UK government officials and police are asking citizens to report any illegal parties that violate COVID-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered restaurants in New York City to close down indoor dining.
In other news, the US Supreme Court refused to hear Texas’ lawsuit against four other states for their violations of their own election laws. The American Republic is now dead, and the former USA has officially become a Chinese vassal.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, JD, Moon, Reader from Chicago, 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.
“Like a Needle Pulling a Thread”: Prosecutor Kim Gardner Kicked Off McCloskey Case
Authored by Jonathan Turley
I have been skeptical in the past of the charges brought against Mark and Patricia McCloskey by Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner given the countervailing rights of gun possession and home protection in Missouri. I felt that a case could be maintained as a charging matter but I still fail to see how such charges could be proven at trial or sustained on appeal. Now, a court has removed Gardner as prosecutor for fundraising on the case.
The couple challenged Gardner’s participation after learning that she used the case to attract donors. It was a disturbing pitch for contributions since critics allege that Gardner dropped charges against the protesters and prosecuted the homeowner to curry favor with liberal voters and activists.
Circuit Judge Thomas Clark II ruled that Gardner had undermined the integrity of the case and left the appearance of having “initiated a criminal prosecution for political purposes.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Attorney General William Barr worked to stop investigations into Hunter Biden’s business and financial dealings from being disclosed to the public during the election campaign, according to a person familiar with the matter. Barr reportedly knew about the investigations for months.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Barr was aware of investigations involving democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son since before the spring. Barr was allegedly able to resist pressure from Republicans in Congress for information into the investigations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski has commented on the fact that YouTube took the position to dictate editorial policy to its community.
In fact, this has been going on for years, amplified and taken to unprecedented lows as YouTube enforced the policy and picked sides during 2020.
Positioning his platform as a YouTube competitor, Pavlovski vowed that it will not adopt this type of policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden, Harris Named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, were chosen Friday as TIME’s “person of the year,” edging out other finalists such as President Trump, the Black Lives Matter movement, and frontline healthcare workers for the COVID-19 pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia Journalism Dean Sours on Free Speech, Says it Has Been Weaponized
Judging by some voices that have been gaining traction among corporate media, journalism has a new and totally unexpected enemy: free speech.
And while allowing and fostering free speech in the media is still held in high, if not the highest regard when the state of democracy is gauged in some countries, the tide seems to be resolutely turning toward vilifying it.
Steve Coll, Columbia Journalism Dean, who also writes for The New Yorker, recently spoke about US Constitution’s First Amendment free speech protections as being “weaponized” simply to disseminate “disinformation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Craig Considine: No Fundamental Differences Between Jesus and Muhammad
Islam’s prophet Muhammad is Jesus’ “kindred spirit and his brother,” stated Rice University sociologist Craig Considine during an April 25 online discussion of his debunked, new book, The Humanity of Muhammad: A Christian View. This highly dubious statement is merely one among numerous examples of an ideologically contrived identity between Christianity and Islam by the cavalier relativist Considine.
In a November 12 Facebook discussion during Considine’s virtual book tour, this previously self-professed “à la carte Catholic” had pronounced Muhammad a “holy figure” and “prophet.” These comments replicated Considine’s earlier July 31, 2019, tweet, in which he declared that “Muhammad was truly a Prophet” given his supposedly manifest beneficent biography. Thus “Christians should admit it on the basis of the Christian principle ‘by their fruits you will know them’“ and, following “that the Holy Spirit spoke by the prophets, the Qur’an should be accepted as divine origin.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats Have Turned Normal and Common Sense Into Raw Sewage
Socialist Democrats, starting as far back ad President Woodrow Wilson, created out of thin air a whole host of additional social rights accruing to American citizens. Why? To buy votes of course. As the social rights grew under successive Democrat administrations, so did the enormous price to pay for those social rights. As a result, in the intervening years since FDR first took office, the national debt has exploded exponentially to an astronomical $26 Trillion, and rising. President FDR outlined these new social rights in a speech just before he died in 1944 after being elected president for a fourth term. FDR’s second bill of rights included:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education.
All of these second bill of rights require government intervention in some form or another, in other words, government oversight, government enforcement and government dependency. Since FDR, President Johnson and then President Obama, those second bill of rights have been implemented by the federal government, granting government way more power than was envisioned by the Founding Fathers under a Constitutional Republic. Centralized government and Alexander Hamilton won. The power of the individual states, Thomas Jefferson, individual freedom and the people lost.
In contrast, the original bill of rights, contained in the first ten (10) Amendments to the U. S. Constitution, required only that government preserve, protect and defend those rights for the individual. The federal government has failed miserably in their sworn duty.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Department of Education Launches Free Speech Hotline for Students to Report Cancel Culture
College and university students can now report free speech violations on campus after the Education Department launched a “Free Speech Hotline.” Cancel culture has found its way into institutions of higher education. There have been more than a few cases where students and lecturers have been criticized and punished for expressing unpopular opinions.
