Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/18/2020

The officially acknowledged death toll in China from the Wuhan Coronavirus is now almost 1,900, and the number of infections has passed 17,300. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus infections in South Korea now stands at 46, with four new cases reported in Singapore.

In other news, according to police statistics, on average 120 knife attacks occur every day in France.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

USA
» “Con Job”: Trump Responds to Obama Taking Credit for Booming Economy
» Blagojevich Released From Prison After Trump Commutes Sentence
» Boy Scouts of America, Hobbled by Multiple Sex-Abuse Lawsuits, Files for Bankruptcy Protection
» Career Criminal Thanks New York Democrats for Law Freeing Him After 139th Arrest
» Conservatives ‘Self-Censor’ Three Times as Much as Liberal Counterparts, Study Finds
» Coronavirus: First Napa County Case Confirmed
» Death by Socialism: Sanders Takes Huge Lead Over Rivals
» Deep Staters Unite: 1,100 Ex-DOJ Officials Demand Barr Resign for Doing Trump’s ‘Bidding’
» Exclusive: Kaitlin Bennett’s First Response to Attack at Ohio University
» Judge Refuses to Delay Stone Sentencing
» Leftists Celebrate Ryan Newman Crash Because He Supported Trump
» No Verdict Today in Harvey Weinstein Rape Trial; What the Jury Could be Thinking
» Shock Video: College Students Attack Kaitlin Bennett’s Car Just for Visiting Campus
» Trump Does Not Trust the Coronavirus Numbers That Are Coming Out of China
» Virginia: Gov Northam’s ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Goes Down in Flames After Moderate Dems Defect
 
Canada
» $850 Million Worth of Manufactured Goods Are ‘Sitting Idle’ Every Day That Rail Lines Are Blocked
» Breaking: Police Called to Doug Ford’s Home After Suspicious Package is Found
» Extinction Rebellion Protestors Attempt Citizen’s Arrest of BC Premier
» Greta Thunberg Voices Her Support for Anti-Pipeline Protestors
» Via Rail to Reopen Routes From Quebec City to Ottawa, Other Routes Still Closed Indefinitely
 
Europe and the EU
» Arabic Most Spoken Language Among Children in Swedish Municipality Preschool
» Boris Row With Trump Over Huawei Intensifies, Australian MPs Cancel UK Visit
» Deceased German Journalist Shows How Mainstream Journalism Really Works
» France Sees Average of 120 Knife Attacks Per Day
» Furious Italy Tells EU ‘Change the Rules of We’ll Do the Same as the British’
» Italy: Military Chaplains to be Cut
» Shamima Begum Says Her “Whole World Fell Apart” After Losing British Citizenship
» Study Finds Sexual Promiscuity Dramatically Increases Cancer Risk
» Swedish Historian: Denial of One’s Culture is “Embarrassing Self-Hatred”
» UK Government Approves Net Censorship — Free Speech Dies
» UK: Arrests as Extinction Rebellion Ruins Trinity College Lawn
» UK: Brexit Effect: Confidence in Household Finances Hits 11-Year High
» UK: Boris Goes Soft on Scrapping TV Tax, Seeks BBC ‘Reform’ Instead: Report
» UK: Labour Leadership Candidate Confusion: Abolish the Monarchy, But Make Meghan Markle Queen
» UK: Left-Wing Groups Massively Over-Represented in Media Landscape: Study
 
Far East
» China to Waive Tariffs on US Medical Imports Amid Virus Outbreak
» China’s Xi Threatens More Crackdowns as Scientists Say Coronavirus May Have Originated From Wuhan Labs
» Chinese Cities Seek Blood Donations as Coronavirus Crimps Supplies — China Daily
» Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs to Almost 1,900 With More Than 73,000 Cases Recorded Across the World — Including Nearly 1,000 Outside of China
» Coronavirus Infection May be Spread by People Without Symptoms, Mounting Evidence Suggests
» Coronavirus Live Updates: South Korea Confirms 15 Additional Cases, China Death Toll Tops 2,000
» Coronavirus: Singapore Confirms 4 New Cases as Biggest Cluster Around Grace Assembly of God Church Swells to 21
» Deadly Coronavirus ‘Kills 15 Per Cent of Patients Over 80’ And the Never-Before-Seen Strain is ‘Up to 20 Times More Infectious Than Sars’
» Hubei Doctors Warn of Even-Deadlier Coronavirus Reinfection Causing Sudden Heart Attacks
» S. Korea Reports 15 More Cases of Novel Coronavirus, Total at 46
» Sen. Ted Cruz Says U.S. Can’t Trust What the Chinese Government Says About Coronavirus
» Smoking Gun? Chinese Scientist Finds “Killer Coronavirus Probably Originated From a Laboratory in Wuhan”
» Top Health Official Warning: Coronavirus is Nearing Pandemic Levels
» Why Did President Trump Expand the Travel Ban?
 
