Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/28/2021

Yesterday afternoon a dispute among a group of men arose in Times Square in New York City, leading to a man opening fire with a gun. A tourist who had no connection with the group was shot in the back. Police are appealing to the public for help in identifying the shooter, who is still at large.

In other news, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven resigned after losing a vote of no confidence, but will stay on as caretaker until a new government is formed.

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

Thanks to AA, Dean, Insubria, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, 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
» Biden Administration to “Encourage” Private Companies to Use Vaccine Passports
» Breaking: Andy Ngo’s Podcast Permanently Banned From Soundcloud
» Clarence Thomas Says Federal Pot Laws ‘May No Longer be Necessary’
» Conservatives Hold Conference on Banning Critical Race Theory, Common Core
» Convicted ISIS Fighter Testifies Against Dearborn Man in Terror Case
» Daily Beast Journalist Says Normal Life Feels Like a “Horror Movie”
» Eastern Washington Congressman Co-Sponsors Bill to Ban Teaching ‘Critical Race Theory’
» Facebook Antitrust Lawsuits Dismissed by US Federal Court Delivering Massive Blow to Antitrust Efforts
» ‘Hate in This Man’s Heart’: What We Know About the Winthrop Gunman
» Jake Tapper’s CNN Show Has Lost 75 Percent of Its Viewers Since January
» John Wayne: The Forgotten History of “The Duke”
» John McAfee’s Suicide Note Found
» Make-a-Wish Foundation Says it Won’t Help Terminally Ill Children Unless Their Entire Family is Vaccinated
» National Archives ‘Task Force’ Suggests Racism “Trigger Warnings” For Constitution, Bill of Rights
» Ohio House Approves Legislation Aimed at Protest Behavior
» Planned Protests Today Over Vaccine Mandates at Va. Tech, Colorado
» Survey Finds Americans’ Trust in Media is World’s Lowest
» Texas to Hold Facebook Accountable for Sex Trafficking of Minors in the State
» Times Square Shooting: New Video of Alleged Gunman After Tourist Shot
» Trump Blasts Prosecutors as Trump Org. Grand Jury Nears Indictment Vote
» University Bans the Phrase “Trigger Warning” Because it Might Be… Triggering
» Watch: Psaki Defends Olympic Athlete Who Disrespected US Flag, Anthem
» Watch: Psaki Says it’s Republicans Who Voted to ‘Defund Police’
» Watch: White House Says Keep Kids Masked Until They’re Vaccinated
» Watch: Tucker Carlson Reveals the Biden Administration is Spying on Him
 
Canada
» Canadians Have Not Sent a Single Letter in Support of Trudeau’s Censorship Czar, Says His Office
» Churchill, Manitoba Cancels Canada Day to ‘Advance Reconciliation’
» Edmonton’s Indoor Mask Mandate to End on Canada Day
» Nearly One-Third of Canadians Broke Pandemic Restrictions: Survey
» Report: Canadian Military Illegally Surveilled Canadians During COVID-19
 
Europe and the EU
» British ‘Influencer’ Now Trans-Racial, Identifies as Korean
» Germany: Jihad Motive Suspected After Somali Knife-Attacker Kills Teacher While She Protected Her 11-Year-Old Daughter in Wurzburg
» Hungary Must Remain Hungarian, Says Speaker of the House
» Hungary Rejects Global 15% Tax Rate, Says it Will Favor US
» ‘I Refuse to Become a Minority in My Own Country’ — Exclusive Interview With Spokeswoman of Disbanded Generation Identity
» Italy: Police Dig at Greenhouse in Search for Saman’s Body
» Italy: Cops Bust Gang That Robbed Elderly
» MEPs Approve Climate Law, Introduce Stricter Emission Targets
» PM Orban: ‘Liberals Must Respect the Rights of Non-Iberals’
» Swedish Prime Minister Resigns After No Confidence Vote, But Blocks Fresh Elections, Stays on as ‘Caretaker’
» UK: Classified Threat Assessment Document for HMS Defender Found at Bus Stop
 
Middle East
» Abu Dhabi Justifies Introducing Invasive Facial Scanning by Saying it “Detects COVID-19”
 
South Asia
» India: Huge Sikh Protests in Srinagar and Delhi Against Forced Conversion and Marriage of Young Sikh Girls With Muslims
 
Far East
» Ambassador Marks Century of Chinese Communism With Visit to Marx Grave in London
» Breaking: Hunter Biden’s Investment Firm Funded Company That Partnered With Wuhan Virology Lab
 
Australia — Pacific
» ABC Will Use the Aboriginal Names for Cities and Towns in Its Flagship News Program in a Bid to be More Inclusive to Indigenous Australians
 
Immigration
» Oregon Legislature Passes Bill to Make Illegal Immigrants Eligible for Medicaid
» People Smugglers Packing More Migrants on Military-Style Inflatable Boats to Beat Shortage of Dinghies
» UK: Priti Hopeless: Farage Says Migrant Centre in Africa ‘Will Never Happen’
 
