Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/24/2021

The Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan (who has been featured on numerous occasions in this space) held a demonstration on the outskirts of the culturally enriched southern Swedish city of Malmö. In his demo Mr. Paludan invited members of the public to draw cartoons of Mohammed.

In other news, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that he intends to sign a bill that will prohibit cities in Texas from defunding their police departments.

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

Thanks to Dean, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

USA
» 1 Arrested in ‘Targeted’ Mass Shooting at NJ Birthday Party That Left 2 Dead, 12 Hurt
» A Spate of Shootings Underscores Albany’s Sad Decline Into Mayhem
» Alabama Lifts 27-Year Ban on Teaching Yoga in Public Schools
» Biden Administration Authorizes Flying BLM Flag at Embassies and State Dept. Buildings
» Bill That Would Make it a Felony for Texas Protesters to Obstruct Emergency Vehicles Heads to the Governor’s Desk
» ‘Breaking the News’ Reveals: Amazon’s Black Lives Matter Donation Tied to Convicted Terrorist
» Breaking: Project Veritas Releases Internal Facebook Documents Detailing Campaign to Censor Vaccine Concerns on Platform
» Constitutional Carry One Step Closer to Abbott’s Desk
» Exclusive: Leaked State Department Memo Indicates Official Support for BLM Agenda
» Facebook Incorrectly Censors Post Millennial Report on Antifa ‘Whorehouse’ As ‘Sexual Solicitation’
» Federal Court Rules Georgia’s Anti-BDS Law ‘Unconstitutional’ After Case by Journalist Abby Martin
» Federal Judge Rules Against Elite High-School After New Admissions Policy Discriminates Against Asians
» Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs New Bill to Keep Big Tech in Check
» George Soros Gives $500 Million to Tiny College
» Gov. Abbott to Sign Bill Barring Texas Cities From Defunding Police
» Judges Dismiss Lawsuits by Portland Antifa ‘Medics’ Who Said Their Right to Riot Was Violated
» Legislation Takes the ‘Mandatory’ Out of U. Oklahoma Diversity Course
» Man Admits to Helping Torch Pittsburgh Police Car During George Floyd Protests
» New York Times Highlights “Paradigm Shift” of Declining Global Fertility Rates
» Parents Group Files Federal Complaint Against School District Over Race-Exclusive Event
» Senator Tom Cotton: Fauci is ‘Playing Word Games; Trying to Cover Tracks’
» St. Louis Mayor Wants to Defund Police, Close Jail While City Has Highest Murder Rate in the Country
» Student Who Says He Was Banned From Campus After Questioning Microaggressions is Suing in Federal Court
» Support for Black Lives Matter Drops to Two Year Low
» Texas A&M Class Requires Attendance at ‘Race Talks’ Lectures
» Texas Legislature Bans Critical Race Theory From Public Schools; Needs to Pass ‘1836 Project’ Bill
» Walgreens Closes 17 San Francisco Stores Due to “Out of Control” Shoplifting
» Watch: Parents Erupt in Standing Ovation After Georgia School Board Bans Critical Race Theory Curriculum
» Woke California Community Activist Arrested for Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 10
 
Canada
» Another Reopening Charge Laid at Wheatley Church
» Longueuil Police Bust 60 People Illegally Gathered at a Gym
» Watch: O’Toole Dupes Trudeau Into Believing a Report on Free Speech Crackdown in Hong Kong Was About Canada
 
Europe and the EU
» Anti-Islam Activist Holds Draw Mohammed Demonstration in Sweden
» Arrests of ‘Chinese Spies’ At Top UK Universities Expected Within Weeks: Report
» Austrian Authorities Raid ‘Corona Deniers’ Allegedly Planning Attacks on Police
» Germany: Police Search Home of Thuringian AfD State Chairman
» Hungarian FM: V4 Countries Could be Winners of a Post-Pandemic World Order
» Italy: Kevin Spacey Cast in Film About Man Wrongly Accused of Child Sex Abuse, His First Role Since Facing Assault Allegations
» Police Officers Call for Military Intervention to Restore Law and Order in France
» Teen Beats Up Three French Police Officers During Traffic Stop
» UK: Activists Blame Media for Shooting of Black Lives Matter Radical Sasha Johnson
» UK: BBC Journalist is Blasted for Online Post Saying #HitlerWasRight and ‘Israel is More Nazi Than Hitler!’
» UK: BLM Activist Claims Sasha Johnson is Unintended Victim of Gang’s Drive-by Shooting of Party
» UK: Big Brother: Millions Secretly Tracked to Monitor Movements After COVID Vaccine
» UK: Labour’s Abbott Implies BLM Activist May Have Been Shot Because She ‘Stood Up for Racial Justice’
» UK: Report: ‘Devastating Cancer Crisis’ Has Been Caused by Stay at Home Orders
» UK: Savanta Comres Political Tracker May 2021 & Westminster Voting Intention
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» BBC Investigating Reporter Who Tweeted ‘Hitler Was Right, ‘ Compared Israel to Nazis
 
Russia
» EU Leaders Agree on Belarus Sanctions After Plane Diversion
» European Airlines Avoiding Belarusian Air Space After Flight Diversion Incident
 
