Noteworthy News

[Fake Messiah]

Russia has laundered $2.5 billion of African gold since February 2022

Russia's illicit activities and ties to authoritarian regimes in Africa have been under the public eye for years. Russian mercenaries on the continent, whose operations help to fill Moscow's coffers, have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses against local populations.

The Blood Gold Report reveals that Russia-backed mercenaries, including the Wagner Company, support authoritarian regimes and destabilization in Africa as part of resource extraction schemes that bring Russia more than $100 million per month.

"Wagner's operations in Africa spread violence and instability across the continent and generate millions of dollars in monthly revenue for the Kremlin, financing both Russia's war on Ukraine and its hybrid warfare against democracies worldwide," said political analyst Jessica Berlin, one of the authors of the report.

"Every government opposed to Russia's crimes must take action to stop the Blood Gold trade and pressure gold mining companies and investors to do the same."

https://news.yahoo.com/report-russia-lau...18734.html

[Fake Messiah]

Remember "Sound of Freedom" and how it fundraised a whole bunch of money and the right were buying everyone screenings to boost the film?

It turns out they have been scamming their freedom fighters

Then Ballard’s reputation began to unravel, when news broke that he’d been forced out of Operation Underground Railroad, the Utah anti-trafficking organization he founded, before the July 4 premiere of Sound of Freedom. In September, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Ballard is a member, publicly condemned him for allegedly misrepresenting his relationship with a prominent church elder to further his own business interests. The same week, an internal OUR investigation into sexual misconduct complaints against him came to light; by October, five women had filed a lawsuit alleging he had sexually assaulted and emotionally abused them while they took part in OUR operations. Soon after, Ballard became the subject of a criminal investigation when a former assistant made a sexual assault report to police in Utah. (In a statement, he maintained that the “sexual allegations are false.”)


Bragança thinks Angel Studios is more likely to hear from the FTC, regarding their widely publicized Pay It Forward model, which was a sensational success: the studio set a target of 2 million viewers for Sound of Freedom, but estimates the film sold 30,645,695 tickets in all. While the site counts both Pay It Forward sales and regular theatrical ticket sales, and it’s not clear how the two categories break down, the campaign generated significant buzz, and Angel credits donations with “propelling Sound of Freedom to the #1 movie in America on its July 4th release.”

Only a handful of donors noticed the fine print, which clarified that they were not buying tickets at all. In July, several self-identified religious conservatives contacted American Crime Journal about what they saw as suspicious details of the promotion. On the PayPal checkout page, for example, the word “ticket” is replaced with the word “reach” (that is, instead of guaranteeing that a $15 donation covers a ticket, it pays for the “reach” to “one person”). A disclaimer reads, “Angel Studios will make reasonable efforts to use Pay It Forward ticket sales for the audience growth of the intended film or series.
However, Angel Studios becomes the owner of all funds upon receipt and may use them at its sole discretion to further the Angel Studios’ mission of amplifying light through impactful stories.” This language left open an obvious possibility — that Angel could use some of this money to meet demand for free tickets while pocketing the rest. (On its Pay It Forward explainer page, Angel even indicates that it uses leftover money for “marketing,” “credit card fees” and studio “overhead.”) One source who spoke to ACJ said he thought that in trying to donate two tickets, he and his wife had been “robbed.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/cul...234928374/

[Foxaèr]

Missing boy found in France to return to Britain in next two days

A teenager from Britain who resurfaced in southern France after disappearing six years ago is expected to return to England over the weekend, French authorities said on Friday, after the boy left a spiritualist community in the Pyrenees mountains.

Reuters

[Rev. Rye]

If @zwanzig is still here, he'll likely love this news: Ruby "8 Passengers" Franke has pled guilty to four charges of felony child abuse[/b].





Here's the plea agreement she's signed .

And it turns out the charges are somehow even worse than we heard. Jesse Custer, help a brother out, will ya?



Interestingly, it looks like there's a condition in there that the sentences for her four charges will have to be served consecutively. Basically, she's looking at a sentence of between 4 to 60 years. It might not be the full 60 years, especially if she's going to testify against Jodi Hildebrandt, but it's safe to say that, either way, this cunt has earned every second she spends in jail.

[Rev. Rye]

Donald Trump has apparently been declared removed from Colorado’s ballots due to his actions on
January 6.

In a stunning and unprecedented decision, the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”

The 4-3 ruling will be placed on hold until January 4, pending Trump’s appeal to the US Supreme Court, which could settle the matter for the nation.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Donald Trump has apparently been declared removed from Colorado’s ballots due to his actions on
January 6.

In a stunning and unprecedented decision, the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”

The 4-3 ruling will be placed on hold until January 4, pending Trump’s appeal to the US Supreme Court, which could settle the matter for the nation.

That's encouraging. Mostly because Trump's pet court isn't as tractable as he thought it would be (Clarence Thomas being the standout exception, but he's got his own legal troubles waiting in the wings).

Boru

[Brian37]

The social media platform formerly known as Twitter having major problems today.

[The Valkyrie]

The social media platform formerly known as Twitter having major problems today.

It's as if buying a social media platform as an ego project, sacking most of the staff, pissing off practically all advertisers, and putting incompetents in charge is somehow detrimental to the smooth running of the site.

Elon, what a brilliant man! /s

[Thumpalumpacus]

The social media platform formerly known as Twitter having major problems today.

Oh gosh, what a shame.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

The social media platform formerly known as Twitter having major problems today.

Oh gosh, what a shame.

'Tragedy is when I stub my toe. Comedy is when Elon Musk falls into an open sewer and dies.' - Mel Brooks (paraphrase)

Boru