Authorities have cracked down on illegal parties in Ontario, Spain, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Meanwhile, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticized COVID-19 lockdowns as a form of dictatorship.
In other news, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Communist-NY) said that it is time for new leadership in the Democrat Party, that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer need to make way for more progressive voices.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, JD, JM, Mark H, 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.
Australian Employment Preview: AUD/USD to Continue Marching Higher Unless Dismal Report
Australia is set to publish on Thursday at 00:30 GMT its November employment figures and the country is expected to have added 50,000 new jobs in November. Meanwhile, the AUD/USD pair is consolidating at two-year highs and poised to extend its rally, Valeria Bednarik, Chief Analyst at FXStreet, reports.
Key quotes
“Australia is expected to have added 50K new jobs after gaining 178.8K in the previous month. The unemployment rate is foreseen unchanged at 7%, and the same goes for the participation rate, which is expected at 65.8%.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Congressional Leaders Discuss Second Round of Stimulus Checks
Congressional leaders are currently considering a nearly $900 billion coronavirus relief deal expected to include direct stimulus payments.
However, the COVID-19 relief package is expected to exclude funding for state and local governments and liability protections for businesses and other entities in operation during the pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pritzker’s $711 Million Spending Cuts for Illinois Are a “Sideshow”
Authored by Mark Glennon via Wirepoints.org,
Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday ordered state spending cuts totaling $711 million for the current fiscal year as a “first step” to address the year’s budget hole.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
2017 Email From Hunter Biden to CEFC Chairman Extends “Best Wishes From the Entire Biden Family”
Newly uncovered correspondence revealed Hunter Biden extended CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming “best wishes from the entire Biden family” in 2017, while urging the chairman to “quickly” send a $10 million wire to “properly fund and operate” the Biden joint venture with the Chinese energy company. The transfer to the joint venture was never completed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Members of the group were seen sporting the bright garments at a pro-Trump rally this weekend in Washington DC.
The Proud Boys are an all-male group of self-proclaimed “Western chauvinists” with a history of street violence.
Verillas — the LGBT-owned brand — says the “nightmare scenario” has forced them to pull the kilts from the shelves.
Extremist groups in the US often adopt or appropriate items of clothing as quasi-uniforms that indicate their allegiance and make them recognisable to others.
Over the weekend, videos on social media showcased a row of Proud Boys in bright yellow Verillas kilts mooning the crowd gathered around them, with “[expletive] antifa” written on their bare bottoms.
| — Hat tip: JM | [Return to headlines] |
AOC Says Democratic Party Needs New Leadership, Warns of Power Vacuum
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Tuesday that it is time to replace the leadership of the Democratic Party, but warned about a power vacuum during any future transition.
Ocasio-Cortez made the comments on a podcast with The Intercept, detailing the current power struggles between traditional Democratic leaders and the increasing far-left elements within the party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Audio of Call Between the Clinton State Department and Julian Assange Destroys the State’s Narrative
A latest finding by Project Veritas has been making the rounds as a call recording between WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange and Hillary Clinton’s State Department lawyer Cliff John has been obtained. The call makes it apparent that Julian Assange had consciously tried to the best of his ability to curtail the damage that was caused by the US Embassy cables that were released, the opposite of what is presented in the narrative by US officials.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s Campaign Manager Refers to Republicans as a “Bunch of F***ers” While Calling for Unity
Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon insulted Republicans during a Tuesday interview where she also praised Joe Biden’s call for unity and healing in America.
O’Malley Dillon — who was previously the executive director of the Democratic National Committee and will become Biden’s deputy chief of staff should he be sworn in — made the comments on an interview with Glamour magazine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Sheriff Refuses to Release 1,800 Inmates After Judge’s Order
Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times
A California sheriff is refusing to comply with a judge’s order to release 1,800 inmates from Orange County jails, including individuals who have been imprisoned for murder, due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.
County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson on Friday ordered the release of 50 percent — or 1,858 inmates out of 3,716 — to curb the transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Do as I Unconstitutionally Say, But Don’t Do as I Hypocritically-Criminally Do
FRAUD, noun [Latin fraus.] Deceit; deception; trick; artifice by which the right or interest of another is injured; a stratagem intended to obtain some undue advantage; an attempt to gain or the obtaining of an advantage over another by imposition or immoral means, particularly deception in contracts, or bargain and sale, either by stating falsehoods, or suppressing truth.
