Tag: police state

Brussels’ Version of Democracy: Pick a Bird

Europeans finally get to vote! Brussels has discovered democracy. Do they get to vote on the war in Ukraine? No. Immigration? No. Sanctions on Russia? No. The endless climate regulations coming out of Brussels? No. Do they get a referendum on whether they even WANT the European Union to continue swallowing national sovereignty? Certainly not. But the European Central Bank has graciously decided that the people may express their opinion on what pictures should appear on the next euro banknotes. This is what democracy has been reduced to in Europe. You may not decide the policies that govern your life, but please select your favorite bird.

The ECB is currently allowing the public to rank ten preselected designs for the next generation of euro banknotes. The choices have already been narrowed to two themes: “European culture” and “Rivers and birds.” More than 1,200 designers originally applied, 25 were invited to produce designs, and an independent jury of 21 experts selected the ten finalists. Now the public gets its little moment of participation before the ECB Governing Council makes the FINAL decision around the end of 2026. The ECB itself says public opinion will merely be one of several inputs alongside the jury’s conclusions and a technical assessment. So even when they finally allow you to vote on the appearance of your own money, THEY STILL HAVE THE FINAL SAY.

Christine Lagarde declared that euro banknotes are “one of the most tangible expressions of Europe” and that the new designs will reinforce a “shared identity.” There is the entire problem in two words: shared identity. What identity? Europe is not a nation. It never has been. A Greek is not a Finn. An Italian is not an Estonian. A Spaniard is not a German. Europe contains different languages, histories, cultures, religions, traditions, economies, and national experiences stretching back centuries. Brussels has spent decades attempting to manufacture a single political identity from the top down, and even designing a piece of paper exposes how impossible that project really is.

Look at what they have selected for the “European culture” notes. Maria Callas appears on the €5, Beethoven on the €10, Marie Curie on the €20, Cervantes on the €50, Leonardo da Vinci on the €100, and Bertha von Suttner on the €200. Immediately you encounter the problem Brussels can never solve. Where is YOUR country? Where is YOUR history? Where is the person your nation believes represents its culture? Twenty countries use the euro, and this proposed series has only six denominations. Somebody will be excluded because there is no such thing as a single national European culture that can be represented on six pieces of paper.

They have already stumbled into controversy over something as basic as Marie Curie’s name. Polish MEP Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus objected to the way the ECB identified her and pressed the institution to recognize her Polish heritage and birth name, Skłodowska. Lagarde eventually responded that the ECB would refer to her as “Marie Curie (born Skłodowska)” while it continued considering how names might appear on the notes. There you have it. They cannot even put ONE famous European on a banknote without immediately encountering national identity because national identity actually EXISTS.

This is why the alternative is birds and rivers. The ECB’s own research found that people considered nature “neutral,” “safe,” “borderless,” and unlikely to create controversy. They have been forced toward politically neutral wildlife because depicting actual European civilization exposes the fact that Europe is composed of independent nations.

Keep reading

Google May Ask Canadian Adults for ID or Selfies

The digital ID age verification agenda has landed in Canada. Google has announced it is introducing age verification in Canada. Google Canada’s government-affairs and public-policy director Jeanette Patell announced on September 14 that the rollout will happen over the coming days.

Google will use machine learning to surveil users and estimate whether an account holder is over or under 18, using “signals” from data already gathered and tied to that account, such as “the types of information a user has searched for” and “the categories of videos they’ve watched on YouTube.”

The announcement post by Patell is filled with references to protecting children, but also reveals that the model may produce false positives, i.e., classify an adult as a minor.

Such a user can provide a government ID or a selfie to correct the estimate.

As for why an adult would want to “correct” their classification, it turns out that if they don’t, they will be treated like a child by Google.

According to the announcement, those who are “likely” under 18 will get YouTube Digital Wellbeing reminders to take a break and go to bed, as well as “safeguards” that limit repetitive viewing of some categories.

Keep reading

Bipartisan House Bill Would Ban Social Media Accounts For Under 16s

Two US House of Representatives members, one from each of the dominant parties, have introduced a bill to ban under-16s from having accounts on “addictive” social media.

And if an account is discovered to belong to an under-16, the proposal, dubbed the 16 & Up Social Media Act, seeks to cut them off from their online speech, by having the account terminated.