Culture Wars
» Czech President Zeman Says He Finds Transgender People ‘Disgusting’
» Hungary’s Child Protection Law Has Its Foreign Supporters
» Ironic: Right Wing Watch Banned From YouTube After Campaigning to Expose “Dangerous Conspiracy Theories”
» Stonewall Accused of “Ponzi Scheme, “ “Coercing” Brands to Promote Trans Ideology on Social Media
» Supreme Court Allows Trans Bathroom Case to Stand in Refusing to Hear the Appeal
» U.N. Rights Chief Calls for End to ‘Systemic Racism’ — Seeks Reparations, Funding of Black Lives Matter
» Video: Spa Staff Dismiss Woman’s Complaint About Man Exposing His Penis to Little Girls in Female Area
» WHO Says Even Vaccinated People Should “Play it Safe” And Continue to Wear Masks
» Winner of Miss Nevada Beauty Pageant is Transgender
 

Biden Administration to “Encourage” Private Companies to Use Vaccine Passports

Civil liberties could be crushed by the private sector as US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has revealed that the Biden administration is openly nudging private companies towards introducing so-called Covid passports for their employees — seemingly as the closest thing, policy-wise, to having to outright mandate them.

Judging by Buttigieg’s department’s statement for Fox News, the administration would also like to keep itself outside of a move as controversial as making vaccination passports compulsory and government-mandated.

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

Breaking: Andy Ngo’s Podcast Permanently Banned From Soundcloud

SoundCloud has de-platformed journalist Andy Ngo’s podcast “on the grounds of being dedicated to violating” the site’s rules. However, the latest episode of the podcast was uploaded more than one year ago and there was no option in the notification email for Ngo to appeal or even seek further information.

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

Clarence Thomas Says Federal Pot Laws ‘May No Longer be Necessary’

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday issued a blistering dissent arguing that federal marijuana prohibition may no longer make sense.

Although the dissent doesn’t immediately change anything, it could become significant if its reasoning inspires lower-level judges to strike down laws that make marijuana illegal.

Thomas wrote that tolerance for state-level pot legalization created a “half-in, half-out regime” and a “contradictory and unstable state of affairs” that “strains basic principles of federalism and conceals traps for the unwary.”

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

Conservatives Hold Conference on Banning Critical Race Theory, Common Core

The Republican Women of Shelby County on Wednesday held a joint session with Alabama Eagle Forum and the Alabama Conservative Coalition to urge the Alabama School Board and the Legislature to abolish Common Core education standards and ban instruction of Critical Race Theory in Alabama’s public education system.

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

Convicted ISIS Fighter Testifies Against Dearborn Man in Terror Case

Detroit — A one-armed Islamic State soldier testified Monday he served alongside a Dearborn man accused of fighting on behalf of the terrorist organization, an unprecedented admission in federal court during the war on terror.

Minnesota resident Abdelhamid Al-Madioum testified during a dramatic, virtual faceoff in federal court in Detroit involving two Americans who prosecutors say fled the country to wage jihad on behalf of a terrorist organization. During more than two hours of testimony, Al-Madioum, 24, said that he met Ibraheem Musaibli four times while both served in the Tariq bin Ziyad brigade, which was filled with foreign fighters — including Americans — who served in war zones in Iraq and Syria.

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

Daily Beast Journalist Says Normal Life Feels Like a “Horror Movie”

Daily Beast journalist Wajahat Ali says that the sight of children not wearing face masks inside restaurants and shopping malls makes him feel like he’s living in a “horror movie”.

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

Eastern Washington Congressman Co-Sponsors Bill to Ban Teaching ‘Critical Race Theory’

KENNEWICK, Wa. — Rep. Dan Newhouse wants to stop “critical race theory” being taught in schools.

The Sunnyside Republican is cosponsoring two pieces of legislation aimed at stopping the government from promoting “critical race theory,” he said. He was joined by Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens in sponsoring the two bills.

Critical race theory emerged in the 1970s and was promoted by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Richard Delgado, among others. It was an effort to examine the law in how it serves the interests of people in power at the expense of others.

Newhouse is among a number of conservatives who see efforts to introduce diversity training and other equity efforts as a way to create divisions among groups of people.

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

Facebook Antitrust Lawsuits Dismissed by US Federal Court Delivering Massive Blow to Antitrust Efforts

A federal judge decided on Monday to dismiss both the FTC’s lawsuit and a separate lawsuit brought forward by a coalition of state attorney generals to break up Facebook.

Both 48 state attorneys general (led by Letitia James of New York) and the FTC filed separate lawsuits last year alleging Facebook’s market share crushed competition. In buying Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, the suits claimed Facebook had cornered the market.

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

‘Hate in This Man’s Heart’: What We Know About the Winthrop Gunman

Two people who said they came face-to-face with the gunman on Saturday and were not shot described him looking right at them

The man who killed two Black people in Winthrop, Massachusetts, in a brief shooting rampage “had very disturbing beliefs,” Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said Monday, reiterating her belief that the attack was motivated by bigotry.

