If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A judicial decision that has sparked international concern over free speech, Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal has outlawed the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong,” a piece that gained prominence during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The court’s ruling described the song as a tool used to incite the protests, marking a significant move in the ongoing suppression of dissent in the region. The appeal court’s judgment, delivered on Wednesday, overturned a previous High Court decision that had denied a government injunction against the song, citing potential negative impacts on third parties. Appeal judge Jeremy Poon asserted that the song’s composer had crafted it to serve as a weapon in the protests, stating, “It had been used as an impetus to propel the violent protests plaguing Hong Kong since 2019. It is powerful in arousing emotions among certain fractions of the society.” The government’s successful appeal means the song can no longer be legally broadcast, performed with intent deemed criminal, or shared across internet platforms, though exceptions are made for academic and journalistic purposes. This decision is part of a broader crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, which has included the incarceration of numerous pro-democracy activists and the shuttering of independent media outlets. Critics argue that this ruling further erodes the city’s once-vaunted rule of law and freedoms. The United States has expressed disapproval, with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller remarking that the decision is “the latest blow to the international reputation of a city that previously prided itself on having an independent judiciary protecting the free exchange of information, ideas, and goods.” The anthem, recorded anonymously by an orchestra, intertwines lyrics that echo key slogans from the 2019 protests, like “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” Its popularity has extended beyond Hong Kong, often being confused for the city’s national anthem at international sports events, a misconception that has repeatedly irked local authorities. This legal move comes after Hong Kong officials previously sought to have the song removed from online platforms like Google, which largely resisted the requests until backed by a court order. Justice Secretary Paul Lam stated, “The government … will communicate with relevant internet service providers, request or demand them to remove relevant content in accordance with the injunction order.” This song ban is not an isolated incident but follows a series of measures aimed at tightening control under the guise of national security, including expansive laws imposed by Beijing that target the city’s autonomy and freedoms. These developments have drawn sharp criticism from international observers and further complicated Hong Kong’s global standing. The post Hong Kong’s Anthem Ban Sparks International Free Speech Concerns appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

British Columbia Re-Criminalizes Public Use of Drugs

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Patches, a 42-pound cat, embarked on a rather inspiring weight-loss journey when Kay, a compassionate adopter, decided to change his life forever. He’s thriving thanks to her dedication. Their journey happened over the course of a year, and was one that put the dangers of pet obesity on full display, while also being a demonstration... The post Kind grandma adopts overweight 42-pound cat and helps him lose almost 20 pounds appeared first on Animal Channel.

When cries pierced the calm near the railroad tracks, a group of passersby felt compelled to investigate the source. They discovered nine puppies trapped in a secluded cave. The find quickly escalated into a rescue mission, spearheaded by Hope for Paws, a nonprofit renowned for its animal rescue efforts throughout Los Angeles. The organization’s swift... The post Rescuers hear high-pitches calls for help and then see puppies trapped 18 ft deep in cave appeared first on Animal Channel.

In the unpredictable theater of the wild, a remarkable event unfolded as an elephant intervened to rescue an injured lion from encircling hyenas. The video capturing this rare interaction went viral, stirring awe and intrigue among viewers. It challenges our understanding of the usual dynamics in nature, where the lines between predator and prey are... The post Injured lion is being stalked by hyenas when elephant swoops in to rescue him appeared first on Animal Channel.

