Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/19/2021

Toronto authorities issued 75 charges for violation of COVID lockdown regulations, and police broke up illegal parties and issued fines at various locations across the UK. Meanwhile, more than 15% of COVID patients in British hospitals contracted the disease while hospitalized for another condition.

In other news, California has halted vaccinations using a batch of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine after an alarming number of allergic reactions to it were reported.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Insubria, JD, JM, 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.

USA
» 12 National Guard Members Removed From Inauguration Duty
» Apple Sued by Pressure Group for Not Banning Telegram
» Author Says Trump Will Lead Army of “Terrorists, “ Encourages Biden Voters to Spy on Them
» Beware of False Prophets in Sheep’s Clothing
» Biden Picks Crazy Penn Health Director Rachel Levine as Assistant Health Secretary
» California Halts COVID Vaccinations From Moderna Batch Linked to “Unusually High Number” Of Adverse Reactions
» California Issues Alarm Over “Unusually High Number” of Allergic Reactions to Moderna Vaccine
» Causes of the Great Rejection by Commoners
» Clinton & Pelosi Suggest Trump Was Following Putin’s Orders to Allow Capitol Siege
» Duke, Harvard, And Johns Hopkins Experts: COVID Lockdowns Will Cause One Million Excess Deaths
» Fallout 76 Roleplayers Continue to be Banned From Facebook
» FBI Profiler Says Banning People on Social Media Makes it Harder to Fight Terrorism
» FBI: Person Who Placed Pipe Bombs Near the Capitol is “Top Priority”
» Feds: Army Private, An Alleged ISIS Sympathizer, Discussed Attack on 9/11 Memorial
» Larry Johnson: The CIA Has Become the KGB
» LASD’s Superspreader Task Force Breaks Up Multiple Stripper Parties
» Massachusetts Rescinds Flu Vaccine Mandate
» MyPillow CEO Says Kohl’s, Wayfair, Others Are Boycotting His Products
» Orwellian! Twitter Suspends Gateway Pundit Account for Violating “Civic Integrity” Rule — No Questioning of Election Results Allowed!
» Professor of Medicine Brags About Wearing Two Face Masks to Inauguration Despite Having Been Vaccinated
» Rest in Peace GOP
» Secret Deal Between Google and Facebook Allegedly Revealed in Anti-Trust Case
» Sydney Powell Has Found the Actual Results of the Presidential Election
» The FBI Says Your “Smart TV” Is Watching and Listening to You. How to Stop That and Reduce Its Harmful Radiation
» Trump Names 200 to be Enshrined in the National Garden of American Heroes
» Why Hardly Anyone Trusts the Virus ‘Experts’
» Woman Accused of Stealing Speaker Pelosi’s Laptop, Intending to Sell it to Russia
 
Canada
» ‘Enough is Enough’: Toronto Issues 75 Weekend Charges for Lockdown Violations
 
Europe and the EU
» Empty Supermarket Shelves Caused by Coronavirus Lockdown, Not Brexit: UK Govt
» France: Arab World Institute Head Regrets Signing Letter Proposing Decriminalization of Sex With Children
» French Teen Who Criticised Islam Receives 30 Hate Messages a Minute
» Germany to Place Quarantine Flouters Into Detention Centres, Camps
» Hungary Govt to Stop ‘Shadowbanning’ of ‘Christian, Conservative, And Right-Wing’ Voices Online
» Italy: Vatican Seminary Priest Risks Sex Abuse Trial
» Italy Reports ‘Alarming’ Spike in Attempted Suicides Among Youth During Lockdowns
» Polish PM Morawiecki Announces Plans for Post-COVID Economy Recovery
» The Italian Left’s Efforts to Remain in Power Supported by Politicized Judges and Prosecutors
» Tusk’s Pathetic Homage to CDU and Germany
» UK: 11 People Fined as Police Break Up Illegal House Party in Accrington
» UK: BBC Apologises for Calling Convicted Murderer Spector ‘Talented But Flawed’
» UK: One in Six Hospital Patients Caught COVID-19 While Treated for Other Conditions, Figures Show
» UK: Poll: Plurality of Brits Support Government Spying on People Via Cellphone Tracking to Enforce Lockdown
» UK: Police Break Up Parties and Hand Out Fines as COVID Lockdown Flouters Continue to Break Rules
» UK: Struggle Session: NHS Seminar Attendees Lament ‘Burden’ of ‘Whiteness’, ‘Shame and Guilt’
» UK: We Are Turning a Public Health Crisis Into an Educational, Social, Economic Disaster: Sumption
 
