Tuesday, September 16, 2025

 
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There’s no denying the trans links to suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination: Miranda Devine

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It wasn’t until Utah Gov. Spencer Cox spelled out the transgender links to the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination that the New York Times and the rest of the Hate Media and their social media offshoots finally gave up the absurd nudge-nudge-wink-wink pretense that the killer was its favorite type of villain, a MAGA gun nut.

Nope, Tyler Robinson, 22, turns out to be a hard-core leftist, Antifa devotee and Kirk-hater who was living with his transgender boyfriend, identified as Lance Twiggs, 22, who stated, “We are riding with Biden” in a 2022 post on the social media platform Reddit.

The two men also reportedly shared a sexual fetish for “furries,” anthropomorphic animal characters, with Twiggs appearing in photos online wearing animal headdress.

Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk was killed during a “Prove Me Wrong” debate at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. REUTERS

In the midst of an epidemic of left-wing political violence, you’d have to be pretty perverse not to understand the motive for assassinating Kirk.

The 31-year-old conservative leader was shot through the throat just as he was answering a question about transgender mass shooters.

“Too many,” he replied to the question, “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”

Silenced

He was silenced with a bullet to stop him from voicing an opinion held by the majority of Americans.

The next day, podcaster Steven Crowder posted a screenshot of what he said was an ATF report showing that the cartridges found with the fatal weapon had engravings “expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology.”

Sure enough, despite scoffing from the Hate Media, Crowder was right.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office report described the Mauser bolt-action rifle with scope found wrapped in a towel and stashed in a bush near the murder scene.

“One spent cartridge, three live rounds recovered,” the report notes. “Investigators noted inscriptions that had been engraved on casings found with the rifle. Inscriptions on a fired casing read ‘Notices Bulge OwO what’s this?’

“Inscriptions on the three unfired casings read: ‘Hey fascist! CATCH!’ A second unfired casing read ‘O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!’ A third unfired casing read ‘If you read This, you are GAY Lmao.’”

Tyler Robinson was arrested for Kirk’s murder on Sept. 11, 2025. AP

“Notices Bulge OwO what’s this?” is reportedly a meme related to “furries” and transgender people.

The two Antifa messages are more straightforward. But the New York Times coyly characterized the phrase “bella ciao” as “likely a reference to a popular Italian folk song with a sprawling cultural history.”

Hah. The Times didn’t want to explain to its readers that “Bella Ciao,” an Italian anti-fascist World War II song, is “probably the most important rallying song to Antifa militants for decades,” as independent journalist Andy Ngo reports.

Antifa terrorist Willem Van Spronsen cited the song in his “manifesto” before the deadly attack on an ICE facility in Tacoma, Wash., in 2019.

But the more recent deadly marriage of transgender and Antifa ideology is no surprise to anyone who has followed Ngo’s work the past six years.

Ngo has dubbed it “Trantifa,” and has charted the rise of the violent movement that hijacked BLM protests in the summer of 2020 and unleashed hell across the country, almost unnoticed by President Joe Biden’s FBI and media that bend over backwards not to notice leftwing terrorism or anything negative about transgenderism.

A radical leftist trans militant cult of vegans, for instance, has been accused of the murder of a US Border Patrol agent near the Canadian border in January and other murders across the country.

The assassination of Kirk has lifted the veil of silence that hung over the threat posed by these unhinged nihilists.

And after four years of Democratic pandering to the most extreme demands of transgender ideology, it was inevitable that there would be an explosion of rage after the American electorate rejected the madness last November.

Trans rabbit hole

Polling shows that transgender ideology is an 80-20 issue. While they believe in adults being able to do what they like, most Americans draw the line at transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, or children having gender ideology thrust down their throats to deliberately confuse them, or puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical mutilation being provided to minors.

The most successful political advertisement President Trump ran during the 2024 campaign was about Kamala Harris bragging that she would make taxpayers fund transgender surgery for illegal aliens in jail.

The catchline of the ad was: “Donald Trump is for you, Kamala Harris is for they/them.”

And yet Democrats keep falling down the rabbit hole.

On his first day in office, Biden signed one of many executive orders to enforce the euphemistically titled “gender affirming care” for “trans kids.”

On Easter Saturday 2023, who could forget Biden inviting a transgender person who pranced around the White House lawn and exposed a pair of shaved and surgically created fake breasts.

In the Biden years, emboldened Democrats in blue states started pushing legislation that would make it a crime for parents not to “affirm” their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Robinson’s live-in boyfriend, Lance Twiggs, is transgender — transitioning from male to female. Lance Twiggs/ TikTok

Last June, Biden administration transgender health bureaucrat Adm. Rachel Levine pressured an international group of medical experts to remove all age limits for adolescent surgeries from guidelines for care of transgender minors, according to court documents reported in the New York Times.

The initial guidelines for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health recommended lowering the age minimums to 14 for hormonal treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, and 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies.

But according to emails tendered to the court, Levine demanded the age limits be removed because they would “result in devastating legislation for trans care.”

People like Robinson and Twiggs were told the lie by everyone from the president to their school counselors that it was possible for a man to become a woman.

Now the Trump administration, inspired in large part by Kirk, has started to dismantle the whole sick edifice.