The free speech hotline was launched during an event held by the education department to discuss cancel culture and political correctness in campuses. Those who attended the virtual event feel that in the recent past political correctness has hampered humor in the quad and lecture halls.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fauci: Unless Americans Take the Vaccine, The Masks Need to Stay on
Appearing on CNN Thursday, Dr Anthony Fauci declared that face masks are here to stay unless enough Americans get the coronavirus vaccination, and even then it will take at least six months before the masks can be left behind.
Speaking to Chris Cuomo, Fauci was asked if the masks could come off, to which he replied “Well, the answer is not unless you get the overwhelming majority of the country vaccinated and protected and get that umbrella of what we call herd immunity.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Man Friday: This One Weird Trick Doubled Social Security Benefits
Before we dig into Florida Man Friday, let’s take a moment to reflect.
This is a time of year for giving thanks, and I’m thankful most of all for Florida’s best-in-the-nation sunshine law, which gives us immediate access to the craziest stories.
Sure, every state has plenty of people just as nuts as Florida Man, but those Other Men don’t always make the news.
So without further ado, join me now on another…
Florida Man Friday!
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘I Am Not Afraid of the Gas Chamber’: Codebreakers Solve Old Zodiac Killer Cipher
An international team of amateur sleuths claim to have decoded a half-century-old taunt by California’s notorious Zodiac Killer.
And federal authorities said they believe the code breakers appear to be on solid ground in following the mysterious killer who fatally stabbed or shot five people in Northern California in 1968 and 1969.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Than Half of New York’s Restaurants Are in Danger of Closing
By Erika Adams of Eater.com
Across the country, restaurants have been decimated by the pandemic. But according to a new survey conducted by the New York State Restaurant Association, in partnership with the National Restaurant Association, New York restaurants are hurting more from the economic crisis in comparison to the industry nationwide.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYC Indoor Dining Closed Starting Monday, Cuomo Says
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that indoor dining would be closed in New York City starting on Monday.
Cuomo cited rising hospitalizations and infection rates, saying that “indoor dining is too high of a risk.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio State Employs More Than 100 Diversity Workers, Costing $10 Million-Plus Per Year
Ohio State University currently employs more than 100 workers whose jobs are dedicated to diversity and inclusion, according to information recently compiled using the most recent salary reports for the public university.
The research found that the salary and benefits costs come in at over $10 million dollars annually, according to Professor Mark Perry of the University of Michigan-Flint, who conducted the research.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Olympic Organizers Flummoxed by U.S. Decision to Back Athlete Protests
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) decision to support athletes raising their fists or kneeling on the podium at next year’s Tokyo Games and beyond was met with polite obfuscation Friday by Olympic officials in Switzerland.
As Breitbart News reported, the U.S. move was in response to calls from a USOPC athlete group that demanded changes to Rule 50 of the IOC Olympic Charter, which prohibits inside-the-lines protests at the Games.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oracle Moves to Texas as Silicon Valley Exodus Accelerates
The California Exodus continues, as Oracle has become the latest tech company to leave the Golden State for Texas.
The company noted the move at the very bottom of their latest 10-Q, as the tech company founded 43 years ago in Santa Clara, Californiaannounced that they would be “implementing a more flexible employee work location policy and has changed its Corporate Headquarters from Redwood City, California to Austin, Texas,” where the company opened a massive 40-acre riverfront campus in 2018 with the capacity for up to 10,000 employees.
The company says the move will “best position Oracle for growth and provide our personnel with more flexibility about where and how they work.” Most Oracle employees will be able to choose their office location, or continue to work from home part time or full time, the company told CNBC.
“In addition, we will continue to support major hubs for Oracle around the world, including those in the United States such as Redwood City, Austin, Santa Monica, Seattle, Denver, Orlando and Burlington, among others, and we expect to add other locations over time,” the company added. “By implementing a more modern approach to work, we expect to further improve our employees’ quality of life and quality of output.”
What they don’t mention is that California also has some of the highest taxes in the nation, an outrageous cost of living, an explosion in homelessness, crumbling infrastructure and seasonal wildfires which continue to make living in ‘paradise’ a living hell. Last December, Oracle ditched San Francisco as the longstanding venue for its OpenWorld conference, citing expensive hotel rooms and ‘poor street conditions’ — depriving the city of an estimated $64 million per year after the company moved the event to Las Vegas.
Indeed, the exodus out of California is real and ongoing. Oracle’s move follows that of Hewlett Packard, which announced earlier this month that it would be relocating its headquarters from San Jose, California to Houston, Texas. Meanwhile, Palantir Technologies moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Denver, Colorado earlier this year. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and comedian Joe Rogan left the Golden State for Texas.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Questions Are Raised Over Impartiality of Facebook Fact-Checking Certifier
A certifier working at the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) is openly politically biased, yet she is responsible for issuing licenses to fact-checking organizations working for Facebook who control the political conversation on social media. The certifier also once suggested on Russia Today that she finds it hard to be objective where President Trump is involved.
