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Democrat Anaheim Mayor Accused of Calling Her Chief of Staff a ‘Dirty Mexican’

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, a Democrat running for reelection in a majority-Latino city, is under review after her chief of staff claimed she repeatedly called her a “dirty Mexican” and grilled her about being a lesbian.

Employment attorney Lawrence Lennemann sent a four-page mediation demand to City Attorney Robert Fabela on September 11 for Berenice Ballinas, a Latina who remains a city employee on medical leave.

The letter says Ballinas was made to drive Aitken home from events after the mayor had been drinking.

“On various occasions when Ms. Ballinas was forced to drive Mayor Aitken home, Mayor Aitken exclaimed that she did ‘not want her car driven by a dirty Mexican,’” Lennemann wrote.

Lennemann said the line was used more than once.

The same letter accuses Aitken and former City Manager Jim Vanderpool of a years-long habit, from 2023 through June 2026, of calling Ballinas a lesbian, pressing her to admit it, and questioning her dates and guests.

“Beginning in or about 2023 and continuing through at least June 2026, Mayor Aitken and Mr. Vanderpool repeatedly and habitually made unwelcome comments regarding Ms. Ballinas’ perceived sexuality,” the letter claims, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, “including myriad statements and insinuations that she is a lesbian, directly referring to her as a lesbian, pressuring her to admit that she was a lesbian, questioning of her romantic relationships, and comments directed at her guests and companions.”

It also describes a June outing at Disneyland’s Club 33 and the 1901 Lounge at California Adventure, where Aitken allegedly commented on a Disney worker’s sexuality and ethnicity.

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Should Europeans Overthrow Their ‘Ruling Class’

War fever is ramping up again across Europe. This has happened several times in the four and a half years since Russia invaded Ukraine, usually coinciding with important national elections – particularly those in Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Poland, and Germany – when certain domestic political parties have been demonized as “pro-Putin” and “security threats” to the rest of Europe. The war drums also get loud whenever increased military budgets are being debated within the governments of the Scandinavian and Baltic states, Finland, Germany, and Poland, as well as the European Commission. The ebb and flow of political battle cries against the Russian Federation track closely with Europe’s electoral and parliamentary calendars.

It is no coincidence that the German government decided to announce five days before Saxony-Anhalt’s September 6 elections that Russia was responsible for a small drone discovered at the Leipzig/Halle Airport over a month earlier. Although the drone carried an explosive charge, the device caused no damage and sat at the airport unnoticed for many hours on August 4. When Germany accused Russia of perpetrating the “attack” four weeks later, Berlin presented no real evidence for its conclusions.

Nevertheless, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and national leaders across Europe immediately declared solidarity with Germany and condemned Russia’s “hybrid war” on “European Union soil.” To many observers, Berlin’s finger-pointing appeared timed to dampen momentum for the “Alternative for Deutschland” political party, which German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the European Establishment have defamed as “Nazis” and “Russian puppets.” If that was Merz’s goal – to stave off election defeat for his political allies by falsely accusing his opponents of being Russian tools and spies – it did not work. The AfD decisively won the September 6 election in Saxony-Anhalt, and support for the pro-national sovereignty political party continues to surge across Germany.

Similarly contrived “national security” incidents arose before elections in Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Moldova. Pro-European Union parties accused Russia of election interference, economic sabotage, or even imminent attack, while framing opposing parties as Russian assets. In the case of Romania, the E.U.-aligned courts annulled the 2024 presidential election due to spurious allegations of “Russian meddling.”

While European politicians predictably drag out the Russian bogeyman before every election, they seem to be ratcheting up their scaremongering in anticipation of the midterm elections in the United States. President Trump has made no secret of his belief that the Russia-Ukraine War is a stupid and unnecessary conflict that would have never happened had he been in office in 2022. For two years, he has attempted to end it. With the exception of Slovakia (and Hungary before former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s electoral defeat), European governments appear committed to an expanded war with Russia in the near future.

