Abortion laws

ROME — Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester has blasted a new Minnesota abortion law as “morally outrageous” and “the worst kind of barbarism.” In a video posted on social media, Bishop Barron described the bill signed this week by Democrat Gov. Tim Walz as “the most radical abortion law in the country” while calling on Americans to “stand against this barbarism.” Friends, there is a morally outrageous bill that has now been signed into law by @GovTimWalz . This bill is the most radical abortion law in the country. We must continue to stand against this barbarism. Pray for the conversion of hearts and minds. pic.twitter.com/9A2CI3Xq5w — Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) February 1, 2023 The law, whose full title is the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, establishes abortion up to birth for any reason as “a fundamental right” in Minnesota. “Every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth, or … [Read more...] about Minnesota Bishop Robert Barron Slams ‘Barbaric’ Abortion Law

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that unless Sweden bans the burning of the Islamic Qur’an, he will not agree to the country’s bid for membership in the NATO military alliance. President Erdogan stated this week that Turkey will refuse to give a green light for Swedish membership in NATO as long as it remains legal for people to burn copies of the Islamic holy book following a recent burning of the Qur’an last month. “As long as you allow my holy book, the Qur’an, to be burned and torn apart, we will not say yes to your entry into NATO. Our view of Finland is positive, but not of Sweden,” Erdogan said, broadcaster SVT reports . Finnish police blocked a Qur’an burning just this week. Turkish Govt’s Anger as Qur’an Burnt in Protest Outside Embassy in Stockholm https://t.co/jUixc7Shiq — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 22, 2023 Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström replied to Erdogan’s comments saying, ” We do not compromise on freedom … [Read more...] about No NATO for Sweden Until Qur’an Burning is Banned: Ankara

One of the prominent developers behind the bitcoin blockchain said he has asked the FBI to assist him in recovering $3.6 million worth of the digital coin that was stolen from his storage wallets on New Year’s Eve. Luke Dashjr is a developer of the Bitcoin Core, an app that runs 97 percent of the nodes making up the bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Core derives from the software developed by the anonymous bitcoin inventor who uses the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. That software was called simply Bitcoin but was later changed to Bitcoin Core to distinguish it from the coin. Dashjr has been contributing to the Bitcoin Core since 2011 and has long championed the concept of decentralization that the cryptocurrency was founded on. “What the heck, FBI?” On New Year's Day, Dashjr took to Twitter to report that his entire bitcoin holdings—worth roughly $3.6 million —were “basically all gone.” He said the hack stemmed from the compromise of a PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) key that he used to … [Read more...] about Key bitcoin developer calls on FBI to recover $3.6M in digital coin

MOSCOW (AFP) – The Uzbek national suspected of mowing down pedestrians in Stockholm last week had tried to join the ranks of the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, an Uzbek source told Russian agencies. The 39-year-old suspect, Rakhmat Akilov, “fell under the influence of emissaries of the Tajik cell of the Islamic State, making attempts to take part in combat in Syria on the side of the fighters,” an unnamed law enforcement source in the Central Asian state said. According to the source, Akilov attempted to cross Turkey’s border with Syria in 2015 but was detained. “Given his refugee status he was deported back to Sweden,” the source said. The source added that Uzbek authorities had added Akilov to an international wanted list in late February after a criminal case on “religious extremism” was opened against him. Akilov on Tuesday confessed to a “terrorist crime” for the truck attack that killed four people and injured 15 others on Friday, his lawyer said. He had … [Read more...] about ‘Refugee’ Stockholm Attack Suspect ‘Tried to Join Islamic State in Syria’

President Joe Biden delivered another word salad on Thursday when he proudly proclaimed, “More than half the women in my administration are women,” according to a video of his speech. “But here’s what matters: more than half the women in my cabinet, more than half the people, more than half the women in my administration are women,” Biden said : BIDEN: "More than half the women in my administration are women." pic.twitter.com/VAM3Udb3fx — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 2, 2023 Biden spoke at the White House to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). That piece of legislation was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton, who also joined Biden at the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris was also present for the FMLA anniversary. However, Biden’s gaffe quickly went viral on social media after a video clip hit the Internet, leading many users to mock the president. “I completely agree with the … [Read more...] about Joe Biden: ‘More than Half the Women in My Administration Are Women’