Facebook fact-checkers wield power to censor news stories and other content they do not like and their actions demonetize or ban pages and accounts entirely. One would imagine that the process of vetting fact-checkers would be “non-partisan.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Restaurant Closings Top 110,000 With Industry in ‘Free Fall’
More than 110,000 restaurants have closed permanently or long-term across the country as the industry grapples with the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. And more pain is ahead, with a potential shutdown of indoor dining in New York City just as the temperatures drop.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Senator Hawley Joins Criticism of Facebook and Twitter for Censoring Vindicated Hunter Biden Story
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley blasted Facebook and Twitter for the way they handled the Hunter Biden story before the election, now that, after the electron, they’ve finally allowed conversations about reports Joe Biden’s son is the subject of several investigations.
Just before the election, the New York Post published a story suggesting that Joe Biden abused his powers when he was Vice President to help the energy company his son Hunter was working for to avoid an investigation. It also showed Hunter Biden’s questionable business dealings in Ukraine.
The two social media companies tried to kill the story. Facebook flagged it as being “misinformation” while Twitter warned users that the story could be “harmful.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Setting Up a Siege? Antifa Has Armed Guards, Stockpiled Weapons at Portland Autonomous Zone
The antifa occupiers at the autonomous zone that sprung up in Portland this week appear to be preparing for a siege. As PJ Media’s Victoria Taft reported, antifa squatters took over a house in Portland and when the government rightly evicted them, they set up an autonomous zone.
On Wednesday, Portland’s police chief reported that antifa has fortified barricades, stockpiled weapons, set up armed guards, and threatened to kill police officers. Both the police chief and the mayor have urged the rebels to lay down their arms, but it appears they are refusing to do so.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sidney Powell Suspects CIA in Rigging Elections
Sidney Powell suspects CIA in rigging the 2020 elections. Why? Don’t miss this exclusive as she tells all regarding the Trump legal battles, election fraud, and more! Watch Gov. Mike Huckabee’s interview with Sidney Powell now!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Trump-Supported Texas Case Over Election Results in Four Other States
The Supreme Court has denied a Texas effort Friday that would have essentially nullified the presidential elections in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin.
“The State of Texas’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution,” the Supreme Court’s order reads. “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.”
The order does not foreclose any other pending or future election appeals at the Supreme Court, but time is running out. The states meet next week on Dec. 14 for the Electoral College exercise. And on Jan. 6 there will be a joint session of the House and Senate to count the electoral votes and certify President-elect Joe Biden as the winner.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have heard the case — without granting other relief, like issuing an injunction on electoral proceedings. They added that they expressed “no view on any other issue.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swalwell Swag — Pelosi and Schiff’s Hands Caught in Fang Fang’s Cookie Jar
The Axios breaking story detailing Chinese soft power at work in the Capitol leaving the shagged and wilting reputation of Democrat Eric Swalwell broken like a cheap fortune cookie should make how Congressmen are given seats on the Intel Committee a priority for Americans.
In Congressman Massie’s “The Swamp” he details that committee chairs are given based on the amount of donations a given congressman brings into the party. Seats aren’t given based on qualifications or expertise.
The House Intel Committee is one of very few of the hardest seats to obtain in Congress because of the prestige that goes with it. Unfortunately, seats like this are bought by lobbyists and donors with policy objectives like China.
According to the story, China’s version of Austin Powers ensnared cheap date Eric Swalwell and other California politicos from 2011 to 2015.
We know Nancy Pelosi appointed Swalwell to the House Intel Committee in 2015 at the same time operation Fang Fang was concluding and China spy Christine Fang was on her way back to Beijing. Democrats involved with seating Swalwell on the Intelligence Committee never bothered to brief Republican chair holders that Swalwell had been compromised.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The ‘Trigger Event’ For Civil Chaos: Is it Imminent?
The big question on a lot of minds is this: What will be the trigger event for even larger civil unrest? For the collapse of government function on a regional or national level?
Will it be an economic collapse? COVID shutdowns have devastated small business and put millions of Americans out of work. There is a reckoning coming where governments at every level see revenue from income taxes, property taxes and sales tax greatly diminished. As businesses shut their doors and commercial property sits empty, not only will they not be paying all kinds of taxes, but commercial real estate value may collapse as a glut of vacant property lowers lease values. The combination of people working from home and the lawless destruction of businesses are two more factors expected to drive down demand for commercial real estate. Owners holding mortgages on those properties could find it difficult or impossible to make payments on property either sitting empty or leased at a greatly reduced rate. The same applies to residential real estate. The staggering unemployment levels during shutdowns will make it impossible for many Americans to make their mortgage payments. If the economy falters and people are homeless, things could go bad quickly. Increasing public debt to hand out stimulus money is no substitute for a healthy economy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Break-Up Big Tech Act is a Bipartisan Bill to Tackle Social Media Censorship
Two House representatives have introduced a bill aimed at social media companies called the Break-Up Big Tech Act of 2020. The act is the latest of many retaliations on Big Tech for its bias and censorship.
The Break-Up Big Tech Act of 2020 suggests taking away the protections afforded by Section 230 if a tech company engages in specified manipulative practices. It was introduced on Wednesday by Reps Paul Gosar and Tulsi Gabbard.
