Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/7/2021

A school in California bribed pupils with pizza to get them to take the vax, and instructed them not to tell their parents. Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told her subjects that the country’s “vaccination” program will never end.

In other news, the New York Police Department withdrew 2,000 bodycams from use after one of them ignited while an officer was wearing it.

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.

Financial Crisis
» Hungary Gross Wages Grow Above 9% in September
» Hungary: Jobless Rate at 3.9% in October, KSH Reports
» OECD Forecasts Hungary’s Growth Slowing to 5% in 2022
 
USA
» 10 Antifa Members Charged for Alleged Attacks on California Pro-Trump Protesters: ‘Criminal Acts’
» California School Bribes Boy to Get COVID Vaccine and Not Tell His Parents
» Catholic League Slams Salvation Army’s Embrace of Critical Race Theory
» Climate Scientist Asks YouTube to Censor Climate “Misinformation”
» Critical Race Trove From California District Tells Students How to Use Witchcraft on People Who Say ‘All Lives Matter’
» Declared Winner of Overturned Eatonville Election Still Waiting to Take Office
» DeSantis Vows No Lockdowns or Mandates in Florida as Omicron Variant Hits the State
» Elon Musk: “Civilization is Going to Crumble” if People Don’t Have More Children
» Exclusive — Pearl Harbor Historian Wonders if America Can Stay Together Through Its Third Century
» Ghislaine Topless, Creepy Massage Room: Never-Before-Seen Photos Offer Rare Look Inside Epstein’s Infamous Lairs
» Healdsburg Protests in Support of Unvaccinated Councilwoman
» Houston Law Firms Seeks $10 Billion in Astroworld Lawsuit Representing 1,500 Concert-Goers
» Hundreds of Mathematicians, Scientists, Sign Open-Letter Against Social-Justice-Based Curriculum
» I&I/TIPP Poll Stunner: Just 22% of Americans Want Joe Biden to Run for President Again
» ‘If I Run, He Won’t’: Donald Trump Downplays Ron Desantis’ 2024 Hopes
» Judicial Watch, Daily Caller News Foundation Score Victory in Lawsuit Over Biden’s Senate Records
» Jussie Smollett Tells Prosecutors That Reading the ‘N-Word’ Aloud in Court From His Own Messages is Offensive
» Left-Wing Shutdown DC Protest Blocks Traffic Around Nation’s Capital
» Letter Comparing Parent Protests to Domestic Terrorism Triggers Funding Fallout
» Mainstream Media Complains About “Alternative” Tech Platforms, Frames Them as “Echo-Chambers”
» Man Accusing Don Lemon of Sexual Harassment Slams CNN for Being ‘A Predator Protecting Machine’
» Massachusetts Middle School Offers Racially Segregated ‘Safe Spaces’ For Students to ‘Process’ Rittenhouse, Arbery Verdicts
» Nolte: Top Ten-Percenter Rashida Tlaib Demands Taxpayers Pay Her Student Loans
» NYPD Pulls 2,000 Bodycams From Use After One ‘Ignited’
» Oakland Police Chief Addresses Violence as Homicides Climb to 127
» President Biden to Withdraw Saule Omarova’s Nomination
» Reports: Smollett Testifies CNN’s Lemon Warned Him Police Were Suspicious Over Alleged Fake Racist Attack
» Reps. Greene and Gohmert Finally Met the J6 Political Prisoners: What They Saw Isn’t Pretty
» Ron Desantis’ Odds Surge in 2024 Presidential Betting Market
» Smollett Blames Police, Black ‘White MAGA Men’, & Anti-Gay Lover in Surreal Defense of Hoax Attack
» ‘Stopped Cold’: Federal Judge Blocks Final Part of Biden Vaccine Mandate
» Trump Issued an Executive Order on Critical Race Theory After Seeing a Segment About it on Tucker Carlson’s Show: Book
» Video, Photos: ‘Racist’ Roosevelt Statue Covered Up, Ready to be Removed
» Video: Alec Baldwin Chases After Reporter in NYC, Where He’s Set to Host an Awards Gala
» Violence in Chicago So Bad That Officials Are Canceling Days Off for Cops
» Watch: Kyle Rittenhouse Reveals He Played Call of Duty Every Night of the Trial
» Woke District Attorneys in Cities With Highest Crime Rates Funded by Democrat Megadonor George Soros
» YouTube Reveals Mass Problem of False Copyright Claims
 