The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, and more details are coming to light about his background, including that he received a degree in physical therapy earlier this year. Investigators said they could release some of his hateful writings as early as Monday night or Tuesday.

“I am confident in saying there was hate in this man’s heart,” Rollins said at a news conference at the Winthrop Town Hall.

Nathan Allen, 28, crashed a stolen plumbing company truck into a building, flattening it, then got out and shot two people down the street, authorities have said. Both were Black — they were a retired state police trooper and an Air Force veteran— while he opted not to shoot other people who aren’t Black…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Jake Tapper’s CNN Show Has Lost 75 Percent of Its Viewers Since January

The once-popular CNN show, “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” has lost a staggering 75 percent of its audience since its viewership spiked in January.

The last available data shows a mere 706,000 people tuning in to the major network show from May 31 to June 23, 2021, down from a high of 2.8 million viewers five months prior, according to Fox News.

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

John Wayne: The Forgotten History of “The Duke”

John Wayne is an American Hollywood icon every bit the equal of James Dean or Marilyn Monroe. He is also a man from another era, a man whose conservatism came as naturally as walking down the street. Affectionately known as “The Duke,” he spent three decades as a top box office draw with 179 film and television credits to his name.

           — Hat tip: AA [Return to headlines]
 

John McAfee’s Suicide Note Found

A suicide note was found in John McAfee’s pocket, following his death last week in a Spanish prison.

This comes after McAfee was found dead last Wednesday, hours after Spanish courts allowed for his extradition to the United States, the Daily Mail reports.

The 75-year-old tech mogul had been in a Spanish prison after being arrested in October 2020 at Barcelona Airport. A warrant for McAfee had been put out by Tennessee prosecutors, as he had allegedly evaded over $4 million in taxes.

His apparent death by suicide shocked many across the globe, including his wife Janice McAfee, who blamed US Authorities for his suicide.

[Comment: The suicide note could be forged. Hand writing analysis of the note could be interesting.]

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

Make-a-Wish Foundation Says it Won’t Help Terminally Ill Children Unless Their Entire Family is Vaccinated

The Make-a-Wish Foundation says it won’t help terminally ill children unless the child and their entire family has taken the COVID-19 vaccine, prompting actor Rob Schneider to end his relationship with the charity.

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

National Archives ‘Task Force’ Suggests Racism “Trigger Warnings” For Constitution, Bill of Rights

A National Archives ‘task force’ on racism has suggested placing trigger warnings around the building housing founding documents including the U.S. constitution, as well as declaring that the historical portrayal of the founding fathers has previously been “too positive”.

Fox News reports that the group has proclaimed the National Archives’ Rotunda building, which houses the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as an example of “structural racism”.

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

Ohio House Approves Legislation Aimed at Protest Behavior

The Ohio House has approved legislation increasing penalties associated with behavior at protests. The bill is one of four General Assembly proposals introduced following last year’s protests over racial injustice and police brutality.

The measure passed Friday expands the definition of obstructing justice in Ohio to include failure to follow a lawful order or diverting a law enforcement officer’s attention.

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

Planned Protests Today Over Vaccine Mandates at Va. Tech, Colorado

Hundreds of individuals are scheduled to protest this morning against COVID-19 vaccine mandates on at least two campuses—the University of Colorado at Boulder and Virginia Tech University—according to the national activist organization Young Americans for Liberty.

A release from YAL said the protests are a “nationwide effort to promote individual liberty and push back against government mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Officials are planning to forge further demonstrations at other institutions.

The YAL said it has gotten almost 500 signatures to an online petition it created in response to Virginia Tech’s mandate from President Tim Sands, which called for the university’s requirement on June 8. Sands told the Virginia Tech community at the time that it made the decision based on Centers for Disease Control guidance and its own experiences this past year, saying that a return to a “full experience” in the fall would only be achieved by a vaccine mandate.

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

Survey Finds Americans’ Trust in Media is World’s Lowest

Trust in American mainstream media has hit a new low, according to a new survey which found that less than one-third of Americans trust the media.

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford interviewed 29,000 people in nearly 50 countries for digital news report, which found that that the global survey found Americans have a media trust gap of 15 percent, compared to the average media trust of 45 other nations that were surveyed.

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

Texas to Hold Facebook Accountable for Sex Trafficking of Minors in the State

The Texas Supreme Court handed down a ruling on Friday allowing Facebook and other social media platforms to be held liable for the sex trafficking of minors.

There are currently three separate lawsuits pending in the state which have been anticipating this ruling before they would be able to proceed.

According to local outlet Kiro 7, Facebook is being sued in Texas for negligence and for product liability, due to its failing to do anything to try and prevent the blatant trafficking from occurring on its platform. The legal complaint alleges that Facebook benefitted financially from such actions.

