Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen will receive the COVID-19 vaccination on live TV tomorrow. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus after attending an in-person EU summit. He, the French prime minister, and the Spanish prime minister are all self-quarantining for seven days.
In other news, two accomplices to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in 2015 have been sentenced to thirty years in prison by a French court.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Italy: COVID Has Boosted Family Financial Vulnerability — CONSOB
30% of polled say unable to face unexpected expense
(ANSA) — ROME, DEC 10 — COVID has boosted the financial vulnerability of Italian families, bourse regulator CONSOB said in a new survey Thursday.
Some 30% of those polled said they would not be able to face an unexpected expense of 1,000 euros.
Just over 30% said they had seen their income diminish over the past year.
Some 47% said they had contracted a debt.
Less than 20% say they do not know how much their pensions will be.
Over 10% of those polled said they had eaten into their savings.
GDP will fall by about 12% this year, CONSOB said.
The labour market has been “hit hard” too, it said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Americans are slipping into poverty at a record rate, while 90% of the nation’s 50 largest publicly traded companies continue to turn profits, according to findings from two reports published by The Washington Post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Colorado Coroner Objects After Gunshot Victims Listed as COVID-19 Deaths
A coroner in Colorado is raising objections about her state’s health department protocols after two individuals who had died from gunshot wounds were listed among the county’s COVID-19 deaths.
Grand County, Colorado, coroner Brenda Bock said two of the county’s five COVID-19 deaths were people that had died from gunshot wounds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
COVID-19 Destroys the Weakest and Poorest
COVID-19 has been called the great equalizer, but nothing could be further from the truth. The disease clearly affects certain groups far worse than others, and the countermeasures implemented to quell the outbreak have been a phenomenal boon for wealthy globalists while decimating the lives of the rest
Certain comorbidities significantly raise your risk of complications and death from COVID-19. Among the top ones are obesity, insulin resistance and vitamin D deficiency
While the media and political and economic institutions claim the pandemic narrative is based on scientific consensus, this clearly isn’t the case. There’s no evidence supporting universal mask use and there’s even less scientific support for lockdowns
While 45.5 million Americans filed for unemployment due to pandemic lockdowns, 29 new billionaires were created. The five richest men in the U.S. grew their wealth by a total of $101.7 billion (26%), between March 18 and June 17, 2020, alone
Now, as reckless government overreach has destroyed many small businesses and engineered catastrophic unemployment around the world, world leaders are joining the World Economic Forum in calling for a Great Reset of the global economy that will benefit wealthy powerbrokers while enslaving and impoverishing everyone else
[…]
The disparity in treatment of big box stores and small retailers is striking — and illogical. Why is it safe to shop with hundreds of people in a Walmart but unsafe to shop in a store that can only hold a fraction of that? Why has the largest retailers been allowed to remain open while mom and pop shops have been forcibly shut down? It makes no sense, yet the targeted destruction of small businesses continues. As noted by IPS News:…
There’s the haves and the have nots, and those with meager finances are also disproportionally robbed of their freedom to socialize and travel, which is just as devastating as not being allowed to make a living. The video highlights the case of an elderly woman who asked to be euthanized because she just couldn’t take the restrictions any longer. The Global Restructuring
At this point, it should be obvious for anyone paying attention that the pandemic is being prolonged and exaggerated for a reason, and it’s not because there’s concern for life. Quite the contrary.
It’s a ploy to quite literally enslave the global population within a digital surveillance system that is not of our own choosing — a system so unnatural and inhumane that no rational population would ever voluntarily go down that road.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fauci Wants Christmas Canceled: “Just One of the Things You’re Going to Have to Accept”
Dr. Anthony Fauci declared this week that he believes Christmas celebrations between family members should be canceled, warning that it’s “just one of the things you’re going to have to accept as we go through this unprecedented challenging time.”
Fauci made the comments in an interview with the Washington Post, noting that over the holidays “I’m going to be with my wife — period.”
“The Christmas holiday is a special holiday for us because Christmas Eve is my birthday. And Christmas Day is Christmas Day.” Fauci said, adding “And [my daughters] are not going to come home … That’s painful.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Governor Gretchen Whitmer Uses Santa Zoom Call to Tell Kids Not to Visit Their Families at Christmas
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer used a zoom call involving Santa Claus and scripted questions from children to push the message that families should not visit each other over Christmas.
Yes, really.
Whitmer introduced Santa Claus to the 6 groups of children before inviting them to ask Santa questions, almost all of which were about COVID-19 rules and had obviously been scripted for them.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Here Are the Strippers Who Saved San Diego Restaurants From Gavin Newsom’s Lockdown Orders
As any sailor or fresh recruit out of the MCRD can tell you, Pacers and the Cheetah Club have, ah, saved many a lonely and bored American trooper passing through San Diego’s Midway district. Now, San Diego’s strippers may have just saved San Diego from Governor Gavin Newsom.
