Greece is planning a system of coronavirus passports that will allow “vaccinated” people more freedom. Meanwhile, the Australian town of Alice Springs has gone into full lockdown after a single case of COVID-19 was reported.
In other news, Bill Cosby was released from prison after a judge overturned his conviction.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Insubria, 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.
ADP Employment Gains Slow in June
ADP reported the addition of 692k jobs in June (better than the expected 600k but a slow down from May’s 886k addition)…
May was revised lower 92k to 886k from 978k as reported last month.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
IMF Raises Hungary’s 2021 GDP Growth Forecast to 6.2%
The Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) improved its forecast for Hungarian economic growth in 2021 from 4.3 to 6.2 percent. In the annual review of the IMF under Article 4 of the organization, IMF commends the Hungarian government on crisis management, assessing that the decision makers ‘response to the crisis was significant and arrived on time.
“Following the first quarter outcome, a strong recovery is expected to take hold in 2021. Growth is projected around 6 percent, driven by net exports, as external demand improves, and recovering consumption supported by fiscal outlays, still fast-growing private wages, and accumulated households’ savings”, the report said.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Will Lead Economic Recovery in Region: Report
Polish GDP will increase by 5 percent in 2021, following a 2.7 percent decrease in 2020, according to forecasts of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) included in the bank’s latest report.
In September 2020, the EBRD expected a much smaller rebound of Polish GDP (only 3 percent) following a 3.5 percent expected decrease in 2020.
The new prognosis suggests that by the end of 2021 Polish GDP will be 2.2 percent higher than in 2019. In comparison, the average GDP growth in all European, Asian and African countries in which the EBRD conducts its research will amount to 1.7 percent. In eight Central-Eastern European countries this growth will be even smaller — only 0.7 percent.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
74 Shot, 6 Fatally, In Weekend Violence Across City
CHICAGO — Six people were killed and 68 others were wounded in weekend shootings in Chicago as the city reaches the halfway point of what could be one of its most violent years in decades.
Four of the attacks were mass shootings with four or more people wounded. The attacks accounted for about a third of all the shooting victims between Friday evening and early Monday morning.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
American Parents Are on to Critical Race Theory ‘Charade’: Douglas Murray
Author Douglas Murray spoke out on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday against critical race theory advocates downplaying controversy over the curriculum as backlash grows from parents across America.
DOUGLAS MURRAY: What’s happening at the moment is that the American public, and particularly American parents, are on to this whole charade. They’re onto the critical race theory thing. They don’t like it, quite rightly. They realize that it’s going to divide America along racial lines in a way that’s utterly, utterly reprehensible. But here’s the thing: Now that American parents and others are onto it, those who advocate for critical race theory and those who just don’t like conservatives have decided to develop a new technique, which is to pretend that we’ve basically made it up, that there’s no such thing, that it’s not a problem, it’s a sort of fantasy of our imaginations. And they’re hoping to get through the next stage by doing that. I don’t think it’ll wash, but it’ll persuade a lot of people and it will infuriate a lot of people.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Big Tech Created a Gold Mine of Data for Law Enforcement
It’s not exactly news at this point: law enforcement agencies are increasingly seeking Big Tech’s cooperation in giving them access to massive data sets taken from users of social networks and other online platforms and services.
And although some reports now address this topic in the context of the way these powers were used during the Trump era Department of Justice (DoJ), the practice neither started, nor ended with the previous US administration.
Instead, over the past six years, there has been a steady and entirely predictable rise in requests for detailed personal data that Big Tech collects from users and their devices. The more data — the more requests.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Black Lives Matter rioter who smashed a car window in a 1-year-old child’s face has avoided prison after his lawyer argued that it was a “very emotional time” for the culprit.
Yes, really.
A video from the incident, which occurred in Fredericksburg VA during last year’s George Floyd riots, shows a BLM mob surrounding the vehicle before Victor Miles II smashes the glass which shatters all over the child in the back seat.
The clip appears to show Miles deliberately targeting the toddler.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Soundcloud Reverses Ban of Andy Ngo’s Podcast, Ngo Cancels Subscription Anyway
Andy Ngo’s podcast, Things You Should Ngo, was restored to Soundcloud Wednesday after the platform had issued a “permanent ban” for violating its terms of use earlier this week.