Europe and the EU
» 14% of Czechs Determined to Resist Vaccination
» Britons Told to Take a COVID Test Every Time They Leave Home
» Czech Central Bank Offers Pros and Cons of Adopting Euro Currency
» Doctors: UK Faces Up to 300,000 New Heart Condition Cases — Due to ‘Post-Pandemic Stress Disorder’
» Eurostar Introduces Facial Recognition for Passengers
» France: Paris Suburb Rocked by Gunfire, Explosions as Rival Gangs Wage War
» France: Paris: Christmas Market Set Up for Black Merchants Only Criticised
» Google Promises to Censor “Misinformation” During French Presidential Election
» Highest Yearly Increase of Alcohol Deaths in UK on Record During 2020 Lockdown
» Hungary: Charges Pressed Against Man for Preparing Terrorist Attack in Siófok
» Italy: Cops Set to Drop Coke Charges Against League Ex-Comms Chief
» Italy: New Search of Juve Offices Regards Ronaldo Ties
» Italy: Ferrero Quits as Sampdoria Chairman After Arrest
» Lockdown Sceptic MP Slams ‘Crazed Scientists’ Who Have ‘Socialist Wet Dream’ of Locking Down Britons Again
» New German Government Signs Coalition Deal
» Norwegian COVID Experts Says Omicron Could Provide “Best Scenario” of “Natural Immunity”
» PM Orban’s Farewell to Merkel: “We Understood Her, She Understood Us’
 
Russia
» White House: If Russia Invades Ukraine, We Will Strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank
 
Far East
» China Threatens U.S. Over Expected Diplomatic Olympic Boycott: ‘China Will Take Firm Countermeasures’
» Hospitality Industry Expects Revenue to Tank in Hong Kong if Vaccine Passport Measures Are Introduced
 
Australia — Pacific
» New Zealand Prime Minister: “There’s Not Going to be an End Point to This Vaccination Program”
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» South Africa: Healthcare Chief Says Omicron “May Signal the End of COVID-19”
 
Immigration
» Afghans Largest Group Applying for EU Asylum in September
» Swedish MEP Leads European Parliament Plan to Flood Europe With Low-Skilled Labor Migrants
» The Polish-Belarusian Border Separates Dictatorship From Democracy
 
Culture Wars
» Sony Wins Order Against DNS Resolver Quad9, Paving the Way for More DNS-Level Censorship
» These Universities Are Paying for Menstrual Products in Men’s Bathrooms
» Trans Swimmer Who Competed as a Man Until 2019 Smashes Ivy League Records at Women’s Meet
 

Hungary Gross Wages Grow Above 9% in September

Hungarian gross wages grew by an annual 9.1 percent in September, up from 8.9 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday.

The gross monthly wage for full-time employees averaged 428,100 forints (EUR 1,165), according to data on businesses and institutions with at least five people on the payroll. The average net wage was 284,700 forints (EUR 777).

The gross median wage was 349,300 forints.

With annual inflation of 5.5 percent in September, real wages increased by 3.4 percent.

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

Hungary: Jobless Rate at 3.9% in October, KSH Reports

Hungary’s jobless rate was at 3.9 percent in October, edging down from 4.0 percent in September and 4.1 percent in the same month a year earlier, data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Monday show.

The rate covers unemployment among people between the ages of 15 and 74.

In absolute terms, there were 188,500 unemployed, 6,200 fewer than in September and 8,600 fewer than in the same month a year earlier.

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

OECD Forecasts Hungary’s Growth Slowing to 5% in 2022

The OECD projects Hungary’s economic growth slowing to 5 percent in 2022 from 6.9 pc this year.

Also, inflation would remain high, “reflecting supply-side constraints and a tight labour market,” it said in its latest Economic Outlook published on Wednesday. The OECD forecast 5 percent inflation in 2021, rising to 6 percent in 2022.

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

10 Antifa Members Charged for Alleged Attacks on California Pro-Trump Protesters: ‘Criminal Acts’

Prosecutors in San Diego filed charges against at least 10 anti-fascist protesters who allegedly tried to disrupt a pro-Trump rally earlier this year with “violent criminal acts.”