South Asia
» Singapore Car Dealer Gets Jail, Fine Over Illegal Street Race, 150-Car Gathering in Breach of COVID-19 Laws
 
Far East
» After Many Were Banned Online for Saying it, It’s Finally Admitted the Wuhan Lab Leak May Not be a “Conspiracy”
» China’s Chilling Warning: Australia Will be the ‘First Hit’ If the ‘Insignificant’ Nation Meddles in Chinese Conflicts — as Beijing Boasts of Ballistic Missiles Which Can Reach Down Under
» How Chinese Citizens Get Around Censorship of Xi Jinping Comments
» Trump: ‘I Have Very Little Doubt’ COVID Came From the Wuhan Virology Lab
» Vox Stealth Edits March 2020 Article “Debunking” Lab Origin of COVID
 
Australia — Pacific
» New Zealand: Man Accused of Possessing ISIS Material Was ‘Learning About Religion’, Jury Hears
 
Immigration
» EU Intensifies Criticism of Czech PM Shortly After His Immigration Comments
 
Culture Wars
» Parents Outraged After Students Were Taught a Porn Course at Elite New York Prep School
 

1 Arrested in ‘Targeted’ Mass Shooting at NJ Birthday Party That Left 2 Dead, 12 Hurt

Authorities say as many as 200 people attended the party

A “targeted attack” at a birthday party at a South Jersey house left at least two people dead and 12 others wounded in the mass shooting.

Authorities arrived at the house in Fairfield Township, about an hour outside of Philadelphia, late Saturday night. A resident who runs a local anti-violence organization said he was called out to assist families at the 90s-themed party. John Fuqua, of Life Worth Living, said guests who attended the party were of all ages.

“This was not a random act of violence this was a targeted attack,” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said at a Monday morning news conference. Grewal named the victims who died in the shooting as 30-year-old Kevin Elliott and 25-year-old Asia Hester. Both were from Bridgeton.

There were at least 12 other people between 19 and 35 years of age who were injured and transported to area hospitals. At least one person was listed in critical condition. Some of the injured has been released from hospitals by Monday morning.

One person was arrested. Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae identified that person as 36-year-old Kevin K Dawkins. He was being held in county jail on weapons charges. NJSP Colonel Pat Callahan said he expects additional arrests as their investigation continues…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

A Spate of Shootings Underscores Albany’s Sad Decline Into Mayhem

First and Quail streets was a hardscrabble intersection even when Albany had a future, but it was never worth your life to pass through it. Today it is, which could be why the city now has nothing but a past.

There were six people shot in that intersection on Friday, one fatally. And a couple hours later, another man was shot to death just blocks away.

Mayhem in a microcosm, you say? After all, dozens were shot in Gotham over the weekend; the subway violence continued full bore; there was that bloodbath in New Jersey; and St. Louis proceeded on pace to become the murder capital of America. The good news is that when the Times Square M&M’s store got robbed Sunday night, there was no gunfire.

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

Alabama Lifts 27-Year Ban on Teaching Yoga in Public Schools

It’s still a stretch from full Om schooling.

Alabama has lifted an almost 28-year ban on yoga being taught in public schools — but it’s still outlawing chanting, mantras like “Om” and the traditional greeting “Namaste.”

The state banned yoga in December 1993 because lawmakers deemed it a “Hindu philosophy and method of religious training.”

But Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law Thursday that allows public school boards the option of teaching yoga — albeit in a form far removed from the classic class settings that keen yogis will recognize.

[Comment: More people should do yoga.]

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

Biden Administration Authorizes Flying BLM Flag at Embassies and State Dept. Buildings

Writing for Human Events, Jack Posobiec published the contents of a State Department memo showing that the Biden administration has authorized the display of BLM flags at state department buildings including embassies.

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

Bill That Would Make it a Felony for Texas Protesters to Obstruct Emergency Vehicles Heads to the Governor’s Desk

The Texas Senate voted 25-5 to pass a bill that would raise criminal penalties and require jail time for people who knowingly obstruct emergency vehicles from passing through a roadway or who block a hospital entrance. It now heads to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

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

‘Breaking the News’ Reveals: Amazon’s Black Lives Matter Donation Tied to Convicted Terrorist

Last summer, Amazon announced a $10 million donation for “organizations supporting justice and equity,” including a donation directly to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. At the time, BLM Global Network was sponsored by Thousand Currents, a non-profit whose vice-chairman is Susan Rosenberg, a convicted left-wing terrorist. It’s a major oversight for Amazon, the self-anointed arbiter of domestic terrorism.

Amazon’s ties to Rosenberg are fully exposed in Breaking the News: Exposing the Establishment Media’s Hidden Deals and Secret Corruption, my new book revealing the secret ties between the establishment media, Big Tech, and the activist left.

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

Breaking: Project Veritas Releases Internal Facebook Documents Detailing Campaign to Censor Vaccine Concerns on Platform

Project Veritas has obtained internal documents from Facebook whistleblowers detailing the social media platform’s efforts to censor COVID-19 vaccine concerns.

