Government authorities have taken action against illegal parties in Jamaica, Los Angeles, British Columbia, and Ontario. A hotel in the UK was fined £10,000 for violating COVID-19 limits on gatherings. Meanwhile, Germany is cracking down on stalls that sell mulled wine.
In other news, the man who was shot dead by police at a cathedral in Harlem after firing shots with two semiautomatic weapons has been identified as Luis Velazquez. Mr. Velazquez is said to have had a lengthy criminal record.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Insubria, 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.
“Don’t Let Them Do It!” Man Stages Lockdown Protest in Branch of Costco
An anti-lockdown protester staged a one man demonstration in a California branch of Costco, telling shoppers, “Don’t let them do it!”
“Don’t let them do it! You know why we’re under this lockdown right now — because all the information that’s coming out about COVID, they know it’s a farce,” said the man.
“You must not do this, if you continue, this is the life that you will have,” he added.
The protester continued to address shoppers via a bullhorn as staff tried to intervene.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Journalists attempting to cover the activist-led occupation along a blocks-long stretch of North Portland have been repeatedly intimidated and, in some cases, roughed up by protesters.
A local television news team and a freelance photographer for national outlets are among those to detail such encounters during the anti-eviction demonstration over the so-called “Red House on Mississippi,” where a Black and Indigenous family has lived for decades.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee will be issuing subpoenas to perform an audit of the Dominion “software, machines, and ballots.”
The announcement was made by Arizona State Senator Eddie Farnsworth, the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, during their hearing on election integrity, and said that the subpoenas to issue the “software, machines, and ballots” in Maricopa County could be issued as early as tomorrow.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Cleveland’s Major League Baseball Team to Drop “Indians” From Team Name
Major League Baseball franchise the Cleveland Indians will reportedly change its team name as early as the 2022 season.
Cleveland’s professional baseball team has been known as the Indians since 1915, but in the midst of the summer race protests following the death of George Floyd, the franchise said it would consider changing its name. The announcement coincided with the same time the National Football League Washington Redskins team was declaring its own plans to reevaluate its nickname.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
COVID Relief Funds Went to Violent Extremists
The federal government’s distribution of COVID relief funds over the past year has been disastrous. As Bloomberg reported in October, the Small Business Administration (SBA) “gave out $10,000 grants to almost anyone who asked.” From fraudulent applications to identity theft, billions of dollars are believed to have been stolen.
However, criminals were not the only ones to benefit from governmental incompetence; federal COVID relief has also helped prop up extremist organizations with long-held ties to violence. The amounts may be small, but the examples are shocking.
Perhaps most striking is the $1,000 handed out to the Virginia-based Khatme Nubuwwat Center.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Crucial Logs Missing From Some Michigan Dominion Voting Machines: Forensics Report
Update (1225ET): The Epoch Times’ Ivan Pentchokov reports that crucial security and adjudication logs are missing from Dominion Voting Systems machines from Michigan’s Antrim County, according to a forensics report (pdf) released on Dec. 14 in compliance with a court order.
“Significantly, the computer system shows vote adjudication logs for prior years; but all adjudication log entries for the 2020 election cycle are missing. The adjudication process is the simplest way to manually manipulate votes. The lack of records prevents any form of audit accountability, and their conspicuous absence is extremely suspicious since the files exist for previous years using the same software,” the report, authored by Russell Ramsland, states.
“We must conclude that the 2020 election cycle records have been manually removed.”
The absence of the adjudication logs is particularly alarming because the forensic exam found that the voting machines rejected an extraordinary number of ballots for adjudication, a manual process in which election workers determine the ultimate outcome for each ballot.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
D.C. Archdiocese Sues Democrat Mayor Over ‘Arbitrary’ Worship Restrictions
The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has filed a federal lawsuit against Mayor Muriel Bowser over “unscientific” and “discriminatory” restrictions on public worship during the coronavirus pandemic.
The arbitrary 50-person limit in any house of worship violates “the rights of more than 650,000 D.C.-area Catholics, who — at the end of this most difficult year — now face the chilling prospect of being told that there is no room for them at the Church this Christmas,” the lawsuit states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dis-Barred: Trump Says Attorney General Out by Christmas
Well that escalated quickly…
A week ago, The Justice Department has refuted a New York Times report that Attorney General William Barr may leave before the end of the year, saying in a statement that he “intends to stay as long as President Trump needs him.”
It appears that wasn’t very long…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo Accuses Him of Sexual Harassment, Toxic Environment
Lindsey Boylan, a former adviser to New York’s Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo, has accused her former boss of committing “years” of sexual harassment against her. For three and a half years, Boylan served Cuomo as his deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gunman Shot by Police at NYC Cathedral Christmas Concert
NEW YORK — A man was fatally shot by police on the steps of a landmark New York City cathedral Sunday after he began firing two semiautomatic handguns at the end of a Christmas choral concert, police said.
The gunfire began just before 4 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.
A 45-minute concert held on the cathedral steps had just concluded and a crowd of several hundred people was drifting away when the gunman started shooting, sending people running down Amsterdam Avenue screaming and diving to the sidewalk.
