.

A Cabal of Regulators and Media Corporations

Specifically, this concerns a system controlled by the Italian media authority AGCOM (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni) called the “Piracy Shield.” This blocking system is officially aimed at combating illegal sports and media streaming services. The main targets are the economic interests of major players such as Italy’s Serie A football league, Sky Italia, DAZN, Mediaset, and other large European media and rights corporations.

Private actors, comparable to the so-called “Trusted Flaggers” now familiar in Germany, operate on behalf of the Italian media sector within this system. They report websites, IP addresses, or suspicious domains to the Piracy Shield. The authority then compels internet service providers and infrastructure operators like Cloudflare to implement the corresponding blocks within just 30 minutes. Every advertising minute counts; piracy is indeed a dangerously significant economic factor. The question is: How do states and affected companies enforce copyright? Do they operate under the rule of law and avoid collateral damage, such as backdoor state censorship?

According to Prince, all of this happens without a judicial order or prior review, bypassing due legal process entirely. The measures affect not only allegedly illegal content but also deeply intrude into the technical infrastructure of the internet.

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Fed Subpoenaed As DOJ Launches Criminal Probe Into Jerome Powell, Who Vows To “Stand Firm”

Not content with launching a dizzying cascade of international conflicts, Trump just lobbed a nuke at the Fed. 

While Trump’s vendetta against the Fed’s Lisa Cook set for a January showdown before the Supreme Court, the Trump admin dramatically raised the stakes on Sunday when the NYT first reported, and minutes later Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirmed that the US central bank had been served grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department threatening a criminal indictment, in what Bloomberg said was a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on the Fed.

As the NYT first reported, the US attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Powell over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether the Fed Chair lied to Congress about the scope of the project. The inquiry, which includes an analysis of Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of President Trump who was appointed to run the office last year, the NYT sources said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed US attorneys offices to look into cases of potential taxpayer abuse, said one of the NYT sources. In comments broadcast by NBC, Trump said that the DOJ’s Fed subpoenas “nothing to do with interest rates” and denied any involvement in the legal matter.

The investigation escalates Trump’s long-running feud with Powell, whom the president has continually attacked for resisting his demands to slash interest rates significantly (and, in retrospect, Trump was right as the Fed did in fact cut rates at its last 3 meetings having belatedly observed the dramatic deterioration in the labor market without an offsetting surge in inflation). The president has threatened to fire the Fed chair – whom he nominated for the position in 2017 – and raised the prospect of a lawsuit against him related to the $2.5 billion renovation, citing “incompetence.”

In a striking public response to the NYT report, Powell – who has historically ignored public commentary on Trump’s public assaults – issued a forceful written and video statement released Sunday evening using the Federal Reserve’s official account on X, in which he said the action was related to his June congressional testimony on ongoing renovations of the Fed’s headquarters. But he said “this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.” The Fed Chair then continued:

“This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress’s oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts.”

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president. This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

“I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law. But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure,” 

“Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.”

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Leftist Agitators Stalk and Threaten to Kill Journalist Covering Minneapolis Unrest

Independent journalist Cam Higby was reportedly stalked and threatened while covering the escalating protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“I was just stalked for over a mile, with a person trying to agitate crowds against me, eventually leading to me being assaulted,” Higby posted to X. “I called 911 before an angry mob formed. Officers did not respond. [The] dispatcher was impatient with me on the phone WHILE I was being assaulted.”

“The stalker openly said that it would be ‘self defense’ if one of the people he riled up harmed or killed me,” Higby continued. “One threatened to hit me with his car.”

Higby released video of his confrontation with the alleged stalker in which the individual suggests that attacking or killing Higby for his reporting is justifiable.

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The Democrats’ “Affordability” Ploy To Avoid Accountability

Imagine someone is walking through a museum filled with fragile antiquities. And they happen to be indiscriminately swinging a sledgehammer. And with every fragile antiquity they shatter, they pocket the price of the destroyed historical treasure.

When their selfish, remunerative spree of wanton destruction concludes, one might expect the culprit to drop their hammer and skedaddle from the scene of the crime. Nope. Instead, they stand around carping that the museum’s new curators are not cleaning up the mess you made fast enough. Why? Because they are hoping to get another shot with the sledgehammer at the remaining precious items still on display.

