Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/3/2021

A Spanish migrant-rescue NGO vessel rescued 269 migrants in the Mediterranean today. Another 165 were rescued earlier in a separate operation.

In other news, seven months after anarchist violence erupted in Portland, Mayor Ted Wheeler vowed to get tough on Antifa.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Almost Every Second Czech Believes the Crisis is Here: Survey
 
USA
» A Harvard Professor Says an Alien Visited in 2017 — and More Are Coming
» An Insider’s View of Pennsylvania and the Battle for Our Republic
» Cruz, GOP Senators to Object to Electoral College Certification, Demand Audit
» Facebook Deletes 1.7 Million Member Group ‘Joe Biden is Not My President!’
» Facebook Removes 1.7 Million Member Group “Joe Biden is Not My President” Without Warning — But Anti-Trump “Not My President” Page Still Up After 4 Years
» Four Arrested During New Year’s Eve Demonstrations in Seattle
» Fraud Alert: Analysis of 3,000 Counties Reveals Joe Biden Received 5.6% More Votes in Counties Using Dominion Voting Machines
» Gone in 2020: Businesses Also Victims of Pandemic
» Los Angeles COVID Super Spreader Task Force Conducts 5 New Year’s Eve Raids, Arrests 90 People (Video)
» Nashville Bomber Sent Material to Friends Before Christmas Day Explosion
» New York State Democrat Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Detain “Disease Carriers” The Governor Deems “Dangerous to the Public Health”
» PC Word Ban: University of Michigan Claims Words ‘Picnic, ‘ ‘Brown Bag’ Are Offensive
» Pelosi’s House Vandalized With Severed Pig’s Head, Fake Blood, Anarchy Symbol
» Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Vows to Get Tough With Antifa
» Raffensperger’s Team Leaks President Trump’s Saturday Call to Fake News WaPo — Tells You Everything About the Dirty Georgia Leadership
» Recreational Use of Marijuana Now Legal in Montana
» Report: Biden’s Inaugural Parade Viewing Stands Taken Down — Parade in Doubt — They’re Afraid it Will Turn Into a Massive MAGA Rally
» Video of the Day: Young Woman Loses it in Elevator Over Slipped Mask
» Was a COVID-19 Vaccine Developed Before the First COVID-19 Case Was Discovered in America?
» Witnesses in Georgia Say Democrats Altered Military Ballots
» Young and Brilliant Experts Pearson Sharp and Seth Keshel Provide Data and Reasons Why it is Basically Impossible That Senile Joe Biden Beat President Trump in the 2020 Election
 
Canada
» Every Member of Ontario Church’s Elder Board Charged for Holding in-Person Services
 
Europe and the EU
» Austria Calls for European Register of Muslim Imams
» Ireland: Brother of Black Male Shot by Police Tells Protest He Wants Officer ‘Terminated’, ‘Finished’
» Joe Biden’s Presidency Could Threaten the Stability of Central Europe
» Spain: COVID-19 : Illegal 40-Hour Party in a Leticia Sabater Villa: 23 People Identified
» UK: ‘Make London Live Again’ — Corbyn’s Pro-Brexit, Anti-Lockdown Brother Running for London Mayor
» UK: Brexhausted! Four Years of Brexit Blunders, Part Three: First Bedlam, Then Betrayal
» UK: COVID-19: Anti-Lockdown Protesters Arrested at Hyde Park Demo
» UK: Crowds Staging Anti-Lockdown Protest March Through Nottingham
» UK: Thousands at Risk of Blindness Set to Benefit From a New Drug That Slows Vision Loss and Can Even Improve Sight
» UK: Terrorist Who Plotted Police Beheading ‘Highly Likely’ to be Released With Lifelong Anonymity
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Israel’s Coronavirus Surveillance is Pushing Limits
 
Middle East
» Turkey Goes Ballistic After Greece Announces Possible Drone Deployment in Aegean Sea
 
South Asia
» 44-Year-Old Pakistani Muslim Who Kidnapped, Raped 13-Year-Old Christian Girl Released on Bail
» Murderer Uses False Blasphemy Accusation to Justify Killing of Christian in Pakistan
 
Far East
» China: Paying US Media to Publish Propaganda
» Dozens of Chinese Officials Raid House Church, Detain Preacher, 5 Members
» EU-China Pact Sparks Concern Over Labor Standards, Human Rights
» ‘Growing Body of Evidence’ Shows COVID-19 Leaked From Chinese Lab: US Official
 
