Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/12/2020

Shots were fired at an Air Force helicopter flying over Northern Virginia, wounding one crew member. The helicopter, which was assigned to President Trump’s support detail, also sustained damage. The wounded crew member was treated in a hospital and then released.

In other news, the mayor of Calais said that Britain’s possible deployment of the Royal Navy to prevent further migration across the English Channel constituted a declaration of “maritime war”.

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

Thanks to Dean, DV, EC, LP, MM, Reader from Chicago, 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.

Financial Crisis
» UK: Around 730,000 Jobs Lost Since Lockdown Started
 
USA
» “Joe Biden Has a Racism Problem”: Trump Tweets Biting Video Compilation of Biden Race Remarks
» Air Force Helicopter Shot at Over Virginia, Injuring Crew Member
» Alabama Passes Law to Approve Castration for Convicted Pedophiles
» Antifa Activist Submits False ‘Terrorist’ Report to the FBI, Preventing a Conservative Couple From Starting a Family in the US
» Author of Harry and Meghan Bio Says U.S. Celeb Guided Prince on ‘Journey to Wokeness’
» Biden Was Threatened Into Picking Harris: “He Better Pick a Black Woman”
» Big 12 Conference Joins SEC and ACC, Plans to Play Football This Fall
» Big Tech Colludes to Discuss “Scenario Planning” Related to Election Results
» CNN Suggests Kamala Harris Will be President When Biden Decides to “Step Aside”
» Council Revokes License of New Jersey Gym Ignoring Orders to Close
» Facebook Blocks Links to Kamala Harris Parody Website
» Facebook to Allow Fact Checkers to Flag Opinions
» GOP Primary Winner Calls Out Pelosi: ‘Kick That Bi*** Out of Congress’
» Harris Co. Judge Accused of Shooting at Husband’s Girlfriend [Video]
» Harris Ranked Most Liberal U.S. Senator, Supported Medicare for All, Green New Deal
» Helicopter Assigned to Trump Support Detail Shot at in the Air Over Virginia, One Injury
» In 2019, Kamala Harris Said “I Believe” Biden Sexual Harassment Accusers
» Kamala Protested With Jussie Smollett in 2018
» Kansas BLM Leader Borrows Beliefs Directly From Vladimir Lenin, Wants to Move to Cuba
» Mainstream News Networks Completely Ignore Story of 5-Year-Old Boy Shot in the Head
» Mayor Lightfoot Launches Review of Chicago’s Monuments as Part of “Racial Healing Project”
» New York Teen Stabbed, Set on Fire After ‘Dispute, ‘ Police Say
» NFL is Suspending National Anthem Performances at Games, Will Use Recorded Versions Instead
» One Wounded as US Military Helicopter is Shot at Over Virginia
» Pew: Only 3% of U.S. Hispanics Use Term “Latinx; “ 76% Have Never Heard of it
» Poll Shows 2% of Likely Voters Would Vote for Kanye West as President
» Survivor Said She Smelled Gas Before Baltimore Explosion
» Teachers Concerned Online Classes Mean Parents Will Find Out What They’re Teaching Kids
» Teen Stabbed, Doused With Gasoline and Set on Fire in Bronx
» Trump on Kamala: “She Was My Number One Pick”
» Trump Banned Tencent: Everything You Need to Know
» Video: Hundreds Drown Out BLM by Singing Star Spangled Banner at #BackTheBlue rally
» Watch: Barred From Attending Church, Christians Hold Worship Service at Walmart
» Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Tells Employees to Wear Masks on Zoom Calls
 
Canada
» Toronto Mayor John Tory Moves Forward With Plan to Defund the Police
 
Europe and the EU
» Alleged ‘Jihad Bride’ Mother-of-Nine Back in UK Living on Welfare, Says ISIS Suspects ‘Oppressed’
» Facemasks Required Throughout Brussels
» Farage Warns Boris’s Brexit Deal Will Leave UK Liable to EU Bank
» Fearing ‘Islamophobia’ Accusations, UK Govt Allows Sharia Marriages Which Trap Women in ‘Marital Captivity’: Report
» French Church Statues Destroyed by Repeated Vandalism Attacks
» German Public TV Under Fire for Using Discredited Hockey Stick Graph
» Greece: The Altar of a Historic Church in Heraklion Found Burnt
» Hungary’s Military Spending Means it’s No Longer a ‘Defense Freeloader”
» U.K. Scientists Propose Spiking Public Water With Lithium to Lower Suicide Rate
» US Secretary of State Pompeo Arrives in Czechia, Supports Economic Cooperation Between Both Countries
 
Russia
» Live Blog: Protesters in Belarus Plan to Block Roadways
 
South Asia
» Thailand: Internet Driving Children to Violence: Study
 
Far East
» Chinese Police Have Filmed Dozens of Forced Confessions, Often After Torture: Report
» Former MI6 Chief: TikTok Gives CCP Backdoor Into Politicians’ Data Via Kids’ Phones
» Hong Kong’s Apple Daily Braces for More Raids
» TikTok Caught Using Encryption to Hide Tracking User Data
» Washington Post Calls Out NBC’s Fake News on Wuhan Lab
» WeChat ‘Extends China’s Internet’ to Wherever Users Are in the World
 