Kirk always spoke the truth, with compassion, but never sugarcoating the fact that biological sex is immutable.

He called the “transing” of children one of the greatest moral crimes of the century.

He told conservative media figure Ben Shaprio after the election last year that one of his “pet projects” was for the incoming Trump administration to “sign executive orders and launch a DOJ legal blitzkrieg in every gender-affirming care center in the country … We need criminal investigations, civil investigations.”

He said the “T” in LGBT stands for “tyrannical.”

“It is that it is full totalitarian control of your speech, of your children, of your body … It cloaks itself on its surface, the trans agenda, as live and let live … And honestly, my temperament, I’m fine with [it]. I think it’s weird.

“But OK, if you want to wear a dress in your living room, I’m not going to have a public policy measure against that.

“But it’s never been about that. Instead, it’s, no, Allow me to propagandize your 13-year-old child and then put them under general anesthesia and chop up their breasts because it’s good for them.”

Decade of lies

He was right, and he was branded a “fascist” for telling the truth.

It ought to burn the consciences of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian and MSNBC, which have spent a decade lying that Trump and his supporters like Kirk are fascists, Nazis, and an “existential threat” to our democracy.

That’s why I call them the Hate Media, because it’s the same technique used in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where hate messages pumped out 24/7 on radio and by Hutu politicians dehumanized the Tutsi ethnic minority, branding them vermin to be exterminated, and inciting extremists to violence.

The result of years of 24/7 brainwashing was the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 100 days.

Democrats and their Hate Media allies knew the risk of the signal they were sending to an unhinged subset of their followers, that fascists must be eliminated by any means necessary.

Now it’s time for them to stop pretending that the motive for Kirk’s assassination is a mystery.

Stop lying that he was “divisive.”

Stop telling boys that they can be girls.

Tell the truth. Atone. Then the country can heal.



This story originally appeared on NYPost

Republicans Are Forcing A Government Shutdown And Trump Will Be Blamed

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The White House thinks that the current government funding debate can be won just like the last one was in March. They believe that nothing has changed, and they can pass a bill to keep the government open by putting Senate Democrats up against a deadline with no negotiations.

The political climate has changed.

The White House doesn’t see it, which is why Trump and his party are about to step on the rake and smack themselves in the face with a government shutdown.

Punchbowl News reported:

The House Republican leadership plans to put a bill on the floor this week to keep the federal government open through Nov. 20, a strategy aimed at giving appropriators another seven weeks to hash out a broader spending deal for the FY2026 bills.

Republicans are saying the CR will be “clean” — free of partisan policy riders.

But as we’ve reported, the GOP proposal doesn’t include any of the Democrats’ demands. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have said they can’t vote for any CR unless it includes health care-related provisions.

It’s not clear if Democrats are demanding that Republicans renew enhanced premium subsidies for Obamacare or restore OBBB Medicaid cuts. Rather, Schumer and Jeffries have simply called on Republicans to negotiate.

People who think Democrats should announce that they are shutting down the government miss the political nuance.

By asking for negotiations, Democrats are being reasonable and deflating any GOP attempt to blame them for a shutdown by demonstrating that it is Trump and his party who are unwilling to talk.

When/if the government shuts down, it will be Republicans who are left holding the bag, because they are the party in power, and they refused to come to the table to secure the needed votes to avoid a shutdown.

The economy is already in bad shape, and it will be damaged even more by a government shutdown. There are no winners in the shutdown itself, but if the government shuts down, it isn’t going to reopen without Republicans restoring, at a minimum, Obamacare subsidies, which is something that Republicans could agree to do right now.

Democrats aren’t in control of Congress or the White House so they won’t take the blame for a shut down.

Trump owns the record for the longest government shutdown in history. The government shut down for 35 days in 2019 because he wanted funding for his border wall.

If the government shuts down again, it could last even longer.

What do you think about a potential government shutdown? Share your opinion in the comments below.

Leave a comment



This story originally appeared on Politicususa

TikTok deal may be done: Trump to meet China's Xi Jinping

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The White House has announced that there is a plan to sell TikTok’s US division and keep it operational in the country, though final details are yet to be resolved.

The threat of a TikTok ban may finally be over

The TikTok saga and whether it will or won’t be banned in the US, may shortly be concluding, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. As first reported by CNN, Bessent has announced that a deal has been has been reached.

“We have a framework for a TikTok deal,” said Bessent. “The two leaders, President Trump and Party Chair Xi will speak on Friday to complete the deal, but we do have a framework for a deal with TikTok.”

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This story originally appeared on Appleinsider

Up 12% this year, is the ITV share price still surprisingly low?

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Image source: Getty Images

Since the start of the year, ITV (LSE: ITV) has outperformed the FTSE 250 index handily. While the index has moved up 5%, the ITV share price is 12% higher than it was at the beginning of 2025.

That leaves it on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of nine. That looks potentially cheap, despite ITV’s volatile financial performance in recent years.

Could the share price move higher from here? I think it possibly could — and see ITV as a share for investors to consider.

Attractive dividend

For starters, there is the payout.

The company aims to maintain the dividend per share at its current level as a minimum – and perhaps grow it.