Australia — Pacific
» Basketball Star is Taken Into Custody After the Body of a Woman in Her 30s Was Found in a Burning Home — as Forensic Teams Scour the Charred Property for Clues
» Bosses Do Have the Power to Force Workers to Take Coronavirus Vaccine as a ‘Reasonable Direction’ To Protect Their Employees, Legal Experts Argue
» Brisbane Cricket Test Thrown Into Doubt as Spoiled Indian Players ‘Spit the Dummy’ And Refuse to Play in Queensland if They Are Subject to Another Hard Quarantine
» Dozens of Anti-Mask and ‘Poison Vaccine’ Protesters March Through a Bondi Shopping Centre Beating Drums, Carrying Signs and Chanting ‘I Would Rather be a Human Than a Slave’
» Revealed: The Bizarre Outburst Basketball Star Charged With Murdering His Mum-of-Five Girlfriend Made in Court — as Dead Woman’s Mother Says Four of Her Children Still Don’t Know She’s Gone
» Victoria Records Three New Coronavirus Cases as Thousands of People Try to Get Tested and Overwhelm Clinics Around Melbourne
 
Immigration
» 8,417 Illegally Crossed the English Channel in 2020, As ‘Desperate’ Migrants Risk Their Lives
» Greece: Pictures From the New Border Fence Being Constructed in Evros: What About Migrant Flows?
» Greece: Illegal Immigrants Arriving at Accommodation Centre in Thebes Demand to Go to a Luxury Hotel
» How an ISIS Member Got Past Immigration and Became a U.S. Citizen
» Italian Court: Migrants Facing COVID-19 Risks Back in Their Home Country Can Stay in Europe
» Spanish-Flagged Boat Rescues 265 Migrants in Mediterranean
» Vatican Honors All Migrants ‘Displaced Like Jesus’
 
Culture Wars
» #DisruptTexts Campaign Aims to Cancel Classic Literature in Classrooms
» Banned From Facebook for Hate Speech — for Saying ‘Men Are Such Fools’: Leah Hardy on How Gossiping About Alec Baldwin’s Fake-Spanish Young Wife Breached Tech Giant’s ‘Community Standards’
» Grease is ‘Racist, Rapey, Homophobic and Slut-Shaming’ And Should Never be Shown on TV Again, Say Woke Snowflakes
 

Almost Every Second Czech Believes the Crisis is Here: Survey

According to a survey conducted by Broker Consulting, almost every second Czech agrees with the statement that the economic crisis is in full swing and will cause a sharp increase in unemployment. However, about 30 percent of the Czech population does not perceive the situation to be so critical.

Last year, 38 percent of respondents did not know whether they expected the economic crisis to come. This year, only five percent remained undecided.

“The results show that the topic of the economic crisis associated with the coronavirus pandemic is resonating with Czech society and few have remained immune to it. The facts are that inflation reached 2.7 percent in November and unemployment climbed to 3.8 percent, the highest value since 2016. Thus, the data shows a deteriorating economic situation,” Michal Cibulka, from Broker Consulting’s financial planning methodologies, commented on the results.

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

A Harvard Professor Says an Alien Visited in 2017 — and More Are Coming

When the first sign of intelligent life first visits us from space, it won’t be a giant saucer hovering over New York. More likely, it will be an alien civilization’s trash.

Avi Loeb, the chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy, believes he’s already found some of that garbage.

In his upcoming book, “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), out Jan. 26, the professor lays out a compelling case for why an object that recently wandered into our solar system was not just another rock but actually a piece of alien technology.

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

An Insider’s View of Pennsylvania and the Battle for Our Republic

Two Pennsylvania representatives explain how the Supreme Court, the secretary of state, and others in the commonwealth have defied every effort at election integrity.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Cruz, GOP Senators to Object to Electoral College Certification, Demand Audit

A group of Republican senators led by Ted Cruz announced they will object to the certification of the presidential election results on January 6 unless there is an emergency 10-day audit by an electoral commission.

The group said the 2020 election “featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud and illegal conduct,” and, Congress, therefore, “should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states.”

The group of senators cited the 1877 election between Samuel Hayes and Rutherford Hayes, which had allegations of fraud in multiple states, as a precedent to appoint an emergency electoral commission.