Australia — Pacific
» Pedophiles Could Face Life in Prison Under New Australia Law
 
Immigration
» Belgium: 20 Members of African Youth Gang Arrested for Beach Riot in Blankenberge
» Ben & Jerry’s Receives Backlash for Demanding UK Accept More Illegal Boat Migrants
» France: Calais Mayor: Stopping Illegal Boat Migrants is Declaration of ‘Maritime War’
» Germany: Syrian Father and Son Convicted for Forcing Woman Into Slavery
» Italy: Video: ‘Migrant’ Holds Knife to Cop’s Throat at Milan Cathedral, Colleagues Jump in to Make Arrest
» Italy: Migrant Attacks Police, Brags Judge Will Do Nothing
» UK: Channel Migrants: Six Boats Carrying 71 Migrants Intercepted
» UK: Tory MP Tells Gary Lineker to Offer His Mansion for Migrants to Use After Blasting Match of the Day Host for ‘Virtue Signalling’ Over Record Channel Crossings
» UK: The Ultra-Conservative Option: Tory MP Suggests ‘Taking Back’ Calais to End Channel Crisis
» UK: Wimpy Migrant Rapist Jailed for Attack in ‘Anti-Racist’ Sanctuary City
 
Culture Wars
» Facebook Bans Blackface Photos as “Implicit Hate Speech”
» Facebook Deletes 22.5m User Posts for “Hate Speech” In Just Three Months
» Facebook to Warn Users Before They Share Any Coronavirus-Related Article
» Harris Co-Sponsored Bill That Would Force Schools to Let Males Compete in Female Sports
» Polls Show Opposition to Transgender ‘Women’ Competing in Female Sports Growing
 

UK: Around 730,000 Jobs Lost Since Lockdown Started

Around 730,000 UK workers have been removed from the payrolls of British companies since March when the coronavirus lockdown began, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics.

The ONS said that employment rates have continued to decline in the last month, as another 81,000 jobs fell off payrolls across the country.

Yet the official unemployment rate is not rising. To be counted among the unemployed, workers need to be actively looking for a new job, which many have decided not to do yet, the ONS said.

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

“Joe Biden Has a Racism Problem”: Trump Tweets Biting Video Compilation of Biden Race Remarks

Hours after presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced his selection of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate, President Trump posted a video with the title, “Joe Biden has a racism problem.”

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

Air Force Helicopter Shot at Over Virginia, Injuring Crew Member

The FBI is investigating the incident, involving a helicopter assigned to President Donald Trump’s support detail.

           — Hat tip: MM [Return to headlines]
 

Alabama Passes Law to Approve Castration for Convicted Pedophiles

For criminals who are convicted of sex crimes with minors under the age of 13, Alabama will now require chemical castration as a condition of parole.

The measure was signed into law by Alabama’s Gov. Kay Ivey on Aug. 10, and had been introduced by Republican state representative Steve Hurst of Calhoun County. Hurst would prefer that those offenders who have been convicted of these crimes were permanently castrated through surgical means, according to NBC News.

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

Antifa Activist Submits False ‘Terrorist’ Report to the FBI, Preventing a Conservative Couple From Starting a Family in the US

By submitting a fake tip to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an Antifa activist allegedly blocked a British man from living with his wife in the United States, denying the start of their family for four years and counting.

Jack Buckby has spent most of his relationship apart and has yet to step foot on US soil since November 2016. Despite no criminal record, he received suspicious visa denials because of an allegation that falsely claimed he’s a terrorist, Buckby told The Post Millennial in an exclusive interview.

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

Author of Harry and Meghan Bio Says U.S. Celeb Guided Prince on ‘Journey to Wokeness’

Omid Scobie, co-author of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s highly-sympathetic Finding Freedom biography, has revealed that the American actress “guided” the royal on his “journey to wokeness”.

“Harry’s journey to wokeness has been very public,” said Scobie, who authored Finding Freedom with fellow royal writer Carolyn Durand, in an interview with NPR in the United States.

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

Biden Was Threatened Into Picking Harris: “He Better Pick a Black Woman”

Joe Biden was threatened into picking Kamala Harris as his running mate by Democratic operatives who specifically told him that if he didn’t pick a black woman for the role, he would lose the election.

According to a POLITICO report earlier this week, panic set in among Democrats when Biden held a meeting with Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, clearly seeing her as a candidate for the role.

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

Big 12 Conference Joins SEC and ACC, Plans to Play Football This Fall

The Big 12, the last remaining “Power Five” college conference to announce their intentions relative to playing fall sports, confirmed on Tuesday that they plan to move forward with the intent to play football as scheduled.

Citing ongoing health concerns tied to coronavirus spread, both the Big Ten and Pac 12 conferences announced the postponement of all fall sports. Both conferences mentioned their desire to play their football season in the spring, something that most analysts think is highly unlikely given the timing of the NFL combine and draft.

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

Big Tech Colludes to Discuss “Scenario Planning” Related to Election Results

With the 2020 US presidential election less than three months away, the tech giants have announced in a joint statement that they met with government partners to discuss “protecting the integrity of the election.”

