Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/18/2021

California has introduced a digital pass that citizens may use to prove that they’ve been “vaccinated” against COVID-19. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government is preparing a system of national “vaccination” certificates for people who want to travel internationally.

In other news, a Florida man was charged with a felony for spinning his wheels and leaving tire tracks on a rainbow-striped LGBT crosswalk.

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

Thanks to AA, Dean, Insubria, JW, László, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

USA
» 12 Injured, 1 Dead in Shooting Spree in Peoria and Surprise; Suspect Identified
» Brazos Valley Man Indicted in Deadly Shooting at Cabinet Business
» Breaking: Twitter Suspends Barstool’s Dave Portnoy After He Cracks a Joke
» California Launches Digital Pass for Residents to Prove They’ve Gotten Vaccine
» Catholic Bishops Pass Measure to Draft Statement Prohibiting Some Politicians From Receiving Communion
» Death Rates for Young American Adults Rise Due to Overdoses, Traffic Accidents
» DeSantis Signs Bill Granting Injured Police Dogs the Right to Ride in Ambulances
» Developing: Suspect Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Seattle Police Officer’s Car Who Was Struck and Killed While Assisting Motorists
» Even North Korea is Not This Crazy, Says a Refugee About the Situation at a US University
» Godfather of Color Revolutions: Is George Soros the Most Dangerous Man Alive?
» Hecklers Call Mike Pence ‘Traitor’ During Conference
» Iowa Governor Signs ‘Back the Blue’ Bill That Increases Penalties for Protest-Related Crimes
» Joe Rogan Slams “F***ing Terrible” CNN Hosts; “Everybody Knows They’re Not Real”
» Lawsuit Against Twitter Reveals How it Works With Democrats to Censor
» Portland Police Department Says it Doesn’t Track Gang Activity as Gang Violence Rises
» Proud Boys, Antifa Clash, Riot Declared in Oregon City
» Radical Leftwing NYC Mayoral Candidate Maya Wiley Who Warned About a ‘New York City Built by and for Billionaires’ Received $500,000 From Hedge-Fund Billionaire George Soros
» Report: Trump Blamed Kushner for Pandering to “The Blacks”
» Seattle Police Arrest 10 at Protest Blocking Israeli Cargo Ship
» Soros Quietly Drops $200,000 Backing Another Far-Left Prosecutor in Virginia
» Ted Cruz Says Critical Race Theory is ‘Every Bit as Racist as Klansmen in White Sheets’
» Trump Says Critical Race Theory Borders on ‘Psychological Abuse’
» VA Parents Tell Lawrence Jones Why They’re Taking a Stand Against Critical Race Theory in Their Schools
» Watch: Yale Lecturer Who Talked About Killing White People Defends Her Lecture, Calls Critics ‘Defensive’
» Wisconsin GOP Congressman Pushes Bill to Ban Critical Race Theory in DC Public Schools
» Woke Pop Star Wants to Replace the American Flag With One Featuring Off-White Stripes and Brown Stars
 
Canada
» Breaking: Trudeau Confirms ‘National Certification of Vaccination Status’ For Those Who ‘Travel Internationally’
» Nova Scotia Asks Supreme Court to End Controversial Injunction Against Illegal Gatherings
» Six White Female Academics Have Posed as Scholars of Color in Recent Years
 
Europe and the EU
» 1,000 German Police Officers Fought With Berlin Squatters for Two Days
» Crime Declines in Czechia But Cases of Deliberate Spread of a Disease Increase
» Czechia: PM Babis Warns of Eurocratism
» EU Court Rules Private Details of Users Can be Handed Over to Those Who Make Copyright Claims
» Finland: Gallery: Extinction Rebellion Activists Set Up Camp on Mannerheimintie
» French Prosecution Asks for Six-Month Prison Term for Former President Sarkozy
» French Teen Allegedly Kidnapped and Tortured After Reporting No-Go Area Drug Dealers
» Germany’s AfD Accused by Former Leader of Selling Out to Moneyed Elites
» Hungary Jumps Five Places in Global Competitiveness List
» Italy: ABI-German Flexible Rules to Lighten Crisis Impact
» PM Orban: The ‘Liberal Steamrollers’ Are Once Again at Work Against Hungary
» Poland: Palestinian Terrorist Suspect Apprehended
» Slovakia: Mandatory Coronavirus Vaccination is Being Considered
» Swiss Court Convicts Liberian Rebel of Rape, Killings and Cannibalism
» UK Health Service Blames Massive Fall in Surgeries on Public ‘Not Coming Forward for Care’
» UK: ‘Thank God for BLM’ Says Labour’s Dawn Butler MP
» UK: Abedi Should Have Been Identified as Threat on Night of Terror Attack, Lives Could’ve Been Saved, Finds Inquiry
» UK: Digging Up Our Green and Pleasant Land: Being Political Wing of Building Industry May Cost Tories Dearly
» UK: London Uni Allows Non-Whites Exam Extensions if They Say They’ve Experienced “Racial Trauma”
 