Australia — Pacific
» Major Twist in Dustin Martin’s Ex-Bikie Dad’s Bid to Live in Australia as it’s Confirmed He is Aboriginal — So New Laws Prevent Him From Being Deported to New Zealand
» The Dark Threat of TikTok: Australian Children and Soldiers Who Use the Social Media App Are at Risk of Being Spied on by the Chinese, MP Warns
 
Immigration
» Boris’s Border Blueprint: Migrants Coming to the UK Will Need to Have a Job Paying at Least £25,600, Qualifications and Speak English Under New Points-Based Post-Brexit Immigration System Unveiled Today
» Greece’s Weak Center-Right Government Scraps Plan to Build More Reception Facilities After Migrants Riot
» Greek Locals Accuse Migrants of Trying to ‘Islamize the Western World’ And Say They Are Destroying Their Tourist Industry as Anger Builds Over Refugee Camps
» ICE Subpoenas Oregon Sheriff’s Office for Info on 2 Mexican Inmates
» Illegal Alien Acquitted for Kate Steinle’s Murder Deemed Mentally Ill, Unfit to Stand Trial for Gun Charges
» Pete Buttigieg: Legal Immigration Not Letting Enough People in the United States
» Spain Searches for 143 Boat Migrants Near Canary Islands as Atlantic Arrivals Double
 
Culture Wars
» Atheist Dawkins Says ‘Eugenics Would Work’
» Former Wrestler Val Venis Says He’s Had Enough of Soyboys and SJWs Ruining Different Mediums, And He Won’t Back Down
» Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’ Will Feature First Man-on-Man Gay Kiss
» Planned Parenthood Presses States to Make Up Federal Funding it Voluntarily Surrendered
» Sony Reportedly Wants to Introduce a Bisexual Spider-Man
» There’s No Such Thing as a Non-Binary Haircut
» UK: Hospitals to Deny Care to “Racist” Or “Homophobic” Patients
 

“Con Job”: Trump Responds to Obama Taking Credit for Booming Economy

President Trump responded Monday night, calling Barack Obama’s claim that his prior administration is responsible for the booming US economy a “Con job”.

“Did you hear the latest con job?” Trump tweeted, explaining that “Obama is now trying to take credit for the Economic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration.”

“He had the WEAKEST recovery since the Great Depression, despite Zero Fed Rate & MASSIVE quantitative easing.” Trump noted.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Blagojevich Released From Prison After Trump Commutes Sentence

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) was released from prison Tuesday evening following President Trump’s commutation of his sentence on corruption charges.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed the former governor’s release in a statement, according to NBC5 Chicago.

Trump announced earlier Tuesday that he would commute Blagojevich’s sentence following a sustained campaign by Blagojevich’s wife Patti, who frequently appeared on Fox News to appeal directly to the president.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Boy Scouts of America, Hobbled by Multiple Sex-Abuse Lawsuits, Files for Bankruptcy Protection

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy protection.

Facing mounting legal costs from defending itself against lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of boys, the venerable nonprofit sought Chapter 11 protection in a court filing early Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America said in a statement that the filing had “two key objectives: equitably compensate victims who were harmed during their time in Scouting and continue carrying out its mission for years to come. The BSA intends to use the Chapter 11 process to create a Victims Compensation Trust that would provide equitable compensation to victims.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Career Criminal Thanks New York Democrats for Law Freeing Him After 139th Arrest

“Bail reform, it’s lit!” Barry said. “It’s the Democrats! The Democrats know me and the Republicans fear me.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Conservatives ‘Self-Censor’ Three Times as Much as Liberal Counterparts, Study Finds

A new report from the University of North Carolina found conservative students self-censor their opinions three times as much as their liberal counterparts, while a similarly disproportionate number of conservative students are concerned about the social ramifications both in class with their professors and among their peers.

The report, titled, “Free expression and constructive dialogue at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,” contained a number of key findings as they relate to conservativism on college campuses, the first being that 30.8 percent of students say college made them more liberal in their views, while half that percentage, or 15.9 percent, said college has made them more conservative.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus: First Napa County Case Confirmed

NAPA, CA — A person is in isolation at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa County after public health officials confirmed the person was suffering from the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, a county spokesperson said Tuesday. It is the first single case of COVID-2019 in Napa County, Spokesman Noel Brinkerhoff said in a news release.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Death by Socialism: Sanders Takes Huge Lead Over Rivals

Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders scores 31% support in the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 12 points ahead of his nearest rival in the crowded Democratic field. That’s a big enough lead for Sanders to overtake “no majority” as the likely nominee, according to FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Deep Staters Unite: 1,100 Ex-DOJ Officials Demand Barr Resign for Doing Trump’s ‘Bidding’

Unelected bureaucrats think they control the Executive Branch.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Exclusive: Kaitlin Bennett’s First Response to Attack at Ohio University

Watch and share this shocking footage of how students behave in a ‘liberal’ college

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Judge Refuses to Delay Stone Sentencing

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to delay Roger Stone’s sentencing amid the fallout over the Trump administration’s decision to intervene in the case against the president’s longtime ally.

