Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is frequently attacked in the Canadian media for her conservatism and her antagonism of the Trudeau government. This week, however, she was targeted for answering a constituent's question about chemtrails. In their rush to condemn Smith for supposedly "sowing fears" and engaging with "conspiracy theorists," critics and other political opportunists glossed over at least one good reason why Canadians might suspect that planes are dumping toxic chemicals over their heads — namely the fact that the Pentagon has a history of doing just that. Prairie chemtrails During a recent United Conservative Party town hall in Edmonton, an audience member asked Smith about the occurrence of chemtrails over Alberta. Smith indicated that she did some asking around but has yet to see any evidence confirming public or private operations that would qualify. 'If anyone is doing it, it's the U.S. Department of Defense.' Chemtrails refer to the theory that governments or other groups use airplanes to dump toxic chemicals or biological agents into the atmosphere, which appear as lingering condensation trails. At temperatures below 45°F, contrails — usually the result of soot particulate from jet fuel and water vapor freezing — cannot evaporate again and typically end up persisting until dispersed by the wind. Although there are multiple versions of the chemtrails theory, some of which reference the 1996 Pentagon study "Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025," the suggestion is there is a malevolence behind these puffy contrails. "The best I have been able to do is talk to the woman who is responsible for controlling the airspace, and she says no one is allowed to go up and spray anything in the air," said Smith. "The other person told me that if anyone is doing it, it's the U.S. Department of Defense." Although apparently open to conducting a formal investigation, Smith intimated that it would ultimately be a federal undertaking. "I have some limitations in what I can do in my job," said Smith. "I don't know that I would have much power if that is the case, if the U.S. Department of Defense is spraying us." The premier's office said in a statement to Global News: The premier has heard concerns from many Albertans about this topic. In response, the provincial government looked into the issue and found no evidence of chemtrails occurring in Alberta. The premier was simply sharing what she has heard from some folks over the summer on this issue. She was not saying that she believed the U.S. government was using chemtrails in Alberta. A spokesman for NORAD and U.S. Northern Command told the Canadian press in a statement, "NORAD and U.S. Northern Command are not conducting any flight activities in Canada that involve the spraying of chemicals." Although she denied having seen any evidence of chemtrails, Smith was still attacked for daring to even broach the subject. Timothy Caulfield, a professor at the leftist University of Alberta's School of Public Health, told Global News, "The premier is making room for and, I would argue, legitimizing a conspiracy theory." "She could have said, 'Look, I hear your concerns but the reality is that this is not true,'" added Caufield. Trudeau cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault similarly attacked the premier, telling reporters, "I think it's becoming increasingly obvious that Premier Smith is using her office to peddle conspiracy theories." Nathan Ip, a member of Alberta's socialist NDP, joined his fellow travelers in mischaracterizing Smith's remarks, telling the Canadian Press it was "truly horrifying to see the premier of Alberta spread conspiracy theories." 'They said they were testing what they characterized as a chemical fog.' Operation LAC While the likes of Caufield, Boissonnault, and Ip appear keen to reject the possibility of aircraft dumping chemicals overhead, there is precedent in their province. Over a decade ago, St. Louis Community College sociology professor Lisa Martino-Taylor obtained U.S. Army documents through a Freedom of Information Act request revealing that in the mid-1950s, the Army used motorized blowers atop the roof of a low-income housing high-rise in St. Louis to test whether a chemical fog could shield ground targets from aerial observation. The fluorescent material blown into the poor neighborhood was zinc cadmium sulfide, reported the Associated Press. This test was not an isolated case. 'In principle, spraying an aerosol chemical mist over a populated area is criminal.' Additional classified documents obtained by Martino-Taylor indicated that between July 9, 1954, and Aug. 1, 1953, six kilograms of zinc cadmium sulfide were sprayed in aerosol clouds over the unsuspecting city of Winnipeg via U.S. Army aircraft, reported the National Post. This was part of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps' broader Operation LAC. "In Winnipeg, they said they were testing what they characterized as a chemical fog to protect Winnipeg in the event of a Russian attack," said Martino-Taylor. "They characterized it as a defensive study when it was actually an offensive study." "In principle, spraying an aerosol chemical mist over a populated area is criminal, to say the least," pharmacologist Frank LaBella told the Winnipeg Free Press. "At the time, there were no reports of illness but, if present, they could not be distinguished from other illnesses. If there were lasting effects, we'll never know." Just over a decade later, aircraft conducted similar chemical dumps over the Albertan cities of Suffield and Medicine Hat, according to Martino-Taylor. When the U.S. Army returned in 1964 for yet another chemical dump, Canadian officials expressed concern that an "American aircraft was emitting distinctly visible emissions." A