Police cracked down on illegal lockdown-violating parties in British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Scotland, and multiple locations in England. Meanwhile, the Berlin senate has issued an order requiring all passengers riding in vehicles in the city to wear masks.
In other news, the Italian president has tapped Mario Draghi, the former head of the ECB, to form a new government, thereby avoiding a general election.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Libertas Bella, Reader from Chicago, 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.
Czech Economy Expects Growth of 2.2% This Year Amid COVID-19 Crisis
In its new forecast, the Czech National Bank (CNB) has improved its estimate of economic growth this year but worsened its estimate for next year. The bank expects the Czech economy to grow by 2.2 percent this year and by 3.8 percent next year.
In its previous November forecast, the Czech National Bank expected growth of 1.7 percent this year and 4.2 percent in 2022.
Last year, according to Tuesday’s preliminary data from the Czech Statistical Office, the Czech economy fell sharply due to the coronavirus crisis as GDP dropped by 5.6 percent. However, this number was much lower than previous estimates by economists, the Ministry of Finance, and the Czech National Bank.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GME, AMC Suddenly Panic-Bid as Robinhood Lifts Trading Restrictions
Stock trading app Robinhood removed temporary trading restrictions on all stocks including GameStop and AMC Entertainment after a tumultuous week for markets.
The company issued an update on its website late on Thursday, saying:
“There are currently no temporary limits to increasing your positions.”
And that appears to have been enough to enable the buying-panic to resume in these (once) heavily shorted stocks…
GME has been halted twice and is up over 50%…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary: PM Orban Announces Economic Relaunch
After successfully fighting off the most dire economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Hungary is now launching a new economic recovery program, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday at an online conference organized by the Hungarian Industry and Trade Chamber (MKIK).
Orban said that before the epidemic, the Hungarian economy reached record heights, but the crisis caused by the current crisis gave the economy a “big punch to the gut” and put Hungary and other nations on the defensive.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Democrats Shoot Down Amendment to Withhold Money From Schools That Refuse to Open
Democratic senators voted unanimously against a Republican amendment to the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that would withhold tax dollars from schools that are refusing to reopen for students over COVID-19.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Who’s Hiring and Who’s Firing: Government Accounted for 88% of All January Job Gains
It may not have been as ugly as the December payrolls report (which we today learned was actually —227K, far worse than the —140K initially reported), but coming in at just 49K, January’s job gains were less than half the 105K expected. Worse, of that 49K, a whopping 43K was government jobs meaning that just 6K private jobs total were added in January, a tiny fraction of the 163K consensus forecast.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
890 Thousand Excess Deaths Due to COVID and Lockdowns
We find that shocks to unemployment are followed by statistically significant increases in mortality rates and declines in life expectancy. We use our results to assess the long-run effects of the COVID-19 economic recession on mortality and life expectancy. We estimate the size of the COVID-19-related unemployment to be between 2 and 5 times larger than the typical unemployment shock, depending on race/gender, resulting in a 3.0% increase in mortality rate and a 0.5% drop in life expectancy over the next 15 years for the overall American population. We also predict that the shock will disproportionately affect African-Americans and women, over a short horizon, while white men might suffer large consequences over longer horizons. These figures translate in [to] a staggering 0.89 million additional deaths over the next 15 years.
This is from Francesco Bianchi, Giada Bianchi, and Dongho Song, “The Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Unemployment Shock on Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates,” NBER Working Paper No. 28304, December 2020.
An excerpt:
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. These numbers correspond to 0.24% and 0.37% of the projected US population at the 15— and 20-year horizons, respectively. For African— Americans, we estimate 180 thousand and 270 thousand excess deaths over the next 15 and 20 years, respectively. These numbers correspond to 0.34% and 0.49% of the projected African— American population at the 15— and 20-year horizons, respectively. For Whites, we estimate 0.82 and 1.21 million excess deaths over the next 15 and 20 years, respectively. These numbers correspond to 0.30% and 0.44% of the projected White population at the 15— and 20-year horizons, respectively. These numbers are roughly equally split between men and women.
[Comment: I think the title of the article is inaccurate. It should rather read “At Least 890,000 Excess Deaths Due to Lockdown Response to Covid”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Amy Siskind Calls for the Doxxing of Federal Agents and Their Families
Leftist activist and The Weekly List podcaster Amy Siskind called for the doxxing of federal agents making arrests in Portland and their family members on Friday.
“It would be helpful if we could start to identify these storm troopers. This monster has a mother. Maybe a wife and family. They should be publicly named — and of course held accountable when this reign of terror is over,” Siskind tweeted, calling the city’s state of affairs “Trump’s America.”
Siskind has been criticizing the lawful arrests of violent Antifa militants and instigators amid the Portland riots.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Andy Ngo Threatens to Sue Portland ‘Super Antifa’ Activist for Defamation
Journalist Andy Ngo has threatened to sue a prominent Black Lives Matter-Antifa activist in Portland who has accused Ngo, without evidence, of providing “kill lists” to neo-Nazis, and other crimes.
Ngo’s attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, wrote a cease and desist letter to accuser Gregory McKelvey on Thursday.