The sentencing will move forward on Thursday at its originally scheduled time, the judge said, despite a new effort from Stone’s defense team to get a new trial.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Leftists Celebrate Ryan Newman Crash Because He Supported Trump

Some leftists on Twitter reacted to Ryan Newman’s horrific crash at the Daytona 500 in Florida by celebrating the accident because Newman is a Trump supporter.

The NASCAR driver is hospitalized in a serious condition after his car flipped and burst into flames in a 190mph crash. Newman was leading the race when the accident happened.

While most normal people reacted to the crash by expressing concern for Newman’s health, some leftists on Twitter immediately rushed to politicize the tragedy.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

No Verdict Today in Harvey Weinstein Rape Trial; What the Jury Could be Thinking

The jury in the Harvey Weinstein rape trial ended its first day of deliberations Tuesday without reaching a verdict. They will resume tomorrow.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Shock Video: College Students Attack Kaitlin Bennett’s Car Just for Visiting Campus

“They were jumping on the truck and beating the windows trying to break it”

[Comment: The fruits of Bolshevik indoctrination at universities.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Does Not Trust the Coronavirus Numbers That Are Coming Out of China

Now even the White House is questioning the accuracy of the numbers. President Trump has tried to be publicly supportive of Chinese President Xi Jinping during this outbreak, and he probably would have overlooked a little fudging of the numbers. But at this point, things have gotten so absurd that a White House official has told CNBC that the administration does not “have high confidence in the information coming out of China”…

The White House said this week it does “not have high confidence in the information coming out of China” regarding the count of coronavirus cases, a senior administration official told CNBC. Meanwhile, China has reportedly been reluctant to accept help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has reportedly suppressed information about the outbreak from scientists that it deems alarming.

That is basically a nice way of saying that Trump considers the numbers coming out of China to be a load of garbage.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Virginia: Gov Northam’s ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Goes Down in Flames After Moderate Dems Defect

So-called “assault” weapons/rifles are used in very few crimes.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

$850 Million Worth of Manufactured Goods Are ‘Sitting Idle’ Every Day That Rail Lines Are Blocked

Blockades across the country continue to put a halt on the Canadian economy as goods cannot be transported to where they need to be. Prime Minister Trudeau has said that he wants to come to a quick and peaceful solution but that does not seem very plausible at this point.

BMO Capital Markets senior economist, Doug Porter, said that the coronavirus has negatively affected the global economy and the rail shutdown is an added extra pressure for Canada’s economy according to Financial Post.

“The ultimate cost will depend on the duration of the shutdown, and we have plenty of recent evidence to make an early assessment,” said Porter. “The November CN strike, which lasted more than a week, ended up carving less than 0.1 ppts from GDP that month. However, this shutdown threatens to be more open-ended, with the situation ‘fluid.’“

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Breaking: Police Called to Doug Ford’s Home After Suspicious Package is Found

According to Global News, Premier Doug Ford’s house is currently being investigated by Toronto police’s hazardous materials team for a suspicious package. The package was reportedly opened by Ford’s wife, Karla.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Extinction Rebellion Protestors Attempt Citizen’s Arrest of BC Premier

Vancouver Island Extinction Rebellion appeared outside the home of British Columbia Premier John Horgan claiming they would be attempting a citizen’s arrest on the premier.

Protestors said they were attempting to prevent Horgan’s attendance of the provincial budget announcement at the BC legislature Tuesday.

RCMP vehicles were on scene, as well as members of Horgan’s security personnel.

Protestors have been spotted holding signs outside of Horgan’s home, with others laying down across Horgan’s residence.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greta Thunberg Voices Her Support for Anti-Pipeline Protestors

Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted her support for the anti-pipeline protests that have stalled Canada’s economy and left tens of thousands stranded without train transportation.

On Tuesday she tweeted, “Support the Wet’suwet’en Nation and the pipeline protests happening now in Canada! #WetsuwenStrong.” Thunberg included a link to a “Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Via Rail to Reopen Routes From Quebec City to Ottawa, Other Routes Still Closed Indefinitely

Via Rail announced this morning that CN has notified them that partial routes between Quebec City, Montreal, and Ottawa will be back up and running as early as Thursday, Feb. 20.