“We do not understand Section 230 to ‘create a lawless no-man’s-land on the internet,’“ the legal opinion handed down by the justices reads, “in which states are powerless to impose liability on websites that knowingly or intentionally participate in the evil of online human trafficking.”

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

Times Square Shooting: New Video of Alleged Gunman After Tourist Shot

TIMES SQUARE — The NYPD on Monday released new video and images of a man accused of opening fire in Times Square on Sunday evening, striking a 21-year-old tourist in the back, according to police.

According to police sources, several men were involved in a dispute that escalated when a man pulled out a gun and started firing.

New surveillance footage appears to show the suspected shooter opening fire in the area of the tourist hot spot.

[…]

A 911 call came in around 5:15 p.m., according to police. A man, who police said was not the intended target, was shot in the back while with family outside a hotel, authorities said.

Family and officials identified the victim as Samuel Poulin, a U.S. Marine visiting the city with his family from Upstate New York.

“They are quite shaken up, as you can imagine. We all are,” Poulin’s mother-in-law Pam Jensen told PIX11’s Anthony DiLorenzo…

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Blasts Prosecutors as Trump Org. Grand Jury Nears Indictment Vote

Former President Donald Trump ripped New York City and state prosecutors Monday over their long-running investigation into the Trump Organization, accusing them of being “rude, nasty, and totally biased.”

The 45th president issued his blast as Trump Organization lawyers met with representatives of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s office. Meanwhile, a company attorney told reporters that a grand jury empaneled by Vance is nearing a vote on issuing indictments following the more than two-year-long investigation.

“Radical Left New York City and State Prosecutors, who have let murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and all other forms of crime skyrocket to record levels, and who have just announced that they will be releasing hundreds of people involved in violent crime back onto the streets without retribution of any kind, are rude, nasty, and totally biased in the way they are treating lawyers, representatives, and some of the wonderful long-term employees and people within the Trump Organization,” Trump railed in a lengthy statement.

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

University Bans the Phrase “Trigger Warning” Because it Might Be… Triggering

An arts college in Waltham, MA has banned the use of words and phrases it deems to be ‘violent’ or ‘racist’, replacing them with bland alternatives in an effort to prevent anyone from being offended.

The Daily Mail reports that Brandeis University has “created an anti-violence resource called the Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center which provides information and advice to students and staff.”

Among the phrases to have been banned are, ironically, ‘trigger warning’ which had to go because of its association to guns, along with ‘take a shot at it’ for the same reason.

Similarly, ‘take a stab at it’ and ‘killing it’ have been described as ‘oppressive language’ and replaced by ‘try’ and ‘great job’. “If someone is doing well, we don’t need to equate that to murder!” the college’s explanation reads.

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

Watch: Psaki Defends Olympic Athlete Who Disrespected US Flag, Anthem

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded in a quite defensive way to a question regarding an American Olympic athlete turning her back on the national anthem on the podium while receiving a medal.

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

Watch: Psaki Says it’s Republicans Who Voted to ‘Defund Police’

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by Fox News’s White House correspondent Peter Doocy about comments made by Biden advisor Cedric Richmond on Friday.

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

Watch: White House Says Keep Kids Masked Until They’re Vaccinated

The question of whether to vaccinate children under 12-years-old or not has been ripe for debate since the vaccines were approved for the over 12 set. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that she is looking forward to getting her kids vaccinated.

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

Watch: Tucker Carlson Reveals the Biden Administration is Spying on Him

Fox News host Tucker Carlson revealed Monday that the Biden administration is spying on him, after a whistleblower with the National Security Agency (NSA) delivered a shocking warning that the agency plans to leak confidential emails in an attempt to take his show off-air.

“Yesterday, we heard from a whistleblower within the US government who reached out to warn us that the NSA, the National Security Agency, is monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take the show off the air,” Tucker Carlson said.

“Now that’s a shocking claim and ordinarily we’d be skeptical of it. It is illegal for the NSA to spy on American citizens. It’s a crime. It’s not a third world country. Things like that should not happen in America, but unfortunately they do happen. And in this case they did happen,” Carlson continued.

“The whistleblower, who is in a position to know, repeated back to us information about a story that we are working on that could have only come directly from my texts and emails,” Tucker explained. “There was no other possible source for that information period.”

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

Canadians Have Not Sent a Single Letter in Support of Trudeau’s Censorship Czar, Says His Office

The office of Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has not received any letters in support of his department’s push to censor the internet, his staff has revealed, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

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

Churchill, Manitoba Cancels Canada Day to ‘Advance Reconciliation’

Churchill, Manitoba, is joining a growing list of Canadian cities, towns and hamlets cancelling Canada Day over the recent uncovering of hundreds of unmarked graves at residential school burial sites.

The decision came after consultation with residential school survivors and the province’s Indigenous communities.

In a press release, the city of Churchill acknowledged the “tragedy” of Indian Residential Schools, which “continue to cause pain and suffering particularly among survivors, their families, and their loved ones.”

