Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/14/2021

The new German government has determined that Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which was recently completed after nearly a decade of construction, cannot be put into service due to EU energy rules. The price of gas shot up more than 3% in response, breaking an all-time record that was set just two months ago.

In other news, six Egyptians, five of them minors, were arrested for gang-raping underage migrant girls at an asylum reception facility in Sicily.

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

Thanks to Caroline Glick, Dean, DV, MM, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Producer Price Index Grows the Fastest it Ever Has
 
USA
» Amtrak Suspends Vaccine Mandate Days After Shutting Down Routes Over Staff Shortages
» Biden Linking Tornadoes to ‘Climate Change’ Called ‘Utter Bulls***’ — ‘Directly Opposite to the Clear Observational Evidence’ — Dec Tornadoes Not Rare — Tornadoes Blamed on Global Cooling in 1970s
» Breaking: Rumble and Trump Media Group Reveal Details of New Partnership
» California Reimposes Indoor Mask Mandate Regardless of Vaccination Status
» Chicago Weekend Gun Violence Includes 25 Shootings, 4 Murders
» Claire McCaskill Claims Red States Will Implement ‘Vigilanteism Laws’ That Would ‘Empower Citizens’ To ‘Round Up’ Foreign Looking People
» CNN Proposes 11 Candidates Who Could Replace Joe Biden Amid Concerns About Age, Lack of Popularity
» Critical Race Theory is Being Masked as Social Emotional Learning: One Utah School District Says, “Enough!”
» Elon Musk: “I Am Against Forcing People to be Vaccinated; Not Something We Should Do in America”
» House Democrats Call on FTC and FCC to Regulate Secret Data Selling
» Mainstream Media Moves Against “Misinformation” In Email
» ‘Not Fitting Their Narrative’: Waukesha Feels Abandoned After Tragic Parade Attack
» Poll Finds Trump is More Admired Than Biden or the Pope
» Portland Awards $11.5m Energy Contract to Woke Firm Run by Ex-Convict
» Rumble DROPS Censorship-Happy Companies, Stands Up for Free Speech
» San Francisco Drug Overdose Deaths Nearly Triple COVID
» Supermarket Giant Strips Unvaccinated Employees of Their Benefits
» Tarrant County Judge Candidate Says ‘Critical Race Theory is Now Dead’ In Carroll ISD
» Teen Who Fatally Stabbed Chicago Boy Gets Probation
» Teen Who Fatally Stabbed Chicago Boy, 15, Gets Probation
» Tesla Employee Arrested in Shooting Death of Co-Worker at Fremont Factory: Police
» Video: Rand Paul Warns COVID Mandates Are “About Conditioning the American Individual to Submit to Government”
 
Canada
» Eighteen ‘Offensive’ Words You Can’t Say in Canada
 
Europe and the EU
» Austrian Opponents of Anti-Epidemic Measures Protested Against ‘Lying’ Media
» Brussels Goes Silent Over Reports of Corruption and Influence Trading in EU Institutions
» Climate Change: Insulate Britain Activists Plan New Protests, Court Hears
» Coronavirus Restriction Protesters Clash With German Police, Attempt to Set Vehicle on Fire
» Czechia and Poland Join Efforts to Change Emission Allowances to Bring Down Rising Energy Prices
» Despite Dangers of Marijuana, Malta and Germany Appear Set on Legalization
» Europeans Gas Prices Hit Record High After Germany Cancels Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline
» Germany: Senior Cardinal Warns Elites Ushering in “Total Control Surveillance State” Through COVID
» Germany Demands Telegram Create a System to Accept Court-Ordered Censorship Demands
» Norway Introduces Alcohol Ban, Remote Work Due to Omicron
» Project Fear: Number of UK Omicron Hospitalised Revised From 250 to 10
» Puerto Rico-Based TV Network Disappeared From Google After False DMCA Notice
» Seven Activists Fined for Boarding Valaris Jackup Rig in Scotland
» UK Government Refuses to Reveal Details About ‘First Omicron Death’
» UK PM Faces Rebellion Over Vaccine Passports as Opposing Conservative MPs is More Then the Government’s Majority
» UK: Delingpole: Durham Cathedral Insists on COVID Passes for Christmas Services
» UK: Julian Assange Would Die if He Got Extradited to the US, His Brother Says
» UK: Julian Assange Should Not be Extradited to United States, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce Says
» UK: Leaked Picture Shows ‘Raucous’ Christmas Party Thrown by Tory Aides in Major Lockdown Breach
» UK: Members of Extinction Rebellion Accused of Aggravated Trespass at Amazon’s Washington Site
» UK: Tories Again Claim They Will Fix Human Rights Law After Murderer and Paedophiles Dodge Deportation
» UK: Vaccine Taskforce Chief Slams Government for Focusing on Booster Shots for Young Over People With Serious Diseases
» Vaccinated Slovak Pensioners Will Receive an Allowance of at Least €200 From the State
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Caroline Glick: The Ugly Truth Comes Out About Netanyahu’s Trial
» Israel Moves to Restrict Access of Unvaccinated to Shopping Malls
 
Far East
» White House Cuts Off Taiwan From Online Summit After Video Feed With Map
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Doctor Who Discovered Omicron Says it Could Help Achieve “Herd Immunity”
» South Africa’s Omicron Outbreak Already “Running Out of Steam”
 