A San Diego judge has extended an injunction issued in November that allowed strippers to climb back on the pole after Newsom ordered their clubs locked down in October.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Instagram is Using False “Fact Checking” To Censor Criticism of Joe Biden
A long-standing and widely accepted claim that Joe Biden’s crime bill passed in 1994 had the result of dramatically increasing incarceration rates of black Americans is no longer acceptable on Facebook’s Instagram.
Biden seems to have been granted immunity from criticism on this social network, that is now placing labels on posts making the claim.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Fanboy Applies for Job at FBI. Guess What Happens Next.
If you’re applying for a job at the FBI, it’s probably a good idea not to shitpost a heap of jihadi memes and jokes about blowing up Israelis. But if you simply must, don’t lie about your secret alt account when questioned by agents.
That’s allegedly what got Abdulwuhab Humayun in trouble, according to newly filed court records. FBI agents say Humayun posted anti-Semitic, jihadi-cheerleading memes on a Twitter account, @AmericanEmirate, for two years before he applied for a technical position at the bureau. Humayun later allegedly lied about owning the account and then tried to hide his tracks after agents questioned him about his online activities.
Humayun is now charged with one count of lying to federal agents after he allegedly covered up his association with the account.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A message encouraging ISIS supporters to use the holidays to target American and French civilians in terror attacks is being promoted online within the terrorist organization, Homeland Security Today reported Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mike, Karen Pence to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Live on TV Friday
Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence will receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Friday at the White House in what the administration hopes will be a live televised event.
Axios reports that the specifics are still being arranged, but Vice President Pence wants television news outlets to air the vaccination live in an effort to reassure Americans about the vaccine’s safety and encourage vaccination.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
MLB Officially Reclassifies the Negro Leagues as Major League
Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that it was “correcting a longtime oversight” and reclassifying the Negro Leagues as major league. The change means all-time greats like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Monte Irvin, and Willie Mays will have their accomplishments ranked alongside other baseball legends.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Paul: Dems Stole Election Using COVID as Excuse to Change Law
Senator Rand Paul accused states of stealing the election for the Democrats Wednesday, claiming that they used the excuse of COVID to change election law.
In an interview with Fox News, Paul was asked about voter fraud, including revelations that in Georgia over 1,700 voters illegally submitted two ballots.
“You’d think that all of this would be investigated and tried to be fixed before the election,” Paul noted, also emphasising that votes came from commercial addresses, and dead people.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: Majority of Americans Who Have Heard of ‘Great Reset’ Oppose it
A majority of Americans who have heard of ‘The Great Reset’ — an agenda to push for further globalism and technocrat control of human behavior — oppose its objectives.
A survey by Rasmussen Reporters and The Heartland Institute reveals that 53% of likely voters oppose the Great Reset, compared to 42% who support its goals. 4% said they were not sure.
While swing voters are more likely to oppose the agenda, opposition between Democrats and Republicans splits broadly down party lines, with 72% of Democrats supporting the initiative and 76% of Republicans rejecting it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Portland Lets Antifa Win Big — Again
Last week, Portland law enforcers raided a house that had for months been illegally occupied by trespassers affiliated with Black Lives Matter and Antifa. At the barricaded property, officers made arrests and found a stockpile of firearms.
Under normal circumstances, the armed trespassers would be prosecuted, and that would be the end of the story. But in riot-plagued Portland, Oregon, things are very far from normal.
The city’s “progressive” district attorney immediately dropped the charges against the occupiers, and their comrades soon sent in reinforcements to build a sprawling autonomous zone in the middle of a densely populated residential area.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Four days after urging Rhode Islanders to avoid nonessential activities and stay home, and the same day she issued an executive order imposing restrictions on businesses and public gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Gina Raimondo participated in a wine and paint event at a bar in Providence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Seattle Politician Who Defunded the Police Called 911
A Seattle City Councilwoman called the police to her home Friday to report a crime she is effectively trying to legalize, according to media reports.
Lisa Herbold phoned authorities on Friday after a man reportedly threw a rock through her living room window, My Northwest reported. The councilwoman said “she was on the west side of the living room near the kitchen when she heard a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot and dove into the kitchen for cover,” according to a redacted police report obtained by the publication.
A neighbor told police that a person who is “unathletic and a bad runner” was seen leaving the area.
The witness told officers that he would recognize the suspect if he saw him again, but declined an officer’s business card to contact him for follow up.