“At no point in time has Mr. Ngo ever provided a ‘kill list’ — or any such type of list — to Neo-Nazis, extremists, or any other organization. The magnitude of this utter fabrication, which accuses Mr. Ngo of conspiracy to commit murder and related felonies, is staggering and, needless to say, irreparably damaging to Mr. Ngo,” Dhillon wrote in the letter, which Ngo published on his Twitter page.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Administration Sacrificing Jobs, Destroying Oil and Gas Industry
America’s decent into insanity has begun, via Joe Biden and the Left’s insane obsession with a non-issue — climate change. Naturally there are variances in weather, and things change. This is only normal, if one looked back in history, one would readily see this.
If you visit this site on climate history, you will notice two things right away: First, right now, today, the earth is cooling. Maybe that’s why the climate alarmists had to change the name from global warming to climate change? Second, the earth throughout time has naturally warmed and cooled. So much for climate change.
Instead of a focus on making America better, Biden’s administration is laser focused on battling the nonexistent behemoth called climate change. Remember when they used to call it global warming? You know, back when Al Gore made millions hoodwinking people into thinking the end of life, as we know it was just around the corner? By the way, Gore’s cries of impending disaster did not come true, not ONE — neither did anyone else’s.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
BitChute is a video sharing platform that was founded in 2017 and has become one of the most popular free speech focused YouTube alternatives with tens of millions of monthly visits.
Its founder, Ray Vahey, stated that he was motivated to start the site to do something about the growing levels of censorship and demonetization on YouTube.
BitChute caters to a wide range of interests and some of its many content categories include “Anime & Animation,” “DIY & Gardening,” “Gaming,” “Health & Medical,” “News & Politics,” “Pets & Wildlife,” “Spirituality & Faith,” and “Travel.”
However, political news and commentary videos are generally the most popular on the site with its most subscribed channels and trending videos covering politics and current events.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bongino: “Monday Looks Good” For Parler to Return Online
Authored by Annaliese Levy via SaraACarter.com
Dan Bongino, co-owner of Parler, told “Hannity” Thursday night that Parler may be up and running by Monday of next week.
Parler has been offline for nearly a month after Amazon, Apple and Google all removed the app from their platforms for failure to moderate “egregious content” related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats Want to Revise Section 230, Make Social Platforms Liable for User Posts
Democrat senators introduced a bill that could make Big Tech companies, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google, liable for harmful content on their platforms that results in real-world violence, such as the events of January 6.
The bill might not get the support of Republicans, who, during the previous administration, proposed several revisions of Section 230 to prevent Big Tech platforms from censoring conservative voices.
On Friday, Democrat Senators Mazie Hirono, Mark Warner, and Amy Klobuchar, representing Hawaii, Virginia, and Minnesota respectively, introduced a new bill dubbed the SAFE TECH act.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Failed Social Network Bebo Set to Return, Preemptively Bans Trump
Bebo is a social media blast from the past you’ve probably never heard of — but it plans to relaunch now with some very “modern” and even “avant-garde” censorship features: banning users even before they try to sign up, and even before the site itself launches.
This is true of at least one potential user: if Donald Trump ever thought he might give Bebo a try, its co-founder Michael Birch made it very clear that the former US president has been banned in advance.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Man Friday: Florida Traumatized as Florida Man With Florida Forehead Tattoo Arrested
Some weeks it’s difficult to pick Florida Man Friday’s lead story, just because Florida’s best-in-the-nation sunshine law serves up a smorgasbord to rival the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s Palace.
Other weeks, one story stands out — I mean really stands out — so far in front of the others that it makes my job easier than the breeze in some old Jimmy Buffett song.
This is one of those weeks.
So without further ado, come sail away on another thrilling…
Florida Man Friday!
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fox News Cancels Lou Dobbs’ Show, Day After Billion-Dollar SmartMatic Lawsuit
It’s probably just a coincidence, but…
A day after voting software company SmartMatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News and three of its hosts — Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro — over voting-machine-fraud claims, The LA Times reports that, according to a Fox News representative who confirmed the cancellation, Fox News has canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Head of Strategic Command Says U.S. Nuke War With China, Russia a “Real Possibility”
The US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) warns that a nuclear war with Russia and China is a “real possibility” unless the U.S. beefs up its nuclear arsenal.
“There is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons, if they perceived a conventional loss would threaten the regime or state,” Vice Adm. Charles Richard wrote in the February edition of the US Naval Institute’s monthly magazine.
In response, the U.S. Military must “shift its principal assumption from ‘nuclear employment is not possible’ to ‘nuclear employment is a very real possibility,’ and act to meet and deter that reality,” according to Richard.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hot Mic Catches House Democrats Mocking Request to Recite Pledge of Allegiance
Democratic House Judiciary members were caught Thursday on a hot microphone mocking Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL) for his request to recite the pledge of allegiance before every meeting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How Phony Coronavirus “Fear Videos” Were Used as Psychological Weapons to Bring America to Her Knees
If you were online during January 2020 you likely saw the barrage of video clips that were supposedly coming out of China depicting ghastly “Coronavirus” scenes.
Most of those videos have been quietly wiped off the internet, but back in January and February those grisly videos were a viral sensation and they scared the sense out of Americans.
The videos captured supposed Coronavirus victims in various stages of pandemic horror. Some showed people foaming at the mouth and collapsing in the streets, while others featured ominous government officials wearing Hazmat suits, hovering over lifeless bodies struck down from the virus.
It was a virtual buffet of fear-porn, and Americans couldn’t get enough of it.
Personally, I saw hundreds of those videos. The comments from people sharing the clips would range from sarcastic “Just the flu” type stuff — intended to mock and shame anyone who tried to downplay the seriousness of the virus — to wild conspiracy theories claiming Coronavirus caused brain swelling, spontaneous convulsions, and instant death.