In an apology issued by SoundCloud Wednesday, the platform states “We have conducted additional reviews of the account and found that our initial conclusions are not an accurate reflection of the hosted content. Although there is content dealing with sensitive topics available on the account, there is nothing that could be considered to have a clear intention to criticize, or demean any individual or group of individuals on the basis of their belonging to a protected group.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Trump Calls for General Milley’s Resignation
Former President Donald Trump issued a statement on Wednesday that calls for the resignation of General Mark Milley in the wake of his claims that critical race theory and other diversity, equity, and inclusion training should be part of the US military.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Bill Cosby Set to be Free as Court Overturns Conviction
Bill Cosby’s conviction will be vacated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and he will walk out of prison as a free man.
The 83-year-old comedian has been serving time in a state prison, SCI Phoenix, which is located near Philadelphia. He’s been behind bars since 2018, when he was convicted of three aggravated indecent assault counts.
At the time, he was determined to be a “sexually violent predator” who posed an “imminent safety risk to women.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chaos and Confusion in NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary as BoE Bungles Vote Count
The New York City Board of Elections (BOE) appears to have bungled the ballot count of the Democratic primary race for mayor during the city’s first ranked-choice election. This is yet another in a long series of missteps over the past few election cycles by the agency.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Charges Filed Against Trump Org and CFO Alan Weisselberg
Update (1900ET): A Manhattan grand jury has filed the anticipated indictments against Trump Org and longtime CFO, Alan Weisselberg, who will reportedly turn himself in tomorrow, according to the Washington Post. The indictments containing the specific charges will be unsealed on Thursday afternoon, however people familiar with the case say the charges are related to allegations of unpaid taxes on benefits enjoyed by Trump Organization executives.
Not exactly money laundering for Russian mobsters, as the Rachel Maddows of the world have been hinting at for over four years.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Court Orders Sites to Keep Data on Users Who Rip YouTube Videos
A US court is attempting to, on behalf of major music industry players like Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros, enforce rules around copyright infringement allegedly perpetrated by two Russian sites.
The sites, FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com, have a number of purposes, one of them being extracting (“ripping”) audio files from YouTube videos and making them available for download.
What the labels now want and what the court has granted them is forcing the sites’ operator to keep detailed logs about user activity and make it available to the companies who sued.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats Wage New War on Online 3D Printed Guns and Blueprints
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), together with Reps. Val Demings (D-FL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), and Bradley Schneider (D-IL), as well as Sens. Robert Mendez (D-NJ) and Edward Markey (D-MA), have reintroduced proposals for the 3D Printed Gun Safety Act. The purpose of the legislation is to prevent the “online distribution of firearm 3D printing blueprints,” and manages to come up against both the First and Second Amendments of the United States Constitution if history is anything to go by.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Few Details in Fatal SC Shooting as Police Serve Warrant
ST. MATTHEWS, S.C. (AP) — A man was shot and killed in Calhoun County as deputies served an arrest warrant Wednesday, police in South Carolina said.
The State Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating the death, did not say where the shooting happened, what the arrest warrant was for or what exactly happened.
Agents called it a “confrontation between an armed man and deputies” in a statement that said no other information would be released because the investigation is ongoing.
The statement did say no officers were injured.
Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers referred all questions about the shooting back to state police.
John Hayden Inabinet, 51, died in the shooting at his home near St. Matthews and an autopsy has been ordered on Friday, Calhoun County Coroner Donnie Porth said.
— Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Kamala Harris Staffers Are Leaking — and Her Office is a ‘Dysfunctional’ Mess
Vice President Kamala Harris’ office is a toxic, ‘abusive’ environment where “people are thrown under the bus from the very top,’ according to 22 current and former staffers, administration officials and associates of Harris and President Biden.
In a Politico exposé reminiscent of a Feb. 2019 New York Times in which over fifty current and former staffers decried her dysfunctional campaign (h/t @mattdizwhitlock), Harris and her Chief of Staff, Tina Flournoy, are slammed for running an office with “low morale, porous lines of communication and diminished trust among aides and senior officials.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Banned Indefinitely From All MLB Stadiums for Displaying ‘Trump Won’ Banners
An avid supporter of former President Donald Trump has been ejected from all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums indefinitely for unfurling a large “Trump Won” banner at 4 separate ballparks.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A Nebraska gubernatorial candidate says he will “protect” state schools from Critical Race Theory.
