Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/27/2021

Demonstrators in Elizabeth City, North Carolina defied the curfew and marched to protest the fatal police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. Meanwhile, a new poll shows that 70% of American blacks support their local police departments.

In other news, the premier of Nova Scotia announced a two-week shutdown of the province in an effort to stem the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

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

Thanks to AA, Dean, Fjordman, 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
» Hungarian Economic Recovery Will Begin First in the Region: UK Analyst Firm
 
USA
» Activists, Media, And Twitter Mob Pressure Spotify to Deplatform Joe Rogan Over Vaccine Comments
» America First Patriot Nick Fuentes Put on No-Fly List
» Ashli Babbitt’s Family Moves to File Lawsuit Against U.S. Capitol Police, Attorney Says
» Community Generation Platform Locals Positions Itself for Growth
» Google’s “Private” Coronavirus Tracking App Wasn’t So Private After All
» Idaho Legislature Fast-Tracks ‘Critical Race Theory’ Bill Despite Student Protests
» L.A. Police Officer Invites Lebron James to a Discussion on Policing
» Musk Predicts Humans on Mars by 2026, But Says “A Bunch of People Will Die” In the Effort
» Muslim Group Offers Bitcoin for Murder of Cops, Tells US Jihadis to ‘Go to Protests to Carry Out Your Operations’
» Nationalism vs. Patriotism: What’s the Difference and Why it Matters
» Odysee Introduces Hyperchats
» Ohio Republicans Push 4 Bills Aimed at Protest Behavior
» Poll: 70% of Black People Support Local Police Departments
» Protests Underway Despite Curfew After Attorney Says Independent Autopsy Shows Andrew Brown Jr. Died of ‘Kill Shot’ To the Back of the Head
» Roku Blows the Whistle on YouTube’s “Anti-Competitive” Demands
» Sen. Jon Ossoff Blasts Big Tech for Being “Arbiters of Legitimate Speech”
» Tucker Carlson Says People Who Wear Masks Outside Should be Mocked
» Two Killed in Three LA Shootings That Led to Standoff and Gunfire on Orange County Freeway
» U.S. Plans to Give 60 Million Doses of AstraZeneca Vaccine to Other Countries
» U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations Calls on Biden to Appoint Special Envoy to Monitor, Combat ‘Islamophobia’
» ‘Vax Pass’: Chicago Plans to Require Vaccination in Order to Attend Concerts, Other Events
» WhatsApp Hands Out Cash to Oppose Vaccine Skepticism
 
Canada
» Dalhousie University to Investigate Students Fined for Public Health Violations
» Premier: Province-Wide Shut Down for Two Weeks
» Toronto Police Busted More Than 200 Illegal Parties Over the Weekend
 
Europe and the EU
» Bill Gates Demands United Kingdom Reverse Foreign Aid Cuts, Send Corona Vax Abroad
» Denmark Arrests 6 Men for Allegedly Joining, Financing ISIS
» Eurocrats Brand Brexit a ‘Historic Mistake’ Ahead of Ratifying Trade Deal
» France: Le Pen Asks Ex-Military to Join Her After Controversial ‘Civil War’ Letter
» French Generals Cause Backlash With ‘Civil War’ Warning
» German Judge Ruled Against Mandatory Masks for Kids. His Phone Was Seized. His Home Was Raided.
» Germany: Church Vandalized Almost Daily, People Defecate and Set Fires Inside it
» Green Party Election Victory Could Alter German-Hungarian Relations
» How Communist Hungary Broke the News Blackout on 1986 Chernobyl Disaster
» Hungary, Poland and Slovakia Stand in Solidarity With Czechia Over Vrbetice Explosion Scandal
» Muslim Disguised as Sikh Calls on Sikhs to Boycott French Products Because of Muhammad Cartoons
» Netherlands: Police Break Up Several King’s Night Parties, But “Surprisingly Quiet”
» Poland’s Civic Platform Endorses Controversial European Army
» Russia Involvement in Czechia Blast Must be Investigated Without ‘Hysteria or Speculation’, Says Czech President
» The West Should Not Lecture the East on Democracy, Says Merkel
» UK Hiring COVID Marshals to Patrol Streets Until 2023 Despite Lockdown Restrictions Supposedly Ending in June
» UK: ‘Illegal Rave’ Near Merstham Shutdown for COVID Breach
» UK: Extinction Rebellion Protestor Handed Conditional Discharge Over Shell Protest
» UK: Green Enforcer: MI6 Spying on Nations to Ensure They Abide by Climate Change Pledges, Chief Admits
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Abbas to Call Off Elections, Blame Israel
» Ramadan in Jerusalem: Muslims Screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ Attack Israeli Police
 
Middle East
» John Kerry Denies Informing Iranian Leader of Israeli Operations in Syria During Obama Administration
 
South Asia
» Bangladesh: Muslim High School Headmaster Marries Minor Hindu Student as His Fourth Wife
» Indonesia: Muslims Call for Beheading of Man Who Claims to be New Prophet, Police Ask Interpol to Hunt for Him
» Pakistan: Muslims Kidnap Hindu Girl, Force Her to Convert to Islam, She Cries and Pleads for Help on Video
» Prominent Muslim Leader in Sri Lanka Arrested for 2019 Easter Bombing
 