The irony is that under a proposal introduced by Herbold, the suspect could avoid criminal charges if caught.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Terror Plotter Took Flight Training to Prepare for 9/11-Style Attack, Feds Say
A Kenyan man spent years training in the Philippines to conduct a 9/11-style attack against the United States, going through flight school and researching methods to get into the country and hijack a plane, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah was allegedly part of an al-Shabaab unit and taking orders directly from a commander in the African terror group — one who was responsible for previously directing a deadly 2019 hotel attack in Nairobi, prosecutors said.
“This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, is a stark reminder that terrorist groups like al Shabaab remain committed to killing U.S. citizens and attacking the United States,” Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Age of Manufactured Consent
The party that can manufacture consent no longer requires any real consent at all. Elections become meaningless, mere fruitless exercises to make the plebs think they get to decide who governs them. Manufactured Consent: the greatest abuse of technology since the invention of the atomic bomb. And much less destructive. Who wants to rule a heap of radioactive rubble?
This is what we are up against. We are robbed of our power to grant or withhold consent. This is what Democrats, corrupt courts, and spineless Republican surrender monkeys are asking us to settle for. It seems that Donald Trump is all alone in trying to fight it.
Thanks to Manufactured Consent, we can be told by our rulers that it is “the will of the people,” God help us, to see their taxes raised, their national borders thrown down, sweetheart deals that benefit China but not America, insane Climate Change treaties, violence in the streets of our cities, more transgender “rights,” and all the rest of the Democrats’ deluxe fun-pack. We are actually told that we somehow voted for all this! Hey, the hi-tech Dominion voting machines don’t lie…
This is what must not be allowed. The travesty that was this year’s presidential election must not stand.
Because if it does, all our elections from now on will be rigged against us.
And the light of liberty will be snuffed out.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Up to 3 Million Devices Infected by Malware-Laced Chrome and Edge Add-Ons
Security firm identifies 28 malicious extensions hosted by Google and Microsoft.
As many as 3 million people have been infected by Chrome and Edge browser extensions that steal personal data and redirect users to ad or phishing sites, a security firm said on Wednesday.
In all, researchers from Prague-based Avast said they found 28 extensions for the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers that contained malware. The add-ons billed themselves as a way to download pictures, videos, or other content from sites including Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, and Spotify. At the time this post went live, some, but not all, of the malicious extensions remained available for download from Google and Microsoft.
Avast researchers found malicious code in the JavaScript-based extensions that allows them to download malware onto an infected computer. In a post, the researchers wrote:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UVA Student Government Ends Posting Recordings of Meetings That Call for Censorship
Young America’s Foundation’s attempt to shed light on the goings-on at the University of Virginia (UVA) by releasing a video that used footage from a controversial meeting of the school’s student council has prompted the latter to start hiding what it calls “general body recordings” from the public.
Young America’s Foundation (YAF), a youth organization, created the video showing the council’s members passing a resolution to put in place a “strike system” (perhaps inspired by social media censorship techniques) for the university’s professors, if they speak in ways the student government finds offensive.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vaccine-Tracking Dashboard Launches in Ohio
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has announced he’ll be launching a COVID-19 vaccination dashboard soon, which will track everyone in the state who gets the shot. The data will then be available in an online dashboard for the public to access.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Montreal Police Will Enforce COVID-19 Rules, Time Permitting
You better watch out, you better not gather. Montreal police will be enforcing COVID-19 rules on gatherings over the holidays, depending on how busy they are with emergency calls, police chief Sylvain Caron said Thursday.
“We will have people to respond to calls on COVID, depending on priorities,” he said at a press conference to announce the creation of a new squad to investigate arms trafficking.
“We’re counting on citizens’ good judgment” to obey the rules banning gatherings at Christmas, Caron said.
Premier François Legault announced two weeks ago that holiday gatherings won’t be allowed after all in red-alert zones because of the rising number of cases. However, a single person, and single-parent families, are allowed to celebrate with another family, but it must always be the same one.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Skip This Illegal ‘Santa-Themed Gathering’ Say Toronto Police
Toronto police are urging the public to not attend a “Santa-themed” gathering advertised to be taking place on Sunday, Dec. 20 in the downtown core.
In a series of tweets, Toronto Police Service said they’re aware of this event, which they said has not been authorized by the City of Toronto.
“Toronto is under Provincial order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, which prohibits more than 10 people gathering outside,” police wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Rule of Law Mechanism to be Active on January 1, 2021, “ Says Von Der Leyen
Despite EU leaders agreeing that the rule of law mechanism should be postponed by two years as it awaits a verdict from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen declared that it will be in operation starting January 1, 2021.
