Pope Francis called for a world without borders, and demanded that the United Nations be given more authority. His Holiness also denounced the growth of populist nationalism.
In other news, the Mathematical Association of America decried systemic racism, and called for the pursuit of racial justice within mathematics.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Once touted as Perth’s version of the Gold Coast for Brisbane, Mandurah was one of the fastest growing cities in Australia through the mid 2000s and enjoyed a housing industry boom.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
17% of Students Say Violence is Sometimes Acceptable to Censor Speakers They Disagree With
At least before lockdowns started, there was an increasing trend of students using social media to organize the physical blocking of speakers who they disagreed with from attending events on campus.
The results of a new survey has now revealed shocking revelations about what US college students think about violence as a way to shut down speech. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Real Clear Education, and College Pulse conducted a survey across 55 colleges across the US and asked 20,000 students about free speech issues in their campuses.
Surprisingly, almost one out of five students that have taken the survey were fine with deploying violence for shutting down someone’s speech in cases where they disagreed with the speaker.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
3 Subway Workers Accused of Creating ‘Man Cave’ Under NYC’s Grand Central Terminal
NEW YORK (AP) — Three railroad workers have been suspended for turning a storage room under New York’s Grand Central Terminal into an unauthorized “man cave” with a television, a refrigerator, a microwave and a futon couch, officials said Thursday.
A Metropolitan Transportation Authority investigation found that managers at Metro-North Railroad were unaware of the hideaway beneath Track 114.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Allum Bokhari on Tucker: ‘We’re in an Era of Digital Totalitarianism’
Breitbart journalist Allum Bokhari appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Thursday, arguing that we now live in an era of “digital totalitarianism” and promoting his new book detailing censorship conservatives face at the hands of big tech companies.
Bokhari appeared to promote his new book, “#Deleted: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal the Election,” a detailed analysis of everything that Big Tech gets up to behind the scenes to control our every behaviours online. “There’s no other way to put it,” Bokhari said, claiming we are “in an era of digital totalitarianism”:
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Amy Coney Barrett Will Not Recuse Herself From Potential 2020 Election SCOTUS Decisions
President Trump’s nominee to the US Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, is refusing to buckle under pressure from congressional Democrats and Progressives to promise she won’t engage in any questions that may come before the court regarding the 2020 General Election.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Police Protest Turns Violent in Seattle
Anti-police protesters turned to violence in Seattle as they damaged property and clashed with law enforcement on Saturday night. Sixteen were arrested.
The group marched through part of downtown after gathering at Cal Anderson Park as they chanted “black lives matter” and “no walls, no prisons, total abolition.”
Some members of the crowd committed acts of vandalism and property damage, the Seattle Police Department said in an incident summary, including shattering windows at a coffee shop. They threw explosives inside as well.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AP Recommends Reporters Stop Using the Term “Riot”
In recent times, there has been a major push to change the definition of certain words. The AP Stylebook, often regarded as the go-to resource for learning about the accepted norms of English-language media, is now attempting to change the definition of the word “riot.”
Acknowledging the dictionary meaning of the word, which is “wild or violent disturbance of the peace,” AP suggests that the word can’t be used for “stigmatizing” the groups that are protesting for the sake of “racial justice.”
Using riots to describe a protest for “racial justice” is not appropriate, as it “suggests uncontrolled chaos and pandemonium.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Atheists Sue Over “So Help Me God” on Alabama Voter Registration Form
The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday against Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill for “violating basic First Amendment freedoms by unconstitutionally compelling Alabama — and United States — citizens who want to register to vote to swear ‘so help me God’ in violation of their conscience.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Barrett Tests Negative for COVID, McConnell Says “Full Steam Ahead” With Confirmation Hearings
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday that it’s “full steam ahead” with the confirmation process of Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who recently tested negative for coronavirus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
(BIZPAC REVIEW) Scores of Americans are developing conspiracy theories about what they see as suspicious timing after President Donald Trump announced Friday he and first lady Melania Trump — and other Republicans — have suddenly contracted the disease.
First and foremost, there are the optics of the president getting sick: Conspirators note the irony that Trump has now come down with an illness he has, in the past, downplayed as not so serious — which is technically true, given that the earliest models predicting millions of deaths in the United States alone were grossly inaccurate.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For the first time since being tested positive for COVID-19, President Donald Trump released a video address to the American people on his Twitter account. In it, he explained his current health, saying he feels “much better now,” his decision to go to Walter Reed Medical Center, saying he refused to lock himself in the White House and hide, and the current state of First Lady Melania Trump, who he says is doing very well.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
National File recently published text messages with sexual content exchanged between North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham and Arlene Guzman Todd, who works in media for a marijuana lobbying firm in California.
Cunningham, a married father of two, recently raised raised over $28 million in the last fundraising quarter, and National File has spoken to campaign finance experts who believe the Cunningham campaign has spent $66 million on advertising and related expenses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Violence: 20 Shot, 2 Fatally in Weekend Shootings
CHICAGO (WLS) — Two people are dead and 18 others were wounded so far this weekend in shootings across Chicago, according to police.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chris Christie Checks Into Hospital After Positive COVID Diagnosis
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Saturday that he checked into a Morristown Medical Center after testing positive for COVID-19.
Christie made the announcement in a tweet, citing his history of asthma as a reason for taking the “precautionary measure.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Cyclist Quinn Simmons Suspended by US Team for Pro-Trump Tweet
A cyclist has been dropped from the team after he displayed his support for President Trump on Twitter. After a single tweet, his entire career has been thrown into jeopardy. Winner of the men’s junior event at the road cycling World Championship held in 2019, Quinn Simmons is a 19-year-old American professional cyclist.
He replied to a tweet by a Dutch journalist, José Been making it clear that he was a Trump supporter. Been divisively said to her followers that she hopes Trump’s “horrible presidency ends for you” and that “if you follow me and support Trump, you can go.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Prosecutors Secure Guilty Plea From Portland Man Who Set Fire to County Property During Riot
Edward Thomas Schinzing pleaded guilty Sept. 30 to a federal arson charge for setting fire to an office cubicle in the Multnomah County Justice Center on May 29.
As WW previously reported, the evidence against Schinzing was plentiful but the charges were unusual: Federal prosecutors argued in their July 28 indictment that they have jurisdiction over local property because the city of Portland received millions of dollars in federal assistance, namely COVID relief funding via the CARES Act.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Employee of University-Connected Lab Sentenced Over Ties to China
An employee at a university-connected, federally funded lab was sentenced in September after failing to disclose ties to China.
