First, Brazil attached X assets, and now the EU, a globalist organization, threatens to seize a large percentage of all of Elon Musk’s assets. They will fine not only X, but also SpaceX, Neuralink, Tesla, xAI, and the Boring Company. The EU Commission will attach 6% of those companies’ yearly global revenue and call it […] The post EU Commission Moves to Seize Total Control of Information appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

SWANNANOA, N.C. — On September 28th, Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeastern United States with damaging winds and historic rainfall, devastating much of the region. Bearing the brunt of the storm’s destruction was the area surrounding Asheville, North Carolina, where small towns were nearly wiped off the map by floodwaters. One of those towns is Swannanoa, a tight-knit community of 5,465 tucked into the mountains ten miles east of Asheville. Four weeks after Helene’s arrival, the town’s main stretch is all but gone. A number of buildings have disappeared, leaving nothing but their foundation, while the structures still standing are mangled heaps of muddy wood and concrete. The devastation was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Driving through the town’s barely navigable streets, debris and battered shells of houses ruined by floods dot the side of the road.  Each turn reveals new evidence of the devastation. An overturned 18-wheeler in a backyard. A boat resting in a patch of trees. A mangled shipping container crushing a garage. As I drive I meet a man named Sunny, whose entire street was decimated by the storm. He and his pregnant wife and two children were trapped in their home for days without any contact with the outside world. He says he heard his neighbors screams as they were swept off their roofs into the water, and the ominous thud of shipping containers slamming into houses all around him in the pitch black. In the days after the storm, with no power or cell service and little food or water, Sunny lost so much weight that his wedding ring slipped off his finger. A few streets over is Lynn, walking with a cane through a decimated neighborhood. With clouds of dust swirling around us, tears of joy fall down her face as she excitedly tells me that her water had just returned the night before. She said she took a warm bath for the first time since the storm. Next, I meet Jason, a relief worker standing in a flattened neighborhood that resembles the site of a nuclear bomb test. Jason has been on the ground following more than a hundred natural disasters, but says “this is different.” “The destruction. The people not aware of what was about to happen. The wait after — I feel for them.” Most of Swannanoa — and many other towns in the region — is not in a flood zone, meaning the vast majority of residents had no flood insurance, or any idea floodwaters could reach them. In the days following the storm, victims pleaded for help from the federal government, which was slow to respond. Stepping up in their place were countless private organizations and volunteers, who raced to the region to offer help. One of the largest private efforts is being led by Savage Freedoms — a relief group led by Adam Smith, a former Army Green Beret. Savage Freedoms, with the help of dozens of volunteers — most of them veterans — has been using helicopters to reach residents trapped in secluded areas, off-road vehicles to deliver food, water, generators and chainsaws, and cadaver dogs to find victims. Operating out of a Harley Davidson dealership on the edge of town, volunteers field calls from residents in need and go about coordinating relief efforts — prioritizing those in the most dire situations. Across the street stands a tent city in a CVS parking lot, where the volunteers catch a few hours of sleep before returning to their mission. Standing outside watching humvees being loaded with supplies, I see a man approach, duffel bags slung over his shoulder. “I came from Missouri,” he says. “I heard you guys could use some help.” I ride with Austin Holmes, a volunteer with Savage Freedoms, to the home of an elderly man living alone in a secluded part of town. Upon arriving we meet Larry, a Marine veteran who lives alone. Larry tells us he has no way of getting to an appointment at the VA hospital in town, so we offer him a ride. Driving past numerous “road closed” signs, Larry tells us that when the storm hit, he had no contact with anyone for five days, and is still without power. “I’ve been to places where things were tough, but this right here was a wipeout.” Returning from the hospital with Savage Freedoms’ Austin Holmes, the road we’re driving on is reduced to one lane — the other has crumbled off the side of a hill. Looking down the hill I see a crumpled car under a pile of debris. “It looks like that car has already been searched,” Austin tells me. “I hope no one was in it.” The scope of the damage is impossible to describe or comprehend. “This will be a years long — not months long — effort,” Holmes says. “We cannot forget these people.”