Far East
» Canon Introduces AI Technology in Chinese Offices That Only Lets Smiling Workers Inside
» Censorship: Vietnam Introduces “Code of Conduct” For Social Media
» Former State Department Investigator: China Already Knows Origin of Pandemic
 
Immigration
» Denmark Pushes Ahead With Policy to Limit Non-Western Share of Population to 30 Per Cent
» Migrant Taxi Ship Docks in Italy to Drop Off Over 400 Migrants as Arrivals Continue
» UK: Exposed: How Border Force Tries to Cover Up Missions to Pick Up Migrants in the Channel Under the Watchful Eye of French Ships in Our Waters Illegally
 
Culture Wars
» Despite Canceling Ollie Robinson for the Exact Same Thing, Media Totally Ignores Megan Rapinoe’s Racist Tweet
» Florida Man Hit With Felony Charges for Leaving Tire Tracks on LGBT Crosswalk
» Nolte: Victoria’s Secret Seeks to Destroy Brand With Spokeswoman Megan Rapinoe
» UK: Royal Academy Pulls Artist’s Work Over “Transphobic” Blog Post
 

12 Injured, 1 Dead in Shooting Spree in Peoria and Surprise; Suspect Identified

Shooting rampage in the West Valley leaves 1 dead, 12 injured

SURPRISE, Ariz. — One person was killed and 12 others injured in reported drive-by shootings over a 90-minute span on June 17 in Peoria, Glendale, and Surprise, authorities said.

The suspect, identified as 19-year-old Ashin Tricarico, is accused of murder and police said a weapon was found in his vehicle.

“About one or two marked cars, and the rest were unmarked,” said Chris Clyne, who lives next door to Tricarico. “They just filled the cul-de-sac…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Brazos Valley Man Indicted in Deadly Shooting at Cabinet Business

The charges stem from an April shooting at Kent Moore Cabinets in Bryan

A Texas man has been indicted on charges of murder and assault for allegedly opening fire at a cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one man and wounding five other employees.

A Brazos County grand jury handed up the murder charge against Larry Bollin on Thursday, along with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, said Jessica Escue, a spokeswoman for the local district attorney’s office.

The charges stem from an April shooting at Kent Moore Cabinets in Bryan, about 100 miles northwest of Houston.

Bollin, 27, is accused shooting his colleagues, fleeing and then shooting and wounding a state trooper in a neighboring county as authorities searched for him…

           — Hat tip: JW [Return to headlines]
 

Breaking: Twitter Suspends Barstool’s Dave Portnoy After He Cracks a Joke

The powers that be have decided to suspend Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports from Twitter. According to the staff members at the social media giant, this is either the classical “mistake,” or for whatever reason the safety team decided Dave Portnoy violated the site rules.

All we know is that Portnoy is a passionate man who liked to talk about stocks and spoke freely.

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

California Launches Digital Pass for Residents to Prove They’ve Gotten Vaccine

California health officials on Friday introduced a system for residents to obtain a digital copy of their COVID-19 vaccine record, which can be used at businesses or events that require individuals to provide proof of vaccination.

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

Catholic Bishops Pass Measure to Draft Statement Prohibiting Some Politicians From Receiving Communion

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) overwhelmingly approved a measure to draft a statement laying out whether politicians who counter church teaching may be denied Communion during Mass.

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

Death Rates for Young American Adults Rise Due to Overdoses, Traffic Accidents

In 2020, nearly 19 percent more Americans died in 2020 versus the previous year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released weekly, despite overall deaths significantly declining since the early 1900s through modern medical breakthroughs and safety additions.

The increase marks the biggest increase since 1918, where deaths rose by 30 percent due to the Spanish Flu pandemic. Looking at different age groups though, reveals a different story, according to Bloomberg.

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

DeSantis Signs Bill Granting Injured Police Dogs the Right to Ride in Ambulances

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Friday morning permitting emergency workers to transport and treat injured police dogs.

SB 388would allow emergency medical technicians to provide on-scene care and transportation for police dogs as they would for human law enforcement officers, only if it is not needed for humans.

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

Developing: Suspect Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Seattle Police Officer’s Car Who Was Struck and Killed While Assisting Motorists

Washington State Patrol announced the arrest Thursday of a 49-year-old Seattle man for allegedly stealing Seattle Police Officer Alexandra ‘Lexi’ Harris’ car, after the five-year veteran was hit and killed by another vehicle on the side of I-5.

WSP Captain Ron Mead announced in the press conference Thursday night at the District Headquarters that Roger Lee Owens Jr., 49, was arrested by the WSP and the SPD SWAT team at a hotel in the Eastgate area of Bellevue Thursday at at 9:22 PM for felony hit and run, theft of a stolen vehicle, and possession of a stolen firearm. Owens reportedly had a previous criminal history. It is unclear if the firearm was the weapon reportedly stolen from Harris.

Mead also announced that six additional people were arrested, some for assisting Owens as he evaded police.

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

Even North Korea is Not This Crazy, Says a Refugee About the Situation at a US University

For Yeonmi Park, the United States was a symbol of freedom, at least, until she went to a US university. The North Korean woman described her impressions of the prestigious Columbia University to Fox News and admitted that she was most taken aback by how much she had to tame herself in her statements. “Even North Korea is not this nuts,” says the refugee.