Two of the Facebook insiders have come forward with leaked company documents detailing the Big Tech giant’s plan to curb and police “vaccine hesitancy” (VH) worldwide through surreptitious “comment demotion.”

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

Constitutional Carry One Step Closer to Abbott’s Desk

(The Center Square) — Texans would no longer need a state license to carry a handgun, either concealed or openly, under a bill approved by the state Senate and House, and an agreement reached in conference committee.

The bill, HB 1927, initially passed the House, and later passed the Senate with amendments. Because the House refused to concur with the Senate’s amendments, the bill went to a conference committee comprised of five House and five Senate members to hash out differences.

The 10 legislators announced that they have reached a full agreement on the bill, which is now expected to pass both chambers this week. Gov. Greg Abbott says he will sign the bill.

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

Exclusive: Leaked State Department Memo Indicates Official Support for BLM Agenda

A source within the Biden State Department wishing to remain anonymous has shared with Human Events News a document that indicates that all U.S. “Diplomatic and Consular posts” are being encouraged to display shows of support for Black Lives Matter on Tuesday, May 25, the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death. The memo reads in part, “The Department supports the use of the term ‘Black Lives Matter’ in messaging content, speeches, and other diplomatic engagements with foreign audiences to advance racial equity and access to justice on May 25 and beyond (italics added) We encourage posts to focus on the need to eliminate systemic racism and its continued impact.”

The memo, which is in part a woke statement on social justice, part an apology for U.S. actions, and part an endorsement of all BLM materials, expressly encourages the display of the BLM flag or banner at U.S. facilities (except on the actual flagpole that holds the American flag). It reads, in part:

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

Facebook Incorrectly Censors Post Millennial Report on Antifa ‘Whorehouse’ As ‘Sexual Solicitation’

Facebook incorrectly censored The Post Millennial’s reporting on an Antifa “whorehouse” and unregulated prostitution facility in Portland, Ore. as “sexual solicitation.” The “whorehouse” was featured in a viral advertisement on Facebook earlier this month.

According to Facebook, the article which by The Post Millennial’s editor-at-large Andy Ngo and American news editor Mia Cathell went “against our Community Standards on adult sexual solicitation.”

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

Federal Court Rules Georgia’s Anti-BDS Law ‘Unconstitutional’ After Case by Journalist Abby Martin

A Georgia law created to discourage the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement has been ruled as “unconstitutional,” in a move that activists are celebrating as a “major victory.”

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed on behalf of journalist Abby Martin — formerly the host of Breaking the Set on RT. Martin refused to sign a contract pledging that she would refrain from boycotts against Israel ahead of a planned speaking engagement at Georgia Southern University in February 2020.

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

Federal Judge Rules Against Elite High-School After New Admissions Policy Discriminates Against Asians

An anti-discrimination lawsuit against the top ranked high school in the country was approved by a federal judge on Friday, who cited that their admission policies are not “race neutral” in which they claim.

A lawsuit against Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) in northern Virginia was filed by a group of predominantly Asian parents after the schools updated admission policies allegedly disadvantaged Asian American students.

Parents’ group the Coalition for TJ filed the lawsuit in March.

The updated admissions policies put together by the Fairfax County School Board came in response to the death of George Floyd as the school works to commit to new “anti-racism” efforts. In June 2020, many schools across the country put together plans to create more equity in school systems.

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

Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs New Bill to Keep Big Tech in Check

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Monday that looks to crack down on attacks on freedom of speech by big tech companies such as Facebook and Amazon.

The bill will aim to make it illegal for tech companies to remove candidates for office from their social media platforms.

When pressed by a reporter on whether he enacted this bill as a “favor” to deplatformed President Donald Trump, DeSantis asserted that the bill was for everyone and said:

“When you deplatform the President of the United States but you let Ayatollah Khamenei talk about killing Jews, that is wrong.”

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

George Soros Gives $500 Million to Tiny College

Billionaire philanthropist and left-wing megadonor George Soros is donating $500 million to Bard College a small liberal arts college in New York.

According to a Bard College press release, the grant — “which is among the largest ever made to higher education in the United States” — will facilitate “Bard’s exemplary educational and social initiatives, establish the College’s most substantial endowment ever, and set the stage for a $1 billion endowment drive.” The college announced that it raised $250 million for its endowment and is seeking to raise another $250 million going forward.

Bard College President Leon Botstein stated that the gift marks the “most historic moment since the college’s founding in 1860.” Based on Bard’s published number of 1,900 undergraduates, Soros’ donation amounts to $263,157 per current undergraduate student.

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

Gov. Abbott to Sign Bill Barring Texas Cities From Defunding Police

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) stated his intention on Sunday of prohibiting Texan cities from defunding police departments, after an Austin incident where a person was shot in the head.

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

Judges Dismiss Lawsuits by Portland Antifa ‘Medics’ Who Said Their Right to Riot Was Violated

Two federal judges have dismissed frivolous lawsuits filed by left-wing groups in Portland who alleged that federal officers violated the First Amendment rights of protesters at Black Lives Matter-Antifa riots.