The Statesman reported:
Austin mayor was vacationing in Cabo when he said residents ‘need to stay home’
“In early November, as health officials warned of a impending COVID-19 spike, Austin Mayor Steve Adler hosted an outdoor wedding and reception with 20 guests for his daughter at a trendy hotel near downtown.
The next morning, Adler and seven other wedding attendees boarded a private jet bound for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where they vacationed for a week at a family timeshare.
One night into the trip, Adler addressed Austin residents in a Facebook video: “We need to stay home if you can. This is not the time to relax. We are going to be looking really closely. … We may have to close things down if we are not careful.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Domestic Violence Murders on the Rise in Jefferson Parish
METAIRIE, La. — Murders are up in Jefferson Parish for a second year in a row.
So far, there have been 49 killings in JP compared to 48 for all of last year.
Rosalie Bossier lives in Metairie’s Fat City neighborhood, near the parking lot where two people were shot and killed last week including a 16-year-old boy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FDA Advises Vaccine Recipients to Watch for Symptoms of Bell’s Palsy
As COVID-19 vaccines are being rushed to distribution sites all over the country, staff at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is cautioning doctors and patients to watch closely for the manifestation of Bell’s palsy in recipients.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
First Glitches Emerge in COVID-Vax Rollout; Alaska Health Worker Suffers ‘Serious Allergic Reaction’
A healthcare worker in Alaska was hospitalized on Tuesday with a ‘serious allergic reaction’ after receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to the New York Times.
The person, who had no known drug allergies, was still in the hospital on Wednesday morning under observation, according to the report. It is unknown whether they suffer from any other types of allergies. The Alaska resident’s reaction was reportedly similar to anaphylactic reactions two heal workers in Britain experience after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week — both of whom have recovered. Of note, they both had a history of severe allergies. One, a 49-year-old woman, is allergic to eggs (which Pfizer says are not in their vaccine). The other, a 40-year-old woman is allergic to several different medications. Both routinely carry EpiPenn-like devices in case of reactions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Ohio-Based Researcher Pleads Guilty to Selling American Medical Secrets in China
A former employee of the Ohio-based Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute has pleaded guilty to selling American research secrets in China.
Yu Zhou, 50, formerly of Dublin, Ohio, admitted to conspiring to steal scientific trade secrets related to research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions.
“The Chinese government has created a large-scale, sophisticated system to steal American ingenuity,” said U.S. Attorney David DeVillers in a statement following Zhou’s guilty plea. “We hope this conviction demonstrates that we will fight this system.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
High School Bans Yearbook Picture of Student With American Flag Draped Over Her Shoulders
Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington, rejected a student’s yearbook picture because she posed with an American flag draped over her shoulders. A statement from the school claims the decision was not made against what the flag represents, but out of respect: “We respect our flag as much as any school in the area and were concerned that in the photo submitted it was being used as a prop in the photo and was not being afforded appropriate regard.”
“The fact that I can’t have my senior picture in the yearbook because it contains the American flag in it amazes me,” wrote the student to her Facebook page on Monday, sharing a purported screenshot of an email she received from the school notifying her that her yearbook photo was denied.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has addressed a federal investigation into his son Hunter Biden’s tax affairs, saying he is “confident” his son did nothing wrong.
Biden was asked by Fox News’s Peter Doocy on Wednesday whether he is confident in his son’s innocence, prompting him to say, “I’m confident.”
Hunter Biden announced last week that federal prosecutors were investigating his tax affairs, but he claims he handled his finances appropriately.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
KC Police Begin Efforts to Crack Down on Dangerous Downtown Street Races, Stunts
Kansas City police and city officials announced Wednesday they will soon take aggressive measures to crack down on groups of motorists who gather at busy intersections throughout the city to perform burnouts, “donuts” and other dangerous maneuvers.
A number of those incidents have taken place along busy thoroughfares, city parks and dense populated areas such as in front of the T-Mobile Center on Grand Boulevard.
Some were captured in videos that were later shared on social media and showed several cars spinning in circles in the middle of intersections surrounded by crowds of cars and pedestrians.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Looks Like Sleepy Joe Only Had 52K Live Stream Viewers for His Boring Speech
The alleged “president-elect” Joe Biden gave a snoozer of a speech yesterday that everyone missed, apparently. Some industrious viewer got a screenshot of all the major live streams of the speech, which, thankfully, I missed (along with the majority of Americans who were too busy clipping their toenails or washing their hair to pay attention to some senile old man coughing through a speech he didn’t understand).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the guilty plea of Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, 23, to one count of conspiracy to commit arson at the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct during the unrest following the death of George Floyd in May.
