"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." Northwoods is a ministry dedicated to refreshing Christians and challenging them to search for the truth in Christianity, politics, sociology, and science
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour
A Chinese investigative blogger who exposed telecoms fraud and other illegal activity was killed by criminals hired on social media, according to media reports, prompting calls for heavier punishment for the perpetrators.
The body of Wu Kai, who used the name “Huijian” on social media and had written for years about telecoms fraud in Southeast Asia, was discovered in southern China in November 2024. His death and details of the case were revealed this week.
In August 2024, Wu accused Liu Ren – a central figure in a conglomerate masterminded by Chinese tycoon Chen Zhi – of being a casino loan shark, beating someone to death, extorting protection fees from shops, operating telecoms fraud compounds and engaging in armed transnational crimes, according to a Jiemian News report on Tuesday.
Chinese state-media documentary offers behind-the-scenes look at scam centre crackdown
Liu was extradited from Cambodia to China in June this year. A police statement at the time said he had been ordered by Chen in 2016 to found a group called Jinbei, which operated telecoms fraud compounds in Cambodia and carried out fraud involving “extremely large amounts” of money starting in 2020.
A Toronto police officer described as the “genesis” of the Project South corruption investigation was denied bail for a third time Friday afternoon in Toronto.
Justice Philip Campbell made his ruling in Ontario Superior Court following a mandatory detention review hearing held earlier this week.
Const. Timothy Barnhardt, 56, has been in custody since his arrest in early February.
The judge's reasons for his decision and details from the hearing are protected under a routine publication ban aimed at ensuring Barnhardt's right to a fair trial.
Barnhardt, 56, will remain in custody while facing 10 charges — the most of any of the seven Toronto police officers and one retired officer arrested in the police corruption and organized crime investigation led by York Regional Police. Two of the officers charged have since pleaded guilty and been sentenced.
The allegations against Barnhardt include trafficking police uniforms and drugs, supporting illegal cannabis dispensaries by accepting bribes in exchange for protecting against police investigation, and releasing confidential information to criminals, which police say helped facilitate targeted shootings.
None of the charges against Barnhardt and the others accused in Project South have been tested in court.
In addition to the police officers, 20 civilians were charged in connection with the sweeping probe that began in June 2025 after York police officers uncovered an alleged conspiracy to kill a senior corrections officer at Toronto South Detention Centre. The charge against one civilian has since been stayed. Another pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this week.
Brian Da Costa, a civilian and alleged drug trafficker charged in Project South, also remains in custody. (Pam Davies/CBC)
Investigators allege Barnhardt accessed private information about the senior corrections officer and provided it to a civilian, Brian Da Costa, who was then accused of releasing it to others charged in the murder plot.
From there, police-intercepted communications revealed to investigators that Barnhardt "routinely sold confidential database information to known criminal associate Da Costa, often at Da Costa's direction," according to an information to obtain (ITO) application filed in the case.
Barnhardt was previously denied bail in April, following a Superior Court review of the original decision to deny him bail soon after his arrest.
We have been appalled by the glowing, almost celebratory mainstream media coverage of Lula’s election victory and the treatment of Flávio Bolsonaro, who reportedly fled Brazil amid fears of political persecution. Rather than investigate allegations of censorship, judicial corruption, election interference, and political repression, much of the Western press appears content to celebrate those wielding power. But there are people much closer to events on the ground, and their voices deserve to be heard.
Glenn Greenwald is one of them. Unlike journalists whose principles change with the political winds, Greenwald has consistently challenged abuses of state power, regardless of who benefits. His reporting on the Operation Car Wash scandal exposed prosecutorial misconduct involving Lula’s prosecution. Now he is investigating allegations of similar abuses directed against Lula’s political enemies, particularly through the extraordinary powers exercised by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Mike Benz takes the story directly into Washington. He alleges that the Biden administration coordinated an extraordinary intervention surrounding Brazil’s 2022 presidential election, involving the CIA, State Department, Pentagon, and White House. His account raises questions about American diplomatic pressure, electronic voting machines, and USAID funding allegedly directed toward organizations aligned with Lula and Brazil’s censorship apparatus. Although Benz acknowledges that he cannot prove voting-machine manipulation, his allegations about American involvement demand answers.