That is not guaranteed — no dividend ever is. Still, as management has repeatedly committed itself to this objective, I think it will try hard to deliver on it.

At the moment, the ITV dividend yield is 6.1%. I see that as attractive and one reason for investors to consider the share. Still, an attractive dividend does not answer the question of whether the ITV share price is too high, too low, or about right.

A changed operating environment

At its current share price, I think ITV offers investors potentially good value.

However, we have seen in the past that the company’s earnings can be volatile. The proliferation of digital broadcasting platforms has been both a threat and an opportunity for the company.

The reasons for it being a threat are obvious. Gone are the days when ITV and a couple of rivals had a virtual monopoly on television broadcasting in the UK, with millions sitting down to watch whatever it decided to air.

A far more fragmented audience has meant far fewer viewers for legacy media. In ITV’s case, that means that the historically lucrative advertising market has become more challenging.

Advertisers have a much wider range of options as to where to spend their money, while falling viewer numbers make it harder for the company to justify making the sort of pricey shows that could attract premium advertising rates.

Higher earnings potential

But ITV has not stood still. It has pushed aggressively into the digital world itself and this is now a key plank of its corporate strategy. It expects digital revenues next year to be at least £750m.

It also operates a sizeable studios business, offering filming space and production assistance to third parties. That has enabled it to benefit from the large number of other companies that want to make content.

If things go well, I think ITV could grow its earnings in years to come.

Long-term survivor

Along the way, it has to contend with challenges beyond digital growth.

One is a weak economy. That can reduce advertising spend, threatening revenues and profits for the company.

This, however, is where I think its strengths come into play.  

ITV has many decades of experience navigating a cyclical advertising market, as well as adapting to changing viewer preferences. If it can keep doing that I believe this long-established broadcaster can continue to be very profitable.



This story originally appeared on Motley Fool

For the first time since 2019, the Fed could split both ways on a rate decision

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In a sign of how unusual this week’s Federal Reserve meeting is, the decision it will make on interest rates — usually the main event — is just one of the key unknowns to be resolved when officials gather Tuesday and Wednesday.

For now, it’s not even clear who will be there. The meeting will likely include Lisa Cook, an embattled governor, unless an appeals court or the Supreme Court rules in favor of an effort by President Donald Trump to remove her from office. And it will probably include Stephen Miran, a top White House economic aide whom Trump has nominated to fill an empty seat on the Fed’s board. But those questions may not be resolved until late Monday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is mired in uncertainty. Hiring has slowed sharply, while inflation remains stubbornly high.

So a key question for the Fed is: Do they worry more about people who are out of work and struggling to find jobs, or do they focus more on the struggles many Americans face in keeping up with rising costs for groceries and other items? The Fed’s mandate from Congress requires it to seek both stable prices and full employment.

For now, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed policymakers have signaled the Fed is more concerned about weaker hiring, a key reason investors expect the central bank will reduce its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point on Wednesday to about 4.1%.

Still, stubbornly high inflation may force them to proceed slowly and limit how many reductions they make. The central bank will also release its quarterly economic projections Wednesday, and economists project they will show that policymakers expect one or two additional cuts this year, plus several more next year.

Ellen Meade, an economics professor at Duke University and former senior economist at the Fed, said it’s a stark contrast to the early pandemic, when it was clear the Fed had to rapidly reduce rates to boost the economy. And when inflation surged in 2021 and 2022, it was also a straightforward call for the Fed, which moved quickly to raise borrowing costs to combat higher prices.

But now, “it’s a tough time,” Meade said. “It would be a tough time, even if the politics and the whole thing weren’t going on the way they are, it would be a tough time. Some people would want to cut, some people would not want to cut.”

Amid all the economic uncertainty, Trump is applying unprecedented political pressure on the Fed, demanding sharply lower rates, seeking to fire Cook, and insulting Powell, whom he has called a “numbskull,” “fool,” and “moron.”

Loretta Mester, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said that Fed officials won’t let the criticisms sway their decisions on policy. Still, the attacks are unfortunate, she said, because they threaten to undermine the Fed’s credibility with the public.

“Added to their list of the difficulty of making policy because of how the economy is performing, they also have to contend with the fact that there may be some of the public that’s skeptical about how they’ve gone about making their decisions,” she said.

David Andolfatto, an economics professor at the University of Miami and former top economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said that presidents have pressured Fed chairs before, but never as personally or publicly.

“What’s unusual about this is the level of open disrespect and just childishness,” Andolfatto said. “I mean, this is just beyond the pale.”

There are typically 12 officials who vote on the Fed’s policies at each meeting — the seven members of the Fed’s board of governors, as well as five of the 12 regional bank presidents, who vote on a rotating basis.

If a court rules that Cook can be fired, or Miran isn’t approved in time, then just 11 officials will vote on Wednesday. Either way, there ought to be enough votes to approve a quarter-point cut, but there could be an unusual amount of division.

Miran, if he is on the board, and Governor Michelle Bowman may dissent in opposition to a quarter-point reduction in favor of a steeper half-point cut.

