Tag: wrongthink

Stripe And Substack Demand Authors’ Financial Details

Financial privacy is a right under the Constitution, as is free speech.  

Under the guise of “credit review,” Stripe is now rolling out a requirement that appears to target conservative or “anti-vax” Substack authors. Stripe is requiring that these authors provide all of their current and historic financial records associated with the bank account into which Stripe deposits Substack subscriber payments (after taking 10% off the top for Substack and 3% for Stripe). Stripe already has information concerning this bank account (including deposits from Stripe), as we have been doing business with Stripe via this account for over two years.

If I or anyone else agree to these new terms, this newly implemented arbitrary, capricious and overreaching requirement will provide Stripe with complete records of all financial transactions associated with this account. Consequently, this will provide Stripe with comprehensive information on all of my customers, patients, and clients, all of my travel (historic and planned), all of my purchases, and any donations (and donor information).

This information from my account and those of any others who comply with this demand can be hacked or sold, provided to the US Government, used to fuel predictive algorithms (AI), used to derive insights into my political orientation, weaponized against me by press or other hostile actors, or used to support future social credit score-based restrictions.

Stripe has a history of financially deplatforming (or debanking) for political reasons, including removing support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Despite its relatively recent entry into the financial transaction business, Stripe has become a major global financial organization, and processed one $1 trillion in payments during 2023, and is now expanding its credit charge program. 

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Gender ideology mandate in foster care opposed by religious liberty, gay rights, pro-drag groups

Vermont’s refusal to place foster children in families with religious objections to gender ideology compels parents to parrot the government’s preferred messages, establishes the Green Mountain State’s own religion and treats “comparable secular activity” more favorably, while the judge who upheld the gender-affirming mandate relied on dubious research.

Those are a handful of arguments in friend-of-the-court briefs as the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals evaluates whether Vermont violated the First Amendment by stripping foster-care licenses from Christian couples Brian and Katy Wuoti and Michael and Rebecca Gantt.

Social workers gave the couples glowing reviews, but Vermont deemed them “unqualified” to parent “any child (even a relative) of any age (even an infant) and for any length of time (even a few hours)” due to their religious beliefs, harming children who need “loving homes,” the couples’ lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom said.

No federal appeals court has yet determined “whether a state may categorically exclude families from foster care because of their protected speech and religious beliefs,” though the 9th Circuit will “likely” rule on the issue “soon,” ADF’s opening brief says.

The San Francisco-based appeals court heard oral argument nearly a year ago, but has yet to rule, in another ADF case by Oregon widow and mother-of-five Jessica Bates, who is suing the Beaver State to let her adopt foster siblings without requiring her to use their preferred pronouns and even give them “hormone shots” if they desire.

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UK: Mainstream Beliefs Meet the Terror Watchlist

By now, if you believe Britain has taken leave of its senses, you’re not alone. The government has decided that worrying about immigration or caring about British culture might make you a terrorist.

This gem of bureaucratic genius comes courtesy of the “Prevent” program, that once well-meaning initiative designed to stop actual terrorism, like bomb plots and people with a fondness for Kalashnikovs, now apparently more concerned with sniffing out your aunt’s Facebook posts about British bulldogs and Yorkshire pudding.

Prevent, for those lucky enough not to be familiar, is the UK’s flagship anti-extremism strategy. It was born in the post-9/11 panic and was originally tasked with steering vulnerable individuals away from radicalization.

What started as a good-faith attempt to stop kids from being lured into jihadist cults has since mutated into something far less noble: a state-sponsored snooping operation that now treats the phrase “too much immigration” like it’s a secret handshake for neo-Nazis.

The smoking gun is a government-hosted training module advising public sector workers, nurses, teachers, librarians, and probably the guy who does your recycling collection, that “cultural nationalism” should be seen as a potential marker for extreme right-wing terrorism.

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Major bank announces end of de-banking policies on guns and political affiliation

After years of criticism from the right about unfair “de-banking” practices, a major U.S. bank announced the end of the policy as it relates to political affiliation and gun sales.

Citigroup announced that they changed their firearms policies, which had been instituted after the heinous 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“We appreciate the concerns that are being raised regarding ‘fair access’ to banking services, and we are following regulatory developments, recent executive orders and federal legislation that impact this area,” the bank said in a statement.

The statement said Citigroup had updated its employee code of conduct to ensure that no one was discriminated against on the basis of their political affiliation.