“Big Tech monopolies continue to censor and manipulate users without consent or liability. The Break Up Big Tech Act revokes liability protections for bad Samaritans and instead empowers users,” said Rep. Paul Gosar. “I am proud to work with Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard on the Don’t Push My Buttons Act, Stop the Censorship Act, and now the Break Up Big Tech Act to reform Section 230 and protect online consent and free speech instead of censorship and manipulation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tucker Carlson Bombshell on CNN and NPR Corruption
Every US citizen should watch this. The heads of CNN and NPR should be axed. Big Tech needs to be charged with election interference. Tucker Carlson Tonight December 10, 2020
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Texas Election Challenge; Wisconsin High Court to Hear Trump Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday swiftly rejected a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas and backed by President Donald Trump to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin and three other states, while the Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to give the final word in the coming days on Trump’s own lawsuit seeking to do so in Wisconsin.
The high court’s order was its second this week rebuffing Republican requests that it get involved in the 2020 election outcome. The justices turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday.
Also on Friday, the state Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s lawsuit challenging Dane and Milwaukee counties’ election results and scheduled oral arguments for noon on Saturday likely in order to provide a ruling before Wisconsin’s presidential electors cast their ballots for Biden on Monday.
The Trump campaign appealed to the state Supreme Court after a circuit court judge earlier Friday rejected the case…
| — Hat tip: Moon | [Return to headlines] |
A jury found an electrical engineer and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor guilty of exporting stolen U.S. military technology to China.
UCLA adjunct professor Yi-Chi Shih was convicted June 26 on 18 federal charges, Newsweek reported, and could now lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, while also facing up to 219 years behind bars for numerous violations of the law. These include conspiracy to break the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), committing mail and wire fraud, lying to a government agency, subscribing to a false tax return, and conspiring to gain unauthorized access to information on a protected computer, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Shih and co-defendant Kiet Ahn Mai tried to access illegally a protected computer owned by a U.S. company that manufactured semiconductor chips called monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). MMICs are used by the Air Force and Navy in fighter jets, missiles and missile guidance technology, and electronic military defense systems.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Rand Paul Fights Against Neocon ‘Perpetual Wars’; Cheney Responds With Dig at His Height
Rand Paul made a passionate lengthy speech on the Senate Floor Thursday in an effort to hold up a defense bill that could prevent troops from being withdrawn from Afghanistan at President Trump’s behest, accusing Liz Cheney of wanting the war to carry on forever.
“The neoconservative philosophy isn’t so much about a unity executive, isn’t so much about an all-powerful commander-in-chief,” Paul noted during the speech.
“The philosophy of these people is about war and substantiating war and making sure that it becomes and is perpetual war,” the Senator urged.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Most Difficult Christmas for Italians Since the War” — Salvini
Instead of helping fake migrants, the Italian government should concentrate on helping its own people with adequate measures tailored to counteract the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, League leader Matteo Salvini told conservative Hungarian daily Magyar Hirlap.
Both houses of the Italian Parliament ratified the reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on Wednesday night, but the votes revealed deep divisions in the left-wing governing coalition. In the upper house, the yes and no votes were going head to head. MPs also voted to amend the migration security package introduced by former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Companies Made €1.5 Billion From Italy During Pandemic
The left-wing Italian government has spent €1.57 billion on supplies from Chinese companies during the Wuhan virus pandemic.
From January 31st to November 17th, the leftist coalition spent €4.73 billion, much of which went on medical supplies and other items, with 36.25 per cent of the cash going to foreign companies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Claim: Coronavirus May Have Been in Italy in November of 2019
Doctors in the Italian city of Milan have claimed that the Wuhan virus may have been circulating in the city as early as November of 2019 after re-examining a case of a child who reported breathing difficulties.
The case involved a four-year-old boy who had been tested for measles at a hospital in Milan after being diagnosed with breathing difficulties. The smear that was tested had been preserved and was retested by Milan university researchers, showing positive for the coronavirus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commits to 55 Per Cent Cut in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Boris to 68 Per Cent in UK
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders reached a hard-fought deal Friday to cut the bloc’s net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by the end of the decade compared with 1990 levels, avoiding a hugely embarrassing deadlock ahead of a U.N. climate meeting this weekend.
Following night-long discussions at their two-day summit in Brussels, the 27 member states approved the EU executive commission’s proposal to toughen the bloc’s intermediate target on the way to climate neutrality by mid-century, after a group of reluctant, coal-reliant countries finally agreed to support the improved goal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU to Order Online Platforms to Remove Terrorist Propaganda
The authorities in EU countries will be able to order internet platforms to delete posts with terrorist content within an hour. On Thursday, representatives of the member states and the European Parliament agreed to support a new regulation strengthening countries’ powers in the fight against terrorism.
The rules, which implement a joint approach across the EU, have yet to be approved by the representatives of the governments and the plenary of the EP.
