Watch: Twerking Climate Activists Block DC Roads, Disrupt Morning Commutes Confetti, Litter Everywhere… to Save the Planet

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BY AMANDA HOUSE

Climate activist groups plan to “Shut Down D.C.” early Monday morning, aiming “to take action all over the district to disrupt business as usual.”

The protest follows a weekend of climate strikes across the country and coincides with the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.

According to the event’s facebook page: They “will block key infrastructure to stop business-as-usual, bringing the whole city to a gridlocked standstill.”

“Parents, workers, college students, and everyone who is concerned about the climate crisis will skip work and school and put off their other responsibilities to take action on the climate crisis,” the page adds.

“This is the mass uprising that everyone with climate anxiety has been waiting for,” the event’s facebook page continues. “This is an uprising for life itself, fighting back against the forces of destruction. This is your chance to take action to save the people, plants, and animals you love. Let’s rise to the challenge and shut down DC!”

Throughout the event, the protesters can be seen dancing in front of cars and throwing confetti into the air. When asked about the litter, one activist told Breitbart News that the confetti is “biodegradable.”

At one point, the protesters walked to the nearby Wells Fargo building to protest against the bank’s involvement in financing the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Local authorities and news outlets have been trying to warn commuters of the disruption:

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20 Arrested, 18 Charged In Brutal Downtown Minneapolis Robberies

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By Jeff Wagner

https://cbsloc.al/2UXQPlV

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Twenty people arrested, 18 of them now charged — all connected to brutal robberies in downtown Minneapolis.

The attacks were caught on surveillance video, taking place in August. Police say groups of people would target one person, assault them, and often to take their cellphone and wallet. The 18 suspects range in age from 15 to 27.

Walking alone is all part of Sneh Bhakta’s commute in downtown Minneapolis.

“It does make me feel singled out because all the time I am alone,” Bhakta said. “And like when I commute at 6 in the morning, I am by myself, at the train station I’m alone.”

His concerns grew upon seeing the disturbing robberies caught on tape, occurring near the places he walks. At about 4 a.m. on August 17, at the intersection of 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue, a man stands by himself while looking down at his phone. Slowly but surely, people approach him to talk. Eventually he is surrounded, beaten and left unconscious — all so the thieves could take his phone and wallet.

A few weeks earlier outside Target Field, another group targets a man who is alone in broad daylight. They attack him, and even ride a bike over his body — all to steal his belongings.

Police said during a three-week stretch in August, 48 robberies were reported in downtown with 23 happening in one week.

From January 1 to August 26 in 2018, police said there were 156 robberies downtown. During that same span in 2019 there were 240 — an increase of 53.8%.

Most of the robberies are taking place along between 3rd and 6th Street, as well as Hennepin and 2nd Avenue. The key time is from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Police said the criminals in the recent cases “finesse” the victim. They search for easy targets, typically someone who is intoxicated, alone, and looking at their phone.

“Many of these juveniles that are affected by this are part of just coming out of incarceration and they don’t have any hope at home, there’s nothing there, and so they come downtown where there’s a little bit of everything and they’re waiting on somebody to prey on,” said V.J. Smith, founder of MAD DADS Minneapolis.

The organization is an outreach group that fills downtown every weekend. They will do everything from break up fights to feed people, but most importantly be the adult figure at-risk youth might be missing in their lives. Many of those arrested for the robberies are juveniles who MAD DADS workers have interacted with.

“These people in the community that are doing this, we have to have some consequences for this, but we also have to get to the heart of it. What’s wrong? What’s your problem? Is it education? Is it mental health? What is it and let’s treat it and let’s fix it,” he said.

After the recent arrests, police said robberies dropped to just three in one week earlier this month. Regardless, Bhakta plans to keep his guard up.

“It’s still challenging to feel, like, safe, because I’m always kind of vigilant about my surroundings, and if something doesn’t happen to me, it might happen to someone else and just being aware of that,” Bhakta said.

NEW ZEALANDERS FACE 5 YEARS IN JAIL FOR NOT HANDING IN BANNED FIREARMS

New Zealanders Face 5 Years in Jail For Not Handing in Banned Firearms

Report shows gun owners giving up their guns.

