Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/16/2020

A group of churches in northern California is suing Governor Gavin Newsom over a ban on singing in houses of worship. Meanwhile, the Kroger supermarket chain will make the wearing of masks mandatory in its stores beginning next week.

In other news, a 15-year-old Mongolian boy died of bubonic plague after eating an infected marmot.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, JF, 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
» 1 of 2 Lawsuits to Remove Robert E. Lee Statue Dropped; Judge in Another Recuses Himself From Case
» After Backlash, The Smithsonian Removes That Chart Breaking Down ‘Whiteness and White Culture’ In the US
» Berkeley, CA, Votes to Replace Police With Unarmed Civilians for Traffic Stops
» California Churches Sue Gov. Newsom Over Singing Ban
» CNN Annoyed That Twitter Hasn’t Censored Trump More
» Democrat Governor of Michigan Uses Emergency Alert System to Dictate Mask Wearing
» Efforts Underway to Scale Back Some of Gov. Whitmer’s Powers
» Epstein Accuser Says Ghislaine Maxwell is “Worse” And Was “Pulling the Strings”
» Fox Will Keep Nick Cannon as Host of “The Masked Singer” Despite Anti-White, Anti-Semitic Rant
» Georgia Governor Bans Cities, Counties From Mandating Masks
» Get Ready for the “Rainbow Nation” of America
» Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘Life is in Danger’ If She Plans to Reveal Names of Powerful Clients
» Grisly Details as Dismembered Millionaire Tech CEO Found by Sister ‘With No Head’
» Ilhan Omar’s Payments to Husband’s Firm Top $1 Million
» Joy Reid Again Faces Defamation Lawsuit Over Social Media Posts
» Kanye West Files New FEC Documents for 2020 Presidential Bid
» Kroger to Require Face Masks Nationwide Starting July 22
» Lawsuit Filed to Stop Removal of Pensacola Confederate Monument
» Liberty University Sues New York Times for Defamation, Accuses Paper of ‘Fictional Tale’ About COVID-19 Outbreak
» Meghan Markle Eyeing 2024 Presidential Bid: Report
» Missouri’s Republican Governor Backs the McCloskeys’ Right to Defend Themselves
» National Association of Police Organizations Endorses Trump
» NYPD Chief Who Knelt With Protesters Injured by Anti-Police Activists
» Penn State Liberal Arts College Deletes Tweet Pledging Support for Conservatives After Backlash
» Portland Protesters Copy Seattle, Form ‘Autonomous Zone’ And Kick Out Cops
» Protesters in Kentucky Charged With Trying to Intimidate the Attorney General
» Rantz: Black Lives Matter Activists Go Berserk at Passerby Filming
» Recall Petitions Filed for Boise Mayor McLean, City Council Member Lisa Sanchez
» Seattle Mayor Durkan Challenges Judge’s Ruling on Recall Petition
» Security for Minneapolis Council Members Who Called to Defund Police Totaled $152g
» Soon, You Will Need to Wear a Mask to Enter Virtually Every Major Retail Store in America
» Teens Are Dressing Up as Mask-Wearing Grandmas to Try to Score Alcohol
» Texas Health Officials Remove Over 3,000 ‘Probable’ Coronavirus Cases From Overall Count
» This Princeton Professor Criticized Black Terrorism. Now They’re Trying to Cancel Him.
» Too Much Faith in Models
» Trump Shares Photo of Himself With Goya Foods Products in the Oval Office
» Twitter Hack: FBI Investigates Major Attack
» Vandals Behead Statue at Chattanooga Catholic Church Before Saturday Mass Services
» Wesley Ira Purkey Executed in 2nd Federal Execution This Week
» Why Do Governors and Mayors Support Anarchists?
 
Europe and the EU
» Bastille Day: The Beginning of Liberal Madness
» Italy: Town Councillor Arrested in ‘Ndrangheta Probe
» New Study Predicts That Czechia Will Have 6.7 Million Inhabitants by the End of the Century
» New Species of Plant-Eating Dinosaur Identified in Switzerland
» Polish PM: Europe Must Stand With U.S. On 5G to Protect World From ‘Authoritarian Regimes’ Like China
» Shamima Begum Can Return to UK to Fight for Citizenship, Court of Appeal Rules
» She’s Back! Greta Thunberg Demands Response to Climate ‘Crisis’ Now
» UK Could be Flooded With Hundreds of ISIS Terrorists After Shamima Begum Ruling
» UK: ‘Absurd’ And ‘Unrealistic’ To Make Officers Police Mask Wearing, Say Police Federations
» UK: Farage Slams Project Fear Claims There Will be Chaos at Ports After Brexit Transition
» UK: Gone in 24 Hours: New BLM Statue Replacing Toppled Bronze Removed, Loaded Into Council Rubbish Truck
» UK: London Tube Cleaners Wash Off ‘Rat Thing’ Graffiti by So-Called Artist Banksy
» UK: MP Links Leicester ‘Modern Slavery’ Sweatshops to Coronavirus Outbreaks
 
Far East
» 15-Year-Old Mongolian Boy Dies of Bubonic Plague
» Barr Accuses Big Tech of Bowing to China
» Christians in China Ordered to Renounce Faith, Worship Communist Government to Receive Welfare Payments
» The Chinese Governments Makes it Illegal for Individuals or Companies — Anywhere in the World — to Support Democracy in Hong Kong.
 