Hurricanes Helene and Milton wreaked havoc on the Southern United States, displacing millions of people and shelter pets. Because the hurricanes posed such significant threats of devastation, shelters took action and moved many animals to safety. Southwest Airlines Captain Matt Prebish helped transport many cats from Tennessee and Florida. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Southwest Airlines (@southwestair) One Shelter Pet in Particular Pulled At The Pilot’s Heartstrings The pilot told Good Morning America he helped move 145 shelter pets from Tennessee and Florida to safe places around the country. Southwest paired up with Great Good Charities and Lucky Dog Animal Rescue to help make the transports possible.   “We had probably 60 people supporting in one way or another to help make this flight happen. And it went really well,” Matt told GMA. While he flew, Matt was all business. He knew that he had to get the shelter pets to safety, so he didn’t particularly pay attention until he landed. “Once we landed in Milwaukee, [I] started to notice the animals a little bit more,” he said. One of them caught my attention and then [I] ended up taking a cat home.” Matt brought his new Kitten, Avery, home to Texas, where she joins his other cat, Smalls, and his dogs, Tahoe and Wrigley. “Avery, she’s inquisitive,” he said. “I opened the crate up a little bit to kind of let her see if she would really come out. And immediately, her head popped out, and she was just looking around, and she’s just had this personality that she wants to explore the world and just see everything that the world has to offer.” Matt takes pride in his work and loves working for Southwest Airlines. “Southwest takes care of people and animals at the end of the day. There’s been a lot of people and animals that are going through some difficult times. And anything that any of us can do to help, whether it be a donation or a donation of time or a donation of skills or adopting an animal, any little bit helps, and we all should do what we can to just contribute in whatever way we can,” he told GMA. This story’s featured image is by Kevin Carter/Getty Images. The post Pilot Flies Shelter Pets Out Of Hurricane Zones & Makes Headlines When He Adopts One For Himself appeared first on InspireMore.

'Leaving behind a fractured and conflicted world'

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman isn’t giving up on his controversial digital ID project, Worldcoin. He, or, rather, formally – the startup behind it, that he is behind, i.e., Tools for Humanity – has instead gone for a rebrand. Worldcoin is now called “World” – so good luck (re)searching that online. Still, “world” combined with the concept of “proof of personhood” and Altman’s name should return some interesting results. What we already know is that World(coin) works by hoovering up people’s most sensitive, unique biometric data, particularly that contained in their eyes. The original idea was to incentivize people to participate by offering some crypto change in return. But now, the focus is reported to have moved away from that (apparently failed) direction to producing iris-scanning devices. The task of those is still “proof of personhood” – tech that provides digital ID. And a recent event held in San Francisco heard all about it. Tools for Humanity presented a new version of “Orbs” – a tool designed to scan people’s eyeballs (irises) in order to identify them. If you’re not sure what role Altman, OpenAI, “World,” Tools for Humanity – its current and previous targets – play in all this, it appears to be “confusion by design.” TechCrunch reports that Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania not only declared Worldcoin is a name that “just doesn’t work anymore” – Blania also shared that Altman now “spends a good chunk of his time working on World(coin)” – but also that “World(coin)’s cryptocurrency” might, going forward, get integrated into (OpenAI’s) ChatGPT. At this point, a tech industry neophyte might say – “I’ll have whatever Altman’s having, thanks.” But, the intent doesn’t appear as convoluted and as over-ambitious as it seems. There is a big push from various corners around the globe right now to usher in digital ID, and it’s no wonder various companies – however, they choose to obfuscate it – are positioning themselves for those incoming “base infrastructure” contracts. Altman and Blania, the reports said, described their effort as a four-step one: Orb is already here, and so is “a distributed ownership network with blockchain.” “Redistributing the benefits of AI” is cited as one of those steps – and take that definition as you will – but the fourth, scale, is very real. “World(coin) had several announcements (…) including the launch of a new blockchain and a new app, but they all revolved around scaling up the company’s 7 million verified humans to something much larger,” reported TechCrunch. