Pope Benedict’s older brother Msgr. Georg Ratzinger dies at 96

The former Pope had traveled to Germany to visit his brother just a few days ago.

REGENSBURG, Germany, July 1, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, the brother of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, has died at the age of 96. The former Pope visited his brother one last time just a few days ago, traveling for the first time after his resignation in 2013.

Benedict had surprised everybody by flying to Germany on June 18. Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg welcomed him at the airport. The Pope emeritus stayed at the seminary in Regensburg, visiting with his dying brother several times a day. He was accompanied by his private secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein, his doctor, his caregiver, and one religious sister.

During his stay in Germany, which was supposed to be private, Benedict XVI spent the bulk of his time with his brother, but also met with the Apostolic Nuncio to Germany, Archbishop Nikola Eterović, as well as the Minister President of Bavaria Markus Söder. He traveled to the cemetery where his parents and his sister are buried.

Catholics and other bystanders lined the streets whenever the Pope emeritus moved from one place to another in Regensburg. Thus, in spite of the private nature of his visit, numerous photos and videos of the 93-year-old former Pope were taken. He traveled back to the Vatican on June 22.

Immediately after the news of Georg Ratzinger’s death, the head of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, tweeted his condolences.

“On behalf of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, I would like to express my sincere condolences on the death of Mons. Georg Ratzinger to his brother Benedict XVI, his family and loved ones as well as to the Church in Germany,” he wrote. “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.”

On behalf of the Polish Bishops' Conference, I would like to express my sincere condolences on the death of Mons. Georg Ratzinger to his brother Benedict XVI, his family and loved ones as well as to the Church in Germany.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.

— Przewodniczący Episkopatu (@Abp_Gadecki) July 1, 2020

Pope Benedict and his older brother were particularly close and had planned to one day retire together in Regensburg, where the man who was to become Pope had bought a house in 1970, while he was a professor at the local university.

Benedict and his brother talked on the phone almost daily, and Georg Ratzinger frequently traveled to the Vatican to visit.

While Pope Benedict could be said to have eclipsed his brother in prominence, Georg Ratzinger was an accomplished Catholic leader in his own right. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1951, together with his brother. Having discovered his love for music already in his youth, Georg Ratzinger proceeded to study Church music in the 1950s.

In 1964, he was made head of the “Regensburger Domspatzen,” the famous cathedral choir of Regensburg. Under his direction, the choir, which consists of boys and men, traveled to North America, Asia, and many places in Europe to perform. The choir also recorded numerous important works, for instance by Johann Sebastian Bach.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-benedicts-older-brother-msgr-georg-ratzinger-dies-at-96

Harvey Weinstein Victims Awarded $18.875 Million, Will Be Released From Non-Disclosure Agreements

NEW YORK – (Hagens Berman) — A class of women suing Harvey Weinstein in a federal class-action lawsuit have reached an $18.875 million settlement fund for survivors, according to attorneys at Hagens Berman who brought the case in December 2017, marking a day in history for the #MeToo movement and for the fight for survivors’ rights.

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys at Hagens Berman on behalf of survivors against Harvey Weinstein, The Weinstein Company Holdings LLC (“TWC”), and certain former officers, directors, and employees of TWC and other companies affiliated with Weinstein alleging they failed to stop Weinstein’s widespread sexual harassment and abuse. The firm’s plaintiffs, represented by Louisette Geiss, Sarah Ann Thomas, Melissa Thompson, Melissa Sagemiller, Nannette May, Katherine Kendall, Caitlin Dulany, Larissa Gomes and a Jill Doe, alleged they were subjected to unwanted sexual conduct that took many forms.

The proposed settlement on behalf of Weinstein’s survivors is the results of a hard-fought battle amid The Weinstein Company’s bankruptcy proceedings and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York’s dismissal of TWC’s former board of directors and representatives from the suit. Attorneys say that the culmination of the case marks a day in history both for the hundreds of women subjected to harassment and worse at the hands of Harvey Weinstein, and survivors everywhere who have for too long been unheard or unbelieved.

“The women who stepped forward in this case really changed the world. Together they shined the light on Weinstein’s serial sexual predation and made it clear that women would not tolerate a world that allowed this conduct to persist in the entertainment industry or any industry. Their selfless advocacy for all survivors against the odds was remarkable,” said Whitney K. Siehl, attorney at Hagens Berman representing the women who filed the class action against Harvey Weinstein. “The brave women who brought this case forward, spoke their truth, and made this settlement a reality are nothing short of heroes.”

“We know this settlement is a testament to the power women have when they act together,” Siehl said.