Australia — Pacific
» Australia to Offer Permanent Residency to 10,000 Hong Kongers
» ‘He Can’t Recover’: Ray Hadley Unloads on ‘Dead and Buried’ Daniel Andrews Over His Handling of the Coronavirus Crisis
» Massive 700metre Wall Will be Built at the Border Between New South Wales and Queensland to Stop Rat-Runners Sneaking Past Cops
» Revealed: The Melbourne Coronavirus Hotspot Suburbs Where Cases Are Surging Despite Tough Lockdown Measures
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Nigeria to be Dominant Global Power Within 80yrs, African Nations to Lead in Total Population Growth, Report Predicts
» Over 1,200 Christians Killed in Nigeria in First Half of 2020
» Sudan’s Liberalization for the Chosen Few
 
Immigration
» Greece: Criminals Selling Fake Coronavirus-Test Negative Results for Border-Crossing Travellers
» UK: News Policy Boss Admits BBC Failed to Cover Euroscepticism, Immigration Concerns
 
Culture Wars
» Google Accused of Prioritizing YouTube in Supposedly “Organic” Search Results
» Rolling Stone Writer Calls for the Word “Pro-Life” To be Retired Because it’s ‘Racist’
» Statues of Virgin Mary & Jesus Decapitated in Latest Anti-Effigy Attacks
» The Three Es of Taking Your Property
 
General
» A Mask Cuts Your COVID-19 Risk by 65%, Experts Say
 

1 of 2 Lawsuits to Remove Robert E. Lee Statue Dropped; Judge in Another Recuses Himself From Case

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) — One of the two lawsuits seeking to stop the state of Virginia from removing the Robert E. Lee Monument has been dropped by the plaintiffs. And the other pending lawsuit has been reassigned to a new judge.

The announcement about the lawsuit being dropped came just hours before a scheduled hearing Thursday where Attorney General Mark Herring had filed a motion to combine both measures.

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

After Backlash, The Smithsonian Removes That Chart Breaking Down ‘Whiteness and White Culture’ In the US

As Twitchy reported Wednesday, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture had posted on its website a chart called, “Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness & White Culture in the United States.” The chart examined aspects of whiteness such as individualism, hard work, the scientific method, the nuclear family, respect for authority, and delayed gratification that are ingrained in American culture as the “norm.”

The Smithsonian must have heard the message loud and clear and on Thursday announced that it had removed the chart.

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

Berkeley, CA, Votes to Replace Police With Unarmed Civilians for Traffic Stops

The progressive city of Berkeley, California, on Wednesday morning voted to move forward with a new proposal that would remove police from traffic stops and replace them with unarmed citizens.

The City Council approved the plan during a nine-hour virtual meeting that concluded around 3 a.m. The vote calls on the city manager to form a public committee that would be responsible for creating a separate department to handle transportation planning in addition to enforcing parking and traffic laws.

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

California Churches Sue Gov. Newsom Over Singing Ban

Three churches in northern California are suing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state health officials over a singing ban imposed on houses of worship during the coronavirus pandemic.

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

CNN Annoyed That Twitter Hasn’t Censored Trump More

CNN is pissed that Twitter has not more aggressively censored posts by The President of the United States, complaining that the platform’s ‘fact check’ rules are ‘too rigid’ and “allow Trump to continue spreading false information about the election.”

Writer Marshall Cohen notes that while Twitter initially censored Trump back in May, “seven weeks later, and after a dozen similarly untruthful tweets from the President, that extraordinary step by Twitter looks more like a one-time aberration than the new normal.”

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

Democrat Governor of Michigan Uses Emergency Alert System to Dictate Mask Wearing

Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has come under fire for using the State’s emergency alert system to order residents to wear face masks.

The IPAWSCAP, or Integrated Public Alert Warning System, sent out thousands of messages to cell phones Monday afternoon ‘alerting’ people that it is compulsory that they were face masks in public.

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

Efforts Underway to Scale Back Some of Gov. Whitmer’s Powers

LANSING, Mich. — There are two efforts underway in Michigan to scale back some of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s powers.

The governor has maintained she’s using her emergency power to save lives, but some critics say she’s gone too far. Critics of Whitmer are taking a two-pronged approach to curb her powers — a citizens initiative to repeal the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945 and the other is to recall her from office.

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

Epstein Accuser Says Ghislaine Maxwell is “Worse” And Was “Pulling the Strings”

Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre says that Ghislaine Maxwell “did things even worse than Epstein did” and was the one responsible for “pulling the strings” during the alleged sex trafficking operation.