“Video evidence analysis shows that overwhelmingly the violence in this incident was perpetrated by the Antifa affiliates and was not a mutual fray with both sides crossing out of lawful First Amendment expression into riot and violence,” District Attorney Summer Stephan’s office said in a news release, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The defendants “are self-identified to be affiliated with Anti-fascists or Antifa” and gathered on Jan. 9 in San Diego to take “direct action” against a pro-Trump “Patriot March,” according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. “Direct action” is defined as “acts of violence such as assault, battery, assault with deadly weapons, arson, and vandalism,” according to the DA’s office. Police declared an unlawful assembly the day of the clashes.

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

California School Bribes Boy to Get COVID Vaccine and Not Tell His Parents

A 13-year-old boy was bribed with pizza from his school to get a COVID-19 vaccine without parental consent, reports NBC Los Angeles. According to the report, the school not only gave the minor child the vaccine without parental consent but instructed the boy not to tell his parents.

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

Catholic League Slams Salvation Army’s Embrace of Critical Race Theory

Catholic League president Bill Donohue has blasted the woke leadership of the Salvation Army for succumbing to “left-wing politics” by embracing critical race theory.

“Lament, repent and apologize for biases or racist ideologies held and actions committed,” the Salvation Army stated in a lengthy 2021 report titled “Let’s Talk About Racism,” Dr. Donohue notes. Throughout the document, “the understanding is that white people are racists, thus necessitating the need to ‘apologize.’“

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

Climate Scientist Asks YouTube to Censor Climate “Misinformation”

A climate change scientist has complained to YouTube for appearing to promote what he suggests is climate change denial content. The scientist told the platform that it should treat climate change “misinformation” the same way it has been treating COVID-19 “misinformation.”

Prof. Michael Mann, the director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, tweeted: “Hey @Youtube. It’s good you’re taking down COVID denial videos. Now it’s time for you to remove climate denial videos. They pose an even greater threat to humanity in the long term.”

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

Critical Race Trove From California District Tells Students How to Use Witchcraft on People Who Say ‘All Lives Matter’

While documenting my former high school’s attempt to indoctrinate me with critical race theory six years ago, I remarked that now, several years later, “the situation has undoubtedly worsened.” Worsened it has. Now, Campbell Union High School District has promoted more than 100 “equity resources” to students and staff, including a document that taught students how to put a curse on those who say “all lives matter.”

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

Declared Winner of Overturned Eatonville Election Still Waiting to Take Office

EATONVILLE, Florida. — More than a month after a circuit court judge overturned the results of a 2020 Eatonville town council election due to “illegal” votes, the candidate who was declared the new winner has still not begun serving in the position.

“I had an idea they would try to do anything possible to stop me from taking that seat, and I think that’s what they continue to try to do,” said Marlin Daniels, the declared winner.

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

DeSantis Vows No Lockdowns or Mandates in Florida as Omicron Variant Hits the State

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that he would not allow ‘Fauci-ism’ to be imposed on Florida residents as he vowed no restrictions or mandates as officials identified a “presumptive case” of the omicron variant in the Sunshine State.

“In Florida, we won’t let them lock ya down, we won’t let them restrict you, we’re not gonna let them impose mandates, we’re not gonna let them close the schools,” said DeSantis following a speech at a park in Oldsmar, located just west of Tampa.

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

Elon Musk: “Civilization is Going to Crumble” if People Don’t Have More Children

Billionaire Elon Musk says that depopulation, not overpopulation, will be the biggest crisis facing humanity and that “civilization is going to crumble” if birth rates in the west continue to rapidly decline.

Musk made the comments during the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council earlier today.

Despite the planet nearing a population of 8 billion people, the father of six said there was still “not enough people” on Earth.

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

Exclusive — Pearl Harbor Historian Wonders if America Can Stay Together Through Its Third Century

Craig Shirley, author of December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World, speculated on Tuesday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow that American political divisions will fracture the country within the nation’s third century.

“I don’t know if America is special enough to stay together in a third century,” Shirley warned on the 80th anniversary of Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1942.

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

Ghislaine Topless, Creepy Massage Room: Never-Before-Seen Photos Offer Rare Look Inside Epstein’s Infamous Lairs

Never-before-seen images show the infamous Florida and New York City pads where disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly sexually assaulted underage girls.

Prosecutors trying Epstein’s alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, submitted the photos as evidence. The images from the Manhattan townhouse were taken in 2019, while the pictures from Palm Beach were taken in 2005 after police raided the residence.