It was some of the most powerful video propaganda I’ve ever witnessed.
Imagine being a soccer mom and logging onto Facebook and seeing your sister-in-law’s post of a Chinese man foaming at the mouth and dropping dead, with the caption “Just the flu ??” You keep scrolling down your timeline and see the same clip over and over, and other similar shock videos shared by neighbors, friends, and people you work with.
You’d lose your mind, and rightfully so. That’s powerful messaging and it had a major impact on the American psyche, day in and day out for two months straight.
For me, being a suspicious person by nature, it all felt very hysterical, staged, and phony. But at a time when fear, confusion, and distrust were at an all-time high, it was virtually impossible to talk rationally about the virus with friends and family who were sucked in by the “terror propaganda.”
It’s understandable because even though I didn’t buy into the hype, there was still a nagging voice in the back of my head whispering “what if…”
And even that quiet little “what if” was tremendously powerful.
In just two short months Americans were whipped into a fear-frothing frenzy which set the table for the tyrannical lockdowns and mask mandates that would follow. Lockdowns that consumed our nation, pitted neighbor against neighbor, struck down our booming economy, and wiped out small businesses from coast to coast.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Leftist Journalist Regrets Calling for Silicon Valley Censorship After it Happens to Him
A leftist journalist expressed regret about calling for Silicon Valley to censor content after it happened to him.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lies, Rewritten History, And a Bust in the Oval Office
On the first day of his occupation of the White House Oval Office, it was reported that Joe Biden quickly removed the bust of Winston Churchill and replaced it with one of Cesar Chavez. This move is supposed to demonstrate Biden’s support for the working man.
Well, here are facts about Cesar Chavez that you will never read in a school text book or current history book:
There is no evidence that Cesar Chavez ever worked in a farm field in his life. He was a pool room thug selected and hand picket by radical communist organizer Saul Alinsky to create unrest among farm workers.
Chavez was well trained in the Alinsky propaganda and organizing techniques that are, still today, recognized as the most effective tools to misdirect and force radical ideas into the general population.
Cesar Chavez never tried to organize real migrant workers — those who had no real home, who carried their belongings on their backs and were basically nomads on the road.
For the most part, the workers which Chavez picked on were not migrants, instead, lived in nice homes, in stable neighborhoods and made a decent wage. The only migration they did was to move from farm to farm in their area to harvest the crops. It provided them steady work with farmers who regularly employed them. At night, they slept in their own beds.
Chavez never organized “non-union” workers. Most were already members of the Teamster’s Union. What Chavez sold to the nation as a fight against “non-union” lettuce and grapes was really a jurisdictional fight against the Teamsters. Pretty hard to call the Teamsters “non-union.”
And so, for more than ten years, Cesar Chavez used the media, politicians, Hollywood, and college students to change the buying habits of the nation and paint a picture of big business oppressing the poor.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Matt Gaetz: 60-Day Stand-Down is Part of Plan to Build Woke Military
“They want the military on their side, it is pure power politics,” he said. “They are going to use Jan. 6 as a justification” for their long-held goal to build a “woke military.”
The Defense Department ordered a 60-day stand-down to root out “troops with extremists views, ties or activities.” The FBI has opened hundreds of investigations for so-called extremism into troops and veterans already this year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
MSNBC Host Suggests Treating COVID Lockdown Skeptics Like Domestic Terrorists
An MSNBC host suggested that Americans who criticize COVID lockdowns should be treated as domestic terrorists and hit with drone strikes and it barely even caused a ripple.
Nicole Wallace compared people who hold such opinions to Anwar al-Awlaki, a propagandist for Al-Qaeda who was killed in Yemen by a U.S. drone strike.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly Two-Thirds of Republicans Say They Would Leave Party if Trump Started His Own
Nearly two-thirds of Republican voters have said that they would leave their party and join one started by former President Donald Trump if he choose to start one, a recent survey found.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYC, Portland, Seattle ‘Anarchist Jurisdiction’ Labels May Go Away: White House
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the Biden administration will be “charting our own path” in response to a question about whether New York City, Portland and Seattle will lose their federal “anarchist jurisdiction” labels.
Psaki did not directly say whether the designation bestowed upon the Big Apple by the Trump administration’s Justice Department and White House budget office would remain — but hinted it would not.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Teachers in Oregon are refusing to return to work, even after they were pushed to the front of the vaccination line.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown allowed teachers and school staff to begin receiving vaccines on January 25 — ahead of residents ages 80 years and older — after teachers said they would not return to in-person learning without vaccinations.
Now, they are refusing to go back to work, despite receiving vaccines. Two of the state’s teacher unions, The Oregon Education Association and the Portland Association of Teachers, are backing the decision.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Petition to Recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is Fewer Than 100,000 Votes Away From Success
The California petition to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is on the brink of success.
Supporters of the recall effort, who argue, among other things, that Newsom’s strict lockdowns and economic restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic have crippled the state, have until March 17, 2021 to reach 1,495,709 signatures.
California Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, a Republican representing the state’s 6th district, announced the current tally has eclipsed 1.4 million.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pro Trump Brand Covfefe Coffee Blacklisted by Chase Bank Payment Processor
US businesses who are outspoken in their support for former President Trump continue to get canceled, with little or no transparent and clear explanation, leading them to think the reasons must be purely political.