Former Polish FM Witold Waszczykowski noted that he had warned of such a scenario.
“An end has come to the illusions that European institutions will wait two years for the ECJ’s verdict. I have been reminding [people] for years that the EU is not a club of altruists. This is an ideological and institutional conflict, as well as a battle over the hegemony of the largest states,” he posted on social media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Controversial Scottish “Hate Crime” Bill Advances Through Stage One of Parliament
Scotland is proceeding with plans to pass a hate speech law criticized by advocates, activists, and opposition in the Scottish parliament as going as far as to criminalize conversations people have in their own homes.
The Hate Crime Bill is drafted and pushed by the ruling SNP party, while Scotland’s Conservatives oppose it as excessive in the way it curtails free expression.
Currently, the bill looks likely to eventually pass, as it just secured a 91 to 29 vote in parliament during the first phase of the legislative procedure.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Corona Passports: Ireland Considers Giving Vaccine Certificate Holders Extra Freedoms
Despite controversy in other countries over the possibility of creating a two-tier society where those with vaccination papers have more freedoms than those without, Ireland is considering coronavirus passports, allowing bearers to escape lockdown.
Irish citizens may need to present paperwork proving they had received a coronavirus vaccination in order to go out, enjoy social activities, and enter venues in future, the nation’s health minister Stephen Donnelly said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EPP Sanctions MEP Deutsch But He Remains in the Faction
Tamas Deutsch, MEP of the ruling Hungarian Fidesz party, has been sanctioned by the European People’s Party (EPP) by withdrawing some of his rights as a representative, but he will remain a member of the faction despite the letter signed by 40 faction members demanding his expulsion, the EPP said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We therefore decide to […] withdraw with immediate effect from Tamas Deutsch all rights to speaking time in plenary on behalf of the Group, to nominations as a (shadow) rapporteur or other formal positions on behalf of the Group as well as to any position or post belonging to the EPP Group,” the statement said.
As we reported earlier, a group of 40 EPP members led by Austrian Othmar Kas sent a letter to faction leader Manfred Weber demanding his expulsion for having likened the EPP leadership’s methods to those of the Gestapo and the communists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fist-Waving Merkel Warns Germans of ‘Last Christmas With the Grandparents’ Amid ‘Winter Failure’
Germany’s fourth-term Chancellor, Angela Merkel, banged her podium in the German parliament and spoke of families’ “last Christmas with the grandparents” as she moves to shut down the country.
66-year-old Merkel, widely regarded as the most powerful and influential leader in the European Union, is facing a political maelstrom at home, as coronavirus cases rise and the Pfizer vaccine co-developed with the German firm BioNTech remains tied up by EU regulators.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Accomplices of the Charlie Hebdo Attack Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison
In the trial of the accomplices in the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the court sentenced the main defendant, Ali Riz Polata, to 30 years in prison. The partner of one of the assassins, Hayat Boumeddiene, received the same verdict.
A total of 17 people died in the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery store back in 2015. The three attackers — brothers Chérif and Said Kouachi and Amédy Coulibaly — were shot by police. The trial began in France in September and named 14 alleged accomplices, three of whom are on the run.
The court found Polata guilty of aiding and abetting terrorism, the DPA reported, referring to the French media. The indictment demanded a life sentence for him because he played a central role in the preparation of the attacks and was also the “right hand” of the assassin Coulibaly.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Emmanuel Macron Shamed: Le Pen’s Verdict on ‘Anti-Democratic’ Brexit Talks Exposed
BREXIT talks between the UK and EU have been blasted as “anti-democratic” by Marine Le Pen, who argued the bloc’s strategy was questionable.
Negotiations remain stalled over the major stumbling blocks of fisheries, the so-called level playing field arrangements and state aid.
British negotiators are pushing for a “zonal” approach in fisheries discussions, which would allow EU countries only a certain amount of fish from British waters every year.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron was last week accused of souring talks at the eleventh hour, with fresh demands over the EU’s access to British fishing waters.
Mr Macron has vowed to protect French fishermen, who are expected to lose a significant part of their quota from January 1 as part of any Brexit trade deal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Fire Crew Attacked While Treating Injured Person
An emergency medical team was attacked while preparing to transport an injured person to hospital in Amiens, France, according to reports.
A fire crew was responding to a call at around 7:15 p.m. on Monday when assailants began lobbing projectiles at their vehicle.
Police patrols who arrived on the scene were also targeted by the attackers, who threw paving stones at the squad cars.
“A wooden chair was thrown over their vehicle, smashing a side window. Fortunately, the shards of glass did not cause any injuries,” Actu17 reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, one week after the start of a two-day European Union Summit he attended in person in Brussels.