  – SEPTEMBER 17, 2019

Following a ban on virtually all semi-automatic firearms, New Zealanders face 5 years in jail if they refuse to hand them in.

A France 24 report on the government’s new buyback scheme showed a line of gun owners wilfully giving up their guns in response to the Christchurch massacre earlier this year.

This despite the fact that the shooter himself said in his own manifesto that provoking mass gunfiscation was one of his intended goals. Mission accomplished.

Since the buyback scheme began, 19,000 firearms have been handed in. Most of the guns seen being handed in looked like ordinary rifles, not AR-15s.

Inspector Terry Van Dillen said he “accepted” that some people would be emotional giving up their guns due to them having been handed down by families for generations.

I’m sure any potential future mass shooters are gleefully handing in their firearms to police as I write this.

New Zealand’s gang members even publicly announced they would refuse to hand in any of the “banned” firearms.

Disarming responsible people and making them easier targets for actual criminals.

Genius idea.

BORDER SECURITY – NINE AND COUNTING: Another Illegal Alien Charged with Child Rape in Maryland Sanctuary County

In less than two months, there have been nine illegal immigrants charged with sex crimes in the Maryland sanctuary county.

By Shane Trejo

In what has become a disturbingly familiar story over the past couple months, another illegal alien has been charged with rape in the sanctuary jurisdiction of Montgomery County, Md.

Wilder Hernandez-Nolasco, 21, of Silver Spring is accused of raping a six-year-old girl. He was apprehended and charged with the crime last week, and faces 155 years in prison if he is ultimately convicted of the heinous act.

Hernandez-Nolasco, an illegal immigrant who is a Honduran national, reportedly threatened his child victim that he would ground her for “100 days” if she told anyone about the vicious attack. Law enforcement claims he admitted to committing the rape, and he committed sexual assault against the child on more than one occasion.

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This is at least the ninth time that there has been an illegal immigrant charged with a sex crime in the sanctuary jurisdiction of Montgomery County since July 25. The area has become a hot bed for illegal aliens to commit vicious sex crimes with law enforcement being ordered by county officials not to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Kevin Lewis of ABC 7 News has documented the many gruesome cases that have emerged as the result of the county’s liberal policies.

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An executive order was issued in July to officially grant sanctuary status within the county. County Executive Mark Elrich signed the executive order that banned all county support toward enforcing federal immigration law.

“We don’t interact with ICE. We don’t contact ICE nor do we ask any of our residents in Montgomery county about their immigration status in the United States,” Acting Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said.

“I feel pretty sure that most Montgomery county residents don’t agree with the president’s immigration policy such as it is,” Elrich said.

#StandWithICE organizer Michelle Malkin held a rally in Montgomery County last week to unite the community against partisan left-wing county officials who have put the vulnerable in extreme danger in a vain attempt to damage President Donald Trump.

The full video of her rally can be seen here:

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Despite the ongoing illegal rape spree, the liberal county officials are digging in their heels and refusing to budge no matter how many innocent people are victimized.

“These individuals and organizations should be ashamed for spreading false information seeking to establish a baseless, illogical and xenophobic connection between a person’s failure to obtain legal status and their propensity to commit a sex crime,” the county officials said in an official statement, placing blame on the “White House, President Trump, Acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli, local and national conservative news outlets and neo-Nazi sympathizers.”

STEVEN MOSHER: I WITNESSED IN CHINA THE POPULATION CONTROL POLICIES BERNIE SANDERS WANTS FOR AMERICA

Steven Mosher: I Witnessed in China the Population Control Policies Bernie Sanders Wants for America

Bernie should watch this documentary before proposing population control as a “solution” to global warming–or anything else, for that matter

Breitbart – SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Democrat presidential candidate and avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has aligned himself with those who think that babies are nasty little carbon emitters and need to be eliminated in large numbers to save the planet.  He has endorsed taxpayer funding of abortions around the world as part of a plan to combat overpopulation and fight climate change.

