Professor Neil Ferguson is a well-known scientist and advisor to the British government. It was Prof. Ferguson’s warning about a possible 500,000 deaths from the Wuhan Coronavirus that caused Prime Minister Boris Johnson to order the lockdown. Now the esteemed professor has resigned his position after the media discovered that he had been violating social distancing rules by having his married lover come to his home for romantic trysts.
In other coronanews, South African analysts say that the country’s lockdown will cause 29 times as many deaths as the coronavirus itself.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AA, EF, JD, JM, Reader from Chicago, SS, Vlad Tepes, 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.
The California government has become the first in the country to borrow money from the federal government to cover its rising unemployment costs, an indication the state’s unemployment levels are putting significant strain on its finances.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus: Wages of Over Half of UK Adults Now Paid by the British State
Almost a quarter of all British employees have been ‘furloughed’ in two weeks, meaning over half of the British adult population is now being paid by the government, possibly the highest proportion ever.
The UK government announced the coronavirus job retention scheme, a state-funded programme where businesses slowing or suspending operations during the national lockdown could avoid firing their staff, in March. Rather than employees being laid off and shuffled onto the government’s unemployed claimant count, the government would instead pay employers to keep paying wages even though the furloughed staff were not doing any actual work.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“COVID 19” And Three Discontinuities of Government
If sanity ever returns to this rats’ nest of hysteria, it will surely be discovered that many people have died, wide swaths of the economy have been deranged or even destroyed, the Constitution has been assaulted, and the intelligence of ordinary Americans has been insulted…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Last Year: “You Don’t Have to Prove” Kavanaugh Allegations “Beyond Reasonable Doubt”
A video clip from a 2019 Joe Biden appearance on “The View” surfaced Monday, showing the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee saying that there was no need to prove any allegations against Justice Kavanaugh “beyond a reasonable doubt,” since he was undergoing a “job interview” and not criminal proceedings during his confirmation process.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Tuesday with an infection that she reportedly sustained as the result of a gallbladder condition.
“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent non-surgical treatment for acute cholecystitis, a benign gallbladder condition, this afternoon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland,” the Supreme Court said in a statement. “Following oral arguments on Monday, the Justice underwent outpatient tests at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., that confirmed she was suffering for a gallstone that had migrated to her cystic duct, blocking it and causing an infection.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bubble-Wrapped Americans: How the U.S. Became Obsessed With Physical and Emotional Safety
It’s a common refrain: We have bubble-wrapped the world. Americans in particular are obsessed with “safety.” The simplest way to get any law passed in America, be it a zoning law or a sweeping reform of the intelligence community, is to invoke a simple sentence: “A kid might get hurt.” Almost no one is opposed to reasonable efforts at making the world a safer place. But the operating word here is “reasonable.” Banning lawn darts, for example, rather than just telling people that they can be dangerous when used by unsupervised children, is a perfect example of a craving for safety gone too far. Beyond the realm of legislation, this has begun to infect our very culture. Think of things like “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces.” These are part of broader cultural trends in search of a kind of “emotional safety” — a purported right to never be disturbed or offended by anything. This is by no means confined to the sphere of academia, but is also in our popular culture, both in “extremely online” and more mainstream variants. Why are Americans so obsessed with safety? What is the endgame of those who would bubble wrap the world, both physically and emotionally? Perhaps most importantly, what can we do to turn back the tide and reclaim our culture of self-reliance, mental toughness, and giving one another the benefit of the doubt so that we don’t “bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security,” as President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about?
| — Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
California Man Arrested 3 Times in 12 Hours But Repeatedly Released Due to Zero-Bail Policy
Authored by Jonathan Turley
There are have been various accounts of criminals who were released due to the pandemic only to quickly commit serious criminal acts. However, few have gone as viral as Dijon Landrum, 24.
Landrum succeeded in being arrested three times over the course of 12 hours but still walked each time with just a citation for three felonies due to California’s zero-bail policy during the outbreak.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
COVID-19 is Quacking Like the Flu
COVID-19 is not a medical crisis. It’s a political crisis, and in our everyday lives we are experiencing the economic debacle of the century…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dem Fundraisers Launch Campaign to Draft Michelle Obama for VP
Democratic operatives are launching a campaign to recruit Michelle Obama for the vice presidency, dovetailing with Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s earlier promise to pick a woman as his running mate for 2020.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Destroying Michael Flynn: Corrupt Obama Politicizes U.S. Intelligence Agencies and Spymasters
As the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from July 2012 until he was forced out in August 2014, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) clashed mightily with the Obama administration’s policies on ISIS and the Iran nuclear deal, among other things…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
GOP: China Has Infiltrated US Higher Education to Impede Coronavirus Research
Congressional Republicans are accusing China of attempting to hinder US coronavirus research by infiltrating US universities and spreading communist propaganda.