Immigration
» Human Traffickers Kill Again: 7 Migrants Killed in Car Crash in Hungary
» Macron Says EU Border Protection Needs Fundamental Reform
» Polish Guard Injured After Group of Over 50 Migrants Storm Border
» President Duda: Poland Welcomes Fleeing Belarusians With Open Arms
» Six Egyptians Arrested for ‘Gang-Raping’ Group of Underage Girls at Sicily Migrant Center
» UK Sends Soldiers to Defend Polish Border
» UK: People Smugglers Are Using Custom-Built ‘Death Trap’ Dinghies With Plywood Floors and Held Together With Gaffer Tape in Bid to Transport as Many Migrants Across the Channel in One Boat as Possible, National Crime Agency Warns
 
Culture Wars
» The Clothes Resale Market Online is Suppressed Due to False Takedown Claims From Original Brands
 

Producer Price Index Grows the Fastest it Ever Has

The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level, soared 9.6% year-over-year as of November, growing at the fastest rate ever measured, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced Tuesday.

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

Amtrak Suspends Vaccine Mandate Days After Shutting Down Routes Over Staff Shortages

Amtrak has suspended their vaccine mandate just days after the railroad service began cutting services due to vaccine related staffing shortages, according to Reuters‘ David Shepardson.

In a Tuesday statement, Amtrak — like many other businesses lately — pointed to a recent federal court decision halting the enforcement of President Biden’s Executive Order for federal contractors. The decision “caused the company to reevaluate our policy and to address the uncertainty” surrounding federal requirements.

“Amtrak is announcing today that we will revert to our original vaccine mandate policy,” which allows employees to submit negative Covid-19 tests as an alternative to vaccination.

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

Biden Linking Tornadoes to ‘Climate Change’ Called ‘Utter Bulls***’ — ‘Directly Opposite to the Clear Observational Evidence’ — Dec Tornadoes Not Rare — Tornadoes Blamed on Global Cooling in 1970s

Meteorologist Joe Bastardi: “Insanity. It’s a below-average tornado, wind damage, and hail season. No credibility No knowledge of past weather, We are in the hands of leftists who weaponize weather for their purposes. Deceit and deception.”

Even the UN IPCC disagrees with Joe Biden — Extreme Weather Expert Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. noted: UN IPCC AR6 WG1 states: “trends in tornadoes… associated w/ severe convective storms are not robustly detected” … “ attribution of certain classes of extreme weather (eg, tornadoes) is beyond current modeling & theoretical capabilities” … “how tornadoes… will change is an open question”

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

Breaking: Rumble and Trump Media Group Reveal Details of New Partnership

On Tuesday, the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) announced details into their business partnership with the video platform Rumble.

In a press release, TMTG announced that it has “entered into a wide-ranging technology and cloud services agreement with Rumble Inc.”

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

California Reimposes Indoor Mask Mandate Regardless of Vaccination Status

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced Monday the state will be reinstating an indoor mask mandate Wednesday regardless of vaccination status.

Ghaly also announced the state will be requiring people who attend events of 1,000 people or more to show a negative COVID-19 test even if the event does not require vaccination, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

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

Chicago Weekend Gun Violence Includes 25 Shootings, 4 Murders

Chicago police recorded another 25 shootings, including four murders, over the past weekend alone, as the city’s police superintendent and others testified Monday before a Senate committee on gun violence.

From Friday at 6 p.m. to Sunday at 11:59 p.m., there were 25 shooting incidents involving 27 shooting victims. There were four murders reported to police during that time frame.

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

Claire McCaskill Claims Red States Will Implement ‘Vigilanteism Laws’ That Would ‘Empower Citizens’ To ‘Round Up’ Foreign Looking People

On Monday, MSNBC analyst Claire McCaskill claimed that Republican-controlled states would soon put into place “vigilanteism” laws that would “empower citizens” to round up people who look foreign, basing her argument on the statement that the Supreme Court needs to be reformed.

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

CNN Proposes 11 Candidates Who Could Replace Joe Biden Amid Concerns About Age, Lack of Popularity

CNN suggested Monday 11 candidates who could replace President Joe Biden on the Democrat primary ticket in 2024.

The establishment news network, which the White House has courted to tamp down coverage of Biden’s poor economic record, admitted the president’s “age” and “ongoing political struggles” are a factor in 2024 considerations.

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

Critical Race Theory is Being Masked as Social Emotional Learning: One Utah School District Says, “Enough!”

SANDY, Utah, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — In a 4-3 vote, Canyons School District permanently suspended the controversial Second Step Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum from use in their K-8 schools. The program had already been put on hold in September after it was revealed the curriculum contained age-inappropriate sexual content that violated Utah sex education laws.

Lisa Logan, a concerned parent who spearheaded the effort, spent over 30 hours at the district office with another parent, Stacie Clayton, going through the 8th grade curriculum and they put out a report detailing their findings. The report shows that Second Step touts “power and privilege,” which are tenets of Critical Race Theory, as one of the three main factors for bullying. It also teaches children how to be social justice activists and points children toward sexual topics that break state law. “Parents are unaware that concepts like Critical Race Theory and Comprehensive Sex Education are being taught under the guise of Social Emotional Learning programs like Second Step,” Logan said, “and that has to change.”

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

Elon Musk: “I Am Against Forcing People to be Vaccinated; Not Something We Should Do in America”

The wealthiest individual on the planet, Elon Musk, declared this week that he is against vaccine mandates, noting that “I think this is just not something we should do in America.”

Musk made the comments in an interview with TIME, which has awarded the Tesla CEO it’s person of year gong.