His startling proposal came in response to a questioner at CNN’s seven-hour climate town hall, who suggested that “the need to curb population growth”–that is, population control–was a way “to address climate catastrophe.”

He jumped up out of his seat and practically shouted, “Yes!”  He went on to claim that poor women around the world were having lots of babies they didn’t want.

Actually, women in poor countries, like women everywhere, pretty much have the number of children they want. Unless of course they live in a country which practices population control.  Take China, for example, which for decades has dictated to women how many children they can have–one–and when they can have it.

A new documentary called One Child Nation explains how this worked in practice in China. Bernie should watch it before proposing population control as a “solution” to global warming–or anything else, for that matter.

The documentary details the 35 years of suffering that Chinese women and girls endured under the policy, which ended in 2015.

Read more

 

Sorry Democrats and Never-Trumpers… Import Prices are Down Despite Trump Tariffs!

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President Trump has said for years that the US was hurt by politicians that didn’t protect US jobs.  He decided to do something about and the US is winning because of it!

The far-left Washington Post wrote in August that President Trump’s tariffs will cost the average family hundreds of dollars a year –

More than a year into the U.S.-China trade war, American consumers are about to find themselves squarely in the crosshairs for the first time, with households estimated to face up to $1,000 in additional costs each year from tariffs, according to research from JPMorgan Chase.

Consumers, whose spending fuels about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, have been largely shielded from previous rounds of tariffs, which have left businesses reeling and upended global supply chains. But that’s about to change with the 10 percent levies on roughly $300 billion in Chinese imports, about a third of which will take effect Sept. 1. Those tariffs will primarily target consumer goods.

But it was just more fake news from the far left Washington Post.

Sorry liberals, Trump’s tariffs are having little to no impact on the cost of goods to the consumer.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the costs of imports actually went down in August.

Prices for U.S. imports fell 0.5 percent in August following a 0.1-percent increase in July and a 1.1-percent decline in June. With the exception of the August and June decreases, U.S. import prices advanced in each month of 2019. Despite the increases, the price index for U.S. imports declined 2.0 percent from August 2018 to August 2019. (See table 1.)

Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices decreased 4.3 percent in August, after rising 0.7 percent the previous month. Prices for import fuel fell 11.1 percent over the past 3 months. In August, lower petroleum prices more than offset higher prices for natural gas. The price index for import petroleum declined 4.8 percent, after increasing 0.9 percent the previous month. Fuel prices decreased 8.7 percent over the past 12 months; prices for import petroleum fell 9.6 percent over the same period. The price index for natural gas imports rose 16.0 percent in August, after declines in each of the previous 4 months. Despite the August increase, natural gas prices fell 6.1 percent over the past year.

All Imports Excluding Fuel: Prices for nonfuel imports were unchanged for the second consecutive month in August following 0.3-percent decreases in both June and May. In August, lower prices for foods, feeds, and beverages and nonfuel industrial supplies and materials were offset by price increases for automotive vehicles and consumer goods. Prices for nonfuel imports declined 1.0 percent over the past 12 months, led by price decreases for industrial supplies and materials and capital goods.

President Trump said years ago what he would do years ago about China to stop their theft of American jobs – tax China 25%.

Winning, Winning, Winning!

BETO O’ROURKE: “HELL YES, WE’RE GONNA TAKE YOUR AR-15”

Beto O'Rourke: "Hell Yes, We're Gonna Take Your AR-15"

The days of Democrats saying, “Nobody wants to take your guns,” are behind us

  – SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Beto O’Rourke solidified himself as the Civil War candidate after proclaiming, “we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” during Thursday night’s Democrat debate.

The amazingly stupid presidential hopeful is openly promoting a policy that would rip the country apart by sending armed government agents to seize semi-automatic rifles from law-abiding Americans.

Beto even reiterated his bold stance on Twitter, repeating, “Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15.”

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O’Rourke previously tried to mask his intentions by calling his plan a “mandatory government buyback,” but most people understood exactly what that means.

The Texas Democrat is using his anti-gun platform to raise money, asking people to donate money so he can ban semi-automatic rifles.