According to the his guilty plea and documents filed with the court, on the night of May 28, 2020, Robinson went to the Third Precinct where a crowd of hundreds had gathered. At one point, the crowd began shouting, “Burn it down, burn it down.” Soon after, a fence that was designed to keep trespassers out of the Third Precinct building was torn down. Robinson, along with other co-conspirators, breached the fence and entered the Third Precinct building. Robinson, assisted by an unidentified co-conspirator, lit a device held by the unidentified co-conspirator who threw it toward the Third Precinct building with the intent that it would start a fire or fuel an existing fire.
[Comment: This person is named after two great poets.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The future of a law professor at the University of Miami (UM) is uncertain after the dean threatened not to renew his contract over his political speech. Cases of universities violating the freedom of speech rights of students and faculty members have been on the rise in the past several months.
As the counting of votes dragged on in early November, Daniel Ravicher, a lecturer at UM’s Law School, posted a series of controversial tweets regarding the outcome of the US presidential race.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mitch McConnell Warns Fellow Republicans Not to Challenge Certification of Electoral Vote
After formally acknowledging Joe Biden as “president-elect” earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke bluntly with fellow Republicans on a Tuesday conference call, encouraging them to accept the results of the Electoral College.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nothing to See Here, Just NYPD Deploying a Dystopian Robotic Dog
The NYPD is set to deploy a 70 pound robotic dog made by Boston Dynamics that is capable of opening doors and moving objects out of its path.
In fact, the ‘dog’, called Digidog, has already been used to apprehend a suspect, according to a report by ABC 7 News.
“This dog is going to save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that’s our goal,” NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit Inspector (TARU) Frank Digiacomo said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NY Governor Cuomo Signs Bill Banning Sale & Display of “Hate Symbols”
ALBANY, NY — Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed bill S8298B into law, which prohibits the State of New York from selling or displaying “symbols of hate.”
The bill reads: the term “symbols of hate” shall include, but not be limited to, symbols of white supremacy, neo-Nazi ideology or the Battle Flag of the Confederacy.
The law prohibits the displaying or sale of the ‘symbol’ on and any state property, including fairgrounds and parks.
No further guidelines were written into the bill—nor did it lay out who would determine what symbols would be deemed hateful.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pelosi: House Members “Will Not be Recognized Unless They Are Wearing a Mask”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declared Tuesday that any member of the House who does not wear a mask “will not be recognised.”
In a move which will surely see her branded as the ultimate mask ‘Karen’, Pelosi proclaimed that representatives will not be allowed to remove the face masks even when they are speaking, more than six feet away from anyone else.
Pelosi stated “Concerning the wearing of masks in the Hall of the House during the coronavirus pandemic. The chair wishes to, again, emphasize the importance of safe practices during House proceedings.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Phoenix Sees 175% Increase in Domestic Violence Murders in 2020
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — New data shows the number of domestic violence murders in Phoenix has sharply increased in 2020. According to new numbers released by the Phoenix Police Department, 44 people were murdered in domestic violence situations in 2020. Compared to just 16 in 2019, that’s an increase of 175%. The department also saw a 52% increase in homicides in 2020, with 187 so far, compared to 123 in 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report Alleges China’s ‘Mass Surveillance’ of Americans Using Caribbean Cell Networks
New technical analysis compiled by a veteran cybersecurity expert previously at Mobileum, a mobile security company whose job it is to track threats to mobile operators, has detailed likely efforts of Chinese intelligence to surveil US mobile phone subscribers using phone networks out of the Caribbean.
Gary Miller, who has since started the cybersecurity company Exigent Media, has alleged and detailed to The Guardian that China is engaged in “active” surveillance attacks through foreign telecoms operators.
The Guardian report offers little to nothing in the way of forensic or technical evidence to back the claims, but is reliant merely on Miller’s track record of expertise as an industry insider. There have been similar allegation in the past, particularly a prior similar 2018-2019 report titled Far From Home.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rumble Plans Live Streaming, Playlists, And Improved Monetization in 2021
During an interview with lawyer Viva Frei, Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of video-sharing platform Rumble, revealed that he and the Rumble team plan to bring much-requested features including live streaming, playlists, and a new monetization system to the platform in 2021.