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Worldcoin’s New Identity: The Rebrand That’s Still Eyeing Your Biometrics for Its Digital ID appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Theories about the causes of the Salem witch trials range from hallucinogenic mushrooms to psychological disorders and economic pressures. However, a new scientific study may have identified the real cause behind the infamous events in Massachusetts that led to the trial of more than 200 people and the execution of 19 by hanging over 300 years ago. The study points to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century as a crucial factor. By greatly increasing the spread of information, the press helped disseminate books on “demonology,” which fueled fear of witchcraft. One such book, Malleus Maleficarum (or “The Hammer of Evildoers”), portrayed witchcraft as a sinister conspiracy against pious society, in contrast to earlier views of witches as isolated village figures or ignorant peasants. As the first printed guide for witch hunters, Malleus Maleficarum was widely influential. Between 1486 and 1669, 36 editions were printed in Germany alone, sparking witch hunts across Europe. Although the book itself never reached the United States, its ideas spread with European colonists who settled in Massachusetts. Researchers believe the message of the Malleus Maleficarum spread rapidly through “ideational diffusion”—the adoption of new ideas that led people to rethink the world and change their behavior. Title page of the book (Image credit: library.wustl.edu). This was made possible by the invention of the printing press in 1440 by German inventor Johann Gutenberg. His creation accelerated the spread of knowledge and literacy, sparking an intellectual revolution that reshaped societies worldwide. Written by Dominican monk Heinrich Kramer, Malleus Maleficarum was first printed in 1486 and quickly became one of the most widely read books on witchcraft, representing an early form of mass media. Its teachings initially reached literate Europeans but soon spread to the illiterate through conversations and community interactions. Eventually, the influence of Malleus Maleficarum made its way to the United States, introducing a heightened fear of witchcraft that led to widespread persecution. While witches had been part of folklore since ancient times, the book’s theological explanation of witchcraft, combined with practical advice on how to investigate, interrogate, and convict witches, brought unprecedented fear. The result was tens of thousands of deaths worldwide. According to the study, published in Theory and Society, researchers mapped witch hunts across Central Europe from 1400 to 1679 and compared them to where and when Malleus Maleficarum was printed and distributed. They found that cities located closer in time and space to the book’s publication were more likely to initiate witch trials. This research underscores the role of the printing press in spreading new perceptions of witchcraft, indirectly contributing to the witch hunts that culminated in the Salem trials. These trials began when a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. The resulting hysteria swept through colonial Massachusetts, leading to the first trial in 1692. Bridget Bishop, the first convicted, was executed by hanging that June. Within months, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft, and 19 were executed. Years later, several accusers, mostly teenage girls, admitted they had fabricated the charges. In 1702, the Massachusetts General Court declared the trials illegal, and by 1711, it had overturned the convictions of 22 victims. Today, the Salem witch trials remain one of the most notorious cases of mass hysteria in colonial America. The post How a 15th-Century Book Fueled the Salem Witch Trials appeared first on Anomalien.com.

PBS News Hour sought to answer the question on Friday of why Kamala Harris is struggling with male voters. Both New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart agreed that it is important not to “downplay the role that sexism” plays here. As the lone female in the segment, host Amna Nawaz thought maybe her guests could help her explain the phenomenon, “I just have to say, you know, I'm asking all the smart men in my life this question because Harris continues to have weaker support with younger men, men who supported President Biden. And I just wonder why you think that is. Why do men have a problem supporting her?”     The nominally conservative Brooks began with his usual wishy-washy centrism, “Yeah, well, young men have been drifting away from the Democratic Party for a long time. And that's especially accelerating. And I don't want to downplay the role that sexism may play here.” He added, “Young men are — have lower graduation rates, lower grades, lower work force participation rates, higher unemployment. Young men have been suffering and struggling over the last 10 years in an accelerating form. And so, if you're alienated, Trump is sort of your meal ticket.” Brooks concluded by claiming that the podcasting sphere creates “this nutrition system that's feeding them some reinforcement, and it's pretty conservative.” Capehart followed up by agreeing, “That Trump meal ticket is junk food. And I agree with you. I take everything that you say. I see all of what you're saying, but I also see what former President Obama was saying in that campaign office in Pennsyl — yes, in Pennsylvania, when he was talking specifically to African American men.” He then turned to sexism, “But when you watch the whole clip, he also mentions Latino men, white men, Asian men, that this is a bigger — this is a bigger issue, this concern — and not to downplay the role sexism plays into this. I do think it's part of it and we can't just ignore it. We have to talk about it.” Capehart wrapped up with more praise for Obama, “So, all those people who were tut-tutting President Obama for saying what he said, I applaud him for saying what he said, because we need — we have to talk about it. Otherwise, we will never — we will never overcome it.” Ironically, Brooks and Capehart’s pleadings not to ignore the role sexism allegedly plays in