The student says that she was surprised by the “anti-Western sentiment” in the classroom and the pressure to be politically correct.

“I expected that I was paying this fortune, all this time and energy, to learn how to think. But they are forcing you to think the way they want you to think,” she says.

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

Godfather of Color Revolutions: Is George Soros the Most Dangerous Man Alive?

Of course you’ve heard the name “George Soros,” often invoked as a sort of folk demon on the American and international right, it’s likely that you have some vague notion of why you think he’s a bad guy, or maybe you think the whole thing is a bunch of hype.

However, if you’re a freedom lover, there’s nothing “hype” about the influence that George Soros has around the world attacking your freedom. Indeed, you probably vastly underestimate the influence that he has on politics.

From the perspective of someone who values life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, there is no more dangerous man today than George Soros. This is not hyperbole, it is the simple truth. While we don’t plan to paint a picture of a man standing behind the scenes, rubbing his hands together and cackling as he plays puppet master over each and every attack on freedom around the world, Soros acts as a strawman and a caricature of what is actually going on in the world.

George Soros, his money, and his NGOs are bankrolling and influencing public policy and opinion from the local level all the way up to the national level. Entire nations have been made to bow to the Soros agenda, but perhaps more importantly for our purposes, key local officials in government are increasingly wholly owned subsidiaries of the Soros machine.

Ever wonder why urban terrorists can burn down cities with no consequences but the McClaskys are prosecuted for defending their home against the same? The answer is George Soros, his money, and his influence.

           — Hat tip: AA [Return to headlines]
 

Hecklers Call Mike Pence ‘Traitor’ During Conference

Former Vice President Mike Pence was heckled by attendees at a conservative conference Friday, according to The Hill.

Pence was speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition summit, which allows conservative activists to “join together and lay the foundation to win the majority in the 2022 midterm elections,” according to a press release from the organization.

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

Iowa Governor Signs ‘Back the Blue’ Bill That Increases Penalties for Protest-Related Crimes

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the “Back the Blue” bill into law on Thursday, increasing penalties for protest-related crimes.

“We encourage First Amendment rights to protest peacefully, but if you break the law, you’re going to be held accountable,” the governor said, according to KCCI-TV in Des Moines.

Reynolds said those who riot, loot or attack officers “will be punished to the full extent of the law. The public peace is too important, and the safety of our officers too precious, to tolerate destructive behavior.”

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

Joe Rogan Slams “F***ing Terrible” CNN Hosts; “Everybody Knows They’re Not Real”

In a viral outburst Thursday, podcast king Joe Rogan tore into CNN fake journalists Brian Stelter and Don Lemon, declaring “the market has spoken and your show[s are] ing terrible.”

Rogan was discussing CNN’s appalling ratings drop since President Trump left office, noting “Brian Stelter’s show keeps slipping and slipping and slipping in the ratings. Same with Don Lemon’s.”

“They didn’t even understand the way they were describing it,” Rogan noted, adding “They were describing it as if they’re entitled to viewers. They were saying, ‘There are people on YouTube right now that get more views than this show.’“

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

Lawsuit Against Twitter Reveals How it Works With Democrats to Censor

Attorney, civil rights activist, and political commentator Rogan O’Handley (@dc_draino) has sued Twitter and several Democratic politicians and accused the defendants of violating his right to free speech by flagging and censoring his tweets and account.

O’Handley is a popular social media influencer with millions of collective followers and had over 440,000 Twitter followers before he was banned for allegedly violating the platform’s “civic integrity policy.”

The lawsuit shows the California Secretary of State’s Office of Elections Cybersecurity (OEC) flagging one of O’Handley’s tweets to Twitter through dedicated channels that it alleges were created to “streamline censorship requests from government agencies.” It also accuses Twitter of promptly complying with the OEC’s censorship requests by removing his tweets and ultimately banning his account.

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

Portland Police Department Says it Doesn’t Track Gang Activity as Gang Violence Rises

A spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday that the department doesn’t track gang activity despite reports detailing an increase in gang violence in the city.

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

Proud Boys, Antifa Clash, Riot Declared in Oregon City

OREGON CITY, Ore. (KOIN) — A clash of diametrically opposite viewpoints erupted into a riot at an Oregon City park Friday afternoon in a situation the police chief described as “fluid.”

OCPD Chief Jim Band told KOIN 6 News the incident began to escalate shortly before 4 p.m. The Proud Boys had Clackamette Park reserved, as they have for the past few weeks, when a group of people, including members of antifa, came to confront them.

Each group had about 80-100 people, Band said, and the skirmish included fireworks, pepper spray and bats. Police quickly declared an unlawful assembly and then a riot.

There were minor injuries but no arrests, police said.

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

Radical Leftwing NYC Mayoral Candidate Maya Wiley Who Warned About a ‘New York City Built by and for Billionaires’ Received $500,000 From Hedge-Fund Billionaire George Soros

Civil rights attorney, Maya Wiley, who is running as a candidate to be the next mayor of New York City, has been backed by Democrats who regularly speak out against special interests and big money in politics, yet she has worked for organizations that have been bankrolled by hedge-fund billionaire George Soros for decades.

