Tag: politicians

‘Our Aim… Lobby for Somalia’: Ohio State Rep. Ismail Mohamed Urges Support for Somali Causes in Non-English Video

Ohio state Rep. Ismail Mohamed (D), one of the first Somali Muslims elected to the Ohio General Assembly, spoke entirely in Somali in a recently posted video in which he thanked Somali National TV and discussed efforts to honor a Somali historical figure, organize Somali American political representation, and lobby on behalf of Somalia.

Mohamed appeared in a video posted online in which he spoke exclusively in Somali, with English captions providing a translation. Mohamed, elected in 2022 as one of the first Somali Americans to serve in the Ohio General Assembly, addressed viewers in the video.

According to the English captions, Mohamed began by thanking Somali National TV and its management before describing two “historic achievements” in Ohio, particularly in Columbus. The first, he said, was naming a street after Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, whom he called “the father of Somalia whose dignity and honor is unequaled by any other Somali throughout the history” and “worthy enough to have a street named after him.” When discussing the street naming, the video showed a photo of Mohamed standing beside a street sign bearing Hassan’s name. Mohamed explained, “I’ve pioneered the idea of commemorating a monument even before I got elected.”

He went on to note the presence of “20 or more different political representatives,” including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) at the federal level, and more than ten Somali American representatives serving at city and state levels. Mohamed described a “tight-knit organization” of Somali American officials who communicate in a group chat. “Our main objective is to discuss things that concern Somalia. It’s our country and our people. Our aim as a united front is to lobby for Somalia, helping waive Somalia’s national debt and maritime crisis,” the captions read. Mohamed called on residents of Columbus to “please vote,” adding, “We need your support. We want you to knock doors.”

This is not the first video of its kind. Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh (D), now a candidate for mayor of Minneapolis whose platform is similar to that of New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, posted a campaign video directed at Somali voters in which his only English-language phrase was “rental assistance program.”

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US Plan To Copy UK’s Disastrous Online Digital ID Verification Is Winning Friends in the Senate

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is moving forward in the US Senate with 16 new co-sponsors as of July 31, 2025, reviving a proposal that copies the same type of provision found in the UK’s controversial Online Safety Act, which has caused much backlash across the Atlantic.

In Britain, that measure forces online platforms to implement digital ID age checks before granting access to content deemed “harmful,” a policy that has caused intense resentment over privacy violations, the erosion of anonymity, and government overreach in the realm of free speech.

Now, US lawmakers are considering a similar framework, with more senators from both parties throwing their support behind the bill in recent weeks.

Marketed as a way to shield children from harmful online material, KOSA has gained prominent backing from Apple, which has publicly praised it as a step toward improving online safety. Yet beyond the reassuring branding, the legislation contains provisions that raise serious concerns for free expression and user privacy.

If enacted, the bill would give the Federal Trade Commission authority to investigate and sue platforms over content labeled as “harmful” to minors. This would push websites toward aggressive content moderation to avoid liability, creating an environment where speech is heavily filtered without the government ever issuing direct censorship orders.

The legislation also instructs the Secretary of Commerce, FTC, and FCC to explore “systems to verify age at the device or operating system level.” Such a mandate paves the way for nationwide digital identification, where every user’s online activity could be tied to a verifiable real-world identity.

Once anonymity is removed, the scope for surveillance and profiling expands dramatically, with personal data stored and potentially exploited by both corporations and government agencies.

Advocates of a free and open internet warn that laws like KOSA exploit the emotional appeal of child safety to introduce infrastructure that enables ongoing monitoring and identity tracking. Even with recent changes, such as removing state attorneys general from enforcement, these core concerns remain.

Senator Marsha Blackburn defended the bill, stating, “Big Tech platforms have shown time and time again they will always prioritize their bottom line over the safety of our children.” Yet KOSA’s structure could end up reinforcing the dominance of large tech firms, which are best positioned to implement costly verification systems and handle the resulting data.

The bill’s earlier version stalled in the House after leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, questioned its impact on free speech. Johnson remarked that he “love[s] the principle, but the details of that are very problematic,” a sentiment still shared by many who view KOSA as a gateway to lasting restrictions on online freedoms.

If this legislation moves forward, it will not simply affect what minors can view; it will alter the fundamental architecture of the internet, embedding identity verification and top-down content control into its design.