A spokeswoman for Charles Herbster, a Republican businessman who announced his candidacy in April, said in an emailed release that Herbster’s team is the first in the nation to sign The 1776 Action Pledge, an effort to “stop schools from teaching Nebraska’s children to hate our nation.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oakland Struggles to Keep Community Safe Amidst Police Budget Cuts, Officer Retirements
As calls to defund the police continue across America despite a skyrocketing surge in violent crimes in cities, Oakland, California officers struggle to protect their city with dwindling resources and officer numbers.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio Judge Adds Getting Vaccinated as a Term for Probation
A judge in Ohio has started to include getting the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of defendants’ terms of probation.
Judge Richard Frye said that he added getting the jab as a condition on three of the approximately 20 sentences he imposed last week.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that while Frey was discussing the subject with defendants in court, he was told they were not vaccinated due to procrastination, and not philosophical, medical or religious reasons.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prestigious Virginia School Lowers Number of Incoming Asian Americans Despite Protests
A prestigious Virginia high school at the center of a debate about diversityand inclusion announced Wednesday that it would significantly increase the number of black and Hispanic students granted admission despite pushback from some Asian American parents who argue that it unfairly punishes their children.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology will usher in its most diverse class in the fall of 2021, increasing the number of black students to 7% from 1% and Hispanic freshmen to 11% from 3%. White students will also see a bump to 22% from 18%, while the number of Asian American students will decrease to 54% from 73%, according to demographic data released by Fairfax County of the 550 students offered a spot at the magnet school.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Seattle mayoral candidate Lance Randall was nearly shot at his home on Saturday after armed thieves were caught in the act stealing catalytic converters from his neighbor’s car.
Randall, who is running to replace Mayor Jenny Durkan, went to check on a disturbance outside his bedroom window in Rainier Valley early Saturday morning. It was then that he was nearly shot after witnessing two armed thieves attempting to steal a catalytic converter from his neighbor’s vehicle. The parts are valued at about $1,000 give the cost of the metal.
The thieves fired multiple shots after they found Randall witnessing the crime. Seattle police officers responded to the candidate’s 911 call and found five shell casings, including bullets in the vehicle that was Randall took shelter behind, KOMO News reported.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sen. Tom Cotton Visits Iowa, Decries Critical Race Theory and Efforts to Defund the Police
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, headlining a state GOP event in northwest Iowa, decried “critical race theory” and accused Democrats of fostering a crime wave before ending the night in a push-up contest against Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Cotton is the latest in a string of possible 2024 candidates to travel the Hawkeye State. He joked at the onset of Tuesday’s event that he wouldn’t pander to Iowans, though he noted that his wife had been born in the state.
“I’m the only one who loves you so much that I married a girl born in Iowa,” Cotton told a crowd of Republicans gathered at a classic car museum in Sioux Center.
In his opening remarks, Cotton spoke on several of the issues addressed by Iowa’s Republican majority in the 2021 legislative session. He condemned “critical race theory,” arguing that Democrats were trying to inflame racial tensions in schools.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senator Rand Paul Slams Delta Variant ‘Fearmongers’
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul urged Americans not to let “the fearmongers win,” Tuesday, referring to the latest move to scare Americans into continued restrictions with the dreaded ‘Delta variant’ of COVID-19.
“New public England study of delta variant shows 44 deaths out of 53,822 (.08%) in unvaccinated group. Hmmm,” Paul tweeted:
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Spectator Floats Theory That Ashli Babbitt Was Shot by Mike Pence’s Protective Detail
The identity of the person who fatally shot Capitol Hill rioter and US Armed Forces veteran Ashli Babbitt on January 6 still remains unknown to the public as well as her family, even amidst an ongoing lawsuit from the family to discover the identity of said shooter.
The Spectator, a UK based outlet, is floating the idea that a Secret Service agent, one of whom that was in former Vice President Mike Pence’s security detail, was the one who allegedly shot her.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UNC-Chapel Hill Protesters Are Pushed Out of Trustees’ Meeting After Refusing to Leave
UNC-Chapel Hill students protesting the lack of tenure for journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones yelled at UNC-CH trustees Wednesday afternoon and had to be pushed out by police after refusing to leave a meeting of the board.
About 75 students, organized by the campus Black Student Movement, had gathered outside before the meeting started, then were allowed into a ballroom of the Carolina Inn as the meeting began.