Far East
» Chicoms Hit Citizens With 10 Point Social Credit Score Penalty for Not Wearing a Mask in Public
» China Demands Australia Support the Annexing of Taiwan and Not ‘Meddle and Give the Wrong Signal to Independence Forces’ If it Wants Trade War to End — After Chilling Warning of ‘Drums of War’
» China is Extending Its Totalitarian Controls to the Rest of the World
» China Directs Live Stream Platforms to Collect Social Credit Codes of Users
» ‘Woke’ Corporations Use the Chinese Model
 
Australia — Pacific
» Outrage as Innocent Schoolboys Are Forced to Stand in Front of Class and Labelled ‘Oppressors’ — All Because They Are White, Male and Christian
 
Immigration
» After Tunisian Migrant Murders Policewoman in France, Le Pen Denounces Macron for Allowing Another Terrorist Attack
» Black Axe Mafia: Italian Police Arrest 30 Nigerian Suspected Gang Members
» Congolese Migrant Raped and Murdered a French Trans Man in LGBT Hate Crime
» Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi Called on European Countries to Participate in “Regulating Legal Immigration, “ Noting That His Country Hosts “About Six Million Immigrants.”
» Greece: 57 Members of Criminal Migrant Gang Arrested in Athens
» Greece Arrests Egyptian for Spying on Military Bases and People Smuggling
» Kinney County Officials Declare Area a Non-Sanctuary for Migrants
 

Hungarian Economic Recovery Will Begin First in the Region: UK Analyst Firm

The Hungarian economy is expected to recover from the shock caused by the coronavirus epidemic earlier than in other countries in the Central European region due to its rapid vaccine rollout, according to recent forecasts by Capital Economics, one of London’s largest financial and economic analysts.

Hungary’s growth rate may reach 6 percent next year, although the value of Hungary’s gross domestic product is likely to fall slightly short of the pre-pandemic level even in 2022.

[Comment: The Hungarian economy will recover even more if the lockdowns are ended.]

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

Activists, Media, And Twitter Mob Pressure Spotify to Deplatform Joe Rogan Over Vaccine Comments

Joe Rogan, one of the world’s most popular podcasters, is being targeted again, this time for sharing his opinion on whether young people should get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The attempts to cancel Rogan began after a clip from his recent podcast with comedian Dave Smith went viral on Twitter.

In the clip, Rogan begins by stating “I think for the most part it’s safe to get vaccinated, I do, I do” but adds that in his opinion, young and healthy people shouldn’t get vaccinated:…

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

America First Patriot Nick Fuentes Put on No-Fly List

America First host Nick Fuentes can no longer fly on an airplane. He announced Tuesday that he couldn’t check into his flight because the authorities didn’t clear him to fly.

[Comment: Styxhexenhammer made I think an interesting point in a tweet: “Keep in mind the feds ignored intel regarding the Tsarnaevs. Congrats nick you are now considered worse than people who put nails and explosives in pressure cookers and slaughter random people. Shows us where the Beijing Biden admins’ attention is at.”]

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

Ashli Babbitt’s Family Moves to File Lawsuit Against U.S. Capitol Police, Attorney Says

The attorney representing the family of Ashli Babbitt said that the family will be filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Capitol Police.

Babbitt was killed during the riots at the U.S. Capitol in early January. The Department of Justice announced earlier this month that it would not be pursuing charges against the officer who shot Babbitt.

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

Community Generation Platform Locals Positions Itself for Growth

Locals Technology, the company behind the alternative, creator-centric multimedia platform Locals secured a $3.8 million seed investment round led by Craft Ventures.

The platform was founded in 2019, amid growing discontent in the ranks of independent creators who publish and monetize their content on giant social networks like YouTube. Locals aims to give creators both more control and more revenue, and a platform where they are free from demonetization, canceling, and shadow banning.

Locals promises creators three times more revenue as they publish content in their communities, where their subscribers can also share their content, while this social network makes money by taking a 10 percent cut.

The list of new investors includes former Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, a maverick Democrat who has in the past criticized and even sued Google, accusing the behemoth of infringing on her free speech by suspending her account during her campaign.

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

Google’s “Private” Coronavirus Tracking App Wasn’t So Private After All

Back in April 2020, Big Tech firms Apple and Google released their frameworks for contact tracing in an effort to help governments track the coronavirus. When the frameworks were released, both the firms vehemently promised that user data, including their location information and data of whom all they’ve come in contact with, would remain private.

But the recent findings by a privacy analysis firm revealed otherwise.

Both Google and Apple stated that the data users share through their frameworks would be anonymized and shared with public health agencies only. Here’s what Google CEO Sundar Pichai said about the tool last year. “Our goal is to empower with another tool to help combat the virus while protecting user privacy.”

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

Idaho Legislature Fast-Tracks ‘Critical Race Theory’ Bill Despite Student Protests

BOISE, Idaho — With backpacks on and posters in hand, dozens of high school and college students arrived in front of the Idaho Capitol to protest a bill against “critical race theory” that was already set to pass.

Senators on Monday in a 27-8 vote approved the bill, which was crafted to placate legislators who said schools were indoctrinating students and struck down mandated education budget bills. The bill was fast-tracked for a vote on the Senate floor shortly after the public hearing, where speakers overwhelmingly opposed the measure.

House Bill 377 would censor certain discussions about race in classrooms, prohibiting state funding to schools that would “compel” students to believe controversial aspects of “critical race theory.”

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

L.A. Police Officer Invites Lebron James to a Discussion on Policing

A black L.A. police officer has invited LeBron James to have a discussion about policingfollowing James’s much-criticized tweet regarding the fatal police shooting of a teenage girl.