During an interview with CBS This Morning earlier today, Giuffre said that Maxwell’s management of Epstein’s money and contacts made her an integral part of the crime.

“She is a monster. She’s worse than Epstein. She did things even worse than Epstein did. She was vicious. She was evil, and she’s a woman,” said Giuffre.

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

Fox Will Keep Nick Cannon as Host of “The Masked Singer” Despite Anti-White, Anti-Semitic Rant

Fox has decided that it will not fire Nick Cannon — as ViacomCBS did — over an anti-white, anti-Semitic rant he delivered during a recent episode of his podcast.

Cannon will continue working for Fox as host of popular show “The Masked Singer,” despite the overtly racist remarks in which he, among other things, called people with less melanin “a little less,” “closer to animals,” and “the true savages.”

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

Georgia Governor Bans Cities, Counties From Mandating Masks

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has barred cities and counties from mandating that masks be worn in public to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kemp’s order is an extension of previous orders that encouraged — rather than required — wearing masks. He said that mandating masks was “a bridge too far.”

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

Get Ready for the “Rainbow Nation” of America

The key to the Soros/Gaspard strategy is to shame enough whites into joining the communist coalition. These are the “progressive whites” caught up in the George Floyd protests. Through one of the most skillful propaganda campaigns ever launched, the cops in the Floyd case were portrayed as cold-blooded killers….

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘Life is in Danger’ If She Plans to Reveal Names of Powerful Clients

Virginia Roberts Giuffre says that Ghislaine Maxwell’s life is in danger if she plans to reveal the names of powerful names who were part of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.

During an interview with CBS This Morning earlier today, the Epstein accuser said that Maxwell was under threat due to the nature of what she knows about wealthy elitists who were involved in the scandal.

Asked by the host if she thought Maxwell’s “life is in danger,” Giuffre responded, “Absolutely.”

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

Grisly Details as Dismembered Millionaire Tech CEO Found by Sister ‘With No Head’

Gruesome details have emerged after the decapitated and dismembered body of a tech CEO was found inside his luxury New York apartment.

Fahim Saleh’s torso was found near several large plastic bags containing his head and limbs that had been severed with a electric saw, which was next to his remains and still plugged in, it is reported.

His legs below the knees and his arms had been removed, and his head was found inside the £1.6 million flat, where a neighbour heard screams.

The grisly crime scene was discovered by one of Mr Saleh’s sisters, and a witness saw a “hysterical” woman burst out of the lobby, screaming “he has no head” and sobbing while making an arm motion.

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

Ilhan Omar’s Payments to Husband’s Firm Top $1 Million

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) campaign how now funneled over $1 million to her husband’s consulting firm according to the Washington Free Beacon, which has analyzed Federal Election Commission records released Tuesday afternoon.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Joy Reid Again Faces Defamation Lawsuit Over Social Media Posts

An appellate court has ruled that Joy Reid, the new host of MSNBC’s 7 p.m. weeknight hour, should again face a defamation lawsuit over a woman’s claim that, in Reid’s social media posts, she falsely accused her of making racist remarks at a 2018 Simi Valley, CA city council meeting.

The plaintiff in the case, Roslyn La Liberte, contends that in one of Reid’s social media posts on Instagram, she defamed her by attributing racist remarks to her. Then in another post on Facebook and Instagram, La Liberte claims, Reid juxtaposed a photo from the council meeting with the 1957 image of a white woman in Little Rock screaming execrations at a Black child trying to go to school.

The appellate ruling overturns a district judge’s decision that the case should be dismissed.

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

Kanye West Files New FEC Documents for 2020 Presidential Bid

Critically acclaimed rap artist Kanye West filed a second set of documents Thursday with the Federal Commissions Election, proving that his 2020 presidential run is still on course

West filed a Statement of Candidacy with the FEC, showing that he has raised at least $5,000 for his campaign, TMZ reported.

The second set of paperwork, which grants him official candidacy status, lists his party as “BDY” — an abbreviated from of “Birthday Party” — and his home as Cody, Wyoming, where he and his wife Kim Kardashian own a property worth $14 million.

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

Kroger to Require Face Masks Nationwide Starting July 22

Kroger announced on Wednesday that all customers would be required to wear masks at its stores nationwide starting July 22.

Kroger said that customers who medically cannot tolerate a mask should consider “an alternative option like a face shield or facial covering” or use the company’s grocery pickup service.

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

Lawsuit Filed to Stop Removal of Pensacola Confederate Monument

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, Save Southern Heritage and other groups have sued the city of Pensacola to stop the removal of the Confederate monument.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday ahead of the City Council’s 6-1 vote to remove the monument.

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

Liberty University Sues New York Times for Defamation, Accuses Paper of ‘Fictional Tale’ About COVID-19 Outbreak

Liberty University announced on Wednesday that it sued The New York Times for defamation over a March story about an alleged coronavirus outbreak at the school.