But once the board voted to go into closed session to discuss the tenure issue, the students refused to leave the room. Law enforcement was brought in to make them leave.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: CNN Director Dodges Questions After Project Veritas Exposes His Bias
In response to the undercover reporting done on CNN’s technical director Charlie Chester in April, both he and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Sanjay Gupta refused to address questions regarding his employment status, as well as the comments he made regarding CNN pushing “propaganda.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Psaki Doubles Down on False Claim That Republicans Support Defunding the Police
The White House has attempted to change the narrative with regards to the conversation surrounding “defunding the police” movement. Press Secretary Jen Psaki has now said multiple times that because Republicans declined to vote for a massive spending bill, they are in favor of defunding the police.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Civil Rights Attorney Exposes NSA Spying Methods Allegedly Used Against Tucker Carlson
Civil Rights Attorney Harmeet Dhillon spoke with Fox News host Tucker Carlson Tuesday, to discuss the reports from a whistleblower within the US government that the NSA is allegedly spying on him.
“Why can’t any American find out if some bureaucrat in a spy agency is reading your private email?” Tucker asked Dhillon.
“Well, you should be able to find out,” Dhillon said. “And the reason I said I’m not surprised is for the last 20 years, since 9/11, I and other civil libertarians have been screaming about the Patriot Act and other laws. But dating back to 1947, our securities laws have said that the spying may only be on foreigners, not on American citizens. Our government regularly flouts that.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
White House Shutdown as Protesters Chain Themselves Across Entrances
Climate change activists chained themselves to the gates of the White House on Wednesday in protest of proposed oil pipelines.
Protesters from several campaign groups used kayaks and their bodies to block the entrances to into the building, pictures shared to social media showed.
Those involved are against plans to build the Line 3 pipeline, which would export hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from Alberta in Canada through Minnesota to Wisconsin, while crossing Indigenous land, as well as the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a natural gas pipeline from southern Virginia to northwestern West Virginia.
Protesters are also demanding climate infrastructure deals.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
182 Human Remains Found in Unmarked Graves at Site of Former British Columbia Residential School
Just one week after the 751 unmarked graves were discovered near the site of the former Marieval Residential School in Saskatchewan, another 182 unmarked graves have been discovered at the site of another former residential school in British Columbia.
The Lower Kootenay Band in British Columbia says the search was conducted using ground-penetrating radar, with the community of aqam beginning the search last year near the site of the former St. Eugene’s Mission School near Cranbrook.
According to CP24, the school ran from 1912 to the 1970s, and was operated by the Catholic Church.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Another Catholic Church Set on Fire, This Time in Nova Scotia
A Catholic church located on Indigenous land in Nova Scotia was set ablaze. This comes after a handful of similar targeted attacks on Catholic communities across Canada.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an announcement today in Kanata, Ontario on affordable housing, though questions post-press conference focused mainly on Canada and its relationship with Indigenous communities, following the discovery of yet another lot of unmarked graves near another residential school.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Catholic Church North of Edmonton Destroyed by Fire in the Middle of the Night
Alberta fire crews from multiple communities responded to a fire at St. Jean Baptiste Parish at 3 am Wednesday morning. The Roman Catholic church on Morinville’s Main Street was left utterly destroyed by a fire officials say started in the basement and was too dangerous for fire crews to enter the building. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nova Scotia Judge Refuses to Hear Challenge of Injunction That Banned Gatherings
HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has refused to hear a challenge of an injunction obtained by the provincial government that banned protests and other gatherings during the recent COVID-19 lockdown in the province.
The injunction, which was granted on May 14, was lifted last week by another judge at the province’s request as novel coronavirus case numbers continued to decline.
During a hearing Wednesday, Justice James Chipman ruled that a challenge of the original court order by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is now moot because the injunction had been lifted.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Despite provincial orders prohibiting big parties, hundreds of people gathered at Hanlan’s Point last Sunday.
The City said shortly before 8 p.m. on June 27 bylaw enforcement officers called in Toronto police to assist with an illegal gathering at the clothing-optional beach.