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

Facebook Deletes 1.7 Million Member Group ‘Joe Biden is Not My President!’

The far-left radicals that run Facebook just deleted the 1.7 million member group ‘Joe Biden IS NOT MY PRESIDENT!’

The group’s admins say they were given no warning and no explanation as to why the group, which was created on December 15, 2020, was deleted.

The Scoop reported 3 days ago that the group had set the record for the shortest amount of time to reach 1 million members.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Facebook Removes 1.7 Million Member Group “Joe Biden is Not My President” Without Warning — But Anti-Trump “Not My President” Page Still Up After 4 Years

Facebook removed the 1.7 million member “Joe Biden Is Not My President” group this weekend without warning.

This is what continues to happen to conservatives after Republican lawmakers refused to take action to preserve freedom of speech in America.

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

Four Arrested During New Year’s Eve Demonstrations in Seattle

SEATTLE — Four people were arrested during New Year’s Eve demonstrations in Seattle’s Capitol Hill area, police said.

One person was arrested for property damage, another for obstruction and two others for vandalizing the East Precinct.

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

Fraud Alert: Analysis of 3,000 Counties Reveals Joe Biden Received 5.6% More Votes in Counties Using Dominion Voting Machines

A recent video posted on Rumble by BasedMedia and DonaldWon.com revealed Joe Biden was given a 5% advantage over President Trump in counties using Dominion Voting Machines.

According to the video —

An unbiased by-county analysis of 2020 general election results of over 3000 U.S. counties shows large-scale skewing of election results in favor of Joe Biden in counties using Dominion Voting Systems.

Analysis conducted by DataScience and released through BASEDmedia constructed a statistical model to predict relative performance for either candidate based upon U.S. Census county data to 90% accuracy.

This analysis revealed that counties that used Dominion and Hart InterCivic ballot counting devices and software consistently gave a 5% vote advantage to candidate Joe Biden over President Trump. This advantage was observed regardless of the county’s majority political party affiliation nor urban, suburban, or rural area demographics.

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

Gone in 2020: Businesses Also Victims of Pandemic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — From your neighborhood watering hole to major retailers, well over 100,000 businesses have closed in the past 10 months as COVID-19 swept across America. According to data scientists at Yelp, 60% of those might never reopen.

“Business closures have continued to rise, with a 34% increase in permanent closures since our last report in mid-July,” Justin Norman, a Yelp vice president told CNBC.

A University of Southern California study found the pandemic could result in a $3.2 trillion to $4.8 trillion loss in U.S. real gross domestic product between 2020 and 2021.

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

Los Angeles COVID Super Spreader Task Force Conducts 5 New Year’s Eve Raids, Arrests 90 People (Video)

Los Angeles County Sheriffs sent their Covid Super Spreader Task Force agents to conduct raids and arrest people on New Year’s Eve.

Officers raided 5 locations and arrested more than 90 people.

“I have made it clear that we will seek out and take law enforcement action against all super spreader events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. “The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations.”

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

Nashville Bomber Sent Material to Friends Before Christmas Day Explosion

Prior to his death, the man who detonated a Christmas Day bomb in downtown Nashville had sent out materials about his views to people he knew, federal investigators said Saturday.

In a statement to The Associated Press, FBI Special Agent Jason Pack said authorities are “aware the suspect sent materials which espoused his viewpoints to several acquaintances throughout the country.”

Authorities have said Anthony Warner, 63, was responsible for the explosion, which damaged dozens of buildings and injured several people. Warner died in the blast and officials have not released a motive.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

New York State Democrat Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Detain “Disease Carriers” The Governor Deems “Dangerous to the Public Health”

The New York State Assembly proposed a bill to detain “disease carriers” the Governor deems “dangerous to the public health.”

The bill was authored by N. Nick Perry, a Democrat member of the New York State Assembly.

Bill A416 relates to “the removal of cases, contacts and carriers of communicable diseases that are potentially dangerous to the public health.”

The Governor would have sweeping powers to indefinitely detain American citizens and put them in internment camps.

According to the proposed bill, the Governor will also be able to detain people who have come in contact with the “carrier.”

The only way an individual would be released from detainment is if the “department” determines the person is no longer contagious.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

PC Word Ban: University of Michigan Claims Words ‘Picnic, ‘ ‘Brown Bag’ Are Offensive

The University of Michigan’s “Words Matter Task Force” (WMTF), created by the university’s Information & Technology Services (ITS) Department, has unilaterally decreed that it finds more than two dozen words and phrases offensive to people.