“Both monetization across the platform and live streaming are two major priorities for us in 2021,” Pavlovski said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Student Threatened With Probation for Sending Email Questioning Forced Critical Race Theory Training
A dentistry student at the University of Iowa was threatened with probation for disagreeing with the school administration’s stance on President Trump’s executive order prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) as part of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
On October 16, students in the College of Dentistry at the University of Iowa received an email criticizing Trump’s executive order on CRT. The college’s leadership said that it “strongly condemns Executive Order 13950, which prohibits trainings that are crucial to progressing toward a more equitable and just society.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Texas AG Joins DOJ, Multiple Other States, Suing Google on Antitrust Claims
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Twitter Wednesday that he is suing Google, alleging the tech giant “manipulated digital advertising markets in violation of antitrust laws”. The suit includes several states and is being led by Texas.
The complaint follows the Department of Justice and several other states that have already brought antitrust claims again Google. Google “depends on advertising for much of its profits,” the Wall Street Journal wrote in a follow up, noting that it reported digital ad revenue of $37.1 billion last quarter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
To Kill a Free Nation, Take Over Public Education
The forces that are influencing our public schools are global. Just the other day we received an e-mail from “Discovery Education”, a global entity that provides alleged educational curriculum in digital format to school systems all over the world. What do their curriculums contain? Who writes their curriculums? They don’t say and we could find no sources that would tell us. Nevertheless, “Discovery Education” has a huge presence in America’s public education. Have you heard of them?
We had never heard of “Discovery Education” before and decided to investigate further. No matter where we looked, we could not find the people or the money sources behind “Discovery Education.” The e-mail we received from them was celebrating Human Rights Day. The e-mail was laced with social justice and equity, both socialist-globalist terms. The e-mail also had a section on “unlocking the power of testimony to counter hate,” a program created by the USC Shoah Foundation centered around testimony from the Holocaust.
“Discovery Education” even has videos on “Social and Emotional Skills.” One such video allegedly “equips students with the skills necessary to reduce stress and create ‘Sustainable Happiness’ by providing curriculum and standards-aligned resources.” Ever heard of the word “sustainable” before? Of course you have. It is right out of United Nations Agenda 21. Liberals love this word…
But then along came Common Core State Standards (CCSS). We received a math teaching document about CCSS a while back and what we read made the hairs on the back of our neck stand up.
Here are some excerpts from the document:
“All students are entitled to quality instruction within an equitable learning environment, designed to meet their specific learning needs.”
What stood out from this sentence was “… an equitable learning environment”. We wondered, “what does that mean?” Reading further it became clear what it meant and it had nothing to do with math.
The document explained further:
“Promoting and supporting equitable practices for students is a complex process and is best supported when your collaborative team examines several factors. The National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics’ (2008) position statement on equity recommends that mathematics educators:” [NOTE: Only educated idiot psychologists and sociologists can make something a complex process]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Responds to Mitch McConnell’s Speech Congratulating Biden as Next President
President Trump has publicly responded to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s speech where he congratulated Joe Biden on as the presidential election winner.
“Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!” said Trump in a tweet Wednesday morning.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
It looks like the leaders of San Francisco’s unified school district are preparing to scratch the name of former American President Abraham Lincoln off of one of their schools.
The reason?
Lincoln wasn’t “sufficiently woke”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Accused of Mailing Ricin to Trump, Other Officials Indicted
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A Brownsville federal grand jury has indicted a Canadian woman for prohibitions with respect to biological weapons and making threats via interstate commerce.
Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier aka Jane Ferrier, 53, is currently in custody in Washington, D.C., on separate, but similar charges. She is expected to make her initial appearance in Brownsville at a future date.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fifty Charges Laid in Kingston for COVID-19 Violations
OTTAWA — The City of Kingston says bylaw and police together laid more than 50 charges against people for violations of COVID-19 restrictions.
In a press release, the City said bylaw officers filed 31 charges under the Reopening Ontario Act related to indoor social gatherings of more than 10 people. The charges relate to investigations that began in November and continued into December.
Each Part 3 Summons under the Reopening Act includes a minimum $10,000 fine upon a conviction. The individuals who received the Part 3 Summons will need to appear before a Justice of the Peace in the new year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nine Forestry Protesters Arrested at Digby County Blockade
Nine members of the Extinction Rebellion-led group that had been blockading access roads to WestFor logging operations in Digby County have been arrested by the RCMP.
The arrests took place Tuesday afternoon, according to Extinction Rebellion (XR) spokeswoman Debbie Stultz-Giffin, who was not at the forestry site located in the New France area of the county.