A detective, a sergeant and a police officer who were at the event fired 15 rounds, killing the man, said New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
“It is by the grace of God today,” he said, that no one besides the gunman was struck…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Orders Orange County Sheriff to Drop Inmate Population by 50%
California Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson ordered Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes on Friday to reduce the incarcerated people’s population by 50%.
“The uncontested facts found here include that conditions in the jail do not permit proper social distancing, there is no mandatory testing of staff or asymptomatic detainees after intake, and no strictly enforced policy of requiring masks for all staff interaction with inmates,” Wilson said. “This very unfortunate development confirms the need to take all reasonable steps to ensure that if an outbreak occurs at the Jail, that outbreak is contained to the fullest extent reasonably possible.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
L.A. City Attorney Sues Underground Nightclub for Hosting Huge Parties Amid Pandemic
An underground nightclub operating in defiance of pandemic shutdown orders in Los Angeles is now the target of a city lawsuit that’s seeking to have the location shuttered for good.
City Attorney Mike Feuer said Monday that the small warehouse, located in the Fashion District in Downtown L.A. at 1114 S. Main Street, appeared closed, but was actually the site of numerous parties over recent months that he’s worried contributed to the spread of COVID-19.
LAPD was already eyeing the location after a series of violent incidents which police said involved club patrons. Feuer said there have been at least three shootings and two assaults there since July.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Larry Ellison is Latest Billionaire to Flee California, Moves to Hawaii
The relentless California exodus continues: after Tesla boss Elon Musk, Splunk CEO Doug Merritt and comedian Joe Rogan all left the Golden State for Austin, Texas, with Oracle unveiling last Friday that it had become the latest tech company to uproot its Redwood City HQ and move to Austin, Texas, moments ago we learned that Oracle co-founder and billionaire, Larry Ellison, just had an epiphany and decided that he too has had enough of the shitshow that is California, and has moved his primary residence to Hawaii, becoming the latest Silicon Valley mogul to depart the state where they built their fortunes. The news was first reported by Recode.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NFL Ratings Plummet as Networks Slash Ad Prices
A steep drop in football ratings has left networks renegotiating contracts with advertisers and reducing ad space prices, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Average NFL viewership has dropped approximately 8 percent from the 2019 season, but a week for week comparison shows a much worse situation. The NFL had 14.5 million viewers for Week 13 of the season, which is a 29 percent drop from the same week last season, according to Front Office Sports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, And Arizona Republican Electors Cast Votes for Trump
Republican electors in four states said on Dec. 14 that they would cast their procedural votes for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the latest update contesting the results of the 2020 election.
Republican electors in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona all said they voted for Trump. It comes as their states formally appointed Democratic electors who voted for Democrat Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).
In Michigan, two separate slates of electors were cast: 16 for Trump and 16 for Biden.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pornhub Has Deleted Most of Its Videos Amidst Content Crackdown
The pornography website Pornhub has erased millions of videos, estimated to be 60 per cent of its content, as of Monday.
The New York Times published a report earlier this month exposing Pornhub for hosting disturbing videos that contained depictions of alleged rape and sex trafficking victims. Following the report, Mastercard and Visa announced Thursday that the use of their cards will be prohibited on the website.
In a statement on Thursday, Mastercard reported that it was “confirmed” through an investigation that there were “violations of our standards prohibiting unlawful content on their site.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Proposed US Regulation Would Prevent Financial Services Blacklisting for Non-Financial Reasons
New rules are being drafted in the US to make sure that individuals and businesses are not targeted with financial blacklisting for reasons unrelated to finance — including for their political persuasions.
The legal initiative is being developed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and is now a subject of public debate at Regulations.gov.
The issue of banks blocking financial assets for political reasons is not a new problem in the US, having been present over the past five or so years, the frequency and severity of the problem causing organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to speak up against the practice, especially in cases when banks and online payment processors acts as “de facto internet censors” — to aid in deplatforming individuals and organizations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Reddit’s Largest Conspiracy Community Launches Independent Forum After Increased Reddit Censorship
With the level of censorship continuing to escalate on Reddit, its most popular conspiracy community, r/conspiracy, has launched a new independent forum where users can freely post and discuss their ideas without being subject to Reddit’s increasingly strict rules.
r/conspiracy has over 1.4 million members and is the leading conspiracy-focused community on Reddit. It describes itself as “a thinking ground” which hopes to “challenge issues which have captured the public’s imagination, from JFK and UFOs to 9/11.”
Recent discussions on the new forum have focused on topics that are often heavily censored by Big Tech such as the coronavirus irregularities in the 2020 US presidential election.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Biden Considering Former Obama Hawk to ‘Fix Humanitarian Crises She Helped Create’
Reports suggest that Joe Biden is considering appointing former Obama official Samantha Power to lead USAID, the government’s relief agency, prompting critics to charge that she would be in charge of fixing humanitarian crises that she created in the first place.