Reuters reports that ranking GOP members across seven House committees have delivered a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that warns Beijing is indoctrinating American students.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gov. Greg Abbott to Allow Texas Hair Salons and Pools to Reopen Friday and Gyms to Open May 18
Gov. Greg Abbott will allow hair salons and pools in Texas to reopen Friday and gyms on May 18, moving more quickly than expected to further restart the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
The businesses will be required to follow certain rules, however, as the state continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus. For example, hairstylists will only be able to work with one customer at a time, while gyms can only reopen at 25% capacity, and their showers and locker rooms should remain closed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
IHME Increases Total Projected U.S. Coronavirus Deaths to 134k — More Than Double Previous Estimate
A model created by the University of Washington predicts the U.S. will see more than 130,000 deaths due to coronavirus — more than twice the number projected in the model’s last estimate in early April.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Is Civil Disobedience Only Way to Re-Open America?
Sheriffs in several counties in a half dozen states have come out publicly and said they will NOT enforce stay-at-home orders from their governor and other unconstitutional orders. If you or better yet, a group of business owners, can get a sit down with your county sheriff, do it. Present the information in this column and tell your sheriff to stand with The People…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
MA Pastor Fined $300 for Holding Church Service With More Than 10 People
The city manager of Worcester, Massachusetts said Sunday that the city would fine Pastor Kristopher Casey $300 after he held church services two Sundays in a row for more than 10 participants.
The services at Adams Square Baptist Church violated an order from Gov. Charlie Baker prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people. Forty-six people attended Sunday’s service, and 56 people attended the April 26 service. Worcester’s police chief was across the street from the church Sunday, counting the number of people who entered the building.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NY Reports Nearly 2,000 Previously Uncounted Deaths in Nursing Homes
New York state this week revealed more than 1,700 additional coronavirus deaths in the state’s nursing homes that had not been previously counted, a devastating indication of COVID-19’s brutal effects on the elderly.
Nearly 5,000 people total have died in nursing homes and retirement facilities in New York. Among those numbers are included “probable” cases, which have not been confirmed by a laboratory test.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pence: White House May Soon Phase Out Coronavirus Task Force
The White House may soon phase out its coronavirus task force, a sign that the Trump administration’s priorities regarding the pandemic are shifting as states begin to reopen.
Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday told reporters that the government is considering shifting the task force’s duties to various federal departments. Up until now, the committee has been administered from the White House itself.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Propaganda Wins, Sheeple Comply and Freedom Dies
America’s Constitution guarantees our God-given right to pray, to assemble, to speak, and to travel. Our civil liberties have been nullified with a virus that is less than one percent deadly. Thomas Jefferson said, “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” Time to take it back now!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Record Gun Sales for 2nd Month, More Than 7 Million Sold This Year
Gun sales saw record sales for a second straight month, hitting nearly 3 million in background checks for April.
The FBI said on Monday that April background checks for gun sales and concealed carry permits had hit a new record of 2,911,128 backgrounds checks, an increase of 576,879 from April 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Secretary Says She is “Prohibited” From Releasing Biden’s Personnel Records
Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams on Monday said federal law prohibits her from releasing Senate personnel records, throwing a wrench in the Biden campaign’s attempt to prove that the Democratic politician has never been the subject of a harassment complaint.
Biden had requested that the secretary search through official records from 1993 to determine if former Biden Senate staffer Tara Reade had ever filed a complaint against him. Adams said that “the Secretary has no discretion to disclose” such records.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter is Being Abused to Harass & Doxx Minors
The term “Twitter, do your thing” is a dog whistle being used by digital hate mobs to cyberbully, doxx and harass minors.
Families are being exposed to violent threats.
Nothing is being done to stop it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Universities Creating Social Credit Style Coronavirus Surveillance System
Three US universities are responding to the coronavirus crisis by creating (irony of all ironies) a Chinese style social credit surveillance system that will ‘score’ people based on their exposure to the virus.
According to a report from Tech site dot.LA, researchers at the University of Southern California, Emory University, and the University of Texas Health Science Center are jointly working on the system after receiving federal grant funding.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democratic members of Congress, including former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, have rallied around former Vice President Joe Biden and his campaign for president, even after recent accusations from a former staffer that he sexually assaulted her when she worked in his Senate office in 1993.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wendy’s Restaurants Facing Beef Shortage as Slaughterhouses Nationwide Shut Down
Wendy’s, the restaurant chain known for popularizing the fresh-never-frozen style of fast-food burgers, is reportedly suffering a beef shortage due to the ongoing coronavirus-linked slaughterhouse shutdowns across the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
BC Father Dies After Life-Saving Kidney Surgery Cancelled Due to Coronavirus
A Surrey, BC father died after a hospital cancelled his potentially life-saving kidney surgery because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The hospital cancelled the procedure on March 16, one day before the surgery was supposed to take place, citing it as a non-essential surgery.