Soros has ties to Wiley that date back to the 1990s and last month he dropped $500,000 into an independent expenditure group, 1199 for Maya, that backs Wiley’s City Hall campaign.

The contribution was matched dollar for dollar by 1199SEIU, an influential healthcare workers union that has endorsed Wiley.

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

Report: Trump Blamed Kushner for Pandering to “The Blacks”

A new report claims that President Trump blamed Jared Kushner for pandering to “the blacks,” who Trump thought were never going to vote for him anyway because “they all ****ing hate me.”

The claim is made by Michael C. Bender, senior White House reporter for the Wall Street Journal, in his new book Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost.

According to Bender, Trump blamed Kushner for his messaging in response to months of Black Lives Matter riots and mayhem (which Bender describes as “civil unrest”) not connecting with Americans.

The report claims that Trump thought the law and order message which proved so successful in 2016 had been diluted by Kushner’s push for “criminal justice reform,” which actually had the consequence of making Trump look weak when the riots began and didn’t earn him any goodwill amongst African-Americans voters.

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

Seattle Police Arrest 10 at Protest Blocking Israeli Cargo Ship

SEATTLE — Seattle Police say they arrested 10 people Thursday at a protest at the Port of Seattle.

The protesters say they were there to block cargo from being unloaded off the Israeli owned Zim San Diego cargo vessel.

Organizers say the protest is in response to a call from labor unions in Palestine asking the world to support their human rights.

Around 150 people gathered at the port Thursday and formed large circles to block roads leading in and out of the port.

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

Soros Quietly Drops $200,000 Backing Another Far-Left Prosecutor in Virginia

Liberal billionaire George Soros continues his push for his preferred left-wing prosecutors across the country, this time quietly racking up a guaranteed victory with $200,000 spent in Norfolk, Virginia.

Soros’s cash infusion, which has slipped under the radar, includes $157,000 from his Justice & Public Safety PAC and $41,500 from his Democracy PAC to Ramin Fatehi, a state and federal prosecutor who won a three-way Democratic primary on June 8. He is now the only candidate on the ballot for the November general election for Norfolk’s commonwealth’s attorney.

Fatehi is the latest in a string of prosecutor candidates Soros has backed to reshape the Virginia criminal justice system.

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

Ted Cruz Says Critical Race Theory is ‘Every Bit as Racist as Klansmen in White Sheets’

Senator Ted Cruz on Friday compared critical race theory to the Ku Klux Klan, saying the curriculum is “every bit as racist” as the white supremacist hate group.

The Texas Republican made the remarks during the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference. Cruz, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Senator Rick Scott and other GOP leaders will address the conference, aiming to build momentum ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

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

Trump Says Critical Race Theory Borders on ‘Psychological Abuse’

One day before the first celebration of Juneteenth as a nationally recognized federal holiday, former President Donald Trump tore into President Joe Biden for embracing “critical race theory”—a loosely defined academic framework that’s become the newest front in the culture wars—and went as far as to claim teaching the theory verges on “psychological abuse.”

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

VA Parents Tell Lawrence Jones Why They’re Taking a Stand Against Critical Race Theory in Their Schools

Virginia parents are continuing to take a stand against critical race theory being taught in their children’s schools.

Fox News’ enterprise reporter Lawrence Jones traveled to Leesburg, Virginia to have “Breakfast with Friends” at the Leesburg Diner and discuss the issue with passionate Loudoun County parents.

“It’s starting to concern me…one of the reasons why we are all petitioning to recall our school board [is] it’s really important that we focus on education rather than division,” Michelle, a Virginia mother from a nonpartisan organization, “Fight for Our School,” told “Fox & Friends” Friday.

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

Watch: Yale Lecturer Who Talked About Killing White People Defends Her Lecture, Calls Critics ‘Defensive’

Dr. Aruna Khilanani, who was recently heard giving a lecture to Yale medical students about how she had fantasies about killing white people and then wiping the blood off her hands, appeared on Marc Lamont Hill’s show to discuss what she feels are very reasonable views.

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

Wisconsin GOP Congressman Pushes Bill to Ban Critical Race Theory in DC Public Schools

Wisconsin Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman introduced a bill Friday that would ban Washington, D.C. public schools from teaching critical race theory — a controversial doctrine that assumes systematic racism is a defining feature of U.S. history and society.

Grothman said that critical race theory teaches children “to hate each other and hate their country.”

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

Woke Pop Star Wants to Replace the American Flag With One Featuring Off-White Stripes and Brown Stars

Macy Gray, an internationally recognized pop/soul singer, recently wrote an article published on Friday in which she stated that, “for Juneteenth, America needs a new flag.”

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

Breaking: Trudeau Confirms ‘National Certification of Vaccination Status’ For Those Who ‘Travel Internationally’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that the federal and provincial governments are working to create a “national certification of vaccination status” for those who “travel internationally,” all but confirming that some sort of vaccine passport will exist.

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

Nova Scotia Asks Supreme Court to End Controversial Injunction Against Illegal Gatherings

The provincial government has asked the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to lift a controversial injunction on illegal gatherings that was put in place more than a month ago.