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The 2020 field of Democrats is the most anti-Second Amendment group of politicians to ever run for office in America.

Gungrabbers Unite! BETO, Biden, Kamala and Klobuchar All Pledge To Go After Your 2nd Amendmenthttps://assets.infowarsmedia.com/videos/f5cb7028-ae4c-4f8c-b2d3-ab25d319bd15.mp4

145 Corporate Oligarchs Call for Gun Control

By Jose Nino

The New York Times reports that a group of top business executives called on the U.S. Senate to pass gun control.

“Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety,” wrote the CEOs from 145 companies, which included Twitter, Uber and Bloomberg LP.

This letter was shared with the Times.

The corporate big wigs are now demanding that the Senate pass the political establishment’s favorite gun control schemes such as universal background checks and “red flag” laws.

“The Senate must follow the House’s lead by passing bipartisan legislation that would update the background checks law, helping to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, in an effort to save lives,” the CEOs wrote.

They added,”Background checks on all gun sales are a common-sense solution with overwhelming public support and are a critical step toward stemming the gun violence epidemic in this country.”

After three mass shootings in Austin, the pressure has been dialed up on Congress to pass gun control legislation. Corporate America has played a major role in these calls for gun control during the last few years.

This letter is one of the most notable developments in Corporate America’s campaign against guns. It’s also a sign of the increased politicization of all facets of society.

Some polls claims that gun control is no longer a divisive issue. A Washington Post–ABC News poll that was unveiled earlier this week found that 89 percent of respondents, which includes 83 percent of Republicans, support universal background checks.

However, poll numbers and even the questions that they deal with do not always accurately portray popular sentiment and also do not show how enthusiastic people are about a certain policy proposal. So, it’s not inevitable that gun control will pass.

Earlier this year, the House passed a universal background check bill but it is now stagnating in the Republican-controlled Senate.

In the wake of recent shootings, stores like Wal-Mart and Kroger have discontinued the sale of firearms and changed open carry policies at their stores.