“I called the hospital and asked why. They said non-essential surgeries are being cancelled,” said Walcroft’s wife Delia Oliveira.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
As someone mentions in the comments on this video, people in Canada are on edge as the country just had its biggest mass shooting in April with 22 people dead. Not to sound cold, but you probably didn’t hear much about it in the American mainstream media — Canada’s not supposed to have mass shootings; that’s an American thing.
How on edge? Check out this video of a girl dressed as a stormtrooper and carrying a “blaster” on Star Wars Day — May the Fourth — being taken down by police in Lethbridge, Alberta, as she tried to drum up business for a cafe. (Language warning)
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
18 Million People Entered the UK as the Coronavirus Pandemic Was Raging
18 million people entered the UK in the three months before lockdown with hardly any of them undergoing health screenings or being put into quarantine, it has been revealed.
“Only 273 people out of 18.1million who came to the country in the three months leading up to the nation-wide lockdown were put into quarantine,” reports the Mirror.
This means that “tens of thousands of people were entering from coronavirus-affected countries,” including Italy and Spain and were then allowed to circulate amongst the general population.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus France: Cameras to Monitor Masks and Social Distancing
Video surveillance cameras in France will monitor how many people are wearing masks and their compliance with social distancing when the coronavirus lockdown is eased next week.
The resort city of Cannes on the Côte d’Azur has trialled the monitoring software, installed at outdoor markets and on buses.
It is not clear how many other cities will adopt this digital surveillance.
French firm Datakalab says its software does not violate EU data privacy law.
“No image is stored or transmitted, ensuring that personal information is protected,” Datakalab said, announcing its collaboration with Cannes city hall, ahead of the 11 May relaxation of France’s tough lockdown…
| — Hat tip: JM | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch King Apologizes for Behavior of Great-Grandmother During Holocaust
The king made his remarks during his annual speech at the national memorial ceremony to Dutch war victims in Amsterdam.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander acknowledged his “great-grandmother’s perceived indifference to the fate of Dutch Jews during the Holocaust,” during a Memorial Day speech on Monday, JTA reports.
He made his remarks during his annual speech at the national memorial ceremony to Dutch war victims in Amsterdam, the news wire reports.
Willem-Alexander referred to Queen Wilhelmina, who reigned for 58 years (1890 — 1948) longer than any other Dutch monarch. Although she was praised in the middle of World War II during her exile in London, she only mentioned the plight of Dutch Jews three times in her 48 radio speeches.
This was not an oversight. “The Dutch queen regularly filtered out mention of what was happening to Dutch Jewry from the speeches prepared by her speechwriter, while she spent the war safely in London,” writes Israeli pundit Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, quoting Dutch journalist Hans Knoop.
The Netherlands saw the highest death rate of Jews in Western Europe — 75 percent of its 140,000 pre-war Jewish population was wiped out by the Nazis.
| — Hat tip: EF | [Return to headlines] |
Europeans to be Allowed to Enter France Beginning May 11th
The French government has announced that it will allow citizens from the European Union, the Schengen area, or the United Kingdom to enter France without having to go through quarantine beginning May 11th.
Despite the Minister of Health Olivier Véran announcing on May 2nd that anyone entering the country from abroad would be subject to quarantine to stop the spread of Wuhan virus, the next day he reversed his position 180 degrees, saying “anyone, whatever their nationality, from the EU, the Schengen area, or the UK”, will be free to enter the French territory without restriction, Le Point reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Far-Left Antifa Extremists Set French Post Office Vans Ablaze
An Antifa anarchist website has taken credit for the destruction of two vehicles belonging to the French post office, as far-left violence continues during the Wuhan coronavirus lockdown.
The two vehicles were set on fire and destroyed in the commune of Bouguenais near Nantes at around 1 am on Saturday while they were parked outside a local mail sorting centre.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Houellebecq: Coronavirus Will Increase Atomisation of Society
“We will not wake up after the lockdown in a new world. It will be the same, just a bit worse.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Mayor of Nice Calls for “Health Passports” Giving Citizens Permission to Travel
The Mayor of Nice has called for citizens to be required to carry “health passports” if they wish to travel.
“Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, posted a letter on Facebook one day after (Prime Minister Edouard) Philippe unveiled plans to ease stay-at-home restrictions for the country that would start in May, these rules could limit a person’s travel distance to 62 miles from their home,” reports Zero Hedge.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Intellectual Says No-Go Zones Must be Reconquered by Force (Video)
Eric Zemmour, a prominent conservative intellectual and political journalist, recently argued that France’s crime ridden and drug infested ‘suburbs’ — also known as no-go zones — have become foreign enclaves and must be reconquered by force or abandoned entirely.