MSNBC’s Joy Reid took a break from covering former President Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York on the Wednesday installment of The ReidOut’s to discuss his classified documents case and the news that Judge Aileen Cannon has postponed the trial indefinitely while she considers all the pre-trial motions and other issues related to the case. Reid responded by putting on her tinfoil hat and declaring, with no evidence whatsoever, that Trump has implicitly bribed her with a future Supreme Court appointment. Reid asked legal analyst Joyce Vance, “If you're Jack Smith, do you try to somehow appeal it to the 11th Circuit and get her booted?” Vance gave a long, rambling answer that ultimately suggested such a move would, from her perspective, unfortunately not go anywhere, “You know, the best hook that Jack Smith has for an appeal would be if Judge Cannon were to make rulings that he didn't like when it comes to whether Donald Trump can use classified information at trial. He's got a right to appeal those. Of course, we're in that pre-trial phase where the government needs a special hook to take an interlocutory appeal. Most sorts of issues have to wait until afterwards. So, I think what Jack Smith has been waiting for has been these rulings on the classified information.”     Cracking herself up, Reid interrupted, “She's never going to rule.” Vance continued, “And that is one of the issues -- right. She suspended that this week. Those responses were due this week. Out of the blue, she gave Trump a continuance and so, for Jack Smith, I suspect he's now regretting the fact that he did not try to recuse her early on when he could have.” With absolutely zero evidence, Reid echoed an idea she floated on April 10 by following up with Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, “As the great Lawrence O’Donnell says, Eugene, the bribe is implied. She wants to be on the Supreme Court. She thinks she can get on if Donald Trump wins. She's going to kill this case. Catch and kill as one might say.” Also cracking himself up, Robinson began, “I know, but Aileen Cannon on the Supreme Court, come on. I mean, you know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know—” Reid insisted, “It's Trump. She's done him favors.” Robinson tried to start again, “Look, I know, I shouldn't put anything beyond the realm of possibility.” Interrupting again to take a cheap shot at another woman Trump appointed, Reid declared that “she has about as much experience as Amy Coney Barrett.” Robinson then lamented, “Well, yeah, but Amy Coney Barrett's a lot smarter than Aileen Cannon. I mean, look, this is an illustration of when a case goes before a federal judge, federal judges have enormous power. The federal judge is in charge of that case and so, this story that this case will not come to trial before the election, this story was written the day the case was assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon and it was” In New York, whenever the judge rules against Trump it is hailed as proof that nobody, not even a former president, is above the law or rules that govern court cases, but when something doesn’t go Jack Smith’s way, it is treated as a great scandal. Here is a transcript for the May 8 show: MSNBC The ReidOut 5/8/2024 7:23 PM ET JOY REID: If you're Jack Smith, do you try to somehow appeal it to the 11th Circuit and get her booted? JOYCE VANCE: You know, the best hook that Jack Smith has for an appeal would be if Judge Cannon were to make rulings that he didn't like when it comes to whether Donald Trump can use classified information at trial. He's got a right to appeal those. Of course, we're in that pre-trial phase where the government needs a special hook to take an interlocutory appeal. Most sorts of issues have to wait until afterwards. So, I think what Jack Smith has been waiting for has been these rulings on the classified information. REID: She's never going to rule. VANCE: And that is one of the issues -- right. She suspended that this week. Those responses were due this week. Out of the blue, she gave Trump a continuance and so, for Jack Smith, I suspect he's now regretting the fact that he did not try to recuse her early on when he could have. REID: As the great Lawrence O’Donnell says, Eugene, the bribe is implied. She wants to be on the Supreme Court. She thinks she can get on if Donald Trump wins. She's going to kill this case. Catch and kill as one might say. EUGENE ROBINSON: I know, but Aileen Cannon on the Supreme Court, come on. I mean, you know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know— REID: It's Trump. She's done him favors. ROBINSON: Look, I know, I shouldn't put anything beyond the realm of possibility. REID: She has about as much experience as Amy Coney Barrett. ROBINSON: Well, yeah, but Amy Coney Barrett's a lot smarter than Aileen Cannon. I mean, look, this is an illustration of when a case goes before a federal judge, federal judges have enormous power. The federal judge is in charge of that case and so, this story that this case will not come to trial before the election, this story was written the day— REID: Absolutely. ROBINSON: -- the case was assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon and it was.