Included in the list of the offensive words are including “picnic,” “brown bag” and “blacklist,” among others.

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

Pelosi’s House Vandalized With Severed Pig’s Head, Fake Blood, Anarchy Symbol

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home was vandalized Thursday night with spray paint, a pig’s head, and fake blood.

The garage door was spray-painted with “$2K” crossed out, “CANCEL RENT,” and “WE WANT EVERYTHING!”

The garage door was also vandalized with what is widely recognized as a symbol of anarchism, a capital “A” with a circle around it.

A pig’s head and fake blood were also placed in front of the garage door.

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

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Vows to Get Tough With Antifa

After months of mollycoddling, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler vowed to get tough on Antifa, whose members engage in near-nightly campaigns of mayhem, violence and destruction in the city.

“My good faith efforts at de-escalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical Antifa and anarchists,” Wheeler said in a news conference Friday evening. “In response, it will be necessary to use additional tools and to push the limits of the tools we already have to bring the criminal destruction and violence to an end.”

“It’s time to push back harder against those who are set on destroying our community and to take more risks in fighting lawlessness,” Wheeler added.

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

Raffensperger’s Team Leaks President Trump’s Saturday Call to Fake News WaPo — Tells You Everything About the Dirty Georgia Leadership

The travesty in Georgia continues.

President Trump held a one-hour long phone call on Saturday with crooked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state election officials on the 2020 election in his state that was wrought with fraud.

It’s not clear if Ruby Freeman or Ralph Jones, Sr. were on the call.

In the one-hour phone call on Saturday, President Trump insisted he won the state and threatened vague legal consequences.

Raffensperger’s team leaked the call to the far left Washington Post.

It took 24 hours for the Washington Post to publish this trash.

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

Recreational Use of Marijuana Now Legal in Montana

Recreational use of marijuana is now legal in the state of Montana with some limitations.

Adults over 21 years old are allowed to grow, possess, and consume marijuana.

Individuals can possess up to one ounce of marijuana. Residents can grow up to four marijuana plants in their homes.

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

Report: Biden’s Inaugural Parade Viewing Stands Taken Down — Parade in Doubt — They’re Afraid it Will Turn Into a Massive MAGA Rally

There are reports tonight that Beijing Biden canceled his inaugural parade.

We are still looking to confirm this.

However, we know for certain the parade viewing stands were taken down this week.

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

Video of the Day: Young Woman Loses it in Elevator Over Slipped Mask

She seems like a completely reasonable and centered young woman.

A young woman in an elevator loses it after a delivery woman’s mask slipped.

The depression rate during the COVID pandemic has gone from 1 in 11 to 1 in 4.

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

Was a COVID-19 Vaccine Developed Before the First COVID-19 Case Was Discovered in America?

Follow the money.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Witnesses in Georgia Say Democrats Altered Military Ballots

New investigations reveal military ballots were major targets of Democrat voter fraud in November.

According to reports on Thursday, thousands of military ballots were potentially tampered with at polling stations during the general election.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Young and Brilliant Experts Pearson Sharp and Seth Keshel Provide Data and Reasons Why it is Basically Impossible That Senile Joe Biden Beat President Trump in the 2020 Election

Two young and brilliant experts share information that basically proves that President Trump won the 2020 election. Below are their insights.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Every Member of Ontario Church’s Elder Board Charged for Holding in-Person Services

All six elders of Trinity Bible Chapel in Ontario, Canada were criminally charged on Wednesday for holding in-person services on December 27.

All six elders must now appear in criminal court, where they could face a fine of up to $10,000.

Officers from the Waterloo Region Police (WRPS) arrived at the homes of the elders on Wednesday to gave each of them a summons to court.

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

Austria Calls for European Register of Muslim Imams

Since the start of 2021, Austria has required the registration of all imams in the country.

The mandate was one of several new measures Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s government adopted after a November 2 terror attack in Vienna. Four civilians were killed and 23 injured after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire in the center of the Austrian capital.

Now Austria is calling for the European Union to adopt the registration of imams, the worship leaders of Mosques in Muslim communities.

Why is Austria calling for EU imam registration?

In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt published Saturday, Austria’s Minister for European Affairs Karoline Edtstadler said Imam registration was key for “the fight against political Islam.”