The University in Lynchburg, Virginia, called the article a “fictional tale’ meant to function as “click-bait,” after the story claimed there was a COVID-19 outbreak that happened during an attempted reopening, The New York Post reported.

The case was reportedly filed in the Virginia Circuit Court and cites the Times’ March 29 story titled, “Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, and Coronavirus Fears, Too.”

The story claimed that about 12 students “were sick with symptoms that suggested Covid-19,” when the school reopened its doors.

The doctor featured in the story told the Times that most of the sick students had “‘upper respiratory infection,” which amounts to a cold, instead of the lower respiratory infection indicative of COVID-19,” the lawsuit states.

“There was never an on-campus student diagnosed with COVID-19,” the suit went on to say.

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

Meghan Markle Eyeing 2024 Presidential Bid: Report

Meghan Markle is interested in running for president in 2024, according to an unnamed source.

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

Missouri’s Republican Governor Backs the McCloskeys’ Right to Defend Themselves

St. Louis, MO has been the scene of violent protests over the past few weeks. In the most notorious case of violence related to the unrest, rioters murderedretired police captain David Dorn and ransacked his pawnshop. Dorn was black. His killers shot him multiple times.

As “defund the police” gained traction in St. Louis and other cities, and cities all over the country lost hard-won ground to violent crime, Americans purchased firearms in record numbers. They are preparing to have to defend themselves.

It was in this context, and the rising violence and abdication of public safety in St. Louis and many other cities around the country, that a St. Louis couple, Mike and Patricia McCloskey, suddenly found themselves facing a large number of protesters on their property last month. The moment was captured on video that went viral.

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

National Association of Police Organizations Endorses Trump

The National Association of Police Organizations published an open letter in support of President Trump on Wednesday, thanking him for his “steadfast” support of law enforcement.

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

NYPD Chief Who Knelt With Protesters Injured by Anti-Police Activists

NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, who knelt with protesters in June, was one of seven officers attacked and injured during protests in New York on Wednesday.

Monahan and the officers were marching with a pro-police group when an anti-police group attacked them on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. “Defund the Police” protesters encamped outside NYC City Hall clashed with NYPD officers.

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

Penn State Liberal Arts College Deletes Tweet Pledging Support for Conservatives After Backlash

A Pennsylvania university has been forced to delete a tweet that expressed support for conservative voices. The tweet enraged progressive students and the Penn State College of Liberal Arts caved and took it down.

“Dear students, each of you belong here,” the first sentence of the tweet read. The tweet continued to express support for different groups, including blacks, latinos, LGBTQ, jews and muslims. Therein was a statement that read, “Dear conservative students, your viewpoints are important.”

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

Portland Protesters Copy Seattle, Form ‘Autonomous Zone’ And Kick Out Cops

After nearly 40 days of unrest, demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, have successfully evicted law enforcement from a park in the city’s downtown, creating their own “autonomous zone” like the one that was dismantled last week in Seattle, Washington.

“Anti-fascist” protesters have been waging a nightly war against police and federal law enforcement agents in downtown Portland, centered around a federal courthouse that demonstrators were looking to “occupy.” The confrontations gradually became more violent until, in an incident earlier this week, a protester received a gruesome injury from a non-lethal pellet after allegedly throwing a “canister” at federal agents.

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

Protesters in Kentucky Charged With Trying to Intimidate the Attorney General

The Louisville Metro Police Department says that 87 protesters demanding the arrest of police officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor were themselves arrested at the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. The protesters, many of them sitting on the lawn in front of Cameron’s house, were arrested without incident.

They were charged with “Intimidating a Participant in a Legal Process (Class D felony), Disorderly Conduct 2nd Degree (Class B misdemeanor), and Criminal Trespass 3rd Degree. (Violation).”

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

Rantz: Black Lives Matter Activists Go Berserk at Passerby Filming

A small Black Lives Matter protest outside of Seattle got real aggressive, real fast. When a man was walking by to film the activism, a group of young activists immediately got enraged, cursing and trying to block him from filming.

Brian O’Kelly is a podcaster who stopped to talk with conservative protesters and progressive counter-protesters in Woodinville near Molbak’s Garden and Home on Wednesday. He had just finished some interviews when he decided to approach the counter-protesters. They weren’t having it.

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

Recall Petitions Filed for Boise Mayor McLean, City Council Member Lisa Sanchez

BOISE, Idaho — Some Idahoans are trying to kick Mayor Lauren McLean and Boise City Council Member Lisa Sanchez to the curb.

On Wednesday, the Idaho Press reports a group of activists filed a petition to begin the process of trying to recall McLean and give voters the opportunity to remove them from office in a special election if they do not choose to resign. The petition to recall McLean was filed Wednesday morning and the petition to recall Sanchez was filed later that afternoon.

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

Seattle Mayor Durkan Challenges Judge’s Ruling on Recall Petition

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan filed a motion Wednesday, calling on a judge to reconsider a ruling made last week that will allow a recall petition to move forward into the signature-gathering phase.