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

Legislation Takes the ‘Mandatory’ Out of U. Oklahoma Diversity Course

The University of Oklahoma will not make incoming students take a newly created diversity course due to legislation recently becoming state law.

House Bill 1775, the OU Daily reports, limits the teaching of critical race theory-based ideas such as the notion that whites are inherently racist.

Governor Kevin Stitt signed the bill two weeks ago.

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

Man Admits to Helping Torch Pittsburgh Police Car During George Floyd Protests

A man accused of torching a Pittsburgh police car during the George Floyd protests last year pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges related to the vandalism.

Christopher West, 26, who has addresses in Mount Oliver and Brookline, pleaded to conspiracy to set fire to property of an organization that receives federal funding and unlawful interference with a law officer during a civil disorder.

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

New York Times Highlights “Paradigm Shift” of Declining Global Fertility Rates

The New York Times has published a lengthy article revealing how the world is undergoing a “paradigm shift” of rapidly declining fertility rates, but fails to mention the possibility that environmental pollutants such as plastic chemicals are playing any role in the decline.

In an article entitled ‘Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications’, the NYT reveals how there is a global “fertility bust” which represents “a dizzying reversal unmatched in recorded history that will make first-birthday parties a rarer sight than funerals, and empty homes a common eyesore.”

The piece notes how a demographic time bomb has the potential to cause social and economic catastrophe, but celebrates the notion that it would be good for the environment.

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

Parents Group Files Federal Complaint Against School District Over Race-Exclusive Event

A parents group has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging a Massachusetts school district held a racially exclusive student event.

Parents Defending Education claims the Wellesley Public Schools excluded white students from a Zoom meeting about anti-Asian hate crimes, WGBH reports.

Invitation to the event was sent shortly after the March shootings of six Asian women in Atlanta.

According to the complaint, the invitation stated “*Note: This is a safe space for our Asian/Asian-American and Students of Color, *not* for students who identify only as White.”

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

Senator Tom Cotton: Fauci is ‘Playing Word Games; Trying to Cover Tracks’

Senator Tom Cotton accused Anthony Fauci of ‘playing word games’ regarding his involvement with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and attempting to cover his tracks where the origins of COVID are concerned.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Cotton said that Fauci could be involved in a “genuine scandal”.

“It is imperative that the NIH come clean and tell us exactly what happened,” Cotton said, adding “Well, I think that a lot of these so-called experts and scientific bureaucrats are trying to cover their tracks.”

Speaking of the ‘gain of function’ research at the Wuhan lab, which was in part funded by the NIH, Cotton said “This could be public health bureaucrats violating explicit direction from the Obama White House to continue research that is highly, highly dangerous and particularly susceptible to escape from a laboratory. Especially a laboratory in China.”

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

St. Louis Mayor Wants to Defund Police, Close Jail While City Has Highest Murder Rate in the Country

The mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, wants to defund the police department and close the local jail while the city has the highest murder rate in the country.

St. Louis had 87 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2020, which is the worst murder rate in the nation, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in January.

The figure exceeded the previous top rate of 69 homicides set in 1993 when the soaring number of killings made local and national headlines. 262 total killings over the last year also brought the city’s homicide rate 30 percent higher than any of the past 50 years, although the population dwindled in that same time period.

While city officials have blamed the spike on the COVID-19 pandemic, which would follow the national trend, except St. Louis also led the country before the public health crisis in homicides per 100,000 in 2019 with 65, Fox News reported.

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

Student Who Says He Was Banned From Campus After Questioning Microaggressions is Suing in Federal Court

A federal judge has decided that a lawsuit from a former University of Virginia School of Medicine student will be allowed to proceed on the grounds that his First Amendment rights may have been violated. Judge Norman K. Moon, a Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, wrote that ex-student Kieran Bhattacharya could seek relief “for retaliation in violation of his First Amendment right of free speech” allegedly committed by University of Virginia officials.

The plaintiff, Kieran Bhattacharya, claims in the lawsuit that he was suspended from school and banned from campus after he asked questions at a panel discussion about microaggressions. Bhattacharya’s lawsuit says he asked the speaker if one must be part of a marginalized group in order to receive a microaggression, how she would define a marginalized group, and if she had evidence beyond the anecdotes she had shared at the event.

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

Support for Black Lives Matter Drops to Two Year Low

Despite relentless positive promotion by the media and political elites, support for Black Lives Matter in America has dropped to a two year low.

An essay written by academics Jennifer Chudy and Hakeem Jefferson published by the New York Times analyzes how support for BLM soared to +20% in mid-2020 but rapidly dropped to only +5% — which is where it was in mid-2019.

The authors note that the figures serve to contradict “the idea that the country underwent a racial reckoning.”

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

Texas A&M Class Requires Attendance at ‘Race Talks’ Lectures

A popular elective course called “Performance in World Cultures” at Texas A&M University is requiring students to read articles and attend a lecture series about racism and intersectionality. Students say the course description is “very misleading.”

The “Performance in World Cultures” (PERF 301) course is often taken by students to fulfill the “Cultural Discourse” graduation requirement.

One section of the course is requiring students to attend sessions of the Liberal Arts College new lecture series “Race Talks.”