The injunction was originally issued on May 14 to stop two anti-mask rallies that were planned for the weekend amid surging COVID-19 numbers and tightened regulations.

However, it has been criticized for being overly broad, with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association characterizing it as an “unjustifiable” ban on freedom of assembly and expression.

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

Six White Female Academics Have Posed as Scholars of Color in Recent Years

Inside Higher Ed has an article out this week regarding a mysterious anonymous report floating around Queen’s University in Canada that alleges some faculty are faking being indigenous.

While employees at the school debate to what degree the claims are true, if at all, tucked inside the article is a summary of all the white academics who have pretended to be scholars of color over the years.

They’ve done so, as reporter Colleen Flaherty put it, “presumably to increase their clout in certain disciplines or access resources available to historically underrepresented groups, or both.”

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

1,000 German Police Officers Fought With Berlin Squatters for Two Days

A nearly two-day fight between squatters and 1,000 police officers over access to a house for a routine fire inspection resulted in closed streets and schools in Berlin’s Friedrichshain district, disrupted traffic, and over 80 injured police officers.

The inspection was scheduled for 8:00 a.m. on Thursday. When talks between the lawyers of the squatters, the police, the town hall and the fire safety inspector led nowhere, the police broke down the door with a hammer, grinder and chainsaw.

At that moment, the occupants of the house immediately attacked, pouring extinguishing powder on the police and throwing paint and firecrackers at them. According to initial data, eight police officers were injured with fire extinguishing powder and another 13 suffered concussions due to the firecrackers explosions.

Initially, there were 350 police officers in action; then, reinforcements were called in, resulting in 1,000 police officers intervening.

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

Crime Declines in Czechia But Cases of Deliberate Spread of a Disease Increase

Police statistics show that crime rates are generally declining. Pickpockets and bicycle thieves are less active, and the number of homicides has decreased. However, there has been a sharp increase in cases of an intentional spread of infectious diseases, including Covid-19. According to statistics, however, the crime rate has been declining since 2013, with only a slight increase between 2018 and 2019.

Last year, between January and April, 53 murders were committed, 13 more than in the same period this year. However, it is still true that most murders take place among relatives or acquaintances.

There is also a decline in theft. The police spokesman Ondrej Moravcik confirmed that authorities record more than 50 percent less pickpocketing this year than last year. The pickpockets were most active in February and March. Although there are few bicycles on the market, the police have not recorded an increased number of cases in this area, either.

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

Czechia: PM Babis Warns of Eurocratism

The Czech Republic is firmly integrated into the European Union, and its EU membership should not be part of political debates, believes Prime Minister Andrej Babis. However, this does not mean that Czechia should automatically take over everything produced by “Eurocrats” in Brussels or “progressive political elites in large countries.” Babis’ comments came at the Multiple Challenges for Transatlantic Partnerships conference at the Prague Congress Center, organized by the Institute for Politics and Society.

According to Babis, to be firmly integrated into the EU means to be a very active member and, when necessary, to have the courage to be critical. Czechia should not automatically agree to everything that is in the interests of large states. “We must constantly fight for our national interests in the EU and we should not be naive, because all the member countries in this club are always fighting for their national interests,” he said.

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

EU Court Rules Private Details of Users Can be Handed Over to Those Who Make Copyright Claims

The Court of Justice of the European Union, ECJ (not to be confused with the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR) — has ruled that IPs, names, and postal addresses can be shared with intellectual property rights holders or third parties — under certain conditions.

The purpose of this is to allow action for damages, the court announced.

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

Finland: Gallery: Extinction Rebellion Activists Set Up Camp on Mannerheimintie

Environmental activists with Extinction Rebellion Finland (Elokapina) have gathered on Mannerheimintie as part of a protest that began on Thursday afternoon but continued overnight till Friday.

Around 120 demonstrators pitched tents and mattresses near the Parliament so they could sleep on the street on Thursday night. Police have been stationed at the spot and are directing the traffic on Mannerheimintie, which is the main thoroughfare in Helsinki.

Protestors have reportedly refused requests from police to shift the demonstration to a safer location. Concrete barricades have been set up at the location to prevent accidents or mishaps.

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

French Prosecution Asks for Six-Month Prison Term for Former President Sarkozy

Prosecutors asked for a six-month prison sentence and another six-month suspended sentence against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for illegally funding his 2012 presidential campaign.

According to the indictment, the funding of Sarkozy’s campaign was characterized by “complete laxity,” with the staff spending more than twice as much as allowed by law; the center-right party then tried to hide the overspending from the relevant authorities by double bookkeeping.

In addition to the one-year prison sentence, the prosecution demanded a fine of €3,750 against Sarkozy, as well as prison sentences from one and a half to four years for the other defendants.

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

French Teen Allegedly Kidnapped and Tortured After Reporting No-Go Area Drug Dealers

Four men aged 19 to 21 allegedly kidnapped and tortured a 17-year-old boy because he reported drug dealers in the Paris no-go suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis to the police.