Musk was asked if he was vaccinated, to which he replied “Yes. Yeah I am,” and added “I’m very pro-vaccination.”

He clarified, “I believe the science is unequivocal, I treat it to that effect. But by the same token I am against forcing people to be vaccinated.”

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

House Democrats Call on FTC and FCC to Regulate Secret Data Selling

A large group of House Democrats has penned a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking these agencies to regulate more strictly and penalize collection and monetization of location data.

Over 40 members of the US House of Representatives are concerned by user location data harvested by apps, and here, the FTC and FCC chairs are asked to come up with new rules that would declare selling, buying, transferring or using such data an unfair act or practice. At the same time app developers would be branded as engaging in a deceptive practice if they mislabeled location data as anonymous.

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

Mainstream Media Moves Against “Misinformation” In Email

The boundary corporate media want to establish for what they think should be policed and censored as political “misinformation” keeps expanding.

The new “frontier” that seems to be shaping up, if narratives pushed by the likes of the New York Times are to be taken into account, are people’s email communications.

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

‘Not Fitting Their Narrative’: Waukesha Feels Abandoned After Tragic Parade Attack

WAUKESHA, Wis. — For her whole life, 67-year-old Sharon Millard was so shy, she used to ask her identical twin sister to go on dates in her place in high school.

But ever since Nov. 21, when Darrell Brooks allegedly plowed into dozens of people at the Waukesha Christmas parade, killing six people, including an 8-year-old boy, and injuring up to 60 others, Millard has felt compelled to speak about the atrocity she witnessed.

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

Poll Finds Trump is More Admired Than Biden or the Pope

A new poll has found that Donald Trump is more admired than Pope Francis or Joe Biden.

The survey, conducted by YouGov, places Trump at number 13 for the world’s most admired man, while the Pope is below him at number 16 and Biden further down in 20th place.

Trump’s relatively high placing is all the more impressive given the sustained media campaign against him and the former president being blamed for the January 6 “siege.”

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

Portland Awards $11.5m Energy Contract to Woke Firm Run by Ex-Convict

The city of Portland, Oregon, awarded an $11.5 million energy contract to a woke company run by a woman who has served prison time for defrauding companies and tax fraud, according to a report.

City staffers had wanted the taxpayer-funded contract to supply heaters and coolers to low-income families to go to an established company, one that had an 85 percent white workforce, The Oregonian said.

But the city council instead unanimously voted to award it to Diversifying Energy, a newly formed nonprofit with black leadership promising “equitable access to clean, sustainable energy” for “low-income communities and people of color.”

Diversifying Energy is run by Linda Woodley, 71, who has a troubling 25-year history including two stretches behind bars, multiple bankruptcies and millions of dollars in fines for tax offenses, the local paper noted.

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

Rumble DROPS Censorship-Happy Companies, Stands Up for Free Speech

On Tuesday, the video platform Rumble announced that it would be terminating its business relationship with Unruly Group and Tremor International after the group attempted to censor radio and Fox News host Dan Bongino.

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

San Francisco Drug Overdose Deaths Nearly Triple COVID

Authored by Ilene Eng via The Epoch Times

San Francisco continues to face a drug overdose epidemic. The number of overdose deaths nearly tripled that of COVID deaths in 2020.

The city’s data reveals there were a total of 713 overdose deaths, compared to 261 COVID-19 deaths in 2020.

“Bad is an understatement. I would say it’s horrific, it is negligent, it is an epidemic in and of itself, and it was not always this way,” Jenny Shao, a freelance multimedia video journalist and San Francisco native, told NTD Television.

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

Supermarket Giant Strips Unvaccinated Employees of Their Benefits

Supermarket chain Kroger announced Tuesday it will eliminate paid emergency leave for unvaccinated employees who contract COVID-19 in addition to requiring some of them to pay a monthly $50 health insurance surcharge starting in 2022, according to a company memo.

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

Tarrant County Judge Candidate Says ‘Critical Race Theory is Now Dead’ In Carroll ISD

Tarrant County judge candidate Tim O’Hare says critical race theory is “dead” in the Carroll school district.

O’Hare issued a statement on Tuesday morning, a day after the school board voted to settle a lawsuit that alleged some trustees violated the Open Meetings Act by discussing a cultural plan in text messages.

O’Hare said, “I founded Southlake Families in the summer of 2020 in response to Southlake Carroll ISD’s Marxist, CRT-filled CCAP agenda. Southlake Families energized parents and encouraged them to take a stand and work together to take on the powers that be, and we prevailed. Critical Race Theory is now dead in Southlake Carroll Schools, and we know other districts in Tarrant County will follow suit.”

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

Teen Who Fatally Stabbed Chicago Boy Gets Probation

CHICAGO (AP) — A teenager who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 15-year-old suburban Chicago boy has been sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

A Cook County judge on Monday also ordered the now 17-year-old high school senior and his parents to participate in counseling.

The defendant, who was charged as a juvenile, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the August 2020 stabbing death of 15-year-old Elias Valdez in Glenview, The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported.

Authorities said Valdez, a Glenbrook South High School student, had intended to buy marijuana from the then 16-year-old defendant, but Valdez tried to take the drugs without paying for them.

The defendant chased Valdez and a struggle followed in which the defendant stabbed Valdez with a utility tool that contained a blade. Valdez died at a hospital the same day…

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Teen Who Fatally Stabbed Chicago Boy, 15, Gets Probation

CHICAGO (AP) — A teenager who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 15-year-old suburban Chicago boy has been sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

A Cook County judge on Monday also ordered the now 17-year-old high school senior and his parents to participate in counseling.