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

Musk Predicts Humans on Mars by 2026, But Says “A Bunch of People Will Die” In the Effort

SpaceX mastermind and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk gave an alarming assessment of the “arduous and dangerous” journey to Mars that he believes is on the nearby horizon for mankind.

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

Muslim Group Offers Bitcoin for Murder of Cops, Tells US Jihadis to ‘Go to Protests to Carry Out Your Operations’

The jihad terrorists should “disguise themselves as protesters and pretend to have similar views in order to infiltrate the protesters and steer them to violent actions, such as car ramming.”

That is likely to be very easy, as the protesters already have virtually the same world view as the jihadis.

“Pro-Al-Qaeda ‘Wolves Of Manhattan’ Magazine Offers Bitcoin To Anyone Killing Police Officers In Western Countries, Recommends Lone Wolves Infiltrate Protests In U.S., Europe,” MEMRI, April 15, 2021.

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

Nationalism vs. Patriotism: What’s the Difference and Why it Matters

The terms “nationalism” and “patriotism” are often used interchangeably. This is understandable, as they have somewhat overlapping meanings, both of which suffer from a certain amount of vagueness. However, there are a number of key differences between the two that are worth shedding light on. In the final analysis, we believe that the term “nationalism,” while not denoting anything totalitarian by its nature, is not an accurate term for the sentiment that exists in the United States. Nationalism, it would seem, is more suited to Europe or Asia, places with historic nations, united by common language and ethnicity that are necessarily tied with a certain area of land.

There’s a lot to unpack here and the differences are extremely subtle. And to give a bit of a spoiler, we’re not going to be taking the position, as is often the case, that patriotism is fine but nationalism is simply a metastatic and malignant form of patriotism.

           — Hat tip: AA [Return to headlines]
 

Odysee Introduces Hyperchats

Blockchain-based YouTube competitor Odysee has announced its answer to “super chats” — “hyperchats.”

On YouTube, “super chats” are comments that are a way of monetizing a channel by allowing viewers to buy messages that are then highlighted or pinned in a creator’s livestream chat, and change colors and remain there for the amount of time depending on their monetary value.

Odysee is now saying that the difference between “hyperchats” and “super chats” is that “hyperchats” look better, and allow creators to earn crypto — LBC. Those behind the video platform also noted that they don’t take any cut of this revenue from creators.

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

Ohio Republicans Push 4 Bills Aimed at Protest Behavior

CLEVELAND (AP) — Ohio Republican legislators are backing four bills aimed at criminalizing or increasing penalties associated with behavior at protests.

Two bills are in the House and two are in the Senate, both controlled by Republicans members.

Two of the bills copy language directly from Ohio’s terrorism laws referring to providing “material support and resources” to those who help organize a riot as defined under current law.

It would also subject those who are deemed to have violated the law to racketeering charges.

Critics like the ACLU say the laws would have a “chilling effect” on free speech and are overly broad.

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

Poll: 70% of Black People Support Local Police Departments

A recent poll showed that a majority of black Americans believe that local police departments are doing a good job.

According to a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday, 70% of polled black Americans said that local police departments are doing a “very good” or “somewhat good” job, while 30% said that local police are doing a “somewhat bad” or “very bad” job.

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

Protests Underway Despite Curfew After Attorney Says Independent Autopsy Shows Andrew Brown Jr. Died of ‘Kill Shot’ To the Back of the Head

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) — The lawyers for the family of Andrew Brown Jr., the man shot and killed by law enforcement last Wednesday in Elizabeth City, say he died of a “kill shot” to the back of the head from law enforcement, according to an independent autopsy report.

The news comes as demonstrators come together for their seventh day of protests in the wake of Brown’s death.

Brown was shot and killed by Pasquotank County deputies that were serving a search warrant. The community continues to call for transparency nearly a week later.

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

Roku Blows the Whistle on YouTube’s “Anti-Competitive” Demands

On Monday, Roku sent an email to users notifying them that it might no longer provide the YouTube TV app due to Google’s anti-competitive demands, including the preferential treatment of YouTube’s search results. The row comes as Google faces antitrust lawsuits filed by state attorneys general and the Department of Justice.

Roku and Google are competitors in several sectors, including the smart TV content, smart TV operating systems, and Smart TV hardware devices. According to Roku, Google is threatening to remove YouTube TV in an effort to force it to bow to demands that favor YouTube apps; demands that Roku has described as anti-competitive.

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

Sen. Jon Ossoff Blasts Big Tech for Being “Arbiters of Legitimate Speech”

During a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing titled “Algorithms and Amplification: How Social Media Platforms’ Design Choices Shape Our Discourse and Our Minds,” Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff took aim at the way Big Tech companies’ scale and power allows them to be gatekeepers that determine “what ideas prosper and what ideas don’t.”

Ossoff used his time to question Facebook’s Vice President for Content Policy, Monika Bickert, and noted that while much of the public discussion focuses on Big Tech’s content moderation practices, he believes there’s a compelling argument that the underlying business model, scale, and power of these companies is the real problem.

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

Tucker Carlson Says People Who Wear Masks Outside Should be Mocked

Leftists reacted with fury after Fox News host Tucker Carlson said people who wear masks outside should be mocked and that parents who made their kids wear them were engaging in “child abuse.”

Carlson noted that masks were “purely a sign of political obedience like Kim Il-Sung pins in Pyongyang” and that the only people who voluntarily wear masks outside are “zealots and neurotics.”

He then asserted that the tables should be turned on Biden voters who have been harassing conservatives for almost a year for not wearing a mask in public.