WestFor Management applied to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court for a temporary injunction to remove XR forestry protectors and friends from the two encampments near New France in Digby County. The injunction was granted by Justice Glen G. McDougall on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
There will be more than 10,000 illegal parties in Spain on New Year’s Eve, the National Association of Nightlife warned.
In conjunction with Spain Nightlife, the group says it is ‘extremely’ concerned by what it says will be the consequences of the coronavirus restrictions, which includes bars closing at 10:30 pm and a curfew of 1:30am on NYE and XMas Eve.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czechia Expects a Record Number of Companies Going Under This Year
A record number of defunct companies in the Czech Republic is expected in 2020, with more than 16,000 of them expected to go under. The Covid-19 pandemic has also been reflected in the number of new start-ups, with 27,000 of them the worst result in five to six years.
According to CRIF analyst Vera Kamenickova, the number of defunct companies has been growing for a long time. By 2016, the number of defunct companies remained below 10,000, and last year it exceeded 15,000 for the first time.
The number of newly established companies has also been declining over a longer time. It reached its peak in 2017 and has been gradually declining since then.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Fear Brexit Repeat as Poles Warn: ‘We’re Headed in UK’s Direction’
THE EUROPEAN UNION has been warned another country could follow in the UK’s footsteps as Poland and Brussels clash over budget funding
However, tension with Poland, Hungary and the rest of the bloc has existed for years — and some are warning that another departure from the EU could be imminent as the UK negotiates its future trading arrangement with Brussels.
Polish conservative magazine — Do Rzeczy — ran a provocative front page to signal its discontent with the EU.
It read: “We must tell the EU: Enough. Polexit — we have a right to talk about it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Hints British Negotiators Have Now Caved on All Areas Except Fishing in Brexit Talks
European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen said that “there is a path to an agreement now”, revealing that UK negotiators had agreed to be bound by the EU in several key areas in perpetuity, but that finalising an arrangement on fishing remains.
A Brexit deal may now be struck within days, even before the end of this week, after two major areas of contention of talks appear to have been resolved, if the EU’s account of events are to be believed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Govt Scientist: It Could Take a Year to Vaccinate Whole of UK
A member of the British government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has said that it could take a whole year to vaccinate the entire United Kingdom, adding that it is not known if the new vaccines will actually stop people from passing on Chinese coronavirus.
While Britons might have hoped that the recent approval and rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would have afforded them a return to normal by Spring, SAGE’s Sir Jeremy Farrar and Professor Tim Cook, an intensive care medical consult from the University of Bristol, penned a warning to the contrary in an article for the journal, Anaesthesia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Great Reset: 61% of Nations Have Decimated Liberty With COVID Restrictions
An international human rights group has warned that the majority of nations across the globe have implemented COVID related restrictions that have severely eroded the liberties of their citizens.
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), based in Sweden, reports that 61 per cent of countries have used restrictions “that were concerning from a democracy and human rights perspective.”
‘These [restrictions] violated democratic standards because they were either disproportionate, illegal, indefinite or unnecessary in relation to the health threat,” the group declared in its report.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man With Two Pistols and Islamic Holy Books Arrested at French Train Station
Police arrested a 21-year-old man at a train station in Toulouse, France, on Friday who was armed with two pistols and carrying the Quran, a prayer mat, and other Islamic texts, it has been revealed.
Railway police flagged the man at the Matabiau train station due to his strange behaviour. Officers demanded his papers and searched him, finding the two loaded pistols and several Islamic religious objects.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police Scotland Make Repeat Visits to Break Up Illegal House Parties
Police Scotland’s latest data on Covid breaches reveals that officers are repeatedly visiting the same properties to break up parties.
The call logs, which have been obtained by BBC Scotland, also show that a number of people have been handed multiple fines.
On 28 August the police were given the power to break up house parties contravening social gathering rules.
Since that date, officers have been called out nearly 5,000 times.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made it clear that giving Police Scotland enhanced powers was necessary to ensure socialising continued in a safe and responsible manner.