The defendant, who was charged as a juvenile, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the August 2020 stabbing death of 15-year-old Elias Valdez in Glenview, The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported.

Authorities said Valdez, a Glenbrook South High School student, had intended to buy marijuana from the then 16-year-old defendant, but Valdez tried to take the drugs without paying for them.

The defendant chased Valdez and a struggle followed in which the defendant stabbed Valdez with a utility tool that contained a blade. Valdez died at a hospital the same day.

Valdez’s relatives wanted the defendant charged with first-degree murder and held in custody, but instead, he was charged with second-degree murder and also held on home monitoring.

Those orders sparked accusations of preferential treatment and led to protests at the Glenview Police Department and the Skokie courthouse last year…

           — Hat tip: MM [Return to headlines]
 

Tesla Employee Arrested in Shooting Death of Co-Worker at Fremont Factory: Police

A Tesla employee has been arrested in connection to the shooting death of a co-worker at the company’s Fremont factory, police said Tuesday.

The incident was initially reported Monday as a suspicious death, but was later ruled a homicide by police investigators. The shooting was reported at 3:26 p.m. when firefighters responded to the factory for a report of a person down in the parking lot.

The person was pronounced dead after firefighters attempted to provide medical aid, police said, adding several expended .223 rifle casings were recovered nearby…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Video: Rand Paul Warns COVID Mandates Are “About Conditioning the American Individual to Submit to Government”

Senator Rand Paul has warned that as long as Americans continue to submit to government on coronavirus restrictions, the mandates and further erosions of freedom will never end.

Speaking with Dan Bongino, Paul responded to comments made last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who compared “anti-vaxxers here in this chamber” to “flat earthers” from 400 years ago.

Paul noted that “Schumer left out one thing, when they were denying that the Earth went around the sun. It was the government denying that and it was an independent scientist trying to set them straight.”

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

Eighteen ‘Offensive’ Words You Can’t Say in Canada

Authored by Walter E. Block via The Libertarian Institute

Think that the US is the wokiest nation on the planet? Think again. Canada is coming up fast, and with its latest initiative, appears to be on the inside track. What has the Great White (pardon me for using this word) North done to warrant this characterization? They have come up with eighteen words that are offensive; you say them only at your peril, at least in the frozen country to the north of the U.S.

What are these words? They are as follows:

Ghetto; sell someone down the river; blackmail; brainstorm; savage; gypped; pow wow; tribe; spooky; black sheep; blind spot; blindsided; first world problem; spirit animal; tone deaf; lame; grandfathered in; crippled.

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

Austrian Opponents of Anti-Epidemic Measures Protested Against ‘Lying’ Media

Austrian COVID-19 protesters and opponents of anti-epidemic measures scheduled demonstrations in front of the headquarters of major media companies on Thursday last week. Dozens of people gathered in front of the building of the ÖRF radio and television company to express their opposition to what they say is misleading or outright false news coverage on the pandemic.

About 20 officers monitored the protest, which occurred without incident. Der Standard daily writes that this was the first demonstration in a series of protests scheduled for several weeks. Under the motto “Your lies are disgusting” similar events have been planned in front of the headquarters of the Kronen Zeitung tabloid, the most widely-read newspaper in Austria.

Other protests have been planned in front of the editorial buildings of the Kurier, Die Presse, and Der Standard dailies, and the Oe24 news portal. Invitations to attend the rallies are being spread through the Telegram communication service.

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

Brussels Goes Silent Over Reports of Corruption and Influence Trading in EU Institutions

French investigative journalist Jean Quatremer published a series of articles in Liberation daily which revealed trading of interests and other unfair practices being conducted by European Court of Justice judges, European Commission officials, and European People’s Party (EPP) MEPs.

Did an earthquake occur in the EU following these revelations? Of course not.

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

Climate Change: Insulate Britain Activists Plan New Protests, Court Hears

Insulate Britain activists are planning to resume their protests in spring 2022, a court has heard today.

A group of protesters are today on trial in the High Court, facing allegations of breaching injunctions issued to prevent their climate change protests.

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

Coronavirus Restriction Protesters Clash With German Police, Attempt to Set Vehicle on Fire

Germans protesting against the country’s Wuhan coronavirus restrictions clashed with police on Sunday, as the government looks to crack down on encrypted messaging apps used to organise the demonstrations.

The outskirts of a protest, said to be mostly peaceful by police, in the Bavarian city of Schweinfurt turned violent on Sunday evening when a group of eight people violently attacked local police, punching and kicking officers who had allegedly wanted to identify them.

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

Czechia and Poland Join Efforts to Change Emission Allowances to Bring Down Rising Energy Prices

Due to the rise in electricity and gas prices, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is calling on the European Commission to reform the emissions trading system along with Poland. The government is also calling for the value added tax (VAT) reduction to continue in 2022.

As Babis stated, emission allowances have a 20 to 23 percent effect on the price of electricity. Last Wednesday, the value of European emission allowances exceeded €90 per tonne of carbon dioxide. According to estimates, the price could jump up to €100 per tonne by the end of the year.

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

Despite Dangers of Marijuana, Malta and Germany Appear Set on Legalization

If everything goes as predicted, Malta will be the first European country to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. The Maltese parliament votes on the issue today, and the new law could come into effect by the weekend.