Representatives from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Reddit, Microsoft, Verizon, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and the Wikimedia Foundation attended the meeting and discussed their “preparations for the upcoming conventions” and “scenario planning related to election results.”

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

CNN Suggests Kamala Harris Will be President When Biden Decides to “Step Aside”

Within hours of the announcement that Kamala Harris would be Joe Biden’s running mate, CNN published an article asserting that Harris would be able to take on the presidency if and when Biden decides to “step aside.”

“Joe Biden made the pick that maximized his chances of continuing to make the race a straight referendum on Trump while also selecting someone whose resume suggests being ready to step in, if and when Biden decides to step aside,” states a tweet by CNN which links to an article by CNN editor-at-large Chris Cilizza.

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

Council Revokes License of New Jersey Gym Ignoring Orders to Close

Belmawr councilmembers revoked the business license of a gym in Belmawr, New Jersey, after the gym owners ignored multiple orders to close during the coronavirus pandemic.

The vote to revoke the gym’s license took place on Tuesday and was 5-1.

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

Facebook Blocks Links to Kamala Harris Parody Website

Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic candidate in the US presidential election, recently picked Kamala Harris as his running mate — but her actual credentials to potentially become vice president (whose job description includes taking over as president, if need arises) aren’t convincing everyone. For one thing, some of her policies don’t align with what her party, declaratively at least, stands for.

And some of those who don’t like Harris have made their voices heard on the internet — like the author of this parody website kamalaharris.info, which highlights precisely those policy discrepancies.

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

Facebook to Allow Fact Checkers to Flag Opinions

For a social media giant that fact-checks memes (particularly over on Instagram) — fact-checking opinion pieces and editorials must be, policy and justification-wise, a walk in the park.

We’re talking about Facebook, of course, and Poynter is letting us knowthat third party contractors are now allowed to flag op-eds as “altered” and “missing context,” in addition to an existing set of ratings.

This reversal comes soon after Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats wrote to Facebook to ask why Facebook doesn’t allow fact-checkers to look over opinion pieces.

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

GOP Primary Winner Calls Out Pelosi: ‘Kick That Bi*** Out of Congress’

Georgia Republican congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene had sharp words for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during her victory speech following a runoff primary election Tuesday.

Greene, who defeated John Cowan to earn the GOP nomination for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, wasted no time in going after the Democratic leader.

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

Harris Co. Judge Accused of Shooting at Husband’s Girlfriend [Video]

An argument between the women led to Alexandra Smoots-Thomas allegedly firing a gun at her husband’s accused lover, her attorney said.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Harris Ranked Most Liberal U.S. Senator, Supported Medicare for All, Green New Deal

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) was the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate in 2019, according to a ranking by GovTrack, an organization that tracks federal legislation and the votes of members of the U.S. Congress.

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

Helicopter Assigned to Trump Support Detail Shot at in the Air Over Virginia, One Injury

On Monday, as we reported, President Donald Trump was briefly evacuated from the briefing room at about 5:45 p.m. As he was speaking to the press, an agent came into the room and informed him there had been a shooting outside the White House compound.

A person who appeared to be unwell was shot by the Secret Service when he allegedly made threatening gestures mimicking a gun.

But turns out there was another incident earlier in the day that the military is just reporting on now.

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

In 2019, Kamala Harris Said “I Believe” Biden Sexual Harassment Accusers

Joe Biden’s recently selected running mate Sen. Kamala Harris said last year that she believed the women who accused the former vice president of sexual assault.

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

Kamala Protested With Jussie Smollett in 2018

Democrat vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris took to the streets with hate hoaxer Jussie Smollett back when Smollett was known as a television actor, prior to his hoax about being attacked and nearly lynched by imaginary Trump supporters in Chicago. Will Harris face questions on the campaign trail about her association with Smollett, considering that Cook County prosecutor Kim Foxx — who attempted to help Smollett avert prison time — considers Harris to be her “mentor”?

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

Kansas BLM Leader Borrows Beliefs Directly From Vladimir Lenin, Wants to Move to Cuba

Gabrielle Griffie, a Wichita, Kansas-based activist police believe is responsible for hosting several unlawful Black Lives Matter protests in Wichita under the banner of her organization Project Justice ICT, endorses the claim that communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin called for the abolition of police, and expressed a desire to move to Cuba due to its free healthcare.

As those calling for defunding the police mourn a devastating defeat in central Kansas, with the largest city in Kansas refusing to defund police and instead appropriating an additional $6 million to the Wichita Police Department in the 2021-2022 budget, a series of controversial tweets have emerged from the leader of several protests throughout the city.

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

Mainstream News Networks Completely Ignore Story of 5-Year-Old Boy Shot in the Head

Mainstream news networks CNN, MSNBC, ABC and CBS have completely ignored the story of Cannon Hinnant, a 5-year-old boy who was shot in the head by an African-American male in North Carolina, with search queries on all of their websites returning no results.

Hinnant was brutally gunned down by 25-year-old felon Darius Nathaniel Sessoms while riding his playing outside his house in Wilson, North Carolina for the ‘crime’ of riding his bike on Sessoms’s property.