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

Two Killed in Three LA Shootings That Led to Standoff and Gunfire on Orange County Freeway

The suspected shooter led police on a pursuit that turned into a standoff on the 91 Freeway that ended with gunfire.

Two people were killed and a third person was injured in shootings at three separate locations in Exposition Park and downtown LA Tuesday morning that led to a police chase and deadly freeway standoff in Orange County.

The shootings and an ensuing pursuit led to an hours-long morning standoff nearly 30 miles away on the 91 Freeway in Anaheim that ended with gunfire. The suspect was killed during the exchange of gunfire with police, police said…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Plans to Give 60 Million Doses of AstraZeneca Vaccine to Other Countries

The White House announced that the U.S. plans to give 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to countries around the world.

“The administration is looking at options to share American-made AstraZeneca vaccine doses during the next few months,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “Given AstraZeneca is not authorized for use in the United States, we do not need to use AstraZeneca in our fight against Covid over the next few months.”

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

U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations Calls on Biden to Appoint Special Envoy to Monitor, Combat ‘Islamophobia’

Should the USCMO succeed in its goal to see a special envoy to “monitor and combat Islamophobia” in America, the systematic hunting down of organizations and individuals who offend Islam would be in order. And the guidelines on what constitutes an offense to Islam would be determined by the USCMO. In such a scenario, the First Amendment would be rendered null and void.

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

‘Vax Pass’: Chicago Plans to Require Vaccination in Order to Attend Concerts, Other Events

CHICAGO — Chicago’s top doctor on Tuesday said she expects the city to roll out a type of vaccination passport that would allow people — particularly young adults — to attend concerts and other events this summer and going forward.

“If you get a vaccine, you’ll be able to get into a concert or get into an event — and really thinking particularly for younger people how can we make vaccine something that people are excited about getting?” Dr. Allison Arwady said.

She said the “Vax Pass” would likely debut in May.

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

WhatsApp Hands Out Cash to Oppose Vaccine Skepticism

The Vaccine Grant Program, a partnership between WhatsApp and the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), has awarded $500,000 in grant funding to seven fact-checking organizations across the globe to support their efforts in fighting “COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.”

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

Dalhousie University to Investigate Students Fined for Public Health Violations

HALIFAX — A Halifax university is investigating an incident involving some of its students after they were fined for attending a gathering that violated COVID-19 protocols.

Dalhousie University provost Frank Harvey says the school condemns the behaviour of the students, who were among 22 people fined $1,000 after Halifax police responded to a report of a large off-campus gathering early Saturday morning.

Harvey says in a memo to the university community today that the behaviour falls under the Student Code of Conduct, and violations of the code are heard before the school’s disciplinary committee.

He does not say how many students were among the group fined, but he says sanctions could include suspension and expulsion.

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

Premier: Province-Wide Shut Down for Two Weeks

Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin has announced a two-week province wide shutdown or circuit breaker.

“This is not the time for half measures,” said Premier Rankin. “We need strong, quick action to drive this virus out of our province. If we took an incremental approach, we’d likely end up in the same place. We need to regain control over this virus.”

The new restrictions include closing most retail businesses, reducing gatherings to household bubbles and closing public and private schools across the province.

“We are in a race between the variant and the vaccine,” said Dr. Robert Strang. “There is substantive risk of community spread across the province. We need to slow that spread until we are closer to population immunity through our vaccination program.”

The restrictions come into effect starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning and will be in place until at least May 12.

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

Toronto Police Busted More Than 200 Illegal Parties Over the Weekend

As the longest lockdown in North America drags on, Toronto residents appear to be growing bolder when it comes to operating outside the law (which at this point includes provincewide stay-at-home orders.)

Either that, or police are finally cracking down for real on the kind of illegal private house parties that have been taking place all over the city since last summer.

Whatever the case — likely a combination of pandemic fatigue, warmer weather and enhanced enforcement efforts — hundreds of people were caught this past weekend attending illegal gatherings in Toronto.

Toronto Police announced on Monday that officers had attended “approximately 210 gatherings in response to calls from the public about noisy parties” since Thursday, most of them indoors and within the downtown core.

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

Bill Gates Demands United Kingdom Reverse Foreign Aid Cuts, Send Corona Vax Abroad

Microsoft founder Bill Gates called on the British government to restore its foreign aid budget on Sunday, saying that it is of “critical importance” that the British taxpayer ship money to foreign countries.

Speaking to the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, the billionaire philanthropist called on the UK government to ramp back up foreign aid spending and to address the “not fair” situation where younger people in richer nations are getting corona vaccines before older people in poorer nations.

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

Denmark Arrests 6 Men for Allegedly Joining, Financing ISIS

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Police in Denmark said Tuesday they have arrested six men who are suspected of joining and financing the ISIS terrorist group in Syria.

Two of those arrested, ages 29 and 30, allegedly traveled to Syria in 2014 where they were recruited by the terrorist group. They are suspected of violating Danish terror laws and, if found guilty, they face up to six years in jail. The 29-year-old man tried to reenter Syria in 2015, police said in a statement.

Five of them are also suspected of sending money to financially support the group. One of them, the 29-year-old, allegedly transferred funds from 2013 to 2017.

Police said in a statement that they believed that the 29-year-old man used the four others as middlemen for the money transfers. If found guilty of financing a terror group, they face up to 10 years in prison.