He is now in self-quarantine for seven days, the recommended time period in France.
Following word of Macron’s diagnosis, the Prime ministers of France, Jean Castex, and Spain, Pedro Sanchez, have announced that they also are now adhering to a seven-day quarantine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Globalist Leaders Order Europeans to Avoid Crossing Border to Shop
In a three-minute, four-language video appeal, the premiers of Belgium, the Netherlands and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in neighboring Germany have urged their combined 47 million residents to “stay at home.”
Cross-border solidarity meant not spreading the coronavirus by shunning outings — normally easy in borderless Europe, said Belgium’s Alexander De Croo, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and NRW’s Armin Laschet on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Irish Man Sentenced to Two Months in Prison for Failing to Wear a Face Mask
An Irish man has been sentenced to two months in prison for failing to wear a face mask on a bus while traveling to his uncle’s funeral despite claiming he was medically exempt.
Andrew Heasman was traveling from Dublin to Knock in the Republic of Ireland on July 14 to lay his relative to rest when he was asked by a bus driver to wear his mask properly.
Garda police officer Thomas Bowens told Castlebar District Court that Heasman was wearing his mask “like a hat” and refused to follow orders to cover his mouth and nose, prompting other passengers to exit the bus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Virologist Claims COVID ‘Stems From a Lab’
Norwegian virologist Birger Sørensen has claimed that the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 stems from a laboratory and was leaked by mistake.
In an interview with the Swedish news outlet Fria Tider, Sørensen alleged that the fact that the virus doesn’t come from the animal kingdom is “evident” both from its structure and from its rapid spread among humans.
“I firmly believe that it was spread by accident. When US authorities conducted an inspection in Wuhan in 2018, it was described as a risk lab,” Sørensen told Fria Tider.
The origins of the coronavirus have been a mystery since the onslaught of the pandemic. However, while many suggested that it was artificially created in a lab, where a leak could have occurred, the WHO has repeatedly denied this version, emphasising its natural roots.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish “Women’s Strike” Posts Guide for Militias to Fight the Police
No one should have any doubts that the “Women’s Strike” and Marta Lempart are interested only in rioting and not women’s rights. The organizers of the pro-abortion protests have posted an actual guide for militias on social media for people to learn how to fight the police.
Impact on Polish protests
In this guide, the “Women’s Strike” teaches how to assault police officers with Molotov cocktails, rocks and other “missiles.”
These virtual workshops on the street tactics used by the organizers of the protests clearly refer to the street fights known in Western Europe — the enemy is any state associated with a police officer and the aggression is directed toward them.
The entire guide was posted on Facebook by the official “Women’s Strike” account.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The End of Prison Lawsuit Profiteering in Hungary
The Hungarian Parliament has passed a new piece of legislation designed to prevent profiteering from lawsuits by convicted criminals, unscrupulous lawyers and human rights NGOs which have taken the Hungarian state to court numerous times on behalf of prisoners.
In the past three years, courts have ruled against the Hungarian state in the range of 10 billion forints (€2.8 million) in cases where prisoners, with strong incentivizes from specialized law-firms, have lodged complaints about their living conditions. These complaints have ranged from overcrowding, insufficient sunlight in the cells, and inadequate facilities on premises. The prison lawsuit business has grown into an industry that had caused not only enormous financial losses to the country, but had also shaken society’s confidence in the justice system.
The law, introduced by Justice Secretary Judit Varga, would first of all put an end to the enormous profits gained by law firms involved in these legal actions, but would also prioritize the financial compensation of victims of crimes instead of that of perpetrators. Victims of crimes, who have been awarded financial compensation, more often than not fail to receive money owed to them by criminals, either because the perpetrators have no means to pay or refuse to do so. Recouping such money in most cases has proven difficult or impossible in the past.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Home Secretary Encourages Neighbors to Snitch on Each Other for Breaking COVID Rules
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has encouraged neighbors to snitch on each other to police if they see others violating COVID rules over the Christmas period.
“Any individual that saw any laws being broken would take that upon themselves,” Patel told BBC Breakfast. “If I saw somebody flouting coronavirus regulations and the laws, of course I would look to inform the police about that.”
She went on to add that both individuals and groups of people would continue to be targeted by police.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bristol Uni Has Issued Over £15k in COVID Fines Since Early October
Bristol University collected £15,600 in Covid-related student fines between the 5th of October and the 24th of November.
138 students in total were fined either £100 for attending an illegal gathering, or £250 for organising an illegal gathering.
This means that in the 50 day period for which The Bristol Tab has data, students were fined an average of £312 per day, which is more than the maximum fine of £250.