Balkans
» New Charges Derail COVID Release for Hacker Who Aided ISIS
 
South Asia
» Indonesia: Bali Police Force Tourists Caught Not Wearing Masks to Do Push-Ups
» Rights Groups Decry Rise in Forced Conversions, Religious Killings in Pakistan
» Seychelles Opens for Holidays… But Only for the Vaccinated
» Thai Woman Sentenced to 43 Years in Prison for Facebook and YouTube Posts Critical of the Monarchy
 
Far East
» Pompeo Says China’s Treatment Toward Uyghurs Constitutes “Genocide, “ “Crimes Against Humanity”
» Wuhan Medics Admit They Were Told to Lie as They Are Secretly Filmed Saying They Knew Coronavirus Was Deadly and Spreading Between Humans Before China Told the World
 
Australia — Pacific
» ‘Border Jumper’ Who Sparked Fears of a Second Wave of COVID in Queensland Will Plead Guilty to Lying to Authorities — After Partying With Her Co-Accused on New Years Eve
» Moment a Furious Father Confronts Man, 22, Accused of Raping His 14-Year-Old Daughter After His Family Set a Trap by Posing as the Girl on Instagram and Inviting Him Over to Their Home
» ‘These People Have No Idea’: Spanish Tennis Star Compares Hotel Quarantine in Melbourne to ‘Jail With WI-Fi’ As He Moans About His Living Conditions and Blasts Daniel Andrews
 
Immigration
» Swedish Govt Gave Millions to Groups That Could Claim 51%+ Migrant Background Members in 2020
» UK Deportations of Foreign Criminals Fell 79 Per Cent Last Year, Despite Patel’s Promises to ‘Get Tough’
 
Culture Wars
» Biden Names Dr. Rachel Levine as Assistant Health Secretary, Would be First Transgender Official Confirmed by Senate
» Brave Browser Makes a Bold Step Toward Allowing a Decentralized Web
» UNH Students Earn Up to Eight Credits With ‘Fat Studies’ Course
 

12 National Guard Members Removed From Inauguration Duty

The Chief of the National Guard Bureau announced that 12 Army National Guard members have been removed from inauguration duty in Washington, D.C. Their removal was part of the security vetting process initiated to ensure the troops do not have ties to extremist groups.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Apple Sued by Pressure Group for Not Banning Telegram

A legal campaign is being launched by the “Coalition for a Safer Web,” an NGO that has sued Apple in a bid to get the giant to remove the Telegram messaging app from its store.

We obtained a copy of the lawsuit for you here.

Such a move would solidify the recently emerging practice of censorship at a lower infrastructural level, including by revoking hosting and removal of entire apps from app stores, instead of banning or muting individual users and accounts.

According to the group, Telegram should be banned from the App Store because its users post hateful content, which puts people in danger as an iPhone owner, and also causes emotional distress.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Author Says Trump Will Lead Army of “Terrorists, “ Encourages Biden Voters to Spy on Them

A viral video posted to Twitter by a best-selling author says Trump plans to lead an army of “domestic terrorists” and encourages Joe Biden voters to spy on their activity and report them to authorities.

The clip, posted by Don Winslow, has received over 37,000 likes and has been viewed over 3 million times.

It claims that Donald Trump will become the leader of a “new army” after he loses control of the actual U.S. military following Joe Biden’s inauguration.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Beware of False Prophets in Sheep’s Clothing

The Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, has just come out with more information about election interference. Expected in December, the assessment was delayed as senior intelligence officials clashed over the role played by China, and as director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe sought to include more viewpoints in the final analysis.

DJHJ Media reports, “The long-awaited report on foreign interference in the 2020 Presidential election from DNI Director Ratcliffe was delivered to Congress on Thursday, one day before President Donald J. Trump was denied access to using numerous social media outlets. A source admitted that the report was held back so Trump could not tell the American people or their representatives about the foreign influence on the election before they counted the electoral votes on Wednesday.”

This is typical of our intelligence community, is it not? The hatred for this great president has been unparalleled.

If President Trump is leaving office on January 20th, why is he still working as though he’ll have a second term?

Trump’s Decisive Actions

A friend of mine mentioned Trump’s recent actions:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Biden Picks Crazy Penn Health Director Rachel Levine as Assistant Health Secretary

Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Democrats will cheer the transgender’s promotion and completely ignore her failed track record.