Covfefe Coffee, who just got kicked off Chase Bank’s WePay payment processor, is the latest example, and its spokesperson reacted to the news by telling National File the situation in the US is already comparable to China’s social credit system.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protection or Pain Treatment: Choosing Between Your Gun and Medical Marijuana
If you’ve ever filled out a Form 4473, you’re familiar with the Question 11e: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or other controlled substance?” In case you thought there was any ambiguity with regard to medical marijuana, you were wrong. Indeed, there is a warning in bold right underneath the question that clarifies…
For those who use medical marijuana and wish to protect themselves with firearms, there is a choice: you can keep your guns or you can keep your grass or you can break the law.
| — Hat tip: Libertas Bella | [Return to headlines] |
Psaki: “Even After You’re Vaccinated, Social Distancing and Wearing Masks Will be Essential” (Video)
It was never about a virus.
“Social distancing” (Communism) and mask-wearing is here to stay.
The Democrats are never going to let go of their newfound power.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “Even after you’re vaccinated, social distancing and wearing a mask will essential.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mathematician Edward Solomon looked into the results of the 2020 election at a precinct level and determined they are “impossible” and “cannot occur naturally.”
The results of the 2020 election are simply not possible. When looking at the precinct level, mathematician Edward Solomon says computers must have used an algorithm to change the results.
OAN reports:…
For some reason the Democrats, most Republicans and Big Media don’t care what Solomon uncovered. They are all scared of the truth.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Approves Resolution to Move Toward Coronavirus Relief After VP Harris Casts Tie-Breaking Vote
The Senate has approved a budget resolution for the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package after Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the 51-50 split.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Stow Native, Formally Indicted for Attempting to Help ISIS
Cole Bridges is charged with trying to provide material support to a terrorist organization. He remains in the custody of US Marshals.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Federal Mask Police Are Coming for You
Even though the number of new COVID cases in the United States has been dropping precipitously, a strict new federal mask mandate is being implemented from coast to coast, and it will be enforced by the TSA and other law enforcement authorities. If you use public transportation without wearing a mask, the “mask police” will find you, and there is a very good chance that you could end up behind bars. If you find this to be offensive, that is too bad, because in “Amerika” you are not permitted to have dissenting views. You will either obey or the cold, hard boot of the government will come down on your neck.
Joe Biden originally issued an executive order about mask wearing on January 21st, and now the CDC has issued their own mandate that makes things even stricter.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
When President Trump called out voting fraud and election irregularities, the media screamed that he was “inciting” an insurrection. The irregularities were caught on video in many cases, and over 200 affidavits were provided from witnesses that observed outright fraud, yet mentioning them is now a an offense that causes a ban on social media.
Videos showing or discussing election fraud are removed by YouTube.
Just asking questions about the irregularities that have been documented is enough for the media to go into a frenzy with claims that the person mentioning it is trying to incite a riot, and those that protest the the inaction over the voting fraud, are labeled domestic terrorists.
The truth is quite literally treated as “insurrection,” now, to which liberal talking heads are pushing the idea that the U.S. government must treat those protesting election fraud as “domestic insurgents.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
University Professor Punished After Going Viral for Speaking at Trump Rally
The University of Colorado Boulder violated the First Amendment by imposing sanctions on a visiting professor who went viral online. The professor, John Eastman, addressed Trump supporters on January 6 and went viral on Twitter and Facebook.
Critics of the professor’s speech on January 6 claim that he “incited” the rioters. However, the professor’s speech does not qualify as unlawful incitement under the provisions of the First Amendment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
What Are the Cultural Revolution’s Lessons for Our Current Moment?
The great question of China’s Maoist experiment now looms over the United States: Why did a powerful society suddenly start destroying itself?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Wisconsin Governor Issues Statewide Mask Mandate After Legislature Shot Down His Previous Order
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has issued a new statewide mask mandate following the state Legislature’s vote to repeal his previous order.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I promised I would: never play politics with your health, trust and follow science and public health experts, and never stop doing everything I can to keep you healthy and safe. I haven’t broken those promises and I won’t start today,” said Evers, adding that his efforts to protect Wisconsinites have been met with “lawsuits, political rhetoric, and obstruction.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canada to Use Controversial Supreme Court “Hate Speech” Decision as the Basis for “Online Hate” Laws
Canada intends to base its new online hate law on a previous, controversial Whatcott Supreme Court decision, that some legal experts and lawyers warned went as far as to “outlaw” truth as no longer a viable legal defense.
The French-language website La Presse writes that the initiative to pass the legislation that would ban “hateful and violent (content) and child pornography” on the internet comes from Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ontario Partiers Were Slammed With Over $10k in Fines After Hosting an Illegal Gathering
A group of Ontario partiers are facing over $10,000 in fines after hosting an illegal gathering on Thursday.
According to the City of Guelph, a bylaw team responded to a noise complaint at approximately 12:00 a.m. on February 4.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pricey Parties: Seven New Tickets Issued in Waterloo Region for Illegal Social Gatherings
Enforcement officers across Waterloo region have handed out seven new tickets to partygoers defying the provincial lockdown and stay-at home orders.
Four of the tickets were issued between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3. The remaining three were from the previous enforcement period, but were not included in last week’s update from the region.
During a press conference on Friday, Feb. 5, Regional Chair Karen Redman said the charges were all laid under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three Mississauga Residents Charged After Police Break Up Illegal Gaming House
Multiple people, including three Mississauga residents, are facing charges after allegedly being found in an illegal gaming house in Toronto.