The lawsuit’s class includes hundreds of actresses and entertainment industry professionals who bravely stepped forward to publicly break the silence and sue Weinstein. The suit alleged at all times, Weinstein’s survivors “operated under duress and the threat of being blacklisted” by Weinstein and other industry professionals if they refused his advances or spoke up. Plaintiffs also alleged damages for the significant physical and emotional distress they endured then, and continue to endure now.

https://breaking911.com/harvey-weinstein-awarded-18-875-million-will-be-released-from-non-disclosure-agreements/

Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Restoration of Law and Order in Seattle

Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement:

“I commend Police Chief Carmen Best for her courage and leadership in restoring the rule of law in Seattle. For the past several weeks, the Capitol Hill area of Seattle was occupied by protesters who denied access to police and other law enforcement personnel. Unsurprisingly, the area became a haven for violent crime, including shootings that claimed the lives of two young people, assaults, and robberies. As Chief Best made clear throughout the process, there is a fundamental distinction between discussion of substantive issues — including addressing distrust of law enforcement by many in the African-American community — and violent defiance of the law. Chief Best has rightly committed to continue the substantive discussion while ending the violence, which threatens innocent people and undermines the very rule-of-law principles that the protesters profess to defend. Thanks to the Seattle Police Department, Capitol Hill parks, streets, and businesses are again accessible to the people of Seattle, who may travel throughout their city without fear of violence. The people of Seattle should be grateful to Chief Best and her Department for their professional and steadfast defense of the rule of law. The message of today’s action is simple but significant: the Constitution protects the right to speak and assemble freely, but it provides no right to commit violence or defy the law, and such conduct has no place in a free society governed by law.”

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-attorney-general-william-p-barr-restoration-law-and-order-seattle

‘It’s Going To Be Dangerous’: NYPD Detectives’ Association President Speaks Out Against $1 Billion Budget Cut

The Daily Caller spoke to Paul DiGiacomo, president of the NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association (DEA), about what cutting $1 billion to the police department will do for New York City.

The city council voted to pass a $1 billion budget cut from the NYPD late Tuesday after protesters began to camp out in front of City Hall in NYC, vowing to remain until their demands were met.

Police officers and protesters alike were disappointed with the decision, however. Many activists and lawmakers complained that the cut was not what they asked for, and officers like DiGiacomo raised concerns regarding policing moving forward.

“It’s going to diminish the police department, which is going to affect policing moving forward for the people of New York City,” DiGiacomo told the Daily Caller. “And it, plain and simple, is going to be more victims of crime in New York City.”

“With less cops, there’s gonna be less people to have as backup out on the streets. It’s going to be dangerous not only for the police patrolling, for the detectives, for policing in general, but most importantly it’s going to be dangerous for the law-abiding people of this city.”

DiGiacomo detailed other concerns about cutting the police budget and suggested that the city council should increase it so that the NYPD could “better train the police department on how to police.” He slammed new laws that have recently gone into effect following uproar over the death of George Floyd while condemning the actions of the officer responsible.

“What happened to Mr. Floyd was despicable and was terrible behavior by any member of society, let alone [it] be a police officer,” DiGiacomo said. “I think that police officer’s actions has set back law enforcement 50 years. We have come a long way before that incident and it’s all seemed to have gone away now, all the good that police do, was all forgotten about because of one individual’s bad decisions.”

https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/01/nypd-detectives-president-paul-digiacomo-budget-cut-george-floyd/

Now in Effect: Wyoming Laws Expand Food Freedom, Undermine Federal Regulations

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (July 1, 2020) – Today, two Wyoming laws go into effect that increase food freedom in the state and undermine federal food regulations.

Rep. Tyler Lindholm (R-Sundance) introduced House Bill 155 (HB155) in February. The new law allows consumers to buy individual cuts of meat through herd-share agreements. The law is modeled on laws that allow the sale of raw milk in some states. Consumers pay the rancher a fee for a “share” in either an individual animal or a herd. In return, the consumer gets cuts of meat.

In effect, it completely bypasses the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection regime, nullifying the federal law in effect.

The House passed the final version of HB155 by a 58-0 vote. The Senate approved the measure 23-0. With Gov. Gordon’s signature, the law went effect July 1.

Lindholm told Reason that the idea behind the law is simple.

“Let ranchers and farmers sell herd shares for their animals. That way the entire herd is ‘owned’ by all of the customers before slaughter, thereby meeting the exemption standards of the federal law, and now the rancher does not have to jump through the hoops of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and can utilize the smaller mom and pop butchers that still [exist] in most of our small towns.”