On September 15, Turab Lookman was sentenced to probation for making false statements to U.S. authorities in a case related to a laboratory co-owned by two major universities: Texas A&M University and the University of California.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Lookman, a former employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, was found guilty after an FBI investigation revealed that Lookman was associated with China’s Thousand Talents Program.
While many researchers claim that this program is beneficial, allowing them to research without fundraising, the FBI holds that the program, “tries to entice scientists to secretly bring our knowledge and innovation back to China—even if that means stealing proprietary information.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ghislaine Maxwell Set Up With Pedo Perv Jeffrey Epstein by Her Own Conman Dad: Podcast
Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, conman Robert Maxwell, was the one who introduced his daughter to pervy pedo Jeffrey Epstein, according to a bombshell new podcast.
Multiple sources on investigative reporter Julie K. Brown’s podcast have said that, although it was previously reported the dastardly duo met after Robert’s death, they were introduced in 1988 by Robert, who thought Epstein could take “emotional” care of his adored youngest daughter.
Ghislaine and Epstein became inseparable for years after Robert’s death — and it was during those years Ghislaine is accused of procuring girls as young as 13 for Epstein (charges she denies).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gov. Has No Authority to Continue State of Emergency, Michigan Supreme Court Rules
The governor does not have authority under either of the state’s emergency statutes to continue the coronavirus state of emergency, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in questions related to a federal case on Friday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Harvey Weinstein Hit With 6 New Sexual Assault Charges by La Prosecutor
Harvey Weinstein has been hit with six new sexual assault charges in his Los Angeles criminal case, the L.A. District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday.
The amended complaint added an additional three felony counts of forcible rape and three felony counts of forcible oral copulation; Weinstein now faces a total of four counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force. If convicted, Weinstein faces up to 140 years to life in prison.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Is CIA Director Gina Haspel Blocking Declassification of Russian Collusion Documents?
We could have a problem regarding the full transparency of the Russian collusion fiasco that has engulfed the news media and the Democratic Party for the past three years. Actually, it’s still a topic of discussion despite the entire narrative having more holes through it than Bonnie and Clyde. As Sean Davis of The Federalist told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, it appears that CIA Director Gina Haspel might be the person blocking the declassification of documents that could shed more light on this myth.
[Comment: Likely because the CIA was involved in trying to frame Trump.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
MSNBC host Joy Reid said on Friday she has a “cellphone full of texts from people who aren’t sure whether to believe Trump actually has covid.”
President Trump posted a video on Friday before flying to Walter Reed Hospital on Friday, saying he is “doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
There are many “conspiracy theories” out there — both online and across the mainstream media. But the QAnon movement, supported at least in part by 56% of Republican voters, is one that the media and some members of congress are particularly annoyed with.
The House of Representatives today almost unanimously voted to condemn QAnon supporters. While the resolution has no actual legal consequences and is mostly just for the political spectacle, congress thought it important enough to have a vote on.
Rep. Tom Malinowski brought the resolution to the House, co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
LinkedIn Goes Into Censorship Mode as Increasing Number of Users Out Themselves as QAnon Supporters
QAnon is increasingly spreading on LinkedIn as members continue to identify as supporters. However, LinkedIn, like other social media sites, isn’t happy about it and is taking measures to reduce the spread of the movement through censorship.
Some LinkedIn members have been updating their professional profiles to indicate they support the Q movement and are liking and sharing related posts.
Despite social media platforms suppressing supporters in recent months,it’s believed that the number of Q movement supporters is in the millions and could, in fact, be growing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Admits He Stabbed Portland Restaurant Worker When He Couldn’t Pay for Meal
PORTLAND, Ore. — Police arrested a man Tuesday who they say stabbed a restaurant worker who had asked the man to leave after the man refused to pay for his meal.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers responded to a reported stabbing at the Habibi restaurant on Southwest Morrison Street at around 7:30 p.m.
At the scene, they found a man sitting in nearby bushes and the restaurant owner told officers the man had stabbed one of his employees. Officers told the man to come out of the bushes and they took him into custody.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mathematics Association Declares Math is Racist
The Mathematical Association of America released a statement Friday claiming both that mathematicians should engage in “uncomfortable conversations” about race, and that policies of from the Trump administration, like the lack of a mask mandate in the United States, are somehow an affront to mathematics. The group concludes with a call for a “pursuit of justice” within math.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Microchip’d? DARPA Biochip to “Save” us From COVID Can Control Human DNA
While half of the American voting public is no doubt waiting in earnest for the announcement of a release of the COVID vaccine and as totalitarian states and governments the world over attempt to require proof of negative tests before travel, a new tool in the shed of government surveillance and control is revealing itself.
While many are still attacking anyone warning of the “coming Microchip” as a conspiracy theorist, Luddite, or religious fanatic, that microchip has arrived.
But governments aren’t having to market the chip as a method to track, trace, and control their populations. Instead, they are marketing the chip as a way to track and detect COVID and other coronaviruses. Clearly, this is a much easier sell to a public literally terrorized by their governments and mainstream media outlets for the last six months.
Raul Diego details the creation and coming rollout of the new biochip in his article, “A DARPA-Funded Implantable Microchip to Detect COVID-19 Could Hit Markets By 2021,” where he writes…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Minnesota News Site Mocks Trump’s Virus Diagnosis, Pulls Story Later
A Minnesota news site, Star Tribune-owned City Pages, published an article on Friday titled “Let’s laugh at these very good ‘Trump has COVID’ tweets.” The news site has since taken down the story.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Powder Keg: 61% Say United States ‘On Verge of Civil War,’ 52% Already Preparing
A majority of Americans are bracing for the possibility of a politically-fired civil war, and more than half are already stockpiling food and other essential items to survive and fight back, according to a new survey shared with Secrets.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
James O’Keefe, the head of investigative reporting group Project Veritas, was locked out of his Twitter account after a private copyright claim was filed on one of his old tweets from January 13, 2020.
O’Keefe has over 759,000 Twitter followers and has recently been using his account to promote Project Veritas’ undercover investigation into election ballot harvesting. His recent tweets about the investigation have been generating thousands of engagements.
But after this private copyright claim, O’Keefe was temporarily locked out of his Twitter account and unable to tweet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rochester, N.Y., Mayor Lovely Warren was indicted Friday on campaign finance charges stemming from her re-election campaign three years ago, officials said.
Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley announced that Warren is facing two felonies, including scheme to defraud in the first degree and violation of election law. Also charged were Warren’s campaign treasurer, Albert Jones Jr., and the treasurer of her political action committee, Rosalind Brooks-Harris.