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

Edmonton’s Indoor Mask Mandate to End on Canada Day

It’s official: Edmonton City Council will deactivate its mask bylaw after a motion in support finally passed, the Edmonton Journal reported.

The decision means Edmontonians will not be required to wear a face-covering or mask in indoor public places as of July 1. The 7-6 city council decision approved a bylaw (19783) that amends the previously adopted temporary mask bylaw (19408).

As of Canada Day, masks will no longer be required in retail stores, entertainment venues, restaurants and most other public venues in line with the repeal of the provincial mandate. Face coverings will still be required, however, on the city’s transit system and in vehicle-for-hire services, such as taxis or Uber.

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

Nearly One-Third of Canadians Broke Pandemic Restrictions: Survey

A nationwide survey asked 1,000 respondents to what degree they’ve followed public health orders and where they’ve received pandemic-related information.

The survey by the Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research at the University of Saskatchewan conducted between June 1 and June 14 found that respondents followed isolation requirements and were honest on COVID-19 screening questions, the Canadian Press reported. 29 percent of people surveyed broke at least one COVID-19 measure, typically failing to wear a mask and disregarding gathering limits—especially younger people in Quebec and on the Prairies.

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

Report: Canadian Military Illegally Surveilled Canadians During COVID-19

The Canadian military’s top brass surveilled Canadians under the auspice of curbing civil disobedience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Per a 2021 report, they violated federal rules. They acted without Ottawa’s approval when they ordered intelligence teams to collect information on the public.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau, the former head of the Canadian Joint Operations Command, issued a plan to use propaganda techniques towards Canadians. They used propaganda techniques adopted during the Afghanistan War and other information operations.

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

British ‘Influencer’ Now Trans-Racial, Identifies as Korean

White British influencer Oli London has announced that he’s now trans-racial and identifies as Korean having undergone surgery to make him look Asian.

A deluge of ignorant trans-racial haters responded to Oli’s announcement by suggesting that trans-racial is not a thing.

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

Germany: Jihad Motive Suspected After Somali Knife-Attacker Kills Teacher While She Protected Her 11-Year-Old Daughter in Wurzburg

After the Friday knife attack in Würzburg that left three women dead and several people injured, there are indications of an Islamist motive of the attacker, a rejected asylum seeker from Somalia.

The detained Abdirahman JA said after his arrest that through the attack, he had achieved his “jihad”, cited Spiegel Online the investigators.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann sees “blatant suspicion” of Islamist origin in the Würzburg knife attack which saw 49-year-old Christiane H. attacked along with her 11-year-old daughter, Akines, in a Woolworth department store.

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

Hungary Must Remain Hungarian, Says Speaker of the House

Hungarians do not believe in a state that is said to be neutral on values in politics, ideology, education, or the constitution, Speaker of the House Laszló Kövér said on Friday at a conference marking ten years since the creation of the country’s new constitution.

“An epoch-making public law document like our Basic Law has a thousand messages, and I have 15 minutes according to our program, so, if I may, I would recommend only one message to your attention today: This message of the Basic Law says briefly and crystal clear that Hungary wants to remain a Hungarian country,” Kövér said at the conference.

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

Hungary Rejects Global 15% Tax Rate, Says it Will Favor US

During a meeting with his Swiss counterpart Ueli Maurer, Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga had given the strongest indication yet that his government will oppose the introduction of a global minimum tax rate.

The proposal originating from the Biden administration was meant to raise U.S. tax revenues and to have some provisions against channelling profits to tax havens, a practice that a number of U.S. tech giants have been accused of. This would replace the patchy variety of digital tax laws that some countries have been trying to protect themselves against big tech tax avoidance.

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

‘I Refuse to Become a Minority in My Own Country’ — Exclusive Interview With Spokeswoman of Disbanded Generation Identity

Since the arbitrary dissolution of the Génération Identitaire (Generation Identity) movement in March, the French government has been increasing the number of legal proceedings against its young activists. The state’s targeting of these activists is raising fears that anyone campaigning against mass immigration policies and illegal immigration, even by peaceful means, could face increasingly repressive legal intimidation, effectively forbidding criticism and political protest on a topic many Europeans and the French are increasingly concerned with.

The move to outright ban political groups critical of the ruling government’s policies, as well as the attitude of public prosecutors and judges, is raising troubling questions about respect for democracy and the rule of law by one of the EU’s big players, which happens to be also one of the EU countries that is most vocal about supposed violations of democracy and the rule of law in Poland and Hungary. However, in the two Central European Countries ruled by right-wing conservative governments, there exists no such example of a legally acting, non-violent opposition group being dissolved in virtue of an administrative decision and its leaders being the subject of massive judicial harassment the way Generation Identity and its leaders are in France.

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

Italy: Police Dig at Greenhouse in Search for Saman’s Body

Sniffer dogs, electromagnetic scans indicate presence of cadaver

(ANSA) — ROME, JUN 25 — Sniffer dogs and electromagnetic instruments have indicated the presence of a body at a greenhouse near the home of an 18-year-old Pakistani woman who has been missing for 55 days and believed killed by her family for refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan, sources said Friday.