The suspects have also been charged with violating the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, which prohibits large gatherings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toronto police say that in the evening hours of Jan. 29, 2021, officers attended an address in the Dundas Street and Spadina Avenue area to investigate reports of a person with a gun. Police allege that officers entered the basement of the home in question and discovered 14 people engaged in what appeared to be illegal gaming.
Police allege that a quantity of cash was recovered at the scene.
According to police, three Mississauga residents—Yi-Mie Chen, 38, Tra-My, Pham, 46, and Mong Ha, Liew, 51—are facing charges for being found in a betting or gambling house.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two Men Fined $1,000 for Exceeding Gathering Limits at Halifax Residence
HALIFAX — Two men have been fined $1,000 for violating the Health Protection Act, after police responded to a gathering Thursday night in Halifax.
Halifax Regional Police say at approximately 10:45 p.m. on Feb. 4, officers responded to a social gathering at a Halifax residence that ‘was exceeding the provincially mandated gathering limits’.
The current limit for household gatherings in Nova Scotia is 10 people.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vancouver Party Host’s Online Fundraiser ‘Laughable, Ridiculous’: Councillor
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A Vancouver man’s decision to launch an online fundraiser to help cover legal costs and recoup his losses after his “makeshift nightclub” was shut down by police is being slammed by a local politician.
On Thursday, Mohammad Movassaghi started a GoFundMe with a goal of $100,000. The page was taken offline soon after it appeared, raising just $260. Movassaghi was arrested last weekend, and is facing two criminal charges after allegedly defying provincial health orders to host gatherings in his home. The penthouse parties reportedly featured tables, menus, cash tills, bartenders, and a DJ.
In his since-deleted post, he said he was raising money to recoup $15,000 he lost when police confiscated cash and liquor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chief Eurocrat Admits Brexit Britain is Vaccine ‘Speedboat’ Compared to EU
After weeks of trying to apportion blame elsewhere and even threatening British drugs supplies, the head of the European Commission has admitted to the European Union’s vaccine failures.
Speaking to European media including France’s La Croix, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, however, continued to defend the EU’s vaccination strategy, which has resulted in a far smaller proportion of EU27 residents being vaccinated compared to in the UK. Rather than each European country seeking its own vaccine contracts, the Commission demanded that all contracts be centralised and handled by Brussels.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
First Minister of Northern Ireland Launches Public Petition to Ditch EU Deal
The First Minister of Northern Ireland has taken the deeply unusual step of launching a public petition to Parliament to scrap restrictions imposed on trade between the province and the British mainland by Boris Johnson’s deals with the European Union.
The British government’s official petitions system, usually meant for members of the general public to bring up issues with the state, is set out so any petition that reaches 10,000 signatures will get a government response. If a petition reaches 100,000 signatures, the issue will even be considered for a debate in Parliament. In an unusual step, the leader of one of the United Kingdom’s home nations — Arlene Foster of Northern Ireland, which has its own regional parliament at Stormont — is now using this system to petition the central government directly.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Birthrate to be Talking Point of 2022 Presidential Election
French presidential candidates are making the topic of birthrates a campaign issue for next year’s election after a report revealed 2020 had one of the lowest numbers of births in decades.
The statistics, released by the INSEE in January, show that France saw just 740,000 births in 2020, one of the lowest recorded since the end of the Second World War. The figures translate to a fertility rate which has fallen to 1.84 children per woman.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Berlin Mandates Medical Masks for Passengers in Private Cars
Passengers in cars traveling in Germany’s capital city are now ordered to wear medical-grade face masks, the government there has decreed.
The Berlin Senate has modified local COVID regulations to include a new rule imposing unprecedented medical tyranny upon travelers in the city.
“All passengers in a private car will have to cover their mouth and nose in the future,” Berliner Morgenpost reports. “However, this does not apply to the driver. Members of your own household are also exempt from this obligation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Six Arrested Inc. Magistrate for Bankruptcy Corruption
21 probed in Brindisi inc. 2 other magistrates
(ANSA) — BRINDISI, JAN 28 — Italian police on Thursday arrested six people including professionals and a magistrate at Brindisi’s bankruptcy court on suspicion of corruption in judicial acts.
Three of them were detained in jail and three placed under house arrest.
The magistrate arrested is civil justice Gianmarco Galiano.
In all, 21 people have been placed under investigation including another two magistrates.
As well as judge Galiano, the othe two people taken to jail were bsuinessman Massimo Bianco and accountant Francesco Pepe Milizia.
Placed under house arrest, on the other hand, were lawyer Federica Spina, businessman Francesco Bianco, and the president of the Brindisi engineers guild, Annalisa Formosi.
The other two magistrates under investigation are Francesco Giliberti and Giuseppe Marseglia, from Bari.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
No Election! Top Eurocrat to Form EU ‘Technocratic’ Government in Italy
Italian president Sergio Mattarella has called on former European Central bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi to form a new technocrat government following the resignation of Giuseppe Conte rather than call fresh elections.
Mr Draghi accepted the offer to form a government on Wednesday after a meeting with the Italian president and will begin talks with various political parties in the parliament to secure the majority needed to properly govern the country. Britain’s Daily Telegraph responded to the decision, calling it a breath-taking stitch-up.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Arrests 16-Year-Old Syrian Youth Suspected of Planning Terror Act
Norway’s domestic security agency said on Friday that a Syrian teenager has been arrested in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on suspicion of planning an act of terror.