Only trains that serve full trips between Quebec City and Ottawa will resume service. This comes after the better part of two weeks of being shut down as a result of protests in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people who are against the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Arabic Most Spoken Language Among Children in Swedish Municipality Preschool

In the Swedish municipality of Ronneby, the majority of children in six of nine preschools do not speak Swedish as a first language, with one school seeing most children speaking Arabic.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Boris Row With Trump Over Huawei Intensifies, Australian MPs Cancel UK Visit

Boris Johnson’s row with U.S. President Trump and other key allies over Huawei has intensified, with Australian MPs cancelling a trip to Britain amid rising tensions.

Prime Minister Johnson’s decision to allow the Chinese tech giant to participate in the construction of Britain’s 5G infrastructure — at its “periphery” rather than its “core”, his administration insists — has caused a rift with allies who believe the company is in thrall to China’s ruling Communist Party and represents a significant security risk.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Deceased German Journalist Shows How Mainstream Journalism Really Works

Those with an interest in how mainstream (corporate) journalism really operates — if you don’t know already — need to grab this book at once! It might be unavailable soon!

Udo Ulfkotte was to mainstream journalism in Germany what John Perkins has been to international economic growth and development, and his book is as much a confessional as Perkins’s Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2004; revised at The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 2016) was.

In 2014, Ulfkotte published Gekaufte Journalisten (Bought Journalists). The book became a bestseller in Germany despite a media blackout. The author, excommunicated from German mass media and unofficially blacklisted, faced lawsuits and endured police raids on his house. He told family members he feared for his life. Then, on January 13, 2017, just days shy of his 57th birthday, he was found dead from what a coroner’s report said was a heart attack. Because it is possible to murder people using chemicals that will cause heart stoppage and then become untraceable, some believe he was murdered.

The fate of a genuine whistle blower who tried to stand up to one of this world’s most powerful Deep Establishment operations?

An interesting question is what happened to the original English translation of Gekaufte Journalisten. Supposed to have been published as Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys the News, it simply disappeared. Issued by Next Revelation Press, an imprint of U.S.-Canadian publisher Tayen Lane, it was quickly removed from the publisher’s website. Tayen Lane did not respond to inquiries about the book. It still has a page on Amazon.com, where copies have been advertised for sale for prices starting at around $1,000 (!). Those who tried to order it, though, could not obtain it. It is presently listed on the site as unavailable.

There can be no rational doubt that Journalists for Hire was suppressed. More specifically, the book was privished. What does it mean to privish a book?…

It is no accident that people speaking out against this colonization, or opposing open borders, or noting that entire neighborhoods are no longer safe for native Germans, are demonized as racists or white supremacists.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

France Sees Average of 120 Knife Attacks Per Day

As violent crime continues to surge across France, it is estimated that as many as 120 knife attacks occur on average per day across the country.

The figures, which come from the National Observatory of Delinquency and Criminal Responses (ONDRP), claim that between 2015 and 2017 there were around 44,000 victims of knife crime each year, or an average of 120 per day.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Furious Italy Tells EU ‘Change the Rules of We’ll Do the Same as the British’

MATTEO Salvini has warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Italy could be the next country to quit the EU unless the bloc gets a radical overhaul — and warned if it came to a choice between his country and the EU, Brussels would be the inevitable loser.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Military Chaplains to be Cut

Pay reduced too

(ANSA) — Rome, February 14 — Italy’s military chaplins will be cut from 204 to 162 and their pay will also be reduced, virtually cancelling overtime, according to a new deal between the Italian state and the Catholic Church on spiritual assistance for the armed forces.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Shamima Begum Says Her “Whole World Fell Apart” After Losing British Citizenship

ISIS Bride Shamima Begum says her “whole world fell apart” when she was stripped of her British citizenship last year.

Speaking as part of an ABC News report, Begum said: “When my citizenship got rejected, I felt like my whole world fell apart right in front of me.”

“You know, especially the way I was told. I wasn’t even told by a government official. I had to be told by journalists.”

“I kind of saw it coming because I did do my research just before I came out. I thought I would be a bit different because I had not done anything wrong before I came to ISIS,” Begum continued

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Study Finds Sexual Promiscuity Dramatically Increases Cancer Risk

A new study has found that engaging in sexual promiscuity increases the risk of getting cancer by as much as 91 per cent.

“Experts found older women who had ten or more lifetime lovers were 91 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with the disease, compared to those who only had one,” reports the Sun.

The study by Anglia Ruskin University scientists shows that many cancers such as cervical, prostate and oral are linked to sexually transmitted infections. The higher the number of partners, the more likely someone is to get infected.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Swedish Historian: Denial of One’s Culture is “Embarrassing Self-Hatred”

Herman Lindqvist, a prolific Swedish author, has completely dismantled SAS’s outrageous claim which argued that there’s no such thing as Scandinavian culture and that all Scandinavian culture has been stolen from other cultures.