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

Eurocrats Brand Brexit a ‘Historic Mistake’ Ahead of Ratifying Trade Deal

A resolution of Members of the European Parliament has attacked Britain’s democratic vote to leave the European Union as a “historic mistake”, ahead of a vote to pass the UK-EU trade deal.

The European Parliament, comprised of elected politicians from regions of the EU’s 27 remaining member nations, published a motion for the resolution ahead of Tuesday’s vote, stating that “the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is a historic mistake and recalls that the EU has always respected the UK’s decision while insisting that the UK must also accept the consequences of leaving the EU and that a third country cannot have the same rights and benefits as a Member State”.

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

France: Le Pen Asks Ex-Military to Join Her After Controversial ‘Civil War’ Letter

Populist politician Marine Le Pen has invited former military officials to join her movement after they signed a letter denouncing Islamism and rising crime and warned of potential civil war in France.

The letter, which was signed by 20 former generals, including the former Commandant of the French Foreign Legion Christian Piquemal, called on President Emmanuel Macron to defend patriotism in France.

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

French Generals Cause Backlash With ‘Civil War’ Warning

The French government has threatened to punish active soldiers who signed an open letter by 25 retired generals warning President Emmanuel Macron the country is headed for “civil war”.

A number of serving defence force members are believed to have signed the letter published last week in the right-wing Valeurs Actuelles magazine, which warned that “laxist” policies would result in chaos requiring “the intervention of our comrades on active duty in a perilous mission of protection of our civilizational values”.

“The hour is grave, France is in peril,” the retired generals wrote, adding that failure to act against the “suburban hordes” — a reference to residents of the mainly immigrant areas that ring French cities — and other unnamed groups who “scorn our country” will lead to “civil war” and deaths “in the thousands”.

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

German Judge Ruled Against Mandatory Masks for Kids. His Phone Was Seized. His Home Was Raided.

A German district judge has had his electronic devices confiscated and his residence, car, and private premises were raided by police after he wrote a decision asking two schools in the Weimar district to refrain from enforcing mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing practices.

The Weimar District Court judge Christian Dettmar, after hearing the evidence regarding the scientific accuracy, validity, and necessity of anti-COVID-19 practices such as masks and social distancing, took the decision to prohibit two Weimar schools from enforcing mandatory mouth-nose coverings among students.

It is worth noting that the case marks the first time evidence against commonly prescribed anti-COVID-19 measures was presented in a German court, 2020 reported.

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

Germany: Church Vandalized Almost Daily, People Defecate and Set Fires Inside it

There has been hostility to the Catholic Church in Germany for centuries, but this kind of thing did not happen. Could it have anything to do with the introduction into Germany of a large population of people who believe that Christianity is a false religion and that they are commanded to fight unbelievers so that Allah may punish them by the hands of the believers (cf. Qur’an 9:14-15)? Possibly not. But possibly.

“Vandalen wüten im Gotteshaus,” by Nadine Goltz and Christine Bohnert-Seidel, Schwarzwälder Bote, April 21, 2021 (thanks to Medforth).

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

Green Party Election Victory Could Alter German-Hungarian Relations

Five months before the German federal elections, Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet is looking at the way German-Hungarian bilateral relations may change depending on who sits in the chancellor’s seat after Angela Merkel, with a potential victory of the Greens seen as a negative development for Hungary.

With Christian Democratic Union (CDU) President Armin Laschet having won the center-right coalition’s chancellor candidacy against the more popular Bavarian leader Markus Söder, the race now seems to be between him and Greens’ vice-chair Annalena Baerbock.

According to the latest polls, only 24 percent of voters would vote for the ruling CDU/CSU coalition, compared to 33 percent in the election four years ago. The opposition Greens are only one percentage point behind, while in the 2017 elections they only managed a meager 9 percent.

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

How Communist Hungary Broke the News Blackout on 1986 Chernobyl Disaster

Thirty-five years ago today, a Swedish radiology laboratory detected a large and highly concentrated cloud of radioactive material originating from the Soviet Union. This was the first sign to the outside world of the most severe nuclear accident to date — the Chernobyl disaster of April 26, 1986.

The disaster, which took place in Ukraine, was also only one of two to reach the maximum International Nuclear Event Scale of seven for a nuclear disaster, with the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan the only other one in history.

On the same day as the Chernobyl event, April 27, the Budapest-based Central Physics Research Institute (KFKI) received warning through the international academic network. Although the Western press immediately reported what they knew at the time, KFKI personnel were instructed to treat the information as top secret.

A few rogue scientists, however, made anonymous phone calls from public telephones, warning nursery and kindergarten staff in Budapest and other major cities not to let children play outside “due to unusually high UV radiation levels”. The alerted staff were puzzled: this was the first time ever they received such a warning from a science institute and yet, there was no news about the disaster being reported.

Although this was two years before the end of the 32-year rule of Hungarian communist leader Janos Kadar and censorship was much less severe towards the end of communism, “sensitive” information regarding events in the Soviet Union and fellow communist nations was still strictly controlled.

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

Hungary, Poland and Slovakia Stand in Solidarity With Czechia Over Vrbetice Explosion Scandal

The Visegard Group (V4) nations of Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia held a video conference in an effort to show solidarity with their ally Czechia over the issue of the 2014 explosion of the ammunition depot in Vrbetice, Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote in a Facebook post.

As Remix News reported earlier, Czech security forces say they have a reasonable suspicion that members of the Russian intelligence agency GRU were involved in the 2014 explosion of the ammunition depot in Vrbetice in the Zlin region.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki initiated an emergency meeting of the prime ministers of the countries that make up the Visegrad Group (V4) via videoconference, focusing on security in the Central European region, the Warsaw government said.