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Brazilian Woman Granted Refugee Status in Europe After Facing 25-Year Sentence for ‘Misgendering’ Trans Politician

In a precedent-setting move, a European country has officially granted full refugee protections to a Brazilian women’s rights activist who was facing 25 years in prison in her home country for misgendering a transgender politician. Isabella Cêpa is the first person to be recognized as a victim of state persecution for her outspoken opposition to gender identity ideology.

As previously reported by Reduxx, Cêpa first came under criminal investigation after she made a social media post about Erika Hilton – a male politician who “identifies” as a woman. Hilton was elected to São Paulo’s municipal government in November of 2020, winning his seat by a landslide that gave him the title of the most voted-for ‘woman’ in Brazil.

At the time of his victory, Hilton was celebrated in international media as being a “symbolic triumph” for transgender people. Hilton was amongst the top 10 most-voted for candidates in all of Brazil, and was touted as the “only woman” to make the list. 

It was the widespread announcement of his victory that first put him on Cêpa’s radar.

“At the time I didn’t even know who this person was. I just saw a headline on an Instagram page celebrating that ‘the most voted woman in São Paulo is a transwoman,’” Cêpa told Reduxx during a 2022 interview, recounting how her ordeal began. “Then, I shared a video with my followers saying I was disappointed to hear that the most voted-for woman in São Paulo – later found out that it was in the entire country – was a man.”

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Cincinnati official under fire for celebrating brutal attack: ‘They begged for that beatdown!’

An Ohio city council member disturbingly claimed that the victims of the Cincinnati downtown brawl were asking to be assaulted during the ruthless mob attack.

“They asked for that beatdown,” Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks replied to video of the July 27 brawl on Facebook.

“I am grateful for the whole story,” she added.

The 67-year-old Democrat angered Cincinnati’s police union boss, who blasted Parks for the comments and called for her resignation.

“It’s unconscionable that an elected official would be celebrating violence in the very city she was voted to serve,” Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police president Ken Kober told Fox News Digital. 

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Study Finds Congress Often Out Of Sync With America

In an era of deep political polarization, a new study indicates that many members of Congress may be out of step not just with the opposition party, but with their own voters as well.

The study by the Institute for Legislative Analysis, a conservative group led by Republican Party activists Fred McGrath and Ryan McGowan, compares the ideological leanings of every sitting member of Congress with the partisan makeup of their districts, drawing on more than 100,000 votes cast in the last session and overlapping them with the Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voter Index. The result is a striking picture of ideological misalignment across both parties, particularly among Republicans from deep-red states.

“It’s shocking to see that some Republican lawmakers are more aligned with the Democratic Party than with their own constituents,” said Fred McGrath, president of ILA and leader of this study.

More than two-thirds of lawmakers received a failing grade (“F”) for ideological alignment with their districts. Republicans were most often penalized for voting less conservatively than their deep-red districts, while Democrats struggled to meet the progressive expectations of blue districts.

“This study shows the overwhelming majority of elected officials in both parties are out of alignment with the people they represent,” said Ryan McGowan, CEO of the ILA. “Too many are either voting against the ideological tendencies of their constituents or failing to provide a clear alternative when representing swing districts.”

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CIA Whistleblower Reveals How Intelligence Agencies Gather Blackmail on Politicians Without Them Suspecting It

The ex-CIA officer who blew the whistle on torture just shared a chilling story about how the intelligence community will go to any lengths to blackmail people in power for the secrets they want.

On Patrick Bet-David’s podcast, John Kiriakou revealed that his CIA operational trainer was rewarded with a promotion and a medal for recruiting a copy machine repairman.

At first, Kiriakou laughed, but then he realized the brilliance of the plan when he learned that the repairman secretly sent every document from a prime minister’s office straight to the CIA.

How did he do it? By planting a tiny device on the copy machine.

“He [my trainer] said, all of us want to recruit the prime minister. We’re not going to recruit the prime minister. We’re not even going to have access to the prime minister. But the prime minister’s got a copy machine in his office.

“And every once in a while, that machine is going to need to be cleaned and serviced. So you recruit the copy machine repairman. And when he goes in there to make his repair or to clean the drums or whatever, he installs a little device that we give him so that every time somebody makes a copy, it transmits a copy back to the CIA.”

What happened next?

He said, “I got a promotion. I got a medal. I got a photo op with the director. It made my career…”

Because this flow of information was pure leverage for the CIA:

“You know what they’re thinking. You know their next move. You know who their enemies are and who their allies are. Maybe it’s their position on trade negotiations. Maybe the prime minister has a health problem you need to plan for. You never know what might come through,” Kiriakou explained.