The fragile antiquities would be the American economy itself. They would be Democrats. The sledgehammer would be their trillion-dollar spending spree, which they would undertake while holding the congressional majority under the Biden administration. With every exorbitant spending bill they passed, their political cronies and ideological fellow travelers received taxpayer money, much of the largesse being funneled back into electing Democrats. The result was the Democrats’ inflation-driven economic carnage that harmed every taxpaying American’s pocketbook that the party had drained to do it in the first place.

Consequently, the best new museum curators would be the Trump administration. One can therefore understand the irritation of the president and Congressional Republicans with the Democrats’ disingenuous dithyrambs to “affordability.”

Hence, President Trump has called the Democrats’ laments regarding the “affordability” issue a “hoax” and a “scam”; however, in the context he describes, he is decrying the party’s disingenuous messaging ploy.

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FDA Commissioner CONFIRMS Agency Lied About DIETARY FAT for Decades to Benefit Big Pharma Interests — Says Low-Fat Advice Drove Americans to Eat More SUGAR and Suffer Higher HEART ATTACK Rates

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary admitted that for nearly 20 years, the agency’s dietary guidance on fat was not just wrong, it was misleading, triggering a cascade of unhealthy eating habits that have devastated American health.

Speaking at a White House briefing on Wednesday alongside HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Makary unleashed a scathing indictment of the “medical dogma” that has governed American kitchens since the 1980s.

The Commissioner revealed that the government’s crusade against saturated fats, meat, butter, and eggs, was not only scientifically hollow but directly responsible for the explosion of the chronic disease epidemic.

“For decades, we’ve been fed a corrupt food pyramid that has had a myopic focus on demonizing natural healthy saturated fats, telling you not to eat eggs and steak, and ignoring a giant blind spot: refined carbohydrates, added sugars, ultra-processed food,” said Makary.

“Ironically, they took out the healthy, saturated fat and added sugar, and that was supposed to be healthier. We now have a chronic disease epidemic. The focus on fat has paralleled and ushered in an entire generation of kids with high insulin resistance and levels of inflammation never seen before in the human race.”

On Thursday, Makary doubled down on this new finding, criticizing the long-standing “low-fat” dogma that had led Americans to load up on sugar while avoiding healthy fats.

He suggested the narrative was kept alive, at least in part, to shield powerful corporate interests—including Big Pharma.

Most damning, Makary cited data showing that people who followed low-fat diets actually suffered higher rates of heart attacks than those who consumed healthy fats, directly contradicting decades of so-called “expert” federal nutrition advice.

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U.S. Failed To Install the Pro-US Opposition in Venezuela

The United States decapitated the Venezuelan regime and is dictating policy in Venezuela, running the country like an American colony. But the regime remains in place. Washington has been forced to exercise its dominance overtly through thuggish economic and military coercion rather than covertly by installing the pro-U.S. opposition.

There are at least four reasons for this failure. The first is past failures. Many of them. Guillaume Long, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador and currently a senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told me that “regime change (meaning getting the pro-US opposition into power) failed in Venezuela, because there have been so many US-supported failed coup attempts in Venezuela in the last few years, that there is literally no one left to organize and support a coup attempt.” That means that to pull off complete regime change would have required a military uprising or coup in Venezuela that the U.S. could support. “The Venezuelan security apparatus,” Long says, “is too tight for that right now.”

The second is that the most recent failures of U.S. supported coups in Venezuela left the Trump administration feeling that the opposition was incapable of taking over the country. The Trump administration had consistently asserted that Nicolás Maduro was an illegitimate leader who had stolen the last election from the María Corina Machado led opposition. Following the capture of Maduro, Machado declared that “Today we are prepared to assert our mandate and seize power.” But if she was, Trump wasn’t. Trump spurned Machado, saying “it would be very tough for her to be the leader if she doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect within [Venezuela].”

That reversal and rejection “blindsided Machado’s aides” and “landed like a gut punch” for Machado. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump was leery of the Machado led opposition “after concluding it failed to deliver in his first term.” The U.S. had broken Venezuela with sanctions that had reduced oil production by 75 percent, that led to the “worst depression, without a war, in world history,” and caused tens of thousands of deaths. They had, to a large extent, diplomatically isolated Maduro, and they had done everything they could to catalyze a military uprising. But the armed forces did not rise up, the people did not rise up, and the opposition failed to take power. The Trump administration assessed “the opposition overpromised and underperformed.”