The new regulation, which was swiftly called for in response to the recent terrorist attacks in France and Austria, is intended to make it impossible, for example, to coordinate attacks or publish instructions for making explosives. Under the new rules, member states’ authorities will have the power to require social network operators and other online platforms to delete or suspend posts with terrorist content within an hour of being asked to do so. At the same time, the authorities of one country will be able to use this tool for the entire EU territory.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Muslim Screaming ‘Death to the Cops, Allahu Akbar’ Attacks Police With a Knife
“Death to the cops”? With language like that, this enterprising young fellow could emerge as a hero of the Left.
“Two municipal police officers from Bollène attacked with a knife,” translated from “Deux policiers municipaux de Bollène attaque’s au couteau,” by Marie-Audrey Lavaud, France Bleu, December 9, 2020 (thanks to Mason).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Five Chechens Arrested in Connection With Schoolteacher Beheading
French investigators have taken five Chechen-background men into custody as the five are believed to have been in contact with teacher Samuel Paty’s killer Abdoullakh Anzorov.
The five males, aged 18 to 21, come from the Seine-Maritime and Haute-Loire departments and all are said to have been in contact with the Chechen terrorist who beheaded Paty in October after he showed images of the Islamic prophet during a class on freedom of expression.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Police Carry Out Raids Against Arab Clans
On Wednesday, German police officers carried out large-scale raids due to ongoing organized crime between clans in Berlin and Hamburg. They focused on large families of Arab origin and their connection to motorcycle gangs. According to German media, the Arab clans are suspected of laundering money through real estate.
The Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office said that officers searched 33 flats and other premises in the morning hours and arrested three people. The detainees were men aged 23 to 26, members of Arab family clans with German citizenship. The police are still looking for two 21-year-old men with the same background.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Intelligence Suggests Anti-Lockdown Protestors Could be Violent
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has claimed the anti-lockdown “Querdenker” movement could be capable of violence.
The BfV has claimed that the Querdenker (Lateral Thinker) group have “intensified escalation potential” but also noted that many small anti-lockdown protests have been largely peaceful, despite a small number of attacks on police and media at some of the more well-attended events.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Haaretz Interview With Geert Wilders
Interviewing the leader of the far right in the Netherlands and one of the most provocative politicians in Europe presents a journalistic dilemma. Geert Wilders has been accused of promoting racism for years,
mostly against Muslims, and has called on Europe to ban all immigration from Muslim-majority countries.
But Wilders is also the leader of the second largest party in the Dutch parliament and has right-wing fans the world over — including in the most important address in Israel: Balfour Street, Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s eldest son, Yair, has called Wilders a “true friend” of the Jewish people, and wished him success ahead of the 2019 European parliamentary elections. Netanyahu Sr. didn’t distance himself from his son’s endorsement.
A decade ago, Israeli officials had reservations about contacts with far-right, nationalist parties like the one led by Wilders — the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid in Dutch). Today, though, he’s considered a natural ally by influential right-wing Israeli politicians.
Wilders, 57, finds himself in an unusual position these days: Praising the policies of French President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist leader who defeated Wilders’ ally and ideological political partner Marine Le Pen in the 2017 French elections. Wilders views Macron’s recent crackdown on Islamist extremism in France, following the murder of a schoolteacher who was beheaded for showing a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed to his students, as vindication of his long-standing fight against Muslim immigration to Europe.
“To be honest, I don’t think Mr. Macron is very enthusiastic about the idea of having me and Marine Le Pen supporting him,” Wilders told Haaretz in a phone interview last week. “I’m sure he would like to have support from other heads of state. I’m not a fan of Mr. Macron, but I have to admit: at least he is acting. Unfortunately, we see this pattern every time there is a terror attack — whether it be in London, Madrid, Israel or even 9/11. People are upset in the days after, but then we go back to a normal routine and nothing changes. Europe simply hasn’t learned her lesson so far,” Wilders says…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Medusa-10 and it Geopolitical Implications in the Eastern Mediterranean
by Alex Kassidiaris
The multinational military drill “Medousa-10” has been completed earlier this week, emphasizing some of the current key security and geopolitical trends in the region of the Eastern Mediterranean. Armed Forces from Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, and the UAE have participated in this annual exercise, which this time -compared to previous years- conveyed significant political messages, apart from its typical projection of defense capabilities.
Composition of Forces
Since the Egyptian-Greek defense cooperation and coordination are the key objectives of this exercise, these two countries contributed the bulk number of the participating forces.
From the Egyptian side, among the participating forces have been several high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (Humvees), a Mechanized Infantry subunit, a multi-mission guided-missile Frigate with her organic Kaman SH-2G helicopter, 1 Submarine, 2 Fast Patrol Boats, several multirole aircraft, 1 CH-47 Chinook, and 4 Kamov Ka-52 helicopters.
[…]
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Polish and Hungarian PMs Claim EU Budget Victory But Ruling Coalition in Poland is in Danger
Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki insisted that the rule of law mechanism could now not be used in a discretionary way to sanction countries based on political will and that the EC has been mandated to work accordingly. He believes that this ensures full transparency for the process and respect for EU treaties.