The agency, known by its acronym PST, said the suspect, who was arrested Thursday, was a boy aged 16.
The VG newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, said the suspect, who was not identified, has sympathies with the ISIS extremist group. He had arrived in Norway through a family reunification scheme.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Won’t Extradite Autistic Boy to the Netherlands
A court in Warsaw, Poland, has ruled that 8-year-old Martin, a boy with autism, will remain with his parents who are being prosecuted by Dutch authorities with a European arrest warrant for alleged abduction.
Martin’s parents are a Russian-Australian couple, Ekaterina and Conrad Hertog, who have been prosecuted by Dutch authorities through a European arrest warrant since June 2020.
In 2018, the autistic boy was forcibly taken away from his parents by Dutch social services, who accused the parents of neglect after neighbors made reports to authorities. The neighbors claimed that the boy was a victim of domestic abuse. For the first 13 months, the parents were forbidden to even see their child. In the end, Ekaterina and Conrad decided to flee to Poland with their son.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Punitive Green Policies: UK’s ‘Conservative’ Govt to Tax Meat and Cheese
The UK government is considering proposals to tax all areas of life depending on how polluting they are, with much higher house heating and grocery bills a likely outcome for consumers.
Many Britons look back with amazement, if not bewilderment, at the fact the UK government was once so penny-pinching it even taxed windows, leading to many to brick up their lights to save the bill and, it is claimed, leaving us with the saying “daylight robbery” of a particularly egregious or cruel theft. While this may feel like a regressive tax punishing the poor from a less enlightened time, Britain is now looking to top that achievement in sheer vindictiveness, by taxing meat and cheese.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: St Andrews University Students Slammed After Throwing Lockdown Party With Over 40 People
Students at St Andrews University who broke lockdown with a party of more than 40 people were told there was ‘no place for them’ in a stark warning by the principal.
Students at the top uni, where Prince William and wife Kate Middleton met each other, were told their actions put lives at risk, as well as their academic futures.
Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal and Vice-Chancellor at St Andrews, warned students ‘this is not a game’ as she praised the majority who had adhered to coronavirus restrictions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Rutherglen Cops Illegal House Party Turns Into Rammy With One Arrested
Rutherglen police officers are being probed by their own colleagues for staging a lockdown-breaching bash that ended with one of them being arrested.
One officer has been charged over an alleged assault during the gathering on Saturday night.
And several colleagues are under investigation for breaching lockdown rules on indoor gatherings at a £300,000 semi-detached home in Rutherglen.
A female officer has appeared in court accused of attacking a male colleague at the four-bedroom home.
All the police officers present are now being probe by top brass for potential Covid-19 regulation breaches.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Preschool Ordered to Purge Suspected Islamic Extremists From Board
A preschool in the Swedish city of Gothenburg has been ordered to replace its entire board or face closure after security police found ties between its founding chairman and violent Islamist extremists operating in the country.
The school, called Snodroppen (“Snowflake”), reportedly has links to the controversial and secretive group, the School of Science, according to media reports. “If they in principle don’t replace the entire board and the principal, they cannot continue to run the business,” Amanda Larsson of the Gothenburg preschool board said, as cited by Swedish media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The French Goverment is Trying to Silence Popular Conservtaive Commentator Eric Zemmour
The campaign against influential conservatives in France is ramping up, and this time, popular French conservative polemicist Éric Zemmour is in the crosshairs.
He is being targeted by a Journalistic Ethics and Mediation Council created in December 2019 on the initiative of the French government and President Emmanuel Macron. Although this Council has no power to impose sanctions, it is there to exert pressure journalists over so-called ethical and moral offenses, whereas, by European standards, the freedom of expression of journalists and commentators is already particularly limited in France because of the existence of freedom-destroying laws that are unique in Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Chancellor Slams ‘Moving Goalposts’ on End of COVID-19 Lockdown as Jab Target Raised to 32m
British Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Thursday that some 32 million people — including healthy individuals between 50 and 65 years old — may have to be vaccinated before the all COVID-19 lockdown restrictions are lifted.
British Chancellor Rishi Sunak has reportedly sided with scores of Tory backbench COVID rebels after the government and its advisors were accused of “moving the goalposts” on ending the lockdown.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK Could Get ‘More or Less Back to Normal’ By Summer: Govt Scientific Advisor
A member of the government’s influential scientific committee has said that pending the continued successful rollout of the coronavirus vaccines, the UK could get “more or less back to normal” by Summer.
On Wednesday, the government announced that Britain had hit the milestone of giving the first dose of the vaccines to 10 million of its inhabitants. The news came as England’s Chief Medical Officer revealed that the country is now past the peak of the second wave of the Chinese coronavirus, with weekly deaths falling by 13 per cent and hospitalisations by 22 per cent. The UK is on target to vaccinate the country’s most vulnerable citizens — including those over 70 and frontline healthcare workers — an estimated 14.6 million, by February 15th.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Expels Three Chinese Spies Posing as Journalists
AFP — Britain has expelled three Chinese spies working in the UK while posing as journalists over the past year, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
The three were understood to be intelligence officers for Beijing’s Ministry of State Security, the paper said Thursday, citing an unnamed senior government source.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: COVID: Halls Party With 150 Students Stopped in Sheffield
Police handed out £34,000 in fines after breaking up a student party attended by more than 150 “incredibly selfish” revellers.