Just last week, President Trump asked Ukraine’s holdover-president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to refrain from attacking Russian oil refineries in an effort to stabilize global markets. After agreeing to do so, Zelenskyy did just the opposite and announced Ukraine’s use of NATO-supplied missile systems to target Russian facilities, an action presumably meant to provoke Russia into targeting NATO members directly. Ominously, Ukrainian “journalist” and Zelenskyy confidant Dmytro Gordon recently announced, “Literally within days, something will happen that will give us great hope….I can’t say what it is – it’s a military secret. But I know that in the coming days…something will happen that will give the nation wings. I know this.”

Gordon’s promise that “something will happen” seems to be an open secret throughout Europe. European Commission officials are encouraging all four-hundred-fifty million European citizens to stockpile water, food, and medicine in preparation for war. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has told the Bundestag that war is coming, and Chancellor Merz has successfully worked around prior legal limits on – and substantially increased – defense spending, while acknowledging that Germany is “already in conflict with Russia.” Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are expanding the size of their respective militaries and implementing broader conscription programs. French President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly informed political leaders that war with Russia has arrived, and the British government is furiously revising its war manuals, organizing civil defense exercises, and preparing for large-scale military conscription, including the activation of retired servicemembers up to the age of sixty-five. In the last week, the United Kingdom’s top ten newspapers have published over two-hundred-fifty articles about the likelihood of war with Russia.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former cabinet minister and one-time Conservative Party favorite for prime minister, says that the British people must fight and die for their country: “In the next few years we may face a war, and if we face a war, we will need people who will join the armed services and who will go out and do their duty. We may even face circumstances where people have to die to save their country, as they did in the First and Second World Wars….That is something that makes a country survive. If people are not willing to do their duty, then the country will be taken over by another country.”

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The Stage Is Set, The Fuse Is Lit, And 3 Global Conflicts Are On The Brink Of Detonation

We are facing one of the most dangerous chapters in human history. For years, I have been warning about 3 global conflicts which would collectively make up World War III. Unfortunately, the stage has now been set for a polycrisis of epic proportions. The war with Iran threatens to greatly escalate, the continuous bombardment of Kyiv has NATO on high alert, and China has decided to literally surround Taiwan with large numbers of ships. Tensions are running sky high, and events in Europe, the Middle East and Asia could all spiral out of control at any moment.

Last night, fighting in the Middle East erupted once again.

The U.S. conducted airstrikes on Iranian military targets on Larak Island, and in response the Iranians fired off at least 8 ballistic missiles…

It appears that the Iranian response really angered President Trump.

On Truth Social, he posted a message in which is declared Iran to be “DEAD” and “a Failed Nation”…

Later on Monday, we learned that Trump had told Trey Yingst of Fox News that the U.S. will “hit them hard” in response to the Iranian ballistic missile attack…

That would seem to indicate that a large wave of airstrikes is coming tonight.

We shall wait and see what happens.

On the other side, the Iranians are warning that their response to any new U.S. airstrikes will be “dozens of times greater”…

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Trump Ends Joe Biden’s Electric Vehicle Mandate, Says Reduced Waste Will Lower Price of Cars

President Trump took to Truth Social tonight and announced that he is approving new fuel economy standards which will effectively terminate Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate.

According to Trump, this move will reduce waste and lower the cost of cars for American families. It’s also great news for the auto manufacturers.

All of this is great news.

Townhall reports:

President Donald Trump says that he has approved new fuel economy standards that should cut the costs of the vehicle market.

“BIG DAY FOR AMERICAN AUTO WORKERS AND CAR BUYERS! I have just approved new Fuel Economy Standards that TERMINATE Sleepy Joe Biden and Pete Boot-EDGE-EDGE’s ridiculous EV Mandate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Dumocrats cost our Great Auto Manufacturers $Billions, forced Americans into cars they never wanted, and wasted Billions on Chargers that were never built.”

The new standards terminate the EPA’s electric vehicle mandate.

“These new Standards will take the waste out of ⁠building cars in America. That means LOWER PRICES, saving families thousands on a new, beautiful, and safe car,” Trump wrote. “Far better than the Environmental Monsters that we were building heretofore. Every Manufacturer, from General Motors to Ford to Stellantis, has called me wanting to build here, and now they can!”