Axios reported that Power’s appointment would “signal the Biden administration plans to revitalize foreign assistance and use it as an instrument of soft power and to achieve humanitarian goals”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Electors in Pennsylvania, Georgia Cast Vote for Trump, Hoping for Court Victories
While Democratic electors in Pennsylvania and Georgia cast their states’ electoral votes for Joe Biden on Monday, slates of Republican electors in those states cast votes for President Trump just in case legal challenges succeed.
The Pennsylvania GOP said in a press release that the Trump campaign asked the Republican electors to do this in order to preserve any potential rights to legal challenges that could overturn Monday’s vote. The Trump campaign and other Republicans have claimed that elections in states including Pennsylvania and Georgia ran afoul of state laws, compromising the ballot counts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tennessee Legal Watchdog Out After Lawyer Accused Him of Being an ‘Anti-Muslim Bigot’
A legal ethics watchdog resigned after a lawyer he was investigating slammed him as an “anti-Muslim bigot.”
In a court filing Friday, the state board that punishes lawyers for misconduct said Jerry Morgan was “no longer employed” as a disciplinary counsel. Morgan had played a prominent role in punishing lawyers for misconduct as disciplinary counsel for the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility.
His split with the board came after a Nashville lawyer said Morgan couldn’t do his job effectively because of multiple social media posts he made criticizing Muslims and the Islamic faith.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The NYT Still Has Not Covered Rep. Swalwell’s Connection to Chinese Spy 1 Week After Story Broke
The New York Times has continued to ignore a bombshell report showing a connection between a Chinese spy and several prominent California politicians, including Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) of the House Intelligence Committee.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Apple canceled a TV series about the controversial blog network Gawker Media after CEO Tim Cook learned about it. What could have been an interesting original show on Apple TV Plus was canceled because of bad blood between Tim Cook and Gawker Media and, as Big Tech giants buy up the rights to streaming content, a future where Big Tech CEOs have a veto over the majority of the content released could be on the horizon.
According to a report in the New York Times, a show called Scraper was shut down by Apple. The show, which was sold to Apple TV Plus in January 2020, was shut down after Tim Cook learned about it. The report claims that Cook sent an email to another executive expressing his discontent that Apple was working on the show. Some two people briefed
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are investigating a massive, months-long hacking campaign that was confirmed on Sunday to have affected the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments.
The NSA’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive on Sunday around a piece of server software called SolarWinds Orion that was reported compromised several days ago. SolarWinds claims to have 300,000 customers worldwide, including many Fortune 500 companies, the top 10 U.S. telecommunications companies, and the top five U.S. accounting firms.
It also has contracts with multiple government agencies, including the U.S. military, the State Department, NASA, the NSA, CISA, the Department of Justice, FBI, and the White House.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Bill Gates Says Lockdowns Should Carry on Into 2022
Billionaire vaccine pusher Bill Gates wants local businesses and services to remain closed, with lockdowns, masks and social distancing continuing throughout all of next year and into 2022.
Gates made the declaration in an interview with CNN Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
BC Resident Fined Twice for Hosting Illegal House Parties on Back-to-Back Nights
The Vancouver Police Department had their hands full over the weekend with a resident who seemingly refuses to play by the rules.
According to the VPD, officers issued four $2,300 tickets in downtown Vancouver this weekend for “illegal house parties.”
The first two tickets were issued on Friday, as police responded was a “noisy house party” in Yaletown and a party on the 58th floor of a building on West Georgia Street.
On Saturday night, the VPD was back at the building on West Georgia Street for a separate party that had 10 people in attendance.
The host didn’t seem to take the visit from police or the fine too seriously, however, as they were back at it not even 24 hours later.
Officers returned to the same unit on Sunday and found 14 partygoers in the unit this time.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Says 2 Members Fined, 1 Arrested Over Anti-Pipeline Actions
VANCOUVER — Two spokespeople for Extinction Rebellion Vancouver have been fined, and one arrested by CN police over anti-pipeline action, according to the group.
In a news release, the group says spokesperson Zain Haq was arrested Monday by CN police for “alleged criminal contempt of court relating to an anti-pipeline Indigenous solidarity action on Nov. 27.”
On that day, Extinction Rebellion organized a series of protests in Metro Vancouver. Demonstrators rallied near Burlington Avenue and Government Street in Burnaby, then walked to the rail line that runs parallel to the pipeline route. At the time, the group said the action was “in solidarity with pipeline opponents from the Wet’suwet’en and Secwepemc nations.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protesters “Walk for Freedom” After Premier Kenney Tightens Alberta Lockdown
Protesters gathered this weekend outside of Calgary City Hall for what they call the “Walk For Freedom” after last Tuesday’s provincial government announcement that Alberta would be further increasing lockdown restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Premier Jason Kenney’s government banned indoor and outdoor gatherings outside of one’s own household. Restaurants have been closed, except for takeout only; retail has been limited to 15 per cent capacity; personal care businesses and gyms have all been forced to close.