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

Mayor Lightfoot Launches Review of Chicago’s Monuments as Part of “Racial Healing Project”

Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Wednesday the creation of a new review committee that will assess the city’s monuments and memorials as part of a “racial healing and historical reckoning project.”

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

New York Teen Stabbed, Set on Fire After ‘Dispute, ‘ Police Say

Police said that an unidentified male suspect fled on foot in an unknown direction ; police are still searching for him.

           — Hat tip: EC [Return to headlines]
 

NFL is Suspending National Anthem Performances at Games, Will Use Recorded Versions Instead

Saying it wants to limit the number of people on the field pregame, the NFL has announced it will not be having any live performances of the national anthem at games this year. The league is also considering limiting or eliminating military and police honor guards that have been part of the ceremonies in the past.

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

One Wounded as US Military Helicopter is Shot at Over Virginia

A US helicopter belonging to the US Air Force 1st Helicopter Squadron was shot at as it was flying over the skies of Virginia near the nation’s capital, according to US News.

The helicopter, a UH-1N Huey, was engaged in a training mission around 12:20 p.m. at an approximate altitude of 1,000 feet when a shot was fired at it directly from the ground, hitting and wounding a member of the crew.

The helicopter alerted the Manassas Regional Airport that it had to make an emergency landing, and that medics were en route to meet the helicopter. The wounded crew member was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries and subsequently released with no further complications. The injuries sustained were not life-threatening. There was also some damage sustained by the helicopter…

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

Pew: Only 3% of U.S. Hispanics Use Term “Latinx; “ 76% Have Never Heard of it

“Latinx,” a gender-neutral term for people of Latino origin, is not well known among the people to whom it supposedly applies, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

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

Poll Shows 2% of Likely Voters Would Vote for Kanye West as President

Only 2% of likely voters surveyed in a recent Politico-Morning Consult national poll support rapper Kanye West in his presidential candidacy, the survey results show.

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

Survivor Said She Smelled Gas Before Baltimore Explosion

A woman who survived an explosion that leveled three Baltimore row homes said she smelled gas before hearing a “loud boom” on Monday morning.

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Teachers Concerned Online Classes Mean Parents Will Find Out What They’re Teaching Kids

This year we’ve reported on professors worried that students learning from home could lead to news outlets finding out what they’re teaching students. We’ve also found incidences of professors threatening students not to share online recordings of lecture material.

But what are they so worried about? What have they got to hide?

Whatever it is, it hasn’t gone away as online learning has increased in recent weeks.

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

Teen Stabbed, Doused With Gasoline and Set on Fire in Bronx

Officers responding to reports of an assault found the teenage victim on Woodycrest Avenue near West 165th Street, an NYPD spokesperson said.

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Trump on Kamala: “She Was My Number One Pick”

President Trump says that he is happy Joe Biden has picked Kamala Harris as his running mate, saying that the Californian Senator was his “number one draft pick”.

In comments made during a press briefing, Trump said of Harris “She is a person that’s told many, many stories that weren’t true.”

“She’s very big into raising taxes. She wants to slash funds for our military at a level that nobody can even believe.” Trump continued.

He added “She is against fracking. She’s against petroleum products. I mean, how do you do that and go into Pennsylvania or Ohio or Oklahoma or the great state of Texas? She’s against fracking. Fracking’s a big deal.”

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

Trump Banned Tencent: Everything You Need to Know

For years Tencent has been a growing force in the video game sector. Through legal and illegal means they have acquired vast holdings in tech companies and video game developers throughout the west. With each acquisition came new accusations of data mining, security breaches, and denials they were being done at the behest of Tencent.

On August 6th, the President of the United States issued an executive order banning WeChat and any transactions to do with Tencent Holdings. For now, the administration has made no official statement regarding how far the measure will go. Leaving many to speculate whether it will impact Riot Games and Epic Games, among several smaller developers, the company has a stake in or ownership over.

Let’s delve into what we know, so we can make a reasonable guess whether this will happen.

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

Video: Hundreds Drown Out BLM by Singing Star Spangled Banner at #BackTheBlue rally

During a Back the Blue rally in downtown Wichita, Kansas, hundreds of police supporters erupted in song as a single Black Lives Matter protester attempted to derail the event by chanting across the street, in a display that quickly saw the Black Lives Matter protester disappear into an office building.

As the City of Wichita leadership met with the leaders of Project Justice ICT, a local Black Lives Matter-affiliated organization that is demanding police be defunded, supporters of police gathered in downtown Wichita to make the counter argument that police should be funded and supported.

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

Watch: Barred From Attending Church, Christians Hold Worship Service at Walmart

A video of a worship service happening inside a Walmart, reportedly in North Versailles, Pennsylvania, has the internet chirping. The churchgoers took to Walmart to come together in worship, as churches have been closed, but Walmarts are open.

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

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Tells Employees to Wear Masks on Zoom Calls

With the pandemic has come constant reminders to social distance and wear masks. But herd-mentality and adhering to guidelines even when they meet no actual purpose is futile, to say the least.

Instead of enforcing safety precautions only when needed, the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin is overdoing it by telling employees they need to wear a face mask, even when they are attending virtual meetings from their homes on Zoom.