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

Texas Legislature Bans Critical Race Theory From Public Schools; Needs to Pass ‘1836 Project’ Bill

Late Saturday night, the Texas Senate passed H.B. 3979. That bill would ban critical race theory from classrooms in the state’s public schools.

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

Walgreens Closes 17 San Francisco Stores Due to “Out of Control” Shoplifting

The effects of allowing chaos to prevail in Democrat-controlled cities across America might not be evident to liberals and social justice warriors now, but when businesses close up, it’s going to be very transparent then.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Walgreens Pharmacy locations have shuttered their doors in San Francisco during the past five years. At least ten of the stores in the city have closed since 2019.

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

Watch: Parents Erupt in Standing Ovation After Georgia School Board Bans Critical Race Theory Curriculum

During a May 20 Cherokee County school board meeting, the announcement that critical race theory curriculum would be banned in local schools was greeted with exuberant cheers from parents.

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

Woke California Community Activist Arrested for Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 10

Sammy Nunez, a well-known activist and civil leader in Stockton, California, has been arrested on Monday and is now in jail and charged with the ongoing sexual abuse of a young child.

Nunez is being held in the San Joaquin County Jail, and bail has been set at $2 million. His first court date is set for Tuesday, where he will answer to the serious charges of sexual abuse of a minor.

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

Another Reopening Charge Laid at Wheatley Church

Yet another charge under the Reopening Ontario Act has been laid against a member of the Old Colony Mennonite Church in Wheatley.

Chatham-Kent police said they continue to receive and investigate complaints about gatherings at churches across the municipality.

On Sunday, a 43-year-old Wheatley man was charged with one count of failing to comply under the act in connection with a reported gathering, police stated in a release.

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

Longueuil Police Bust 60 People Illegally Gathered at a Gym

The Longueuil police service broke up an illegal gathering on Monday outside what they’re calling a “clandestine gym” on Kimber Boulevard in the neighbourhood of Saint-Hubert, on Montreal’s South Shore.

In a statement, police say the gathering of about 60 people began because a man, 49, made an online post on social media, inviting others to join him at the location.

Officers say they shut down the gym last week, but the man took down the barricade to enter anyway.

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

Watch: O’Toole Dupes Trudeau Into Believing a Report on Free Speech Crackdown in Hong Kong Was About Canada

A video of Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole tricked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during Question Period during an early May Question Period has gained traction online.

In the video, O’Toole sets up the scenario of an attack on freedom of expression in the form of Bill C-10. The bill he was describing, however, was not Canadian at all, and was instead on the worrying attack on free expression currently ongoing in Hong Kong.

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

Anti-Islam Activist Holds Draw Mohammed Demonstration in Sweden

Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan held a demonstration on the outskirts of the Swedish multicultural city of Malmo, calling on members of the public to draw cartoons of the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

Paludan held his demonstration on Thursday nearby to the Öresund Bridge which links Denmark and Sweden after local police denied him permission t hold the event in the no-go area of Rosengard.

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

Arrests of ‘Chinese Spies’ At Top UK Universities Expected Within Weeks: Report

An investigation being conducted at the top levels of the British government into British academia is expected to result in the arrests of Chinese “spies”, who are believed to have passed military technological secrets to the communist regime in Beijing.

Foreign Office, Special Branch, and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators have reportedly drawn up a list of British academics who are believed to have provided information on secretive technology which is thought to have been used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to oppress ethnic minorities and political dissidents.

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

Austrian Authorities Raid ‘Corona Deniers’ Allegedly Planning Attacks on Police

Austrian counter-terrorism authorities say they have seized three firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and paramilitary equipment after a raid on “corona deniers” they claim were planning attacks on police.

The raids, which were part of an operation by Austria’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism (BVT), saw seven homes searched on May 14th, with authorities claiming to find a small cache of weapons along with protective vests, helmets, and radios.

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

Germany: Police Search Home of Thuringian AfD State Chairman

During the course of an investigation into sedition, the home of the Thuringian AfD state chairman, Björn Höcke, was searched. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the responsible public prosecutor in Mühlhausen on Saturday.

The public prosecutor’s office has been dealing with allegations against Höcke for almost a year, including statements Höcke is said to have written on social media against sea rescuer Carola Rackete. The search should provide information about the authorship of the statements, said the spokesman for the authorities.

Höcke is suspected of having posted a picture of Rackete with the line: “I imported torture, sexual violence, human trafficking and murder.” He could have stigmatized a certain group of people — refugees — as criminals, according to the public prosecutor.

[Comment: Björn Höcke is not wrong.]

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

Hungarian FM: V4 Countries Could be Winners of a Post-Pandemic World Order

The Visegrad Four (V4) Group, through its collective efforts and strategic partnership, could emerge as one of the victors of a post-pandemic world order, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjartó said during a press conference last week.

While speaking to members of the press after a meeting between V4 foreign ministers in the city of Lodz in central Poland, the Hungarian foreign minister highlighted that the cultural, political, and economic cooperation shared between the four Visegrad countries Hungary, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia was beginning to pay dividends, Index reports.