To demonstrate against these measures, the approximately 1,000 protesters who gathered in downtown Calgary were risking $1,200 fines to gather to rally against lockdown restrictions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Toronto Club Promoter Attempts to Throw Illegal Birthday Party Inside Ikea
“I can’t have 10 people in my house, but I can bring 11 people to IKEA. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”
These are the words and sentiments of a Toronto man who recently staged his own birthday party inside an IKEA store, complete with red solo cups, hired models, $45 worth of hot dogs, and an appearance by the local Instagram celebrity Debby.
He did it — hosted a party in defiance of provincial lockdown rules, that is — to prove a point about the oft-criticized “big box stores can stay open but small businesses can’t” part of Doug Ford’s Reopening Ontario Act.
Julian isn’t the first person to challenge Ontrario’s “grey zone” lockdown rules, which currently apply to everyone in Toronto and strictly prohibit indoor social gatherings (along with indoor dining, shopping in stores, getting one’s hair done, etc.), but he may be one of the most creative we’ve seen to date.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Constitutional Court Rejects Ban on Muslim Headscarves in Schools
The ban on wearing headscarves, which has been in force in Austrian primary schools since last year, is unconstitutional, the Austrian Constitutional Court ruled, according to APA. The court thus upheld the complaints of children and parents who claimed that the ban was discriminatory because it applied to the headgear of Muslim girls but not to the Jewish kip (yarmulke) or turban for Sikhs.
The judges concluded that the law was directed against a particular religion — Islam — and thus violated the neutral view concerning religion that the state must maintain.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authorities Crack Down on Mulled Wine Stands as Germany Enters Another Lockdown
Authorities in Berlin and other major cities are cracking down on mulled wine stands as Germany prepares to enter another COVID lockdown during which all bars and restaurants will close over Christmas.
Hairdressers, beauty salons and tattoo parlours will also all have to shut down from December 16 to January 10 and sales of fireworks ahead of New Year’s Eve have also been banned.
Drinking alcohol in public will also be banned, leaving numerous small business owners who run mulled wine stands facing financial ruin.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Law Against Islam Designed to Fight a ‘Pernicious Ideology’ Nears Finalization
The French government has introduced a bill aimed at improving its fight against radical Islamism. French Prime Minister Jean Castex emphasized that the norm was not directed against any specific religion, including Islam.
“This bill is not a text against any religion, nor specifically against the Muslim religion,” Castex said. According to him, it is directed against the “pernicious ideology” of radical Islamism and its goal is to strengthen “republican principles”.
In an interview with Le Monde, the prime minister emphasized that the measures contained in the law will apply to all political ideologies hostile to the republic, “although today it is precisely radical Islamism that we want to fight by all means”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ex Minister De Girolamo Acquitted of Health Graft
Justice has won but I’ve lost 7 yrs of my life says ex farm head
(ANSA) — ROME, DEC 10 — Ex farm minister Nunzia De Girolamo was acquitted by a Benevento court Thursday of charges of corruption in managing the local health authority (ASL) in the southern Italian city.
De Girolamo, 45, who served as a centre-right agriculture minister from late April 2013 to 26 January 2014 in centre-left Democratic Party (PD) member Enrico Letta’s government, was among eight people acquitted by the court.
She was accused of conspiracy to commit crimes, extortion and vote buying.
A prosecutor asked for a prison term of eight years and three months for her.
De Girolamo married Francesco Boccia, a PD MP and minister for regional affairs, on 23 December 2011.
They have a daughter named Gea.
De Girolamo, who is a member of former premier and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, said after the verdict was read out “justice has won, but I lost seven years of my life”.
De Girolamo is a TV personality who regularly comments on politics and current affairs on Berlusconi’s flagship channel, Canale 5.
She came fifth in the Italian version of Dancing With The Stars last year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Left-Wing Extremists From Brussels Reign in Europe: Interview
Trumpism is alive and well even if the American election did not turn out as many expected, and it remains unclear how the coronavirus epidemic will transform world politics were the conclusions of a dual interview of two leading conservative intellectuals John O’Sullivan and Douglas Murray with Hungarian daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet.
O’Sullivan serves as the chairman of the Danube Institute and once worked as the former adviser to Margaret Thatcher while Murray is a British publicist and writer who recently arrived in Budapest for a month as a visiting researcher at the Danube Institute. The two of them tackled a series of topics including intellectual freedom, President Donald Trump, and the future of the European right.
— How do you find intellectual life in Hungary and how is it different from that in the West?
John O’Sullivan: In many ways, there is not much difference, but there is an important advantage for Hungary and Central Europe. The debate here is freer, there are no things that should not be said, because whoever does it loses the opportunity to speak. In Western universities, in intellectual life, the woke, the so-called enlightened left, makes much of that impossible.
Douglas Murray: There’s a really wide-ranging public debate, and conservative voices are also gaining ground in it. This is not the case further West, especially in the United States. Recently, a café was named after Roger Scruton, it’s a really touching commitment. If, say, it had opened in the United States, the first visitors would certainly not have been too friendly.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Rejects Boris Plea for Direct Talks, Wants to ‘Make Britain Crawl Across Broken Glass’
Germany’s Angela Merkel has rejected Boris Johnson’s pleas for face-to-face talks to help secure an 11th-hour Brexit deal, with a source saying she is “determined to make Britain crawl across broken glass” for an agreement.