During a discussion segment on the French television channel CNEWS, Zemmour contends that a catastrophic situation has arisen where hostile foreign forces, most of which are Islamic, have taken over the suburbs of various cities in France and continue to wage war against law enforcement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Woman Who Married ISIS Rapper Put on Trial
The trial of Omaima M, the widow of German-Ghanaian rapper Denis Cuspert — aka Deso Dogg, who became a soldier for Daesh (ISIS) — began in Hamburg today.
Omaima M, a 35-year-old German-Tunisian woman, went to Syria in January 2015 along with her three children to join her first husband, Nadr H., who was fighting for ISIS at the time. German privacy laws prevent the release of their last names.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The European Parliament’s move to censure Hungary in a resolution over its declaration of a state of emergency without a time limit is “harmful and sad”, Katalin Novak, the state secretary for family and youth affairs, said in an interview to German daily Die Welt late on Monday.
“Resolutions that contradict reality weaken, rather than strengthen the European People’s Party,” Novak told the paper.
Certain MEPs voted against the resolution, others abstained from voting and some supported it “because they didn’t have all the facts”, she said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary: Orban Wrote a Letter to EPP Party Presidents
In a letter to fellow presidents of EPP member parties, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban wrote about the “political attacks of recent weeks against Hungary”.
“In recent weeks, we have witnessed an unprecedented attack and disinformation campaign against Hungary”, Orban wrote, adding that “at a time when we are concentrating on meeting the challenges of the coronavirus epidemic worldwide, when human lives are at stake, a coordinated attack was launched against us — with no genuine basis”.
“Me and my country had been attacked unjustly and based on biased ideological propaganda already before but this one was the most cruel and cynical one I have ever experienced because it deliberately disregarded that the government which was targeted was desperately fighting for saving human lives”, the prime minister wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Just 273 Out of 18.1m People Entering UK Before Lockdown Were Quarantined
The government’s Home Office formally quarantined just 273 people out of the 18.1 million arrivals by air, land, and sea to the UK in the three months leading up to March’s coronavirus lockdown.
The figures show that between January 1st and March 22nd, 2020, a combined 241 people on three evacuation flights from Wuhan — understood to be the origin of the Chinese virus — and 32 individuals flown from Tokyo, after being transferred from the infected Diamond Princess cruise ship, were sent to various quarantining facilities across the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Police: Street Thugs Rob, Humiliate, And Intimidmate Teen Victims
A new kind of street robbery is taking place Norway where victims are not only stripped of their belongings but are also forced to do humiliating acts while the perpetrators film it, according to reports.
Oslo police officer Jonas Andreassen describes a state of fear among young people in the city. The victims are robbed, beaten and humiliated, but they dare not report it to the police or even to their own parents, he says.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: France Will Use Existing Surveillance Grid to Enforce Social Distancing, Mask Wearing
France will use its existing network of surveillance cameras to monitor how many people are wearing masks and track how citizens are complying with social distancing after its coronavirus lockdown is eased next week, according to reports.
The BBC notes that “The resort city of Cannes on the Côte d’Azur has trialled the monitoring software, installed at outdoor markets and on buses.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prof Ferguson allowed the woman to visit him at home during the lockdown while lecturing the public on the need for strict social distancing
The scientist whose advice prompted Boris Johnson to lock down Britain resigned from his Government advisory position on Tuesday night as The Telegraph can reveal he broke social distancing rules to meet his married lover.
Professor Neil Ferguson allowed the woman to visit him at home during the lockdown while lecturing the public on the need for strict social distancing in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The woman lives with her husband and their children in another house…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Left-Wing Politician Charged With Vote-by-Mail Fraud
Local politician Israr Rashid has been charged with a number of vote-by-mail offences in High Wycombe, England.
Rashid won the Totteridge and Bowerdean seat on Buckingham County Council in a by-election on February 7th, securing 40.8 per cent of the vote on a turnout of 30.21 per cent — far ahead of his nearest competitor, independent candidate Matt Knight, on 27.8 per cent of vote, or the Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates, on 21.2 per cent and 10.2 per cent of the vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Professor Neil Ferguson — whose dire coronavirus predictions prompted worldwide lockdown measures still in place — broke his own advice on the need for strict social distancing to hook up with his married lover, according to the Telegraph.
On at least two occasions, Antonia Staats, 38, travelled across London from her home in the south of the capital to spend time with the Government scientist, nicknamed Professor Lockdown.
The 51-year-old had only just finished a two-week spell self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus.