“Due to the size of the crowd, Bylaw and Police had to use their discretion, taking into account the safety of everyone including themselves, and monitored the event from a crowd control safety perspective,” said City of Toronto Spokesperson Lyne Kyle in an email to toronto.com.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Erin O’Toole Accuses Trudeau of Cover-Up Involving Winnipeg Laboratory
Erin O’Toole, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, is taking the federal government to task over its mishandling in procuring documents on the firing of two Canadian scientists with suspected ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Vienna Shocked by Rape and Murder of 13-Year-Old Girl, Two Afghans Arrested
Vienna is shocked by the brutal murder of a 13-year-old girl, whose body was found on the weekend by passersby on the lawn in front of a house. Police detained two suspects on Monday, young Afghan men aged 16 and 18. On Tuesday, investigators confirmed that these men drugged the girl and raped her in the apartment of one of the suspects.
It cannot be ruled out that other perpetrators were involved in the crime, according to Idnes.cz.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus Passports: Greece to Give More Freedom to Vaccinated People
The Greek government has announced a scheme that could see vaccinated people given more freedom to engage in leisure and entertainment activities than those who are not vaccinated.
Minister of State Giorgos Gerapetritis unveiled a plan on Tuesday that could see businesses decide whether they want to only serve those who have taken the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine or if they want to cater to unvaccinated people, as well.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Extinction Rebellion Targets Lafargeholcim Cement Plant in Paris
PARIS, June 30 (Reuters) — Dozens of Extinction Rebellion protesters on Wednesday invaded a cement-making plant in Paris operated by construction giant LafargeHolcim to denounce what they called the firm’s environmentally damaging pursuit of profit.
Lafarge workers in hard hats and fluorescent jackets sat on the ground as the protesters daubed graffiti across the site and hung banners, one of which read: “Build to death”.
The protest forced Swiss-headquartered LafargeHolcim to halt operations at the Port de Javel site near the Eiffel Tower and divert trucks to another site.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A French court sentenced Afghan migrant Mohammed Rahman Arsala to a 15-year prison sentence for the rape of a 12-year-old boy that occurred on Aug. 25, 2018, in Saint-Brieuc. During the sentencing, the convicted man’s lawyer tried to argue that it was an Afghan custom known as Bacha Bazi and that the man should not be held fully responsible for his actions due to common practice of men sexually assaulting young boys in his native homeland.
The prosecutor on the other hand argued that the boy’s life had been ruined due to the sexual assault, which necessitates a harsh sentence.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian-Slovak Ties at All Time High
Hungarian-Slovak relations are at a ten-year high, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Budapest on Tuesday after meeting his Slovak counterpart, Eduard Heger.
“Drawing the balance of the last ten years, we can say with all due modesty that relations between Hungary and Slovakia have never been as good as they are now,” Orban said after the meeting.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: COVID: 115 Anti-Vax Health Staff Suspended in Alto Adige
Vaccine skepticism deeply rooted in region
(ANSA) — ROME, JUN 30 — Alto Adige has suspended the first 115 unvaccinated health operators in the northern Italian region, sources told ANSA Wednesday.
The anti-vax movement is deeply rooted in Alto Adige even among health operators.
— Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Trade Partners With China But US Ally Says Di Maio
Italy on front line on issues like human rights — FM to Blinken
(ANSA) — ROME, JUN 28 — Foreign MInister Luigi Di Maio told a pres conference in Rome Monday with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “Italy is a strong trade partner of China, we have historical ties, but they don’t interfere with the relations we have with the USA and NATO”.
He said “Italy is an ally of the US, a NATO and EU partner, and that is not only a strategic alliance but one of values that enables our democracies to address questions like human rights where Italy has been in the front line”.
Blinken said “as the US and with our European allies we are finding the same complexities with China: a relationship which has its adverse aspects, aspects of competition, but also of cooperation”.
— Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Poison or Explosives’: Norway Sentences Syrian Teenager for Terror Plot
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Norwegian court has sentenced a Syrian teenager to five years in prison for planning an act of terror in Norway by using poison or explosives, and for having supported the Islamic State extremist group.
The Oslo District Court suspended three of the five years because of the teenager’s young age. He was 16 years and 2 months when arrested in February by Norway’s domestic security agency in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The EU Hasn’t Given Up on Using the Pretense of “Copyright Infringement” As a Censorship Tool
EU’s Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, with its infamous provisions such as Article 17 (originally 13) is now a multi-year controversy that got free speech activists and ordinary citizens across Europe up in arms when it was first announced.