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

Healdsburg Protests in Support of Unvaccinated Councilwoman

HEALDSBURG, Calif. — Protesters invading Healdsburg City Hall Monday night forced a city council meeting onto Zoom.

At the center of the turmoil: Councilwoman Skylaer Palacios, who is not allowed to attend in-person meetings because she is unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Dozens of anti-vax and anti-mandate activists flocked to Healdsburg to show support for Palacios and press for a reversal of city rules.

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

Houston Law Firms Seeks $10 Billion in Astroworld Lawsuit Representing 1,500 Concert-Goers

A Houston law firm is demanding $10 billion for the resolution of more than 1,500 cases it has filed on behalf of victims of the Astroworld Festival tragedy at NRG Park in Houston on Nov. 5 that resulted in 10 people dead and hundreds of injuries.

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

Hundreds of Mathematicians, Scientists, Sign Open-Letter Against Social-Justice-Based Curriculum

Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times

More than 700 mathematicians and scientists have signed an open letter denouncing recent “trends” in K-12 mathematics education that proponents argue will close achievement gaps and damage America’s global competitiveness.

“We write to express our alarm over recent trends in K-12 mathematics education in the United States,” the “ Open Letter on K-12 Mathematics,” which has 746 signatories as of Dec. 6, says.

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

I&I/TIPP Poll Stunner: Just 22% of Americans Want Joe Biden to Run for President Again

Just when it seemed President Joe Biden could get no lower in the public’s political esteem, a new I&I/TIPP Poll of Americans’ preference for the 2024 Democratic presidential ballot is a shocker: Just over one out of five want Joe Biden back at the top of the Democrats’ ticket in three years.

A number of recent I&I/TIPP Polls (here and here) have documented Biden’s sharp decline in favorability with the public due to a number of issues, ranging from his leadership of the military, the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the recent inflation surge and supply-chain crisis, the border crisis, and a number of other vexing White House issues.

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

‘If I Run, He Won’t’: Donald Trump Downplays Ron Desantis’ 2024 Hopes

‘If he wanted to run, that’s OK with me. I think we’d win by a lot.’

Former President Donald Trump continues to say Gov. Ron DeSantis won’t run against him in 2024 and can’t beat him if he does, while reminding voters DeSantis wouldn’t be Governor without Trump’s endorsement.

During an interview with South Florida radio host Brian Mudd, Trump offered his latest in a series of statements essentially claiming he made the Governor and DeSantis knows better than to run against him in 2024.

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

Judicial Watch, Daily Caller News Foundation Score Victory in Lawsuit Over Biden’s Senate Records

The Delaware Supreme Court ruled Monday that the University of Delaware must disclose additional information regarding its deal with President Joe Biden to house his Senate records.

The ruling was in response to an appeal filed in the Delaware Supreme Court by Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation in January 2021, which asked for a reversal of the opinion of the Superior Court of Delaware. The Superior Court had blocked the groups’ state public records request for information related to a gift agreement between the University of Delaware and Biden when he donated his Senate records, as well as communications between the university and Biden and his representatives about the release of the records.

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

Jussie Smollett Tells Prosecutors That Reading the ‘N-Word’ Aloud in Court From His Own Messages is Offensive

In court on Tuesday, alleged hate crime hoaxer Jussie Smollett asked the prosecutor to stop saying the “n-word,” but the prosecutor was reading aloud from Smollett’s own written messages.

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

Left-Wing Shutdown DC Protest Blocks Traffic Around Nation’s Capital

A left-wing protest in Washington, D.C., is blocking traffic in the nation’s capital to demonstrate against an administration and lawmakers they believe have failed them by not delivering on various promises.

The initiative, dubbed “Shutdown DC,” is a joint effort from several activist organizations that are each conducting blockades at different spots near the Capitol building.

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

Letter Comparing Parent Protests to Domestic Terrorism Triggers Funding Fallout

The nation’s leading school board advocacy group is facing a critical loss of funding and membership after sending a letter comparing parent protests and threats to domestic terrorism.

Why it matters: The National School Boards Association has since apologized, but the fallout could be seven figures in annual funding. At least 17 state affiliates have severed ties with the group — and some are even considering establishing a competitor.