In an opinion editorial for the daily Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Lindqvist argues that SAS has utterly failed to understand what a country’s history is. Lindqvist attacks SAS’s latest commercial where the “woke” airline company makes the egregious claim that nothing uniquely Scandinavian or Swedish exists.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK Government Approves Net Censorship — Free Speech Dies

The United Kingdom has become the first Western nation to move ahead with large-scale censorship of the internet, effectively creating regulation that will limit freedom on the last frontier of digital liberty. In a move that has the nation reeling, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled rules that will punish internet companies with fines, and even imprisonment, if they fail to protect users from “harmful and illegal content.”

Couched in language that suggests this is being done to protect children from pedophiles and vulnerable people from cyberbullying, the proposals will place a massive burden on small companies. Further, they will ultimately make it impossible for those not of the pervasive politically correct ideology to produce and share content.

The new guardian of the internet will be the Office of Communications (known as Ofcom), a government-approved body that already regulates television, radio, broadcasting, and even the postal service. This group has been accused on many occasions of “acting as the moral arbiter” for the nation, and perhaps unsurprisingly, tends towards a very left-leaning position.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Arrests as Extinction Rebellion Ruins Trinity College Lawn

Three people have been arrested after climate activists dug up a lawn outside a Cambridge University college.

Extinction Rebellion members destroyed part of the lawn at Trinity College on Monday in a protest over its role in a major development in the countryside.

Four other people were held following further acts of criminal damage in the city on Tuesday, police said.

The five women and two men are in custody and investigations are continuing.

Two of those arrested are also suspected of obstructing a police officer.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Brexit Effect: Confidence in Household Finances Hits 11-Year High

Britons are feeling the most optimistic in their domestic financial wellbeing for 11 years, in the latest sign of confidence since Boris Johnson won the election and the UK left the EU.

IHS Markit Household Finance Index, which measures a household’s perception of financial health, rose from 44.6 in January to 47.6 in February, the highest since IHS Market started to record the data in 2009.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Boris Goes Soft on Scrapping TV Tax, Seeks BBC ‘Reform’ Instead: Report

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly backing the softer option of “reforming” the BBC, putting him at odds with his senior advisor, the conservative revolutionary Dominic Cummings, who is leading the charge for scrapping the mandatory TV tax in favour of a consumer-based subscription.

An ally of Mr Johnson told The Times that “the PM is not as gung ho on the licence fee as Dom,” adding: “With Dom it’s ideological — he believes the licence fee should be scrapped. With the PM it’s more reform than revolution.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Labour Leadership Candidate Confusion: Abolish the Monarchy, But Make Meghan Markle Queen

A leading candidate to take the helm of Britain’s drifting left-wing opposition party said she would abolish Britain’s Royal Family — before apparently having a change of heart and remarking she’d like to see U.S. television actress Meghan Markle become the British head of state instead.

Speaking in a televised leadership debate with fellow finalists for the Labour Party top job, Lisa Nandy was invited first to respond to whether the candidates would vote to abolish the monarchy if there was a referendum on the matter. Nandy quickly replied that “I’m a democrat” and consequently she would vote to get rid of the Queen, but appeared to quickly regret her honest answer when both other candidates said they would vote to retain the institution.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Left-Wing Groups Massively Over-Represented in Media Landscape: Study

Analysis by a media monitoring body has found that leftist groups which advocate for higher public spending appear more often in the media that right-wing groups that support less spending of taxpayers’ money.

The research conducted for one week in August and commissioned by Westminster-focussed news website Guido Fawkes found that statist organisations — such as think tanks, campaign groups, and charities — are mentioned six times more frequently in the British media that their free-market counterparts.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

China to Waive Tariffs on US Medical Imports Amid Virus Outbreak

China will waive trade-war tariffs on imports of selected US medical equipment from March 2, the government said Tuesday, as the country battles to contain…

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

China’s Xi Threatens More Crackdowns as Scientists Say Coronavirus May Have Originated From Wuhan Labs

China’s President Xi Jinping has called for tightened control over online discussion and increased policing to ensure “positive energy” and social stability according to state media, Bloomberg reported. This is being pushed as Chinese scientists in South Beijing have said the virus’s origin was the long-suspected Wuhan Virology lab or another Wuhan Center for Disease Control lab…

An author at BuzzFeed got Zerohedge suspended on Twitter for mentioning the job post and linking to public details on the official responsible for the lab. Further, that same writer then proceeded to attack anyone who believes the virus is biological calling it a “hoax,” including Francis Boyle, the man who drafted the Biological Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. This writer also noted that videos of people collapsing in China, and other videos were fake, without a shred of evidence.

Boyle did an interview with Geopolitics and Empire, as well as Activist Post’s contributor Spiro Skouras. In the interviews, Boyle said the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan likely came from the BSL-4 lab in the city.