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

Ireland: Brother of Black Male Shot by Police Tells Protest He Wants Officer ‘Terminated’, ‘Finished’

The brother of a knife-wielding black male shot dead by Irish police — or Garda — said of the officer involved “I want him terminated… I want him finished” to cheers from protesters.

George Nkencho, 27, was slowly followed to his home by around a dozen officers of the Garda Siochana — “Guardians of the Peace” — after incidents at Hartstown Shopping Centre in Dublin and a Eurospar convenience store in which he is alleged to have threatened members of the public with a knife, with a store manager suffering “facial injuries” in the latter case.

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

Joe Biden’s Presidency Could Threaten the Stability of Central Europe

Let there be no doubt that Joe Biden and his team take the uncritical, senseless spread of liberal democracy and progressive politics seriously, and they certainly do not tolerate ideological differences, do not respect the specific culture of any nation, and do not favor sovereign governments. We should not expect to see only political debates on these topics, but also real attempts to divide our countries, and there will be especially serious attempts to alienate the Poles from the rest of Central Europe.

There is undoubtedly a serious risk for division in Central Europe over our differing relations with Russia, the living situation of minorities living abroad and the instability of Ukrainian politics. And this is well known to the future leadership of America, as influential groups in Ukrainian politics already suspect. Biden’s presidency can upset the stability of the Central European region and easily sweep away the successes that Viktor Orban’s government achieved so far.

We must be prepared for that.

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

Spain: COVID-19 : Illegal 40-Hour Party in a Leticia Sabater Villa: 23 People Identified

Despite the restrictions imposed this Christmas by the health authorities in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, New Year’s Eve parties have taken place in which prevention measures have not been respected. One of them was held in Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid), where 23 attendees of a celebration of this type have been identified.

Specifically, the party under investigation took place in a chalet in the Villafranca del Castillo urbanization. Its owner is the popular presenter and television collaborator Leticia Sabater, who would have rented the house to the organizer of the party, according to the newspaper ABC.

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

UK: ‘Make London Live Again’ — Corbyn’s Pro-Brexit, Anti-Lockdown Brother Running for London Mayor

Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has announced his intention to run for Mayor of London in this years’ election.

Piers Corbyn, a meteorologist, physicist, and high-profile sceptic of man-made climate change, has said that he will challenge London mayor Sadiq Khan to end the coronavirus restrictions in the British capital.

The 73-year-old said that he will be running under the slogan “Make London Live Again” and vowed to “end the Covid con rules, which are destroying jobs, the economy, culture, and London life,” the political blog Guido Fawkes reported on Saturday.

Mr Corbyn said that his campaign will fight for the right of freedom of speech and the freedom to assemble, which he claims have been drastically reduced during the coronavirus crisis.

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

UK: Brexhausted! Four Years of Brexit Blunders, Part Three: First Bedlam, Then Betrayal

Britain left the European Union in name in January 2020, but remained subject to the EU, its judges, and its migration regime through a so-called “transition” period. It left in a real sense on at 11 pm on December 31st — according to supporters of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s exit deal, at least. But how did the country get here?

This is part three of a three-part series.

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

UK: COVID-19: Anti-Lockdown Protesters Arrested at Hyde Park Demo

Police have made arrests at an anti-lockdown demonstration in central London.

Crowds of between 200 to 300 people began to gather in Hyde Park, which is in a tier four coronavirus area, at about 13:30 GMT on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Seventeen people were arrested on suspicion of breaching public health regulations.

Most demonstrators had left the park by 16:45, police said.

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

UK: Crowds Staging Anti-Lockdown Protest March Through Nottingham

A crowd gathered at Victoria Embankment in Nottingham to protest against the coronavirus lockdown and march through the city.

Around 100 people are currently at the War Memorial hearing from speakers protesting the lockdown and the current vaccine rollout.

Police are aware of the protest and were pictured speaking to people at the scene.

Protesters proceeded to march along the Embankment before making their way along London Road to the BBC building.

They then headed to the Old Market Square where they gathered under the Council House as police watched on.

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

UK: Thousands at Risk of Blindness Set to Benefit From a New Drug That Slows Vision Loss and Can Even Improve Sight

Brolucizumab, has now been approved by NHS chiefs for patients with wet age-related macular deterioration — a painless yet incurable eye disease that’s the leading cause of blindness in over-55s.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Terrorist Who Plotted Police Beheading ‘Highly Likely’ to be Released With Lifelong Anonymity

Britain’s youngest terrorist, who was convicted of plotting to behead a police officer at the age of 14, is set to be released back on to the streets with lifelong anonymity after serving just five years in custody.