Prof Ferguson told the Telegraph: “I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action. I have therefore stepped back from my involvement in Sage [the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies]. —Telegraph
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Trevor Phillips Criticised for Role in Coronavirus Race Inquiry
Britain’s left-wing opposition party and Public Health England have started investigations into the disproportionate number of coronavirus-related deaths among ethnic minorities. However, inviting the recently suspended Labour member to get involved has attracted criticism from The Guardian.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK-U.S. Trade Negotiations Begin as Europhiles Demand Brexit Delay
After Theresa May’s Brexit delays and the coronavirus lockdown, the long-awaited UK-U.S. trade talks began on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump supported the UK’s vote to leave the EU and from early on in his presidency, pushing for a “massive new trade deal” between his country and the United Kingdom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greek and Armenian “Terrorists”! Wild Comments by Erdogan, But is He Greek Himself?
The economy is collapsing in Turkey, the Turkish lira reaches record lows against the U.S. Dollar and the Euro, coronavirus is out of control — BUT QUICK, look at the Greeks and Armenians!
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has completely lost control of the situation in Turkey. Not only did he fail to invade Greece, Libya and Syria this year through various means, but these were costly affairs that has contributed to the collapse of the Turkish economy and the declining lira. However, Erdogan is attempting to distract Turks with ultra-nationalism.
A 2016 Daily Mail report found that a quarter of Turks live in extreme poverty and almost two million live on just $3.50 a day but Erdogan’s wife, Emine, shuts down entire shopping malls in Europe to go on a private shopping spree. That is in 2016, so imagine the situation today with a massively contracted economy.
The Turkish currency has slipped past a key psychological level of 7.0366 per dollar and economists are less upbeat about inflation this year as it will finish at 10.6% and reach 9.9% at the end of 2021, according to a Bloomberg survey conducted April 24-28.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A couple from Iran, Ahmad Moin-Shirazi and Shabnam Shahrokhi, has beensentenced to a total of 16 years in prison, 74 lashes and three months of unpaid labour in absentia by the Iranian court, for posting “propaganda against the regime”, “obscene and vulgar” content and “spreading moral corruption” through their popular Instagram account, reported the Iranian new channel Radio Farda.
With over half a million followers on Instagram, Moin-Shirazi, an entrepreneur and former kickboxing champion was sentenced to nine years in prison, while Shabnam Shahrokhi was sentenced to seven years in prison, 74 lashes and three months of unpaid labour by the country’s Revolutionary Court system. Shirazi and his wife Shabnam Shahrokhi are currently in self-exile in Turkey with their two children.
The couple realised that they were being targeted by the Iranian government some time ago, with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence summoned them on several occasions and interrogated them for hours at a time. During these meetings, interrogators reportedly told Moin-Shirazi to stop uploading posts and pictures critical of Iran’s domestic policies as well as pictures of his wife without a hijab on.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaeda Chief Ayman-Al-Zawahiri urged the Indian Muslims to join the jihad against India. This comes days after the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation(OIC), the Kuwaiti government, and many Arab activists accused India of being an Islamophobic country. Yemen’s Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula(AQAP) which is a globally banned terror outfit issued a statement accusing India waging war against Muslims in the country.
Crying foul against the Citizenship Amendment Act, enacted by the Modi government which proposes citizenship to persecuted religious minority communities of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, the AQAP had alleged that the Indian government has taken several steps against Muslims.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In a video that has now gone viral on social media, AIMIM supporter Abu Faisal can be seen fear-mongering amidst the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus in the country. He began by claiming that Muslim women should refuse to take injections prescribed by doctors as it can make them sterile.
In a video widely circulated on social media, Faisal is seen alleging that a ‘vicious campaign’ that is supposedly underway to limit the Muslim population. Encouraging his Muslim brethren to assault non-Muslim doctors, he said that the Muslim patient must inject the non— Muslim doctor first before taking the prescribed medication.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The shocking act of discrimination against minorities continues unabated in the terrorist state of Pakistan even at the time of global epidemic as certain families belonging to the religious minority communities have been denied ration.
According to the reports, the religious minorities, especially Hindus and Christians, are facing extreme discrimination in Pakistan during the ongoing global pandemic coronavirus crisis. It is being alleged Hindus and Christian minorities are not being given food supplies by authorities, claiming that they are meant for the Muslims.
In one such incident, while distributing ration to needy people in Karachi’s Korangi area, inhabitant Christians were allegedly forced to recite “Kalma Tayyaba” as a pre-condition to get ration from the local administration. As they refused, the Christians were denied the required essentials.