With December 13th becoming the latest “final” deadline for the talks to be pushed back yesterday — the first was in the summer — Boris Johnson has been trying desperately for a breakthrough, flying to Brussels to talk directly to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and offering to do the same for high-profile national leaders such as Chancellor Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistani Man in Athens Held Two Minors Captive, Gave Them Drugs and Sexually Assaulted Them
A Pakistani drug dealer kept two underage girls imprisoned in his apartment, drugged them and raped them.
The two Greek girls are aged 16 and 17 and managed to escape from the apartment and call for help from the street.
The half-naked drug dealer ran after them to catch them but fell on police who rushed at him, stopped him and handcuffed him.
Proto Thema obtained photos of the apartment and the testimony of police officers who saved the girl.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
PM Orban: Europe Has Not Surrendered to George Soros
Governments of the European Union member states have woken up at the last minute and stood up against billionaire George Soros, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote in an article published on his official website.
“George Soros sheds crocodile tears, but this will not return the money of millions of people, families and businesses looted by the speculator, but it does offer a modicum of satisfaction,” Orban wrote.
He was referring to Soros’ article entitled “The Costs of Merkel’s Surrender to Hungarian and Polish Extortion”, published on Dec. 10 on the opinion website Project Syndicate, which is the same day the European Council reached a compromise in the budget vs. rule-of-law debate. Project Syndicate is partly financed by the Open Society Foundation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Archbishop: Some Want to Tear John Paul II From Our Hearts
Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski held a homily in Wawel Castle in Kraków, Poland on the anniversary of the introduction of martial law in Poland on Dec. 13, 1981, while speaking in reference to a number of attacks directed against the Saint John Paul II.
“With all my strength I remind of his [John Paul’s] person in context of what happened 39 years ago. I do this to understand the monstrosity of what is happening today in Poland, when certain activists are attacking this radiant saint. They want to tear him from our hearts, to defile our memory of him,” he said at a homily.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Extinction Rebellion Projects Cop26 Video Onto SEC in Glasgow
Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion projectd two videos onto the Armadillo and SEC last night, on the eve of the 5th anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The venues were chosen as they will be where the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, will be held.
The first video is part of a series of projections that took place in public spaces of 14 major worldwide cities including Paris, Washington, Buenos Aires, Mumbai and London.
The videos have been projected over the past few nights to launch Extinction Rebellion’s ‘COP26: We Are Watching You’ campaign. The second video was provided by Fridays For Future youth climate strike group.
[Comment: Article dated December 12, 2020.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘A Charade’ — Boris Downgrades Chance of No-Deal Brexit From ‘Very Likely’ To ‘Possible’
Nigel Farage has branded the Brexit negotiations “a charade” as Downing Street downgrades the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit from “very likely” to “possible”.
The leader of the Brexit Party, currently in the process of relaunching as the Reform Party, or Reform UK, was responding to a breaking development in the ongoing UK-EU saga reported by Financial Times political editor George Parker.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: £10,000 Fine for Wyre Forest Restaurant After Illegal Gathering
A HOTEL and restaurant in Wyre Forest has been fined £10,000 for hosting an illegal gathering in breach of Covid-19 restrictions.
The establishment, which has not been named by police, received the so-called ‘super fine’ after it was caught holding a gathering of more than 30 people on Saturday, December 12.
A second licensed premises in Wyre Forest was also reported for breaching tier two regulations on Saturday night and received a £1,000 fine.
The pub was found to have failed to observe restrictions on customer seating and the ordering and serving of food and drink for consumption on the premises.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Father Who Begged NHS for MRI During Coronavirus Lockdown Dies of Cancer
A 27-year-old father of two who “begged” an NHS hospital for an MRI scan during the major lockdown earlier this year has died of cancer. His wife has blamed his death on the delay in diagnosis.
Sherwin Hall, from West Yorkshire, had first visited Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust on March 23rd with leg pains, but after subsequent visits was misdiagnosed with prostatitis and given a course of antibiotics. His pain persisted and after 13 visits to hospital in a four-week period and repeatedly “begging” for the assessment, he finally received the MRI scan on May 26th.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hotels Consider Requiring All Guests to Have COVID Vaccination
Hotels have now joined airlines in considering whether or not to mandate that all guests have proof of COVID vaccination before being allowed to stay.
Several airlines have already announced plans to make the shot a compulsory condition of flying. According to anecdotal evidence, hotels and other forms of accomodation could follow suit.
A reader of the LockdownSkeptics website reported that a hotel in Scotland which offers wildlife holidays is preparing to adopt the no vaccine, no service policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Piers Morgan Slammed After Caught Not Wearing Mask in Public
British news anchor Piers Morgan has been slammed as a total hypocrite after being caught not wearing a face mask in public over the weekend, despite lecturing everyone else for months about the need to wear a mask.