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

Toronto Mayor John Tory Moves Forward With Plan to Defund the Police

Toronto Mayor John Tory announced on Tuesday that he will be implementing 80 different “reforms” to defund the city’s police force.

Part of the plan consists of implementing “alternative” methods to policing, finding ways to reduce the Toronto Police Service’s budget, and addressing systemic racism within the police force.

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

Alleged ‘Jihad Bride’ Mother-of-Nine Back in UK Living on Welfare, Says ISIS Suspects ‘Oppressed’

A British-German dual national accused of becoming a ‘jihadi bride’ in Syria is back living in Britain and living on benefits, claiming that ISIS suspects are “the oppressed people”.

Two years ago it was alleged that Natalie Bracht travelled to Syria to become the second wife of a 31-year-old Islamic State jihadist who had been based in London, Celso Rodrigues Da Costa.

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

Facemasks Required Throughout Brussels

Regional authorities have mandated that facemasks must now be worn throughout all of Brussels’ 19 districts in an effort to stem the rise of Covid-19 infections, reports Belgian newspaper Le Soir. The decision was made after the threshold of infections per 100,000 inhabitants reached 50. The mask must cover both the nose and the mouth and is required for anyone over the age of 12.

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

Farage Warns Boris’s Brexit Deal Will Leave UK Liable to EU Bank

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has warned that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could agree on a deal with the EU that could see the UK be financially liable to the European Central Bank and forced to accept regulations on state aid.

The Brexit Party leader remarked that while Mr Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement (WA) had passed in the House of Commons last year, it was still “little better” than former prime minister Theresa May’s unpassable “Soft Brexit” deal. There remain in it elements that could see the United Kingdom tied to the EU after the country officially leaves the bloc’s control on December 31st, 2020, he said.

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

Fearing ‘Islamophobia’ Accusations, UK Govt Allows Sharia Marriages Which Trap Women in ‘Marital Captivity’: Report

Thousands of women are trapped in “marital captivity” in the United Kingdom, as the government has refused to make the registration of sharia marriages mandatory out of fear of appearing “Islamophobic”, a report has found.

The report, entitled Fallen Through the Cracks, authored by Emma Webb of the Civitas think tank, revealed that of the 100,000 sharia marriages that are held each year in Britain, only around 25 per cent are actually registered with the government.

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

French Church Statues Destroyed by Repeated Vandalism Attacks

Three statues have been totally or partially destroyed at the Saint-André church in the French commune of Niort after the church saw at least three attacks in the last several weeks.

Saint-André has been forced to close its doors until the end of August or possibly even longer due to the vandalism attacks. Over the weekend several statues were attacked, including a statue of Jesus as a baby being carried by St Anthony, which was shattered into a thousand pieces.

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

German Public TV Under Fire for Using Discredited Hockey Stick Graph

By Die kalte Sonne (German text translated/edited by P. Gosselin)

Disinformation at ZDF German public broadcasting?

ZDF meteorologist Özden Terli (pictured) has been a topic at this blog several times. Now ‘Die Welt’ science editor Axel Bojanowski has taken a closer look at a weather report, particularly a chart that Terli presented July 24, 2020.

The article is behind a paywall but is worth the money. The centerpiece is the chart from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

It depicts a hockey stick temperature curve that is supposed to convey drama.

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

Greece: The Altar of a Historic Church in Heraklion Found Burnt

The Church of Panagia tis Rokas at Prophitis Ilias in Heraklion, was damaged earlier this week as an unknown individual or individuals set fire to the altar, Neakriti.gr reported.

The burnt altar was discovered by a local, Christina Anogeianaki, who expressed while “everything turned to ashes, nothing happened to the two icons of the Most Holy Theotokos, which were placed on the Holy Table.”

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

Hungary’s Military Spending Means it’s No Longer a ‘Defense Freeloader”

Due to its intensive military modernization program, Hungary, which not so long ago disparaged by many of its Western NATO allies as a “defense freeloader,” is rapidly becoming the reliable and trustworthy partner within the alliance previous liberal governments never managed to achieve.

“This is a huge change compared with the unfulfilled promises we made when joining NATO because the armed force reductions disguised as ‘reforms’ of the previous socialist-liberal governments have made our international partners skeptical of our current efforts,” Szeman writes. First among the former Warsaw Pact members, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO in March 1999.

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

U.K. Scientists Propose Spiking Public Water With Lithium to Lower Suicide Rate

Scientists in the United Kingdom are proposing to lace drinking water supplies with the psychoactive drug lithium to prevent people from committing suicide amid the distress of the coronavirus pandemic.

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

US Secretary of State Pompeo Arrives in Czechia, Supports Economic Cooperation Between Both Countries

Relations between the United States, the European Union, and China and the development of economic cooperation were the focus of Tuesday’s meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek in Pilsen in the southwest of Czechia.

After a discussion at the Pilsner Urquell brewery, the Czech minister told journalists that the US and Europe should have the know-how, for example, for the independent development of artificial intelligence. Thus, there would not be a single dominant player setting the rules, such as China.