Rachel Levine has a work history of failure and illegal practices so the pick makes sense.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

California Halts COVID Vaccinations From Moderna Batch Linked to “Unusually High Number” Of Adverse Reactions

As the suspected death toll attributed to COVID-19 vaccines rises around the world, with dozens already reported in the US and Norway, California health officials have asked health-care providers in the state to immediately stop administering a batch of Moderna COVID-19 jabs after an “unusually high number” of adverse reactions were linked to it, according to RT.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

California Issues Alarm Over “Unusually High Number” of Allergic Reactions to Moderna Vaccine

The California Department of Public Health has issued an order to pause vaccinations using a batch of Moderna COVID shots, citing and unusually high amount of adverse reactions in the state.

State epidemiologist Dr. Erica S. Pan sounded the alarm over Moderna Lot 041L20A, from which 330,000 doses of the vaccine have been distributed to 287 providers state-wide.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Causes of the Great Rejection by Commoners

Our ruling class has No Clue, except how to Keep the Fix In.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Clinton & Pelosi Suggest Trump Was Following Putin’s Orders to Allow Capitol Siege

In a conversation that sounds like two demented Q Anon members, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi suggested that President Trump instigated the Capitol siege at the behest of Vladimir Putin.

Two time failed Presidential candidate Hillary wheeled out Pelosi on her “podcast”, and the two soon began to spout their familiar conspiracy theories.

“We learned a lot about our system of government over the last four years with a president who disdains democracy and, as you have said numerous times, has other agendas,” Clinton blathered.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Duke, Harvard, And Johns Hopkins Experts: COVID Lockdowns Will Cause One Million Excess Deaths

Academics from Duke, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins have concluded that there could be around a million excess deaths over the next two decades as a result of lockdowns.

A NBER working paper titled The Long-Term Impact Of The Covid-19 Unemployment Shock On life Expectancy And Mortality Rates suggests that “For the overall population, the increase in the death rate following the COVID-19 pandemic implies a staggering 0.89 and 1.37 million excess deaths over the next 15 and 20 years, respectively.”

The paper was written by Francesco Bianchi, an economist at Duke University, Giada Bianchi, an MD in the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School, and Dongho Song, an economist at the Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Fallout 76 Roleplayers Continue to be Banned From Facebook

Facebook has suspended more Fallout 76 roleplayers over the past week, without a warning or explanation. Towards the end of last year, the social media company suspended members of a Fallout 76 roleplay group called Free States Militia.

Fallout 76 is an online action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and was released in 2018.

More Fallout 76 roleplayers have come out to say that their accounts have been restricted. The users that have been restricted by Facebook did not receive any warning, explanation, or instructions on how to appeal the decision.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

FBI Profiler Says Banning People on Social Media Makes it Harder to Fight Terrorism

A former FBI profiler told NBC News that banning people on social media makes it harder to fight terrorism because it stops authorities from being able to keep track of their activity.

The remark was made in the context of a report about one of the individuals who stormed the Capitol building earlier this month — 70-year-old Lonnie Coffman.

Coffman drove a pickup truck to the protest filled with Molotov cocktails and other weapons including improvised grenades and an assault rifle, but flew completely under the radar because he had no social media presence.

The individual had no criminal record, no known extremist ties and not a single person in the town of Falkville where Coffman lived knew who he was.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

FBI: Person Who Placed Pipe Bombs Near the Capitol is “Top Priority”

The FBI has told law enforcement agencies that apprehending the person who constructed pipe bombs and left them near the Capitol on January 6 is a “top priority” leading up to the presidential inauguration.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Feds: Army Private, An Alleged ISIS Sympathizer, Discussed Attack on 9/11 Memorial

A U.S. Army soldier was arrested Tuesday for trying to assist ISIS by plotting to kill fellow soldiers in the Middle East and providing advice on potential terrorist targets in New York, including the 9/11 Memorial, according to the Department of Justice.

Cole James Bridges, 20, who also went by Cole Gonzales, was charged with trying to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder military members.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Larry Johnson: The CIA Has Become the KGB

My title may appear to be over the top, but hear me out. There was a time when the CIA, despite deep flaws and sloppy tradecraft, could be counted on to tell the President, regardless of political party, the truth. No longer. It is corrupt to the very top and now should be viewed as an enemy of the Republic.

The latest revelations from the Intelligence Community’s Analytic Ombudsman described in a memo from DNI John Ratcliffe is beyond shocking. Rather than tell the truth about Chinese interference in the 2020 Presidential election, the CIA opted to quash intelligence that would have proven Donald Trump’s claim that the Chinese not only interfered in the 2020 election, but played a hand in throwing the election to Joe Biden.

Here are the salient points of the DNI’s memo:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

LASD’s Superspreader Task Force Breaks Up Multiple Stripper Parties

LOS ANGELES — The underground party scene continues to rage across Los Angeles despite the pandemic.

For the past several weeks, FOX 11 tagged along with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s superspreader task force as they crackdown on these illegal events.