Among those who claimed they were the targets of political de-banking were first lady Melania Trump and Eric Trump, who said the Trump Organization had been negatively affected.

In October, the first lady recalled in an interview the shock she felt on finding out a bank had “suddenly informed me they will not be able to do business with me anymore.”

She also said that a university returned her money when she tried to contribute to a philanthropic effort to fund scholarships for foster kids.

“They didn’t want to do business with me because of political affiliation, my political beliefs,” she added.

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BC nurse Amy Hamm faces over $160,000 in legal fees, 3-month license suspension after being found guilty of ‘unprofessional conduct’

Vancouver nurse Amy Hamm, who was found guilty of professional misconduct by a disciplinary panel of the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives in March, is facing over $160,000 in legal fees and a potential three-month suspension of her license. 

In late May, British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) attorney Michael Seaborn sent a request to the group’s disciplinary panel urging them to suspend her license for three months and order her to pay $163,053 in legal fees to the BCCNM.

Hamm wrote in response to the filing that the BCCNM “spent 4+ years persecuting me for my political views. Their latest move is to try to take $163,053 dollars from me, a single mother, to pay for their bullsh*t persecution that I wanted nothing to do with. And suspend my license for 3 months. I already lost my 13 year job because of them. They are f*cking evil. Evil. Who does this?”

In a statement to the Epoch Times, BCCNM spokesperson Johanna Ward said that the request is part of the regulatory disciplinary process. “Costs may be awarded to the successful party, in this case the College, to partially offset the cost of running a hearing. The College has made its submissions to the Discipline Committee regarding the penalty and costs sought. Ms. Hamm and her counsel have the opportunity to respond to those submissions. Ultimately, the Discipline Committee will decide what, if any, order to make on penalty and costs.”

In a June 2 post, Hamm said she would fight the request. “Unfortunately for them, I am not a weak person. I reject their lies, and their punishment, and will fight to see that they never see a penny of the $161,000 they want to take from me. I will fight to see that they are punished for what they’ve done.”

The case against Hamm spans back to 2020, when Hamm co-sponsored a billboard that read “I [heart] JK Rowling,” the British author best known for her Harry Potter series who has been a vocal defender of women’s spaces. A complaint was lodged against Hamm with the BCCNM claiming that she was transphobic and unfit for her profession. A second complaint, filed anonymously, was filed against Hamm accusing her of “promoting and stoking hate speech towards trans and gender-diverse communities.” 

The BCCNM’s Inquiry Committee launched an investigation, resulting in a 332-page report on Hamm’s online activities and a citation against Hamm for alleged “discriminatory and derogatory statements” that constituted professional misconduct.

In March, Hamm was found guilty of committing “unprofessional conduct” for her statements in support of sex being a characteristic that cannot be changed, statements in which she identified herself as a nurse. 

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Retired UK Constable Detained for Social Media Post Receives Financial Compensation for Wrongful Imprisonment

Under leftist Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the United Kingdom is sinking ever deeper in the censorship quagmire, signaling an authoritarian future where free-speech will be completely criminalized.

But that is not to say there has been no pushback from the British society.

Now, a retired police constable has been awarded some measure of justice in the form of compensation of £20,000 [US$ 27,000] after a wrongful arrest over one social media post in which he warned about rising anti-Semitism.

The Telegraph reported:

“Julian Foulkes, from Gillingham, Kent, was handcuffed at his home by six officers after replying to a pro-Palestinian activist on X. Kent Police officers searched his home and commented on his ‘very Brexity’ book collection. The force detained the 71-year-old for eight hours, interrogated and issued him with a caution after officers visited his home on Nov 2 2023.”

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U.S. Intervention Halts Germany’s Attempt to Suppress AfD Opposition.

Germany’s bid to marginalize its largest opposition party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), through intelligence agency tactics has been derailed, thanks to intense pressure from U.S. political figures.

As German establishment parties and authorities orchestrated a campaign to discredit the AfD, Republican leaders in the U.S. intervened, condemning the move as a threat to democracy.

On May 2, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) labeled the AfD a “proven right-wing extremist” group, triggering a media onslaught aimed at delegitimizing the party and potentially laying the groundwork for a ban. This aggressive move against parliamentary democracy quickly drew international backlash.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among the first to respond, posting on X: “Germany has empowered its intelligence service to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s disguised tyranny.”