visible stream of toxic chemicals trailing out of a government aircraft engaged in a secret military experiment would likely qualify as a not-so theoretical chemtrail. A bigger umbrella Lewis Brackpool, an independent journalist and the host of the podcast "The State of It," told Blaze News, "I believe that we shouldn't be using the term 'Chemtrails' anymore as it carries a lot of toxic baggage (ironically) and is just an easy way for the media class to shut down the conversation and dismiss someone as a crank or a conspiracy theorist, similar to when people use the term 'the great replacement' instead of 'replacement migration.'" Brackpool suggested that to open the conversation to the wider public and overcome the stigma, alternative terms, such as "climate engineering" or "geo-engineering," might be prudent.After all, some of the renewed interest in chemtrails has been driven in part by recent controversies over governmental and private efforts to meddle with the weather and alter the skies, such as cloud seeding and solar radiation management. Cloud seeding is the controversial weather modification technique whereby aircraft, rockets, cannons, or ground generators release various chemicals and tiny particles, such as potassium chloride, into clouds in an effort to artificially increase precipitation. Like the U.S., the United Arab Emirates has conducted cloud-seeding missions for decades. The Gulf state's National Center of Meteorology reportedly conducts more than 1,000 hours of cloud-seeding missions every year, using aircraft equipped with hygroscopic flares full of nucleating agents. Blaze News previously noted that a government meteorologist blamed the cloud seeding operations when Dubai was rocked in April by the heaviest downpour in 75 years and fatal flooding. The government subsequently denied responsibility. Cloud seeding has proven fatal before. Blackpool noted that declassified documents show that the Royal Air Force experimented with artificial rainmaking as part of Operation Cumulus the same week that some of the worst flash floods to have ever hit Britain stormed the village of Lynmouth, killing 35. In addition to cloud seeding, some groups are feeding chemtrail theorists' suspicions by openly plotting to pollute the stratosphere with sulfur dioxide in hopes of replicating the effects of volcanic eruptions on blocking sunlight and lowering global mean temperatures. The MIT Technology Review reported that last year, researchers in the U.K. used a high-altitude weather balloon to dump sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. Their use of "Stratospheric Aerosol Transport and Nucleation" or SATAN balloon systems was allegedly "an engineering proof-of-concept test, not an environmentally perturbative experiment." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Law enforcement officials in San Antonio, Texas, conducted a raid on Saturday that led to the arrest of 20 individuals, four of whom were confirmed members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.Over the past year, TDA has rapidly expanded its transnational crime ring into parts of the United States, namely Colorado, Chicago, and New York. In Aurora, Colorado, the gang's members have taken over multiple apartment complexes, Blaze News previously reported.'We're on to you and we're coming for you.'TDA members reportedly took over Palatia Apartments, a complex in San Antonio. Authorities confirmed that the gang was "in control of" the property and using it as a base to commit a number of crimes. According to WOAI-TV, TDA has been involved in prostitution, selling cocaine, and violent crimes.Law enforcement officers conducted the weekend raid following several complaints involving narcotics violations, human trafficking, and threats made to the complex's personnel, according to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.McManus told reporters on Saturday that the sweep was conducted by a task force consisting of officers from the SAPD, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the FBI, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security."We had information that members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua were in control of the area and committing various crimes," McManus stated. Officers cleared nearly 300 vacant apartments at the complex and arrested 20 individuals. One of the TDA gang members who was arrested was a "confirmed enforcer for that gang," according to McManus."Currently, there's 19 individuals arrested with 15 detainers," he said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detainer requests.The confirmed TDA members were turned over to Homeland Security Investigations and ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations. "They were individuals with confirmed warrants. Multiple individuals had already had removal orders through HSI," McManus added.He noted that the investigation is still ongoing.According to McManus, TDA has been operating in the area for "several months."He stated that the department has other locations that it plans to raid as well in its ongoing effort to clamp down on the gang's influence. "We assure the community and members of the public that we are committed to their safety and we are on top of this TDA issue that seems to have become very public lately," McManus said."We're on to you and we're coming for you. We know where you are," he stated, directing his comments to TDA.