Some partygoers fled through fire exits and set off alarms when officers were called to the Ranmoor Student Village in Sheffield.
South Yorkshire Police said one officer was injured amid the rush to leave.
The organisers have been fined £10,000 and more than 30 fines of £800 were issued.
Officers were called to the site by university security staff at 01:13 GMT on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Coronavirus: Police Break Up Party in Balham
Twenty-five people have been reported for the consideration of fixed penalty notices after a ‘blatant breach’ of coronavirus rules.
Police were called at 4.44pm on January 29, to an address in Rinaldo Road, at the junction with Balham High Road SW12, after reports of loud music and a large number of people in attendance.
Officers attended and found 25 people in the address having a party.
The group was dispersed and all 25 were reported for the consideration of fixed penalty notices of £800 for breaking the rules designed to prevent the spread of the virus.
It comes after Wandsworth police had to shut down two illegal raves as London was plunged into Tier 4 in December.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A statue celebrating the life of a British war hero has been saved from removal by a Black Lives Matter inspired Labour council after the Conservative government announced stricter measures against left-wing iconoclastic assaults on British history.
The statue of General Sir Redvers Buller — who was awarded Britain’s highest gallantry decoration, the Victoria Cross, for saving the lives of his fellow soldiers while under enemy fire in the second Zulu war — has been spared from removal. The Labour council backed down after Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick introduced new regulations against targeting statues and monuments.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A civilian member of the Greater Manchester Police force resigned after she was found to have attended an illegal lockdown rave.
The staff member was caught defying Covid restrictions by attending an illegal rave with 4,000 others at Daisy Nook Country Park in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, on June 13.
A disciplinary hearing for ‘gross misconduct’ was brought against the unnamed employee, who resigned before it could take place on December 15.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Biden’s Drive to War in the Middle East
On Monday, Iran tested a new rocket. The Zuljanah rocket is a 25-meter (82-foot) three-stage rocket with a solid fuel engine for its first two stages and a liquid fuel rocket for its third stage. It can carry a 225 kg (496-pound) payload.
The Zuljanah’s thrust is 75 kilotons, which is far more than required to launch satellite into orbit. The large thrust makes the Zuljanah more comparable to an intercontinental ballistic missile than a space launch vehicle. The US’s LGM-30G Minuteman-III land-based ICBM for instance, has 90 kiloton thrust. The Zuljanah can rise to a height of 500 kilometers for low-earth orbit or, if launched as a missile, its range is 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) — far enough to reach Britain from Iran.
Israeli missile experts estimate that Iran has paid $250 million to develop the Zuljanah project. Monday’s rocket launch itself likely cost tens of millions of dollars.
Iran is in deep economic distress today. Between the COVID-19 global recession, Iran’s endemic corruption and mismanagement and US economic sanctions, 35% of Iranians live in abject poverty today. Iran’s rial has lost 80% of its value over the past four years. Official data place the unemployment rate at 25% but the number is thought to be much higher. Inflation last year stood at 44% overall. Food prices have risen 59%.
When viewed in the context of Iran’s impoverishment, the government’s investment in a thinly disguised ICBM program is all the more revealing. With 35% of the population living in utter destitution and food prices rising steeply, the regime has chosen ICBMs over feeding its people…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Signal Offers Workarounds for Iranian Users Blocked From Using the App
Iran is among those countries that look suspiciously at open source and strongly encrypted messaging app Signal — in fact, so much so, that the app just got blocked there.
Early reports last week said Signal was blocked, and this is now effectively confirmed by the app itself as it’s instructing its users on how to set up and use TLS proxies as a temporary workaround.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A day after Delhi Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against people who shared the ‘toolkit’ that exposed the global designs to destabilise India, they have now decided to write to tech-giant Google to get the IP address or the location to find out the origin of the document and who uploaded it on Google Drive.
According to the reports, the Delhi Police will now ask Google to trace the technical address of the culprits who first shared the documents on Google Drive to instigate riots in the national capital, which was later inadvertently shared by child-protestor Greta Thunberg revealing the dangerous conspiracy against India.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“No Room for Debate”: Beijing Imposes Sweeping Pro-China Curriculum on Hong Kong Schools
In yet more significant fallout and far-reaching impact from the so-called Hong Kong national security law imposed by Beijing in June of last year, HK authorities in concert with China have unveiled sweeping new ‘national security rules’ for schools.
Schools have been ordered to adopt the curriculum which instills “an affection for the Chinese people” and while at the same time weeding out potentially disloyal teachers. “As far as national security is concerned, there is no room for debate or compromise,” the new security directive for schools reads ominously.
The measures were announced late Thursday and as Bloomberg details, “will require primary and secondary school students to memorize the law’s offenses, which include subversion, secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Channel Migrants: Pilot of ‘Overcrowded’ Boat Jailed
An Iranian man who steered a group of migrants across the English Channel in a “dangerously overcrowded” small boat has been jailed for two years.
Sadrallah Bahador, 35, was picked up by a Border Force vessel from a rigid-hulled inflatable boat in July.
Bahador admitted assisting unlawful immigration at Canterbury Crown Court and was sentenced at the same hearing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Police Detected Almost 25% More Illegal Immigrants Last Year
The Czech Foreign Police detected 7,093 illegal migrants last year, which is almost 25 percent more compared to 2019. The higher number was greatly influenced by migrants detained over violating the government regulations that restrict the stay of foreigners due to the spread of COVID-19.
