Experts commissioned by the Swiss president have reportedly suggested that the country should revise its neutrality policy The Blick news outlet reported on Sunday that the Swiss government could revise its security policy by intensifying military cooperation [...] The post Switzerland Considers Increasing Cooperation With NATO appeared first on The People's Voice.

The death of US music writer Charles R. Cross was confirmed by his family on August 9

Belgium, Germany, Greece, Latvia, and Portugal are participating in a broad public testing program of the new EU “vaccination card.” The card’s purpose is to restore trust in vaccinations and help management. It will allow member states to “verify the authenticity of digital records through an interoperable trust architecture.” Sounds Big Brother-ish. EU News: The […] The post EU Tests a Surveillance Vaccination Card to Restore Trust appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

President Trump’s classified documents case has been dismissed, and the Supreme Court upheld presidential immunity. As a result, Donald Trump will sue the DOJ for $100 million over the Mar-a-Lago raid. He claims the raid was intended to injure him and invade his privacy. The suit also alleged malicious prosecution and abuse of power. It […] The post President Trump Will Sue the Corrupt DOJ/FBI for Mar-a-Lago Raid appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

USA Gymnastics is contesting the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to have Jordan Chiles return the bronze medal she was awarded last week at the Paris Games, and it has provided receipts to back up its challenge. “USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule,” USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for the sport, said in a statement.  The letter requested that the “ruling be revised and Chiles’ bronze-medal score of 13.766 reinstated.” The gymnastics results have been mired in controversy after Chiles first took fifth place, earning her a score of 13.666 in the women’s floor exercise final. Her coach, Cecile Landi, argued that the judges had inaccurately assessed the difficulty level of the routine, which led to her score being adjusted to 13.766. This was enough to bump her into third place ahead of Romanian gymnasts Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who both had final scores of 13.700. But then Romania’s Olympic committee disputed the ruling, saying the American team’s complaint wasn’t submitted within the 60-second window that was required. On Sunday, the IOC announced its decision to strip Chiles of her bronze medal and give it to Barbosu. This announcement set off a firestorm of backlash on social media from critics insisting the decision was unfair and racist. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Now, USA Gymnastics says it has “time-stamped, video evidence” which “shows Landi first stated her request to file an inquiry at the inquiry table 47 seconds after the score is posted, followed by a second statement 55 seconds after the score was originally posted.” “The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it,” USA Gymnastics said. Chiles has remained mostly quiet on the controversy, telling her Instagram followers on Sunday, “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.” She had previously shared an Instagram story featuring broken heart emojis after she was asked to return her bronze medal. 

The US presidential election is shaping up to be one of the most “heartland” themed campaigns in recent history. Donald Trump’s VP selection of Ohio Senator JD Vance checked the Rust Belt box for Republicans, and Democrat Kamala Harris countered with her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. With camo hat always on hand, Walz’s political brand is tied to his first job working on the family farm in Nebraska. Farmers across Minnesota are abuzz about Walz’s agriculture record both as a congressman and as governor, and it’s mixed. Walz speaks the language of Minnesota farmers but shares the sentiments of California and European progressives when it comes to food and environmental policy. Environmentalist groups like Greenpeace and Pesticide Action Network have never had potential allies in the White House quite as aligned as Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Walz’s record indicates he would entertain the kind of utopian visions that have guided the European Union on policies such as gas taxes on farm equipment and sweeping pesticide bans. The same policies which sparked massive farmer protests across Europe and Canada. As recently as July, Walz announced $200 million from the EPA to flow into Minnesota for the advancement of “Climate-Smart Food Systems”, meaning the replacement of gas-powered farm vehicles, new standards around refrigerators, and soil practices. Several years back, Governor Walz visited organic farms in Minnesota to give voice to their concerns about pesticides, saying “There’s still more we can do to make things easier for organic farmers.” What did those organic farmers want? Nothing related specifically to their operations, but instead a total ban on aerial pesticides used by conventional farms statewide, which they claim travels by air and impacts all farms. Walz’s position was, “We need to build coalitions with the public and fellow politicians and get them on board with this stuff.” Americans have been fortunate, as these progressive experiments in rolling back high-yield farming have not hit the political mainstream. That could soon change.  The European Union abandoned its own attempts to boost organic farming after the farmer protests, learning over many years that its rules and regulations led to a less productive and more expensive food system for consumers. But you’ll find that no EU member state has endured a famine, and that’s the result of Europe’s trademark caution and incrementalism. Nations that have been inspired by Europe’s failed policies but lack their bureaucratic restraint have seen actual starvation when modern farming systems were upended. The case of Sri Lanka, a small island off the coast of India, is only the most recent example. Until 2019, Sri Lanka had been the planet’s top tourism spot for a decade, but regulatory change in agriculture threw it back into the ‘dark ages’. All it took was seriously implementing the ideas of progressive environmentalists and food production critics. In Sri Lanka’s 2019 election, now former-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised a 10-year transition away from conventional farming practices to “organic agriculture”. It was on the advice of an Indian environmentalist, Vandana Shiva, that Rajapaska believed chemical fertilizers and pesticides needed to be outlawed. Shiva cared little for the steady gains in agricultural productivity in Sri Lanka in the 21st century. During COVID, President Rajapaska banned all imports of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, effectively forcing two million farmers to go organic. The plans have since been abandoned but still created a devastating ripple that has yet to be undone. Sri Lanka’s domestic rice production has dropped by 20% due to the lower agricultural output of organic farming compared to conventional methods, despite political promises. Food prices rose by a third. Tea production, a crucial domestic and export commodity, decreased by 50%, as foreign consumers were unwilling to pay premiums. Nine out of every 10 Sri Lankan families were reported to have skipped meals and waited for days at a time in lines for fuel. Rubber and coconut producers faced similar challenges, as obtaining imports on short notice proved nearly impossible despite the lifting of the ban on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Half a million individuals fell back into poverty after decades of real progress. Sri Lanka has been left to rely on foreign food assistance from neighboring India. On top of all that, protestors in 2022 stormed the Prime Minister’s office and the President’s residence, forcing the government to resign in disgrace. Sri Lanka still grapples with grinding inflation due to the devaluation of its currency. As of March, inflation sat at 5.9%, down from a peak of 70% in 2022. The island country has seen an exodus of doctors as well as parents being forced to pick which of their children can attend school. All ripple effects of a deep economic crisis that has hobbled the country, stemming from the all-in pursuit of progressive’s food production agenda. None of this is to say that Tim Walz and Kamala Harris are going to bring famine and pestilence to the United States, but should emphasize that the food systems Americans take for granted are indeed fragile. Ideological reformers have persuaded many of America’s trade partners to pursue the kinds of policies that have broken nations, starved families, and produced massive political blowback from hardworking farmers. Food systems are fragile, and both Kamala Harris and Governor Walz should be asked tough questions about these global farming trends, as well as their records while in office. Walz has more farming knowledge than any presidential or vice presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter, but Americans need to know where he really stands on these debates. It can be a matter of life and death. * * * Bill Wirtz is senior policy analyst at the Consumer Choice Center, where he focuses on agriculture and trade. He has published “No Copy-paste: What Not to Emulate From Europe’s Agriculture Regulation.” The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.