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

Mainstream Media Complains About “Alternative” Tech Platforms, Frames Them as “Echo-Chambers”

Mainstream media outlets are continuing their crusade against alternatives to Big Tech social media networks and other services — which mainstream media just happens to be firmly aligned with.

Ignoring the fact that what spurred the emergence of these alternatives in the first place was a wave of unprecedented censorship on both legacy media and tech platforms over the past couple of years, the new “conservative” media are branded as rising “aggressively” and reviled as creating an “echo chamber.”

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

Man Accusing Don Lemon of Sexual Harassment Slams CNN for Being ‘A Predator Protecting Machine’

The man accusing Don Lemon of sexually harassing him in 2018 is calling CNN ‘a predator protecting machine,’ but noted that he is happy to see some accountability with the termination of Chris Cuomo last week.

Dustin Hice filed a lawsuit against Lemon more than two years ago, accusing the CNN host of sexually charged assault and battery in connection to an incident at a Long Island bar during the summer of 2018, according to Fox News.

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

Massachusetts Middle School Offers Racially Segregated ‘Safe Spaces’ For Students to ‘Process’ Rittenhouse, Arbery Verdicts

Bigelow Middle School in Newton, Massachusetts, hosted racially segregated “safe spaces” in order for students to be able to “process” the verdicts in the Kyle Rittenhouse and Ahmaud Arbery cases.

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

Nolte: Top Ten-Percenter Rashida Tlaib Demands Taxpayers Pay Her Student Loans

Rashida Tlaib (D-Entitled) is in the top ten percent of income earners and still wants taxpayers to pay off her student loans.

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

NYPD Pulls 2,000 Bodycams From Use After One ‘Ignited’

The NYPD has taken 2,000 body cameras out of circulation after one worn by a Manhattan cop “ignited,” police confirmed Tuesday.

The department yanked all of its Axon AB2 cameras for inspection after a cop at the 34th Precinct in Inwood noticed smoke coming out of one, police said. The cop removed it, and it “ignited,” according to an NYPD memo.

The fire “revealed a potential issue with the battery inside the camera,” the memo reads. Police department specialists found similar problems in other cameras with the same make and model, the memo added.

Axon AB2 cameras account for about 2,000 of the NYPD’s 23,000 bodycams, and the department has been phasing them out and replacing them with the newer Axon AB3 model…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Oakland Police Chief Addresses Violence as Homicides Climb to 127

OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland’s police chief spoke publicly on Tuesday morning asking for more officers following a recent wave of violence in the city, where 127 homicides have occurred so far this year compared to 74 homicides in 2019 before the pandemic.

Chief LeRonne Armstrong has long asked for more police officers and said the current staff of 677 was not adequate.

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

President Biden to Withdraw Saule Omarova’s Nomination

President Joe Biden has withdrawn Saule Omarova’s nomination to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency following revelations of her ties to communist ideology, the White House announced Tuesday.

Biden released a statement announcing that he had accepted Omarova’s request to end her nomination on Tuesday, but nevertheless criticized Republicans for their attacks against her. Republican Senators have highlighted Omarova’s alleged past membership in communist groups, as well as her past academic works, which included the thesis she wrote at Moscow State University, titled, “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital.” Omarova, a Cornell Law School professor, grew up in the Soviet Union.

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

Reports: Smollett Testifies CNN’s Lemon Warned Him Police Were Suspicious Over Alleged Fake Racist Attack

Days after CNN fired Chris Cuomo for abusing his position to help feed information to his sex pest accused brother, it appears that another host, Don Lemon, could become the centre of another journalistic ethics scandal.

Reports indicate that Lemon was pinpointed by Empire star Jussie Smollett who claimed in court that he received texts from the CNN host warning him that police believed Smollett had faked his own attack in February 2019.

Smollett was indicted by a grand jury for staging a racist violent attack on himself and blaming it on Trump supporters.

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

Reps. Greene and Gohmert Finally Met the J6 Political Prisoners: What They Saw Isn’t Pretty

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene today released “Unusually Cruel— An Eyewitness Report From Inside The DC Jail,” her report about what she saw when she was finally allowed to meet the January 6 political prisoners.

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

Ron Desantis’ Odds Surge in 2024 Presidential Betting Market

Trump is the ultimate obstacle, however.

Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to attract attention from people wagering money on presidential possibilities for 2024, with one offshore bookie touting “strong backing” from bettors Tuesday.