The new Wyoming law takes advantage of a loophole in the Federal Meat Inspection Act that regulates both the interstate and most intrastate production and sale of meat in the U.S. The loophole allows “custom slaughtering” of livestock for the owner of an animal.

Wyoming Leads the Way

Wyoming was the first state to enact a comprehensive Food Freedom Act back in 2015. The law allows the sale of many foods and food products direct from the producer to the consumer without adhering to onerous state regulatory and licensing requirements. The expansive law even allows poultry farmers with fewer than 1,000 birds to sell chicken and turkey, along with products made from their birds outside of the regulatory system. It also authorizes the sale of raw milk, rabbit meat and most farm-raised fish.

In addition to the enactment of HB155, Wyoming further expanded its Food Freedom Law this year with the passage of House Bill 84 (HB84). The new law allows for the sale of “non-potentially hazardous” homemade foods to be sold in retail stores and restaurants. “Potentially-non hazardous foods are defined as ” food that does not require time or temperature control for safety and includes jams, uncut fruits and vegetables, pickled vegetables, hard candies, fudge, nut mixes, granola, dry soup mixes excluding meat-based soup mixes, coffee beans, popcorn and baked goods that do not include dairy or meat frosting or filling or other potentially hazardous frosting or filling.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/07/now-in-effect-wyoming-laws-expand-food-freedom-undermine-federal-regulations.html

RussiaGate 3.0 & Afghan Peace Talks: Who Benefits From Pushing "Russia Bounty" Narrative?

The "Afghanistan bounties" narrative propelled by the US mainstream media has all the earmarks of a hoax, say international observers, explaining who actually stands to benefit from unverified reports allegedly leaked by an anonymous intelligence official.

Citing unnamed sources The New York Times last Friday broke the story that Russia was allegedly offering the Taliban* bounties to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan, highlighting President Donald Trump's supposed inaction in the matter. The Taliban, Moscow and the Pentagon all swiftly denied the allegations.

The Russia Bounty story is just another made up by Fake News tale that is told only to damage me and the Republican Party. The secret source probably does not even exist, just like the story itself. If the discredited @nytimes has a source, reveal it. Just another HOAX!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020

​Despite not being backed by any proof, the story immediately went viral and prompted Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden to slam Trump: “His entire presidency has been a gift to Putin, but this is beyond the pale,” the ex-vice president said.

Three Reasons Why the NYC Story Appears to be Absurd

"This claim is such an obvious hoax story on so many levels. The idea that Afghanistan’s Taliban have no desire to kill an invader US army unless financially incentivised by the Russians to do so is a claim that can be invented and believed only by Americans", says British Serbian political commentator Marko Gasic.

Mark Sleboda, a US military veteran and international affairs and security analyst, shares Gasic's skepticism. He draws attention to the fact that the story was first reported by the New York Times and "echoed nearly word for word, without variation or new information in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal" is "completely evidence-less based solely and completely on an anonymous intelligence official".

According to the military veteran, the allegations are likely baseless on several grounds.

First, the Taliban itself immediately rubbished the story.

"Their spokesmen note that they have been killing American occupation forces in their country for nearly 20 years without incentive or resources from any foreign state, much less one that the Afghan Mujahideen from which they emerged also fought for a decade", the US veteran points out, adding that the terrorist group stated that it had made no attacks on US troops since February of this year given the peace negotiations with the US.

Second, the Kremlin has no geopolitical or strategic motivation to fund or support the Taliban. Quite the contrary, the Russian government has provided substantial assistance to the US military in Afghanistan over the years, such as offering the Ulyanovsk air base for transit of US troops and military cargo to the Central Asian country.

"To argue [the Russians] have done so out of some sort of thirst for revenge for US support of the Mujahideen against Soviet forces in the 1980s or US support for jihadists in Syria against Russian forces today reduces Russia's foreign policy and own national security interests to the level of a cartoonish Bond villain", Sleboda remarks.

Third, neither the White House, nor the heads of the US intelligence community nor Pentagon officials confirmed the claims.

On Monday, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien issued three separate statements condemning the leaks as compromising and disrupting "the critical interagency work to collect, assess, and ascribe culpability".

Furthermore, according to CBS News’ Catherine Herridge, yet another anonymous intelligence source pointed out that the report cited by the NYT "does not match well-established and verifiable Taliban and Haqqani practices" and lacks "sufficient reporting to corroborate any links". And though the report did reach low levels of the National Security Council it did not travel further, being seen as “uncorroborated”.