The terrorist is one of the few child criminals in Britain to be granted lifelong anonymity, meaning that upon his release the public will have zero knowledge that a terrorist is living in their midst.

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

Israel’s Coronavirus Surveillance is Pushing Limits

Another story of apparent government overreach in response to the coronavirus pandemic is appearing, this time out of Israel.

“You can’t just give up on democracy during a crisis,” Association for Civil Rights in Israel spokesperson Maya Fried summed it up, speaking on behalf of all those who don’t think that a mass surveillance tool invading citizens’ phones might be the right way to go about a virus epidemic.

The group is known for going to court in Israel on multiple occasions trying to overturn the use of surveillance tools that are said to be normally used to tackle terrorist activity.

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

Turkey Goes Ballistic After Greece Announces Possible Drone Deployment in Aegean Sea

by Alex Kassidiaris

A developing Greek-Israeli defense partnership and the potential of establishing an armed drone program in the Hellenic Armed Forces is increasingly worrying Turkey.

While Turkish President Recep Erdogan is trying to enhance ties with Israel, the possibility of Israeli drones operating from Greek islands in the Aegean Sea is a concern for Ankara. In fact a prominent Turkish newspaper recently claimed claimed that Athens’ actions are an act of aggression which could quickly escalate to war.

The Greek-Israeli Agreement

The Hellenic Parliament approved a bill earlier this year on July 7 which established the partnership between the Greek and Israeli Defense Departments. The bill came as the concluding step of long negotiations between the two states that officially started back in 2011, when both sides signed a Principal Memorandum of Understanding.

[…]

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

44-Year-Old Pakistani Muslim Who Kidnapped, Raped 13-Year-Old Christian Girl Released on Bail

A Pakistani Muslim man who abducted and entered into an Islamic marriage with a 13-year-old Christian girl has been released on bail by a court in Pakistan.

Ali Azhar, 44, said he had not violated Pakistan’s laws against child marriage and child rape because Arzoo Raja, the 13-year-old girl, had attained puberty.

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

Murderer Uses False Blasphemy Accusation to Justify Killing of Christian in Pakistan

12/30/2020 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) — According to local sources in Pakistan, a Christian man was murdered earlier this month by a Muslim coworker in a factory. The victim’s family reports the murderer falsely accused the Christian of committing blasphemy to justify the killing.

On December 14, Arshad Masih, a 32-year-old Christian, was stabbed to death by Atif Ali, his Muslim coworker at Pakistan Spring Factory in Sheikhupura. Samina Bibi, Masih’s wife, reports that Ali attacked her husband due to a promotion Masih received and his refusal to convert to Islam.

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

China: Paying US Media to Publish Propaganda

The Chinese government-controlled English language newspaper, China Daily, in 2020 paid a variety of US media outlets nearly $2 million for publishing propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to a disclosure that China Daily filed in late November with the US Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), according to Daily Caller.

China Daily has reportedly been registered as a foreign agent under FARA since 1983, which means it is required to report its activities and financial transactions to the Justice Department.

In June, China Daily filed a disclosure with the Justice Department showing that, since November 2016, it had paid $19 million to U.S. media outlets, including $12 million to newspapers such as the Washington Post and New York Times. Other newspapers included the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Seattle Times, Houston Chronicle and Foreign Policy.

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

Dozens of Chinese Officials Raid House Church, Detain Preacher, 5 Members

Nearly 40 officials in Taiyuan, China, raided Xuncheng Church’s home Bible study, confiscated books, and detained preacher An Yankui along with five church members on Wednesday.

The five members were released on Thursday, but An is in administrative detention for 15 more days.

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

EU-China Pact Sparks Concern Over Labor Standards, Human Rights

A major investment pact between China and the European Union, which wrapped up negotiations on the deal this week, has sparked concerns that it will give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a free pass on human rights and labor standards, while locking the E.U. into allowing market access to Chinese companies.

The Comprehensive Agreement on Investments (CAI) sets out a number of commitments on paper that might lead to positive change if interpreted by a non-authoritarian regime with no track record of mass incarceration or forced labor.