According to the Polish prime minister, the conclusions of this summit have the force of European law, which will be hard to change. The conclusions, according to the head of the Polish Government, ensure that rule of law and the EU budget are kept separate in accordance with EU treaties. He was convinced that this settlement provides for far stronger guarantees that the mechanism would not be used in an arbitrary fashion than existed just two weeks ago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Grocery Store Co-Op Covertly Installed Facial Recognition Tracking in Stores
Co-op is a retailer in the UK and branches in Southern England have been using facial recognition software to scan customers entering their shops. The retailer claims the technology helps reduce shoplifting and protect employees, but privacy advocates are concerned about its legality.
The use of facial recognition by law enforcement is already controversial. Now, it is increasingly being adopted by the private sector. Southern Co-op introduced the technology quietly for the trial phase in 18 stores over the past 18 months. The retailer did not tell customers that a facial rec system was scanning them and that their data was being collected and analyzed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
POLICE probing an alleged grooming gang have charged 32 men with almost 200 offences against girls as young as 13.
The alleged offences date from 1999 to 2012 against eight girls in Kirklees, Bradford and Wakefield.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: COVID Tax Bullies Threaten People Left Penniless by Pandemic, Say NHS Needs Their Money
Tax enforcement agents have been writing to cancer patients and people left penniless by the pandemic and associated lockdowns threatening to seize their possessions and sell them — because the economic impact of coronavirus means the NHS needs their money.
“Covid-19 (Coronavirus) has damaged the UK economy, which means more than ever it is important that tax debts are collected to help it recover. These are also needed to continue to fund vital public services like the NHS,” read letters to people who owed the state as little as £66, after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) passed on the personal records of some 4.5 million taxpayers to private debt collectors without their specific consent.
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UK: Illegal House Parties Busted as Police Warn They Will Continue to Enforce COVID Restrictions
Police busted a number of house parties across Merseyside which were found to be breaking Covid restrictions.
They included two gatherings in St Helens and Norris Green last weekend.
And officers warned patrols would continue to be out and about across Merseyside this weekend and in the run up to Christmas to remind people of the restrictions, and take enforcement action where people choose to flout the rules.
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UK: MSM Lockdown Cheerleader Suspended From TV After Breaking Coronavirus Rules
Kay Burley, a top television news anchor, has been suspended from Sky News for six months after flouting lockdown rules during her 60th birthday party. Reports claim she will continue to receive full pay.
Ms Burley admitted that she had broken coronavirus social distancing laws when on Saturday she met with nine friends, including Sky News colleagues and alumni, for a birthday dinner in London. She then visited another restaurant after the 11 p.m. curfew, before returning to a house where people from three other households were mixing.
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UK: NHS Commercial Terrifies Children by Showing Santa Dying of COVID
A television commercial for the NHS terrifies children by showing Santa Claus wheeled into hospital on the verge of dying from COVID.
Because frightening kids is definitely what the good guys do.
The advert “celebrates NHS staff and volunteers” by showing them nursing Father Christmas back to full health so he can deliver presents.
Entitled The Gift, the ad shows paramedics giving Santa oxygen as he looks to be at death’s door while being transported to a medical ward as one nurse asks, “Is he responding?”
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UK: Public Urged to Help Illegal Parties Clamp Down
The public has been called on to help crack down on illegal parties following a spike in cases.
The town hall’s officers and police have shut down a number of the unlicensed music events (UME) in Barking and Dagenham in the past month including two attended by hundreds of people.
Cllr Margaret Mullane, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety, said: “Coronavirus is very much still here and our borough, unfortunately, has one of the higher infection rates in London.
“These illegal gatherings should not be happening, and we all need to work together to put a stop to them and protect people’s lives.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Cardinal: Climate Change Means People and Planet Are ‘Increasingly Sick’
ROME — The head of the Vatican’s Department for Human Development has warned of disastrous consequences if the world does not unite behind a more ambitious battle against climate change.
Speaking at a webinar Wednesday in preparation for a December 12 “climate ambition summit” to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Accord, Vatican Cardinal Peter Turkson urged greater attention to the Paris goals, because “we are heading towards a global temperature rise of three degrees.”
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India — Vaccine Volunteer’s Doctor Blames Vaccine Trial for Patient’s Sudden Neurological Disorder
The first covid-19 vaccine victim to have suffered brain damage has been reported in India a few months after being vaccinated which is why test subjects are observed for only one or two months by vaccine producers and regulatory agencies.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bloomberg News Beijing staff member Haze Fan has been detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of endangering national security, the outlet announced on Friday.
Shortly after her last contact with one of her editors Monday, Fan was seen being escorted from her apartment building by plainclothes security officials.
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Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Charged Under Security Law
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged under the city’s national security law as authorities step up a crackdown on dissent, local media reported.