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

Live Blog: Protesters in Belarus Plan to Block Roadways

Recent events and what to expect:

Belarus is witnessing its fourth day of mass protests, following Sunday’s presidential election. Since the weekend, police have arrested thousands of people in cities across the country. Most of the unrest has been in Minsk.

President Alexander Lukashenko (Alyaksandr Lukashenka) has continued to insult demonstrators in public statements, while riot police have violently attacked protesters, sometimes even after they’ve been arrested.

Large groups of women assembled in Minsk and other Belarusian cities and demanded an end to the government’s political repressions.

Opposition groups have announced on Telegram a campaign to block major roadways.

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

Thailand: Internet Driving Children to Violence: Study

Thai youths who spend most of the hours of their week on mobile phones and computers are at risk of developing violent behaviour and gaming addiction, a study shows.

The study, by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), showed Thai youngsters spend more than 35 hours a week on the devices.

Mobile phone addiction in children, dubbed the “digital natives”, is a problem that is common for many parents, said Nattaya Boonpakdee, the director of the Healthy Child, Youth, and Family Promotion section, at ThaiHealth.

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

Chinese Police Have Filmed Dozens of Forced Confessions, Often After Torture: Report

State media organizations and Chinese state security police have produced dozens of televised forced “confessions” in the years since ruling Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping took power, often involving severe duress and torture, according to a recent submission to the United Nations.

A total of 87 televised confessions were identified by the rights NGO Safeguard Defenders between July 2013 and January 2020 in a submission this week to the U.N.

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

Former MI6 Chief: TikTok Gives CCP Backdoor Into Politicians’ Data Via Kids’ Phones

A former chief of Britain’s security service, MI6, warned top politicians in Britain that if their children use the Chinese social media app Tik Tok, the communist regime may have a backdoor into their private data.

Nigel Inkster, the former director of operations and intelligence for the British Secret Intelligence Service, said that TikTok could serve as an entry point to access the data prominent figures in the United Kingdom if family members are on the same WiFi network.

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Hong Kong’s Apple Daily Braces for More Raids

Police in Hong Kong released pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow and media tycoon Jimmy Lai late on Tuesday on bail, pending charges of “collusion with foreign powers” under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Chow left Tai Po police station after 11.00 p.m. on Tuesday, local time, after surrendering her passport and paying a HK$200,000 bond.

“I would say that it’s very obvious that the regime and the government are using the National Security Law to suppress political dissidents,” Chow told waiting journalists following her release.

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TikTok Caught Using Encryption to Hide Tracking User Data

TikTok, much like any other China-based tech company, has been at the receiving end of intense scrutiny from many countries with regards to its practices around user privacy and data collection. Now, a new report from the Wall Street Journal has uncovered that TikTok deployed a tactic to collect user data that was actually prohibited by Google across all Android mobile phones.

Both sides of the political aisle in the US, as well as India and other countries, have recently expressed concerns over how TikTok may be used for harvesting data of citizens and using it for purposes such as espionage.

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Washington Post Calls Out NBC’s Fake News on Wuhan Lab

A Washington Post columnist has eviscerated an NBC “investigative” report on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, that did nothing but provide a platform for scientists there to complain they were being made scapegoats over the coronavirus pandemic.

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WeChat ‘Extends China’s Internet’ to Wherever Users Are in the World

Concerns are growing over overseas censorship and surveillance via Tencent’s WeChat social media app, with the U.S. banning business with its parent entity, and rights activists describing it as a “prison” that keeps users within reach of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s censors and law enforcement operations far beyond China’s borders.

Launched by Tencent in 2011, WeChat now has more than 1.1 billion users, second only to WhatsApp and Facebook, but the company keeps users behind China’s complex system of blocks, filters and human censorship known as the Great Firewall, even when they are physically in another country.

The app is also used by China’s state security police to carry out surveillance and harassment of dissidents and activists in exile who speak out about human rights abuses in the country, or campaign for democratic reform.

And it’s not just Chinese nationals who are being targeted.

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Pedophiles Could Face Life in Prison Under New Australia Law

Under new laws soon to be implemented by the Australian government, convicted pedophiles could be sentenced to life in prison. The New South Wales region of Australia has overhauled their policies for repeat child abusers, in response to growing concern from citizens about the government’s failure to handle crime of this nature. The legal overhaul includes new offenses for those who fail to report child abuse or protect the victims.

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Belgium: 20 Members of African Youth Gang Arrested for Beach Riot in Blankenberge

Following riots on the beaches of Blankenberge, Belgium, police arrested 20 suspects who are all part of an African youth gang from Brussels and are well known to the police and the judiciary, sceptr.netreported.

On Saturday afternoon, heavy riots and clashes broke out on the beach of Blankenberge. Videos and images show how a large group of immigrant youth surrounded the police and attacked them with umbrellas and sticks. Nine officers were injured during the incident. The incident made national news and ignited debates in the Belgian media about migration and its effect on public safety in the country.

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Ben & Jerry’s Receives Backlash for Demanding UK Accept More Illegal Boat Migrants

Woke ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s received a backlash after demanding that the UK accept more illegal boat migrants in yet another example of a corporation trying to push its far-left political agenda.