And even though June 7 was the deadline for member-countries to implement it, it is far from being settled from the point of view of the harm it can cause to free online expression in the bloc. While the EU insists the purpose is to better protect copyright holders, the core issue is introduction of “preemptive” mandatory upload filters without proper safeguards, that can lead to censorship of legal content.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Jews Under Assault: Highest Number of Antisemitic Incidents Since Records Began
Record numbers of antisemitic incidents have been recorded in the UK since last month’s rocket attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, figures released by the Community Security Trust (CST) reveal.
From 8 May to 7 June, 460 incidents were reported to the Jewish charity — the highest monthly total since records began in 1984 — with 316 happening offline and 144 online.
The previous record was 317 in July 2014 — coinciding with the last major eruption of violence between Israel and the Palestinians as part of a decades-long conflict.
In the month before 8 May, 119 antisemitic incidents were reported to the CST.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London to Crackdown on Illegal Raves Over the Summer as Police Warn Events Are ‘Dangerous’
Police forces in the UK are set to crack down on illegal raves over the summer.
Senior officers have voiced their concerns the events are dangerous.
The aim to put an end to the unlicensed events comes just days after Jason Nyarko, 26, was stabbed to death at an event in South Bermondsey, south-east London.
He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Also across the country, Sussex Police saw crowds of up to 2,000 people gathering at a rave in the South Downs in Steyning, West Sussex.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Receiving a lifetime ban for discussing his own areas of academic expertise on propaganda, disinformation, and political marketing could only be down to either “very thick people” or an algorithm with no nuance ruling the roost at Facebook, a UK professor has said.
Professor Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, an Emeritus and Visiting Professor at two London University colleges and a Cambridge Quondam Fellow received a sudden and complete ban on his long-standing account with Facebook for — he believes — discussing his published and widely cited academic work on the site.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italo-Moroccan Student Jailed for 3 Yrs in Marrakesh
Woman, 23, convicted of offending Islam by mocking Koran verse
(ANSA) — RABAT, JUN 30 — A 23 year-old Italian student of Moroccan origin has been jailed for three years in Marrakesh for offending Islam, sources said Wednesday.
The young woman was arrested at the airport in the Moroccan city on June 20 after flying from Marseilles, where she is doing law at university, to join her family who live in Morocco.
The student, who was born in Vimercate near Milan in 1998 and who grew up in the province of Monza, was convicted over a 2019 Facebook post that called a Koran verse obliging Muslims to sacrifice “the whiskey verse”.
She was found guilty of publicly offending Islam.
— Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Republicans in the House held a hearing Tuesday to discuss origins of the coronavirus pandemic and heard from experts that it is ‘highly likely’ the virus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and that the Chinese military was involved in running the lab much earlier than previously thought.
The hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis went ahead without any Democrat involvement, and no appearance from either NIH director Dr. Francis Collins and NIAID director Anthony Fauci, who both declined to attend.
As Minority Whip Steve Scalise noted last week, Democrats have not held any hearings and without subpoenas it is near impossible to get health officials to turn up to any Republican led hearing.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Town 800 Miles From Nearest City Goes Into Full Lockdown After a Single COVID Case
Alice Springs, a town in Australia 800 miles away from the nearest city has gone into full lockdown after just a single new case of COVID-19 was detected.
Yes, really.
“Everyone in the town has been told they need to stay at home for three days — only being allowed to leave for food, healthcare, exercise, work and to provide care for others,” reports Sky News. “It comes after a man who travelled through Alice Springs’ airport later tested positive for the coronavirus.”
That’s right — due to a SINGLE case of COVID being detected, the entire town of 30,000 people is now under lockdown, despite being 800 miles away from the nearest major cities of Darwin and Adelaide.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After Knife Terror Attack in Germany, New BKA Study Finds Migrants Increase Violent Crimes Rate
Following on the heels of a Somali asylum seeker stabbing three women to death in a suspected terrorist attack in the German city of Würzburg, a new study from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) shows that serious crimes committed by migrants involving murder or attempted murder is on the rise.
The report, which was covered by Focus, shows that while number of crimes committed by migrants in Germany is generally declining, serious violent crimes are rising for migrants.
According to information obtained by Focus, between 2016 and 2020, police registered approximately 2,000 murders where at least one of the perpetrators was a migrant. Migrants are considered people registered as asylum seekers, refugees, migrants with tolerated stay permits, or migrants with the status of illegal residence.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Belarus Using Illegal Migration to Lithuania as Part of ‘Hybrid Warfare’
The Lithuanian minister of the interior, Agne Bilotaite, declared that Lithuania possesses evidence which proves that the Belarusian border guard has been taking part in an illegal migration operation from Belarus to Lithuania.