Compared to the previous year, on the other hand, the number of people detained at Czechia’s external Schengen border decreased as, according to the Director of the Foreign Police Milan Majer, traffic at international airports has dropped by almost 80 percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Migrant Known for Sex Attacks Arrested for New Attacks on Young Girls
An Albanian migrant was arrested by French police for multiple sexual assaults on very young girls riding public transport, according to reports.
The 19-year-old suspect was already known to authorities, having committed similar acts in 2018, an official source told French media.
On Monday, a father brought his 13-year-old daughter to a police station in Saint-Étienne to report a sexual assault that had taken place on a bus.
The girl said a man groped her buttocks and legs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Illegal Immigrant in Chios Stole Animals, Killed Them and Sold the Meat
The property of a resident in Chios was looted by an illegal immigrant who broke into his fenced farm in Vassilionikos, stole three chickens and two goats, killed them and sold the meat to other illegals, Proto Thema reported.
The theft and slaughter of the animals took place on Wednesday morning and the illegal immigrant was arrested on the same day by police officers of the island’s Immigration Management Department.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The pandemic has skewed crucial data on migration, leaving the Government ‘flying blind’ on the statistics, a study warns today.
Official ways of measuring how many foreigners are travelling to and from Britain have ‘fallen apart’ due to Covid disruptions.
Academics at Oxford University’s Migration Observatory conclude there is no reliable data on how many migrants arrived last year, how many emigrated, and what the impact on the overall population has been.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Orders COVID Tests for Arriving Travelers, ‘Asylum Seekers’ Exempt
Starting 6 February, all foreign citizens must produce a fresh negative COVID-19 test when entering Sweden, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has announced.
A negative COVID-19 test no more than 48 hours old will be required. The decision was made by the government at the request of the Public Health Agency due to the emergence of new, potentially more contagious coronavirus variants, national broadcaster SVT reported.
“The new virus variants are worrying”, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said at a press conference.
The same idea was echoed by Interior Minister Mikael Damberg.
“Today’s decision is important to reduce the influx of the new variants of the virus that have been discovered in several countries. According to the Swedish Public Health Agency, there is great uncertainty about the new variants, and even though there is now a certain spread in Sweden, it’s important that we take this step. This will reduce the risk of us getting an even greater spread”, Damberg said, stressing that there are a number of exceptions in place to make sure that the new rules “don’t strike a wrong note.”
One particular group that is spared the necessity of producing a negative COVID-19 test are asylum migrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Being Kind to Dogs is ‘Racist’, University Professor Says
Treating dogs humanely is racist, according to leftist university professor Katja Guenther.
Yes, really.
Guenther has published a book claiming that “white supremacy” is to blame for non-white people abusing animals.
Areomagazine.com reports: In her recent book The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals, Katja Guenther claims that dogs are being killed because of “capitalism, anthroparchy, white supremacy and patriarchy.” She argues that allowing dogs to sleep inside is a privilege reserved for the white and wealthy and that policies against keeping dogs chained up in backyards are intended to oppress people of color by imposing “middle-class norms of animal keeping in which companion animals are considered family and treated accordingly,” which ignore the fact that people of color “are themselves trapped in poverty, may have few options for legitimate income generation and possibly rely on their dogs for … status.”
Unfortunately Guenther’s misguided book is gaining traction. Shelter director Kristen Hassen opines that Guenther “gets it right” in concluding that “racism, classism and the caste system are at the heart of the broken animal sheltering institution.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bizarre Video Shows Man Freaking Out Over Woman Getting Too Close
What’s causing this rampant hysteria?
What kind of future impact will people being so terrorized by the proximity of other people have on society?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/02/05/report-uk-flying-blind-on-migration-numbers-as-extra-1-25m-people-appear-in-stats/
How can government be this incompetent? More likely intentional cover up and they were eventually forced to reveal the true number.
I don’t know if GoV covered it, but I believe that the biggest news in the Czech Republic is the supreme court’s decision to drop 5% limit for political parties to enter the parliament. It is a clear “Czech Deep State” attack on our fearless leader and provider, prime minister Babis.
I have always called for dropping the 5% limit, because I would often vote for small 3-4% parties, so I don’t complain, but the way they did it is kinda dodgy 🙂
I think the story was reported in Remix News. I considered the story too arcane for the news feed, but considering there is interest shown, I will submit it to the news feed.
Yes, it looks like it is a small matter, but it is going to have a huge impact on the next elections: Czech Prime minister, Andrej Babis, is said to be raging every day since the supreme court’s decision.
So what’s the limit now? I always figured that 3% was pretty ideal. If the political system still worked. Which it doesn’t
I think they dropped the limit altogether. It is so fresh that I am not sure 100% though.
ng Italy. The lights are going off across the West. To avoid an election where the people vote, Italy has a Rockefeller-Goldman Sachs technocrat running Italy.
Loving this cat more I read him
When Racism is used to Combat Racists
The Bull Shi# called Critical Race Theory
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/when-racism-is-used-to-combat-racists
RAP SINGER PITBULL IS REAL “WOKE”: WARNING OF COMMUNISM & HOW THIS SMELLS EXACTLY LIKE IT! (VIDEO)
https://www.rightjournalism.com/rap-singer-pitbull-is-real-woke-warning-of-communism-how-this-smells-exactly-like-it-video/