Warren has not been arrested but will be processed, Doorley said. If convicted, she would be removed from office.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scrutiny on Rose Garden Event After Kellyanne Conway and Other Guests Test Positive for COVID
At least seven people who attended event for Trump’s supreme court nominee have confirmed they have coronavirus
A crowded Rose Garden ceremony last Saturday at which Donald Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett as his supreme court nominee has come under scrutiny after at least seven figures in attendance tested positive for coronavirus, including the president himself.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Seattle Police Investigating String of Violence That Left Two People Dead
SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department is investigating a string of violent events from Friday afternoon and evening that left two people dead. Detectives are trying to determine how the events are related.
It all started with a shooting on 60th Ave. South near Emerson Elementary School in south Seattle.
SPD said nearly 70 rounds were fired in the late afternoon. Five people were sent to the hospital, one person for a graze wound and four others for gunshot wounds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Snohomish Mayor Faces Calls to Resign After Sharing Meme He Says He Didn’t Understand
The mayor of Snohomish, Washington, has been forced to apologize for sharing an anti-protest meme. The mayor was facing several calls across social media to resign. The mayor said he shared the meme thinking it condemned protesters who damage parked vehicles.
On Thursday evening, Snohomish’s Mayor John Kartak shared an image showing a toy car hitting four people. “Coming this Christmas, New Hasbro ‘Peaceful protest’ Action Set,” is written on the image. Kartak removed the meme after about 10 minutes of posting it after followers complained but the meme had already been screenshotted and shared around.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Conservative Trans Woman Who Went Undercover With Antifa in Portland
Confessions of a black bloc mole
Erin Smith was at a GOP election watch party at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on November 8, 2016. For the one-time deputy vice chair of communications for the city Republication Party, it should have been a time of jubilation.
“As soon as they announced Trump the presumptive winner, we’re told, ‘Hey, there’s a mob of protestors out front,’“ says Smith, who stepped outside to find the San Francisco cops being pushed back by a crowd, some in head-to-toe black: clothes, helmets, face masks.
A trans woman, conservative, and former tugboat captain who says she’s “a weird activist/analyst-type person right now,” Smith soon became galvanized to find out more about a group that dressed as revolutionaries and took their fight to the streets. What was animating them? Trump animus? The romance of revolution? The boredom and frustration of COVID sequestration? An unfocused desire to shit up?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Threat of Voter Fraud is Real, Part 1
With the election just thirty days away we have to seriously consider the possibility of voter fraud to remove Trump from office. I don’t that this will happen, but one can never underestimate just how underhanded Democrats can get. Virtually all Democrats say that voter fraud is non-existent but the evidence is overwhelmingly proving that it is rampant. During the 2018 mid-term election democrat activists were caught teaching illegals how to vote twice because no ID is required. See why Democrats fight voter ID. Democrat activists have been caught red-handed issuing Spanish-language instructions to illegal aliens regarding how to vote not once, but twice, in the midterm elections, while assuring them they will get away with voting Democrat twice because “no ID is required.”
The illegal text messages targeting Spanish-speaking illegal aliens across many states are also spreading fear-based propaganda about President Trump, with many of the messages referring to the president of the United States as the “anti-Christ” who “wants to murder Mexicans.”
Wayne Allyn Root reports: For two years now since President Trump’s election, I’ve chronicled the violence, threats of violence, and just plain hysteria and unhinged nature of Democrats with “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s Life Still in Major Jeopardy
By Cliff Kincaid
The big “news” on Saturday was that President Trump is getting better since being diagnosed with a China virus infection. But his treatments are questionable and he was taken to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, also known as Bethesda Naval Hospital, which is the subject of J.C. Hawkins’ controversial book, Betrayal at Bethesda.
It’s a facility hailed by the president and many for first-rate medical care but is also known to be a location where controversial government and political figures can meet their untimely and unexpected ends.
Various reports have attempt to blame the COVID outbreak on Trump aide Hope Hicks, a White House event to announce the Judge Amy Coney Barrett nomination, or Trump not wearing a mask. But Hawkins said he was concerned how Trump, after weeks of an extensive work and travel schedule, had suddenly tested positive and came down with symptoms.
He said he was also surprised by how suddenly Trump was taken away from the White House and noted the case of James Forrestal, the former secretary of defense who supposedly “fell” from a 16th-floor window of the Bethesda Naval Hospital on May 22, 1949. In another mysterious case, anti-communist Senator Joseph McCarthy went into the hospital with a knee injury at five o’clock on a Sunday afternoon and was pronounced dead five days later from acute hepatitis.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump “Doing Very Well” And Having No Difficulty Breathing, Medical Team Says
The day after being transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, members of Trump’s medical team briefed the press on his condition and said they were “extremely happy with the progress” the president is making.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Campaign Manager Tests Positive for COVID
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien tested positive for coronavirus on Friday. One senior campaign official described Stepien as having “mild flu-like symptoms.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump to be Released From Hospital “As Early as Tomorrow,” Doctors Say
President Trump could be released from the Walter Reed Medical Center as soon as Monday if his condition continues to improve, his medical team said Sunday, as the president continues his treatment on dexamethasone and Remdesivir to fight coronavirus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Appoints Larry Elder, Tom Fitton to His Administration
President Trump announced on Friday “his intent to appoint” four persons to his administration: Tom Fitton, Larry Elder, Loren Robert Flaum, and Bill H. Stern.
The White House’s statement included the following descriptions of each.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Supporters Gather Outside Walter Reed Hospital, Host Prayer Vigil
Supporters of President Trump gathered outside Walter Reed Hospital on Saturday, cheering and praying for him and his wife, who were both diagnosed with coronavirus earlier this week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Supporters Close 5th Ave. To Support COVID-19-Stricken President
A caravan of more than 100 vehicles driven by out-of-town Trump supporters brought Fifth Avenue to a halt early Sunday — the latest show of support for the coronavirus-stricken president.
The long line of cars, trucks and motorcycles had mostly driven into the city from Long Island — grinding traffic to halt for at least 30 minutes as they arrived to loudly cheer for the president outside his Trump Tower home.
They constantly blared horns and waved flags — with loud chants of “four more years!” in support of the commander in chief’s re-election bid.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Users Complain After Twitter Says it Will Remove Tweets Hoping Trump Dies From COVID-19
After President Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, Twitter was flooded with tweets from high-profile users hoping that he dies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Locks Account of Dr David Samadi After He Tweets Support for President Trump, Recommends HCQ
After President Trump announced he had been tested positive for the coronavirus, Dr David Samadi, a top New York doctor, tweeted out encouragement to President Trump, wishing him well, and suggested the treatment of hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zpack (Azithromycin).