“Kalma Tayyaba” is the basic tenet of Islam. Reciting the holy verse is mandatory for Muslims and anyone embracing or being converted to Islam recites Kalma Tayyaba.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Only the minuscule Christian community living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is forced into manual scavenging, reported The New York Times. They work under inhuman conditions and have to clean clogged sewers without masks or gloves. As such, there has been a surge in the number of deaths of Christian sewer cleaners.
While manual scavenging has been banned in India (although prevalent in some parts of the country), reportedly, the Muslim-majority State of Pakistan encourages such a dehumanising practice. It is important to mention that the Pakistan army put out a bigoted advertisement last year, asking only Non-Muslims to apply for the post of sanitary workers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Orders Christian Church to Discontinue Online Worship
The Chinese communist party has ordered the Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) to cease all online worship services, in its latest crackdown on Christianity in the country.
In late 2018, Chinese authorities carried out a series of tightly coordinated raids on the 5,000-member Early Rain Covenant Church in the city of Chengdu, arresting more than 100 members, including Pastor Wang Yi and his wife.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Experts Say Evidence Coronavirus Escaped From Wuhan Lab ‘Increasing by the Day’
While President Trump is being briefed on allegations against China’s mishandling of the Coronavirus, experts and leading American politicians have declared that evidence proving China’s ‘guilt’ is mounting.
US intelligence agencies first began producing reports into the true origin of the virus as early as December 2019, and their shocking findings began entering President Trump’s Daily Brief the following month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hong Kong Court Issues Travel Ban to Pro-Democracy Media Tycoon
A Hong Kong court on Tuesday slapped a travel ban on pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is awaiting trial on charges of taking part in an “illegal assembly” during last year’s protests, as well as allegations of “intimidation.”
Lai appeared in court alongside veteran democrats Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum, and was ordered not to leave Hong Kong.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Footage: Chinese Officials Violently Raid Church, Detain Members
New footage has surfaced of communist officials violently raiding a house church in China’s Xiamen city in Fujian province during a worship service on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Smoking Gun in the China Virus Caper
Running for president in 1980, Ronald Reagan was asked for his opinion on the so-called Sino-Soviet split. “They were allies and the only argument that caused their split was an argument over how best to destroy us,” he said of China and the Soviet Union. President Reagan understood Marxist dialectics…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tibetan Man Dies After Years of Ill Health Following Torture in Prison
A former Tibetan political prisoner has died after suffering years of poor health following his release from a prison term served for challenging Chinese rule in Tibetan areas, Tibetan sources say.
Tsering Bakdro, 51, died on April 26 at his home in Maldro Gongkar (in Chinese, Mozhugongka) county in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Lhasa municipality, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“His untimely death is certainly related to the physical torture and suffering he endured while he was in prison,” RFA’s source said.
A former monk in Tibet’s Ganden monastery, Bakdro was arrested in 1992 after launching a protest on June 10 with several others in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa in which they called for independence for Tibet and carried the banned Tibetan national flag, the source said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Lakemba Mosque in south-west Sydney will play the call to prayer, or Adhan, every night until Ramadan finishes on May 22.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australian University Sets Expulsion Hearing Date for Student Critical of China’s Communist Party
An Australian student threatened with expulsion after he was highly critical of Beijing has been warned that he could also be removed from the University of Queensland (UQ)’s student senate later this month, as the university authorities set a date for his expulsion hearing.
“It is almost certain there will be an attempt to remove me from the UQ Senate on May 13th,” UQ student Drew Pavlou said via his Twitter account. “I was elected by a majority of students on a platform supporting Hong Kong and opposing the Confucius Institute.”
Pavlou said that if he is removed, a candidate supportive of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would likely replace him.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kerry Stokes transferred the registration to his new his new Bombardier Global Express 6000 jet.Stokes was criticised after recently he used the front page of The West Australian to call for Canberra to back down.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
None of her claims are scientifically proven, but NRL WAG Taylor Winterstein insists she has ‘collected the crucial information needed to help break the coronavirus SCAMdemic.’
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
China’s ‘bullying’ responses to Australia’s calls for an international coronavirus inquiry were slammed as ‘outrageous’ as experts rethink the diplomatic relationship.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Committee Calls for U.S. Special Envoy to Nigeria to Stop the ‘Silent Slaughter’ of Christians
The International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) has called for the appointment of U.S. Special Envoy to Nigeria, asserting that the country is failing to provide freedom of religion and basic protections for its citizens.
As “a nonprofit working to secure a future for all Nigerians,” ICON released a statement following the release of the 2020 Annual Report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which designates Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for its egregious violations of religious freedom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
South African Data Analysts: Lockdown Will Lead to 29 Times More Deaths Than Coronavirus
A data analyst consortium in South Africa asserts that the economic consequences of the country’s lockdown will lead to 29 times more people dying than the coronavirus itself.