“Senior U.S. officials had grown frustrated with her assessments of Mr. Maduro’s strength, feeling that she provided inaccurate reports that he was weak and on the verge of collapse,” The New York Times reports. They had become “skeptical of her ability to seize power in Venezuela.” After repeatedly asking Machado for her plan “for putting her surrogate candidate, Edmundo González, into office,” they came to the realization that she had “no concrete ideas” on how to achieve that goal.

The third reason is that Machado is too radical to unite the opposition and the people of Venezuela. She “represents the most hardline faction” of the opposition, William Leo Grande, Professor of Government at American University and a specialist in U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America, told me. Yale University history professor Greg Grandin says, Machado has “constantly divided… and handicapped the opposition” by advancing a “more hardline” position.

When Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize, Miguel Tinker Salas, Professor of Latin American History at Pomona College and one of the world’s leading experts on Venezuelan history and politics, reminded me that Machado supported a coup against a democratically elected government, was a leading organizer of the violent La Salida insurrection that left many dead, and endorses foreign military intervention in her country. She was a signatory to the Carmona Decree, which suspended democracy, revoked the constitution, and installed a coup president.

Machado has supported the painful American sanctions on Venezuela. According to The New York Times, this strategy lost her support among the people and the elite. The business elite were threatened by sanctions and had “built a modus vivendi with Mr. Maduro to continue working.” The general population were anxious to improve living conditions, and Machado’s message alienated them. But as Trump tightened sanctions, Machado “remained largely silent.”

Her loss of support led to the loss of control of the levers required to come to power. Leo Grande told me that Machado’s hardline approach made her “the least acceptable to the armed forces.” “Trying to impose her,” he said, “would be very risky.” Tinker Salas told me that Machado is both “unacceptable to the military and the police forces” and to the ruling PSUV party structure. “Her imposition,” he said, “would have been a deal breaker.”

A classified U.S. intelligence assessment came to the same conclusion. The CIA analysis recommended working with the vice president of the current regime over working with Machado. The assessment convinced Trump “that near-term stability in Venezuela could be maintained only if Maduro’s replacement had the support of the country’s armed forces and other elites,” which Machado did not.

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‘Tip of a Very Damaging Iceberg’: COVID Vaccines Linked to Several Cancer Types in New Review

A systematic review of 69 studies and reports on COVID-19 and cancer identified a possible safety signal linking COVID-19 vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 to certain types of cancer.

The study identified safety signals for leukemia, lymphoma, breast and lung cancer. The authors of the paper, published last week in the journal Oncotarget, said their findings suggest the need for further research.

The paper identified mechanisms — including the spike protein and DNA contamination found in some COVID-19 vaccine types — that might be responsible for triggering cancer.

The authors also addressed “several recurrent themes” in the studies they examined:

  • The “unusually rapid progression, recurrence, or reactivation” of preexisting conditions.
  • The “atypical” appearance of cancers near the point of vaccination.
  • The reactivation of dormant tumors.

Wafik El-Deiry, M.D., Ph.D., one of the co-authors, told The Defender that the paper “is the first most comprehensive presentation summarizing the world‘s literature on the subject matter of COVID vaccines, COVID infection and cancer.”

He said some of the review’s findings “look like a smoking gun” linking COVID-19 shots to cancer.

Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., senior research scientist for Children’s Health Defense, said the review’s findings may represent “the tip of a very damaging iceberg.”

“It is not remotely surprising that a gene-therapy rebranded as a vaccine, never tested for oncogenic safety, with severe immune dysregulating effects, injected into a billion people would correlate with an increased risk of cancers worldwide,” Jablonowski said.

El-Deiry said the review may provide insights into rising cancer rates in recent years, including an increase in so-called “turbo cancers.”

“I believe there is a risk of cancer associated with COVID vaccination,” El-Deiry said. “The magnitude of the risk remains to be more precisely defined, including the risk of hyperprogression.” Hyperprogression refers to cases where “a pre-existing tumor grows more aggressively.”

“The paper doesn’t say that COVID vaccines cause cancer, but it does argue that when the same pattern of aggressive cancer keeps appearing across different cancers and different countries, they can no longer be brushed aside,” investigative journalist Maryanne Demasi, Ph.D., said in a video posted Monday on Substack.

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