But, despite being one of New York’s highly-regarded doctors, Twitter didn’t agree with Samadi’s recommendation and locked the doctor’s account.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Viral Hydroxychloroquine Doctor Offers to Prescribe Trump Controversial Drug if DC Doctors Won’t
Stella Immanuel, M.D., one of the front line medical professionals who spoke in favor of using hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and vitamins C and D to treat COVID-19, has offered to prescribe her preferred treatment regimen to President Donald Trump if the doctors treating the First Family refuse to prescribe it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
YouTube and Facebook Boost “Authoritative Sources” on News of President Trump’s COVID Diagnosis
Facebook and YouTube both announced that they ramped up their tracking of “Trump-coronavirus conspiracy theories” within minutes of President Trump announcing that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
In a statement to Motherboard, Facebook said that it began tracking conspiracy theories “immediately” and that it will be working with its third-party fact-checkers to label and remove posts they decide are disinformation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protesters, Politicians Flood Downtown Toronto for Anti-Lockdown Protest
Freedom! Freedom! Liberté! Liberté!
People of all colours, creeds and stripes returned to downtown Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square today to once again defy the rising “second wave” of COVID-19 cases and restrictions being imposed on Canadians.
It was only two weeks ago that Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced new limits on social gatherings. This Friday, Ford raised the stakes by limiting capacities for restaurants and fitness clubs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bar Owners in France Arrested for Not Tracking Users When Offering Free Wifi
Five bar owners in France have been arrested in Grenoble for offering public WiFi without keeping connection logs and spying on its users. The owners claimed they were not aware of the anti-privacy law that came into effect in 2006.
All establishments offering public WiFi in France are required to keep logs. The traditional ISP logging rule was extended “to all persons who, in respect of any activity primary or secondary professional, offer the public a connection allowing on-line communication via network access, including free of charge” in 2006.
Shockingly, café and bar owners found in violation of the law, No. 2006-64, face a maximum of one year in prison and a maximum fine of €75,000.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Boris Suggests UK Coronavirus Restrictions Could Last Beyond Christmas
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but warned that the country faces a “bumpy” winter ahead.
Britain has Europe’s highest coronavirus death toll, at more than 42,000, and Johnson’s Conservative government is facing criticism from all sides. Opponents say tougher social restrictions are needed to suppress a second pandemic wave, but many in Johnson’s own right-of-center party argue that restrictions must be eased to save the economy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Complexity Has Broken Computer Security, Says Academic Who Helped Spot Meltdown and Spectre Flaws
Graz University of Tech’s Daniel Gruss thinks natural sciences can save us
Complexity has broken cybersecurity, but a reappraisal of computer science can keep us safe.
So says Daniel Gruss, assistant professor in the Secure Systems group at Austria’s Graz University of Technology. Gruss and his colleagues discovered some of the biggest recent security snafus, including the Meltdown and Spectre microprocessor design flaws, a working Rowhammer exploit, attacks on Intel SGX including Plundervolt, and many more besides.
Speaking at the Black Hat Asia conference, held virtually on Friday in the Singapore time zone, Gruss outlined his belief that while it is possible to make a system provably secure — with great effort — this is seldom done in production. In any case, the world has become accustomed to using mazes of interlinked, unproven, and often not-publicly-documented systems, he argued.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
European Union Institutions Accused of Being Too White
A European Commission report on staff diversity within European Union institutions has accused the EU of being too white and not having enough representation from minority communities.
The report has stated that while ethnic minorities make up at least 10 per cent of the population in the European Union, the number of ethnic minorities within EU institutions is far lower.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Swedish Broadcaster CEO: No One in Sweden Likes President Trump
Eva Hamilton, the former CEO of Sweden’s public television broadcaster SVT, has claimed that no one in Sweden likes U.S. President Donald J. Trump and that Swedes view him as dangerous.
Ms Hamilton made her comments on Friday on Swedish television after reports revealed that President Trump had tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus along with First Lady Melania Trump.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Five members of one family, including four children, have been killed and five others injured after a relative committed a hammer and knife attack in a Parisian suburb. French media reports the incident occurred following a family dispute.
The attack happened on Saturday morning in the commune of Noisy-le-Sec in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb, according to French television broadcaster BFM.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Whoa! Man Blows Up House Trying to Kill a Fly
We know how irritating a fly can be, especially when you’re trying to enjoy a meal. This irritation is what led a French pensioner, in the Dordogne village of Parcoul-Chenaud, northeast of Bordeaux to blow up half of his house.
The 80-year-old pensioner was in his house, trying to enjoy his dinner when a fly kept bugging him. Annoyed, he took out an electronic bug zapper, which is designed to burn insects the moment there is contact.
But the zapper made contact with something else— gas!
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Marks 30th Anniversary of Reunification
BERLIN (AP) — Germany is marking the 30th anniversary of its reunification on Saturday, drawing a generally positive picture of the progress made in knitting together east and west amid celebrations that are low-key because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Germany was reunited on Oct. 3, 1990, after four decades of Cold War division. East Germany joined the western federal republic less than a year after the east’s communist rulers — under pressure from growing protests — opened the Berlin Wall and the rest of the highly fortified border between the two states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Birthrate Declined by Over Three Per Cent in 2019
Statistics released by the Greek government show that the country’s birthrate declined by 3.1 per cent in 2019 as deaths increased by 3.9 per cent.
According to statistics released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), the country saw a total of 83,763 births in 2019, down from 86,440 the year before. The statistics also do not take into account cases of stillbirths, which increased by a substantial 35.5 per cent in 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Macron to Target Islamist ‘Separatism’ In France
President Emmanuel Macron, trying to rid France of what authorities call a “parallel society” of radical Muslims thriving outside the values of the nation, laid out a series of measures on Friday in a proposed law that would disrupt the education, finances and other means of indoctrination of the vulnerable.
[Comment: Note how he blames France for creation of “ghettos”, not elites following mass migration plan.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Madrid Starts Partial Lockdown, Police Control Travel in and Out of Spanish Capital
MADRID (AP) — Madrid awoke Saturday to its first day under a partial lockdown, with police controlling travel in and out of the Spanish capital that has become Europe’s biggest hot spot for the second wave of the coronavirus.
The two-week ban imposed by Spain’s national government on reluctant regional officials started Friday night at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT).
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Pope Francis Calls for Giving United Nations Organization ‘Real Teeth’
ROME — Pope Francis makes his best case for multilateralism in a new teaching letter, calling for more authority for supranational organizations like the United Nations.
“The twenty-first century is witnessing a weakening of the power of nation states, chiefly because the economic and financial sectors, being transnational, tend to prevail over the political,” the pope writes in the encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All), released on Sunday.