Fan-favorite actor David Tennant responded to a fan question about gender identity by saying he believes people identifying as transgender has been mostly positive and simply boils down to allowing people to express themselves.Tennant was the tenth actor to play the character Doctor Who, and he was so popular he was the first actor to play the character a second time. Tennant appeared at a convention called Proud Nerd: Angels, Demons, and Doctors in Germany, when a fan asked a lengthy question about his feelings on "masculinity and femininity.""I wanted to ask about your relationship with gender, and like, expression like masculinity and femininity. Because I've always noticed, even before you and Georgia became more vocal about trans rights, that you're always not afraid to show like, femininity," the fan began.The fan went on to say it was inspiring despite being "a bit traumatized by it because I'm trans.""I wonder how has that changed over the years, if changed at all?" the fan asked.Tennant responded by saying that while these identities didn't exist when he was younger, he's only seen their representation as being positive."That community has found ways of defining itself and has provided a sort of, you know, when I was a kid, the idea of being nonbinary wasn't something that existed, it wasn't a concept," Tennant explained."I've seen that emerge and people able to express themselves through that, and it only ever seems positive as far as I can see.""I think that the kind of weaponization of trans rights, gay rights, well actually, when I was a teenager, I remember gay rights being weaponized politically, and that always felt ugly and nasty. And now we look back on that 30 years later, and those people are clearly on the wrong side of history," he claimed."Now there's a sort of similar weaponization of these topics being taken by mostly the right wing or a certain section of society trying to create friction and conflict and division where it needn't be, where it's just about people being themselves and not, you know, you don't need to be bothered by it," he said while chuckling."F*** off, and let people be!" he added."It's that sense of just wanting people to be allowed to exist. And I think that there are now ways of expressing gender, identity, sexuality that are more nuanced than they once were. And that only seems to be positive. If that helps people to know who they are and say who they are and communicate to the world who they are ... that's just common sense, really.""How can a TV star that lives in a gated community tell the consumer what they can or can’t complain about, whilst ideological forces from social revolutionaries forcefully put certain demographics into cultural TV shows?" asked commentator Lewis Brackpool. "The marketplace of ideas speaks. Maybe David Tennant doesn’t need to be bothered about what the consumer wants?" he added.The "Doctor Who" show has indeed become increasingly focused on sexuality and gender during Tennant's last run in 2023, and with his successor, actor Ncuti Gatwa. Writer and executive producer Russell T. Davies has ensured the 60-year-old show will only become more progressive and announced that he is looking to "break barriers."During an interview with Variety, Davies explained that gender, race, and/or sexuality played a part in the main character's role starting in the audition process."We auditioned men, women, Black, white, nonbinary actors and actors whose sexuality was their own private matter," he recalled. "Exactly the type of barriers I like to break," he added.Davies said in a 2023 interview that he thinks the "visibility thing" is important and that bigotry can be avoided "if you grow up seeing this stuff.""Homophobia and transphobia happens when it's something you've never seen before," he claimed. He also stated that children can be influenced by the ideology more easily."You can temper that reaction and change it if you introduce these images to people happily, and normally, and calmly when they're young."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Just last year, we saw House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ousted. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is already on thin ice with some Republicans, and Democrats are committing to step in and save him if needed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is on his way out, and there will be a serious fight over who comes next. Every major piece of legislation seems to pass with Democrats peeling off a group of Republicans, often a minority of them, to get liberal priorities across the finish line.Who is to blame for this in-fighting among Republicans in the House and Senate? This is a rebellion against irresponsible governance brewing among the American people, and new conservative leaders are simply giving it a voice.Democrats and the mainstream media want us to believe that this is a civil war led by conservatives. These “Republican rebels” just don’t understand the big picture. They seek personal fame and glory at the expense of good governance. Leadership in both houses wants voters to believe that they are the responsible grownups. But what has their “grown-up” governance done for us? We haven’t balanced the budget since the Clinton administration. Interest on the debt