The family are believed to have disposed of Saman Abbas’s body near the home in Novellara near Reggio Emilia after her uncle allegedly strangled her.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Cops Bust Gang That Robbed Elderly

23 Roma people arrested 25 more cited for 60 robberies

(ANSA) — ROME, JUN 25 — Italian police on Friday busted a gang that specialised in robbing the elderly across the country.

They arrested 23 Roma people resident in Romania but living in northern Italy, in Cantù, Bologna, Rome, Rho, Milan and Seregno.

Another 25 were cited.

Those probed are aged between 20 and 45 and many of them are women, police said.

They are believed to have carried out around 60 robberies of the elderly.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

MEPs Approve Climate Law, Introduce Stricter Emission Targets

MEPs have approved by a large majority the so-called Climate Law, which sets binding rules for achieving the European Union’s common emission targets. A key standard of the EU’s environmental strategy sets out how the Union should achieve climate neutrality in the middle of the century, with the plan including a range of methods to either stop producing greenhouse gas emissions, or to balance them, for example, by planting new trees.

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

PM Orban: ‘Liberals Must Respect the Rights of Non-Iberals’

Each side must respect the other’s opinion, if the motto of the EU is to be taken seriously, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban writes in an article on his homepage entitled “Samizdat 11”.

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

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

Swedish Prime Minister Resigns After No Confidence Vote, But Blocks Fresh Elections, Stays on as ‘Caretaker’

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Stefan Lofven, Sweden’s Social Democratic prime minister since 2014, has asked the country’s parliament speaker to find a new government.

Lofven became the first Swedish leader ever to lose a confidence vote in parliament a week ago. He didn’t call for an early election as the Swedish Constitution allows him to. He is formally stepping down but will continue in a caretaker role until a new government can be formed.

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

UK: Classified Threat Assessment Document for HMS Defender Found at Bus Stop

A “member of the public who wishes to remain anonymous” found 50 pages worth of documents of the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) in a soggy pile behind a Kent bus station, the BBC reported on Sunday.

Among the documents there is one in which MoD officials have outlined scenarios for the Russian side’s response to the British warship passing near the Crimea, and one of the scenarios is an aggressive Russian response.

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

Abu Dhabi Justifies Introducing Invasive Facial Scanning by Saying it “Detects COVID-19”

Abu Dhabi has begun using facial recognition to “detect COVID-19” at shopping malls and airports. Supposedly, the new technology’s trial on 20,000 people registered “a high degree of effectiveness.”

As reported by state-run media house WAM and the country’s media office, the technology allegedly detects the virus through electromagnetic waves, which ideally change due to the presence of the RNA particles in the body of an infected person.

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

India: Huge Sikh Protests in Srinagar and Delhi Against Forced Conversion and Marriage of Young Sikh Girls With Muslims

Two young Sikh girls forcibly married by Muslim elderly persons after converting them to Islam in Jammu & Kashmir. Huge Protests in Srinagar and Delhi. Shiromani Akali Dal met J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

Bhupinder Singh Bhullar | HENB | Srinagar | June 28, 2021:: Massive Sikh protests have been erupted in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi against the abduction of two Sikh young girls allegedly on gunpoint and their forced conversion into Islam for making them married with elderly Muslim persons. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder S Sirsa has alleged that two Sikh girls have been forcibly converted and wedded to elderly men of a different religion in Jammu and Kashmir.

Following the allegations of ‘Love Jihad’ ploy against Sikh girls, the Sikh community staged protests and demanded an anti-conversion law in the Union Territory, similar to the one existing in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. They also demanded strictest punishment for the Muslim perpetrators in this case of abduction, conversion and forced marriage of the Sikh girls.

“Two Sikh girls kidnapped at gunpoint and forcibly converted and wedded to elderly men of a different religion. Appeal to Centre to take action,” ANI quoted SAD leader Sirsa as saying in Srinagar on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Sikh groups are protesting in New Delhi against the alleged forced conversion of Sikh girls in Kashmir. They plan to march from Man Singh road to Jammu and Kashmir House in the national capital…

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

Ambassador Marks Century of Chinese Communism With Visit to Marx Grave in London

China’s new ambassador to the United Kingdom has marked the 100th anniversary of Chinese communism with a series of events, including a speech with the Communist Party of Britain and a wreath-laying at the tomb of Karl Marx.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the largest of its kind in the world with an enormous 92 million members, held a joint event over the weekend with one of the smallest, the Communist Party of Britain (CPB) at approximately 1,000 members. At a co-hosted event on Saturday, Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang addressed “Comrade Robert Griffiths” — the General Secretary of the CPB since 1998 — and hailed the pioneers of the international communist movement Karl Marx and Frederick Engels who lived in the United Kingdom in the 19th century.