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Pope Francis Denounces Rise of Populist Nationalism
ROME — Pope Francis has decried the resurgence of populism and nationalism on the world stage, calling instead for greater multilateralism.
Our own days seem to be showing “signs of a certain regression,” the pope writes in a new encyclical letter titled Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All). “Ancient conflicts thought long buried are breaking out anew, while instances of a myopic, extremist, resentful and aggressive nationalism are on the rise.”
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Pubs in England Face £1000 Fine for Playing Music Above 85 Decibels or Allowing Dancing
With the COVID-19 virus still as active as ever in England, the rules of what UK residents can and can’t do in regards to social activities are always changing, and it can be very confusing. When pubs re-opened, it wasn’t long until some of them were closing again and now a new law has come into effect which directly affects music and dancing.
Without any prior approval by parliament, the new law which states that pubs are not allowed to play music above 85 decibels or allow pub-goers to dance came into place on September 27. It’s part of a whole host of new laws, and it will affect the pub experience for many. Unfortunately, this could be in place up until Spring, like many new laws are expected to stay in place until. This law also comes after the announcement that all establishments are to close at 10PM to try and curb the growth of COVID-19 cases in England — although many people gather in the streets and crowd places outside once establishments are closed.
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Roma Gang Leader Stole Over €2.5 Million by Dressing Up as Italian Police
The carabinieri has arrested the head of a Roma-Gipsy gang that amassed a fortune in cash by pretending to be police and robbing Italians, often in their homes.
The leader of the gang was arrested this week by carabinieri in Milan working with the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate. Officers found that the 58-year-old had managed to amass a fortune of around €2.5 million along with 12 properties and land in several Italian provinces.
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‘This is How They Stole Money From the Pope’
By Floriana Bulfon
ROME — An extraordinary 59-page document is unveiling an intricate mole-like maze of corruption that is crushing the Vatican. Rapacious and feeling almighty, those involved have engineered diabolical operations to plunder the Holy See, and even get hold of Pope Francis’ reserved account, the most protected of Vatican coffers. The probe submitted by the papal prosecuting attorney tracking back a 454 million heist depicts a merciless picture of an assault on the financial assets of the Vatican. A London property real-estate deal has given way to a momentous scandal involving a number of monsignors, brokers and business lawyers, besides outlining a snapshot where Pope Bergoglio is a white spot surrounded by black souls who betrayed him.
The attorney’s summary is shocking: “The Secretariat of State financed the London operation with a 200 million dollars line of credit coming from Credit Suisse and from Banca della Svizzera Italiana and guaranteed by a pledge of assets the Secretariat of State owns after collecting them through donations to the Peter’s Pence.” In other words, the money given for alms, went to service speculations amounting to sums yet to be reckoned “that could top 454 million euros”.
From investments to blackmail
The investment’s stated goal was to buy the Harrods building on Sloane Avenue in London. The price of the building, however, began miraculously to increase. “A substantial accounting reappraisal was undertaken before the Secretariat of State underwrote the shares. Carried out by the fund managers, it doesn’t appear to have had a valid economic reason as of now in the investigations,” the Promoter of Justice Gian Piero Milano and his deputy Alessandro Diddi write. “Several companies whose financing partners are not to be known” were involved in the deal.
Probe records point to the dealmaker Raffaele Mincione as the person directing the operation. The files in the PC of a staff at the Secretariat of State, Fabrizio Tirabassi, further indicate him as being a “friend of Cheyne’s boss…
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Top Italian Epidemiologists Criticize Mandatory Outdoor Mask-Wearing
ROME — The president of the Italian Society of Anti-infection Therapy (SITA) has criticized new laws mandating outdoor mask-wearing, insisting that these politically motivated maneuvers have “no scientific rationale.”
Dr. Matteo Bassetti, who is also the director of Infectious Diseases at the San Martino Hospital in Genoa, said Friday that the decision by the governor of the Lazio region to impose outdoor masks — and threats by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to do the same on the national level — are counterproductive.
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Two Young Foreign Nationals Arrested After Throwing Molotov Cocktails at Greek Police
Two foreign nationals have been arrested after a violent student protest in Athens and are accused of hurling Molotov cocktails and other items at police officers.
Greek police arrested the 17-year-old and a 20-year-old in front of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in central Athens earlier this week close to a student protest being held in the Greek capital, newspaper Proto Thema reports.
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UK Judge to Give Assange’s U.S. Extradition Verdict Early Next Year
LONDON (Reuters) — A British judge said on Thursday she would give her decision early next year on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States to face 18 charges including espionage.
U.S. authorities accuse Australian-born Assange, 49, of conspiring to hack government computers and of violating a secrecy law with Wikileaks’ release of confidential official communications in 2010-2011.
To admirers, Assange is a champion of free speech who exposed abuses of power. Critics say that by publishing unredacted documents, he recklessly endangered the lives of intelligence sources in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.
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UK: Farage Predicts There Will be an EU Trade Deal, But it Won’t Satisfy Many Brexiteers
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has predicted that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will compromise with the European Union over a trade deal which might result in a soft Brexit, where the UK is still tied to some EU rules.
“I sense there will be a compromise,” Mr Farage told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday. “I sense there will be a deal before the end of the year, and it’s one that will not fully satisfy many Brexiteers.”
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UK: MI5 Sets Up Unit to Handle Far-Left, Anarchist Terror Threats
Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, the Security Service (MI5), will have a unit dedicated to investigating far-leftists and anarchists plotting terror attacks in the United Kingdom.
MI5 has created the new unit to target left-wing, anarchist, and “single-issue terrorism”, or LASIT, with single-issue terrorism including extremists in the animal rights movement, according to The Telegraph.
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US Looks to Draw North Africa Away From Russian Orbit
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper made his first African tour this week for talks with officials in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The main aim of the tour was to discuss how to limit the growing Russian influence in North Africa and the Mediterranean.
Tunisia-USA Defense Agreement
In Tunisia, the Pentagon chief signed a 10-year security cooperation pact with Tunisian Defense Minister Ibrahim Bartagi. The agreement envisages cooperation in fields such as freedom of navigation, sharing intelligence and disaster response operations, according to the Pentagon.
The American concerns over the increasing role of Russia, and also China, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were evident in Esper’s statements during his visit to Tunisia.
“Today, our strategic competitors China and Russia continue to intimidate and coerce their neighbors while expanding their authoritarian influence worldwide, including on this continent,” he said during a ceremony in Carthage.