Boyle stated in the interview that he believes the virus is potentially lethal and an offensive biological warfare weapon or dual-use biowarfare weapon genetically modified. Boyle also touched on a fact this reporter stated previously — how Chinese biowarfare agents working at the Canadian lab in Winnipeg were involved in the smuggling of coronavirus to Wuhan’s lab in July of last year.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Cities Seek Blood Donations as Coronavirus Crimps Supplies — China Daily

SHANGHAI, Feb 19 (Reuters) — Several Chinese cities have declared that a shortage in blood supply for clinical use was imminent, state media reported on…

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs to Almost 1,900 With More Than 73,000 Cases Recorded Across the World — Including Nearly 1,000 Outside of China

Ninety-nine per cent of cases have been in China, where millions of residents are in lockdown to contain the escalating crisis. The Diamond Princess cruise has the largest cluster of cases outside of China.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus Infection May be Spread by People Without Symptoms, Mounting Evidence Suggests

Testing of throat swabs from two people with no symptoms of coronavirus illness revealed that they were nonetheless infected with the virus, according to a report from Germany published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The finding, though previously suspected, would make the job of containing the virus significantly more difficult.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus Live Updates: South Korea Confirms 15 Additional Cases, China Death Toll Tops 2,000

This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.

All times below are in Beijing time.

10:13 am: China plans measures to cut costs for companies

The State Council decided on a series of measures to cut costs for businesses, in the wake of the virus disruptions to economic activity. A Tuesday meeting, led by Premier Li Keqiang, announced that all medium, small and micro-sized businesses will not need to make contributions to employees’ old-age pension, unemployment and workplace safety insurance plans from February to June, according to a release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Larger companies will only need to pay half from February to April, the release said.

“In deciding on these policies, full consideration has been given to the sustainability of the social security fund, the balance of which is sufficient to support the full and timely payments of old-age pensions and other social security benefits nationwide,” the English-language text said.

The State Council also said companies can defer payments to a housing fund, and emphasized employment as the priority, according to the release. In addition, the statement said Chinese leaders had made plans for boosting agricultural production with the onset of spring, including enhancement of pest prevention. — Cheng

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus: Singapore Confirms 4 New Cases as Biggest Cluster Around Grace Assembly of God Church Swells to 21

Singapore on Tuesday confirmed four new cases of the deadly coronavirus, taking the city state’s total number of infections to 81. The Ministry of Health said five cases have recovered, meaning a total of 29 people have been discharged from hospital since testing positive for the coronavirus.

Three of the new cases — a 57-year-old woman, a 38-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man — had no recent travel history to China but have been linked to an existing cluster at a church in Singapore’s Tanglin district called the Grace Assembly of God, which connects 21 of the city state’s confirmed infections.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Deadly Coronavirus ‘Kills 15 Per Cent of Patients Over 80’ And the Never-Before-Seen Strain is ‘Up to 20 Times More Infectious Than Sars’

Chinese health officials carried out the biggest ever study on the never-before-seen strain of the virus, using data from 72,000 cases. They published their results in a scientific journal.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Hubei Doctors Warn of Even-Deadlier Coronavirus Reinfection Causing Sudden Heart Attacks

‘It can fool the test kit — there were cases they found, CT scan shows both lungs fully infected but test came back negative four times,’ says scientist.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

S. Korea Reports 15 More Cases of Novel Coronavirus, Total at 46

South Korea confirmed 15 more cases of the novel coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections here to 46, amid growing concerns that the respiratory illness is spreading across the country despite tighter quarantine measures.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 13 new patients reside in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul and adjacent areas. They are presumed to have contracted the illness via contact with a 61-year-old South Korea woman who was diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus infection Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Sen. Ted Cruz Says U.S. Can’t Trust What the Chinese Government Says About Coronavirus

Sen. Ted Cruz said he does not trust the information the Chinese government is releasing regarding the coronavirus outbreak that the World Health Organization says has sickened at least 73,000 across the world.

“We’ve seen repeatedly that the Chinese government is less than candid. They’re less than honest, so I have a high degree of skepticism that they’re being fully candid with what’s happening,” he said to WFAA Tuesday.