The move comes despite numerous studies have shown that marijuana use can increase psychiatric disorders by up to five times in young people, as well as raising the risk for depression, suicide, and anxiety. These effects can continue into adulthood, according to research. Frequent cannabis use is also associated with lower IQ in young people. In fact, research shows that heavy users of marijuana as young people experience, on average, an 8-point drop in IQ even after they quit.

Under the new legislation proposed in Malta, people over the age of 18 can own up to seven grams of the drug or grow four cannabis plants at home and store 50 grams of it when dried, according to Hungarian news outlet Magyar Nemzet.

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

Europeans Gas Prices Hit Record High After Germany Cancels Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline

Under the current political conditions, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline leading through the Baltic Sea cannot be put into operation, said Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

The government of SPD, Greens, and FDP had agreed in the coalition agreement that European energy law would apply to energy projects, explained Baerbock.

“And that means that, as things stand at the moment, this pipeline cannot be approved because it does not meet the requirements of European energy law and the security issues are still in the air,” she was quoted as saying.

The move sent natural gas prices soaring 3 percent to €119.50, surpassing the previous Oct. 5 high of €117.90 on the Dutch month-ahead gas, which is the European benchmark. The record price comes at a time when Europeans are struggling with high inflation, including Germans, who pay the highest prices for energy in the European Union.

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

Germany: Senior Cardinal Warns Elites Ushering in “Total Control Surveillance State” Through COVID

A senior German Cardinal has warned that the likes of Bill Gates, George Soros and Davos Economic Forum head Klaus Schwab are using the coronavirus pandemic to force the world under “total control” of globalist “super-rich elites.”

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, who also serves as a high ranking judge at the Vatican court, made the comments during an interview with Austria’s St. Boniface Institute.

Mueller urged that “People, who sit on the throne of their wealth,” are seizing an “opportunity to push through their agenda.”

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

Germany Demands Telegram Create a System to Accept Court-Ordered Censorship Demands

The newly appointed German Federal Minister for Justice Marco Buschmann has called for the prosecution of people who spread “misinformation” and “hate” on social platforms. Supporters of censorship singled out Telegram as the most popular avenue for spreading “misinformation” and “hate speech.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the heads of several states are in favor of stricter speech control. At a conference Thursday, they said that “open social networks with mass communication” should be legally regulated.

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

Norway Introduces Alcohol Ban, Remote Work Due to Omicron

Norway has announced a slew of measures to curb the explosive spread of the Omicron strain.

These include a stop in serving alcohol in nightclubs and a recommendation to work remotely whenever possible. Citizens are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible and limit their social contacts. Maximum limits at public and private gatherings are being introduced as well. Lastly, requirements for mouth protection at indoor events is being re-introduced. The measures will apply starting from Wednesday and will be valid for at least for weeks onwards.

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

Project Fear: Number of UK Omicron Hospitalised Revised From 250 to 10

The number of people with Omicron in UK hospitals according to Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has been revised down from 250 to ten, with government officials claiming the minister had “misspoke” in earlier interviews.

The UK’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, has revised the number of people in hospital with the Omicron variant of the Chinese coronavirus from 250 to ten, over three interviews given on Tuesday morning.

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

Puerto Rico-Based TV Network Disappeared From Google After False DMCA Notice

A small US TV network has fallen victim to a DMCA request received and executed by Google, whose validity seems suspicious. Acting on a notice coming from UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations), Google has scrubbed its search results of any mention of Mega TV.

To make matters worse, even a year later, the decision still stands, meaning that the free-to-air network’s exposure on the world’s biggest search engine is effectively non-existent.

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

Seven Activists Fined for Boarding Valaris Jackup Rig in Scotland

Seven activists with climate action group Extinction Rebellion have been fined in connection with a protest aboard an offshore rig at Dundee, Scotland in January 2020.

The protest occurred aboard the Valaris-owned jackup Valaris JU-122 (Ensco 122), which was preparing to depart the River Tay on a drilling campaign for Shell. XR’s objective was to prevent the rig from leaving port, and the group planned for the operation to last up to 10 days.

Seven activists approached the rig in a small rubber inflatable and attempted to board it. However, Scotland’s early January weather conditions did not align with their plans: the three individuals who managed to board the rig had to disembark within five hours due to high winds.

Local police, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and other agencies incurred a total expense of about $40,000 for the response to the boarding.

After the action ended, police arrested all seven individuals in connection with the boarding.

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

UK Government Refuses to Reveal Details About ‘First Omicron Death’

The UK government has refused to divulge any details about the first ever death of someone infected with the Omicron variant, leading one professor to assert that the person likely died with Omicron and not from it.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid revealed news of the death yesterday, which is apparently the first of its kind in the world, prompting another round of media-driven fearmongering about the Omicron variant.

However, when asked to provide vital information about the age, medical condition and vaccination status of the victim, the government has refused to do so, citing patient confidentiality.

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

UK PM Faces Rebellion Over Vaccine Passports as Opposing Conservative MPs is More Then the Government’s Majority

UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that the government plans to extend plans for vaccine passports to include booster shots when all adults have had “a reasonable chance” to get the third jab, meaning citizens will have to get a booster to more easily participate in all aspects of society.

While many Conservative Party MPs rebelled against the party’s leader Boris Johnson and voted against the measures, there were unfortunately enough votes from left-wing parties such as Labour to make up the votes to get the controversial measures passed.