There could be additional dissenting votes in the other direction, potentially from regional bank presidents who might oppose any cuts at all. Beth Hammack, president of the Fed’s Cleveland branch, and Jeffrey Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, have both expressed concern that inflation has topped the Fed’s 2% target for more than four years and is still elevated. If either votes against a cut, it would be the first time there were dissents in both directions from a Fed decision since 2019.

“This degree of division is unusual, but the circumstances are unusual, too,” Andolfatto said. “This is a situation central banks really don’t like: The combination of inflationary pressure and labor market weakness.”

Hiring has slowed in recent months, with employers shedding 13,000 jobs in June and adding just 22,000 in August, the government reported earlier this month. And last week a preliminary report from the Labor Department showed that companies added far fewer jobs in the year ending in March than previously estimated.

At the same time, inflation picked up a bit last month and remains above the Fed’s 2% target. According to the consumer price index, core prices — excluding food and energy — rose 3.1% in August compared with a year earlier..

With inflation still elevated, the Fed may have to proceed slowly with any further cuts, which would likely further frustrate the Trump White House.

“When you get to turning points, people can reasonably disagree about when to go,” Meade said.



This story originally appeared on Fortune

Pierre Poilievre Celebrates Son’s Fourth Birthday With Spider-Man Cake

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X/@PierrePoilievre

Canadian Conservative Party head Pierre Poilievre shared a rare and precious moment of the family: there he posted a photo of his son all decked out in a Spider-Man suit for his fourth birthday-polite birthday greetings on one hand, rich with political invective on the other.

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The picture is of a little boy in a complete Spider-Man costume facing a birthday cake with his face blurred out. The Canadian opposition leader and fiery political commentator, Pierre Poilievre, sometimes lets private glimpses into his family life, though categorically hiding away his children’s identities.

Canadian politics seeping into the birthday post’s response is rather typical of the sort of polarized nature. Many sincere well-wishers poured in birthday wishes while appreciating the opportunity to witness the politician’s private side. “This is my favorite post by PP. It’s way better to see this than the latest rag on the liberals,” commented one user. Another replied, “Right there! That is what life is all about. Family time!”

What followed, though, was in regret the opposite: a war zone of cries for grievances. The critiques veered into attacks on Poilievre’s policy thrusts and his personal security claims. “Why after claiming you and yours are receiving multiple death threats are you parading your kids around Ottawa?” asked one user. “The greedy grifter voted against dental care for kids, seniors, and low income, but we pay for all of yours,” added another.

The comments got even louder when some users went full timing on attacking those who stood against the family celebration. One Poilievre supporter defended him: “Low life scum shitting on a post about a child’s birthday. You are the type of person that children need protection from.” Another one replied, “They’re having the party in a secure location you liberal scum,” to the accusations about security.

Security concerns were at the center of numerous comments on the pros and cons of posting pictures of children online. One user wrote, “You’re a public figure. Protecting your children’s identities should be paramount. Instead you’re advertising them. Weird.” Another joked about the superhero theme: “Outing his secret identity? Not cool.”

Completely side-tracked into political debates from pandemic policy to events to look forward to, the birthday posts. One user went for the jugular about Tuesday, “I can’t wait to see you begin schooling Mark Carney on Tuesday. Cpac becomes must see tv.”

However, nearly all of the reply remained focused on the celebration itself. Several users described their experiences with kids who love Spider-Man. One grandmother said, “My grandson who is turning 18 in October was Spider-Man when he was 4 and 5 and 6 then he turned into a Sasquatch hunter.” Another added: “My grandson is 4 and what a delightful age. He is beautiful and enjoy him and make many memories.”

The unpleasant reception surrounding Poilievre’s family post elucidates how even private moments, when lived by leadership, become politicized. While supporters thanked the opposition leader for giving them a glimpse of his life, the critics used that opportunity as a platform for broader political complaints, immediately turning a child’s birthday into Toronto’s latest battle.

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The incident seems an echo of challenges faced by politicians trying to keep their family life private while being active on socializing venues, where every post is scrutinized by political opponents. Additionally, Poilievre often finds himself at the center of political conversations, making it difficult to balance public scrutiny with personal privacy.




This story originally appeared on Celebrityinsider

Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry Recipe

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Some nights you just need dinner on the table fast! That’s when this garlic shrimp stir fry saves the day. Juicy shrimp, crisp veggies, and the BEST garlicky sauce all come together in 20 minutes.

Shrimp stir fry in a large wok with lime slices and a wooden spoon.Shrimp stir fry in a large wok with lime slices and a wooden spoon.

A Reader’s Review

I made this last night and I really liked it. Picked it because I was craving shrimp and had most of the ingredients already. Always nice to find recipes where I don’t have to buy tons to make it. Plus doesn’t require any fancy kitchen tools.

– Lauren

Shrimp Dinner Secrets Spilled

  • That Garlic Sauce! Bold, savory, and just a little addictive, it turns simple shrimp and veggies into something you’ll crave, trust me!
  • Feel-Good Eating: Light, tasty, and packed with protein and veggies, you’ll actually feel good eating it. It’s full of color, flavor, and crunch.
  • Quick Dinner Win: Busy night? This recipe comes together fast and gives you a tasty, filling meal. Serve it over rice or noodles.

Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry Ingredients

Overhead shot of labeled ingredients.Overhead shot of labeled ingredients.
  • Like it Spicy? Add some heat with red pepper flakes or chili paste.
  • Shrimp: Feel free to use shrimp with or without the tails.
  • Vegetables: Stir fry is perfect for using up leftover veggies or switching them up based on your preference.

How to Make Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

This garlic shrimp stir fry is a great way to use up veggies from your fridge! Or for you and your family to eat your veggies! It’s light, full of flavor, and ready in just 20 minutes!

  1. Make Stir-Fry Sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, soy sauce, minced garlic, brown sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch and set aside.
  2. Cook Veggies: In a wok or large skillet, add oil over medium-high heat, then add broccoli, sugar snap peas, red bell pepper, and shredded carrots. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Cook Shrimp: Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes until the shrimp begin to turn pink.
  4. Combine: Pour in the sauce and stir until incorporated. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until broccoli is tender and the sauce has thickened. Serve with sliced green onions and serve over rice if desired.

Alyssa’s Pro Tip

Use high heat and a large wok/pan. High heat keeps veggies tender and crisp, and the shrimp juicy. A wok lets the veggies spread out and sear instead of steaming.

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  • In a small bowl, whisk together ½ cup chicken broth, ¼ cup soy sauce, 3 cloves minced garlic, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch and set aside.

  • In a wok or large skillet, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add 2 cups broccoli florets, 1 cup sugar snap peas, 1 sliced red bell pepper, and ½ cup shredded carrots. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  • Add 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes until the shrimp begin to turn pink.

  • Pour in the sauce and stir until incorporated. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until broccoli is tender and the sauce has thickened. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve over rice if desired.

Storage & Reheating

  • Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for 3–4 days.
  • Reheat: Warm on the stovetop in a wok or skillet until heated through.

Calories: 215kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 20gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 1592mgPotassium: 492mgFiber: 3gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 4359IUVitamin C: 95mgCalcium: 116mgIron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Stir-Fry recipes You’re Going To Love

Garlic shrimp stir fry served in a bowl. Garlic shrimp stir fry served in a bowl.




This story originally appeared on TheRecipeCritic

Jonathan Anderson’s final act at Loewe cements his reputation as a champion of craft

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With all the musical chairs at fashion houses going on this last year, it was easy to miss how Jonathan Anderson used his final collection at Loewe to cement his reputation as a champion of craft. Presented quietly in Paris in March, overshadowed by the designer’s big move to Dior, the fall/winter ready-to-wear line spotlights a collaboration with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, a perfect bookend to Anderson’s 11-year tenure at the Spanish maison marked not only by the introduction of the Loewe Craft Prize, but an overarching innovative vision for integrating artisanal tradition into bold, concept-driven luxury fashion.

True to the spirit of Anderson’s Loewe, there’s an underlying wit to the collection. The jackets are like if you threw on a blanket. The handbags are similarly, deliciously louche. This simplicity feels deeply considered and aligned with the form-follows-function ethos of the Bauhaus, where Josef and Anni met in the 1920s, a philosophy they carried with them to Black Mountain College, where they landed after the Bauhaus closed under mounting Nazi repression. The same reason you could call this collaboration obvious is what makes it a concise thesis on the potency of Anderson’s work over the last 11 years. Craft’s 20th century Modernist revival offers a road map for understanding why his signature wabi-sabi surrealism at Loewe resonated so intensely, and no one channels this history quite like Josef and Anni.

“In our current era of extreme violence and unease, it feels so logical to return to the Albers’ work, which was in itself a reaction to war,” says author and artist Calla Henkel, whose latest novel, “Scrap,” was set in and around the North Carolina craft community where the Black Mountain experiment spawned. “The Albers’ creative output evokes some mystical idea of live-work balance; it’s easy to imagine them at home, wrapped in the contemplative heat of making things side-by-side. I yearn for that time, also maybe because it was a version of America that was anti-Nazi.”

Loewe Medium Flamenco Purse Dotted

Loewe Medium Flamenco Purse Dotted

For Albers acolytes, there are some incredible details in the new Loewe collection. For example, many of the handbag straps feature washers strung on ribbons, referencing a series of jewelry designs Anni Albers made with Alexander Reed in 1940. “In [her book] ‘On Weaving’ she underscores how the very particular qualities of really elemental things, like a thread, combine into something complex and fascinating,” explains Sophy Naess, artist and senior critic at Yale School of Art. “There’s something very fundamental in textile work with stringing things together. Using a ribbon to interweave a bunch of washers is such a nice example.”

When Anni Albers published her theoretical magnum opus “On Weaving” in 1965, she was already lamenting the loss of our tactile sensibilities, which have undeniably worsened in the digital era. “So often my students say they just want to work with their hands more. They don’t necessarily have any specific motives, but they want to be more involved with craft in some way because they feel deprived of this material sensibility,” Naess observes.

Anni Albers especially feels in the air right now. Italian interiors fabrics manufacturer Dedar debuted their own collaboration reinterpreting her weavings at Milan Design Week in April while Mexican architect Frida Escobedo has cited Anni Albers’ signature rhythmic grids as a key inspiration for the latticed limestone façade she’s designing for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new wing dedicated to modern and contemporary art, slated to open in 2030.