On Friday night, LASD responded to a hole-in-the-wall flower shop in the city of Bellflower, where a “stripper party” was reportedly taking place inside.

As the task force broke the party up, a stream of partygoers began coming outside, including some women wearing fishnets and many others who appear to be simply wearing thongs, g-strings or just in their bra and underwear.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Massachusetts Rescinds Flu Vaccine Mandate

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Friday rescinded a flu vaccine mandate that would have required all children over the age of 6 months attending Massachusetts childcare, pre-school, kindergarten, K-12 or college to get the flu vaccine by Feb. 28.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

MyPillow CEO Says Kohl’s, Wayfair, Others Are Boycotting His Products

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says Kohl’s, Wayfair, and Bed Bath & Beyond have ceased carrying his products over his support of President Trump.

“I just got off the phone with Bed Bath & Beyond,” Lindell told Right Side Broadcasting Network during an interview Monday night. “They’re dropping MyPillow.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Orwellian! Twitter Suspends Gateway Pundit Account for Violating “Civic Integrity” Rule — No Questioning of Election Results Allowed!

You are no longer allowed to question the regime.

Questioning the fraudulent election will no longer be tolerated.

So what if Pennsylvania had 205,000 more mail-in ballots than the number that were sent out? You are not allowed to question the results.

So what if GOP poll workers were locked out of the counting rooms in Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee? You are not allowed to question the results.

So what if they were trucking trailers full of ballots from New York to Pennsylvania and into Wisconsin? How dare you question this operation?

So what if they were rolling out suitcases of ballots in Atlanta and pulling in trucks in Atlanta and Detroit? This is a common practice we are told.

So what if you could see tens of thousands of votes switch from Trump to Biden on national TV in real-time? You saw nothing!

Dissent is not allowed. You can no longer question the results.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Professor of Medicine Brags About Wearing Two Face Masks to Inauguration Despite Having Been Vaccinated

A professor of medicine and frequent CNN guest bragged about wearing two face masks to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration despite having already received a COVID-19 vaccine, but later deleted the tweet after receiving criticism.

Megan L Ranney MD posted a photo of herself wearing two masks alongside the words, “Off I go to #Inauguration21….with an old N95 under my cloth mask. Heebie Jeebies from being in an airport, despite being fully vaccinated.”

She also added that she was “thankful” for more draconian screening measures in the aftermath of the breach at the Capitol earlier this month.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Rest in Peace GOP

“The failure of the majority leader [Mitch McConnell] to back up any of the president’s claims about vote-stealing in Georgia and his early congratulations of Joe Biden as president-elect fueled Trump supporters’ animosity toward him,” he added.

With a Republican establishment at odds with the president and unwilling to clean up the system and restore election integrity, the political environment was open to a Democratic Party takeover of the Senate and creation of a one-party state.

In addition to failing to expose and stop fraudulent elections, the Republicans have been ineffective in stopping Big Tech censorship, now accelerating as the Democrats implement one-party control of government. My own group America’s Survival has been prohibited by Weebly, our website provider, from even sending emails from a service that we paid for. We were told their “policy” was the reason. Weebly is owned by Square, run by Jack Dorsey of Twitter. Several different email services are banning conservatives.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Secret Deal Between Google and Facebook Allegedly Revealed in Anti-Trust Case

There is no worse — or really, when all’s said and done — better kept secret in the tech world, and the business world at large, given these tech companies’ massive presence and weight — than the Google/Facebook ad tech market “duopoly.”

By any other name, it’s a monopoly shared by two like-minded, or like-cornered entities, that is harming ordinary users and any hint of competition, on an hourly and daily basis. As of early 2021, the projected reach of the overall ad revenue was over $80 billion a year — as divided between the two companies. At your expense. And — with Google as the clear leader.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Sydney Powell Has Found the Actual Results of the Presidential Election

Sydney Powell found that the people in Germany saw these results before the Dominion machines were seized. Trump — 410 Electoral College votes and Joe Biden — 128 Electoral College votes. Trump even flipped the ‘unflippable’ liberal stronghold of California to Republican.