The ruling from a King County judge last Friday struck down six of seven assertions made in the petition, upholding the one that alleged the mayor had failed to take action regarding extreme crowd control measures — including the use of tear gas — employed by police during protests that took place in downtown Seattle and on Capitol Hill.

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

Security for Minneapolis Council Members Who Called to Defund Police Totaled $152g

The taxpayers of Minneapolis will foot a $152,000 bill for security services given to three members of the City Council who received death threats following their calls to defund the police in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Soon, You Will Need to Wear a Mask to Enter Virtually Every Major Retail Store in America

If you are adamant about not wearing a mask, you are not going to like this news one bit. Coming into this week, Costco, Starbucks, Best Buy and Panera Bread were requiring customers to wear masks to come into their stores, but most other major retailers were still giving people the freedom to choose whether they wanted to wear a mask or not. I know that a lot of people appreciated this freedom to choose, but it is about to come to an abrupt end. On Wednesday, Walmart and Kroger announced that they will be starting to require consumers to wear masks in all of their stores, and the National Retail Federation is pushing all of the rest of their members to do the same thing. In the days ahead it is expected that most of them will follow suit, and that means that soon there will be very few major retail stores that you are able to enter without wearing a mask.

Walmart says that they decided to make this change in order to “bring consistency” across all of their stores.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Teens Are Dressing Up as Mask-Wearing Grandmas to Try to Score Alcohol

In a pandemic, no one knows you’re underage.

That’s what Gen Z has discovered as they’ve updated the fake ID for the COVID-19 era, hitting up liquor stores dressed as elderly grandmas wearing coronavirus face masks.

The “prank” has taken social media platform TikTok by storm, with videos of users bedecked as boozehound bubbies — seemingly victorious, bottles in hand — racking up millions of views.

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

Texas Health Officials Remove Over 3,000 ‘Probable’ Coronavirus Cases From Overall Count

Texas health officials removed more than 3,000 reported coronavirus cases from an overall count after “probable” cases for people who were never tested were counted as confirmed cases.

“Since we report confirmed cases on our dashboard, we have removed 3,484 previously reported probable cases from the statewide and Bexar County totals,” Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the state health agency, said to the Austin American-Statesman.

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

This Princeton Professor Criticized Black Terrorism. Now They’re Trying to Cancel Him.

More than 200 Princeton University faculty recently signed a letter demanding nearly 50 initiatives to address what the scholars contend is rampant anti-blackness and racism that festers at the Ivy League institution

One classics professor at Princeton University decided he was not going to let their rhetoric stand unchallenged — and for that the so-called cancel culture mob has set its sights on him.

Professor Joshua Katz is the latest target of campus social justice warrior activists and academics furious over his “Declaration of Independence” column he wrote in response to his peers’ racial justice demands.

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

Too Much Faith in Models

Between 2 million and 3 million Americans will die!

That was the prediction from “experts” at London’s Imperial College when COVID-19 began. They did also say if there was “social distancing of the whole population,” the death toll could be cut in half, but 1.1 million to 1.46 million Americans would still die by this summer. Our actual death toll has been about one-tenth of that.

Nevertheless, Imperial College’s model was extremely influential.

Politicians issued stay-at-home orders. They said we must trust the “experts.”…

If he and other politicians had just done just a little research, then they would have known that Imperial College researchers repeatedly predict great disasters that don’t happen. Their model predicted 65,000 deaths from swine flu, 136,000 from mad cow disease, and 200 million from bird flu.

The real numbers were in the hundreds.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Shares Photo of Himself With Goya Foods Products in the Oval Office

President Trump used his Instagram account to show off a host of Goya Foods products on his Oval Office desk. In the photo, a smiling Trump sits behind the items.

Goya Foods has been the focus of a social media boycott effort after its CEO, Robert Unanue, praised Trump at a White House event last week. The boycott was spearheaded by Democratic politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and former presidential candidate Julian Castro. Several celebrities also joined in on the criticism. Despite the threats, Unanue refused to back down from his remarks.

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

Twitter Hack: FBI Investigates Major Attack

The FBI has launched an investigation after hackers hijacked Twitter accounts of a number of high-profile US figures in an apparent Bitcoin scam.

“The accounts appear to have been compromised in order to perpetuate cryptocurrency fraud,” said the bureau, urging the public to be vigilant.

Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Joe Biden were among those hit in what Twitter said was a “co-ordinated” attack.

Their official accounts requested donations in the cryptocurrency.

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

Vandals Behead Statue at Chattanooga Catholic Church Before Saturday Mass Services

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Chattanooga Police Department is investigating after someone vandalized a 5-foot tall statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the St. Stephen Catholic Church on Lee Highway.

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

Wesley Ira Purkey Executed in 2nd Federal Execution This Week

The U.S. executed Wesely Ira Purkey on Thursday morning in the second federal execution this week. Purkey, 68, died by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Purkey was convicted for kidnapping and killing 16-year-old Jennifer Long in 1998.

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

Why Do Governors and Mayors Support Anarchists?