The Irish bookmaker BoyleSports contended a “new burst of support arrived this week” for DeSantis.

“The Florida Republican is attracting support to win the 2024 election with BoyleSports trimming his odds into 15/2 from 12/1 following strong backing. Former President Donald Trump has yet to officially confirm he will attempt to oust Joe Biden in three years’ time, but he is (the) 5/4 favorite to be the Republican candidate contesting the election, with closest challenger Ron DeSantis now 4/1 from 5/1,” BoyleSports wrote.

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

Smollett Blames Police, Black ‘White MAGA Men’, & Anti-Gay Lover in Surreal Defense of Hoax Attack

Sadly for many interested in how this farce plays out, we are likely never going to see Jussie Smollett’s greatest acting performance as the trial in his alleged hoax racist, anti-gay attack is not televised.

However, thanks to Matt Margolis reporting at PJMedia.com, we have some insight into the former Empire star’s mindset.

It was a bad day for Jussie Smollett, according to Ernest Owens of The Daily Beast, who said Tuesday’s cross-examination “felt like a masterclass in how to zero in on details and seal the deal,” and described in detail how Special Prosecutor Dan Webb “nailed” the former Empire star.

For example, despite Smollett denying that he recruited the Osundairo brothers to stage the attack, Webb nevertheless managed to get him to admit that he had driven around with them prior to the alleged attack.

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

‘Stopped Cold’: Federal Judge Blocks Final Part of Biden Vaccine Mandate

A federal judge in Georgia issued a nationwide stay on President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate Tuesday in the latest victory for the Republican effort to stop the requirement.

U.S. District Judge Stan Baker issued the ruling Tuesday afternoon, joining two other federal court decisions blocking Biden’s mandate from taking effect. The Biden administration seeks to require vaccinations for all federal employees and employees of federal contractors.

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

Trump Issued an Executive Order on Critical Race Theory After Seeing a Segment About it on Tucker Carlson’s Show: Book

The morning after former President Donald Trump saw a Fox News segment about Critical Race Theory on Tucker Carlson’s primetime show, he issued an executive order about the controversial subject, according to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in his new book.

In “The Chief’s Chief,” Meadows writes that his old boss was inspired several times by Carlson’s show.

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

Video, Photos: ‘Racist’ Roosevelt Statue Covered Up, Ready to be Removed

Yet another statue of a former US President has been deemed ‘racist’ and was covered up with a tarp Monday, ready to be removed altogether from the MUSEUM where it has stood since 1940.

The statue depicts Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States on horseback.

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

Video: Alec Baldwin Chases After Reporter in NYC, Where He’s Set to Host an Awards Gala

Actor Alec Baldwin chased after a reporter questioning him in New York City on Monday night, just days after his primetime interview with George Stephanopoulos.

The encounter allegedly occurred in New York’s Upper East Side when a New York Post reporter approached Baldwin as he entered a private residence.

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

Violence in Chicago So Bad That Officials Are Canceling Days Off for Cops

Weekend violence in Chicago led police officials to cancel days off for officers scheduled for later this week and request that officers remain on duty to cover weekend shifts and mitigate downtown violence.

Officers who have scheduled two off days between Wednesday and Monday will be required to drop one of them, according to an internal CPD memo obtained by WLS-TV’s I-Team Monday.

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

Watch: Kyle Rittenhouse Reveals He Played Call of Duty Every Night of the Trial

Kyle Rittenhouse savagely revealed that he played Call of Duty every night his trial on Monday night’s episode of BlazeTv’s You Are Here with hosts Elijah Schaffer and Sydney Watson.

While discussing the lead prosecutor, Thomas Binger, and his decision to repeatedly ask dumbfounding questions—like if the teen played the video game Call of Duty to try to paint him as a murderer—Rittenhouse told the hosts that he played the video game “every night” of trial.

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

Woke District Attorneys in Cities With Highest Crime Rates Funded by Democrat Megadonor George Soros

Democrat megadonor George Soros has been revealed to have donated exorbitant amounts of money to progressive district attorneys across the country in cities where crime rates, especially homicides, are skyrocketing.

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

YouTube Reveals Mass Problem of False Copyright Claims

YouTube has published its latest transparency report — this being the first detailing the way the giant deals with copyright claims.

The big takeaway is that the copyright claims system is abused on a mass scale, as many observers believe it to be — 2.2 million videos have been targeted with fraudulent, or “incorrect” as YouTube put it, claims in the first half of this year alone, the report reveals.