“As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s not an exaggeration to speak about a new global order emerging in both political and economic spheres,” Szijjartó said. “Close cooperation between the V4 countries ensures a rapid economic recovery in the future and allows the group to be among the winners of this new global order.”

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

Italy: Kevin Spacey Cast in Film About Man Wrongly Accused of Child Sex Abuse, His First Role Since Facing Assault Allegations

Actor Kevin Spacey is returning to movies with an appearance in an indie Italian film. The former House of Cards star, whose career collapsed under multiple sex abuse allegations, has been cast in a small role in The Man Who Drew God from actor-director Franco Nero.

Nero told ABC News Saturday, “I’m very happy Kevin agreed to participate in my film I consider him a great actor and I can’t wait to start the movie.” Spacey, according to The Guardian, is cast as a police officer investigating the case of a man “wrongly accused of sexually abusing children.” Variety reported on Sunday that Nero confirmed Spacey will play a small role as a police detective in the upcoming film.

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

Police Officers Call for Military Intervention to Restore Law and Order in France

Captain Jean-Pierre Fabre-Bernadac spoke with Remix News about the motivations behind the generals’ open letter to the government and the threat of civil war in France

In a rare move in France, all the police unions, 14 organizations in total, agreed to stage a common demonstration on Wednesday, May 19, in front of the French National Assembly to protest against the violence and murders of which police officers are increasingly victims. They also directed their ire against the excessive leniency of judges and the inaction of political leaders.

Many citizens joined the demonstration to support them, resulting in protests that swelled to tens of thousands of people. Most political parties were also represented, apart from the far left, and several personalities also came to express their support for the police, such as the actor Gérard Lanvin or the journalist and writer Éric Zemmour. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tried to join the police at the protest to express his support, but he was whistled and booed.

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

Teen Beats Up Three French Police Officers During Traffic Stop

Three police officers were attacked and injured by a 17-year-old suspect during a routine traffic stop this weekend in Colmar, France, according to reports.

The incident unfolded at around 3 p.m. on Saturday when cops pulled over a teen on a scooter on Avenue de la Liberté in the Alsatian commune.

Officers determined the rider was operating the two-wheeler without insurance and attempted to apprehend him.

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

UK: Activists Blame Media for Shooting of Black Lives Matter Radical Sasha Johnson

Supporters of Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson blamed the media for her shooting during a vigil held outside of the hospital where she remains in critical condition.

A vigil held in the Ruskin Park bandstand in Lambeth, London on Monday afternoon — which was promoted by the official Black Lives Matter UK organisation — saw around one hundred well-wishers gather to support Sasha Johnson, the self-described “Black Panther of Oxford” who was shot in the head in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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

UK: BBC Journalist is Blasted for Online Post Saying #HitlerWasRight and ‘Israel is More Nazi Than Hitler!’

Tala Halawa had claimed ‘Israel is more Nazi than Hitler’ and told the Israeli Defence Force to ‘go to hell’ in an online post on July 20, 2014, before she was a digital reporter at the BBC.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

UK: BLM Activist Claims Sasha Johnson is Unintended Victim of Gang’s Drive-by Shooting of Party

A Black Lives Matter activist has claimed the ‘Black Panther of Oxford’, Sasha Johnson, may have been the unintended victim of a drive-by shooting of a house party by a gang.

Police have not officially confirmed that a 27-year-old woman in critical condition after being shot in the head in London in the early hours of Sunday morning is Sasha Johnson, a key member of the Taking the Initiative Party (TTIP), the New Black Panther Party UK, and Black Lives Matter Oxford — which is autonomous of the Twitter-verified Black Lives Matter UK organisation — but she has been named as such by TTIP and several news organisations.

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

UK: Big Brother: Millions Secretly Tracked to Monitor Movements After COVID Vaccine

The British government has been reported to have secretly surveilled the movements of millions of citizens to track changes in behaviour following the administration of coronavirus vaccines.

A report from the SPI-B committee of government scientists has revealed that the government tracked up to ten per cent of the British public’s phones in February, all without permission or notification to the public.

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

UK: Labour’s Abbott Implies BLM Activist May Have Been Shot Because She ‘Stood Up for Racial Justice’

Hard-left Labour Party politician Diane Abbott said that “Nobody should have to potentially pay with their life because they stood up for racial justice” after BLM activist Sasha Johnson was shot in London — but police say there is currently no evidence the attack was targeted.

“Black activist #SashaJohnson in hospital in critical condition after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head,” the Hackney MP wrote on Twitter, adding: “Nobody should have to potentially pay with their life because they stood up for racial justice” with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

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

UK: Report: ‘Devastating Cancer Crisis’ Has Been Caused by Stay at Home Orders

Leading cancer charities in the UK are warning that there is a crisis underway with huge numbers of people not receiving referrals or treatment because they’ve been told to stay at home and not to burden the National Health Service.

The London Telegraph reports that Cancer Research UK stats show that in the 12 months ending in March 2021, a total of 304,555 fewer patients than the previous year were referred to hospitals for urgent checks by GPs.

It represents a drop of 13 percent.