Morgan was pictured getting into a cab in London without a mask on, prompting him to admit he was being an idiot.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Report: Only Four of 364 BBC ‘Comedy’ Slots Given to Conservative or Pro-Brexit Comics
An audit of the BBC’s “comedy” output found that only four out of 364 slots went to comics who openly supported Brexit or the Conservative Party, while 268 went to “brazenly left-wing comedians”.
Fully 74 per cent of the comedians elevated by the public broadcaster, funded by a licence fee which everyone who watches live television must pay or else face fines backed by the threat of imprisonment, went to “woke” comics such as Nish Kumar, according to an audit by the Campaign for Common Sense (CCS) reported by the Mail on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Terror Watchdog Admits Deradicalisation Programmes Don’t Always Work
Jonathan Hall, QC, has admitted that deradicalisation programmes do not always work, comparing terrorists to sex offenders who lie to parol boards, telling them what they want to hear in order to secure release from prison.
Convicted terrorist Usman Khan was released on parole when he killed two people running the deradicalisation programme he was attending in London in November 2019. He was also talking to a psychologist and had been on an intensive Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) for returning jihadists or convicted terrorists. Authorities had considered the Islamist a success story of a terrorist turning his life around.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Weekend House Gatherings in Hyndburn Broken Up as Police Fine COVID-19 Rule Breakers
Residents in Hyndburn have been slapped with fines after police broke up illegal gatherings over the weekend.
Officers were called to ‘numerous breaches of Covid-19 rules’ across the borough with people visiting other households against Tier 3 restrictions.
The number of people issued with financial penalties and the locations of the breaches have not been released.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two Algerian Christians Face the Courts
12/13/2020 Algeria (International Christian Concern) — Algeria’s Court of Amizour has tried two Christians for “insulting the prophet and denigrating the precepts of the Muslim religion.”
In the first case, the prosecutor has requested two years in prison and a fine of 200,000 dinars ($1519 USD). The verdict is expected on December 15th. A verdict in the second case is expected on December 17th. The defendant in this case is threatened with the same charge and fine, but only six months in prison.
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Vaccinated Israelis to Get ‘Green Passport’ Allowing Them to Attend Events, Eat at Restaurants
Israelis who get the COVID-19 vaccine will be given ‘green passports’ that will enable them to attend venues and eat at restaurants.
The country’s health ministry announced that citizens who take the shot will be rewarded with “free movement waivers” that will allow them to bypass coronavirus restrictions.
The green passports will be issued after a person receives the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine which Israel plans to begin rolling out on December 27, with around 60,000 people being given the shot every day.
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Iran Sentences British Man to Nine Years Jail for Visiting Israel, Promoting Homosexuality
Iran handed a nine-year jail sentence to a British-Iranian anthropologist for studying child marriage and female genital mutilation and ordered him to pay a fine of over $700,000 in cash, the semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported Sunday.
Kameel Ahmady was sentenced by Iran’s Revolutionary Court on charges of cooperation with institutions seeking to topple Iran’s Islamic government, promoting homosexuality, cooperating with hostile media, visiting Israel as a reporter for the BBC, and engaging in “subversive” research.
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Israel Flag, ‘Thank You, Mossad’ Sign Appear in Iran After Nuke Scientist Killed
An Israeli flag and an English sign reading “Thank you, Mossad” were placed over a billboard in Iran on Monday, following the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist last month, allegedly by Israel.
Photos of the flag and sign in a Tehran suburb — plastered over a soda ad on a bridge — were widely shared on social media.
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About two months ago, Indonesian counterterrorism task force Detachment 88 arrested a little-known cleric named Ustad Arif, according to a senior security source.
The 54-year-old from Klaten, Central Java, turned out to be the leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the Southeast Asia branch of al-Qaeda.
JI was behind all the deadly terror attacks in Indonesia from 1998 to 2010 before it was weakened by Indonesian counterterrorism police, who arrested hundreds of its members during the period, including several leaders.
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The communist government has ordered power stations to use more coal from Russia, Mongolia, Indonesia and domestic producers instead of Australia as relations sour.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Demonstrators Glue Themselves to the Road in Heated Climate Change Protests
Protesters calling for the declaration of a “climate emergency” have clashed with police in Melbourne amid news the federal government is unlikely to rely on “carry-over credits” to reach its 2030 Paris emissions reduction target.
Some activists glued and chained themselves to each other and the pavement on Saturday, before being arrested by officers carrying bolt-cutters.
“Australia needs to be a climate lifter, not a climate leaner. We are about to go over a cliff but nobody seems nearly alarmed enough,” rally participant Miriam Robinson said.
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Incredible footage showed the Currumbin Beach Vikings Surf Life Saving Club cut off from the land and stranded at sea on Monday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Extinction Rebellion Protesters Granted Bail Over Brisbane CBD Protest
Twelve Extinction Rebellion protesters have been granted bail over a demonstration that caused traffic chaos in Brisbane’s CBD for the second time in a week.
Around 150 environmental activists staged a “sit-in” on the intersection of Edward and Queen Streets, before marching through the city and continuing to block traffic.