The images and statements reproduced below reveal another dimension: international political figures and institutions publicly celebrating Lula, even as serious allegations of judicial overreach and political persecution are happening in real time.
When journalists, activists, and opposition figures flee their country rather than face a judicial system they believe has been weaponized against them, this is no longer ordinary politics. And when American government agencies are accused of helping shape that political environment, Americans have every right to demand a full accounting.
We believe this story is far bigger than Brazil. It concerns the abuse of judicial power, censorship, foreign interference, and the willingness of powerful institutions to defend conduct they would condemn if the political parties were reversed.
The Brazilian Supreme Court Judge revered by the Brazilian left (and now the American left for seizing Bolsonaro’s passport), Alexandre de Moraes, comes from the extremist “law-and-order” faction of the Brazilian Right as well as its extreme pro-austerity neoliberal pro-banker wing.
Less than a decade ago, when Moraes was nominated to the Supreme Court, the Brazilian left branded him a white supremacist, a fascist and a leader of the right-wing coup government. One of Brazil’s leading left-wing politicians @GuilhermeBoulos explicitly accused Moraes of having committed the worst crime against humanity that exists: “RACIST GENOCIDE,” by deliberately murdering poor black people en masse while he was the Justice Secretary for São Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin (who himself spent years being called all the same names by the Brazilian left until Lula picked Alckmin as VP in 2022).
Then -- starting in 2019 -- Moraes began censoring, imprisoning and persecuting Lula’s enemies and imprisoning his own critics, and was overnight transformed by the large Brazilian media and the left into the Savior of Brazilian Justice and Democracy. Only on the left can one transform from *fascist and genocidal racist* to heroic guardian of justice in less than a decade.
Also, Moraes’ own corruption scandals make everyone else’s seem trivial, yet his passport works just fine and he freely travels the world in great wealth that he and his family received from the corrupt billionaire banker responsible for Brazil’s worst-ever banking collapse…
Please continue reading this lengthy but fascinating article at this link:
Powerful Democratic Virginia state Sen. Lucas is accused of leading a marijuana criminal conspiracy
SARAH RANKIN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
Updated
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state's most powerful Democrats, was charged Thursday with leading what authorities alleged was a wide-ranging criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds.
Lucas, who has been in elected office for decades, used her political power to insulate the operation from scrutiny, according to an indictment charging her and six other defendants, including several of her relatives. She "put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve," said U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who spoke at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel.
Lucas surrendered, the Justice Department said. She made a brief appearance in federal court in Norfolk on Thursday afternoon, where she was released on her own recognizance, according to court records. She left the court without addressing journalists who shouted questions her way and went straight into a waiting vehicle.
The charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, came after the FBI searched Lucas' hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May. At the time of the search, Lucas — who has been a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump's administration — characterized it as an attempt to intimidate her.
Lucas says she won't be bullied by the federal government
A statement attributed to Lucas posted on her social media account did not directly address the substance of the charges but said Thursday's actions amounted to the federal government wielding its "full weight" against a great-grandmother.
"I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down," Lucas said in the statement. Her attorney at the hearing declined comment outside.
The brash 82-year-old lawmaker has spent decades ascending the ranks of Virginia politics and has served since 1992 in the state Senate, where she's the president pro tempore, overseeing the chamber in the lieutenant governor's absence. More significantly, she leads the powerful Senate finance committee, through which all legislation with any budget impact must flow. She's used the position to kill legislation she opposes.
Justice Department denies politics played a role
The indictment comes as Trump's Justice Department has faced intense scrutiny over investigations and prosecutions against foes of the president that critics have called politically motivated.
Blanche rejected any suggestion politics played a role in Lucas' case, noting the investigation began well before the second Trump administration started in January 2025.