The data, received through a Freedom of Information request, listed incidents which included:
- a party of 10 people found at a Glasgow address, where the householder had previously been issued with two fixed penalty notices (FPNs)
- in the north east six people were warned after being found at two different parties in the same evening
- officers attended a Glasgow address following a report of a noisy party. Fines were issued to five people — four of whom had previously received Covid-related fines
- in Ayrshire people attempted to jump out of the windows of a property when police arrived. This was the second time officers had attended the address having previously issued a fine to the householder
- and police went to a Renfrewshire address where they gave fines to two party-goers who had previously been issued with a warning
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Shamima Begum Should be Treated as a Threat, Says UK Counter-Terror Chief
The UK’s counter-terrorism commander has said that Shamima Begum should be treated as a security threat and arrested if the former teen ISIS bride wins her case to return to the UK.
The 21-year-old from London had left for Syria aged 15 to marry an Islamic State fighter. She was discovered last year in a Kurdish-run detention camp for family members of jihadists, and, despite showing no remorse for joining the terror group, asked to be repatriated to the UK.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A fear of stereotyping middle-class victims of child sexual assault gangs as being in care, homeless and ill-educated has led police to overlook the problem, a Home Office report has revealed.
The research into grooming gangs commissioned by the Home Office warned there was a perceived danger of broadly classifying the victims of the gangs which led police authorities to downplay or ignore the victims altogether, the Daily Telegraph reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lovesick Man Who Took Jet Ski to See Girlfriend Jailed for Breaking Coronavirus Laws
A lovesick man who travelled from Scotland to the Isle of Man on a jet ski to see his girlfriend has been convicted of breaking the island’s coronavirus laws and sentenced to one month in prison.
Dale McLaughlan, 28, had never used a jet ski before but bought the device and set off from the Isle of Whithorn, Scotland, on Friday to Ramsey. Expecting the journey to last only 40 minutes, it took Mr McLaughlan four-and-a-half hours to cover the 25-mile trip across the Irish Sea. He then had a 15-mile trek from the coast to his girlfriend’s home in Douglas, the island’s capital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Scientists Pressure Brits to Cancel Christmas, Have Summer Party Instead
Government scientific advisers and other scientists are telling Britons that they should postpone celebrations during the holy period and have a summer party next year, instead.
While Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his proposal to let Englishmen have five days of freedom later this month, he is expected to advise citizens not to travel outside of their local area. He will also tell people to refrain from visiting their elderly relatives, many of whom have been trapped in varying degrees of isolation since March.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Prepares to Extend Military Presence in Libya
by Alex Kassidiaris
A proposal for the extension of the deployment of Turkish forces in Libya has been submitted for approval in the Turkish Parliament.
In January 2020, the Turkey’s Parliament approved the deployment of Turkish assets to Libya in support of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord GNA).
Turkey’s Previous Deployment Approval
According to that bill, the Turkish Forces would assist Tripoli for one year, including — but not limited to — logistics coordination, training, intelligence services and shipments of weapons, arms, and provision of technical equipment. The motion for the extension of the Turkish military presence has already raised concerns, as it comes at a moment where a ceasefire is ongoing between the opposing sides and the international community is urging for an arms embargo in Libya.
[…]
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Trump’s Legacy of Peace
For 72 years, U.S. presidents sought to achieve peace between Israel and the Arab world. For 72 years, they largely failed.
What for so long eluded presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama seems to have come effortlessly to President Donald Trump. In the space of just four months, together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has achieved four peace deals between Israel and Arab states—twice the number achieved by all his predecessors combined. Last Thursday, Trump announced Morocco has joined the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Sudan in the Abraham Accords normalization agreements with Israel. Three or four more Arab states are likely to join the circle of peace in Trump’s final weeks in office.
Not only has Trump brought more peace to the Middle East, more comprehensively and faster than all of his predecessors combined, but he made it look easy. Israel’s ties with its Abraham Accords partners are expanding massively by the day. Tourists from the UAE are streaming into the country. And with one in seven Israeli Jews descended from the Moroccan diaspora, the potential for business and cultural ties between Israel and Morocco is almost limitless.
Trump’s sundry Middle East peace deals are humiliating for his predecessors. Not only did they fail where Trump has succeeded, but they insisted that his achievements were impossible…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
China Indicts Hong Kong 12 for ‘Illegal Border Crossing’
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have indicted 12 Hong Kong protesters detained as they fled to the democratic island of Taiwan on charges relating to “illegally crossing a border,” the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
In a notice posted to its official account on the social media platform WeChat, the Yantian District People’s Procuratorate in Guangdong’s Shenzhen city announced the indictment of Quinn Moon and Tang Kai-yin, for “organizing an illegal border crossing,” which carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Has More Than 100 Journalists Behind Bars Amid ‘Total Control’ of Media
China was among the world’s biggest jailers of journalists in 2020, continuing a pattern of total state control over the media begun under ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “core” leader Xi Jinping.