The final rule isn’t available yet. Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA had ordered about 67 percent of new light-duty and medium-duty vehicle sales to be electric by 2032.

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Cuba In Crosshairs: US Army Reportedly Checks Troop Availability As Trump Says Communist Regime “Will Fail”

President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the failed communist island nation of Cuba would see freedom, as the U.S. has not been shy about its intentions to kick the communist regime out of Havana. The U.S. has employed gunboat diplomacy through an oil blockade this year, as the failed state has seen its economy collapse even further.

“My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba, where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they’ve ever been under. It’s an absolutely failed state; it’s failing like never before, and it will fall,” Trump said in his speech at UNGA.

With Trump’s UNGA comments in mind, CBS News reports that it has reviewed an internal Army memo assessing the availability of military police, medical teams, and logistics units for possible use under Southern Command within 90 to 120 days.

The memo does not mention Cuba, identify troop numbers, or specify an operation. It also contains no indication that units have received deployment orders so far.

Here’s more color from the report:

The document reviewed by CBS News says Army Reserve headquarters is seeking feedback from subordinate commands on the possible availability of six types of formations that would fall under the authority of U.S. Southern Command. The units would “possibly [be] needed in 90-120 days,” according to the message, which directs commands to provide feedback to Army Reserve headquarters by Sept. 25. 

Among the units is a combat sustainment support battalion that specializes in coordinating logistics such as transportation, maintenance, fuel and supply needs, along with an engineer battalion. The document also seeks an expeditionary sustainment command that would oversee logistics across a theater of operations. 

The document generated last week also calls for a medical brigade to command and coordinate medical units, as well as a forward resuscitative and surgical detachment to provide emergency surgery and trauma care closer to U.S. forces. Finally, the document seeks a military police brigade — these units typically oversee military police forces responsible for security, detention and other law enforcement missions. 

In July, CBS reported that military planners had examined an air assault involving thousands of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division. Another report by Politico in August suggested that the U.S. intelligence community had “sent spies and assets” to Cuba. Specifically, the outlet reported that the CIA had increased its presence on the island, which sits about 90 miles south of Florida.

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Most Ukrainian TV Channels Taken Off the Air After Relentless Russian Strikes on Data Centers

Ukrainian life is being disrupted more and more each day.

Back in early summer, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced a ‘40-day campaign of deep strikes in Russia’ to pressure Russians to end the war.

The inevitable result is that Russian forces increased attacks on all of Ukraine, with combined missile/drone packages targeting not only military but also economic targets.

Responsible Statecraft reported:

“The [Ukrainian] drone attacks have elicited the most severe Russian retaliation yet. Moscow has markedly stepped up its strikes on Ukraine, including one of the largest ballistic missile attacks of the entire war [August 20], at the precise time the United States and Europe are running low on interceptors to defend it.”

As a result of the onslaught, almost all Ukrainian TV channels went dark in Kyiv after the data centers were targeted.

Some residents only have access to a few channels, Ukrainian media reports.

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Boston Is Paying Illegal Aliens to Become Community Organizers

Boston is offering immigrants—including people in the country illegally—$575 to complete a city-sponsored course in community organizing and advocacy.

The eligibility language on Boston’s own website is explicit:

“Interested applicants are encouraged to apply regardless of their immigration status.”

Run through Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, Immigrants Lead Boston teaches participants how to organize their communities, engage government officials and advocate for change. Its fall 2026 course runs from September 21 through December 5.

Boston calls the $575 completion payment a scholarship to make participation more accessible.

Participants must attend the sessions and complete outside civic activities. The city also promises introductions to key officials.

The published rules establish that undocumented immigrants can apply. They do not disclose how many have received payments.

The program’s political ambitions become clearer in a published profile of its approach, which describes teaching the “art of politics.”

Its power-analysis instruction includes:

“Networking with people in positions of power for community advancement.”

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UN adds 61 firms to settlements blacklist over alleged human rights violations against Palestinians

The UN human rights office has added 61 more companies to a blacklist of firms that it says are involved in violating Palestinian human rights through business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The vast majority of the total 214 companies, which are based in 11 countries, are Israeli. Five of the 158 companies listed last year were removed in the latest update.