Their letter can be read here

Dear Members of the Senate :
Our hearts are with the victims, their families and loved ones and all those affected by the tragic
shootings ElPaso and West Texas , and Dayton, Ohio . These families becamemembers of a
club that no onewants to join : the millions of Americans whose lives have been forever altered
by gun violence.
Every day , 100 Americans are shot and killed andhundredsmore are wounded . These are more
than mass shootings; in recentweeks, gun violence has devastated Chicago, Canoga Park,
NewportNews, Gilroy and Brooklyn, among others. This is a public health crisis that demands
urgent action
Asleaders of some of America smost respected companies and those with significant business
interests in theUnited States, weare writing to youbecause wehave a responsibility and
obligation to stand up for the safety ofour employees , customers and all Americans in the
communitiesweserve across the country . Doing nothing America ‘ s gun violence crisis is
simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety .
Gun violence in America is not inevitable ;it’s preventable . There are steps Congress can , and
must,take to prevent and reduce gun violence .Weneed our lawmakers to support common
sense gun laws that could prevent tragedies like these .
That s why we urge the Senate to stand with theAmerican public and take action on gun
safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales and a strong Red
Flag law thatwould allow courts to issue life-saving extremerisk protection orders.
Background checks and Extreme Risk laws(also referred to as “Red Flaglaws” ) are proven to
save lives. Since Congress established the background check system 25 years ago ,background
checkshave blocked more than 3. 5 million gun sales to prohibited purchasers, including to
convicted felons, domestic abusers, and people who have been involuntarily committed .
However, in the decades since, the law requiring background checks on gun sales has notbeen
updated to reflecthow people buy guns today. The Senate must follow the House s lead by
passingbipartisan legislation that would update the background checks law , helping to keep guns
outofthe hands of people who shouldn ‘ t have them , in an effort to save lives. Background
checks on all gun sales are a common -sense solution with overwhelming public support and are a
critical step toward stemming the gun violence epidemic in this country .
Perpetrators ofmass shootings , school shootings, and hate crimes often display warning signs
before committing violent acts. Additionally, peoplewho end their lifewith a gun also often
show signs that they are in crisis before they act Interventionsin states with ExtremeRisk laws
have already prevented potential tragedies . Expanding Extreme Risk laws to enable families and
law enforcement nationwide to intervene when someone is at serious risk of hurting themselves
or others is critical to preventing future tragedies.
These proposals are common-sense , bipartisan and widely supported by the American public . It
is time for the Senate to takeaction.
Sincerely
Organizations with morethan 500 employees :
Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, Head of Community and CEO , Airbnb
KeithMestrich, Presidentand CEO , Amalgamated Bank
John Connaughton and Jonathan Lavine, Co-Managing Partners, and Josh Bekenstein and
Steve Pagliuca, Co -Chairmen, Bain Capital
Ethan Brown, Co-Founder and CEO , Beyond Meat
Peter T. Grauer, Chairman , Bloomberg LP
Ric Clark , Chairman, Brookfield Property Group
Fritz Lanman, CEO , ClassPass
Roger Lynch, CEO , CondéNast
Ken Lin, Founder and CEO , Credit Karma
Edward Stack , CEO, DICK ‘S SportingGoods
Tony Xu, Co -Founder and CEO , DoorDash
Doug Baker, Chairman and CEO , Ecolab
Richard Edelman, President and CEO, Edelman
Julia Hartz, Co-Founder and CEO , Eventbrite
Art Peck, CEO ,Gap Inc.
Eddy Lu, CEO GoatGroup
Ben Lerer, Co -Founder and CEO, Group NineMedia
Yannick Bolloré, CEO, Havas Group
BillKoenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder, HorizonMedia
Patrick O . Brown,MD, PhD, Founder and CEO , Impossible Foods
MichaelRoth, Chairman and CEO , Interpublic
Rob Frohwein, Co-Founder and CEO , and Kathryn Petralia, Co-Founder and President,
Kabbage Inc. and Drum Technologies
Chip Bergh, President and CEO , LeviStrauss & Co.
Logan Green, Co-Founder and CEO, and John Zimmer, Co -Founder and President, Lyft
Dev Ittycheria, Presidentand CEO , MongoDB, Inc.
HowardMarks, Co-Chairman, Oaktree CapitalManagement
Todd McKinnon, Co -Founder and CEO, Okta
John Wren , Chairman and CEO , Omnicom Group
Ben Silbermann, Co- Founder and CEO, Pinterest
Bastian Lehmann, Co-Founder & CEO , Postmates
Hamid R . Moghadam , Chairman and CEO , Prologis
Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO , Publicis Groupe
Steve Huffman, CEO, Reddit
Richard Fain , CEO , RoyalCaribbean Cruises Ltd.