America and the world have now seen the unbelievable election crimes using the Dominion machines, Leonardo Satellite at the Vatican and the huge criminal cartel through out the world. In their criminal arrogance they are too stupid to realize that the end is coming swiftly to them and the world will soon know the details of their crimes. Trump is our President and had the biggest election victory in U.S. history. America and our military must stand with President Trump and take out those who have committed Treason and massive election crimes.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The FBI Says Your “Smart TV” Is Watching and Listening to You. How to Stop That and Reduce Its Harmful Radiation

With all the good things smart TVs bring, there are some sinister bad’s and we are going to be exploring those bad’s thoroughly in this article. Let’s get started.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Names 200 to be Enshrined in the National Garden of American Heroes

On Monday, President Trump announced the names of more than 200 Americans whose statues will be included in a new “National Garden of American Heroes.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Why Hardly Anyone Trusts the Virus ‘Experts’

Authored by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com

Early in the pandemic, “trust the science!” could actually be used in a debate without attracting derisive laughter. But as the flip-flops, mistakes and, yes, lies have accumulated, a consensus seems to be forming that the health care authorities are no more trustworthy than the people running Congress or the Fed.

For proof, let’s start with vitamin D, which sure seems to lessen the severity of coronavirus infections. As the chart below illustrates (couldn’t find the source, but google “covid vitamin D” and you’ll find lots of studies that track with this data), people with higher levels of vitamin D in their bloodstream tend to experience covid-19 as a non-event while people low levels found the infection life-threatening.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Woman Accused of Stealing Speaker Pelosi’s Laptop, Intending to Sell it to Russia

The FBI is reportedly investigating whether or not Riley June Williams, a woman from Pennsylvania who was seen near House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the January 6 Capitol Hill riots, stole Pelosi’s laptop with the intent to sell it to Russia.

According to an affidavit associated with Williams’s case, the suspected woman has fled the FBI.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘Enough is Enough’: Toronto Issues 75 Weekend Charges for Lockdown Violations

City officials and Toronto police are saying “enough is enough” after a weekend that saw 75 charges laid over COVID-19 lockdown rules, including 41 over illegal gatherings.

Many of the charges laid since Friday were for large gatherings on private property and a recent anti-lockdown protest, said Toronto fire Chief Matthew Pegg, who also leads the city’s emergency operations.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Empty Supermarket Shelves Caused by Coronavirus Lockdown, Not Brexit: UK Govt

A UK government minister rebuffed claims that pictures of empty supermarket shelves in some UK towns were down to Brexit, stating that Coronavirus lockdowns were the actual cause.

Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis was touring broadcast studios Tuesday morning and was twice asked about the state of food supply in the nation. Asked about supermarket shelves in Ulster, one of the four home nations, Lewis told the BBC’s Today Programme that the phenominon had been seen accross the country, but was actually down to delivery delays caused by Coronavirus, and had “nothing to do with leaving the EU”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

France: Arab World Institute Head Regrets Signing Letter Proposing Decriminalization of Sex With Children

The director of the French Arab World institute has expressed regret for signing a 1977 letter that called for decriminalising adults having sex with children.

Jack Lang, a former Socialist Party politician, former French minister, and former mayor, was confronted on Monday about his signing of a January 1977 letter published as an op-ed in the newspapers Le Monde and Libération and which argued for the decriminalisation of sexual acts with children.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

French Teen Who Criticised Islam Receives 30 Hate Messages a Minute

The French teenager who received death threats after criticising Islam online and was briefly the subject of a hate crime investigation receives 30 hate messages a minute.

Mila, then aged 16, came to media attention in February 2020 when she was subject to a “hate provocation” investigation after making comments critical of Islam, at one point saying to a social media user: “I hate religion. The Quran is… full of hate. There is only hate in it. Islam is a shit religion. That’s what I think.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Germany to Place Quarantine Flouters Into Detention Centres, Camps

Germany will put those who ignore quarantine rules into detention centres, including at least one repurposed refugee camp in the state of Saxony.

Other states say they will use hospitals and juvenile detention centres to hold violators.

According to a report from the Daily Mail, state governments can forcibly detain violators under the Disease Protection Act, which the German federal government renewed in November.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary Govt to Stop ‘Shadowbanning’ of ‘Christian, Conservative, And Right-Wing’ Voices Online

The Hungarian government is following Poland in moving against Big Tech, vowing action against the “shadowbanning” of “Christian, conservative, [and] right-wing opinions”.

“‘Shadowban’ means the act of social media providers secretly, for political purposes, restricting the visibility and access of our user profile without our knowledge about it,” explained Judit Varga, the Minister of Justice in Viktor Orban’s national conservative government, in a statement shared on social media, claiming that she has herself had “personal experience” of such treatment at the hands of “Big Tech”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Vatican Seminary Priest Risks Sex Abuse Trial

Father Gabriele Martinelli allegedly abused boy

(ANSA) — ROME, JAN 18 — A priest at a leading seminary on Vatican territory is facing possible trial for allegedly sexually abusing a fellow former seminarian who was a minor at the time of the alleged abuse in 2010-2012, sources said Monday.