The blacklist, first published in 2020, was born of a vote by the UN’s human rights council, which has no ability to force companies to act. Its main goal is to name and shame businesses with ties to the settlements.

It is unclear how the inclusion on the list has affected the companies financially.

“This report is another reminder to companies that they have human rights responsibilities and are expected to conduct due diligence to ensure that they do not become involved in human rights violations or abuses,” said Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, in a statement.

Israel said it “categorically rejects” the publication. “This database is meant to serve as a blacklist against businesses that have committed no wrongdoing,” the Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva said in a statement. “We call on friends not to yield to this ugly attempt to blacklist Israeli firms.”

The UN office said it had advised the companies of their listing and given them a right of reply.

The latest report comes as Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas have faced new scrutiny.

Earlier this month, Britain banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says “settler terrorists” are carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. France and Canada announced they would take similar action.

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Prepping For A Cashless Control Grid How Digital Currency Becomes Digital Control

When Money Stops Being Money

Something fundamental is vanishing, and most people will not notice until it is already gone. Not with a declaration. Not with a law passed in the dead of night. Simply, gradually, the option to buy something without creating a permanent record will disappear. The ability to save purchasing power outside of a system that can freeze it, monitor it, or program it will become a memory that seems almost fictional to those who never experienced it.

I have watched this unfold over years of observing payment systems, reading central bank white papers that few citizens bother to examine, and noticing how my own transactions leave increasingly detailed trails. The pattern is consistent across nations: convenience precedes surveillance, and surveillance precedes control.

We are not approaching a cashless society. We are sleepwalking into it. And for anyone who values independence, privacy, or the basic human right to conduct commerce without surveillance, this represents not progress but regression toward a form of control that previous generations would have recognized immediately and resisted forcefully.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are the mechanism of this transformation. The digital euro, the potential digital dollar, the digital yuan already operational in China – these are not simply modernizations of payment systems. They are structural changes to the relationship between the individual and the state, between commerce and surveillance, between freedom and permission. Once fully implemented, they would create a financial infrastructure where every transaction is visible, every purchase is logged, and every economic decision requires implicit or explicit approval from authorities.

This is not speculation. This is documented policy. The Bank for International Settlements, which coordinates central banking globally, has explicitly stated that CBDCs will enable “programmable money” – currency that can be restricted based on time, place, or purpose. The European Central Bank’s digital euro project includes provisions for offline payments only up to limited amounts, with all larger transactions requiring network connectivity and identity verification. The Federal Reserve’s FedNow system, launched in July 2023, created the technical infrastructure for instant digital payments that serves as the foundation for eventual CBDC implementation.

Three developments demand immediate attention:

1. Over 130 countries representing 98 percent of global GDP are now exploring CBDC implementation, with 11 countries including China, Nigeria, and the Bahamas already operational.

2. The United States government has accumulated over 207,000 bitcoin through seizures and asset forfeiture, creating a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” via Executive Order in March 2025, effectively centralizing control of assets that were designed to resist centralized control.

3. Cash usage has declined 60 percent in the United States since 2017, with 41 percent of Americans reporting they use no cash in a typical week, removing the practical habit of anonymous exchange before the infrastructure to support it disappears.

The implications extend far beyond convenience or efficiency. They strike at the heart of what it means to be a free individual in a society that claims to value liberty.

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So-Called Moderate Governor Candidate Wants More Trans Books in Elementary Schools

Iowa Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rob Sand said he would oppose efforts to restrict books about homosexuality and transgenderism geared toward children.

Kailee Coleman, a social media influencer, said in an interview with Sand — who currently serves as Iowa state auditor — that she is a “banned book children’s author” and asked if he would allow further “book bans” in the state.

“If they try to do any more book bans, I’m going to veto them. My pledge is that I’m going to veto culture war bills,” Sand responded.

“I think that’s one of them. I want the legislature to be focused on issues that impact 100 percent of Iowans.”

The interview with Coleman and Sand was originally posted on TikTok and shared Thursday on X by Iowa First Media.

Coleman also asked Sand about the “changes” he would make as governor “to ensure our transgender and nonbinary neighbors feel safe and valued in Iowa.”

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