[…]
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Ottoman Empire Redux: Turkey’s Erdogan Tells the World ‘Jerusalem is Ours’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the world Jerusalem “belongs” to Turkey, harking back to the Ottoman Empire’s control over the city for hundreds of years up until it was ejected in 1917.
Erdogan made his public claim Thursday as he addressed Turkish lawmakers during a major policy speech in Ankara. He said:
In this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So Jerusalem is our city, a city from us. Our first qibla [direction of prayer in Islam] al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem are the symbolic mosques of our faith. In addition, this city is home to the holy places of Christianity and Judaism.
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Saudi Arabia Arrests 10, Taking Down Alleged Iran-Linked Terrorist Cell
by Daniel Davis
Saudi Arabia and Iran have shared a mutual dislike for one another since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, but despite the rhetoric from both sides, there have only been a handful of violent incidences between the two over the past three decades. Although Tehran funds and trains the world’s largest network of proxy militias, it has mostly avoided targeting Riyadh.
New Low for Saudi-Iranian Relations
However on Sept. 28, the Saudi government announced it recently detained 10 people on terror charges, alleging three were trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. They further claimed that another seven of the individuals were working in partnership with the group. The allegation that Iran-linked terrorists infiltrated Saudi Arabia’s border would mark a significant new lowering of relations between Riyadh and Tehran if true.
The State Security Presidency, Riyadh’s national security agency, said that in addition to apprehending 10 suspects, it also discovered nine improvised explosive devices alongside five kilograms of gunpowder, as the Wall Street Journal reported. Other bomb-making materials such as chemicals, fuses, and electronics, and assault rifles were retrieved from a house and farm that were maintained as a cache for the alleged perpetrators.
[…]
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Belarus Looks to Decentralized Tech to Combat Censorship
Belarusian news outlets are pushing back against government censorship using a torrent-like technology. The government has been denying citizens access to the websites of local news outlets.
On Friday, the Belarus government, headed by President Alexander Lukashenko, who was “reelected” again in a widely-considered sham August 8th election, announced that it would be canceling foreign journalists’ press accreditations. The decision comes while the regime continues denying citizens access to news outlets’ websites, including Radio Free Europe’s Belarusian version.
Additionally, there was a three-day internet outage in the country following weeks-long post-election protests.
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Woman Banned From All Future Flights for Outrageous Behaviour Onboard Flight
Numerous actions can cause havoc on a plane. From passengers showing off their guns mid flightto screaming hysterically because their nuts were served in a packet rather than on a plate (true story), you might have thought you’d seen it all.
We’re here to tell you that’s not the case: one Ukrainian woman’s actions have just propelled her to the top of this absurd category of aviation literature (and seen her banned from all future UIA flights in the future).
Apparently frustrated by her Boeing 737’s tarmac wait time, the woman did what we all fantasise about doing when faced with a lengthy technical glitch or traffic controller stuff up — hop out the emergency exit to take some sun on the wing.
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India Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Missile as Border Tensions Rise
For decades, India has feared a multi-front war with China and Pakistan. By modernizing its military, along with investments in nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles, New Delhi could be on a pathway to deter or manage conflict with either one of its nuclear-armed neighbors.
In what appears to be the second hypersonic missile test in weeks, India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable hypersonic missile dubbed “Shaurya,” defense sources told Hindustan Times.
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Apple Pulls More RSS Apps From Chinese App Store to Please Beijing
Just as Apple is being challenged in some corners for slowly backing away from serving, in good faith, the open and democratic RSS web feed tech when it comes to the way it dominates podcasting discoverability and search market — other products building on the venerable RSS are also viewed as disposable by the tech giant.
If, that is — the price, and the market, is right.
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Former Chinese Official Ran TikTok’s Content Policy, Report Says
The future of TikTok in the US, where it has about 100 million users, remains unknown.
The drama stems from US authorities’ accusations that TikTok has ties with the Chinese government, thus making its access to data of US citizens a matter of national security.
That is a charge the app’s owner, ByteDance, denies — but a new Financial Times report suggests that links between official Beijing and the company have in fact been close over the years.
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In China, Parents Are Ordered to Post Proof of Their Kids Consuming Propaganda to WeChat
The Chinese government is forcing the country’s principles on to children right from their early childhood and is using WeChat to reinforce it.
Ever since being appointed the Premier of China, Xi Jinping has made it a point to ensure that “patriotism” and the “red gene” are instilled in students to “pass down the revolutionary cause from generation to generation.”
The Chinese President has, over time, found several ways to instill a sense of patriotism and unwavering belief in The Chinese Communist Party.
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For a final assignment to cap a five-year posting to China, I never would have chosen this.
But deep inside a cavernous setup of tight corridors and shelves, I’m standing in the dark, sweating profusely as the rain-like sound of millions of cockroaches eating fills the silence.
It’s a peaceful ambience that would go well on one of those calming sleep apps.
Everything else about the situation would probably keep people awake.
Around me on walls, the ceiling and floors, cockroaches large and small scurry about, scattering whenever my cameraman Steve Wang points his camera light at them.
This is a roach nest on a massive scale: four industrial-size hangars packed with rows and an elaborate pipe system that pumps food waste collected from restaurants onto the shelves for the roaches to eat.
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has reinforced his warning for beachgoers to not be selfish moments before he clashed with a journalist over hotel quarantine.
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CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles won the bid to build 65 new high-capacity metro trains in 2016, just a week before Premier Daniel Andrews travelled to China.
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Lauren Southern Removed From CPAC Australia Speaker Lineup
Lauren Southern, the conservative political commentator and filmmaker, has been removed from the speaker lineup at this year’s CPAC Australia.
Southern was set to speak at CPAC Australia, starting on November 4th in Sydney to coincide with the presidential election, before being unceremoniously booted off the speaker list.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, “a number of federal MPs scheduled to appear on the line-up and other interest groups had flagged discomfort standing up at an event” alongside Southern. “A lot of people that support CPAC and want the event to succeed thought it was inappropriate for her to be there,” one source close to the event said.
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The men were intercepted by Victoria Police at a vehicle checkpoint in the Macedon Ranges, north of Melbourne, and fined for entering a Stage Four restricted area.
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Brazil President Calls Biden’s Amazon Comments ‘Disastrous’
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday attacked U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden for saying the South American nation should suffer “significant economic consequences” if devastation of the Amazon rainforest continues.
Biden said during Tuesday’s debate with President Donald Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, that foreign countries should give Brazil $20 billion to stop Amazon deforestation, and that the country should face repercussions if it fails.
The Brazilian leader has insisted on economic development of the region, drawing condemnation from environmentalists, climate scientists and foreign leaders who say the forest is an important carbon sink and must remain standing to achieve climate change goals.