Reimagining Anni Albers’ 1950s tapestries as Loewe has — the jacquard of their jackets and bags woven on mechanical looms and finished with hand-twist techniques — is also a bizarrely elegant way to engage the stranglehold “trad” has over the cultural imagination, from Mormon wives to floral dress Republicans. Tapping into the craft revival of yesteryear speaks to a cyclical impulse for structure amid the chaos of now.

While Loewe’s collaboration draws from both Josef and Anni Albers — folding their creative partnership and love story into its narrative — the translation of Josef’s “Homage to the Square” color-theory paintings into shoes, shirts, skirts, handbags and wallets feels more like merchandising (that’s not necessarily a dirty word; it’s long been one of Anderson’s strengths). But ultimately, the “Homage” homages land with less impact because they don’t have the same tactile richness as those channeling Anni’s weavings. An exception is a small Loewe bucket bag inspired by Josef’s early glass assemblage experiments when he was a Bauhaus student, which abounds with glass bobbles and haptic surprise.

Loewe Medium Flamenco Purse Pasture

Loewe Medium Flamenco Purse Pasture

Anni Albers didn’t exactly choose craft. Like her mentor Gunta Stölzl, she was steered toward the Bauhaus weaving workshop because textiles were considered women’s work. She spent her career advocating that craft should be taken as seriously as fine art. Only in the last decade or so has the art and design world really gotten the memo — an enthusiastic course correction that’s made the recovery of Anni Albers’ legacy possible. Like many such reversals, it’s been a bit clumsy at times, complicated by the fact that Albers’ practice borrowed — quite openly — from Indigenous craft, specifically ancient Peruvian weaving traditions.

The Loewe Craft Prize, instituted under Anderson’s creative direction in 2016, both contributed to and capitalized on this growing momentum around craft. “The obvious thing the craft prize does is honor craft, which is part of Loewe’s heritage, but it also signals very cleverly to people who are maybe not so interested in fashion that Loewe appreciates other beautiful things of value,” explains Felix Burrichter, creative director of design magazine Pin-Up. “They’re saying that if you’re interested in these other beautiful things, then Loewe might be a brand that understands you.” It’s no coincidence iconoclastic artists like Precious Okoyomon and Sylvie Fleury have been known to wear Loewe.

As Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, formerly of Proenza Schouler, take up the mantle of Loewe, there’s every indication that they will continue reaffirming craft as integral to the brand’s DNA. “[McCollough and Hernandez] have always shown interest in that side of design but never had the resources and access to work with ateliers at the level of what they’ll have through Loewe. My guess is they’ll really push material exploration now,” Burrichter says.

Like it or not, fashion has become a key vehicle for popularizing art and design history. How McCollough and Hernandez will play with this at Loewe will be interesting to see. “Looking at the trajectory of Anderson’s robust engagement with artists’ estates, his choices became increasingly mainstream during his tenure,” notes Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, curator of contemporary design at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. “I myself favor the exchanges with living artists such as the ‘show on a wall’ kit with Anthea Hamilton.”

As basic girl (at least craft-wise) as this Loewe x Albers collab might be, it’s art historically savvy. In the words of Naess, “There are gonna be all these wealthy textile freak ladies that will need to have these pieces.”

Loewe and Albers



This story originally appeared on LA Times

UK summons Russian ambassador over ‘utterly unacceptable’ violations into NATO airspace | UK News

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The UK has summoned the Russian ambassador in London over the country’s “utterly unacceptable” incursions into NATO airspace.

Romania said a drone breached its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine at the weekend, days after Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace.

The UK said the incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace were “reckless” and warned Russia that any further incidents “will again be met with force”.

Russian ambassador Andrei Kelin has been summoned by the Foreign Office.

A spokesperson for the department said: “Significant and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones last week, followed by a further incursion into Romanian airspace on Saturday, was utterly unacceptable.

“The UK stands united with Poland, Romania, Ukraine and our NATO allies in unreservedly condemning these reckless actions.

“As our continent once again faces the egregious expansion of Russia’s reckless behaviour, defence of Ukraine against Putin’s aggression is crucial to the security of the whole of Europe, including the UK.

“Russia should understand that its continued aggression only strengthens the unity between NATO allies and our determination to stand with Ukraine, and any further incursions will again be met with force.

“Russia must end its illegal war on Ukraine.”

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4:14

Sky’s defence analyst on why Russia fired drones over Poland

Read more:
UK joins operation to bolster Europe’s eastern flank
How Vladimir Putin is testing the West

On Saturday, Poland deployed aircraft in what it called a “preventative” move to protect its airspace due to a further risk of drone strikes in Ukraine.

“These actions are preventative in nature and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened area,” it said.

Russia and Belarus have also been holding joint military exercises over the Barents Sea, situated off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia, since last week.



This story originally appeared on Skynews

To save rare birds, New Zealand is relying on backyard trappers : NPR

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Mila McKenzie inspects an animal trap in a park in Dunedin, New Zealand. Her student-led group plants trees and traps invasive animals that are killing native birds.

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Ryan Kellman/NPR

Like many student volunteers, the kids in the group Town Belt Kaitiaki look after their neighborhood parks — planting trees, weeding, clearing paths. But they also do something less common: exterminating animals.