“The model, which will be made public today for debate, was developed by a consortium calling itself Panda (Pandemic ~ Data Analysis), which includes four actuaries, an economist and a doctor, while the work was checked by lawyers and mathematicians,” reports the Financial Mail. “The process was led by two fellows at the Actuarial Society of SA, Peter Castleden and Nick Hudson.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Denies US Involvement in Venezuelan ‘Coup Plot’ After American Mercenaries Captured
Update: President Trump has addressed the bizarre headline-grabbing development which has jolted Venezuela back center-stage in the news and in Washington.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CA Gov. Newsom Sued Over Program Giving $75 Million to Illegal Immigrants
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a lawsuit over his administration’s allocation of $75 million in funds for illegal immigrants who have been impacted by the coronavirus in his state.
The suit was filed by conservative legal group Judicial Watch, which accused Newsom of pushing “plainly illegal direct cash payments, using taxpayer dollars, to illegal aliens.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU: COVID-19 Does Not Suspend Asylum Rights
On March 16, the European Commission recommended a temporary restriction of non-essential travel from third countries into the “EU+ area” for 30 days. On April 8, the European Commission recommended that the temporary restriction be prolonged until May 15. According to the European Commission’s press release:
“The Commission’s assessment of the current situation points to a continued rise in the number of new cases and deaths across the EU, as well as to the progression of the pandemic outside of the EU, including in countries from where millions of people usually travel to the EU every year. In this context, prolonging the travel restriction is necessary to reduce the risk of the disease spreading further.”
According to Margaritis Schinas, the Commission’s Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life:
“While we can see encouraging first results, prolonging the travel restriction is necessary to continue reducing the risks of the disease spreading further. We should not yet let the door open whilst we are securing our house.”
However, persons “in need of international protection or for other humanitarian reasons” are exempted from these restrictions on non-essential travel from third countries, according to a European Commission document dates March 30, 2020, entitled: “Guidance on the implementation of the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU, on the facilitation of transit arrangements for the repatriation of EU citizens, and on the effects on visa policy”. This means that people who apply for international protection cannot be turned away and that the rights of migrants and refugees to apply for asylum cannot be suspended, even in the time of coronavirus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Migration Agency Expects 21,000 New ‘Asylum Seekers’ In 2020
Sweden’s Migration Board in April estimated that 21,000 people will seek asylum in Sweden this year, 2,000 fewer than were estimated the agency’s February forecast.
On its website, the Migration Board states that the number of migrants seeking asylum in Sweden has nearly halved since the end of March due to conditions which have resulted from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Individuals seeking asylum presently are those who were already in the country prior to the pandemic’s outbreak.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Takes Down 31 QAnon Groups, Pages, And Accounts “Ahead of the 2020 Election”
Over the past month, Facebook and other tech giants have ramped up their efforts to censor what they say is conspiracy theory content.
And today, Facebook announced that it has removed 20 accounts, six groups, and five pages linked to “individuals associated with the QAnon network known to spread fringe conspiracy theories.”
QAnon followers believe that a high-level government insider or group of insiders who are working to bring down the Deep State (a cabal that operates independently of elected officials to promote their own interests and ideologies) share their plans through online posts made by an anonymous user account named “Q.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mainstream Media Slams PewDiePie After He Signs Exclusive YouTube Live Streaming Deal
Yesterday, top YouTuber PewDiePie signed an exclusive live streaming deal with the platform and now, right on time, mainstream media outlets are already starting to use the deal as an opportunity to bring up years-old incidents.
Both Forbes and VICE have published articles reporting on the deal and suggested that it’s an example of PewDiePie not facing consequences for his past actions.
The articles reference the controversy surrounding PewDiePie in February 2017 after The Wall Street Journal used his jokes out of context, a September 2017 incident where PewDiePie said the n-word during a live stream, and several other years-old incidents.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Major Crisis Averted! Netflix and AOC Propaganda Film to Educate Your Kids
AOC and the rest of the socialist Democrats are highly organized, well funded, and have a lot of power players backing them — like most of the media, Facebook, Twitter, and George Soros and plenty of other progressive voices. Many of AOC’s positions are, like the Green New Deal — an exercise in futility combined with stupidity…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tumblr to Delete All Reblogs of “Hate Speech”
Once extremely popular blogging and social networking site Tumblr has largely fallen off the radar over the past years — and that may be putting it mildly. Now, its strategy to regain some of that past glory seems to be more censorship — even if that is precisely what undermined its business in the first place.
Bought by Yahoo for $1.1 million in 2013, Tumblr was sold again last year — after hemorrhaging millions of users — for reportedly only $3 million. The new owner is Automattic, who has WordPress.com in its portfolio.