“This is an organized and well-planned operation. Huge sums of money are associated with this,” she said.
Bilotaite stressed that this engagement of Belarusian authorities in illegal procedures is a form of hybrid warfare carried out by Aleksandr Lukashenko’s government against Lithuania. She added that the operation is very profitable, as migrants pay as much as €15,000 to cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border.
In 2021, more than 550 people were stopped while trying to illegally cross the border.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Trump Slams Biden Policies as He Visits the US-Mexico Border
Former President Donald Trump visited the US-Mexico border today along with Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The two gave a joint press conference at the border. “All Biden had to do was go to the beach,” Trump said. “If he would have just done nothing, we would have had the strongest border we ever had.”
Trump also said that it was his administration that stopped giving money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, noting that it wasn’t about viruses, but was because he saw no reason for the US to fund China.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Half a Million Illegals Crossed Since Harris Named Border ‘Czar’
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures, around 500,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border since Kamala Harris was named border ‘czar’.
The Washington Free Beacon reported the findings, noting that only three months has passed since Harris took on the responsibility, and that the half a million figure is just those that have been apprehended.
The CBP says around 180,000 immigrants are being caught per month. In April agents arrested 178,854 illegal immigrants, the highest monthly figure for 21 years. That figure was then surpassed in May as agents apprehended 180,034 illegals.
By the time June’s figures are reported in the coming days, the combined number is expected to be over half a million, more than the entire population of Miami, Florida or Cleveland, Ohio.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that deportations to Afghanistan will continue after two Afghan man have been arrested for raping and killing a 13-year-old girl.
“We will not stop deportations to Afghanistan, and we will not ease the asylum law,” Kurz said on Tuesday, one day after Austrian police arrested the two Afghan men suspected of raping and killing a 13-year-old girl he had found at the end of the week.
The chancellor expressed his shock at the case and his deep sympathy for the family. He stated that “a barbaric crime cannot be put on the agenda, the perpetrators should not be supported in the name of false tolerance, but should be deported as soon as possible”.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Illegal Boat Migrants Landed in Britain in June Than Whole of 2019
More illegal boat migrants landed on British soil in the month of June than were recorded during the entire year of 2019, with over 2,000 brought ashore this month, alone.
Despite the spate of storms impacting Europe and Britain in the past week, another 107 migrants arrived on Monday in four boats and a further 150 illegals landed on Tuesday. This is in addition to the 315 which came over the weekend.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Alignpay is a New Anti-Cancel Culture Payment Processor
Many in the US are continuing to explore ways to counter widespread censorship and deplatforming, including on social networks and online infrastructure like payments processors.
Addressing the latter concern — where instances of cancel culture lead to depriving people of revenues — is AlignPay, a new payment platform launched by radio host and entrepreneur Dan Bongino, along with Jeff Wernick, Eric Berger, and Jake Hoffman.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Bologna Pride March Stomps on Photos of Orban, Salvini, And Pope Francis
ttendants of Sunday’s Pride parade in Bologna in northern Italy stomped on pictures of Pope Francis, League party leader Matteo Salvini and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The event was not conflict-free in Italy, because at the same time as the Pride march, Christian organizations also took to the streets because of the forthcoming law on gay and transphobia, which critics fear is an attack on freedom of expression and religion, Hungarian news and opinion portal Mandiner reports.
Earlier, both feminist and lesbian organizations expressed reservations about left-wing parties’ anti-homophobia and anti-transphobia bills, while the right-wing League proposed amending the law to exclude any gender reference in it. Matteo Salvini’s League party said it was working on a compromise solution by rewriting the left-wing Democratic Party (PD) bill. The bill seeks to amend the part of the Penal Code relating to discrimination.
[Comment: These gays and lesbians should protest Islam.]
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Navy Unit Forced to Take Part in Mandatory ‘Diversity Hike’ Waving LGBT Flags
Active duty members of the Navy in San Diego were forced to take part in a mandatory ‘diversity hike’ during which they flew LGBT flags while American flags were nowhere to be seen.