“So we have a possum trap — the white ones that are up on the trees,” says Finn Hibbert, age 18, pointing to a white and metal box designed to kill brushtail possums, an Australian marsupial. Other traps scattered throughout the park also kill rats.

In this diptych a rat is seen holding a bird egg that it has taken from a nest. In the other image a brushtail possum is seen in a tree at night. Rats and brushtail possums spread across New Zealand after being introduced by human settlers. Rats (left) eat both bird eggs and chicks in their nests, while possums (right) eat native trees and foliage, reducing the habitat and food supply for the country’s native birds.

Rats and brushtail possums spread across New Zealand after being introduced by human settlers. Rats (left) eat bird eggs and chicks, while possums (right) eat tree foliage, reducing habitat and food supply for native birds.

David Mudge/Ngà Manu Images; Department of Conservation New Zealand


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David Mudge/Ngà Manu Images; Department of Conservation New Zealand

“The whole reason we trap these sorts of creatures is they can be damaging to native birds and other native animals that you want here,” says Mila McKenzie, age 13, who also volunteers with Town Belt Kaitiaki.

The group’s trapping project is part of a nationwide effort, one of the most ambitious conservation projects in the world. New Zealand is trying to eradicate many of its invasive species — animals that were brought to the country by humans and have wreaked havoc on the native wildlife ever since. (New Zealand is also known by its Māori name, Aotearoa).

New Zealand has rare birds that are found nowhere else, like the fuzzy and flightless kiwi. Invasive predators have helped drive 62 native bird species to extinction, and more than 80% of the remaining ones that breed in the country are at risk.

To save those birds, New Zealand set a goal of eliminating invasive predators by 2050, likely tens of millions of animals, if not more. While the government is leading eradication efforts, local volunteers are getting involved across the country, even setting up traps in their own backyards.

Conservation experts say to reach that goal — the equivalent of an environmental moonshot — community participation will be crucial. Invasive animals would need to be removed from both private and public land, and the public would have to remain vigilant to prevent animals from reinvading.

“Predator-free New Zealand is as much a social challenge as it is a biological challenge,” says Emily Parke, who studies the ethics of conservation at the University of Auckland. “This isn’t just about coming up with the right technologies and methods. It’s about a lot of social change.”

A young girl crouches by a tree trunk looking at a piece of white card nailed to it in a suburban park. The 13 year old, named Mila McKenzie has just attached what is known as a chew card, a piece of cardboard scented with bait. It attracts animals like possums and rodents, which nibble the edges of the card, alerting the group when invasive predators are in the area.

Mila McKenzie checks a chew card, a piece of cardboard scented with bait. It attracts animals like possums and rodents, which nibble the edges of the card, alerting the group when invasive predators are in the area.

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Bringing birds back to the community

In a neighborhood park in Dunedin, New Zealand, Hibbert and Mila spot a kererū, a pigeon the size of a chicken. The songs of other native birds can be heard echoing in the trees, a hopeful sign for the group.

“You see that our efforts are starting to make a difference, even if it’s only one possum at a time,” Hibbert says.

A stand of native trees, recently planted by the students, is starting to grow in. Brushtail possums devour tree foliage, reducing the food supply and habitat for native birds, so restoring the forest is a key step in bringing birds back. Nearby, the group tracks wildlife that walks through using a “tracking tunnel,” which has an inked strip of paper inside that animals walk across and imprint their footsteps on. Rats, which prey on native bird eggs and chicks in their nests, are common.

Teenager Finn Hibbert of Town Belt Kaitiaki stands in a clearing near a creek in a small forested park. Hibbert says conservation is becoming part of his generation. “The more birds we start to see, we get to see the result of our tree planting and our work and our trapping.”

Finn Hibbert of Town Belt Kaitiaki says conservation is becoming part of his generation. “The more birds we start to see, we get to see the result of our tree planting and our work and our trapping.”

Ryan Kellman/NPR


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For millions of years, New Zealand had no land mammals aside from bats. Without predators on the ground, some birds evolved to be flightless, relying on camouflage to evade eagles and other raptors that hunt from the air.

Mammals arrived with human settlement, first Māori around 700 years ago and then Europeans in the 1800s. Rats hitched a ride on ships, while other animals were brought intentionally, like brushtail possums for the fur trade. The stoat, a relative of ferrets, was brought to control rabbits, another introduced species whose population boomed. It quickly became a voracious predator for native birds.

Inky animal prints are seen on a picnic table in a suburban park. Tracking cards capture animal footprints with ink, allowing the group to identify which invasive species are present in the park.

Tracking cards capture animal footprints with ink, allowing the group to identify which invasive species are present in the park.

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With native wildlife in a downward spiral, New Zealand has embarked on what conservation experts say is the largest invasive species removal project in the world, both in terms of area and complexity. Many experts say that goal is likely out of reach without new technology to more efficiently capture animals. But the effort has already led to the development of new traps, which are safer for humans to use and meet the country’s animal welfare standards.