Bloomberg has uncovered new financial filings by a Google subsidiary in the Netherlands, showing that the company avoided $2 billion in worldwide taxes in 2011 by moving $9.8 billion to a Bermuda-based shell company. The news organization has been conducting extensive investigations into the world of shady—albeit legal—financial wheelings and dealings for some years now. It said this new total had doubled over the last three years. As we reported last month, by using a technique known as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich,” Google and many other large companies can (and do) legally move money to where their tax rate is zero. This allows them to avoid double-digit corporate tax rates in most countries. As this technique becomes better understood, particularly in the halls of government, Google and others face new pressure from lawmakers. One British MP recently chided a top Google official for the practice, calling it “immoral.” Ire of the Irish Similarly, an … [Read more...] about Google shifts a record $10B to Bermuda shell firm, avoids billions in taxes

According to a new report , four major American tech firms hold $163 billion in United States government debt overseas for tax reasons. That means that American taxpayers are effectively paying interest toward a corporate cash stash held abroad that likely will not return to the US anytime soon. Further Reading Silicon Valley fights to keep its Dutch Sandwich and Double Irish loopholes If Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Cisco were to repatriate this money to the US, and if it were taxed at the current corporate rate of 35 percent, “it would produce a $89 billion windfall for the US Treasury—equivalent to 17 percent of America’s projected $514 billion budget deficit this year,” according to the report, published Wednesday by the UK's Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ). “The amount invested by Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Cisco is so large they would collectively be the 14th biggest overseas purchaser of Treasury securities, above Singapore and Norway.” That … [Read more...] about Tech firms would pay $89B in taxes if offshore gov’t debt came home

Back in March, Ars spent some time at the shooting range with Austin-based TrackingPoint and its $17,000 Linux-powered rifles . The company sells three different models of bolt-action hunting rifles equipped with big, computerized tracking scopes that use lasers and predictive algorithms to reliably land rounds on moving targets as far away as 1,000 yards with relative ease. TrackingPoint's offerings are moving very briskly; almost the entire production run for this year has been presold. Its initial offerings are limited to long-range bolt-action hunting rifles; the weapons' size and mass (and cost!) make them impractical to use for pretty much anything other than long-distance hunting. However, the huge popularity of the "precision guided firearm" means that TrackingPoint's next application of the technology could go in any number of directions. The military, the FBI, and many police department SWAT teams have shown interest in TrackingPoint's weapon systems, and the technology … [Read more...] about TrackingPoint turns to crowdsourcing to pick next Linux-powered rifle

EAGLE PASS, Texas — An Ecuadorian migrant lost his life while trying to cross the swollen Rio Grande with his wife and son. The family attempted to ford the river near the international bridge connecting to Piedras Negras on Wednesday afternoon. As the family attempted their crossing, the man’s wife and son were swept down-river. The man managed to save his son before disappearing under the current. Authorities in Mexico were alerted to the incident after a passerby heard pleas for help. Grupo Beta, a rescue unit operating opposite Eagle Pass arrived at the location and pulled the man’s wife and son onto shore using an airboat. Officers from Mexico’s National Immigration Institute (INM) say the wife and 5-year-old son were taken to a hospital in Piedras Negras for treatment. According to a source within CBP, an immediate search was initiated on both sides of the border to locate the father but has yielded no results. Recent rains have caused the river to rise beyond its normal … [Read more...] about Ecuadorian Migrant Drowns After Saving Son in Texas Border River

Audio player loading… The infamous LockBit ransomware (opens in new tab) gang has updated the code of its encryptor once again, cybersecurity researchers are saying. Multiple cybersecurity groups have confirmed that LockBit is now using an encryptor called LockBit Green, which analysts say is based on the Conti ransomware source code leaked in 2022. The reasons for the switch are purely speculative at this point, as all researchers agree that the former version - LockBit 3.0 - worked just fine. One possible explanation is that since Conti’s demise, many cybercriminals joined LockBit and feel more comfortable using their old source code. Leaked source code Whatever the reasons, so far five victims have been confirmed. We don’t know if the ransom demand has changed. Conti was one of the most popular ransomware variants in the months leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, in the first few days of the war, the cybercrime group voiced its … [Read more...] about LockBit is back, with a new ransomware source code