The mayor of Portland, Oregon, Ted Wheeler, for the past 46 days, watched and supported Antifa and Black Lives Matter anarchists, burn and loot his city. In the past two days, those criminals attempted to burn and loot the county courthouse. When President Trump sent in federal agents to defend the city, Mr. Wheeler condemned the president for bringing law and order to Portland…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Bastille Day: The Beginning of Liberal Madness

This Tuesday, the French celebrated Bastille Day, the mob attack on a Parisian prison that has come to symbolize the French Revolution, a period of massive violence that produced nothing other than a lot of dead Frenchmen. Their revolution was the screech of a mob, much as we are seeing in several of our own cities and towns today. So let’s review this absurdly celebrated event.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Town Councillor Arrested in ‘Ndrangheta Probe

Busto Arsizio official issued fake invoices for boss’ relatives

(ANSA) — MILAN, JUL 13 — A city councillor was arrested Monday in a probe into the infiltration of the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta mafia into the waste management sector of the northern region of Lombardy.

Paolo Efrem, a councillor at Busto Arsizio near Varese north of Milan, was among five people arrested.

He was charged with issuing false invoices and helping ‘Ndrangheta clans.

Police said Efrem issue bogus invoices totalling over 100,000 euros to create slush funds for the benefit of the relatives of a jailed ‘Ndrangheta boss, Silvio Farao.

In return, the local ‘Ndrangheta branch helped organise his election campaigns, police said.

‘Ndrangheta is Italy’s richest and most powerful mafia.

It has outstripped Sicily’s Cosa Nostra thanks to its control of the European cocaine trade.

Its tentacles have spread from its southern Italian base to central and northern Italy, northern Europe, North America and Australia, among other areas.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

New Study Predicts That Czechia Will Have 6.7 Million Inhabitants by the End of the Century

According to a study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the world’s population will peak and then start decreasing in the second half of the century, with about 8.8 billion people living on the planet by 2100.

The IHME report, published in The Lancet medical journal, suggests revolutionary changes that will alter the balance of the world as well as individual societies.

And Czechia will be no exception to this trend, the authors of the study presume. The Czech population should reach its maximum of 10.6 million people this year, and then it is expected to decrease. According to the study, in 2100, Czechia will have a population of 6.73 million people.

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

New Species of Plant-Eating Dinosaur Identified in Switzerland

Schleitheimia schutzi lived approximately 210 million years ago (Triassic period) in what is now Switzerland.

The ancient animal is one of the earliest representatives of Sauropodomorpha, a large group of long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives.

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

Polish PM: Europe Must Stand With U.S. On 5G to Protect World From ‘Authoritarian Regimes’ Like China

Conservative Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said that Europe must enhance its alliance with the United States into the “technological dimension”, especially in the construction of next-generation telecommunications like 5G in order to protect the world from “authoritarian regimes” such as China.

Prime Minister Morawiecki of the socially conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party remarked on how the Chinese coronavirus had laid bare the Western world’s vulnerability in terms of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

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

Shamima Begum Can Return to UK to Fight for Citizenship, Court of Appeal Rules

Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to the UK to fight the decision to remove her British citizenship, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Ms Begum, now 20, was one of three schoolgirls who left London to join the Islamic State group in Syria in 2015.

Her citizenship was revoked by the Home Office on security grounds after she was found in a refugee camp in 2019.

The Court of Appeal said she had been denied a fair hearing because she could not make her case from the Syrian camp.

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

She’s Back! Greta Thunberg Demands Response to Climate ‘Crisis’ Now

Teenage climate worrier Greta Thunberg issued a string of fresh demands Thursday for world leaders to take emergency action on climate change, lamenting some had “given up” on the possibility of preparing a decent future for coming generations.

Key to her list of executive actions was an immediate end to all investments in fossil fuel in parallel with a shutting down of fossil fuel subsidies as well as making “ecocide an international crime at the International Criminal Court.”

In an interview with Reuters, the 17-year-old said governments must accept the need to transform the global economic system as a basic step in avoiding “a climate catastrophe.”

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

UK Could be Flooded With Hundreds of ISIS Terrorists After Shamima Begum Ruling

According to Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, the UK could be flooded with hundreds of ISIS terrorists after judges ruled ISIS bride Shamima Begum could return to the country to challenge her citizenship being stripped.

Begum left the country in February 2015 to join ISIS in Syria and lived there for three years during which she became pregnant.

It was subsequently reported that Begum pointed an automatic weapon at women in Syria for “wearing brightly colored shoes”. She also stitched bombs into suicide vests to ensure they exploded when taken off.

Begum also said during interviews that seeing decapitated heads in trash cans didn’t faze her because the victims were “enemies of Islam”.

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

UK: ‘Absurd’ And ‘Unrealistic’ To Make Officers Police Mask Wearing, Say Police Federations

Major police federations have slammed the assumption that officers will be on the frontline enforcing mask-wearing inside of shops and supermarkets, calling it “impossible”, “unrealistic”, and “absurd”.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he will make wearing masks compulsory in shops and supermarkets from Friday, July 24th. Police have been given new powers to enforce the anti-coronavirus measure, able to fine those in contravention of the rules by up to £100.