Lai, who founded the Apple Daily tabloid, was charged on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces and endangering national security, local broadcaster TVB reported Friday. He is the most high-profile person out of more than two dozen charged under the sweeping law since it was imposed by Beijing in June.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 12, and could face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
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Kemp’s ties with the Communist Chinese are raising questions and concerns, as the 2020 election battle continues.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Cancels COVID Vaccine Trial Over ‘Unexpected’ False Positives for HIV
The Australian government has canceled further development of a COVID-19 vaccine after several trial participants had false positive tests for HIV. The vaccine was being developed by the University of Queensland, while Australian biotech company CSL Limited had been under contract to provide 51 million doses. The vaccine had been on schedule for mid-2021, with phase two and three clinical trials due to commence in December.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
This is the pattern for how the Anglosphere will discard the freedom of speech and move into a new era of authoritarianism. And there are two primary problems here:
1. The Crimes Act will make it “illegal to intentionally stir up hatred against racial or religious groups.” But who will determine whether or not this hatred was stirred up “intentionally” or not? Who can judge anyone else’s intentions? This is just opening the door to governing authorities being empowered to silence anyone they wish, under the pretext that he or she is stirring up hatred. So it’s starting New Zealand on the way to becoming a totalitarian state.
2. The Left and Islamic supremacist groups have insisted for years that to speak about Islam’s teachings regarding jihad violence and the oppression of women, gays and others is to stir up hatred against Muslims. There is no reason why this should be so. If it were, then criticism of any group whatsoever, or honest analysis of any teachings that contain genuine incitement to violence, could also be considered to be stirring up hatred, and silenced accordingly. But since it is taken for granted in the establishment media and even by many governing authorities that to discuss Islam’s violent and oppressive teachings is to stir up hatred, that discussion will be silenced, and jihadis will be able to advance unopposed and unimpeded.
Ardern is doing this, of course, because of the Christchurch mosque massacres. They reinforced the idea that criticism of Islam leads to violence, even criticism that rejects any violence or vigilantism, as well as any targeting of innocent people at all. Yet thirty thousand jihad attacks committed in the name of Islam and in accord with its teachings since 9/11 have not convinced Ardern or any other governing authority that criticism of the infidels, as well as direct calls for violence against them, leads to violence, and must accordingly be silenced. That would be “Islamophobic.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany to Begin Sending Syrian Criminals, Terrorists Back to Their Homeland
(AFP) — Germany said Friday it would allow deportation of Syrians to their war-ravaged homeland from 2021 if they are deemed a security risk, five years after a massive migrant influx.
The EU’s biggest economic power and most populous member allowed in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria’s devastating civil war in 2015-16 but security officials said it was time to lift blanket protections against expulsion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Several hundred Hondurans who joined a caravan that set out for the United States border were blocked by Honduran security personnel Thursday before they even reached the border with neighboring Guatemala.
Police and immigration agents asked their countrymen to show travel documents and proof of negative coronavirus tests, which none appeared to have.
Authorities set up checkpoints along a road leading to the Guatemalan border, stopping a bus that was transporting as many as 50 people in Honduras’ western department of Ocotepeque.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants who are rescued during an attempted crossing of the English Channel will be banned from making a UK asylum claim while at sea under new laws being brought forward by the Home Office.
A post-Brexit shake-up of asylum rules could ultimately result in intercepted migrant boats being immediately taken back to France.
The UK has long called on Paris to do more to stop the crossings with the two sides disagreeing on whether the boats can be intercepted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Site for 500 Asylum Seekers Earmarked for Edge of Hampshire Village
PLANS have been revealed to create a site for 500 asylum seekers on the edge of a Hampshire village — but they have been slammed by a council leader for its “dangerous” location.
The site, which would be located on Ministry of Defence land near the busy A303 in Barton Stacey, would see asylum seekers, staying in portacabins while they wait for their applications to be processed.
It is expected that the site will be for young men who have come into the UK on boats from the continent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Abortion Clinic Employee Celebrates Topping Christmas Tree With Forceps
An employee at an abortion clinic proudly tweeted about how he was celebrating the festive season by topping his Christmas tree with forceps used to abort babies.
“IT IS LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO TOP OUR TOPPER,” wrote pro-abortion activist Michael Saenz alongside an image of the tree before deleting the tweet.
According to Live Action, Saenz is an employee at CARE, carried out late-term abortions and operates in Maryland and Nebraska.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat Tulsi Gabbard Files Bill to Protect Babies Who Survive Abortion
Democratic Congresswoman and former presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) introduced H.R. 8923 on Wednesday, a bill designed to protect babies that survived abortion attempts.
The bill, now referred on to the House Committee on the Judiciary, is designed to require medical treatment and care to an infant born alive following an abortion attempt, much like the Born Alive Infant Protection Act that has been presented to Congress before. Gabbard voted against the 2015 iteration of that act.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tulsi Gabbard Introduces Legislation to Ban Men From Women’s Sports Under Title IX
Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) introduced a bill with Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on Thursday that would ban federal funding from organizations that allow biological males to compete in women’s sports.