ScottRechler, Chairman and CEO , RXR Realty
Jon Oringer, Founder and CEO , Shutterstock , .
Jack Dorsey, CEO, Square and Twitter
Anthony Casalena, Founder and CEO, Squarespace
Zander Lurie, CEO, SurveyMonkey
AriannaHuffington, Founder and CEO , Thrive Global
Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver, and Jim Alling, CEO , TOMS
Jeff Lawson, Co-Founderand CEO Twilio
DaraKhosrowshahi, CEO , Uber
Mark Read CEO, WPP
JeremyStoppelman, Co-Founder and CEO, Yelp
Organizations with fewer than 500 employees:
Kevin P . Ryan , Founder and CEO , AlleyCorp
Travis Truett, Co-Founder and CEO , Ambition
John W . Rogers, Jr., Founder , Chairman and Co -CEO , and Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO &
President, Ariel Investments , LLC
Mike Steib , CEO , Artsy
Sean Knapp, Co-Founder and CEO , Ascend
Andrei Cherny , Co -Founder and CEO , Aspiration
Abdur Chowdhury , CEO , Aura
Fahim M . Aziz , Founder and CEO , Backpack
Abrams, Chairman and Co-CEO, and Katie McGrath , Co-CEO Bad Robot
Ari Paparo , CEO , BeeswaxIO Corporation
Ryan Block , Co -Founder, Begin
John Borthwick , Founder and CEO , Betaworks
Raphael Crawford -Marks, Co -Founder and CEO , Bonusly
Darren Lachtman , Co-Founder , Brat
Trevor McFedries , CEO , Brud
Sameer Shariff, Co -Founder , Cambly
Analisa Goodin , Founder and CEO, Catch & Release , Inc.
Andrew Feldman , Founder and CEO , Cerebras Systems
George Favvas, CEO , Circle Medical
Alex MacCaw , CEO , Clearbit
Tyler Bosmeny , CEO , Clever
MattMartin , Co-Founder and CEO , Clockwise
Othman Laraki, Co -Founder and CEO Color Genomics
Jager McConnell, CEO , Crunchbase , Inc.
Apu Gupta , Co-Founder and CEO , Curalate , Inc .
David Oates , Co-Founder and CEO, Curtsy
Brian Ree , Founder and CEO , DAILYLOOK
Saurabh Ladha, CEO , Doxel, Inc.
Andy Coravos , Co -Founder and CEO , Elektra Labs
Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective
Pradeep Elankumaran , Co-Founder & CEO Farmstead
Desiree Gruber , CEO , Full Picture
Jared Hecht, Founder and CEO , Fundera
JudeGomila , Founder and CEO , Golden
Rick Nucci, Co-Founder and CEO , Guru
Kara Goldin , Founder and CEO , Hint, Inc.
Jeff Sellinger, Co -Founder and CEO , HipDot
Prerna Gupta , CEO , Hooked
Cyrus Massoumi,Managing Partner, humbition
Kristin Savilia , CEO , JOOR
Pierre Valade , CEO , Jumbo Privacy
William Martino, Founder and CEO , Kadena
Jake Perlman -Garr, CEO , Kanga
Warren Shaeffer, Co-Founder and CEO , Knowable
Jack Altman , CEO Lattice
Aaron N . Block , Co-Founder and Managing Director,MetaProp .
Afton Vechery , Co-Founder and CEO ,Modern Fertility
Dan Parham , Founder and CEO , and Tee Parham , Founder and CTO Neighborland
Shafqat Islam , CEO , NewsCred
Sarah Friar, CEO , Nextdoor
Athan Stephanopoulos , President, NowThis
Varsha Rao, CEO , Nurx
William E . Oberndorf, Chairman , Oberndorf Enterprises
Steven Rosenblatt , Co-Founder andGeneral Partner, Oceans
Nick Huzar, Co-Founder and CEO , OfferUp
James Segil , Co -Founder and President, Openpath
Jordan Husney , CEO , Parabol
Doug Aley, CEO , Paravision
John Milinovich , CEO , Plato Design
Rajat Suri, CEO , Presto
Christopher Gavigan , Founder and CEO , Prima
Adam Regelmann , Founder and COO , Quartzy
Nate Maslak , Co-Founder and CEO , andNate Fox, Co-Founder and CTO , Ribbon Health
Zachariah Reitano, Co-Founder and CEO , Ro
Gary Beasley , Co-Founder and CEO , Roofstock
Stephen Ehikian , Co -Founder and CEO , Ruist
Brian Schechter, CEO , SelfMade
Olga Vidisheva , Founder and CEO , Shoptiques Inc.
Dan Doctoroff , CEO , Sidewalk Labs
Jason Tan, CEO , Sift
Matt Cooper , CEO , Skillshare
Grant Jordan , CEO , SkySafe
Josh Guttman , Co- Founder and CEO and Florent Peyre, Co-Founder and President , Small Door
Michael Carvin , Co Founder and CEO SmartAsset
Aaron King, Founder and CEO , Snapdocs , Inc.
Neil Capel, CEO , Solve. io
Ben Hindman , Co-Founder and CEO , Splash
Evan Beard , Founder and CEO Standard Bots
Stanlee R . Gatti, Founder, Stanlee R . Gatti Designs
Bradford Oberwager, CEO , Sundia Corporation
Ross Feinstein , CEO , Sunlight Health
Paul Budnitz , CEO , Superplastic
Ron Conway , Founder , SV Angel
HeidiZak, Co-Founder and Co-CEO , and David Spector, Co-Founder and Co- CEO ThirdLove
Yashar Nejati, CEO , thisopenspace inc .
Joshua Kushner , Founder and Managing Partner, Thrive Capital
Chris Wang, CEO , ThunderCore Inc.
Corbett Kull, CEO , Tillable
Meghan Jewitt, CEO , Uniform Teeth
Nicholas Goldner , Co- Founder and CEO , and Christopher Bulow , Co-Founder and COO
Viosera Therapeutics
Ken Chong, CEO Virtual Kitchen Co
Irv Remedios, CEO , Voxer
Oliver Cameron , Co-Founder and CEO Voyage
Chase Adam , Co-Founder and CEO , and Grace Garey , Co-Founder and COO , Watsi
Liz Wessel , Co-Founder and CEO , WayUp
NeilWaller, CEO , Whalar
Bismarck Lepe, CEO , Wizeline
Dennis R . Mortensen , Founder and CEO , x .ai, inc.
Geoff Ralston, President, Y Combinator
Shan -Lyn Ma, Co -Founder and CEO Zola