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

UK: Delingpole: Durham Cathedral Insists on COVID Passes for Christmas Services

Durham Cathedral is insisting on Covid passes for its Christmas services. But concerned Christians are asking whether this kind of discrimination is what Jesus would have wanted.

People hoping to attend Christmas services such as the cathedral’s Festival of nine lessons and carols, its Christmas Eve midnight eucharist or its Christmas Day services are warned:

Upon entry to the cathedral, all visitors over the age of 18 must be prepared to show their NHS COVID Pass as proof of vaccination, a negative PCR or lateral flow test taken up to 48 hours before the event, or a positive PCR test from within the last 6 months.

Visitors must wear a face covering inside Durham Cathedral unless exempt, in line with current UK law.

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

UK: Julian Assange Would Die if He Got Extradited to the US, His Brother Says

Brother of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Gabriel Shipton, appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Monday to discuss the imminent extradition of Assange to the U.S. from the U.K.

“Your brother is extradited to the United States, do you think he will survive?” Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson asked.

“No, I don’t. Prisoners here can’t be kept safe. Even the most high-profile visitors like Jeffrey Epstein couldn’t be kept safe in prison so what hope will Julian have here? I think if he gets extradited, he will most likely die,” Shipton replied.

“He didn’t hack anybody’s computers. He’s a journalist,” Carlson said. “He reprinted facts that were deeply embarrassing to our political class, the Democratic National Committee and above all to the foreign policy establishment,” Carlson added.

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

UK: Julian Assange Should Not be Extradited to United States, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce Says

One of the government’s most senior ministers has called for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be kept in Britain and tried there or returned to Australia.

Mr Assange is facing extradition to the United States after the UK High Court last week overturned a decision that he should not be sent to the US.

The US government has pursued Mr Assange’s extradition to face espionage charges since his organisation, WikiLeaks, released classified military cables in 2010 and 2011.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has penned an editorial for the Nine newspapers saying Mr Assange should be tried for any crime he is alleged to have committed on British soil, or be sent home.

“Assange was not in breach of any Australian laws at the time of his actions. Assange was not in the US when the event being deliberated in a court now in London occurred,” Mr Joyce wrote.

“The question is then: Why is he to be extradited to the US? If he insulted the Koran, would he be extradited to Saudi Arabia?”

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

UK: Leaked Picture Shows ‘Raucous’ Christmas Party Thrown by Tory Aides in Major Lockdown Breach

In the latest twist in the Downing Street Christmas Party scandal, a photo has now been leaked of a 24 person party held during Tier 2 restrictions.

In a blatant breach of lockdown rules, the image shows more than 20 people crowded together in a room in the Tories’ Westminster HQ for an event organised by Shaun Bailey’s mayoral campaign, the Mirror exclusively reports.

Mr Bailey quit tonight as chair of the London Assembly police and crime committee after being approached by the Mirror.

Some of the group are shown wearing paper hats while one is sporting a House of Commons Christmas jumper.

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

UK: Members of Extinction Rebellion Accused of Aggravated Trespass at Amazon’s Washington Site

Two members of environmental action group Extinction Rebellion have appeared in court accused of aggravated trespass at retail giant Amazon’s Washington distribution centre.

Sarah Ingram, 40, and Beatrice Pooley, 64, are alleged to have entered the site’s grounds at Follingsby Lane, near the Whitemare Pool Roundabout.

They are believed to be among six members of the protest organisation arrested at the site on Friday, November 26.

Ingram, of Hervey Road, Greenwich, London, and Pooley, of Garden Road, Kendal, Cumbria, pleaded not guilty at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

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

UK: Tories Again Claim They Will Fix Human Rights Law After Murderer and Paedophiles Dodge Deportation

Britain’s governing Conservative Party is claiming, not for the first time, that it will reform human rights rules with a new British Bill of Rights, after judges blocked the removal of a murderer and several paedophiles.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who also serves as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, claims that a new British Bill of Rights will partially supersede Labour’s Human Rights Act. Raab appears to be following in the footsteps of former Prime Minister David Cameron, who failed to deliver the bill or keep similar conservative-sounding promises on reducing immigration and reforming Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

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

UK: Vaccine Taskforce Chief Slams Government for Focusing on Booster Shots for Young Over People With Serious Diseases

The UK’s former Vaccine Taskforce chief has slammed the government for focusing resources on giving booster jabs to healthy young people over caring for a huge backlog of older people suffering from serious diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

The British government has embarked on an ambitious campaign to deliver offer booster jabs to the entire adult population by the end of January to stave off the threat posed by Omicron, despite widespread evidence that the variant only causes “mild” illness.

This entails a huge devotion of NHS resources to deliver a million jabs a day, something that will inevitably mean seriously sick people will miss out on cancer screenings and other treatments.

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

Vaccinated Slovak Pensioners Will Receive an Allowance of at Least €200 From the State

Slovakia will provide €200 to any unvaccinated pensioner who receives a vaccine against Covid-19. Elderly citizens who have already been vaccinated with a booster dose of the vaccine will receive an allowance of €300. The National Council passed the amendment on Thursday.

Approximately 1.29 million Slovaks, roughly less than a quarter of the country’s population, will be eligible for the contribution. The approved amendment to the relevant law differs from the original proposal. The rejected law included the distribution of €500 service vouchers.

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

Caroline Glick: The Ugly Truth Comes Out About Netanyahu’s Trial

The corruption trial of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Jerusalem District Court has been ongoing for the past two months. Things are not going well for the prosecutors.