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

Breaking: Hunter Biden’s Investment Firm Funded Company That Partnered With Wuhan Virology Lab

It has been revealed that Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP), of which Hunter Biden was managing director, was one of the main financial backers for a company that partnered with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Metabiota. Metabiota has partnered with both EcoHealth Alliance and with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

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

ABC Will Use the Aboriginal Names for Cities and Towns in Its Flagship News Program in a Bid to be More Inclusive to Indigenous Australians

The national broadcaster is expected to make the addition to ‘7.30’ over the next few weeks in a bid to improve representation of the Indigenous community.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Oregon Legislature Passes Bill to Make Illegal Immigrants Eligible for Medicaid

A bill passed by Oregon’s State Senate on Saturday is headed to the desk of Governor Kate Brown that would make illegal immigrants in the state eligible for Medicaid-funded medical services.

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

People Smugglers Packing More Migrants on Military-Style Inflatable Boats to Beat Shortage of Dinghies

PEOPLE smugglers are packing more migrants on military-style inflatable boats to beat a shortage of smaller dinghies.

The crooks are cramming dozens on to the larger, 10m vessels to rake in more cash.

Home Office insiders say the use of bigger boats explains why numbers arriving this year have soared even as illegal Channel crossings remain steady. Around four boats make the treacherous trip each day with passengers charged up to £5,000.

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

UK: Priti Hopeless: Farage Says Migrant Centre in Africa ‘Will Never Happen’

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has cast doubt on Home Secretary Priti Patel’s reported plan to ship migrants to a joint detention centre in Africa with the Kingdom of Denmark, saying that such a plan “will never happen”.

On Monday, The Times newspaper, citing government sources, reported that the Home Office has been in contact with their counterparts in Denmark to establish a joint migrant detention centre in Africa to process asylum claims offshore in order to reduce the incentive for illegals to set sail for Britain from France.

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

Czech President Zeman Says He Finds Transgender People ‘Disgusting’

Czech President Milos Zeman said he would be in favor of a big heterosexual demonstration attended by millions of people. In an interview on CNN Prima News, he also spoke of finding transgender people disgusting.

“I can understand gays, lesbians, and so on. But do you know who I don’t understand at all? These transgender people,” Zeman said.

According to the president, anyone who gets his gender changed through an operation commits self-harm.

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

Hungary’s Child Protection Law Has Its Foreign Supporters

Going against the all-out campaign of the liberal mainstream against Hungary’s recently adopted child protection law, several European politicians rushed to its defense, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjartó said in a Facebook post.

Hungary’s new law, which enacted a variety of anti-abuse and anti-pedophile laws, also banned LGBT content or content that promotes children changing their gender from being shown to children under 18. The law has been criticized by a number of EU countries.

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

Ironic: Right Wing Watch Banned From YouTube After Campaigning to Expose “Dangerous Conspiracy Theories”

Update: June 28 2021 16:50 Eastern. YouTube reinstated the channel after media outcry.

The original article is as follows:

Right Wing Watch, a non-profit that campaigns against “hate speech,” “conspiracy theories,” “disinformation,” and other censorship buzzwords, has been removed from YouTube for “severe or repeated violations” of its community guidelines.

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

Stonewall Accused of “Ponzi Scheme, “ “Coercing” Brands to Promote Trans Ideology on Social Media

The charity Stonewall is accused of bulling companies and organizations to adopt its gender ideology on social media for a higher ranking on its top 100 list of best employers, leaked documents revealed.

According to a report in The Times (paywall), Stonewall is using its ranking to “lobby on their behalf.” The charity is rewarding those who promote its gender and sex policies and punishing those who do not.

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

Supreme Court Allows Trans Bathroom Case to Stand in Refusing to Hear the Appeal

The US Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal in the case of a transgender student who petitioned to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. The lower courts had found in favor of the student using the bathroom that pertains to their gender identity, and the SCOTUS refusal to hear the case means that the lower court ruling stands.

Gavin Grimm was born biologically female, but has been identifying as male since his first year in high school. Grimm had discussed bathroom use with the school’s principal, and had been granted permission, but then the Gloucester County, Virg. school board intervened, passing a blanket regulation requiring students to use the bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex.

SCOTUS ruled that they would not hear the case, and also decided not to officially comment on the matter. Dissenting opinions were those of Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, according to NBC News.

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

U.N. Rights Chief Calls for End to ‘Systemic Racism’ — Seeks Reparations, Funding of Black Lives Matter

The U.N. human rights chief on Monday called on the world to immediately dismantle systemic racism against people of African descent and “make amends” to the oppressed — including reparation payments, while groups like Black Lives Matter should receive “funding, public recognition and support.”

Michelle Bachelet claimed the dehumanisation of people on racial grounds had fed a culture of tolerance for discrimination and violence, declaring the time has come to end the practice.

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

Video: Spa Staff Dismiss Woman’s Complaint About Man Exposing His Penis to Little Girls in Female Area

Staff at Wi Spa in Los Angeles dismissed a woman’s complaint that a man was exposing his penis to little girls in the women’s area by insisting that the individual had a right to be there due to his “sexual orientation.”