“Based on what they’re telling us, it’s bad,” Cruz said, “but I think there’s a very real possibility it’s substantially worse.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Smoking Gun? Chinese Scientist Finds “Killer Coronavirus Probably Originated From a Laboratory in Wuhan”

What may be a “smoking gun” report, first noted by Harvard to the big house, from a scientist at the prestigious South China University of Technology in Guangzhou China. A pre-print published by Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao, titled “The possible origins of 2019-nCoV coronavirus” whose abstract is the following…

The 2019-nCoV has caused an epidemic of 28,060 laboratory-confirmed infections in human including 564 deaths in China by February 6, 2020. Two descriptions of the virus published on Nature this week indicated that the genome sequences from patients were almost identical to the Bat CoV ZC45 coronavirus. It was critical to study where the pathogen came from and how it passed onto human. An article published on The Lancet reported that 27 of 41 infected patients were found to have contact with the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan. We noted two laboratories conducting research on bat coronavirus in Wuhan, one of which was only 280 meters from the seafood market. We briefly examined the histories of the laboratories and proposed that the coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory. Our proposal provided an alternative origin of the coronavirus in addition to natural recombination and intermediate host… and an especially ominous conclusion:

In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Top Health Official Warning: Coronavirus is Nearing Pandemic Levels

A top health official is warning that the severity of the coronavirus is being understated and that it’s on the verge of hitting pandemic levels. This news comes as 40 Americans on a cruise ship test positive for the virus.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on CBS News on Sunday to update viewers on the spread of the coronavirus. Fauci said that the disease did not meet the technical definition of a “pandemic” yet, but it is nearing that eventuality as it’s proven difficult to contain. “Technically speaking, the WHO [World Health Organization] wouldn’t be calling this a global pandemic. But it certainly is on the verge of that happening reasonably soon unless containment is more successful than it is right now,” he said.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why Did President Trump Expand the Travel Ban?

There are general and specific justifications for U.S. President Donald Trump’s January 31 order to add Nigeria, Tanzania, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Myanmar (Burma) to the list of seven other countries — Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen — subjected to a restriction on travel to the United States.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Major Twist in Dustin Martin’s Ex-Bikie Dad’s Bid to Live in Australia as it’s Confirmed He is Aboriginal — So New Laws Prevent Him From Being Deported to New Zealand

Shane Martin, 52, was refused entry into Sydney on Monday — almost two years after being deported from Australia. He may now be eligible to return after being confirmed as Indigenous.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

The Dark Threat of TikTok: Australian Children and Soldiers Who Use the Social Media App Are at Risk of Being Spied on by the Chinese, MP Warns

The popular social media app, owned by Chinese company Bytedance, was banned by the Australian Defence Force last month over security fears.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Boris’s Border Blueprint: Migrants Coming to the UK Will Need to Have a Job Paying at Least £25,600, Qualifications and Speak English Under New Points-Based Post-Brexit Immigration System Unveiled Today

Migrants from the EU will have to speak English and have a job offer under sweeping reforms to end Britain’s reliance on cheap European labour.

The measures are part of the biggest shake-up to border rules since this country joined the Common Market in 1973.

Low-skilled immigration will be made virtually impossible under a points-based system as free movement rights are consigned to history.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greece’s Weak Center-Right Government Scraps Plan to Build More Reception Facilities After Migrants Riot

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s government says it is suspending an emergency plan to build migrant detention camps on Greek islands near the Turkish coast to allow for negotiations with local authorities who strongly oppose the move.

Notis Mitarakis, the migration affairs minister, said Monday the plan announced last week has been put on hold until demands by authorities on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos are discussed.

The government says it wants to replace existing overcrowded camps with closed facilities and has already issued land appropriation orders. But islanders staged protests against the proposed construction — setting up roadblocks on Lesbos — amid fears that the new sites would place an additional burden on their small communities.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greek Locals Accuse Migrants of Trying to ‘Islamize the Western World’ And Say They Are Destroying Their Tourist Industry as Anger Builds Over Refugee Camps

Hundreds of Greek villagers have been taking to the streets in anger over the asylum-seekers they claim want to ‘Islamize the western world’.

The coastal area of Makrygialos is one of many areas in mainland Greece where the government is locked in a tug of war with local communities over the housing of migrants.

Just months after the new conservative administration took over promising to get tough on migration, deadlock is rapidly emerging over where to accommodate tens of thousands of asylum-seekers currently languishing in overcrowded, unsanitary camps on five islands facing Turkey.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

ICE Subpoenas Oregon Sheriff’s Office for Info on 2 Mexican Inmates

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday subpoenaed the Washington County, Ore., Sheriff’s Office for further detail about two Mexican nationals, the latest standoff between federal and local officials over immigration enforcement.

The agency served the subpoenas to the sheriff’s office in the suburbs of Portland, seeking further information about the two men, who are wanted by the federal government for deportation, the Associated Press reported, citing ICE spokeswoman Tanya Roman.

The first was sentenced to more than six years in an Oregon prison on sexual abuse charges and was transferred to a county jail in January, after which the agency filed an immigration detainer asking the facility to hold him. Roman said the unnamed man faces further charges of sexual misconduct.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Illegal Alien Acquitted for Kate Steinle’s Murder Deemed Mentally Ill, Unfit to Stand Trial for Gun Charges

The seven-time felon, five-time deported illegal alien acquittedfor 32-year-old Kate Steinle’s murder in 2017 will not stand trial on federal gun charges after a California court has deemed him mentally ill.