Specialist fire crews were needed to remove three people, who suspended themselves from a tree over the road at Eagle Street.
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Greta Thunberg in Climate Fight With NZ Leader Jacinda Ardern
New Zealand’s left wing Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been forced to defend her country’s climate policies after criticism from teenage activist Greta Thunberg and a global summit snub.
New Zealand was absent from the Climate Ambition Summit held at the weekend by the United Nations, United Kingdom and France.
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Overseas investment has soared on the east coast — with foreign holdings now owning 26.2 per cent of farmland in Tasmania, according to new Australian Taxation Office data.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Jamaica: Nine Charged in Clampdown on Illegal Parties
MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Nine people from four unpermitted events have been charged with breaches of the Noise Abatement Act in Manchester as the police intensify operations against illegal parties in the parish.
The police, with the support of the military, conducted multiple operations across the parish on Friday and Saturday.
The lawmen said a number of people were warned for prosecution for breaches under the Disaster Risk Management Act. The police said a quantity of musical equipment and liquor were also seized.
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2,500 Somalis Are Preparing to Illegally Enter Greece From Turkey
Although the distance between Greece and the East African country exceeds 4,500km, Somalis are traveling by air to Turkey in order to pass to into Greece via the islands or Evros, Proto Thema reported.
Lately, the arrivals of illegal immigrants from Somalia to the Aegean islands have hit increased so much so that Greek authorities are mobilizing.
Of the 214 arrivals of illegal immigrants recorded since the beginning of November in Lesvos, 142 come from Somalia.
These are victims of traffickers who with cooperation, of Turkish authorities are transported from Somalia to Turkey and from there to the Greek border.
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Greece Sues NGOs for Smuggling Illegal Immigrants
Greece has accused neighboring Turkey and several European non-profit organizations of deliberately being involved in the illegal smuggling of immigrants from Somalia to the Greek islands. According to Greece, some of them organize migrant journeys while disguising themselves as travel agencies.
The Greek authorities became suspicious after the number of East African migrants entering the country suddenly began to increase rapidly. When numerous immigrants arrived on the Aegean island of Lesbos in early November, 142 of the 214 people came from Somalia.
According to the Athenian newspaper Kathimerini, non-profit representatives reject this accusation, but the Greek government insists that the information is well-founded.
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Italy: Migrant Inspector Arrested in Benevento
Allegedly took bribes for cushy inspections at centres
(ANSA) — BENEVENTO, DEC 9 — Italian police on Wednesday arrested a 59-year-old inspector at the prefecture of Benevento in southern Italy on suspicion of taking bribes to make sure inspections at migrant reception centres were lenient.
The man allegedly demanded and obtained money for cushy inspections at several Foreigner Reception Centres (CAS), police said.
He was placed under house arrest by DIGOS security police.
The man has been charged with inducement to give or promise illegal services.
He denies the charges.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Two migrants are escaping the UK’s first migrant camp at an army barracks in Kent every week, it has been revealed.
Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent was turned into an ‘assessment and dispersal facility’ for migrants, with 400 arriving in September at the height of the migrant crisis, which has seen thousands cross the Channel and arrive in Britain this year.
September saw the most arrivals in the UK — with nearly 2000 migrants landing, more than all of 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Farage Criticises ‘Dangerous’ Govt Open Migrant Camps After Several Illegals Abscond
Nigel Farage has criticised the government’s open migrant camps housing hundreds of illegal alien men as “dangerous” and a threat to national security, after it was revealed that migrants have been absconding from one facility without a trace.
The number of illegal landings of migrants crossing the English Channel by boat has more than quadrupled from last year’s figures, with around 8,500 arriving on Britain’s shores since January 2020, compared to 1,890 the year before.
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Marvel has confirmed that Chris Pratt’s Guardians Of The Galaxy character Star-Lord is a polyamorous bisexual.
A revelation about the character the 41-year-old actor has played in four films and their sexuality has been made in the upcoming Guardians Of The Galaxy #9 comic book.
Fans of the graphic novels know that the fate of Star-Lord — AKA Peter Quill — was left uncertain after a heroic death in the second installment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mother Who Called Transgender Woman “He” On Twitter is Cleared of Wrongdoing in UK Court
A British woman has managed to lodge a successful appeal against a court verdict that found her guilty of causing “annoyance and anxiety” to a transgender woman during their online interactions.
The woman, Kate Scottow, was accused by Stephanie Hayden for what was termed as significant online abuse taking place on Twitter, and then in late 2018 arrested in her home, in front of her two children, to, according to her testimony, be detained in a cell for seven hours before being questioned.
Hayden, who is a transgender woman and an activist, seems to have taken most offense at being referred to as a “he,” i.e., a man, although the St. Albans court heard from the plaintiff that Scottow also insulted her by referring to her as “a pig in a wig.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sleeping Giants Says the Free Expression of Its Activists is Under Threat
A Twitter account known as “Sleeping Giants,” billing itself as a campaign “to make bigotry and sexism less profitable” — while routinely calling for censorship, demonetization, and blacklisting of media and accounts on social platforms — has spoken against Twitter.