"We don't do political paybacks," Blanche told reporters.
A person familiar with the May search told The Associated Press at the time that the probe was opened during Democratic President Joe Biden's administration. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing criminal investigation.
FBI alleges a 'criminal marijuana enterprise'
Patel said in a statement that "Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise, 'the Lucas Enterprise' — using Lucas' position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves."
The indictment describes Lucas as the "leader of the enterprise" who "approved and directed criminal activities," including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of marijuana and supervising the laundering of the proceeds.
The indictment alleges Lucas worked this year with another of the defendants to use her political position to obtain a recreational marijuana license for him, with the understanding that the proceeds from sales under the license would be shared with her to support the "enterprise."
Since 2021, marijuana has been legal to possess in Virginia, and many shops across the state have sold cannabis-derived products. But full recreational sales are not yet underway; legislation enacted earlier this year will allow them beginning in July 2027.
Law enforcement made multiple controlled purchases of marijuana from Lucas' shop, which purported to sell hemp products, in 2024 and 2025, the indictment said.
In addition to drug and money laundering charges, Lucas faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and maintaining a drug-involved premises. An arraignment is scheduled for next month.
Among the other defendants who face a mix of those and other charges are two daughters, Lisa Lucas Burke and Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and a grandson, Ryan Eichelberger. All three also made brief court appearances and were released on their recognizance, according to court records.
Attorneys for Lucas-Lamb and Eichelberger declined comment; Andrew Sacks, who was listed in court records as an attorney for Burke, didn't respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for two other defendants who are not family members declined comment; a third who was also released Thursday had no attorney listed in court records.
Virginia officials react
A forceful advocate of legalizing marijuana, Lucas partnered in opening the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021. She has publicly spoken about her ownership stake as recently as June, though her most recent financial disclosure forms do not list the business by name.
At the time of the search — when marijuana was recovered at The Cannabis Outlet, according to the indictment — many Democrats spoke up to defend Lucas.
On Thursday, Scott Surovell, the Democratic leader of the state Senate, said in a statement that the indictment contained "serious allegations" but emphasized that "Senator Lucas has the right to defend herself, and she has my full support as she does so." Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat who is close with Lucas, said the allegations against her must be tested in a "full and fair" legal process.
House Speaker Don Scott, Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger, all Democrats, echoed those sentiments, with Spanberger adding that the timing of the indictment so close to the midterm election would "further erode" Americans' trust in the Justice Department. Lucas herself is not on the ballot this year.
Ryan McDougle, the Senate Republican leader, said he would not comment while the court proceedings play out.
The senator draws comparisons to Trump
Lucas, who represents a district that includes her hometown of coastal Portsmouth, operates with a sometimes-profane, unapologetic style that's drawn comparisons to Trump.
She amassed a six-figure following on X and national attention, using the social media platform to advocate forcefully for her priorities and to bash her critics, including former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. She's also occasionally blasted members of her own party, including Spanberger, with whom she's had disagreements.
Earlier this year, Lucas helped lead Democrats' ultimately unsuccessful plan to gerrymander the blue-leaning state's congressional districts into a map intended to elect 10 Democrats and only one Republican. Along the way, she posted quips about four GOP members the intended map sought to oust, joking that they soon would be working at McDonald's. She and other Democrats defended the maps as a reasonable response to Trump-backed efforts to boost the GOP's midterm advantage in other states.
Lucas has been in politics for decades
Lucas has notched several historic firsts in her career. According to a biography from the state library, in 1971 she became the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's first female shipfitter, a physically demanding job that involves working on metal assemblies for vessels.
She launched her political career in 1984, when, the biography said, she became the first Black woman elected to the Portsmouth city council.
After Democrats flipped control of the Senate in 2019, her peers elected her to serve as president pro tempore. And in 2024, she was tapped to lead the chamber's budget committee.
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Rankin reported from Richmond. Associated Press journalists Eric Tucker in Washington and Steve Helber in Norfolk contributed to this report.