is about to surpass all defense spending. Social security and Medicaid are projected to go bankrupt by 2036. The prospect of stagflation looms over us for the first time since the 1970s. Millions of illegal immigrants are flooding across a southern border controlled by cartels. Biden’s weakness emboldens our enemies abroad, and our allies whom he endangers seek costly handouts. Our Department of Defense seems to place the profits of military contractors and lobbyists ahead of actual defense. Our education system churns out students who believe capitalism is evil, the Constitution is outdated, and socialism is the future. It is precisely because of this failure to govern that the Freedom Caucus in the House and a small band of conservatives in the Senate are now openly fighting against irresponsible leadership by what some have begun to call “the uniparty” — a small group of Democrats and Republicans who want us to believe that everything will be just fine so long as we don’t have the audacity to challenge their small but powerful cabal. These brave Republican rebels are taking unprecedented steps to fight back. They’re engaging in fierce leadership battles and digging up archaic procedural rules to stop or slow bad legislation. They are even endorsing in primaries against members of their own party, such as Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), who endorsed me against Republican incumbent and uniparty loyalist Celeste Maloy for Congress. This is not a Republican civil war. This is a rebellion against irresponsible governance brewing within and among the American people, and these new conservative leaders are simply giving it a voice. What we are seeing is the start of a backlash that will be no less consequential than the conservative backlash of the 1980s after the mismanagement of both Republicans and Democrats during the ’60s and ’70s. But beware: The uniparty’s most powerful weapon isn’t its hundreds of millions of campaign dollars or its stranglehold on power in Washington. It is demoralization. Uniparty members depend on your quiet compliance. Do not let them convince you that their destructive governing is the best we can do. Entitlement reform is possible. A balanced budget is possible. A secure border is possible. Our foreign policy need not include endless foreign wars. Our education system can teach history again. I have spent 31 years wearing our nation’s uniform, including in combat as the commander of a Green Beret A-Team all over the world. I recognize bold leadership when I see it. We are down, but we are not out. It’s about to be dawn again in America. And when it is, we will have these conservative fighters, these “treacherous” Republican rebels to thank for showing the leadership that the American people are demanding. Godspeed to those leaders, and may the American people send in the reinforcements you deserve. Colby Jenkins is a Republican candidate for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) has no patience for left-wing activists.Code Pink activists descended on Capitol Hill this week to "demand an end to the genocide in Gaza and advocate for a free Palestine." The far-left organization is "committed to supporting Palestinian liberation," endorses the anti-Israel BDS movement, supports "Palestinians’ right to resist" Israel, and believes only Palestinians are the "rightful owners and caretakers of Palestine.""Off the elevator! I have work to do!"On Wednesday, activists tried to ambush Foxx, chairwoman of the House Education Committee, but it didn't go so well."Don’t even think about it, I’ve got things to do," Foxx told multiple Code Pink activists who tried confronting her on Capitol Hill.The organization accused Foxx of "harassing students who only want to stop a genocide" — as if that's the only thing anti-Israel students have done on college campuses — and one of the activists chided Foxx for believing that anti-Semitism is a problem. That activist claimed "anti-Islamophobia" is the real issue.Another activist then tried to enter an elevator reserved only for members of Congress."You’re not welcome on this elevator. It's a members only," Foxx told the activist. But the activist did not comply and initially refused to exit the elevator."Why are you destroying the lives of so many young people on campuses?" one activist asked Foxx. Another one confronted, "Why are you attacking children and teachers who are just trying to speak up for Palestinians?"But Foxx was not interested in playing their games."Off the elevator! I have work to do!" Foxx told the activist, then calling for Capitol Police to remove the activist. — (@) Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) also gave the Code Pink activists a spectacular response.On Wednesday, an activist asked Mast if he believes Israel should agree to the one-sided ceasefire agreement that Hamas has signed. Israel did not sign it because it was "very far from Israel’s core demands," according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Mast, likewise, made it clear that he opposes the agreement."I think Israel should go in there and kick the s*** out of [Hamas], just absolutely destroy them, their infrastructure, level anything that they touch. Clear enough?" Mast said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!