Love it or hate it, there aren’t many out there who would refer to Twitter as a “champion of free speech” — not even the company behind it is known for making such claims — but in a series of posts now, denouncing a policy of unmasking users, Sleeping Giants has done just that.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/italy-likely-to-follow-germany-with-covid-christmas-lockdown
This none sense is getting tiresome.
wonder what happened to Swarte Pete?
sorry….should be Zwarte Pete.
Peter Hitchens: From Covid to Culture Wars-The Left’s Long March Through UK Institutions is Complete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUhm3_PW3qo
Montpellier: a young man receives a machete blow in the back during a fight in a shopping center, 2 others injured
https://www.fdesouche.com/2020/12/15/montpellier-un-jeune-homme-recoit-un-coup-de-machette-dans-le-dos-lors-dune-rixe-dans-un-centre-commercial-2-autres-blesses/
Memo to France’s Prime Minister, Jean Castex:
The “pernicious ideology” of “radical Islamism” is identical with Islam.
There is no difference.
This is what the Turkish Erdogan keeps saying. Although it should be pretty obvious by now. The Muslims book of intentions for non Muslims is so crystal palace clear that it must also be crystal clear by now that nothing less than some serious spring cleaning is called for. No wait…..it’s the same all over the world.
Memo to Jonathan Hall QC who “has admitted that deradicalisation programmes do not always work, comparing terrorists to sex offenders who lie to parol boards”:
Muslims are authorised to lie in the cause of Islam.
“Using deception to mask intended goals” is a stated aim in the Muslim Brotherhood plan.
All these facts need to be widely advertised in media everywhere after close cooperation with the Chinese. Then an updated Spanish plan of action. If necessary a major or minor war to sort out who is who. Other
-wise we are simply not going to survive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz7gieuxnuM
Elina, and others who just write a website.
Please tell us in a few words what is the subject of the website. I, for one, will not click on a naked website address.
Thank you.
tell me…what is a ‘naked website address’?
15/12/2020 – 11:27 | Last update:15/12/2020 – 11:49
INTERNAL SECURITY
A new wave of settlement is being prepared. NGOs build the largest ship carrying illegal immigrants.
The Italian pro-immigration NGO ” Mediterranea Saving Humans” has begun the reconstruction of the largest ship carrying illegal immigrants in the Mediterranean to date. MARE JONIO 2, will offer space to a thousand “immigrants” and will have Drones, night vision devices and balloons, reports the Italian LA REPUBBLICA.
In addition, “Mediterranea Saving Humans” has chartered a Norwegian ship to transport floating platforms. The MARE JONIO 2 is currently in a Bremen shipyard to be ready by next April and driven off the Libyan coast. In the spring, the rate of departure usually begins to increase.
The work on the ship approved so far for 700 people will increase its capacity to 1,000 people. The main deck will have an area of 540 sq.m. There, five containers with sunbeds, kitchens and toilets have already been adapted.
In addition, there will be a first aid station with twelve beds. For the collection of migrants the ship will have two large inflatable boats. “Mediterranea Saving Humans”, however, neither confirms nor denies the information.
The Evangelists’ Organization is also preparing a ship
Currently supported by the German Evangelical Church NGO called “UNITED4RESCUE” another ship carrying illegal immigrants. With the support of this organization, the German organization SEA-EYE bought an old logistics, which is also being rebuilt to accommodate illegal immigrants.
For the time being, according to information from NGOs, the Spanish ship OPEN ARMS operates in the Mediterranean for the same purposes. Five further vessels have been seized by the Italian authorities.
Sounds like a worthy target for a diver with some limpet mines. If it is floating in some port whilst being refitted then a small charge placed next to the screws or the rudder would make it uneconomical to repair.
Put a directional mines next to the fuel tanks, it makes a beautiful orange glow.
Clermont-Ferrand: “If you struggle, I’ll kill you”. Algerian Badreddine Chaïb tried for raping a 22-year-old student in the middle of the street
https://www.fdesouche.com/2020/12/15/clermont-ferrand-si-tu-te-debats-je-te-tue-lalgerien-badreddine-chaib-juge-pour-avoir-viole-une-etudiante-de-22-ans-en-pleine-rue/
Montpellier: Mohamed Khattabi, the imam of the Aïcha mosque, who justified paedophilia, will be tried for rape and sexual assault on minors
https://www.fdesouche.com/2020/12/15/montpellier-mohamed-khattabi-limam-de-la-mosquee-aicha-qui-avait-justifie-la-pedophilie-place-en-garde-a-vue-pour-viol-et-agression-sexuelle-sur-mineur/
Testimony of a young Afghan arriving in Paris: “I had a shock when I discovered all the blacks there were. I was wrong, I thought, I arrived in Africa, not in France!”
https://www.fdesouche.com/2020/12/15/temoignage-dun-jeune-afghan-arrivant-a-paris-jai-eu-un-choc-en-decouvrant-tous-les-noirs-quil-y-avait-je-me-suis-trompe-jai-pense-je-suis-arrive-en-afrique-pas-en/