The teen is alleged to have been held against his will and tortured from Monday to Tuesday before police could arrest the four suspects.

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

Germany’s AfD Accused by Former Leader of Selling Out to Moneyed Elites

For eight years Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has framed itself as a new political home for voters tired of the old, corrupted mainstream parties.

Now Frauke Petry, a former leader, claims the party has been captured by the very shadowy, moneyed elites that she says the AfD was set up to challenge.

Her former party colleagues have dismissed her claims as the work of a disgruntled, failed politician.

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

Hungary Jumps Five Places in Global Competitiveness List

Hungary has moved up five places in the competitiveness ranking published by the IMD World Competitiveness Center of the Swiss Business School, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said at a Budapest press conference on Thursday.

In the ranking of 63 countries in the 2021 IMD Competitiveness Yearbook of 2021, prepared with the assistance of the ICEG European Center, an independent economic research institute, Hungary ranked 42nd, with the third-largest improvement. The finance minister also stressed that 42nd place is still far from desirable and the work started in the Competitiveness Council should be continued.

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

Italy: ABI-German Flexible Rules to Lighten Crisis Impact

A joint document, current rules decided before the pandemic

(ANSA) — ROME, 16 FEB — “It’s necessary to reshape the path of the Banking Union, and refocus the regulatory asset towards the finalization of Basel 3 in Europe and adapting the treatment of impaired loans in compliance with the current economical scenario”. The Italian Banking Association (ABI) and the German Banking Industry Committee (GBIC) wrote their requests to European institutions to reduce the impact of the Covid crisis.

“The solutions identified concern, in particular — the document explains — the crisis management of banks directly subject to national supervision and a more calibrated adoption of the completion of the Basel 3 regulatory framework.” “The new rules of European supervision — Giovanni Sabatini, Director General of the Italian Banking Association underlined — were conceived before the pandemic, in a context which was completely different from the current one: it is necessary to continue to call on the EU to correct these rules.” ABI and GBIC underlined that the regulatory framework for banking crisis management should consider the principle of proportionality and must be in line with the principle of subsidiarity. Furthermore, the current regulatory treatment of non-performing exposures should be revised and adjusted in light of the pandemic crisis. Among the requests contained in the chapter focusing on NPLs, the proposal is to freeze the schedule of provisions for 24 months. Finally, for operators who purchase impaired loans, the deadlines set by the “Npl backstop Regulation” should start only from the date of acquisition of the impaired asset.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

PM Orban: The ‘Liberal Steamrollers’ Are Once Again at Work Against Hungary

Liberals across Europe have launched a concerted attack on Hungary’s anti-pedophile law passed earlier by parliament with a huge majority, Prime Minister Viktor Orban writes in an article on his homepage entitled Samizdat 10.

A collection of articles on topical issues and a platform for Orban’s policy ideas, the Samizdat series derives its name from a Russian neologism, which is an amalgamation of the words sam (self) and izdatelstvo (publishing), a term coined in the former Soviet Union for dissident writings multiplied in makeshift form and distributed clandestinely. Such publications are also well-known in the former Eastern European satellite states of the Soviet empire that lived with extreme censorship from communist authorities.

Below we reproduce integrally the original article in English, which is also available in German and Hungarian:

They’re now setting off alarm bells across Europe over Hungary’s new laws to severely punish pedophiles and protect our children. Let’s face it, this movement is eternal, and its new slogan is no longer “Proletarians of the world, unite!” but “Liberals of the world, unite!” This, of course, reinforces the Central European conviction that today’s liberals are in fact communists with degrees.

The current left-wing campaign against Hungary is further proof that today the left is the enemy of freedom, because instead of freedom of speech, they want political correctness as defined by them, and hegemony of opinion instead of a pluralism of ideas.

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

Poland: Palestinian Terrorist Suspect Apprehended

The Palestinian is viewed to be a high security risk whose presence on Polish territory creates a real danger. He is currently in detention in a border security center and is awaiting extradition from the country.

News of this case was conveyed to reporters by Stanislaw Zaryn, the press spokesman for the minister responsible for coordinating the work of security forces.

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

Slovakia: Mandatory Coronavirus Vaccination is Being Considered

[Translated with Google Translator]

BRATISLAVA — Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OLaNO) said the possibility of introducing compulsory vaccination was also discussed at Thursday’s meeting of the crisis team.

As we reported in our article yesterday, Lengvarský said in an interview with Denník N, that there was also talk on Thursday, in the crisis team, of making vaccination compulsory for certain groups. As an example, he mentioned those in certain occupations and those over 60 years of age. The possibility of this is being examined by the Ministry of Justice…

           — Hat tip: László [Return to headlines]
 

Swiss Court Convicts Liberian Rebel of Rape, Killings and Cannibalism

A Liberian rebel commander was sentenced in Switzerland to 20 years in jail on Friday for rape, killings and an act of cannibalism in one of the first ever convictions over the West African country’s civil war.

The case was also Switzerland’s first war crimes trial in a civilian court. It involved Alieu Kosiah (46), who went by the nom de guerre “bluff boy” in the rebel faction ULIMO that fought former President Charles Taylor’s army in the 1990s.