But there are concerns that the CCP is highly unlikely to implement them in the way that they would be understood in a liberal democracy, especially given its track record of using propaganda and careful orchestration of workers and detainees during inspection tours of contested facilities.

Andreas Fulda, lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at Nottingham University, said there are no guarantees or mechanisms to ensure that China keeps up its end of the bargain.

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

‘Growing Body of Evidence’ Shows COVID-19 Leaked From Chinese Lab: US Official

U.S. National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger is doubling down on the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese government-run lab in Wuhan.

Pottinger, a staunch critic of Beijing, allegedly made the claim in a recent Zoom meeting with British officials.

“There is a growing body of evidence that the lab is likely the most credible source of the virus,” Pottinger reportedly said, according to the Daily Mail.

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

Basketball Star is Taken Into Custody After the Body of a Woman in Her 30s Was Found in a Burning Home — as Forensic Teams Scour the Charred Property for Clues

Chudier Thowath Pal, 29, is being questioned by police after the woman aged in her 30s, was found dead in a home on Ravenscar Street in Doubleview at around 7.15am on Saturday.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Bosses Do Have the Power to Force Workers to Take Coronavirus Vaccine as a ‘Reasonable Direction’ To Protect Their Employees, Legal Experts Argue

Barrister Ian Neil SC said employers may be able to use their ‘lawful and reasonable direction’ powers to order employees to get the jab to guarantee the safety of their colleagues.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Brisbane Cricket Test Thrown Into Doubt as Spoiled Indian Players ‘Spit the Dummy’ And Refuse to Play in Queensland if They Are Subject to Another Hard Quarantine

The Australian and Indian teams are set to fly to Sydney on Monday to continue preparations for the third Test, before flying to Queensland for the fourth and final match.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Dozens of Anti-Mask and ‘Poison Vaccine’ Protesters March Through a Bondi Shopping Centre Beating Drums, Carrying Signs and Chanting ‘I Would Rather be a Human Than a Slave’

Dozens of protesters swarmed a shopping centre on Sunday without wearing masks on day one of compulsory face coverings across Greater Sydney.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Revealed: The Bizarre Outburst Basketball Star Charged With Murdering His Mum-of-Five Girlfriend Made in Court — as Dead Woman’s Mother Says Four of Her Children Still Don’t Know She’s Gone

Chudier Thowath Pal, 29, was arrested after his girlfriend Stephanie Lee was found dead in a home in Doubleview, northern Perth about 7.15am on Saturday.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Victoria Records Three New Coronavirus Cases as Thousands of People Try to Get Tested and Overwhelm Clinics Around Melbourne

Victoria has recorded three new locally acquired cases of coronavirus all linked to the cluster in Black Rock, Melbourne, which now stands at 21.

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8,417 Illegally Crossed the English Channel in 2020, As ‘Desperate’ Migrants Risk Their Lives

Four times as many migrants crossed the English Channel in 2020 compared to the year before, according to new analysis.

More than 8,400 men, women and children crossed from France to the UK in 2020, with many taking on the dangerous journey in everything from dinghies and kayaks to a paddling pool.

While thousands of people made it to Britain, the perilous Channel waters claimed several lives.

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

Greece: Pictures From the New Border Fence Being Constructed in Evros: What About Migrant Flows?

The shielding of the Greek-Turkish border in Evros proceeds with the strengthening of the existing fence in Kastanies, the creation of a surveillance system with thermal cameras and the construction of a new fence in Feres.

At the same time the flows of migrants have decreased due to winter and COVID-19.

The construction procedures of the new fence at the Greek-Turkish border in Evros and the strengthening of the existing one in Kastanies are progressing rapidly.

The new fence will have a length of about 26km and its construction takes place in southern Evros in Feres, specifically in the areas of Petalo, Poros-Tsirosi and Mavrakanthos.

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

Greece: Illegal Immigrants Arriving at Accommodation Centre in Thebes Demand to Go to a Luxury Hotel

A group of illegal immigrants, including small children, was transported by bus to the Thebes Refugee Accommodation Center last Tuesday, Radio Thiva reported.

When they arrived at the center in Thebes, the illegal immigrants refused to enter, asking to be transferred to a luxury hotel.

Previously they were staying in a five-star hotel in Nea Makri, from where they came from.

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

How an ISIS Member Got Past Immigration and Became a U.S. Citizen

Over a thousand Iraqi refugees have been resettled in Portland.