The bill, titled “Protect Women’s Sports Act,” aims to defend “the sex-based intention of Title IX protections by reaffirming the biological sex-based distinctions between men and women in athletics.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Here’s Why COVID-19 Vaccines Like Pfizer’s Must be Kept So Cold
Preventing honest and independent scientists from discovering that covid-19 vaccines contain prions is accomplished primarily by the extraordinarily low temperatures of -94 degrees Fahrenheit (-70 degrees Celsius) under which these vaccines are kept. Temperatures that require such special freezers will enable governments to control access to these vaccines and thus prevent anyone from studying their ingredients.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Something your “leftists” completely sick in the head have become with Christmas creativity. Even the communists in the USSR were not such moral monsters.
In the Soviet Union, Saint Nicholas was transformed into Father Frost and a granddaughter (from the pagan heritage) Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) was assigned to him. These were funny performances with characters from Russian folk tales.
Performances for children were organized in the Garrison Officers’ House. In which officers and soldiers and some pretty young wife of a junior officer played the Snegurochka.
In kindergarten, we also learned all sorts of dances and songs for the holiday. For example, I danced the dance of snowflakes.
Non-Russians may be unaware that the Disney animation “Frozen” is based on “The Snow Maiden”.
“The Beast and the Ten Horns hate the Harlot.” (Revelation 17.16-17) The Harlot is being exposed right now and everyone hates her too. I hear people saying they hate the Deep State who belong to the Global Collectivist death cult that represents Babylon the Great. What they do and want to do to us is abhorrent, and disgustingly detestable. But then the Harlot will be destroyed, made to fall away until only the Beast and the Ten Kings will be revealed just as described in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7. Only the existence of the Harlot is holding back the Antichrist, the Beast from revealing itself to the whole world.
Yes we can see great consternation and distress by what’s being presented by each situation that arises before us. Especially the last ten months. The nations of the earth are anguished and perplexed as they are tossed about by fleeting hope and seemingly endless despair. Yet they can’t turn to anyone who can give reason to why all of it is happening to them. And yet where to people go to look for their answers to all of this? To the spiritually dead…
“I am here with the sons that Yahweh has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from Yahweh the Almighty One who lives on Mount Zion. People will say to you to ask for help from the mediums and the fortunetellers who whisper and mutter. Should not a people inquire of their Almighty One? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? If they do not speak to the Torah and the Testimony according to its Word it is because they do not see the light of dawn.” (Isaiah 8.18-20)
The dawn of the coming Millennial Kingdom of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua can be seen to soon rise and yet very few seem to be even looking for it.
“I turned toward the voice which was talking to me, and when I turned, I saw Seven Gold Lamp Stands. There was someone like the Son of Man among the Lamp Stands. …In his right hand he held Seven Stars.” (Revelation 1.12,16)
“Don’t be afraid! I am the first and the last, the living one. I was dead, but now I am alive forever. I have the keys of death and hell. Therefore, write down what you have seen, what is, and what is going to happen after these things. The hidden meaning of the Seven Stars that you saw in my right hand and the Seven Gold Lamp Stands is this: The Seven Stars are the Messengers of the Seven Congregations, and the Seven Lamp Stands are the Seven Congregations.” (Revelation 1.17-20)
The light of the world is approaching us like the dawn just before the sun breaks the horizon. But the spiritually dead will tell you to ‘leave god out of it’. But for those who receive the truth it sets their minds free…
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1.9-11)
“Blessed is the one who reads, as well as those who hear the words of this prophecy and pays attention to what is written in it because the time is near.” (Revelation 1.3)
“So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am the Almighty One. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41.10)
Revelation 17 tells us about the Beast system and the harlot that sits on many waters. It’s headquartered in Rome.
An thank you for you comment and quotations of the Holy Bible.
Well, despite what the kids are doing, GA and PA don’t agree and are thinking of sending them to their rooms for their poor behavior. https://teapartypac.org/republican-led-legislatures-in-ga-and-pa-file-amicus-briefs-in-support-of-texas-lawsuit-against-their-own-states/
Maybe GA and PA will use the “Board of Education” on the most unruly of the children.
SCOTUS rejected Texas suite because of its’ ‘standing’ and not merit. The merit of it is still good so now Rudy Giuliani is going to file a suite on the merit that Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin committed election fraud by not following their own legislated election laws according to their own State Constitutions as well as violating the U.S. Constitution. If this one doesn’t stick on its’ own merit then the SCOTUS needs to be replaced by something else; which would be something akin to a Military Tribunal to restore the absolute rule of the Supreme Law of the Land…
“The nation’s High Court rejected the suit late Friday based on the controversial point of “standing.” With that decision, President Trump’s legal team is filing retooled lawsuits that will be filed in each of the four Defendant States and expanded to Nevada and Arizona. “We move immediately, seamlessly, to plan B, which is to bring lawsuits now in each one of the states. We had them ready. They’re just a version of the one that was brought in the Supreme Court. So last night, the president made the decision,” Rudy Giuliani said in an interview.” – You can read the rest of it here: https://nationalfile.com/post-scotus-trump-legal-team-to-file-reworked-texas-style-election-challenges-in-individual-states/