One of the reasons often cited for Tumblr’s slow demise has been the growing amount of censorship under Yahoo (Verizon) stewardship: most notably, in 2018, Tumblr outlawed all that it deemed to be pornographic content.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Tests Prompting Users to “Rethink” What They’re About to Say With New Dystopian Feature
If you were in any way speculating that policymakers at Twitter were using George Orwell’s book, 1984, as a guideline and being purposely dystopian in their approach to technology and to speech, today may confirm your suspicions.
Twitter, in response to pressure from mainstream media that demand better control of offensive or harmful content on the platform, has announced it will start an experiment in which it will warn users if what they’re about to say is problematic. Twitter will give users a chance to correct their wrongthink before posting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Oxford Refuses to Drop ‘Transphobic’ And ‘Misogynistic’ Texts From Reading Lists
University of Oxford has turned down a proposal from its Students’ Union requesting a new “Academic Hate Speech Motion”. The motion asks for the current university policy on academic free speech to be amended so that people who are disabled, from working class backgrounds, women, trans and non-binary can “receive equivalent protection from hateful speech within University contexts as groups which are protected by the criminal law”.
Currently, the university’s policy on academic hate speech protects most academic speech that is considered “lawful”. The proposed motion argues that this is not enough, asking instead to “ensure that trans and non-binary people, women, and disabled people receive equivalent protection from hateful speech within University contexts as groups which are protected by the criminal law”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sony Was Granted a Patent for “Spoiler Blocking” Technology Just Days Before the Last of US 2 Leaks
On the heels of Sony and Naughty Dog’s overreach in abusing the DMCA system to cover up leaks of The Last of Us 2, it’s been revealed that Sony has patented new “spoiler-blocking technology” which could be coming alongside the new Playstation 5 set to launch this year.
Sony has devised a new system that is supposed to help players that are playing a game avoid spoilers online until they’ve finished the game. Sony were granted the patent on April 23rd, 2020 — just four days before controversial and off-putting leaked scenes from the upcoming game The Last of Us 2 were leaked online.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
I don’t watch PewDiePie, but I’m aware of him. It’s absurd to see how intensely the leftists hate him, and all the guy does is make pop culture videos. The man talks about video games and anime. But because he’s not some leftist genderqueer commie freak, the leftists want him dead.
Speaking of totalitarian scum, I’m also starting to see more talk online of resisting the communists. Plenty of globalist governors and mayors are trying to keep this lockdown going indefinitely. They’re sending their cops out in APC’s and with automatic weapons to stop productive people from being productive (like in Las Vegas, NV and Dallas, TX). There’s increasing talk of using guerilla combat tactics to shut down the communist enforcers. Talk is cheap, but this kind of talk is something new.
You would have to possess a heart of stone not to laugh
At this buffoon.
Seriously though, instrumental in destroying GB’s economy
On a false premis which the UK government is now to
Embarrassed to admit.
Would suggest he and his married love be sentenced to
A naked walk of shame (ala Game of thrones) down the
Mall to be pelted with detritus by the London population
(Suitably socially distanced and face masked of course)
Well, he has my sympathy; my beloved and I (neither married) spend weekends together at one another’s places, though we do take great care to travel at quiet times on near-empty trains, with masks and gloves. Much easier to maintain anti-social distancing there than in my local park, with thoughtless joggers hurtling close by.
Yes,Erdogan is Greek from Pontos ,(from the village Potamia)what we call the Greeks of the Black Sea(the Argonauts).
Both his parents were Greeks.The year 2019 is the 100th year from the Pontiac Genocide.
In Turkey there are some millions of Greeks who have changed their religion and now they are lost for us.
The real Turks are not the majority.There are Armenians,what was left of them,and Assyrians what was left of them also and Kurds.
Turkey has no history,Turkey is a country with a criminal record.
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2020/05/06/hezbollah-terror-chief-blames-u-s-israel-for-germanys-ban/
Have they caught anyone slamming heroin st Number 10 yet? Or caught Boris sneaking something or one out the back door? That Boris hairy says it all. Surely that new legal eagle labor leader will dismantle these liars cheats and thieves through simple very cross examination?
More footage emerges of France’s extra enriching dose of Muslim rioting a week ago.
https://twitter.com/McguireScotty/status/1254987425270693889
“Only 273 people out of 18.1million who came to the country in the three months leading up to the nation-wide lockdown were put into quarantine”
18 million people flooded Britain when Brits were being arrested for taking walks?! What the £#<¥
I hear there may be a change to this policy in the PM’s announcement on Sunday, not before time.
Much Needed Context To The Current CV19 Hysteria
http://attacreport.com/ar_audio/ref_aids_video_1.htm
http://attacreport.com/ar_audio/ref_aids_video_2.htm