The year that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s Islamic terror state travel ban, an Iraqi member of ISIS applied for American citizenship.

Hawazen Sameer Mothafar didn’t have much to worry about. Not only was he already living in the United States, but under political pressure, Iraq had been taken off the travel ban list.

And no one would have suspected Mothafar of being an ISIS terrorist. He was in a wheelchair.

When Mothafar was asked at his immigration interview this year whether he was involved with a terrorist organization, he must have thought it was a formality. But three months later, Mothafar was under arrest, charged with lying to a government agency, and aiding ISIS.

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

Italian Court: Migrants Facing COVID-19 Risks Back in Their Home Country Can Stay in Europe

A court in the Italian city of Milan ruled that the coronavirus situation in a migrant’s country of origin will be taken into account when deciding which migrant can stay in the country. According to the ruling, migrants could be endangered by a lack of medical staff, equipment, or intensive care beds if they are returned to their country of origin.

As the Italian ANSA news agency branch focused on the Mediterranean area reported, a court in Milan ruled that the risk of COVID-19 infection could be used as a reason for granting humanitarian protection.

This so-called humanitarian protection status is given to those who do not obtain refugee status but would be at risk if they would return to their country of origin. However, each case would be reportedly assessed individually and migrants will not receive automatic protection.

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

Spanish-Flagged Boat Rescues 265 Migrants in Mediterranean

ROME — A Spanish-flagged humanitarian ship on Sunday was seeking a port of safety for 265 migrants its crew rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in the last few days.

The Open Arms charity tweeted that its vessel on Saturday had safely brought aboard 96 migrants who had been adrift in a wooden boat with without life vests in international waters. It said the passengers, most of them from Eritrea, included two women and 17 minors and were suffering from hypothermia.

In a separate operation two days before that rescue, Open Arms took aboard 169 migrants, who had departed Libyan shores, where many human traffickers are based.

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

Vatican Honors All Migrants ‘Displaced Like Jesus’

ROME — The Vatican has urged greater attention to migrants in the new year, inviting the faithful to see them as people who have been “displaced like Jesus.”

“One year ends, a new one begins, let’s walk again the path made with our brothers and sisters #DisplacedlikeJesus,” declared the Vatican’s office for Migrants and Refugees in a tweet Sunday.

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

#DisruptTexts Campaign Aims to Cancel Classic Literature in Classrooms

Classic texts are getting removed from syllabuses, denying kids access to literature because of claims of racism, sexism, and the other usuals. But how has political correctness become a reason to remove classic literature?

Using #DisruptTexts, school teachers, critical theory activists, and others have been promoting the removal of classic texts such as Homer. Apparently, kids should not read these texts because they promote “racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate.”

According to Padma Venkatraman, a young-adult novelist, even authors as revered as Shakespeare should not be spared.

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

Banned From Facebook for Hate Speech — for Saying ‘Men Are Such Fools’: Leah Hardy on How Gossiping About Alec Baldwin’s Fake-Spanish Young Wife Breached Tech Giant’s ‘Community Standards’

LEAH HARDY: I’m hardly heartbroken about being forced to take a break from wasting time on Facebook. But what is sinister is being condemned as a purveyor of ‘hate speech’ for a harmless joke.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Grease is ‘Racist, Rapey, Homophobic and Slut-Shaming’ And Should Never be Shown on TV Again, Say Woke Snowflakes

The hit 70’s musical Grease has become the latest target of ‘woke’ critics. Outraged viewers hit out on Twitter after the movie was screened on BBC1 on Boxing Day.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

3 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/3/2021

  1. Wouldn’t surprise me if there is more old English literature to be found outside English speaking countries as English speaking countries are throwing it out,not reading it and deleting it from their libraries.

  2. Sleep of reason gives birth to monsters.

    A very funny article about exorcism in Chechnya and Dagestan.

    You can view it through google or yandex translate.

    … The healer and his assistant walk around room after room, reciting verses. “The figures sitting in the twilight are at first silent, but after about ten minutes screams begin. Soon they merge into a continuous demonic howl, through which curses and dirty curses break through. It is mostly women who scream,” the journalist describes the ceremony.

    At the same time, after the ceremony, Musaev noticed that there were enough simulators among the shouting ones – “they just enjoy swearing at a man with impunity.”

    https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/358107/

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