A takahē, a large grassland bird with a red beak and blue ombre of feathers, stands near a pellet feeding station. The bird is surrounded by tall wheat color grass. Takahē are another of New Zealand’s flightless birds. They were thought to be driven to extinction by humans and invasive predators, but now are being brought back through captive breeding.

Takahē are another of New Zealand’s flightless birds. They were thought to be driven to extinction by humans and invasive predators, but now are being brought back through captive breeding. 

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Town Belt Kaitiaki uses some of those newer traps. The group does safety training for its members and is supported by staff at City Sanctuary, a community predator-free group run through the city government. The kids say trapping is part of a difficult trade-off in New Zealand — if they weren’t getting rid of invasive animals, native birds would be dying instead.

“Though it is a bit gross sometimes, it’s actually quite an ethical thing because it’s easy if you kill off something that’s causing a problem, instead of letting them kill off everything else,” Mila says.

In this photograph a green valley lined and dotted with trees is seen in the foreground. Beyond that is a large blue body of water. A coalition of community groups are trapping invasive predators across Dunedin, New Zealand. On one peninsula, the coalition believes there are only a few possums left after more than 20,000 were removed.

A coalition of community groups traps invasive predators across Dunedin, New Zealand. On one peninsula, the coalition believes there are only a few possums left after more than 20,000 were removed.

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Conservation in your backyard

Around New Zealand, communities are also creating networks of backyard trappers. In Whakatāne, James McCarthy spots a black and blue bird in his yard on a rainy morning. It’s a tūī, a native bird with a call that sounds like a techno song.

“What we noticed here was that the birds started coming back,” he says. “We’ve seen heaps of birds returning and nesting.”

McCarthy says he was drawn to the trapping effort after putting in a garden with native plants. McCarthy keeps four traps in his backyard, as well as a few in the neighborhood. Some of his traps automatically reset themselves, but he and his wife check them daily. So far, they’ve killed more than 100 possums and rats.

A man in a brimmed hat and red gloves crouches over a wooden box. The man, James McCarthy sets up a traps in his backyard in Whakatāne, New Zealand. He’s one of about 600 trappers across town who volunteer to help combat invasive species in order to help protect New Zealand's native birds.

James McCarthy sets up a trap in his backyard in Whakatāne, New Zealand. He’s one of about 600 trappers across town who volunteer to combat invasive species to help protect New Zealand’s native birds.

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Ryan Kellman/NPR

“It’s a cumulative contribution that individuals can make,” McCarthy says. “I don’t feel vengeful about it, but definitely it’s our responsibility. Especially as a colonized country, all the things that were introduced into it were brought here by colonizers.”

One example: hedgehogs, which McCarthy has also trapped. They were introduced to New Zealand to remind Europeans of home by “acclimatization societies,” colonial groups dedicated to bringing animals from overseas. Today, it’s estimated that there are more hedgehogs in New Zealand than in the United Kingdom, where they’re from. McCarthy traps them because they prey on native bird eggs and insects.

“Some people really don’t like the fact that I do that, but they’re just in the wrong place,” McCarthy says. “They’re a devouring machine for our species.”

Cats are another polarizing species in New Zealand. Feral cats also take a heavy toll on native birds, but are currently not one of the species in the country’s Predator Free 2050 goal. Some conservationists are now calling for them to be added to the eradication program. New Zealand’s SPCA, an animal rights group, doesn’t oppose the killing of feral cats, though it opposes methods that could cause the animals suffering. The group recognizes the need to control invasive species, but prefers nonlethal methods of control.

Three birds fly past a foggy vista overlooking a town dotted with white rooves. Whakatāne is just one of many New Zealand communities that have formed predator-free groups. “It feels like the whole country is onboard,” says Keturah Bouchard, who volunteers in Whakatāne.

Whakatāne is just one of many New Zealand communities that have formed predator-free groups. “It feels like the whole country is onboard,” says Keturah Bouchard, who volunteers in Whakatāne.

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A big goal needs social buy-in

New Zealand’s birds are part of the national identity, even printed on the country’s money. New Zealanders are nicknamed “kiwis.” Awareness about endangered species is high, and surveys show that much of the public has participated in conservation work.

“The public response and the public support for predator-free as a program of work has far exceeded anything I imagined would ever be possible,” says Brent Beaven, manager of the Predator Free 2050 program at New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.

Jame McCarthy walks down a neighborhood path where a line of traps is set for invasive species. “We see the results remarkably quickly when they’re removed from the environment,” he says.

Jame McCarthy walks down a neighborhood path where a line of traps is set for invasive species. “We see the results remarkably quickly when they’re removed from the environment,” he says.

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Still, eradicating predators could mean using new technologies that have less public support. Scientists are studying how to genetically modify invasive species to interrupt their reproduction, something Beaven says would only be deployed after a lengthy public discussion about the risks.

Even with public participation, the goal of eliminating invasive predators completely may not be possible. But conservation experts say even simply suppressing their numbers gives native wildlife a better chance.

“It might not be in my lifetime, but these kids that we’re engaging with now hopefully will get so engaged with their environment, they’ll come up with the solution,” says Bridget Palmer, lead project manager for Halo Whakatāne, a group that supports community predator-free work. “It’s ensuring the next generation builds on the vision that this generation has.”



This story originally appeared on NPR