Following Steinle’s 2015 killing on a pier in San Francisco, illegal alien Jose Garcia Zarate was charged with her murder after being caught on surveillance footage running from the shooting. After his arrest, Zarate admitted to shooting and killing Steinle, who was walking on the pier at the time with her father, saying he chose San Francisco because it was a sanctuary city that shields criminal illegal aliens from arrest and deportation by federal immigration officials.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Pete Buttigieg: Legal Immigration Not Letting Enough People in the United States

“This county needs more people than its immigration system is willing to allow.”

[Comment: More proof he is a globalist puppet.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Spain Searches for 143 Boat Migrants Near Canary Islands as Atlantic Arrivals Double

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain on Tuesday was searching for some 143 people missing on five migrant boats en route to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, according to Spain’s maritime rescue service.

A Civil Guard plane was searching for the boats near the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, off the northwest coast of Africa, the service said.

Authorities were alerted about the missing boats on Monday afternoon.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Atheist Dawkins Says ‘Eugenics Would Work’

“Facts ignore ideology”.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Former Wrestler Val Venis Says He’s Had Enough of Soyboys and SJWs Ruining Different Mediums, And He Won’t Back Down

It’s rare to see someone out of the blue take to the frontlines and break through the SJW defenses, but here we are with former WWE star Val Venis saying that he’s had enough of soyboys and SJWs ruining various mediums and that he’s not backing down.

Whether you liked Val Venis as a wrestler or not, there’s no denying that soyboys, raging feminist, and SJWs have co-opted various mediums without remorse — in turn tanking profitable franchises, tainting iconic childhood memorabilia, and attacking male culture through agitprop.

With that said, many people called this out in the games industry many years ago, and now the same cancerous SJW agenda is running rampant like a disease throughout other hobbies and jobs, which has former WWE star Val Venis pissed.

Taking to Twitter, Val Venis noted his true feelings on a recent AEW match between transgendered (male-to-female) wrestler Nyla Rose beating Riho for the AEW Women’s World Title and being praised for said victory.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’ Will Feature First Man-on-Man Gay Kiss

Well, this should be interesting…

Over and over and over again, at about a 100 percent rate, we have seen woke blockbusters crash and burn at the box office, or at least under-perform. The anti-male Birds of Prey is just the latest victim of audiences rejecting agendas and lectures disguised as entertainment.

Incredibly, this list also includes the Star Wars saga, which most of us believed was bulletproof. I’m not arguing the latest Star Wars trilogy was a flop. But it did perform so far below expectations, especially The Rise of Skywalker, which should have out-performed pretty much every other Star Wars movie, that as a movie franchise, Star Wars is dead.

Can Marvel break the Woke Curse?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Planned Parenthood Presses States to Make Up Federal Funding it Voluntarily Surrendered

Planned Parenthood is pressing state taxpayers into making up federal family planning funds it voluntarily gave up to protect abortion.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sony Reportedly Wants to Introduce a Bisexual Spider-Man

In recent years, there’s been a growing desire from fans for the character of Spider-Man to be diversified. Into the Spider-Verse was fantastic for that, as it featured Miles Morales, the first non-Caucasian Spidey, in the lead. We still have yet to have a Spider-Man who’s part of the LGBT community, however, but current incumbent of the role, Tom Holland, has lobbied for this to happen at some point.

And it seems Sony agrees and is looking to make it a reality. We Got This Covered has been informed by our sources — the same ones who told us a She-Hulk show was coming to Disney Plus back in April, and that Taskmaster would be the villain in Black Widow — that the studio is developing a live-action Spider-Verse movie. As you’d expect, the hook would be that it would unite Holland with his predecessors, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. We’re also hearing that Sony is particularly keen on getting Garfield back, as they want to portray his version of the hero as bisexual and give him a boyfriend in the film.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

There’s No Such Thing as a Non-Binary Haircut

There’s no such thing as a non-binary haircut. But that didn’t stop Gray Crosbie from opining on the trouble of getting a haircut as a self-proclaimed genderless person. Speaking on The Social with BBC Scotland, Crosbie talks about how disconcerting it is to have to choose between the barbershop and the salon, the problem with women being charged more for their haircuts than men, and feeling like society is too normative.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Hospitals to Deny Care to “Racist” Or “Homophobic” Patients

Patients deemed to be “racist” or “homophobic” will be denied care in NHS Trust hospitals under new rules set to take effect in April.

“Currently, staff can refuse to treat non-critical patients who are verbally aggressive or physically violent towards them,” reports Sky News. “But these protections will extend to any harassment, bullying or discrimination, including homophobic, sexist or racist remarks.”

Police will also be given new powers to prosecute “hate crimes” committed against NHS staff.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

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