Data obtained by The Bristol Tab reveals that a total of 84 fines were issued in October with a total value of £9,300, and 54 were issued in November with a total value of £6,300.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Man Converts to Islam, Stabs Imam, Attack Blamed on ‘Islamophobia’
Incidents of “Islamophobia” are so thin on the ground in reality that they have to be invented. As you can see from the Huffington Post story from February, the media and the mosque leaders did their best to paint this incident as a manifestation of that phantom crime, but reality proved to be disturbingly intrusive.
“Muslim convert, 30, who stabbed prayer leader in the neck at London mosque is jailed for seven years after asking to be sent to prison so he could learn the Quran ‘from start to finish,’“ by Katie Feehan, Mailonline, December 14, 2020 (thanks to The Religion of Peace).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Seven people were tonight arrested after crowds of ‘hundreds’ descended on an east London pub to ‘drink together’ in breach of Tier 3 lockdown rules.
Footage from Hackney Wick captured officers as they attempted to break up the gathering and ‘encourage people to disperse’ in line with coronavirus rules.
Another clip filmed near Hackney Wick Station shows officers as they form a blockade to prevent gathering crowds from passing through.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Unveils Hideous Nativity Scene in Saint Peter’s Square
The Vatican uncovered its 2020 manger scene in Saint Peter’s Square Friday, leaving onlookers scattered, scandalized, and scornful. Observers shoveled abuse upon the unfortunate spectacle, rivaling each other to come up with the most appropriate epithets to describe the appalling scene.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
YouGov Poll: 89 Per Cent of Britons Not Interested in Harry and Meghan Podcast
A multi-million podcast deal between Britain’s Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, and Spotify may prove to be bad business, with a YouGov poll indicating that 89 per cent of Britons are not interested in what they have to say.
“Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan have announced that they have signed a multi-year deal with Spotify to host and produce exclusive podcasts. How interested are you, if at all, in listening to this?” the pollster had asked the public.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In 1973, 30-year-old freshman senator Joe Biden made his first overseas trip to Egypt and Israel. This week, an Israeli historian revealed Biden had passed on disinformation to then-Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, telling her Egypt believed it would be impossible to go to war with Israel — contributing to an Israeli consensus that would end up costing the Jewish state dearly when its neighboring foe caught it unawares a little more than a month later and attacked.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Baghdad Booze Bombings: Islamic Vice Squads or Turf War?
Escalating attacks on the Iraqi capital’s few liquor stores have terrified shop-owners who fear hardline Islamists are flexing their muscle against alcohol consumption.
But there may be a bigger story behind the Baghdad booze bombings, as some suspect turf wars for control of the lucrative niche trade in the Muslim majority country.
Over the past two months, at least 14 alcohol shops across the city have been firebombed in the middle of the night or just before dawn, with three simultaneous attacks in different districts Monday night alone.
Most businesses are run by Christians or Yazidis, minorities who for decades have been granted the licenses required to sell alcohol in broadly conservative Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesian Police Arrest Top Jemaah Islamiah Militant
(This December 13 story corrects paragraph 6 to the 2003 JW Marriot bombing, which killed 12 people, not the 2009 JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton bombings)
JAKARTA (Reuters) — Indonesian police said they have arrested one of the seniormost members of the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiah who is said to be behind the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed over 200 people.
Jemaah Islamiah’s stated aim is to build an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia.
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China’s decision to blacklist Australian coal has caused power shortages across the nation, affecting millions of people.
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Communications President Steps Down From Huawei After Uighur Surveillance Ties Revealed
A Huawei executive announced his resignation after it was revealed that the China-based tech company could have helped develop a surveillance system that could identify the Uighur people oppressed by the government.
The Chinese government has been accused of putting the Uighurs in re-education camps.
Tom Zwicky, the Vice President of Communications at Huawei Denmark for the past six months, announced his resignation via LinkedIn and Twitter. His resignation follows the leaking of Huawei’s internal documents that suggest the tech firm collaborated with Megvii, a facial rec expert, to create something that translates to “Uighur alarm.”
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A private school graduate who police feared was an extremist Islamic State supporter has been linked to the double murder of an elderly couple.
Police fatally shot 22-year-old Raghe Abdi, when he lunged at them with a knife on the Logan Motorway in Brisbane at about 6am on Thursday.
Body camera footage is said to show him screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he went to attack the officers while on bail after being arrested by counter-terrorism officers.
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A warrant officer class 2 and a sergeant have been issued with notices to ‘show cause’ why their employment should not be terminated after publication of an 11-year-old photograph
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The Nigerian government is enabling the mass slaughter of Christians within its borders and concealing the religious nature of the killings, according to a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law.