The stats also show that there were 38,800 fewer patients starting cancer treatment, a drop of 12 percent.

According to the research 20,000 fewer people were referred for breast cancer checks alone.

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

UK: Savanta Comres Political Tracker May 2021 & Westminster Voting Intention

Starmer’s Favourability Ratings drop 11pts in Savanta ComRes Political Tracker

Headline favourability ratings (chg from April): Johnson +6 (+4); Starmer —18 (-11); UK Government +4 (+5)

Best PM rating: Johnson 48% (+4), Starmer 24% (-6), Don’t know (28% (+2)

Starmer’s rating is his lowest since the tracker began last May; Johnson and UK Government’s ratings are highest since first wave last May

Third say they dislike both Starmer and his policies — highest ever figure

Conversely a third say they like both Johnson and his policies — highest figure since June 2020

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

BBC Investigating Reporter Who Tweeted ‘Hitler Was Right, ‘ Compared Israel to Nazis

The BBC is reportedly investigating one of its Palestinian journalists for once tweeting that “Hitler was right” while comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.

Digital journalist Tala Halawa is a Palestine specialist for the corporation’s BBC Monitoring service and has reported on the recent deadly hostilities between Israel and Hamas, the Spectator noted.

“Israel is more Nazi than Hitler!” she wrote on her since-deleted Twitter account during previous hostilities in 2014, according to the UK publication.

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

EU Leaders Agree on Belarus Sanctions After Plane Diversion

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union agreed Monday to impose sanctions on Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet to arrest an opposition journalist.

Reacting to what EU leaders called a brazen “hijacking” of the Ryanair jetliner flying from Greece to Lithuania on Sunday, they also demanded the immediate release of the journalist, Raman Pratasevich, a key foe of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“We won’t tolerate that one can try to play Russian roulette with the lives of innocent civilians,” said EU Council chief Charles Michel, who presided over the EU meeting.

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

European Airlines Avoiding Belarusian Air Space After Flight Diversion Incident

Latvian flag carrier airBaltic will avoid flying its planes over the territory of Belarus after an incident on Sunday that saw authorities arrest an exiled activist on board a flight that was forced to land in Minsk.

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air also revealed it would avoid Belarusian airspace.

The decision to avoid flying over the former Soviet republic comes after a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was made to land due to an apparent bomb threat. To escort the plane, a Belarusian MiG-29 fighter took to the sky, forcing the aircraft to land in Minsk. On board the flight was Roman Protasevich, the former editor-in-chief of opposition Telegram channel NEXTA. He now works for Belamova, an outlet founded by Igor Losik, a consultant for US state-run media RFE/RL.

He was arrested immediately after touching down, and now faces time behind bars. According to Belarusian law, both NEXTA and Belamova are “extremist organizations” and are involved in what it calls terrorist activities.

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

Singapore Car Dealer Gets Jail, Fine Over Illegal Street Race, 150-Car Gathering in Breach of COVID-19 Laws

SINGAPORE, May 24 — After organising a mass gathering of car owners that later turned into an illegal street race, Yeo Jing Cheng was hauled to court but his offending did not stop there.

He then joined another group of drivers in a joyride around Singapore when the circuit breaker was in force last year to restrict people from leaving their homes for non-essential purposes to limit the spread of Covid-19.

For his multiple offences, Yeo, 31, was today jailed for four weeks, fined S$4,000 (RM12,483) and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for two years.

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

After Many Were Banned Online for Saying it, It’s Finally Admitted the Wuhan Lab Leak May Not be a “Conspiracy”

After dismissing the Wuhan lab leak as a conspiracy for more than a year, the mainstream media is now starting to reverse course and report on the possibility that COVID-19 originated in the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology.

A Wall Street Journal exclusive, that has been cited by numerous other mainstream media outlets, states that: “Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin Report.”

The report goes on to acknowledge that US intelligence was questioning the role of the Wuhan lab as far back as November 2019.

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

China’s Chilling Warning: Australia Will be the ‘First Hit’ If the ‘Insignificant’ Nation Meddles in Chinese Conflicts — as Beijing Boasts of Ballistic Missiles Which Can Reach Down Under

Beijing has warned that Australia’s ‘weak and insignificant’ military will be the ‘first hit’ if comes to the aid of Taiwan in a potential conflict.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

How Chinese Citizens Get Around Censorship of Xi Jinping Comments

The progression of online censorship in China, which has always had protecting the image of its top officials as one of the tasks set before it, is now resulting in people becoming increasingly reluctant to even mention their names — whether in praise or criticism.

Above all, naturally, that of President Xi Jinping, who is now often referred to by ever-evolving nicknames trying to stay ahead of censors. One of the best known has been “Winnie the Pooh” — an attempt by Xi’s critics to mention him, and still survive on the internet.

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

Trump: ‘I Have Very Little Doubt’ COVID Came From the Wuhan Virology Lab

Ex-President Donald Trump reiterated what he had been saying for over a year now on Monday in an interview with Dan Bongino on his brand new show, that COVID-19 originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.