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

WHO Says Even Vaccinated People Should “Play it Safe” And Continue to Wear Masks

The World Health Organization says that even those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should “play it safe” by continuing to wear face masks.

According to Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO’s assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, “Vaccine alone won’t stop community transmission” of the virus.

This leaves the tens of millions of Americans who took the shot expecting that it would equate with them getting back to normal life sorely disappointed.

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

Winner of Miss Nevada Beauty Pageant is Transgender

Kataluna Enriquez, a biological male who identifies as transgender, has won the title of Miss Nevada USA. Enriquez is the first transgender American to win a top prize at the state’s premiere beauty pageant.

The crowning ceremony took place in Las Vegas on Sunday, at the South Point Hotel and Casino, according to local news.

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

9 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/28/2021

  1. It’s a laugh (albeit weary) – from all these Chinese Commie supremacists to the “trained Marxists” of BLM paying homage to a white German far-leftist.
    Never-mind that comments in letters from Marx to Engel regarding Africa, (they’re pretty mild but these days people have been unpersoned for less), could all too easily be construed in these fractious times as ‘racist’. Then there’s the pernicious anti-Jewish, tropes Marx arguably did so much to propogate..(some would argue he is in fact pro-Jewish which for other leftists is another problem lol).
    If leftists took their antiracist ideology in anyway seriously, they would have to cancel themsleves first and foremost.

    Marx was a racist!

    Every leftist deserves to have to confront that notion.
    Leftists hate having their own tactics used against them and they really don’t like it up ’em!
    So next time some BLM, Commie or any number of Marxist-hued antifas/Green/Islamo-leftist outfits start shouting ‘far-right’ ‘racist’ etc at someone who merely disagrees with extremist leftism just remind leftists that Marx was a racist.

    Ask them ‘why do you follow the divisive ideas of a white German racist?’
    ‘Is there something about white German racists you admire?’ etc. etc.

    • Well Marx was a minority group rather than an ethnic German, so it wouldnt really matter anyways.

      • What wouldn’t matter?
        A faceitious observation about the absurdity of leftist antiracism? yes no doubt you’re right, irony and nuance are fast next to meaningless these days.

        However humour, satire, ridicule and undermining leftist pomposity can all play a part. Probably not a big part admittedy but at least enough to amuse on occasion.
        At best undermine and on very rare occassions, subvert.

        Besides Marx’s Jewish ancestry is hardly the point, or his conversion to Christianity and then becoming an atheist, he would now be ‘white’ above all, Jewish ancestry doesn’t count for much on the left today – instead it can be a distinct disadvantage.

        Far better writers than me have have attempted to ask why do many Jews (or supporters of Israel, which is very nearly synonymous these days), side with parties that encompass seriously anti-Jewish/Israel elements.

        Who knows but for whatever reasons, in the end it all appears self-defeating, to say the least.

        In the meantime –
        MARX MUST GO!*
        Tear down those statues, burn those books!!!

        Next up demanding reparations from Ottoman, Arab and Berber slave-traders for the millions of Euopeans they enslaved in their supremacist and colonial invasions of Europe.

  2. Vienna (Austria): two Afghans aged 16 and 18 suspected of having killed a 13-year-old girl from Lower Austria
    https://www.tt.com/artikel/30794994/getoetete-13-jaehrige-in-wien-zwei-junge-maenner-festgenommen-einvernahme-am-dienstag

    Daily influx of migrants in the Hautes-Alpes: associations demand an “emergency accommodation plan” for these illegal immigrants
    https://www.lci.fr/politique/migrants-dans-les-hautes-alpes-les-associations-appellent-le-gouvernement-a-l-aide-2190078.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1624945171

    • In Scotland we’re seeing how that might play out for example a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that if a man was accused of raping a woman but self-identified as a woman, the police would record the alleged crime as a woman raping a woman.
      Presumably the rapist would then be charged as a woman, and if convicted go to a women’s prison – what could possibly go wrong?
      Meanwhile the SNP spent hundreds of thousands going after sleazeball Alex Slamond for apparently getting too frisky with female collegaues after he’d had a dram or two.

      In other news Police Scotland kept secret news of a 55 strong gang who had raped and abused at least 44 girls.
      Apparently only one perp. is in prison and reportedly 20 still walk freely around Glasgow.
      (All were males from 6 different Muslim majority countries, what could possibly be a common denominator? authorities are said to be stumped).

      • To your man identifies as woman etc: Sometimes I ask myself if we few are the last sane persons on the world. (And the devil on my shoulder says “YES!!!!!”)

        And to Scotland?
        Just put the stumped authorities 20 feet above molten lava and lower them slowly down.
        I bet all I own before they have been lowered 2 inches they will tell you the correct solution.

    • The Bible says that the ‘world will wax worse and worse’ until the End Times. When Damascus is completely destroyed from the face of the earth the End Times will begin and the horrors will begin.

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