Israel’s state prosecution submitted a list of 333 witnesses. It frontloaded its best ones. So far, eight have taken the stand. And all of them have obliterated the prosecution’s case. Long-time Israeli jurists and former prosecutors attest that this is the worst presentation of evidence they have ever seen.

For the past three years, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and his colleagues built their case for indicting Netanyahu—a long-serving, successful and popular prime minister—by claiming their star witnesses had given them proof that Netanyahu is corrupt and dangerous.

Through illegal, selective leaks from investigation rooms and prime-time press conferences, the state prosecution insisted that the witnesses had given them incontrovertible evidence that Netanyahu received a bribe, in the form of positive coverage from a news website. Mandelblit claimed that in exchange for the bribe of positive coverage, Netanyahu compelled regulators to provide the owner of the website with a sweetheart deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But over the past two months, as one allegedly “star” witness after another took the stand, each rejected Mandelblit’s contention. Netanyahu, in fact, received hostile coverage from the website in question; his political rivals received supportive coverage.

As for the regulatory favors Netanyahu supposedly afforded the owner of the website in exchange for positive coverage, here too, the witnesses have shattered the narrative. The alleged whistleblower, who purportedly made the claim, testified that Netanyahu had no role in the regulatory apparatus in question. Netanyahu, in short, never asked for anything…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Moves to Restrict Access of Unvaccinated to Shopping Malls

For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel will expand its Green Pass mandate to include shopping malls, restricting access to citizens who are not fully protected against the disease as fears of the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant mount.

As per a decision by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Israelis will now have to present their Green Pass — a document which grants access to public accommodations to either those who received three shots of a coronavirus vaccine or those who received two doses or recovered from the virus within the last six months — upon entering a mall.

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

White House Cuts Off Taiwan From Online Summit After Video Feed With Map

During President Joe Biden’s online Summit for Democracy, the video feed of a Taiwanese delegate was cut off after showing a slide of a map depicting Taiwan as independent from China. However, the map was about democracy, not sovereignty.

Two sources close to the issues told Reuters that Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang was cut off for about a minute after showing the map.

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

Doctor Who Discovered Omicron Says it Could Help Achieve “Herd Immunity”

The South African doctor who first discovered Omicron says “Britain is overreacting” by imposing more draconian restrictions and that the panic “is out of all proportion to the risks posed by this variant.”

Maybe someone should tell Boris Johnson.

Doctor Angelique Coetzee wrote a lengthy article for the Daily Mail in which she decried potential plans for canceling Christmas and placing the population under yet another onerous lockdown.

“Yet you only have to look at the picture in South Africa, where the world’s first known cases of Omicron were spotted, to realise this reaction is out of all proportion to the risks posed by this variant,” writes Coetzee.

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

South Africa’s Omicron Outbreak Already “Running Out of Steam”

Data coming out of South Africa indicates that the Omicron outbreak of COVID-19 is already “running out of steam,” and according to one expert, “the world has nothing to fear.”

“Cases in the province of Gauteng — which had surging infections from November — appear to be levelling off, while seven-day infections in Tshwane, one of the early epicentres, are now “relatively flat,” states a report written by the Telegraph’s science editor.

“Case growth is steeper than last week but still has slowed down versus November,” said Louis Rossouw, of the Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group.

Data also shows that the percentage of people who die from a COVID infection has dropped significantly since the arrival of Omicron.

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

Human Traffickers Kill Again: 7 Migrants Killed in Car Crash in Hungary

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Seven migrants were killed and three others injured when the vehicle they were traveling in crashed into a house while fleeing a police stop, Hungarian police said.

The accident occurred just before midnight Monday near the center of Morahalom, a town of around 6,000 people less than five miles from Hungary’s border with Serbia.

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

Macron Says EU Border Protection Needs Fundamental Reform

Ahead of France assuming the revolving presidency of the European Union, French President Emmanuel Macron met the heads of government of the Visegrad Group, represented by Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, which amounted to the first visit of a French president to Budapest in 14 years.

After the meeting, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that there are debates with Macron, but there was nothing wrong with that. The aim was to have quality discussions and to show the French president respect. He also stressed that he did not want to make any comments on French politics.

According to Macron, a profound reform of the Schengen area is needed, as well as protection of the European Union’s external borders, restrictions on secondary migration, and a review of deportation rules. The French president said the rule of law was a “sensitive issue,” in which he listened to the views of the V4 leaders and informed them of the French opinion.

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

Polish Guard Injured After Group of Over 50 Migrants Storm Border

A Polish border guard was injured over the weekend when a group of approximately 50 migrants attempted to storm the Polish border with Belarus, attacking the border guards with rock and stones.

The incident took place near the village of Czeremsza along the border with Belarus and saw the border guards discover the group of 55 migrants, who attacked the officials with stones, causing one official to be injured after a stone struck him in the face.

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

President Duda: Poland Welcomes Fleeing Belarusians With Open Arms

During his speech at the Summit for Democracy, an online summit organized by U.S. President Joe Biden, Polish President Andrzej Duda referred to the situation in Belarus.

“Four weeks after my re-election when over 20 million Poles used their right to vote, our neighbors, Belarusians, were once again deprived of that right in the most brutal way possible,” Duda said.

He emphasized, that 180 kilometers away from Warsaw, on the Polish-Belarusian border, “the border of democracy was also located”.