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Britain Plans to Deny Asylum to Illegal Migrants, Newspaper Says
(Reuters) — The British government will routinely deny asylum to migrants who board boats to cross the English Channel or come to Britain through illegal routes, the Sunday Times reported here.
Under new laws that will be unveiled by Britain’s interior minister Priti Patel on Sunday, the government will unveil its “fair borders bill,” outlining its plan of a two-tier system in which migrants are treated differently if they pay criminal gangs to help them come to Britain, the newspaper said.
New legal routes will be created for those who are at genuine risk of harm, and foreign criminals and asylum seekers who are not at risk will be deported, the report added.
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The Times has revealed several cases in the past year of deported criminal migrants returning to the UK and using EU and human rights laws to fight their removals.
In the report published on Sunday, the newspaper shared analysis of cases heard by the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), including from those criminal migrants who used the Human Rights Act, EU laws on the right to family life, and claims of being a victim of modern slavery to stay in the country.
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Honduran Migrants Opt to Return Home, Guatemala Says
Guatemalan authorities said Saturday they have disbanded a caravan of migrants heading north from Honduras, bound for the U.S. border, sending more than 3,000 back home over the past few days.
Since Thursday, when thousands of migrants began crossing into Guatemala without permission, authorities said most had “opted to return” and were sent back to Honduras on buses.
The caravan had split into two groups Friday, with one headed for the Peten region of northern Guatemala, and the other for the Mexican border city of Tapachula.
The group headed for northern Guatemala ran into a roadblock manned by police and soldiers, where so many of their fellow migrants were turned around.
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The Home Secretary plans to make the announcement at the Conservative Party conference, starting today as a virtual event.
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Pope Francis Rails Against Building ‘Walls’ In New Teaching Letter
ROME — Pope Francis has called on Christians to break down walls and embrace a love without borders in a new encyclical letter released on Sunday.
“We achieve fulfilment when we break down walls,” wrote the pope, who ironically rules the world’s only completely walled-in sovereign territory, the Vatican City State.
The pope referred to walls a remarkable 14 times in his letter titled Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All), insisting that the Church wants “to build bridges, to break down walls, to sow seeds of reconciliation.”
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Pope Francis: Resistance to Immigration is a ‘Primal’ Reaction
ROME — Pope Francis has reiterated his call for a more welcoming attitude toward migrants, insisting everyone has the right to “dream of a better future.”
“Certain populist political regimes, as well as certain liberal economic approaches, maintain that an influx of migrants is to be prevented at all cost,” the pope laments in a new encyclical letter titled Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All), meaning that “great numbers of lives are at stake.”
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Swedish Police: New Gang Culture Emerged From Second-Generation Migrants
The head of the intelligence unit of the National Operational Department (NOA) of the Swedish police force said that many of the gangs in no-go vulnerable areas consist of second-generation migrants who have formed a new type of gang culture.
Linda Staaf spoke to broadcaster Sveriges Radio on Thursday about the current state of gang crime in Sweden. She that there are three types of criminal gang structures, of which migrant-background gangs are the newest to emerge in the country.
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UK: Deportation Flight Had One Passenger After 29 Lodged Legal Challenges
The UK deported just one out of 30 failed asylum seekers scheduled on a flight to France after the rest had lodged legal challenges to their removal.
One Sudanese man was returned to Paris under current EU asylum rules. The 29 others were taken off of the airplane and had their cases “rescheduled”, including six who claimed they were victims of slavery and 18 who made claims that they should be allowed to stay in Britain under the human rights act, according to information seen by The Times.
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Migrants who have smuggled themselves into Britain are being ferried around the country in taxis costing the taxpayer millions of pounds, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Asylum seekers are also being chauffeur-driven from airports to hotels and accommodation centres, or taxied to detention centres and even interviews with Home Office staff. Some individual journeys have cost hundreds of pounds.
Clearsprings Ready Homes, a private company awarded a £1.1 billion Home Office contract over ten years to house migrants in the south of England and Wales, has paid one cab firm called Evo Taxis almost £2 million in just two years.
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A law firm whose immigration solicitors have prevented Channel migrants from being returned to France has pocketed £55 million in legal aid from the British taxpayer in just three years.
The staggering bonanza for Duncan Lewis Solicitors, whose legal aid work covers many areas of law including immigration, is revealed in figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday.
We can also reveal that the company’s staff have travelled to Calais and offered support to refugees hoping to reach Britain.
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Exclusive: Babylon Bee CEO Barred From Speaking at His Christian Alma Mater
Palm Beach Atlantic University disinvited alumnus Seth Dillon — the CEO of Christian satire outlet The Babylon Bee — from participating in a speaking event and interview at its chapel, instead changing the location to the school’s library.
The university had scheduled Dillon to participate in an interview at its chapel on the morning of September 30. However, PBA community members reached out to the university with concerns about Dillon speaking in chapel, explaining that it represents a “sacred space.”
Quoting his assertion that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization, a PBA student said that “this should be enough to not welcome @SethDillon to our campus. Not to mention that every LGBTQ student has been disrespected and degraded by his content.”
Social media users did not provide specific examples of Dillon demeaning LGBTQ individuals.
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Italian luxury brand Gucci is selling a £1, 700 ‘Tartan cotton long smock shirt’ for men to fight ‘toxic masculinity stereotypes.’ The garment is inspired by grunge looks from the ‘90s.
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‘Mrs A’ fears her 16-year-old daughter will be fast-tracked for transgender medical treatment once she is seen by clinicians at the Gender Identity Development Service in London.
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Nikola Silences YouTube and Twitter Critics With a Wave of Copyright Claims
Numerous YouTubers and Twitter users that are critical of the motor vehicle company Nikola have been hit with a wave of copyright claims and privacy complaints that have led to their videos and tweets going down and in some cases put their YouTube channel at risk of deletion.
YouTubers Tom Nash, Sam Alexander, Green Knight Trading, Oliver Bahl, and Money Mania were all hit with copyright strikes on their videos.
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Pinterest Bans “Cultural Appropriation” Halloween Costumes
Pinterest is trying to re-educate users on what it calls “cultural appropriation” when it comes to Halloween costumes.
Pinterest is the go-to app for Halloween costume ideas. Even though the celebrations this year will be different due to coronavirus restrictions, people are still planning to make a statement with unique costumes.
“Costumes are consistently a top-searched term, but many people may not know that certain costumes are appropriations of other cultures,” Pinterest said in a post in their newsroom.
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The Move to Keep Podcasting Free of Censorship
Compared to the necessity of creators to have access to expensive physical infrastructure, not to mention publishing power structures needed to negotiate to get their product out on TV or radio — it’s clear where the core strength and appeal of podcasting lies.