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

UK: Farage Slams Project Fear Claims There Will be Chaos at Ports After Brexit Transition

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has rejected claims that there would be chaos at Britain’s ports if the EU fails to agree on a new trade deal with the UK, adding that it would not be in Europe’s interest to block the flow of trade.

Following five months of negotiations, London and Brussels are at a stalemate over the terms of a new agreement. Britain wants to regain control of its laws and regulations, and the European Union has said that it will not agree on a deal unless the UK stays aligned with some of the bloc’s rules.

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

UK: Gone in 24 Hours: New BLM Statue Replacing Toppled Bronze Removed, Loaded Into Council Rubbish Truck

Bristol city council used a hydraulic arm recycling lorry to remove a newly installed statue of a BLM activist placed on the now-vacant plinth that once held a bronze of Edward Colston, a city merchant and slave trade profiteer that was pulled down by an angry mob in June.

The new statue, created by Marc Quinn through a process of computer modelling and 3d printing as opposed to traditional sculpture, was installed in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Bristol city centre. The piece, by the London-based artist, did not have authorisation from the city council and despite the extensive press attention it got, the local authority moved swiftly to take it down.

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

UK: London Tube Cleaners Wash Off ‘Rat Thing’ Graffiti by So-Called Artist Banksy

Cleaners on the London Underground who “noticed some sort of ‘rat thing’“ graffiti on a train had cleaned it off — to the reported horror of ‘social media’ when it was found to be by Banksy.

Transport for London had initially said that the work had been removed on Friday because it breached the organisation’s “strict anti-graffiti policy”.

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

UK: MP Links Leicester ‘Modern Slavery’ Sweatshops to Coronavirus Outbreaks

A Member of Parliament has linked illegal sweatshops in Leicester, England, to the coronavirus outbreaks which have seen the city put into special lockdown measures, as a parliamentary committee takes Internet retailers employing their services to task and law enforcement carry out a spate of modern slavery arrests elsewhere in the country.

The developments follow Britain’s Home Secretary, Priti Patel, revealing that the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other law enforcement agencies have been attending premises where workers are alleged to have been forced to work through the anti-coronavirus lockdown in unsafe conditions to “assess concerns of modern slavery and human trafficking”, around the same time as a major report by the Centre for Social Justice estimated that there are at least 100,000 modern slavery victims across the country.

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

15-Year-Old Mongolian Boy Dies of Bubonic Plague

A 15-year-old boy in western Mongolia died of bubonic plague Sunday, the country’s health officials announced.

The teenager contracted the disease after eating an infected marmot he had hunted and killed. Two other teenagers who also ate the marmot were being treated with antibiotics, ministry spokesperson Narangerel Dorj reported.

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

Barr Accuses Big Tech of Bowing to China

United States Attorney General Bill Barr has accused Silicon Valley companies of helping to extend the Chinese government’s power over the American nation. According to Barr, mega-corporations are easily giving in to the demands of the Chinese Communist Party, dragging their policies to other countries.

During a speech Thursday at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Michigan, Barr accused Hollywood and companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google of being easily manipulated by the Beijing government. These mega-corporations have been forced to censor content or change their policies to satisfy Chinese regulators. However, on many occasions, the content they censor in China also is censored in the rest of the world.

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

Christians in China Ordered to Renounce Faith, Worship Communist Government to Receive Welfare Payments

Impoverished Christians living in China who are receiving aid from the state have been ordered to renounce their faith or have their welfare benefits revoked, according to reports from Bitter Winter, a non-profit organization dedicated to religious and human rights in China.

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

The Chinese Governments Makes it Illegal for Individuals or Companies — Anywhere in the World — to Support Democracy in Hong Kong.

In other words — If you want to keep your business in China, Hollywood, Nike, Google, don’t you dare speak against the authoritarian regime in Beijing or voice support for those fighting for freedom in Hong Kong.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Australia to Offer Permanent Residency to 10,000 Hong Kongers

YDNEY (AP) — The Australian government says it will offer around 10,000 Hong Kong passport holders currently living in Australia a chance to apply for permanent residence once their current visas expire.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government believes China’s imposition of a new tough national security law on the semi-autonomous territory means pro-democracy supporters may face political persecution.

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

‘He Can’t Recover’: Ray Hadley Unloads on ‘Dead and Buried’ Daniel Andrews Over His Handling of the Coronavirus Crisis

The 2GB radio presenter took aim at the Victorian premier on Thursday morning after Melbourne continued to record an alarming spike in coronavirus cases.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Massive 700metre Wall Will be Built at the Border Between New South Wales and Queensland to Stop Rat-Runners Sneaking Past Cops

The 700metre long wall is being assembled along Dixon Street in Coolangatta after reports drivers had been avoiding border checkpoints by using backstreets.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Revealed: The Melbourne Coronavirus Hotspot Suburbs Where Cases Are Surging Despite Tough Lockdown Measures

Victoria reported 238 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with 29 cases linked to outbreaks and 209 under investigation.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria to be Dominant Global Power Within 80yrs, African Nations to Lead in Total Population Growth, Report Predicts

Nigeria has been projected to be a dominant global power within 80yrs while populations in 23 countries, including Japan, Spain and Italy, will decline by more than half, a report has predicted.