The company drew attention to the increasingly alarming situation on the south coast of England, where around 4,000 migrants have arrived illegally by boat in 2020 so far.

Having paid off criminal people smugglers, the migrants are given a de facto taxi service by UK border authorities to the mainland and put up in hotels at taxpayer expense.

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France: Calais Mayor: Stopping Illegal Boat Migrants is Declaration of ‘Maritime War’

The Mayor of Calais claimed that Britain has “declared maritime war” by floating the idea of sending the Royal Navy to the English Channel to prevent further waves of illegal boat migrants from reaching British shores from France.

The outburst from Mayor Natacha Bouchart came one day after British immigration minister Chris Philp travelled to Paris to try to secure a deal that would see migrants immediately returned to France.

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Germany: Syrian Father and Son Convicted for Forcing Woman Into Slavery

A Syrian father and son have been convicted by a German court for smuggling a teen girl into Germany and forcing her to serve as a slave, with the son raping her at least four times.

Ahmad E. and his 22-year-old son Khaled E. both came to Germany as asylum seekers and were convicted of several charges relating to the abduction and enslavement of Katbeh A., who was brought to Germany in order to marry Khaled E. and give birth to a child in Germany.

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Italy: Video: ‘Migrant’ Holds Knife to Cop’s Throat at Milan Cathedral, Colleagues Jump in to Make Arrest

A dramatic video from Italy is circulating social media, showing a police officer held hostage by a knife-wielding “migrant” at Milan’s Cathedral. After bargaining with the kidnapper, police swoop in to disarm the knifeman to make the arrest.

Footage has surfaced from nail-biting scenes within Il Duomo di Milano as a man, reported as a “North African Migrant,” holds a knife to a police officer’s throat. Fellow officers surround the cornered migrant with the hostage attempting to negotiate with the suspect, until one cavalier officer leaped in to remove the weapon from the suspect’s grasp to defuse the potentially incandescent situation.

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Italy: Migrant Attacks Police, Brags Judge Will Do Nothing

A migrant arrested after attacking police in Rome continued to make threats against officers while in custody, boasting that judges would not do anything to him.

Police arrested the migrant on Monday evening after police were called to the San Lorenzo area where the 36-year-old African was throwing bottles in a public park. When police arrived, the migrant became aggressive and assaulted one of the officers.

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UK: Channel Migrants: Six Boats Carrying 71 Migrants Intercepted

Six small boats carrying 71 migrants have been intercepted in the Channel.

The Home Office said Border Force and partner agencies dealt with several incidents off the UK coast on Wednesday.

Dan O’Mahoney, the newly appointed “clandestine channel threat commander”, said he was determined to stop the “dangerous” crossings.

A Home Office spokesman said the priority was to dismantle the organised crime gangs behind the crossings.

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UK: Tory MP Tells Gary Lineker to Offer His Mansion for Migrants to Use After Blasting Match of the Day Host for ‘Virtue Signalling’ Over Record Channel Crossings

A Conservative MP has suggested Gary Lineker should offer up his London home for migrants to live in after they illegally cross the Channel.

Ashfield MP Lee Anderson, 53, slammed the Match of the Day host for ‘virtue signalling’ while discussing the record number of migrants who have arrived in the UK on boats this year.

In an interview with Talk Radio yesterday, host Mike Graham asked the politician what he would say to people like Lineker, who ‘like to virtue signal on social media talking about how we should be a welcoming country’.

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UK: The Ultra-Conservative Option: Tory MP Suggests ‘Taking Back’ Calais to End Channel Crisis

Conservative politician Sir Edward Leigh jokingly suggested that Britain should “take back” Calais, last controlled by England in 1558, from France, to end the ongoing Channel migrant crisis.

Sir Edward, the chairman of the influential Public Account Committee in Parliament and a veteran MP, tweeted: “Problem with cross-Channel migrants? We should never have lost Calais in 1588. Why not take it back?”

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UK: Wimpy Migrant Rapist Jailed for Attack in ‘Anti-Racist’ Sanctuary City

Peraslingam Nanthvavaraman, a failed asylum seeker who remained in Britain illegally, has been jailed after raping a woman in a Wimpy burger restaurant in the city of Brighton.

Nanthvavaraman was handed a short prison sentence at Lewes Crown Court, where the jury heard that the “thrill-seeking” 40-year-old, who was a manager at the burger shop, lied about having a wife and child to gain his victim’s trust.

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Facebook Bans Blackface Photos as “Implicit Hate Speech”

Facebook announced on Tuesday that it will be changing its community standards to ban “implicit hate speech” on its platforms, taking down content like blackface and anti-Semitic stereotypes.

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Facebook Deletes 22.5m User Posts for “Hate Speech” In Just Three Months

Facebook is continuing its war on “hate speech,” and has announced that it has removed a whopping 22.5 million posts due to hate speech related violations. That’s twice the number of posts than what it removed in the first quarter of 2020. Just two years ago, Facebook removed only 2.5 million posts on the grounds of hate speech.