“China, which arrested several journalists for their coverage of the pandemic, was the world’s worst jailer for the second year in a row,” the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in an annual report, which found that authoritarian governments had stepped up arrests of journalists for covering the COVID-19 pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GOG Caves and Censors Taiwanese Horror Game Devotion After Complaints From Pro-China Activists
Gaming store GOG changed its plans about listing horror game Devotion just a few hours after the game’s developer announced it would be available on the platform. The game was previously removed from Steam after claims the game was insulting the Chinese president and, while many were glad to see GOG had given the indie game a chance, it caved and decided to censor on behalf of China.
“Earlier today, it was announced that the game Devotion is coming to GOG. After receiving many messages from gamers, we have decided not to list the game in our store,” GOG wrote in a tweet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Japanese Retailer Makes Hyper-Realistic Masks That Give Appearance of a Stranger’s Face
A Japanese retailer has created a hyper-realistic mask, modeling a stranger’s features in three dimensions.
Shuhei Okawara’s masks are not made to protect the wearer or others against the coronavirus. They are merely to give someone the appearance of an unidentified Japanese adult whose features have been printed onto the mask.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A third of food, accommodation and arts businesses are now struggling to find suitable staff, despite being forced to close their doors in March when coronavirus hit Australia.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram Holds More Than 300 Children Captive in Nigeria as Punishment for “UN-Islamic Practices
Boko Haram, a radical Islamic group, is holding more than 300 hundred schoolchildren captive in Nigeria after attacking a government-run secondary-school and kidnapping the students.
Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the group who took credit for the attack, said the children were being punished for “un-Islamic practices”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico’s President Slams Lockdowns as a Form of “Dictatorship”
Mexican President Andre’s Manuel López Obrador slammed lockdowns as a form of “dictatorship” during a press conference, telling reporters that such measures betray “authoritarian instincts.”
The populist leftist leader, known as AMLO by his supporters, said that COVID-19 lockdowns were “fashionable among authorities…who want to show they are heavy handed, dictatorship.”
“A lot of them are letting their authoritarian instincts show,” he added, noting that, “The fundamental thing is to guarantee liberty.”
Obrador also insisted that mask-wearing should be voluntary and not mandated by the state.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Calais Lorry Drivers Overwhelmed by Migrants Trying to Board Them
Lorry drivers along the A16 motorway in the French port city of Calais were inundated by a near-continuous stream of migrants trying to board their vehicles to sneak into the UK.
The French CRS, the country’s riot police, were also deployed to the area which lies by the off-ramp to the channel tunnel which connects France to the UK mainland.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
There is growing tension in the Canary Islands in Spain between migrants and locals, and protests have been sparked following reports of migrants assaulting islanders. By the end of November this year, at least 17,000 migrants had arrived on the islands, most of whom were accommodated in hotels, apparently at the expense of Spanish taxpayers, however, there are more and more clashes with locals, and their mass presence is also a threat to tourism, which is already facing a difficult situation.
A group of angry locals marched in front of a hotel in the Canary Islands, where mostly Arab illegal immigrants are housed. According to reports, Mogan residents have had enough of the migrants who have been steadily arriving in the city in recent months, according to Hungarian news outlet Origo.
The last straw was when a 27-year-old man, Kevin, was beaten and robbed by a gang of migrants. The man became aware last Wednesday that a gang of West African Arab youths were insulting two girls in Mogan. Kevin hurried to their aid, calling on the migrants to leave the girls alone. At that point, witnesses say that members of the group attacked him while one of them shouted, “Let’s kill him.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Podcasting may easily become a “new frontier” to be conquered by online censorship advocates, now they feel that large centralized social networks have mostly been whipped into shape.
As if to confirm this, podcasting as a medium is singled out in a piece published by The Guardian as one that remains “largely” unmoderated while giving voice to creators who are seen as spreading “misinformation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Plans to Read News Articles for You and Give You Its Own Interpretation of What They Say
Facebook is riding high on a wave of the pandemic, having seen record usage numbers as people throughout the world suffer lockdowns and rely more than ever on social networks.
In a year when a lot of small businesses are shutting down or laying off employees — Facebook hired 20,000 more people to its workforce, an end-of-the-year meeting has heard, according to audio recordings BuzzFeed says it has had access to.