The Nigerian organization reports 2,200 Christians have been “hacked to death” in 2020, with 34,400 meeting that fate since 2009. It also estimates that 20,000 moderate Muslims have been killed.
The report notes that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is Muslim and has filled the government with Muslims, who in turn tolerate violence against Christians.
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Georgia Student to Serve Four Months in Cayman Island Jail for Violating Quarantine Laws
An 18-year-old Georgia student and her boyfriend have been sentenced to four months by a Cayman Island court after she took off her wristband monitor so she could watch her boyfriend compete in a race, rather than quarantining after arriving from the U.S.
Skylar Mack and Cayman Islands-based competitive Jet Skier Vanjae Ramgeet were jailed directly after their sentences were handed down. An island judge overturned a previous sentence of 40 hours of community service and a $2,600 fine each and instead issued the four-month term.
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What’s the Mystery of Mexico’s Millions of Poor People?
Why would Mexico with all its natural resources, oil reserves and hardworking people be considered a “failed-country?” Why would it house the most violent drug cartels in the Western hemisphere? Why would 15-million of Mexico’s citizens illegally migrate into the United States? Why does Mexico’s elite do little to correct the inequitable wage norms, educational opportunities and systemic criminal enterprises in their country? Can systemic corruption be changed toward free enterprise, healthy markets and fairness to all citizens?
At this point with Biden’s leadership, he promised full amnesty to 25 million border violators, their children, DACA and increases in immigration. Do Americans understand “why” Mexicans flee northward? Answer: they allowed a corrupt ruling-elite where they have become victims. Ironically, they flee that situation only to create it over here in America. Mexican gangs distribute billions in drugs with MS-13 gangs, cheat our education and medical systems, drive illegally without insurance, birth babies on our tax dollars, use our welfare systems, undermine our tax systems with an underground economy, engage in rapes, shoplifting, and burglaries.
My friend Gary Gobel gave his thoughts on the “why” of Mexico. Give us an idea of what we face:…
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Denmark Changes Immigration Statistics to Tackle Crime, Unemployment
In order to better inform public policy while tackling issues of immigrant crime and unemployment, Denmark will now reclassify immigrant groups from various regions of the world.
Denmark currently sorts immigrants into those of ‘Western’ (EU, UK, US, Canada and Australia) and ‘Non-Western’ (everywhere else) origin in immigration and other population statistics.
However, Immigration and Integration Minister Mattias Tesfaye has now announced the introduction of the so-called MENAPT group (Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey), a separate category in official statistics.
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Italy: Muslim Migrant Set Neighbors’ Houses on Fire in Gambia, Judge Gives Him Residency Anyway
He arrived in Italy in 2016, where he was “considered by the Territorial Commission to be unworthy of reception, and was then awarded a permit thanks to the court of Bologna.” He says that the fire he set was an accident, a matter of simple carelessness and a mighty wind. But he is apparently the only source for this account. How does the court of Bologna know it’s accurate? It doesn’t. The Italian judge simply decided to let him in on so-called “humanitarian” grounds, ignoring the interests of and the well-being of law-abiding citizens. As Il Giornale says below: “The evil ones would say: all right, just avoid handling matches and lighters. You never know.”
That is unfortunately all too true, since so many Western authorities consider migration to be a “human right” regardless of the migrant’s status, history and possible intentions. Proper screening and assessment should be obvious requirements, and mandatory for all migrants.
“‘I set the neighbors’ houses on fire.’ And the judge ‘rewards’ the migrant,” translated from “‘Ho dato fuoco alle case dei vicini’. E il giudice ‘premia’ il migrante,” by Giuseppe De Lorenzo, Il Giornale, December 11, 2020.
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Libyan Coast Guard Catches 120 Europe-Bound Boat Migrants
CAIRO (AP) — More than 120 Europe-bound migrants, including eight women and 28 children, were intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea by Libya’s coast guard, the U.N. migration agency said Thursday.
The International Organization for Migration tweeted that a vessel carrying the migrants was stopped late Wednesday off the coast of the North African country and the passengers were returned to Libyan territories.
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Pakistani Trio Arrested for Kidnapping, Sexually Assaulting Group of Migrants in Greece
Three Pakistani nationals were arrested after Greek authorities discovered a group of migrants being held against their will inside a warehouse in Thessaloniki, according to reports.
Six males and two females of foreign origin were found trapped inside an abandoned building.
The women say they had been forced to perform sex acts by their captors.
A trio of Pakistanis, aged 19, 20, and 22, are suspected of abducting the migrants when they failed to pay fees related to human trafficking during their journey into Greece.