Harris’s struggle with male voters is exactly why she is struggling. The idea that men are unwilling to consider putting a woman in a position of high power is just one of the anti-male stereotypes that the left frequently employs. Telling men they need to just shut up and get in line behind the left’s agenda will continue the trend. Here is a transcript for the October 18 show: PBS News Hour 10/18/2024 7:36 PM ET AMNA NAWAZ: This other issue of the gender gap that we have seen, just a huge gender gap, with a huge male advantage for former President Trump and a huge female advantage for Vice President Harris. And I just have to say, you know, I'm asking all the smart men in my life this question because Harris continues to have weaker support with younger men, men who supported President Biden. And I just wonder why you think that is. Why do men have a problem supporting her? David? DAVID BROOKS: Yeah, well, young men have been drifting away from the Democratic Party for a long time. And that's especially accelerating. And I don't want to downplay the role that sexism may play here. But, you know, young men are — have lower graduation rates, lower grades, lower work force participation rates, higher unemployment. Young men have been suffering and struggling over the last 10 years in an accelerating form. And so, if you're alienated, Trump is sort of your meal ticket. And if you're alienated, well, the number one predictor of whether a young guy is going to go Democrat or Republican is this question, do you like Joe Rogan? And so there's a podcast industry serving these young guys. And it tends to be pretty conservative industries, ramping all the way to the insane Andrew Tate. And so I think they're alienated because of what's happened to young men recently. There's this nutrition system that's feeding them some reinforcement, and it's pretty conservative. JONATHAN CAPEHART: That Trump meal ticket is junk food. And I agree with you. I take everything that you say. I see all of what you're saying, but I also see what former President Obama was saying in that campaign office in Pennsyl — yes, in Pennsylvania, when he was talking specifically to African American men. But when you watch the whole clip, he also mentions Latino men, white men, Asian men, that this is a bigger — this is a bigger issue, this concern — and not to downplay the role sexism plays into this. I do think it's part of it and we can't just ignore it. We have to talk about it. So, all those people who were tut-tutting President Obama for saying what he said, I applaud him for saying what he said, because we need — we have to talk about it. Otherwise, we will never — we will never overcome it.

Black men are turning their backs on Vice President Kamala Harris and turning out record levels of support for former President Donald Trump. Among black male voters, 20% said they would vote for Trump even though just 4% considered themselves Republican, according to a New York Times/Siena poll from Oct. 12. Trump is on track to perform better among young black men than any other Republican candidate since 1960, according to CNN pollster Harry Enten. Harris has managed to hold on to only 41% of support from black men ages 18-44, which is a 12-point deficit from President Joe Biden's numbers and roughly half of former President Barack Obama's support among the demographic, according to Enten's analysis. These figures have sounded the alarm for the Harris campaign. In an attempt to regain their support, the Democratic presidential hopeful curated a policy pitch to the "brothas," as Obama said. Obama lectured other black men during a campaign appearance last week in an attempt to boost turnout for Harris. "We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running," Obama said to a roomful of black men. "Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothas. So if you don't mind, I'm just going to speak to y'all directly." "You're coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses; I've got a problem with that," Obama continued. "Because part of it makes me think, and I'm speaking to men directly, part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that." Harris has made other attempts to bridge the widening gap between herself and black men. Harris unveiled her "opportunity agenda" for black men on Monday, featuring policy proposals like forgivable loans for "black entrepreneurs," bolstering cryptocurrency so black men "know their money is safe," and legalizing recreational marijuana, despite overseeing over 1,900 marijuana convictions during her tenure as San Francisco district attorney. However, the campaign's last-ditch effort to regain the votes fails to address the actual policy priorities of black men. As in other demographics, the economy remains the top issue for roughly a quarter of black men, according to the recent NYT/Siena poll. While Harris' pitch to black men is tailored to address issues with a racial backdrop, only 4% said equality is their top priority and just 2% said the same for racial issues. Democratic political pundits like former CNN host Don Lemon are even admitting that "Kamala Harris has a problem with black men." "There's a problem," Lemon said. "I went from battleground state to battleground state. ... It was not curated. I went up to people just doing man on the street and said, 'Who are you gonna vote for?' Black men, time after time after time, they said, 'I'm voting for Donald Trump.'" Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Photo of Trump at Al Smith Dinner Spawns Hilarious Copy Pasta