The bill was introduced by Erin Houchin, a Republican from Indiana, and Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, on September 11, 2026, and has the support of psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who said that the goal is “to stop addictive design entirely.”

The bill covers services that are available to the general public, have searchable and followable usernames, and where user generated content is the primary purpose. These platforms must also allow users to share content, have features that promote engagement, and use personal information for advertising, marketing, or recommendations.

Specific features that are targeted include infinite scroll, autoplay, push alerts, usage-based badges, and personalized recommendations.

As for the way the bill seeks to achieve its goal, it would require companies to “know” a user is under 16, and delete that account. But on page 11, the text states that “knows” means “to know or should have known.”

That opens the door to pressuring companies to investigate the age of their users, or shut them out if there’s doubt. Adults who are flagged would then have to challenge the decision. The bill does not explicitly require government ID uploads for every user, nor does it prescribe a specific age-checking technology.

The bill would have to be passed and then have its provisions come into force in order to start affecting users and companies, but if that happens, existing accounts would have to be identified within 60 days of enactment, users notified within 180 days of enactment, and accounts removed within 30 days of that notification.

Keep reading

ICE Pepper-Sprays and Punches U.S. Citizen Teens on Their Way to Enlist in the Marines — Pair Allegedly Stopped to Film Immigration Arrest Outside Texas Elementary School

Left-wing media and activists are exploding Monday over video and interviews out of Alamo, Texas, claiming Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “brutally attacked” two American teenagers who say they were driving to turn in paperwork to join the Marines.

But at this point, we do not know the full story.

According to reporting first aired by Telemundo and then amplified by The New Republic and The Daily Beast, the two U.S. citizen teens stopped last week near Santos Livas Elementary School in Alamo while ICE agents were arresting parents outside the school.

According to the reports, the teens said they were on their way to submit paperwork to enlist in the United States Marine Corps when they stopped to record an ICE operation near an elementary school in Alamo, Texas.

One of the teenagers was identified as 17-year-old Luis Ochoa.

Video recorded by TikTok user @big.t.33 appears to show federal agents removing one teen from a vehicle and striking him while he was on the ground. The reports also claim that the teens were pepper-sprayed during the confrontation.

Ochoa reportedly fled to a nearby fast-food restaurant to seek help. He said agents later detained him despite his repeated claims that he was a U.S. citizen.

Keep reading

Father Forced to Move Where His Kids Sleep After Cop Used City Flock Cameras to Stalk Him 76 Times Over a Woman

A former Amarillo, Texas, police officer allegedly weaponized the city’s surveillance system to track a local father dozens of times after developing a personal interest in a female officer the man had previously dated.

Christian Eder, 29, was fired from the Amarillo Police Department on July 17 after an internal investigation found that he allegedly misused law-enforcement databases for personal purposes. He now faces 78 counts of tampering with a government record, ABC 7 Amarillo reported.

According to NewsChannel 10, an internal audit found Eder searched the father’s license plate through the city’s Flock automated license plate reader system 76 times between February and June 2026.

He also allegedly searched the man’s name twice through TLOxp, a law-enforcement database containing information such as addresses, phone numbers, vehicles, and businesses.

Investigators reportedly found no police calls, cases, or assignments that would have justified the searches. Eder allegedly entered false explanations, including “city planning,” while dozens of other searches were reportedly marked with the reason “want.”

The father, who spoke anonymously, said Eder became interested in him after pursuing a female APD officer whom the man had previously dated.

The victim said he later learned Eder had allegedly been using a department-issued phone to monitor the female officer’s active patrol-car and body-camera feeds.

Keep reading

SHOCK: Devout Catholic Parents in Massachusetts Say State Took Custody of Their Teen Daughter After they Refused to Affirm Her as a Boy

A devout Catholic couple in Massachusetts said the state took custody of their teenage daughter after they refused to affirm her as a boy.

Joseph and Arlene Kutzko said they have been fighting in court for nearly two years after their minor teen daughter Sophie was taken away from them because they would not recognize the child as a boy.

In December 2024, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) took Sophie away and is now beginning the process of medically transitioning her with testosterone.

The distraught parents alleged that the counselors at Algonquin Regional High School secretly began the process of socially transitioning their daughter without their permission.

A restraining order was lodged against the parents with allegations of abuse.

The DCF put the teen girl in a boys’ dormitory, put her on psychiatric drugs, and gave her birth control.