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Viktor Bout — the infamous Russian arms dealer released in an eyebrow-raising prisoner exchange for Brittney Griner — is now selling arms to the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to a new report. In December 2022, the Biden administration made a deal with Russia to exchange Bout for Griner. Powerful weapons such as Kornet anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft weapons could also be part of the alleged arms deal. Griner is a basketball player in the WNBA. In February 2022, Griner was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow, Russia. Griner was accused of possessing cannabis, which is illegal in Russia. She admitted to the crime but claimed it was an "honest mistake." In August 2022, Griner was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison. Before her arrest in Russia, Griner made headlines for proclaiming that the national anthem shouldn't be played before sports games. She purposely stayed in the locker room when "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played before Phoenix Mercury games in 2020.As Blaze News previously reported, Griner sang a different tune after being released and said in 2023: "Hearing the national anthem, it definitely hit different."Bout – who is known as the "Merchant of Death" – is one of the most notorious arms dealers in the world. Bout has been an international weapons trafficker since the 1990s and has been linked to arms being dealt to Afghanistan, Colombia, Libya, and multiple conflicts in Africa. In 2008, a U.S. sting operation led to Bout being arrested in Thailand after he allegedly offered to supply anti-aircraft missiles to Colombian guerrillas to shoot down American aircraft. In 2011, the Merchant of Death was convicted of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals, conspiring to kill U.S. officers and employees, conspiring to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. At the time of his release, Bout had served 12 years of his 25-year sentence.In the 2005 movie “Lord of War,” Nicolas Cage's character is loosely based on Bout.Since the time of the controversial prison swap, Bout joined the pro-Kremlin, far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. In 2023, Bout won a seat in a local assembly.On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bout is back in the arms-dealing business. According to the report, Bout is working on a deal to send small arms to Houthi militants in Yemen. Citing a European security official and other people familiar with the matter, the WSJ reported that Houthi emissaries went to Moscow in August to negotiate the sale of $10 million worth of automatic weapons, where "they encountered a familiar face: the mustachioed Bout."The first two deliveries would reportedly comprise mostly of an upgraded version of the AK-47 assault rifle and could start as early as this month. The shipment would allegedly be transported to the western Yemeni port of Hodeidah under the cover of food supplies. However, more powerful weapons such as Kornet anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft weapons could also be part of the alleged arms deal. Bout called the claim an “unsubstantiated accusation.”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the WSJ article, "We are inclined to categorize it as fake news or an information attack on our elected representatives."Steve Zissou, a New York attorney who represented Bout in the U.S., compared the rumored weapons deal to America's shipments of weapons to enemies of Russia. "Viktor Bout has not been in the transportation business for over twenty years," Zissou told the Wall Street Journal. "But if the Russian government authorized him to facilitate the transfer of arms to one of America’s adversaries, it would be no different than the U.S. government sending arms and weapons of mass destruction to one of Russia’s adversaries as it has sent to Ukraine."The Houthi slogan is: “God Is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam.”President Donald Trump’s administration designated the Houthis as global terrorists and a foreign terrorist organization in one of his last acts as president in January 2021. However, President Joe Biden reversed the decision a month later. The Biden administration changed course in January when Biden's State Department classified the Houthis as a "specially designated global terrorist group." The U.S. Department of Defense declared in June, "The continued reckless behavior by Iran-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden."The Yemen-based Houthis struck two cargo ships that required the vessel's crew to have to be rescued in June. Since the Israel-Hamas War began last October, Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones. On Friday, the U.S. military struck more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen, according to U.S. officials.Houthi rebels launched two drones and fired more than a half dozen ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles at three American ships traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but all were intercepted by Navy destroyers, the Associated Press reported. Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck analyzed a video clip from Bout's first interview as a free man in decades. - YouTube www.youtube.com Like Blaze News? 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There’s no denying that Farming Simulator is one of the best sim series ever, and its next entry later in the year will take you to three bespoke regions around the world for some added variety. However, if you want your agricultural ambitions to be a little less restricted, Global Farmer gives you a similar farming sim experience but lets you pitch up anywhere on Earth. Don’t believe me? Well, you can try it for yourself right now as the game has just launched in early access on Steam. Continue reading Global Farmer brings Farming Simulator to your hometown and you can play it now MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best farming games, Best simulation games, Best strategy games

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