“A woman whose husband is active duty Navy sent me this. His command held a “diversity hike” in honor of Pride Month. Attendance was mandatory. They hiked while waving a rainbow American flag,” tweeted Matt Walsh.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Tolkien Fan Group Schedules Rival Event to Counteract Woke Takeover of Organization
The Tolkien Society, a society of dedicated fan to the Lord of the Rings franchise and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien has a new competitor, The Society of Tolkien after they announced an ultra woke diversity seminar on July 3rd.
The seminar of “diversity and inclusion” is scheduled to have lectures like, “Transgender Realities in The Lord of the Rings,” “The Queer in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings,” “Tolkien’s Dwarf-Women and the ‘Feminine Lack,’“ and “Destabilizing Cishetero Amatonormativity in the Works of Tolkien.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In the era of rampant censorship on internet’s biggest platforms, newsletters are making such a strong comeback as a means for creators to directly connect with their audiences — that Big Tech has been quick to take notice.
Among a variety of services, Substack is seen as the most free speech friendly one, at least for the time being, and is becoming the favorite platform for many prominent journalists and authors leaving mainstream media under pressure of limited freedom of expression.
But now giant companies like Facebook and Twitter, despite operating social media networks that are supposed to have solved the issue of communication and conversations in a very different way, are launching products to compete with startups like Substack.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protest & Counter-Protest on Saturday Over Transgender Exposing Genitals to Kids at Los Angeles Spa
A protest outside Wi Spa in Los Angeles over an incident where a transgender exposed their genitalia to girls in a female area is set to take place on Saturday, but the demonstration will also face a counter-protest by LGBT activists.
As we highlighted on Monday, a video that went viral on Twitter shows an African-American woman confronting spa staff about a man flashing his penis to women and little girls.
However, staffers dismiss the woman’s complaint, asserting that the man was merely expressing his “sexual orientation.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Salvini Rejects Gender Ideology in Italian Schools in Anti-Homophobia Bill
Populist Italian Senator Matteo Salvini has stated that he rejects teaching gender ideology or creating crimes of opinion in a new anti-homophobia bill but remains open to dialogue.
Senator Salvini, the leader of the League, stated that he opposed aspects of the anti-homophobia bill known as the “DDL Zan,” named after Italian lawmaker and LGBT activist Alessandro Zan, that has been put forward by the left-wing Democratic Party and has been the subject of debate across the country.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Approves Law Allowing for Gender Status Change for People as Young as 14
Spain is heading to allowing all people from the age of 14 to change their gender and name on official documents even without a medical diagnosis and hormone therapy. On Tuesday, the government approved the bill, which will still have to go through the parliamentary approval process.
The new law is intended to make life easier for transgender people and allow everyone to change their gender in official records based only on their own decision, without the need to undergo a medical examination or assessment by a psychologist or sexologist.
Children between the ages of 14 and 16 will need parental consent for official gender reassignment.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
We do not care what the Greek gov is planning,and although we have become poorer we try to go on living as before helping each other in the families without obeying,at least the majority.
Some stupid citizens,the over 70 have the masks on although we are not to wear them in the open.
The gov is furious with us and every day announces new ways of punishment,in vain.
We do as we like.It is a revolution without blood.
Where I live, it’s the young ones going around with masks and scared to death.
The older people are behaving normally!
It’s the same here. I think it may be that young people are more sensitive to peer pressure than we geezers are.
https://principia-scientific.com/everybody-look-whats-going-down/
Robert Malone has a very specific quote about coercion in vaccination (which is what passports are all about).
France: a Tunisian migrant imprisoned for rape and sexual assault at the exit of the metro, a call for witnesses launched
https://www.fdesouche.com/2021/06/30/tourcoing-59-un-migrant-tunisien-en-situation-irreguliere-ecroue-pour-un-viol-et-des-agressions-sexuelles-a-la-sortie-du-metro-un-appel-a-temoins-lance/
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/07/01/uk-government-defines-lgbt-equality-as-key-economic-asset/
What a goofy country. Seriously who can take this seriously?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Holbornlolz/status/1410601625731833863
Just browsing that list makes me want to say: Stop the world, I want to get off!
I am SO glad I live in the country and despite the fact that I have no neighbors, I at least feel safe in my own house.
Mariadee
I know two women that Bill Cosby tried to groom. I met him once at the Playboy Mansion when he was friends with that snake Hugh Hefner. Bill may be released but he is still a serial rapist just like Slick Willie Bill Clinton.