Father Gabriele Martinelli allegedly abused the boy, a year younger than him, at the Preseminario San Pio X seminary, Rome police said.

Rome prosecutors aid they had wrapped up their probe and were ready to ask for an indictment of Father Martinelli.

Prosecutors said the suspected abuse involved “multiple episodes”.

Also involved in the case is Monsignor Enrico Radice, former dean of the pre-seminary, for complicity in sexual violence.

Father Radice is suspected of not stopping the illicit acts and failing to report them, prosecutors said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Reports ‘Alarming’ Spike in Attempted Suicides Among Youth During Lockdowns

ROME — Italy has seen a marked spike in attempted suicide among children and youth during the coronavirus crisis, tied to a lack of school and sports activities, local media report Tuesday.

Hospitalizations of children for self-cutting and attempted suicide have increased by 30 percent since October, repeating a similar bump last spring during the first wave of the coronavirus, according to Dr. Stefano Vicari, head of the complex operating unit of Childhood and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry of Rome’s Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Polish PM Morawiecki Announces Plans for Post-COVID Economy Recovery

At a press conference yesterday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented a partnership agreement for the allocation of €76 billion’s worth of EU funding in the next seven years to combat the effects of the pandemic.

The prime minister stated that the money would be sourced from the EU recovery fund and the EU budget.

“We observe the wave of infections coming in Poland, Europe and the world, but we cannot miss the start of the rebuilding process, which we want to enter as fast as possible. As early as winter and spring this year we want procurement to commence, so that as many investment opportunities can start as is possible,” the prime minister said.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

The Italian Left’s Efforts to Remain in Power Supported by Politicized Judges and Prosecutors

As the specter of early elections loomed over the left-wing coalition government in Italy, the League’s leader Matteo Salvini was summoned to his first hearing in a trial meant to make him ineligible to run again for office for years, just as was done with Silvio Berlusconi when he was the uncontested leader of the “center-right” bloc.

Salvini, whose party has led in opinion polls since the creation of a new coalition of the Five-Star Movement (M5S) with the left-wing Democratic Party (PD), losing ground only to its more radical ally Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), now has to face two trials for decisions taken when he was the interior minister and vice-premier in Conte’s first government.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Tusk’s Pathetic Homage to CDU and Germany

Donald Tusk, the European People’s Party leader and former president of the European Council, spoke at the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party congress on the weekend. His speech was broadcast to the delegates just before the leadership poll which saw Armin Laschet elected as the new CDU leader.

Laschet won against stiff opposition from Friedrich Merz and Norbert Roettgen. He probably owes his victory to the fact that Angela Merkel supported his candidacy.

Tusk’s address was made in German from the city of Gdansk. Its tone has been widely described in the Polish press as one of homage being paid to Merkel.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: 11 People Fined as Police Break Up Illegal House Party in Accrington

Eleven people have been fined for attending an illegal house party on Saturday night in breach of national lockdown rules.

Police were called to Dryden Street in the Clayton-le-Moors area of Accrington on the evening of January 16 following reports of a large gathering.

Nearly a dozen people were present in the house and were from different households.

Hyndburn Police said they issued fixed a total of 11 fixed penalty notices and ‘all parties admitted they were in the wrong’.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: BBC Apologises for Calling Convicted Murderer Spector ‘Talented But Flawed’

The BBC has apologised for calling the convicted murderer Phil Spector a “talented but flawed” music producer when reporting on his death in prison.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is funded by the public through a mandatory TV tax, caused uproar over the weekend when in reporting on Spector’s death, headed the article: “Talented But Flawed Producer Phil Spector Dies Aged 81.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: One in Six Hospital Patients Caught COVID-19 While Treated for Other Conditions, Figures Show

More than 25,000 patients have caught coronavirus in hospital since the second wave of the pandemic began in September.

One in six Covid-19 patients in NHS hospitals in England were infected while being treated for other conditions, according to internal Health Service figures.

So far this month, 5,684 Covid-positive in-patients out of 44,315 — about one in eight — were infected after being admitted for other conditions.

An intensive care consultant in the Midlands said that he took a ‘snapshot’ of all the patients in his unit on one day last month and found that 40 percent of them had been infected in hospital.

A specialist Covid nurse treating people at home said many of her patients had contracted the virus in hospital and were readmitted when their conditions worsened.

           — Hat tip: JM [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Poll: Plurality of Brits Support Government Spying on People Via Cellphone Tracking to Enforce Lockdown

A plurality of people in Britain support giving the government powers to spy on people’s movements via cellphone tracking to enforce lockdown, according to a new poll.