Kosiah faced 25 charges, including one where he was accused of eating slices of a man’s heart. He was convicted of that and all but four of the other counts, documents from the Swiss Federal Court showed.

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

UK Health Service Blames Massive Fall in Surgeries on Public ‘Not Coming Forward for Care’

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) carried out 1.5 million fewer surgical procedures than expected in 2020, including 108,000 fewer emergency operations, according to research.

In a nationwide observational cohort study of surgical activity in England and Wales during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, the British Journal of Anaesthesia found “a 33.6 per cent reduction in the national volume of surgical activity” over the course of 2020, linking this to the fact that a “significant proportion of healthcare resource [have] been diverted to the care of those with COVID-19.”

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

UK: ‘Thank God for BLM’ Says Labour’s Dawn Butler MP

Labour’s Dawn Butler MP has thanked God “for BLM”, saying the Marxist race movement has emboldened her to “use the term white supremacy” without fear.

Butler, who was briefly a government minister under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and served as Shadow Minister for Diversity and then Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities under hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, made the comments in an interview with Make It Plain, an arm of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity which styles itself as the “home of radical Black thought”.

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

UK: Abedi Should Have Been Identified as Threat on Night of Terror Attack, Lives Could’ve Been Saved, Finds Inquiry

The chairman of the inquiry into the 2017 Islamist terror attack in Manchester has criticised authorities in charge of the security at the arena, saying that Salman Abedi should have been identified as a threat on the night of the attack, and that while Abedi would likely still have detonated his suicide bomb, many more lives would have been saved with early intervention.

Sir John Saunders condemned the British Transport Police (BTP), Manchester Arena’s operators SMG, security contractors Showsec, and even singled out individuals for their failures to assess Abedi even after members of the public had raised concerns.

Abedi, the 22-year-old son of Libyan refugees, detonated a suicide bomb on May 22nd, 2017, in the foyer of the arena as concert-goers were leaving the theatre, killing 22 victims and injuring hundreds of others.

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

UK: Digging Up Our Green and Pleasant Land: Being Political Wing of Building Industry May Cost Tories Dearly

The Conservatives had been defying conventional logic, winning by-elections while in government — a rare achievement — but now they have been soundly defeated in a safe seat by a minor party, analysis suggests, on the small matter of the countryside being swallowed whole by development. Will the Tories’ big-money donors in the construction industry come to haunt them?

The normal state of play in British politics is that governing parties do not win by-elections (special elections), as the mid-term local votes give opposition parties a small target to focus a lot of resources on, and local voters get a chance to protest the sitting government outside of the normal election cycle. The fact that the Conservatives have won two by-elections in the past four years defies the laws of political gravity, events underlining the apparently unstoppable Conservative machine.

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

UK: London Uni Allows Non-Whites Exam Extensions if They Say They’ve Experienced “Racial Trauma”

Goldsmiths University in London is allowing ‘people of color’ to extend exam & assignment deadlines if they claim to have experienced “racial trauma.”

No evidence required.

The university is majority PoC, meaning this will actually discriminate against white students.

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

Canon Introduces AI Technology in Chinese Offices That Only Lets Smiling Workers Inside

The apocryphal saying goes, “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” If you ask anyone born and raised in Europe’s former Communist bloc, they may easily tell you — “Only the dead have seen the end of propaganda aimed at making everybody appear happy just as they’re suffering.”

It was a major component of the early Soviet agitprop — in the 1920s and 1930s — just as many people were perishing in political purges or famines. To this day, many Eastern Europeans mistrust or dislike well established “social graces” of the West — like smiling for no reason at absolute strangers — as something to reflexively recoil from. Not because it’s bad in and of itself — but because in their experience, it’s highly likely to be fake.

Today, the Soviet Union and its European bloc is long gone in geopolitical terms, Russia has managed to resurrect itself as a power very far removed from the former ideology — but that doesn’t mean the ethos, and in particular the propaganda that emerged in the early days of Communism is altogether gone in the modern world.

With that in mind, consider China — but also, Japan-based Canon manufacturer, that is deploying artificial intelligence-powered cameras in Chinese workplaces to suss out “unhappy” employees.

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

Censorship: Vietnam Introduces “Code of Conduct” For Social Media

The Vietnamese government has taken its disregard for free speech to another level through the introduction of a nationwide social media code of conduct. Among many other things, the code encourages the Vietnamese to post positive content about their country, such as the beautiful sceneries, and culture.

The ruling Communist party in the southeast Asian country does not take kindly to criticism. It controls the media and, to keep up with recent times, it has intensified its crackdown of critical social media posts. Currently there are activists and dissidents serving prison sentences for content they posted on online platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.

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

Former State Department Investigator: China Already Knows Origin of Pandemic

In an appearance on Fox News Thursday, former State Department official David Asher, who was investigating the coronavirus outbreak under President Trump, declared that China already knows the origin of the virus and will continue to refuse to co-operate with fresh probes.

“You would have thought that if they didn’t know exactly where this thing came from they would ask us for help to try to figure it out — and the world community — like they did in SARS, MERS, and the avian flu,” Asher said.