Of late, Facebook has been at the receiving end of intense criticism from media outlets and Democratic politicians over its allegedly lackluster response when it comes to dealing with so-called “hate speech” and “misinformation” across the platform. In the last month alone, a huge number of companies have cut down on their ad spend on Facebook as a part of advertising boycotts in what has largely been seen as virtue signalling as the move hasn’t significantly impacted the company’s bottom line.

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Facebook to Warn Users Before They Share Any Coronavirus-Related Article

If you hadn’t already noticed, there are certain things that Facebook doesn’t like you talking about. And now, in order to combat what it has decided is “misinformation,” Facebook’s latest move involves putting a new notification on the screen each time a user shares an article related to COVID-19 across the platform.

Facebook said that it aims to “help people understand the recency and source of the content before they share it.”

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Harris Co-Sponsored Bill That Would Force Schools to Let Males Compete in Female Sports

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), the Democratic vice presidential candidate for the 2020 election, co-sponsored a 2019 bill that would require schools to let males compete in female sports.

Harris sponsored the Equality Act in March 2019, which would add “sexual orientation and gender identity” to the protected characteristics listed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It would then be against federal law for a school to bar a person born as a male from competing in girls’ or women’s athletics if he identifies as a transgender female. Supporters of the Equality Act acknowledge this would be one of the bill’s results.

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Polls Show Opposition to Transgender ‘Women’ Competing in Female Sports Growing

There is growing public opposition to men who identify as women competing in sports against biological females, even as more people say they accept transgenderism.

As Breitbart News reported last year, a narrow plurality of Democrats favor allowing men who say they are transgender to enter women’s sports, but the change is opposed two-to-one by adults, independents, parents, and middle-class voters, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll.

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15 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/12/2020

  1. The bickering going on back and forth over the English Channel illegals is actually quite amusing.

    On the one hand you have Britain where the police not only allow teenaged and pre-teen girls to be gang raped and pimped out on an industrial scale in both the cities and the shires but will also cover it up and arrest the victims for “racism”, which is probably why the notoriously pedophilic Mohammedans want to get there so bad despite already drawing welfare at taxpayers expense on the mainland.

    On the other hand you have France, the country that bore the bitch of anti-traditional and multiculturalist Progressivism to begin with during the French Revolution and 1950/60s counter culture movement, and is currently using its navy to escort invader ships to share their wonderful diversity with everyone else and in effect sponsoring the whole thing.

    Seems to me like both countries need an overthrow of the ruling elites.

    • “Seems to me like both countries need an overthrow of the ruling elites.”

      Granted. I don’t ignore that this would be sorted in minutes if the British government had a spine. However the mere fact you don’t see the Royal Navy escorting Pakistanis to French shores and threatening them to take it or else shows how one sided this aggression is, punishment for Brexit I presume, given its been a Frenchman managing those negotiations. An act of war by any measure.

      • Expect to see fatso pretty and super fatso stud out on water skis waving them back to France. An ex-London mayors way of getting involved. Still holding until the illegal dominators (as opposed to the legal ones) can see the Whites in Christian eyes go blood shot may….no wait..

  2. The EU has diversified. Feminism, globalism, tribalism and the truly baffling part of the mix-up is the open borders for invasion by racist African low life and their Muslim terrori as per the Koran. Open sores that will not heal. Unless everything is contained and sorted.

  3. The Mayor of Calais’ problem lies to the east, in Paris and Brussels, not to the west, across the Channel, and certainly not with the Royal Navy, which, if it were to turn back the benefit-seekers from France, would be acting in defense of a sovereign nation.

    • She’s letting the long standing hatred of all things English in France get the best of her, “les Rosbifs” they call us.

      The Frogs should be careful, lest they forget what happened the last time a potential invader planned on using their navy for a cross channel invasion….their entire fleet was destroyed at anchor in Mers-El-Kebir, or during Napoleons days when their was invasion threat from them, you can look at Trafalgar.

      Another reminder of a humbling French defeat at English hands is a simple field some 40 miles from Calais. Hint: the nearest town is named ‘Agincourt’. 😉

      • Pfft, You Brits should have just let the Germans keep France, they would have never allowed the 3rd world onto the Continent, now you are paying the price.

        If the dead of WW2 could rise today, they would line up every political hack from top to bottom against a wall and call it a day.

  4. “Britain’s possible deployment of the Royal Navy to prevent further migration across the English Channel constituted a declaration of “maritime war”.”

    Good. If the French let illegals cross their entire country, get boats, use their coast to invade another country, I have no idea why these boats are not sent to the bottom of the English Channel.

    With the amount of money HMRC takes from me each month, I believe they have enough for some rounds of machine gun ammo.

  5. If I were Britannia I’d waive the rules. (h/t Budgie).
    Maybe the CPUSA was behind the Trumpcopter attack?
    They will stop at nothing to get the bad orange man and burning down the country is a feature and not a bug to them.
    If everything was all wrapped up then why is Zuckerborg and Fakebook censoring any and all wrongthink?
    Reality will always assert itself and the collapse of sportsball and the disdain for men posing as women for the easy victory is beautiful.

    • What happened to “A *mans home is his castle”? No more. My home and my taxes is all yours Mr Muslim. Help yourself. Mosques anywhere you like. Blanket coverage. What is the point? What exactly are we trying to prove?

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