According to a new report in medical journal, The Lancet, global population is likely to shrink after the middle of this century, triggering shifts in economic power.

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

Over 1,200 Christians Killed in Nigeria in First Half of 2020

(CHRISTIAN TODAY) — Over 1,200 Christians were slaughtered in Nigeria in the first six months of 2020, according to a human rights group based there.

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law said the killing of Christians had reached “genocidal” levels, the Nigerian Voice reports.

The perpetrators are Islamist militants and members of the predominantly Muslim Fulani group.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sudan’s Liberalization for the Chosen Few

It almost sounds like another revolution in Sudan: The crime of apostasy scrapped, female genital mutilation banned, alcohol allowed. But what lies behind Khartoum’s legal amendments, and who will actually benefit?

Sudan’s ruling body, the Sovereign Council, has ratified a law banning the widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). This was only one of several modifications to the country’s criminal law. The others include the decriminalization of apostasy, which so far was punishable by death and allowing non-Muslims to consume alcohol. In addition, traveling with children will now require the authorization of both sets of parents, and no longer only the father’s.

The ongoing reversal of four decades of hard-line Islamist policies and Sharia law — one year after a popular uprising toppled autocrat leader Omar al-Bashir — is being hailed across the world as much-needed progress.

Independent analyst and academic Magdi el-Gizouli agrees that latest changes to the law are indeed important, but he cautions that they should be taken with a grain of salt: “I think it requires a bit of qualification,” he told DW, highlighting his fears that the government’s measures could further divide and polarize Sudanese society.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Criminals Selling Fake Coronavirus-Test Negative Results for Border-Crossing Travellers

Criminals along the Greek border are allegedly selling fake medical certificates showing a negative result for the Wuhan coronavirus to those travelling to Greece.

The criminals are reportedly selling the fake documents for as much as €30 to €40 (£27-£36/$34-$46) to those who wish to cross the border into Greece from Balkan countries.

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

UK: News Policy Boss Admits BBC Failed to Cover Euroscepticism, Immigration Concerns

The BBC’s head of editorial standards has admitted that BBC news failed to reflect the wider nation’s concerns over immigration and the rise of Euroscepticism, with editors instead succumbing to metropolitan liberal “groupthink”.

Speaking to the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee on Tuesday, David Jordan, who has been the BBC’s Director of Editorial Policy and Standards since 2007, admitted that the BBC has failed to ensure that news teams “leave their prejudices at the door”.

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

Google Accused of Prioritizing YouTube in Supposedly “Organic” Search Results

When you search for a video on Google Search, most of the videos you will find are from YouTube. According to a report on The Wall Street Journal, Google intentionally favors results from YouTube over other competitors such as Facebook, Dailymotion, and Twitch.

The conducted tests and found out that YouTube results were much more likely to appear on Google’s search results. During the tests, they searched for videos appearing on YouTube, Facebook, and Dailymotion and found that Google favored the YouTube option even when the videos have similar titles.

According to the report, engineers at Google have intentionally tweaked search algorithms to favor YouTube results.

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

Rolling Stone Writer Calls for the Word “Pro-Life” To be Retired Because it’s ‘Racist’

Rolling Stone senior writer Jamil Smith has called for the word “pro-life” to be retired in a similar manner to the Washington Redskins because it’s ‘racist’ and ‘misogynistic’.

Yes, really.

“This point cannot be emphasized enough, or too often,” tweeted Smith. “The moniker ‘pro-life,’ so often used in the service of not just misogyny but also racism, should be retired right along with Aunt Jemima and the ‘Redskins’ team name.”

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

Statues of Virgin Mary & Jesus Decapitated in Latest Anti-Effigy Attacks

Far-left mob continues to target inanimate objects.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Three Es of Taking Your Property

What did I miss? To be sure that I’ve left nothing out, let me say that everything in our lives will be controlled by social equity/justice. And just remember, your body and your mind are your property. The powers can take your body, but not your mind. So those that are still here with a functioning mind, we must be using them now if we are to keep our bodies, our property, and our republic…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

A Mask Cuts Your COVID-19 Risk by 65%, Experts Say

  • Wearing a mask helps to protect you and others from the spread of COVID-19, which is primarily transmitted by droplets.
  • Face coverings reduce the risk of infection by 65%, according to research.
  • Aerosol particles we expel when we talk are the second major mode of transmission — and are more difficult to defend against.
  • Surface contact is less of a threat.

           — Hat tip: JF [Return to headlines]