As for the future, “we are making it” — that is what was said during the meeting chaired by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, where Facebook execs summed up 2020 as basically a good year for the tech giant, despite coming under pressure for political and social issues and despite antitrust probes and lawsuits.
What Facebook is “making” here in terms of shaping the future are ways of keeping users on the platform, while, critics fear, also dumbing them down, via a tool that would “read” articles instead of people, and then explain to them what those articles meant to say. If that wasn’t enough, the behemoth is also not abandoning plans to develop neural sensors capable of “detecting people’s thoughts.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Constitution Spells Out That the Mother is a Woman, And the Father is a Man
The Hungarian Parliament approved on Tuesday an amendment to the constitution stipulating that the mother is a woman and the father is a man, daily Magyar Nemzet reports.
The relevant paragraph reads “Hungary protects the institution of marriage as a cohabitation between a man and a woman, based on voluntary decision, and the family as the basis for the survival of the nation. The basis of the family relationship is the marriage and the parent-child relationship. The mother is a woman, the father is a man.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Of Course, Julie Burchill’s Anti-Cancel Culture Book is Canceled by Publisher Hachette
English journalist and author Julie Burchill is no stranger to exploring topics challenging social norms and causing strong reactions. But the way freedom of speech works — or has worked until now — in countries like the UK allowed her platforms to express those ideas.
That may be coming dangerously close to an end as her book about cancel culture, Welcome to the Woke Trials, itself got canceled by her publisher Hachette Books. Regardless of whether or not another publisher picks it up, dropping books to appease Twitter activists is something that is becoming normalized.
The publisher was reacting to a Twitter fight Burchill had gotten into — specifically her comments about Islam — rather than the content of the book itself.
[Comment: Julie Burchill had asked, “Can you please tell me the age of Prophet Mohammad’s first wife? Thank you in anticipation!”]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter to Ban “Harmful Misleading” Information About Coronavirus Vaccines
Twitter has announced that new restrictions will be coming to the platform from Monday which will ban what Twitter deems to be “harmful misleading information” about the coronavirus vaccine and suppress a wide range of vaccine-related claims including those that are “disputed.”
In a blog post, Twitter wrote that tweets which “advance harmful false or misleading narratives about COVID-19 vaccinations” will be removed. It added that some of the specific claims that will be banned under these rules include; “false claims that suggest immunizations and vaccines are used to intentionally cause harm to or control populations, including statements about vaccines that invoke a deliberate conspiracy,” “false claims which have been widely debunked about the adverse impacts or effects of receiving vaccinations,” or “false claims that COVID-19 is not real or not serious, and therefore that vaccinations are unnecessary.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video Game ‘Little Fetus Doom’ Celebrates Abortion
Argentinean abortion activist Florencia Rumpel has launched a new video game called “Little Fetus Doom” in which players must kill off pro-life women, priests, and police before winning the game by shooting a human fetus.
Little Fetus Doom (in Spanish Doom Fetito) is an adaptation of the controversial 1990s Doom game series, featuring the exploits of a space marine who fights hordes of demons and the undead.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Why Fukuyama Was Right All Along
Long dismissed as liberal hubris, The End of History accurately predicted that the West’s greatest threat comes from within
By Aris Roussinos
The American political philosopher Francis Fukuyama has become, perhaps unfairly, something of a punchline in recent years. Written immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union, when global pre-eminence was unexpectedly thrust upon the United States, his National Interest essay The End of History?, later elaborated into a bestselling book, has become a shorthand for liberal hubris. Its central argument, that liberal democracy had essentially won the battle of ideologies and that the arc of history seemed to bend inexorably towards the liberal order, seemed to embody the triumphalist optimism of the 1990s and 2000s, establishing the framework for the politics of the era.
Now that history has returned with the vengeance of the long-dismissed, few analyses of our present moment are complete without a ritual mockery of Fukuyama’s seemingly naive assumptions. The also-rans of the 1990s, Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilisations thesis and Robert D. Kaplan’s The Coming Anarchy, which predicted a paradigm of growing disorder, tribalism and the breakdown of state authority, now seem more immediately prescient than Fukuyama’s offering.
Yet nearly thirty years later, reading what Fukuyama actually wrote as opposed to the dismissive précis of his ideas, we see that he was right all along. Where Huntington and Kaplan predicted the threat to the Western liberal order coming from outside its cultural borders, Fukuyama discerned the weak points from within, predicting, with startling accuracy, our current moment…
| — Hat tip: Mark H | [Return to headlines] |