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Seattle’s Woke Problem: You Don’t Hate Antifa Or Leftist Politicians Enough

If you want to travel back in history and get a glimpse of the spread of violent Bolshevism across Europe in the early 20th Century, the west coast of the US in 2025 is a close parallel.  Seattle in particular has become a cesspool of extreme Antifa activism and apathetic local governance.  It’s a place where zero tolerance is displayed for differing political views and violence is considered an acceptable strategy to silence opponents.  Seattle is a glimpse back to the height of the woke era, and a warning of what could happen if the political left is ever allowed to gain real power again.

As we covered last week, Antifa groups organized and descended on a Christian event held by Mayday USA in Cal Anderson Park, within the same area that was once the “CHAZ autonomous zone” during the riots of 2020.  The reaction from the woke mob to the peaceful free speech event was vicious and at least 23 arrests were made by police.

What the local news does not mention, however, is the fact that these kinds of disruptive actions are a regular occurrence in the Seattle area.  Any visit from a conservative group or speaker in a public venue is immediately swarmed and attacked; people who attend the events are specifically targeted for harassment.  Antifa isn’t only seeking to intimidate the speakers or the organizers, they go after anyone who shows up to listen.  The establishment media will never show you most of these incidents.

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Pro-Trump Christian: Kennedy Center Fired Me Over My Religious Beliefs

A prominent pro-Trump Christian says he was fired from his role as vice president of the Kennedy Center just because he refused to renounce his belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Floyd Brown, the founder of Western Journal, had been recruited about a month ago to serve as the performing arts center’s vice president.

He accused Kennedy Center president Ric Grenell, who is married to a man, of being intimidated by a CNN hit piece that highlighted what the news network called Brown’s anti-gay rhetoric.

He asked to speak to Grenell for an explanation, but his request was rejected. The Kennedy Center has not responded to inquiries about the allegations.

Brown said “the only explanation is the one given to me at the time of my firing. ‘Floyd, you must recant your belief in traditional marriage and your past statements on the topic, or you will be fired.’ Needless to say, I refused to recant and was shown the door. My beliefs are much more common to Biblical Christianity.”

CNN’s KFile published the attack on Brown Thursday titled, “Far-Right with history of anti-gay comments fired from leadership role at Kennedy Center after CNN investigation.”

Brown said the article, which is behind a paywall, rehashed “past writings and statements about traditional marriage and homosexual influence in the GOP.”

Brown released a statement CNN in response to their hit piece.

“It is an honor to work at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and with the many amazing people who are employed here. Comments rooted in my personal Christian views, which I have made in the past, have no impact upon my work here at the Kennedy Center nor do they impinge on my interactions with colleagues who do incredible work for the patrons of the Center. As a Christian I am called to work with others of different beliefs and worldviews.”

Brown said there was no intention to offend anyone with his Christian beliefs.

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Documents Show DC Bar Skirted Its Own Rules And Due Process To Target Jeff Clark

The D.C. Bar skirted its rules dictating how to fairly open a disciplinary investigation to target and potentially disbar Trump-era Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, new documents obtained by The Federalist reveal.

During his brief tenure as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin sought information about the D.C. Bar’s weaponization of its punishment process against Republican lawyers. His letters to the D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) and the bombshell replies he received not only confirm the legal licensing association’s lawfare against Clark was inspired by a sitting Democrat senator, but also expose the D.C. Bar for trying to cover up its partisan motives.

In a February 7 letter to the D.C. Bar’s Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton P. Fox III, Martin asked the association to produce proof by February 21 that “you are even-handed in your policies” and explain how the Bar handles “clearly politically motivated attacks that come from certain ‘public interest’ groups.”

“This would include something that explains how you limit the targeting of individuals who you may disagree,” Martin noted.

Martin was referring to Clark, who was charged by the legal licensing association in in July 2022 with “attempted … conduct involving dishonesty” and “attempted … conduct that would seriously interfere with the administration of justice.” Clark was also named as one of the 19 “co-conspirator” targets in Democrats’ wide-ranging election indictment in Georgia and even had his house raided by the FBI.

The investigation into Clark appeared to be inspired by a report forwarded to Hamilton’s office on October 7, 2021 by the chief counsel for oversight on the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. The 394-page document alleged Clark played a key role in a plot to “wield [the] DOJ’s power to override the already-certified popular vote.”

The Trump-era DOJ official did not commit a crime when he drafted a letter to Georgia officials noting the DOJ “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the [2020] election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.” In fact, Clark chose not to send the letter after facing objections from his DOJ superiors and a pivot from then-President Donald Trump.

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