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

Six Egyptians Arrested for ‘Gang-Raping’ Group of Underage Girls at Sicily Migrant Center

Italian police have arrested at least six Egyptian males suspected of carrying out a series of horrific rapes of underage girls at a COVID quarantine center for migrants on the island of Sicily, according to reports.

One adult and five minors are facing gang rape and abduction charges following their apprehension in the city of Porto Empedocle last week.

A group of around 10 young girls hailing mostly from Egypt and Tunisia told authorities they were being terrorized on a regular basis by a ‘rape gang’ that was raiding their dormitory at the Villa Sikania hosting center in Siculiana.

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

UK Sends Soldiers to Defend Polish Border

The United Kingdom has stepped in with reinforcements as Poland struggles to secure its border from an illegal migration influx supported by the Belarusian government.

Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak posted about the arrival of the UK soldiers on social media.

“Another group of British soldiers has landed in Poland today. They will help Polish soldiers in repairing and constructing a temporary barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border. A joint response to hybrid threats is an expression of our allied solidarity,” Blaszczak wrote on Twitter.

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

UK: People Smugglers Are Using Custom-Built ‘Death Trap’ Dinghies With Plywood Floors and Held Together With Gaffer Tape in Bid to Transport as Many Migrants Across the Channel in One Boat as Possible, National Crime Agency Warns

People smugglers are using custom-made inflatable dinghies with plywood floors and held together with gaffer taper to transport as many migrants across the Channel as possible, the National Crime Agency has warned.

The national law enforcement agency said gangs are turning to ever more dangerous and rickety boats to sneak desperate refugees across to the UK.

In recent months, larger inflatables, sometimes more than 30ft long, have been used in the cruel human trade.

Investigators believe many of these large grey or black unbranded vessels have little or no commercial use and are being purposefully manufactured for people smugglers.

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

The Clothes Resale Market Online is Suppressed Due to False Takedown Claims From Original Brands

Realizing that the second-hand fashion market is exploding, fashion brands have been using copyright infringement or intellectual property takedown notices to try and force small resellers out of the market.

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

8 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/14/2021

  1. Gas in Europe shot up by 3%, that is excellent hey Europe push and push against Russia antagonize it

    As sykes-picot did when they divided the middle East and left Hitler in the cold and expected him not to retaliate.

    Behavior of France and Britain that triggered in Hitler to expand locally can you consider that aggression?

    Today they are doing the same to Russia they cut their nose to spite their faces they sacrifice their people not only on the altar of the invaders but on the altar of the deep hatred for Russia the hatred that is not different when Hitler decided to turn Moscow into a lake

    Hatred of the West for Russia even exceeds hatred of Muslims towards Israel by 10 times

    Hatred against the religion of peace is terrible horrible but not against innocent countries and people

    The West is bent on provoking Russia into a war did they do the same with Hitler.

    What is happening now on the ground and in Europe on the borders of Russia that are being pushed and pushed daily made me change my established ideas about what the causes of world war II

    • Ha ha ha. What kind of Russia is this, my friend?
      What is such a spherical Russia in a vacuum?

      This is a squalid colonized territory, where a vile creature that looks like a rotten fish, Gauleiter, who plunders and destroys the Russian population.

      This cowardly creature is afraid to show its nose from its bunker. He will only be happy to kill us at the behest of his masters. I do not know who his owners are there.

      I am that this botox scum will kill us without any war with the help of their Muslims.

    • I used to think the allies were the good guys, how bloody wrong it has turned out to be. Those damn Brits and their Great Game have provoked the Germans and the Russians for 2 centuries. The bloody Brits allied with the damn turks to stop the Russians from taking back Constantinople and provoking the Germans into fighting another war. All the wars roots lead back to London. As for the Frogs, after Napoleon, they were not much of a threat.

  2. The US embargoed 75% of Japan’s oil in July, 1941 and was SHOCKED when Pearl Harbor was attacked 5 months later? Western Europe and the USA/Canada elite are anti-Christian and want Russia back inside an atheistic soviet. No question.

  3. Ugh … What a shame.
    Lucky USA – they are sitting surrounded by the ocean away from the Muslim orcs.
    You can put pressure on countries that are suffering from these Qur’anic zombies.
    https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5665

    Combating International Islamophobia Act

    This bill establishes within the Department of State the Office to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia and addresses related issues.

    The office shall monitor and combat acts of Islamophobia and Islamophobic incitement in foreign countries. The bill establishes the position of Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia, who shall head the office.

    The bill also requires certain existing annual reports to Congress about human rights and religious freedom in foreign countries to include information about Islamophobia, such as information about (1) acts of physical violence or harassment of Muslim people, (2) instances of propaganda in government and nongovernment media that attempt to justify or promote hatred or incite violence against Muslim people, and (3) actions taken by a country’s government to respond to such acts. The office shall coordinate and assist in preparing these portions of the reports.

    • The bill sounds like Americans want voluntarily to be dhimmis and slaves to Islam and Muslims and Omar.

      But Omar would not dare take such a bold rude step and act such a law if she knew the Congress would resist and she has discovered that the Congress is like a jellyfish no backbone docile you can pull their rein in any direction you want and you can dictate to them any dhimmi laws.

      Omar is paving the way to surrender USA to Islam and the comatose Americans are happy as long as they are elected again. Let the nation go to the dogs just like France Sweden and Britain, great Little Britain.

      • Omar is paving her way to a lamp post along with all the other skinny population living in our lands. In MN, she is absolutely hated outside of Mpls and dares not come north where she fears she will be lynched.

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