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

Muslim Disguised as Sikh Calls on Sikhs to Boycott French Products Because of Muhammad Cartoons

“The Prophet said, ‘War is deceit.’“ (Bukhari 4.52.269)

“Muslim in guise of Sikh provoke Sikh community, gives a call to boycott French proucts [sic],” by Yudhvir Rana, TNN, April 23, 2021 (thanks to The Religion of Peace)

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

Netherlands: Police Break Up Several King’s Night Parties, But “Surprisingly Quiet”

The police have broken up several King’s Night parties that took place on Monday night in several places in the Netherlands. However, the head of Dutch police union ACP, Gerrit van de Kamp, said in the TV program WNL on Tuesday morning that the previous night was “surprisingly quiet”, given that Koningsnacht is known for a large number of parties taking place.

The police have once again reminded that all the coronavirus measures are still in force and called upon people not to attend any large gatherings and celebrate the King’s day at home with family and a limited number of guests. Organizers and attendees of illegal gatherings will be fined accordingly, the police emphasized.

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Poland’s Civic Platform Endorses Controversial European Army

Over the weekend, the opposition Civic Platform (PO) presented its “Secure Poland” political doctrine, with the PO announcing that one of the key planks of its plan is its aspirations to form a European army, a plan which has also been promoted by countries such as Germany and France in recent times.

“We will become the leader of creating a project of European defense. We will aspire to increase European funds for defense and to create a legion of the European army — the first unit comprised of volunteers which will be subordinate to EU institutions,” PO MEP and former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced.

[Comment: Ugh.]

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Russia Involvement in Czechia Blast Must be Investigated Without ‘Hysteria or Speculation’, Says Czech President

Czech President Milos Zeman, well known for his desire to maintain good relations with Moscow, said during a televised speech on Sunday that Russia must pay for its terrorist act if the participation of Russian agents in the 2014 explosion of an ammunition depot in Vrbetice is confirmed. However, he added that an investigation must first confirm that the allegations are true.

“Although I support decent relations with all major countries, the Russian Federation has to pay for this possible terrorist act, for example, by not participating in the tender for Dukovany. If, on the contrary, the suspicion is rebutted, then it would mean a game between intelligence services takes place, and it could have serious consequences for internal political life, so let’s wait without hysteria or speculation for the results of the investigation before deciding,” the president said.

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The West Should Not Lecture the East on Democracy, Says Merkel

At a virtual roundtable discussion of the European People’s Party (EPP) last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a conciliatory tone towards Eastern European member states of the European Union, while her compatriot, EPP faction leader Manfred Weber continued his attacks against Hungary’s ruling conservative Fidesz party, Hungarian news and opinion portal Mandiner reports.

Merkel recalled that the highly controversial regulation on the rule of law was born during the German EU presidency, and it was probably necessary for Hungary and Poland to challenge the conditionality regulation in the European Court of Justice, for example, in the area of freedom of the press.

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UK Hiring COVID Marshals to Patrol Streets Until 2023 Despite Lockdown Restrictions Supposedly Ending in June

Government councils in the UK are hiring COVID Marshals to patrol streets from July until the end of 2023, despite the fact that all lockdown restrictions are supposed to end in June.

“A new army of Covid Marshals is being recruited for roles that could last until 2023 despite Government plans to lift all remaining restrictions on June 21,” reports the Telegraph.

“Councils around the country are advertising jobs that do not begin until July — several days after the supposed freedom day.”

One example is Hertfordshire County Council, which is “offering a contract of up to £3 million to firms that can supply 60 marshals from July 1 until January 31 next year.”

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UK: ‘Illegal Rave’ Near Merstham Shutdown for COVID Breach

At least one person was arrested when police shut down what they said was a suspected illegal rave near Merstham in Surrey this weekend.

Police said they received reports of 30-40 people gathering on the footpath underpass that leads beneath the M23 near Merstham on Satuday (April 23), prompting their intervention.

On the arrival of officers around 11.50pm, the majority of people reportedly dispersed and police said they also turned away two minibuses full of people nearby.

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UK: Extinction Rebellion Protestor Handed Conditional Discharge Over Shell Protest

An Extinction Rebellion protester who admitted causing criminal damage to Shell’s London headquarters has been handed a conditional discharge days after her co-defendants were cleared against the judge’s directions.

Katerina Hasapopoulous, 43, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to criminal damage and having an article with intent to cause criminal damage.

Prosecutor Diana Wilson said the mother-of-four, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, had glued herself to a door and spray painted it at the Shell Centre in Belvedere Road, central London, as part of a demonstration on April 15 2019.

The protest, which also saw activists pour fake oil, break glass, climb on to a roof and spray graffiti, was said to have caused at least £15,000 of damage.

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UK: Green Enforcer: MI6 Spying on Nations to Ensure They Abide by Climate Change Pledges, Chief Admits

Foreign intelligence service MI6 will spy on other nations to check whether they are abiding by their climate change pledges, one of Britain’s top spy chiefs has said.