The YouGov poll asked people in multiple different countries if they supported, “The Government in [country name] using the mobile phone data of individuals to ensure they are complying with restrictions on movement outside of the home during a lockdown.”

45 per cent of Brits supported the measure compared to 42 per cent who opposed it.

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UK: Police Break Up Parties and Hand Out Fines as COVID Lockdown Flouters Continue to Break Rules

Hundreds of lockdown flouters were slapped with fines and warnings over the weekend as UK police cracked down on breaches of coronavirus restrictions.

Forces across the country broke up parties and illegal meet-ups, and fined people for visiting beauty spots, as one officer warned: “This is not a dress rehearsal — people will live and die on the actions we all choose.”

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UK: Struggle Session: NHS Seminar Attendees Lament ‘Burden’ of ‘Whiteness’, ‘Shame and Guilt’

A newly uploaded video of an NHS seminar on the “problem” of “whiteness” shows a post-lecture discussion devolving into something resembling a Maoist struggle session, with white attendees lamenting their “white guilt” and efforts to relieve the “burden of [their] whiteness”.

The Tavistock and Portman National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, perhaps best known as one of the leading providers of child gender swap procedures in Britain’s state-run socialised healthcare system, first put on the ‘Whiteness — A problem for our time’ virtual seminar in November, repeating it on January 14th after 700 people attended.

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UK: We Are Turning a Public Health Crisis Into an Educational, Social, Economic Disaster: Sumption

Former British Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption, who has likened the government’s rule by decree and policing tactics to a “police state”, has warned that officials are turning a health crisis into an educational, social, and economic “disaster”.

Lord Sumption, who last month branded lockdowns “profoundly immoral” and “useless”, told talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer on Monday: “We are in the process of turning a public health crisis into an economic, social, and educational disaster.

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New Charges Derail COVID Release for Hacker Who Aided ISIS

A hacker serving a 20-year sentence for stealing personal data on 1,300 U.S. military and government employees and giving it to an Islamic State hacker group in 2015 has been charged once again with fraud and identity theft. The new charges have derailed plans to deport him under compassionate release because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ardit Ferizi, a 25-year-old citizen of Kosovo, was slated to be sent home earlier this month after a federal judge signed an order commuting his sentence to time served. The release was granted in part due to Ferizi’s 2018 diagnosis of asthma, as well as a COVID outbreak at the facility where he was housed in 2020.

But while Ferizi was in quarantine awaiting deportation the Justice Department unsealed new charges against him, saying he’d conspired from prison with associates on the outside to access stolen data and launder the bitcoin proceeds of his previous crimes.

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Indonesia: Bali Police Force Tourists Caught Not Wearing Masks to Do Push-Ups

Police in Bali are forcing tourists caught not wearing face masks to do push-ups and sweep the streets as punishment.

The sanction is being handed out primarily to foreigners who don’t have cash on them to pay a fine of AUD $9.

According to authorities, around 80 per cent of those flouting the rules, which requires masks to be worn even outside, were visiting foreigners.

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Rights Groups Decry Rise in Forced Conversions, Religious Killings in Pakistan

Human rights activists have reported a negative trend in Pakistan’s violations of religious freedom, insisting 2020 saw a marked increase in persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

Cecil Chaudhry, executive director of the National Commission of Justice and Peace, told UCANews that incidents of forced conversions and marriages, hate speech against religious and sectarian minorities, and killings in the name of religion had all increased in Pakistan during 2020, according to a report published Monday.

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Seychelles Opens for Holidays… But Only for the Vaccinated

In a move that will only serve to enhance concerns over the potential adoption of ‘vaccine passports’, the Seychelles has re-opened to tourists worldwide, but only those who have received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The London Telegraph reports that ‘Visitors must provide an authentic certificate from their national health authority as evidence of vaccination.’

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Thai Woman Sentenced to 43 Years in Prison for Facebook and YouTube Posts Critical of the Monarchy

A former civil servant in Thailand, identified as Anchan by rights groups, is now facing a 43-year prison term for being critical about the country’s monarchy online. Based on what officials said, it was found that she was sentenced based on the country’s laws against “insulting the monarchy.” Previously, the longest prison sentence for lèse-majesté was 35 years, which was issued in 2017.

The woman facing the prison sentence was found guilty by the Bangkok Criminal Court as she posted audio clips on YouTube and Facebook, where she was condemning the monarchy of the country and a group called “Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.”

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Pompeo Says China’s Treatment Toward Uyghurs Constitutes “Genocide, “ “Crimes Against Humanity”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has determined that China’s campaign of mass internment, forced labor, and forced sterilization of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang constitutes “genocide” and “crimes against humanity.”