The couple has not spoken to their daughter Sophie, who is now 17 years old, in nearly two years.

Keep reading

Digital Surveillance Is Becoming the New Form of Government Power

The latest revelations involving the Department of Homeland Security demanding Google surrender data tied to a Canadian citizen demonstrate just how far governments are pushing digital surveillance powers beyond traditional legal and national boundaries. According to reports from WIRED, DHS used a “customs summons” under the Tariff Act of 1930 to demand location records, account activity, and identifying information connected to a Canadian man who had criticized ICE online following controversial immigration enforcement incidents earlier this year.

The individual reportedly had not entered the United States in more than a decade, yet American authorities still attempted to access his digital information because the technology platforms involved operate under U.S. jurisdiction.

People need to understand the implications because this goes far beyond one investigation or one political controversy. Governments are increasingly treating access to private technology infrastructure as a gateway to global surveillance authority. If your information passes through American technology companies, authorities now appear willing to argue they possess legal grounds to access portions of that data regardless of where you physically reside.

According to the lawsuit described in the WIRED investigation, DHS issued what is known as a customs summons, which functions as an administrative subpoena that does not require prior approval from a judge or grand jury. The summons reportedly demanded records involving location history, account activity, and communications tied to “threatening or harassing language.” The government allegedly justified the request under customs law despite the fact the individual was not accused of importing goods or violating customs duties in any conventional sense.

Authorities rarely begin by openly announcing broad monitoring programs targeting ordinary citizens. They start with politically sensitive cases involving terrorism, immigration enforcement, extremism, sanctions violations, or national security concerns. Then the scope quietly expands over time until governments normalize monitoring broader categories of speech, behavior, and political activity.

Keep reading

Ohio Schools Can Send Unvaccinated Kids Home for 25 Days — Even If They’re Not Sick

Ohio’s new policy forcing healthy, unvaccinated children out of school for 21 to 25 days after a confirmed case of measles or rubella is drawing fire from parents, lawyers and scientists.

Critics say the policy isn’t needed to protect public health, it could harm children and it may be illegal.

The policy, part of a public health order signed in February by Ohio Department of Public Health (ODH) Director Bruce Vanderhoff, is enforceable even if the unvaccinated student shows no signs of illness or infection.

The policy also applies whenever a mumps or chickenpox outbreak occurs — and it extends to sports and extracurricular activities, not just classroom attendance.

The 21-to-25-day quarantine resets every time a new case or outbreak is reported at the student’s school.

Jeffrey Tucker, president and founder of the Brownstone Institute, called the policy “cruel and discriminatory” and a violation of the rights of children and their parents or guardians.

“If the policy is to protect the unvaccinated children, the parents should be the ones to decide,” Tucker said.

Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., senior research scientist for Children’s Health Defense (CHD), said the “contrast between medical freedom and medical tyranny is blatant” in the policy, which he said “discriminates against people based on medical choice … with zero evidence that they pose a risk.”

Policy could lead to ‘serious risk of vaccine injury’

Ohio’s school vaccine mandates require students to receive routine childhood vaccinations for 10 diseases: diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, meningococcal, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, rubella, tetanus and varicella (chickenpox).

Earlier this month, Ohio school districts sent letters to parents warning that children who haven’t received two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine will be “excluded from school” for 21 days whenever the school confirms a measles case.

According to the policy, any vaccine doses children received five or more days before the minimum interval or age are “invalid” — so those students are classified as unvaccinated and required to be re-vaccinated.

That could put those children “at serious risk of vaccine injury,” according to Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, which called for the “immediate repeal” of the policy.

In a letter to leaders and members of the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives, the group said Ohio’s policy amounts to a “coercion tactic to bully parents into submitting to vaccination against their conscience out of desperation.”

Most families will be unable to find solutions to keep their unvaccinated children at home for several weeks or months, the letter noted.

Leslie Manookian, president of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, agreed that the policy appears deliberately designed to “coerce busy parents into vaccinating their children so they won’t be excluded from attending school and any school-related activities.”

However, Manookian questioned whether the policy will change the minds of parents who have chosen not to vaccinate their kids.

“This policy misses a larger point, which is that many parents would prefer to take the risk of their child contracting measles than to subject their child to the potential risk of the measles vaccines,” she said.

Keep reading