Australian Couple Travels Through Asia To ‘Break Stigma’ Of Countries Getting A ‘Bad Rap.’ They’re Reportedly In Jail In Iran.

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By Hank Berrien

An Australian couple traveling through Asia who wanted to “break the stigma around travelling to countries which get a bad wrap [sic] in the media,” reportedly found out the hard way that some countries may well deserve the reputation they have: the couple was reportedly arrested 10 weeks ago in Iran.

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Jolie King, who has dual U.K. and Australian nationality, and Mark Firkin, have over 20,000 followers on Instagram and YouTube, where they document their travels. According to the BBC, the couple was traveling through Asia to Great Britain, starting in 2017. The pair had a drone they used to take footage of the dozen countries through which they were passing.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, that drone landed them behind bars in Iran 10 weeks ago. “The pair has been held as prisoners for about 10 weeks after being arrested for reportedly flying a drone without a permit,” ABC reports.

The BBC reports that the couple is “believed to be being held in Tehran’s Evin prison.”

Another British-Australian woman, reportedly a University of Cambridge-educated scholar, has been jailed for 10 years in Iran, according to the BBC.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she spoke to the Iranian government about all three people last week. “Since they were detained, the Australian Government has been pressing the Iranian Government for their release,” said Payne. “I have communicated with my Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Zarif, many times about these cases, including through face-to-face face meetings. We met as recently as last week.”

“Our biggest motivation … is to hopefully inspire anyone wanting to travel, and also try to break the stigma around travelling to countries which get a bad wrap [sic] in the media,” King and Firkin had written about their travels.

In July, Australia announced that it would join the U.S. and the U.K. as they monitored the Strait of Hormuz. Reported Iranian provocations involving other nations’ ships have been rampant near the Strait in recent months.

The BBC reported that U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab met the Iranian ambassador and “raised serious concerns about the number of dual national citizens detained by Iran and their conditions of detention,” according to the Foreign Office.

The story of King and Firkin bears similarities to another story reported by The Daily Wire in August 2018 in which a “young American couple who took a year-long bike trip around the world, believing that evil was a make-believe concept, took a fatal route in Tajikistan near the Afghan border, where alleged ISIS terrorists stabbed them to death. Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, 29, quit their jobs last year in order to make their trip.”

Austin had written:

You watch the news and you read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place. People, the narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil. People are axe murderers and monsters and worse.

I don’t buy it. Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own—it’s easier to dismiss an opinion as abhorrent than strive to understand it. Badness exists, sure, but even that’s quite rare. By and large, humans are kind. Self-interested sometimes, myopic sometimes, but kind. Generous and wonderful and kind. No greater revelation has come from our journey than this.

In June 2019, the man who was the alleged ringleader in the attack on Austin and Geohegan was asked if he interacted with the tourists at the gas station they stopped at just prior to the attack, Hussein Abdusamadov replied,“Yes. I talked to them. I asked them where they were from. I asked them what nationalities they were and they told me they were Americans … They said they were Americans and laughed.” He concluded, “Americans had to be killed.” 

 

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