“We’ll get zero answers out of Beijing in the future,” Asher assterd, adding “If they were willing to cooperate they would have done so a long time ago.”

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

Denmark Pushes Ahead With Policy to Limit Non-Western Share of Population to 30 Per Cent

Denmark is pushing ahead with a new immigration policy that will ensure areas of the country have no more than 30 per cent of people from a non-western background.

The new measure is designed to prevent the creation of parallel societies and ‘no go zone’ migrant ghettos which breed crime and ethnic balkanization.

Despite attempts by the United Nations to argue that the policy will create “ethnic discrimination,” over the course of the next 10 years it will ensure that at least 70% of the population living in allocated areas have a western ethnic background.

Citizens from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland will also be denied municipal housing support as will those with a criminal record.

By pursuing the policy, Denmark has been able to reduce areas officially considered to be “ghettos” from 22 in 2018 down to 15 as of now.

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

Migrant Taxi Ship Docks in Italy to Drop Off Over 400 Migrants as Arrivals Continue

A vessel operated by the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) with 410 migrants on board arrived at an Italian port Thursday afternoon after over 1,200 migrants arrived in a single day last weekend at Lampedusa.

The MSF ship Geo Barents had picked up 410 migrants from seven boats off the coast of Libya. After being rejected to dock in Malta earlier this week, the ship headed to Sicily to drop off the migrants, who the NGO says are “exhausted”.

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

UK: Exposed: How Border Force Tries to Cover Up Missions to Pick Up Migrants in the Channel Under the Watchful Eye of French Ships in Our Waters Illegally

Hidden in thick sea fog, the Border Force’s powerful cutter Seeker raced from the middle of the English Channel carrying 30 migrants towards Dover on Thursday.

It had just plucked them from an unseaworthy black rubber dinghy launched from a French beach before dawn and destined for Britain’s south coast.

Seeker’s arrival at Dover port with 30 men of multiple nationalities did not merit a mention on the afternoon news.

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

Despite Canceling Ollie Robinson for the Exact Same Thing, Media Totally Ignores Megan Rapinoe’s Racist Tweet

Despite canceling cricketer Ollie Robinson for virtually the exact same thing, the media completely ignored an old racist tweet posted by U.S. soccer star and left-wing activist Megan Rapinoe.

Gee, I wonder why?

As we highlighted yesterday, in May 2011, Rapinoe tweeted, “u look asian with those closed eyes!”

That shouldn’t matter at all, but given we’re now empowering woke mobs to perform offense archeology inquisitions, surely their own should be held to the same standard?

Compare the radio silence that greeted the revelation of Rapinoe’s old tweet with the vociferous backlash England cricket star Ollie Robinson received for tweeting almost exactly the same thing when he was 18-years-old.

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

Florida Man Hit With Felony Charges for Leaving Tire Tracks on LGBT Crosswalk

A Florida man was hit with felony charges after leaving tire tracks on an LGBT crosswalk, with activists attempting to get authorities to elevate the charges to include “defacing a memorial.”

“Alexander Jerich, 20, turned himself in to police in Delray Beach, Florida, on Thursday,” reports RT. “Jerich was seen on Monday allegedly pulling onto the intersection in a pickup truck and spinning his rear tires for around 15 seconds, leaving black streaks across the rainbow stripes and sending clouds of smoke into the air.”

The charges against Jerich were elevated from misdemeanor to felony after authorities said there was “evidence of prejudice” in his actions.

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

Nolte: Victoria’s Secret Seeks to Destroy Brand With Spokeswoman Megan Rapinoe

So Victoria’s Secret, a decades-old brand premised on sexy fun, is looking to deliberately destroy itself by appointing — lol — the humorless and brittle Megan Rapinoe as its new spokeswoman.

The humorless and brittle Rapinoe will not be alone in what can only be a Producers-style conspiracy to sabotage Victoria’s Secret from within. Among others, joining Rapinoe will be Valentina Sampaio, a male model who identifies as a woman, and plus-size model Paloma Elsesser.

Yeah, where do I sign up for that catalog…

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

UK: Royal Academy Pulls Artist’s Work Over “Transphobic” Blog Post

The Royal Academy (RA) in Britain has removed pieces by textile artist Jess de Wahls following complaints about allegedly “transphobic” comments she made about two years ago. Her cancellation resulted in the RA being accused of “belief discrimination” and going against the values of “a forum of artistic expression.”

In a 2019 blog post, de Wahls criticized the LGBT charity Stonewall and expressed her opposition to the “gender identity ideology.” The Royal Academy said that the views she expressed contradicted its values.

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

6 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/18/2021

  1. “In other news, a Florida man was charged with a felony for spinning his wheels and leaving tire tracks on a rainbow-striped LGBT crosswalk.” So much for Gov DeSantis and freedom in the sunshine state. Rule by the perverts is the rule.

    • Even Ron DeSantis doesn’t have the [manly equipment] to stand up to the gay mafia. In fact, they’ve so thoroughly cowed all judges that no American dares to do that.

  2. Where not to live:
    Government pays $16,000 for paint on a road that cars will drive over, and then arrests someone for driving over the paint.

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