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Wuhan Medics Admit They Were Told to Lie as They Are Secretly Filmed Saying They Knew Coronavirus Was Deadly and Spreading Between Humans Before China Told the World

Medical professionals in Wuhan say they knew about virus deaths as early as December 2019, but it was mid-January before China first informed the WHO of a fatality.

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‘Border Jumper’ Who Sparked Fears of a Second Wave of COVID in Queensland Will Plead Guilty to Lying to Authorities — After Partying With Her Co-Accused on New Years Eve

Olivia Muranga, 20, Diana Lasu, 21, and Haja Timbo, 21, are accused of lying on their border declaration forms to avoid quarantining after travelling to Victoria in late July.

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Moment a Furious Father Confronts Man, 22, Accused of Raping His 14-Year-Old Daughter After His Family Set a Trap by Posing as the Girl on Instagram and Inviting Him Over to Their Home

Jamil Chowdhury, 22, allegedly exchanged an ‘extraordinarily high’ number of messages with the girl after meeting her online last year — before sexually assaulting her on January 2.

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‘These People Have No Idea’: Spanish Tennis Star Compares Hotel Quarantine in Melbourne to ‘Jail With WI-Fi’ As He Moans About His Living Conditions and Blasts Daniel Andrews

World No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut compared hotel quarantine to prison, and said the Victorian Government has ‘no idea about tennis’.

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Swedish Govt Gave Millions to Groups That Could Claim 51%+ Migrant Background Members in 2020

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) paid out millions of Swedish kronor to ethnic associations last year.

MUCF paid out almost 19 million Swedish kronor (£1.7 million /$2.3 million) to 47 different ethnic minority associations during 2020. While the agency claims that 51 per cent of the members must be of foreign background, Statistics Sweden has previously announced it is illegal to keep such ethnic data.

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UK Deportations of Foreign Criminals Fell 79 Per Cent Last Year, Despite Patel’s Promises to ‘Get Tough’

The United Kingdom deported 4,000 fewer convicted criminals last year, despite repeated promises from Home Secretary Priti Patel to ramp up deportations.

In 2020, the Home Office only successfully removed 1,128 criminals from the country, which the government hailed as a success in overcoming the efforts of “do-gooding” celebrities, and activist lawyers, who all sought to block deportation flights.

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Biden Names Dr. Rachel Levine as Assistant Health Secretary, Would be First Transgender Official Confirmed by Senate

President-elect Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that Pennsylvania’s Dr. Rachel Levine will serve as the assistant secretary of Health and Human Services.

If confirmed by the Senate, Levine would be the first transgender official to be confirmed. Levine is a biological man who presents as a woman and currently serves as Pennsylvania’s secretary of health.

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Brave Browser Makes a Bold Step Toward Allowing a Decentralized Web

Brave, one of the most secure and fastest browsers, has now taken crucial steps in extending its support to a decentralized web. Brave is now going to offer native integration with a peer-to-peer networking protocol and is the first mainstream browser to do.

The browser makes use of the IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) technology to improve upon the existing HTTP protocol, while also increasing the speed of accessing content. Generally speaking, HTTP obtains information from a central server. But IPFS, however, obtains information from a network of distributed nodes.

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UNH Students Earn Up to Eight Credits With ‘Fat Studies’ Course

The University of New Hampshire will offer an introductory “fat studies” course, titled “Weight Matters,” in spring 2021.

UNH’s newest “fat studies” course is also part of the Women’s and Gender Studies department at UNH. “Weight Matters” will be taught completely online by women’s and gender studies senior lecturer Joelle Ryan.

Campus Reform reported on the University of New Hampshire’s “People Opposing Weightism” (POW!) group formed in 2013 under the university’s Women’s Studies department. The group sought interns to address “weight bias, fatphobia and body-policing.” Ryan’s research areas include “disability justice,” “fat studies” and “sex work.”

She has taught classes called “Sex Workers Rights,” “Trans/Forming Gender” and “Survey/Queer Cinema.” Ryan taught “Weight Matters” previously in 2019.

The course is now being revived in 2021 as a four-credit course.

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2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/19/2021

  1. Something strange is happening in our country.
    Recently, with great fanfare, a video was shown of Putin bathing in an ice hole for Epiphany. Orthodox Christians criticized his way of crossing himself – they say that he makes some kind of incomprehensible gesture with a triangle. In addition, at this time there were severe frosts – minus 25 degrees Celsius, and here there is not even a steam.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHzpFCuOviU

    And suddenly, it turns out that the video frames coincide with the 2019 photo.

    https://iz.ru/835829/2019-01-19/putin-prinial-uchastie-v-kreshchenskikh-kupaniiakh

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