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

Vox Stealth Edits March 2020 Article “Debunking” Lab Origin of COVID

Left-wing website website Vox has been caught stealth editing an old article from March 2020 “debunking” the lab origin of COVID following numerous prominent officials now saying the lab origin is a distinct possibility.

Writer and investor Paul Graham documented the edits, tweeting, “Some of the stealth edits that Vox made to its article debunking “conspiracy theories” that Covid-19 originated in a lab leak between its original publication in March 2020 and now.”

The edits include removing the words that the virus definitively did “not come from the Wuhan lab” and saying that the fact the virus emerged in the same city in which the lab is located “appears to be pure coincidence” rather than the previously more definitive “is pure coincidence.”

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

New Zealand: Man Accused of Possessing ISIS Material Was ‘Learning About Religion’, Jury Hears

A man accused of possessing Isis propaganda material took the stand to defend his actions in front of a jury on Monday.

He said he was only learning about his religion, and he was put in jail because he is a Muslim and his religion is not liked.

The Auckland man, who has name suppression, has denied three charges of possessing objectionable publications, possessing a knife without lawful authority and failing to comply with a search.

The three publications had been classified as objectionable by the censor for promoting acts of terrorism, extreme violence and cruelty, the High Court at Auckland heard.

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

EU Intensifies Criticism of Czech PM Shortly After His Immigration Comments

Czech PM Andrej Babis’ recently said that Brussels needs to handle immigration outside the EU and that Czechs should decide who lives and works in the country. Criticism of his financial holdings at the EU level followed shortly after.

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

Parents Outraged After Students Were Taught a Porn Course at Elite New York Prep School

The parents of students at a prominent New York High School were outraged after finding out the school hired an instructor to teach the junior class lessons on porn without their consent.

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in Manhattan, which has an annual tuition of $47,000, had the junior class attend a health and sexuality workshop without specifying the lessons that were to be taught.

According to the New York Post, a student said that they thought it was “just going to be about condoms or birth control.”

However, the school hired Justine Ang Fonte—the director of Health and Wellness at another elite prep school—to teach a lesson titled, “Pornography Literacy: An intersectional focus on mainstream porn.”

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

7 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/24/2021

  1. “Beijing has warned that Australia’s ‘weak and insignificant’ military will be the ‘first hit’ if comes to the aid of Taiwan in a potential conflict.”

    Before making stupid statements like this, China should consider what that country’s weak and insignificant military did to the Japanese Imperial Army in Papua New Guinea while the Chinese allowed their country to be overrun. They should also consider that they have made a considerable number of enemies around the world while Australia has numerous powerful allies.

    • Sorry, but the men of today arent the men of yesterday.
      Australia has been hit with leftwing loonyism just like the rest of the western world.
      And when the ruling powers of Australia initiated the lockdown with police and military harassing the citizens no one resisted.

      I would say that one or two missiles impacting close to Melbourne or so would be enough to terrify the Australian rulers that they back down very fast and apologize to the Chinese.

  2. “UK: Report: ‘Devastating Cancer Crisis’ Has Been Caused by Stay at Home Orders”

    I keep hearing about this, how people don’t go for the cancer checks, and how people postpone chemotherapies etc… and how it’s a crisis… Yet – it doesn’t look like postponing the expensive cancer treatments causes increase in deaths – or am I wrong?

    The cancer establishment always goes something like this: “According to Professor Karol Sikora, an NHS consultant oncologist, there could be 50,000 excess deaths from cancer as a result of routine screenings being suspended during the lockdown in the UK.”

    …but where are the 50,000 dead of cancer? Are they coming down the pipe?

    I am asking because I do have a reason to believe that the “chemotherapy business” is one giant money machine that makes people sick. And there are a number of people who have claimed to have discovered alternative cancer treatments, only to be put in jail or even killed.

    Jailing people who claim to have discovered cancer treatments other than the billion dollar chemotherapy business is criminal, in my humble opinion. I am all for free choice. Qui vult decipi, decipiatur. – The one who wants to be deceived, let him be deceived. If the chemotherapy establishment does something good for humans, why jail sharlatans who would ultimately prove chemotherapies are the better treatments?

    So – this lockdown-demic actually gives us chance to see if we get some excess cancer deaths.

    I simply don’t trust the medical establishment.

    • A few weeks ago I submitted to the news feed a study which showed the the lockdowns itself will cause at least 800,000 deaths in the US in the next several years. The economic downturn caused by the lockdowns contribute to deaths of all sort, such as suicide, violence, and, yes, from delayed medical treatment.

      • Yes I know, I read about it and I watch the UK Column News and they talk about that as well. This comment of mine is purely “cancer related”. If the thing which I call the “cancer establishment” really works, if it really saves lives, and it was now put on hold – we should be getting real numbers of increase in cancer related deaths. That was my whole point.

        I just want to see the hard data – not a prediction or a calculation what is expected. I am asking for it because I believe that it could be a good test for the chemotherapy establishment. A bit morbid I know, but a test nevetheless…

  3. I’m also a defender of Western Civilization left behind in Chicago.

    Would “Reader from Chicago” like to meet, network in a safe, privacy protected way and work on some projects in and around Chicago?

    It’s easy to see the problem here.

Comments are closed.