"So, the question remains if the anonymous allegations are denied by both the Taliban and Russia and challenged by the White House, the US military, and the US intelligence community itself, then why are the US media, and many politicians running full bent with them?" Sleboda asks.

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202007011079769373-russiagate-30–afghan-peace-talks-who-benefits-from-pushing-russia-bounty-narrative/

First Results Of Russian Vote On Historic Amendments: Turnout Is About 63%. ‘YES’ – Over 70%

Over 70% of Russian voters have backed historic constitutional changes that strengthen the country’s governance system, pave the way for extending President Vladimir Putin’s presidency until 2036 and secure rights of the conservative majority of the Russian society, according to the Russian election commission’s preliminary results released July 1 afternoon.

As of 18:27 CEST, the available data shows the turnout of 63.32% with 70.81% of voters supporting the amendments.

The hardcore pro-Western part of the Russian opposition and affiliated organizations tried to stage provocations in order to delegitimize the vote, but failed to do so en mass. So, they focused their efforts in the media sphere. They already claimed that they had received hundreds of complaints of violations, including people voting more than once and claims employers are putting pressure on staff to cast ballots. These rumors are widely covered in Western mainstream media outlets that are also very unhappy with the Russian move to secure its sovereign constitution and way of life through the democratic referendum.

Russia is holding a national voting on amendments to its Constitution. Last Thursday kicked off one week in which Russians are asked to cast their votes on changes to the document. The formal date is July 1, but the polling stations were opened as early as June 25 in order to avoid too high turnout due to the so-called pandemic.

Vladimir Putin announced a set of amendments to the Constitution in his annual address to the Federal Assembly on January 15. The same day he ordered to form a working group to draft these amendments. The group was composed of 75 politicians, legislators, scholars and public figures and it submitted the proposals that formed the basis of the new Constitution. On March 11, the State Duma adopted the draft amendments to the Constitution in the third reading. On the same day, they were approved by the Federation Council.

The referendum was originally scheduled for April 22. The date coincided with Vladimir Lenin’s 150th birthday. It was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The draft amendments to the Constitution were submitted to a referendum in accordance with article 2 of the Law on Amendments to the Constitution adopted on March 16, 2020. Voters are given a yes-or-no vote on the full text of the new Constitution.

After Putin proposed constitutional changes, the amendments sparked significant debate both inside the country and beyond its borders. The proposed amendments to the Constitution affect various spheres.

The amendments, which can be described as ideological, received the great public response. According to a sociological study, the most important among them for Russians was the amendment to “on the protection of historical truth”:

“The Russian Federation honors the memory of the Fatherland defenders and protects the historical truth. Belittling the significance of the feat of the people in the defense of the Fatherland is not allowed.”

More

https://southfront.org/first-results-of-russian-vote-on-historic-amendments-turnout-is-about-63-yes-over-70/

California Gov Orders LA Restaurants To Close For 3 Weeks

Summary:

California orders LA restaurants to close for 3 weeks

Apple closes another 30 stores

Atlanta Airport closes

California reports another record jump

Houston ICUS at 102% capacity

Nevada reports third-highest daily total yet

NY releases Wednesday numbers

Arizona reports another record daily case count

NYC delays return of indoor dining

Florida reports daily cases for last 24 hours

Goldman says 40% of US has rolled back economic reopening or put them on hold

Oxford scientist warns vaccine by end of year far from guaranteed

Pfizer vaccine headline sends futures higher

US reported 48k+ new cases yesterday

Australia locks down 300k in Victoria

Brazil imposes travel ban as deaths near 60k

Tokyo reports most cases since state of emergency lifted

German infection rate below R for 7th day

• • *

Update (1426ET): California Gov Gavin News just ordered all LA Restaurants to close for three weeks, though he said those that are able can continue serving takeout and delivery.

Gov. Newsom to Order Immediate Closure of LA Restaurants For Next Three Weeks https://t.co/xOyoIYyG7A #california #bar pic.twitter.com/Z6XbC0891F

— Angel City Buzz (@Angel_City_Buzz) July 1, 2020

Meanwhile, Apple just announced that it's closing another 30 stores as the US outbreak worsens. The new closures will bring its total closures in the US in recent weeks to 77. Alabama, California, Georgia, Idaho, Lousiana, Nevada, and Oklahoma will see Apple store closures tomorrow. Other stores in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and Utah are closed as of Wednesday. Apple has 271 stores in the US, meaning nearly 30% of its stores have been shut.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/australia-places-300k-under-lockdown-global-cases-near-105-million-live-updates