It’s the last, but a pretty solid mass medium standing democratic in the way it’s available to everyone, cheap to produce and consume, and discoverable with minimum effort and investment in terms of equipment and service fees.
If you have an internet connection and basic recording equipment, can cover bandwidth costs, and know how to use RSS as a content distribution tool — that is pretty much all you need to be podcasting “to everyone.”
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UK: Ex Equality Tsar Criticises Prince Harry for Using ‘Empty Jargon’ Like ‘Structural Racism’
Britain’s former equality tsar Trevor Phillips has criticised Meghan Markle for her ignorance of Britain’s Black History Month and Prince Harry for using “empty jargon” like “structural racism”.
The woke royals gave a video interview to London’s Evening Standard on Thursday, where they called for the end of “structural racism” in the UK. During the interview, Prince Harry commented that London does not feel “diverse”, despite being one of the most multicultural cities in the world.
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Can the pope be recalled?
If I was Catholic I would be ashamed to call myself one with such a moron issuing moronic proclamations in my name. Baalam’s ass or Caligula’s horse would make a far better pope than the current idiot impersonating the pope. When he throws open the gates of the Vatican to African rapists and onanists and offers his own backside for the abuse of Maghrebian orcs then he might be worth taking seriously. Until then he is just another fool wearing a funny hat while braying like an ass.
Well said.
As a Catholic in very poor standing myself, I absolutely agree! Remember! It is do as I say, not as I do where this Marxist bloody Jesuit is concerned, this false Pope and the lavender mafia have to be Purged from the Church in order to have any standing amongst the regular volk.
the whole church is infected. one retired jesuit said the smoke of satan entered the vatican years go.
Pope Francis called for a world without borders, from behind the Leonine Wall.
The Leonine Wall (aka “Vatican Wall”), which defines Vatican City, was constructed by Pope Leo IV following the sacking by Muslim raiders of Old St. Peter’s Basilica in 846.
The forty feet high wall has 44 strong towers at bowshot intervals. The massive round corner tower that still crowns the Vatican hill has its origins in this construction campaign.
So much for open borders and Muslims.
That is a very degenerate kind of calling Mr Pope. Considering Christianity in general
chats about moral and other standards. Look at what happened to Constantinople once those walls were breached? Pakistan’s slaughter or at best rape of Christian women – as well as men and virtually anything else with an orifice. The UK has very open borders. A regular old slave trade going on there. You must be thinking for yourself. Please target your advertising. Start with Italy and then move west. Pssst! If you must. Nigeria? Maybe you need more lock up and less lock down. You and Bozo. The ghastly twins.
Country bumpkin Papa Francois swimming with sharks. Boris has turned out to be exactly what he looks like. A thoroughly dishonest untrustworthy gluttonous sex addict pimp. President of EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen comes across like a cashier at the local supermarket. At best a run of the mill receptionist. How did so much power get into the hands of such characters. Priti Patel. Now there’s another piece of work. All “Playing the Whiteman”.
So here we are. Math is now racist according to our domestic communists. Their idiocy is like pure sulfur. Refined through great effort, mostly useless, and repugnant to be near. And in great surplus, these days.
“Can the pope be recalled?
If I was Catholic I would be ashamed to call myself one with such a moron issuing moronic proclamations in my name. ”
I am an American and a proud one. Carter, Obama, Clinton and the Bushes didn’t make me ashamed to be an American. Similarly, I am a Catholic and the current Pope is a Marxist dingbat in robes selected by Left Wing, Homosexual nobodies. When you go to Mass it’s you and God. Who is in The Vatican does not play a role. I can’t wait for him to assume room temperature. Problem is who is the replacement.
As a Catholic myself, when we Catholics finally say enough is enough and get rid of the Marxist Jesuits and the homo mafia in the Vatican, change might be possible, until then, I absolutely refuse to give a dime at the collection plate and my pew is empty. Deo Volente!
I send my son to a Catholic school because I believe there is still value in a Catholic education but I am not moved to give any more than his tuition to the church, seeing what is done with it once it reaches Rome.
It is a shame because I believe if they only went back to actually practicing the traditional teachings and rituals they would probably have much more faithful parishioners. There is something to be said for tradition, of which their long history is part of Western heritage.
Basic disagreements is what drove the original reformation. Christian faithful discovered they didn’t need a rotting bureaucratic priesthood for their prayers to be heard. Christ was far more personal and thus reachable. Then and now, many and their neighbors see it too.
Amen.
We have gotten away from those traditions and old ways at our peril.
Racial justice within mathmatics? Just make the “equal” sign bigger, and use it more often. That ought to do it.
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/10/uk-christian-convicted-of-religiously-aggravated-harassment-fined-1189-for-saying-all-muslims-will-go-to-hell
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/10/sharia-uk-muslims-threaten-christian-at-speakers-corner-cops-remove-christian
Clown country
https://twitter.com/amnesty/status/1312003148584808455/photo/1
Apparently Europe has secretly been a black continent all this time.
Well one thing is for absolute certain, Europe will be painted red soon.
San Francisco To Give Expecting Black Moms $1,000 Stipend
The Abundant Birth Project is said to be the first of its kind in the United States.
https://twitter.com/iamltchristian/status/1306553967531433984
Black women to receive $1000 every month after birth. White women don’t get a cent.
They’ll still buy Orange or Grape drank. some skittles, and all the Little Debbies and chips they can fill their carts with. nothing healthful…just sweets and and donuts like they do in my city.
How obtuse can one be, being the Infallible? Methinks His Holycowness needs to discover Islamic nationalism posthaste. While not his job to offer a solution, he could at least stop babbling nonsense while constituents of his church are fearing for their dear life. Or maybe he already transcended and wants the largest possible gathering in the otherworld? Someone tell them their shepherd forgot to leave painkillers for the crossing.
This false pope is a Marxist Jesuit, him and the lavender mafia must be Purged to have any standing amongst the faithful.
The Pope wants open borders, and at the same time lives in a fortress with a private army.
Controls a country that is rich, but claims others have to help the poor.
How can a poope be holy when he protects pedophiles, blasphemes Jesus Christ and wants to destroy nations borders.
This guy at best is the Vicar of Satan and a d*****g in a dress.
I profess to be a christian.
But Jorge Bergoglio is a comunnist.
Raised in a military dictatorship, he denounced where some priests were hidden. That’s no good presentation card.
When it sounded that he will be promoted to Bishop of Buenos Aires, his superior, chief of Jesuits, said that, probably, there was someone better for the mission.