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Abbas to Call Off Elections, Blame Israel

Now what seemed most likely is apparently certain: President-For-Life Mahmoud Abbas, now in the sixteenth year of his four-year term as head of the Palestinian Authority, will definitely call off the Palestinian parliamentary election that was to be held on May 22, and the presidential election scheduled for July 30. The reason is simple: all the opinion polls confirm that Abbas’ parliamentary candidates would manage to win only 30 of the 132 seats up for grabs, and Abbas would lose the presidential election decisively against a candidate put up by Hamas, or against either of his two rivals Mahmoud Dahlan and Marwan Barghouti. Abbas wants to appear as still wanting to hold the elections, but unable to do so because the malevolent Israelis won’t let the Palestinians in east Jerusalem vote. So it’s all Israel’s fault if the elections must be called off. A report on this farce is here: “Palestinian Authority reportedly set to announce election delay within days,” Times of Israel, April 26, 2021.

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Ramadan in Jerusalem: Muslims Screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ Attack Israeli Police

“Ramadan is a month of holy war and death for Allah. It is a month for fighting the enemies of Allah and God’s messenger, the Jews and their American facilitators.” — Qaedat al-Jihad

““Ramadan is the pious month of ‘Jihad-o-Qital’ (Jihad and killing). Those who attain martyrdom while waging Jihad, doors of heaven remain open.” — Maulana Bashir Ahmad Khaki

“Nightly clashes in Jerusalem continue during holy month of Ramadan Access to the comments,” Euronews, April 24, 2021.

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John Kerry Denies Informing Iranian Leader of Israeli Operations in Syria During Obama Administration

U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry has denied allegations that he informed the Iranian foreign minister of Israeli operations in Syria while he was serving as former President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.

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Bangladesh: Muslim High School Headmaster Marries Minor Hindu Student as His Fourth Wife

The never-ending series of Hindu girls who have been abducted, converted, and forcibly married has a new addition. In Bangladesh, high school headmaster Shamim Ahmad has been temporarily suspended for marrying his underage Hindu student and forcing religious conversion on her earlier this month.

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Indonesia: Muslims Call for Beheading of Man Who Claims to be New Prophet, Police Ask Interpol to Hunt for Him

Islam holds that there are more than twenty-five prophets, for the Qur’an says: “And we certainly sent into every nation a messenger, ‘Worship Allah and avoid Taghut [the rule of idolatry].’“ (16:36) But Jozeph Paul Zhang is not among them, and Sharia dictates that by making his claim, he is blaspheming, and thus must be killed. But Interpol? This story doesn’t explain whether or not Interpol is actually involved. One would hope Interpol would tell the Indonesian police that they are not in the business of enforcing Sharia, but these days, you never know.

“Isis supporters want Indonesian who claimed to be ‘26th prophet’ beheaded for insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammed,” by Amy Chew, South China Morning Post, April 20, 2021 (thanks to The Religion of Peace).

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Pakistan: Muslims Kidnap Hindu Girl, Force Her to Convert to Islam, She Cries and Pleads for Help on Video

“Such cases most often go unreported and even those cases reported in the media do not get any attention from the authorities.”

This is because all too often, authorities share the Islamic supremacist assumptions of the attackers.

“Pakistan: Hindu Girl Who Was Kidnapped And Forcefully Converted To Islam Seen Crying For Help To No Avail,” Swarajya, April 27, 2021.

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Prominent Muslim Leader in Sri Lanka Arrested for 2019 Easter Bombing

A prominent Muslim leader in Sri Lanka and his brother were arrested over the weekend in connection with a 2019 Easter Sunday bombing that killed nearly 270 people.

Former cabinet minister and the leader of an opposition party in Parliament, Rishad Bathiudeen, and his brother, Reyaj Bathiudeen, were arrested due to evidence connecting them to the attacks, according to a police spokesperson. The Islamic State had originally taken responsibility for the attacks.

Rishad Bathiudeen said in a Facebook post that the arrest was unjust.

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Chicoms Hit Citizens With 10 Point Social Credit Score Penalty for Not Wearing a Mask in Public

The Communist Chinese government is punishing citizens in some areas of the country who commit COVID-related transgressions such as not wearing a mask in public by deducting 10 points from their social credit score and in some cases putting them on no fly blacklists.

A lengthy article in the London Times explains how the CCP exploited the COVID pandemic to massively expand monitoring of its own citizens and introduce new methods by which they could be punished for committing COVID-related infractions that didn’t rise to the level of criminal acts.

Some of the newly introduced transgressions which lead to social credit score points deductions and travel bans include failing to wear a mask in public (10 point deduction) and failure to self-isolate (50 point deduction).

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China Demands Australia Support the Annexing of Taiwan and Not ‘Meddle and Give the Wrong Signal to Independence Forces’ If it Wants Trade War to End — After Chilling Warning of ‘Drums of War’

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin gave the chilling ultimatum at a media conference in Beijing one day after Anzac Day, keeping with the increasingly belligerent tone of Chinese officials.

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China is Extending Its Totalitarian Controls to the Rest of the World

China is surreptitiously collecting, for use in its domestic social credit system, video from a popular eatery in Canada.

In the Haidilao Hot Pot restaurant in the Kitsilano district of Vancouver, more than 60 surveillance cameras watch 30 tables and send feeds to China. The cameras, manager Ryan Pan explained to Scott McGregor and Ina Mitchell, are there to “people track” and are “part of the social credit system in China.”

This restaurant is corporate-owned, one of two Haidilao locations in that port city in British Columbia. There are more than 935 of the chain’s restaurants worldwide with over 36 million VIP members. The business started in China’s Sichuan province.

Why do we care? Beijing is evidently extending its totalitarian controls to the rest of the world.