“That ONE critical nugget is all it takes.”

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“I Just Want to Go Home. I Missed Our Entire Trip to the Beach” – John Fetterman Moans About Having to do His Job in the Senate

Senator John Fetterman was already fed up on Monday morning before the all-day Senate vote-a-rama, complaining to reporters that he missed his beach trip because he had to stay in Washington to cast votes on amendments to the Big Beautiful Bill. 

“Oh my God. I just want to go home,” he griped in the Capitol basement. “I’ve missed our entire trip to the beach. My family’s going to be back before me.”

The Senate proceeded to the floor to vote on amendments to the Big Beautiful Bill, which the President wants sent to his desk by Friday, after spending the weekend advancing the bill and ironing out the details.

Fetterman said this is not what he signed up for and that legislators shouldn’t be required to stay “till some ungodly hour.”

“I’m going to vote no. There’s no drama. The votes are going to go. In fact, the only interesting votes are going to be on the margin, whether that’s Collins, or Johnson, and those, but all the Democrats, we all know how that’s going to go,” he told reporters.

WATCH:

Reporter: Did you get any clues on the floor about what time this might wrap?

Fetterman: Oh my God. I just want to go home. I’ve missed our entire trip to the beach. My family’s going to be back before me. So, and again, I’m going to vote no. There’s no drama. The votes are going to go. In fact, the only interesting votes are going to be on the margin, whether that’s Collins, or Johnson, and those, but all the Democrats, we all know how that’s going to go. And I think, I don’t think it’s really helpful to put people here ’till some ungodly hour.

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Free Speech Travesty: German Pensioner Who Called Green Economic Minister Habeck an ‘Idiot’ Has Been Convicted

The case of German pensioner Stefan Niehoff became a major international story after police raided his home for calling Robert Habeck an “idiot” while Habeck was serving as Germany’s economy minister at the time.

Now that Niehoff has been convicted — for sepearte offneses — it has become clear how far the German media has gone to create the perception that Niehoff is a Nazi to smear his name, when the exact opposite was true all along.

Elon Musk tweeted about the case. The Economist included the incident in a long list of items showing Germany was walking all over free speech, and Niehoff was publicly outspoken over what happened to him.

Niehoff suffered a house raid early in the morning at his home in Burgpreppach, while his disabled daughter was home, all because Habeck filed a complaint against him for Niehoff calling him an “idiot” in an internet post.

The case looked exceedingly bad, so the German establishment went into damage control.

Numerous news outlets started publishing articles that the main focus of the investigation against Niehoff — the “idiot” comment — had quietly been sidelined. Now, the courts were focusing on “unconstitutional” symbols that Niehoff shared. In other words, after the Niehoff case blew up in their faces, they needed to find an ad hoc justification after the fact to justify their witch hunt against him.

In Germany, any kind of “unconstitutional symbol” basically means you were sharing swastikas or other symbols associated with the Nazi regime. Most people suddenly thought Niehoff was some kind pro-Nazi activist.

The reality is that he was comparing the left-liberal traffic light government, which was in power at the time, to the era of National Socialism. In other words, he was criticizing the Nazis, not praising them.

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The Rise of the Permanent Political Class

How Career Politicians Stay in Power Forever

Walk into any government building, and you’ll see them—the same faces, year after year, decade after decade. They call themselves “public servants,” but they’ve never worked a real job outside politics. They don’t know what it’s like to struggle to pay rent or worry about layoffs. Instead, they’ve turned governing into a lifelong career, insulated from the people they claim to represent.

This isn’t an accident. It’s by design.

Once elected, these politicians do everything they can to stay in office. They raise money from wealthy donors, pass laws that help their friends, and rig the system so challengers can’t compete. They talk about “fighting for the working class” while voting for policies that keep wages low and prices high. The longer they stay, the richer they get—while the rest of us foot the bill.

The Money Machine Behind Political Lifers

Running for office costs a fortune. That’s no problem for career politicians. They’ve spent years building networks of lobbyists, corporations, and special interest groups who fund their campaigns. In return, they pass laws that benefit those same donors.

Think about it: How often do you see a politician leave office poorer than when they started? Almost never. Many arrive with modest savings and leave as millionaires. They write laws that let them trade stocks based on insider information. They take high-paying “consulting” gigs after retiring. Some even get their family members jobs in the same system.

Meanwhile, the average worker hasn’t seen a real raise in decades.

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