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Spain: 12 Irregular Migrants Reach the Cartagena Coastline
The latest arrivals were detained in La Azohia and El Portus before being taken into custody in Escombreras.
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Spain: Watch: Migrant Damages Car of Woman Who Refused to Give Him Money
A Moroccan migrant was arrested and quickly released after he badly damaged the car of woman who had refused to give him money and assaulted a bystander, according to reports.
Footage of the incident was shared to social media by Rubén Pulido, head spokesman for top nationalist-populist party VOX.
“A few minutes ago, in Aguadulce (Almeria, Spain),” Pulido wrote on Thursday.
“Cultural enrichment due to the refusal, by the vehicle owner, to give a tip for the ‘parking service.’“
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Three-Year-Old Girl Found Raped at Greek Island Migrant Camp
A three-year-old girl was found passed out in the mud of the Kara Tepe migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, with doctors claiming the young child had been raped.
The horrific incident is said to have taken place on Monday night at the migrant camp which was created after the notorious Moria camp was burned down, allegedly by migrants themselves, earlier in the year.
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Cartoon Network Uses Comic Strips to Teach Children About Gender Identities and Their Pronouns
The Cartoon Network is now telling children that there are numerous “gender identities” they are able to be. This follows the network’s lecture about systemic racism.
The kid’s channel showed a comic strip that teaches about the importance of not guessing someone’s pronoun or gender identity based on their appearance.
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Democrat Tulsi Gabbard Introduces Pro-Life Bill That Bars Abortion for Pain-Capable Babies
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has introduced her second pro-life bill to Congress within a week. The former Democratic presidential candidate has introduced a bill that protects unborn children from abortion once their development in the womb reaches the point of being capable of feeling pain.
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Hungary Passes Constitutional Amendment Protecting Child’s Right to Identify as Its Birth Gender
Hungary has passed a constitutional amendment affirming the right of children to identify with their birth gender and defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
The amendment was passed by a vote margin of 134-45 and “now protects a child’s right to identify with their gender at birth and an upbringing based on Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture.”
The legislation was passed in the name of protecting children from mental or biological intervention by other parties that violates their right to self-identity in line with their gender at birth.
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A technology company, Module, is now introducing AI online game moderators that can moderate in-game chat in real time. The aim in this case is to put a hold on what it calls the rampant player “toxicity” in online gaming.
Module’s AI moderator is being called ToxMod and is touted to be the first voice-native moderation service. While most moderators are text-based, the one developed by Module is voice-based. So this means that ToxMod can censor speech based on how something is said rather than just what is being said.
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North Carolina Governor Establishes “Gender Expansive Parents’ Day” In Recognition of LGBT Parents
The North Carolina governor is gaining praise from LGBT advocacy groups after he signed a proclamation establishing “Gender Expansive Parents’ Day” to recognize LGBT parents.
Gov. Roy Cooper designated December 6 as “Gender Expansive Parents’ Day.”
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Speech Control: Dictionary.Com Releases Hysterical List of the Words it Wants People to Stop Using
The reshaping of the English language to make it live up to the “woke” era is happening in earnest, particularly online, but the site dictionary.com seems to have outdone itself.
In a somewhat condescending tone, dictionary.com explains why its visitors should stop using certain words that they may have learned from their parents as children, but that are now considered as misspoken or misused. And it’s okay to make mistakes — but now that dictionary.com tells you not to, there’ll be no more excuses.
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Study: “Cancel Culture” Decimating Free Speech at World’s Leading Universities
A study by leading education focused think tank Civitas has found that free speech at the world’s leading universities is being eroded at an alarming rate owing to the rise of “cancel culture”.
The study found that within the past three years, more than 68 per cent of universities in the UK have seen free speech severely restricted, with academics unable to meaningfully discuss the nuances of issues such as race and gender.
The report notes that universities including Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews, three of the world’s premiere institutions are among those that have fallen into a “red” category for free speech following instances of “no platforming” of scheduled speakers.
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California will receive $200 million less in Medicaid funding each quarter over its requirement that all health insurance plans cover abortions as basic health care, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday.
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YouTube Apologizes for Removing a Popular Interview With Lockdown Critic Peter Hitchens
YouTube censored New Culture Forum founder and Director Peter Whittle’s interview with journalist Peter Hitchens for “violating YouTube’s Terms of Service.”
During the interview, which is titled “Peter Hitchens: From Covid to Culture Wars-The Left’s Long March Through UK Institutions is Complete,” Hitchens said that he has not been invited to appear on mainstream media shows because he opposes lockdowns, criticized the media for not presenting both sides of the argument regarding lockdowns, accused the UK government of fear-mongering and being incompetent, and discussed what he views as a decline of conservatism in the UK.
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