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China Directs Live Stream Platforms to Collect Social Credit Codes of Users

The latest regulation issued by seven Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Public Security and Cyberspace Administration, requires live streaming platforms in the country to collect personal information as well as social credit scores of their users.

This is to be done so as to “immediately handle” any “immoral” behavior. Simply put, the regulation paves the way to censorship and the crushing of dissent across streaming platforms.

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‘Woke’ Corporations Use the Chinese Model

They make a profit and suppress dissent at the same time.

Woke capitalism is likely a phase, and it will fade if it stops working on the bottom line. But China presents a more enduring and world-historical challenge to our understanding of history. Perhaps the Cold War ended not with the victory of capitalism over communism, but with their merger.

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Outrage as Innocent Schoolboys Are Forced to Stand in Front of Class and Labelled ‘Oppressors’ — All Because They Are White, Male and Christian

The female Kingston City Council worker gave a talk about privilege, pronouns, and intersectionality at Parkdale Secondary College in Mordialloc, Melbourne.

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After Tunisian Migrant Murders Policewoman in France, Le Pen Denounces Macron for Allowing Another Terrorist Attack

At the entrance to a police station in the French town of Rambouillet, a Tunisian stabbed a police officer who suffered severe injuries and died on the spot. Her colleagues shot and arrested the attacker, who later died at the hospital. The counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office is investigating the case.

An AFP source familiar with the investigation said the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). The woman working at the reception desk of the police station when the attacker injured her on the neck. The 49-year-old woman died on the spot despite firefighters giving her first aid, leaving behind two children. According to Le Parisien, the man attacked her while she was returning from lunch.

In response to the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France would not slow down in the fight against Islamist terrorism while his main rival in the 2022 presidential elections, Marine Le Pen, decried the fact that the government seems paralyzed to stop terrorist incidents that have plagued France for years.

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Black Axe Mafia: Italian Police Arrest 30 Nigerian Suspected Gang Members

Italian police have carried out raids across the country, arresting some 30 people suspected of operating for the Nigerian Black Axe mafia syndicate.

Police say they face about 100 charges including drug and people trafficking, prostitution and internet fraud.

The gang allegedly used the Bitcoin cryptocurrency to carry out clandestine financial transactions on the dark web.

Black Axe emerged from Nigeria in the 1970s, where they carried out rape, mutilation, and ritual murders.

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Congolese Migrant Raped and Murdered a French Trans Man in LGBT Hate Crime

A French trans man was found murdered on April 7 in the fire in his apartment in Reims, killed in brutal fashion by a Congolese man in what police say was due to the victim’s sexual orientation.

The 50-year-old victim, Paul Migeon, was found with his throat slit along with 14 neck and cervical wounds.

The accused man confessed to the crime, specifying that he had stabbed the victim with scissors after raping Paul and setting the apartment on fire to erase the evidence. He also stole and used the victim’s credit card, which helped investigators to track down the suspect.

The perpetrator, a Congolese national born in 1994, obtained refugee status in France in 2017. The prosecutor said that the crime was motivated by hatred for LGBT people.

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi Called on European Countries to Participate in “Regulating Legal Immigration, “ Noting That His Country Hosts “About Six Million Immigrants.”

Job opportunities can only be created if “Europe helps us build competitive industries,” Sisi said.

Egyptian ministers and officials from the EU mission in Cairo held a meeting last week and discussed “providing safe alternatives to illegal immigration.”

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Greece: 57 Members of Criminal Migrant Gang Arrested in Athens

Last Sunday, the Hellenic Police released the identities of 57 people belonging to a criminal organisation in Athens.

The gang members were all migrants who are now accused of systematic robberies and burglaries.

Although Athens was once one of the safest cities in Europe for its size, mass illegal immigration has turned large parts of the city into into a parallel society wherein anarchy, lawlessness and crime reigns — such as in Exarcheia and Omonia.

According to a statement by the Greek police, the criminals arrested were from Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Algeria, Palestine, Iraq, Bangladesh, Libya and Morocco.

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Greece Arrests Egyptian for Spying on Military Bases and People Smuggling

A 43-year-old Egyptian working as a painter has been arrested for spying on Greek military bases. He is also accused of smuggling “VIP migrants” from Syria.

Egyptian national Hani Samir was arrested after an investigation began into the activities of a people-smuggling network on the Greek island of Kos. Described by authorities as being like a many-tentacled “hydra”, the criminal gang moved illegals onto the mainland and onwards to northern Europe.

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Kinney County Officials Declare Area a Non-Sanctuary for Migrants

BRACKETTVILLE, Texas — Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials reported last week that, in just one day, agents apprehended more than 800 migrants.

Many of those arrests unfolded in Kinney County, where commissioners approved a resolution on Monday declaring the community is not a sanctuary county for migrants.

The resolution says Kinney County fully supports efforts to enforce immigration laws and support law enforcement in doing so.

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12 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/27/2021

  1. Which country is Bill Gates running? Maybe the world? Does anyone remember voting for that?

  2. With Australia’s resources, China could rule the world. Even Russia would be nervous. The enemy of my enemy is my friend means Russia might become more friendly.

  3. I see Sderot in Israel has been hit by rocket fire again. Hope MC and his loved ones are safe.

  4. “Meanwhile, a new poll shows that 70% of American blacks support their local police departments.” After four years of MSM polls and the 2020 election polls conservatives still believe MSM polls?

          • Some parts are, but after some considerable thought, it would have been better if the Germans won the first world war saving us from the second which ushered in communism which is far worse than the naxi’s. Pius start the fight against communists.

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