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

14% of Czechs Determined to Resist Vaccination

Nineteen percent of Czechs reject Covid-19 vaccination, with 14 percent fully determined not to get vaccinated, according to a November survey by the STEM agency. Another 6 percent of people are still hesitant to get the jab, and 43 percent of respondents would be in favor of compulsory vaccination, but the same proportion were also against any mandatory vaccination.

The number of undecided people in the Czech Republic is declining, however, and more and more people also decide not to get vaccinated.

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

Britons Told to Take a COVID Test Every Time They Leave Home

A ruling politician in Northern Britain has suggested that people should take a COVID test every time they leave home.

John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister for Scotland and member of the Scottish National Party — which, ironically enough, campaigns to split Scotland away from the rest of the United Kingdom so the state could then be absorbed into a Federal Europe — has suggested that people should take a test for the Chinese Coronavirus every time they leave the house.

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

Czech Central Bank Offers Pros and Cons of Adopting Euro Currency

The potential adoption of the euro would further increase the benefits resulting from Czechia’s trade links with the euro area countries, according to an analysis conducted by the Czech National Bank. On the other hand, Czechia’s adoption of the euro currency would bring risks arising from the loss of the Czech National Bank’s independent monetary policy and the stabilizing role of the koruna’s exchange rate.

Czechia’s central bank divided its assessment into three groups: low-risk, neutral and high-risk indicators for adopting the euro.

[Comment: Don’t adopt the Euro. And join the Brexit club.]

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

Doctors: UK Faces Up to 300,000 New Heart Condition Cases — Due to ‘Post-Pandemic Stress Disorder’

Senior doctors in London say Britain faces a time-bomb of up to 300,000 new patients with heart conditions — which they attribute to “post-pandemic stress disorder”.

“I’ve seen a big increase in thrombotic-related vascular conditions in my practice. Far younger patients are being admitted and requiring surgical and medical intervention than prior to the pandemic,” said senior vascular surgeon Tahir Hussain, who works at Northwick Park Hospital, a major National Health Service (NHS) general hospital managed by the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust.

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Eurostar Introduces Facial Recognition for Passengers

Eurostar — the high-speed passenger service linking London with Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam — has started testing facial recognition tech based on biometric data taken from passengers.

The company operating the trains announced it partnered with iProove in developing the tech. In the testing phase, those departing from St. Pancras International in London will be able to opt in and use the system in the SmartCheck lane, which utilizes a biometric system for passport and ticket checks.

They will be subjected to two facial scans, first to verify the ticket and then the passport at the exit checkpoint. But before that, travelers will have to go to a website to register and submit a photo of their face.

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France: Paris Suburb Rocked by Gunfire, Explosions as Rival Gangs Wage War

Gunfire erupted on the outskirts of Paris as around 60 ‘youths’ engaged in premeditated battle this week, according to reports.

A ferocious clash between rival gangs rocked the commune of Ermont on Sunday night, leaving at least two young males and a police officer hospitalized.

Authorities were alerted about a brawl between a massive group of combatants armed with bats, sticks, knives, and at least one firearm.

Patrols arrived on the scene and managed to arrest nine suspects, while most escaped.

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France: Paris: Christmas Market Set Up for Black Merchants Only Criticised

A Christmas market in Paris’s 18th arrondissement requiring that all of the merchants be black led to allegations of racism and segregation.

A Christmas market held over the weekend at the Hasard Ludique cultural space in the 18th arrondissement (district) of Paris was organised by the association Je Consomme Noir (I Consume Black), with a focus on products such as food, drink, books, and beauty products made by “African and Afro-descendant creators”.

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Google Promises to Censor “Misinformation” During French Presidential Election

On Monday, Google France and Agence France-Presse launched “Objectif Désinfox,” a program to fight “disinformation” ahead of the presidential election next year.

The purpose of the program, as reported by EURACTIV France, is to “better equip journalists against the risk of disinformation that could pollute the next presidential election.” The first round of the presidential election takes place in April.

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Highest Yearly Increase of Alcohol Deaths in UK on Record During 2020 Lockdown

The UK recorded its highest ever year-on-year increase of alcohol-related deaths during 2020, with COVID-19 lockdowns playing a huge role in the rise.

Figures released today by the the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that there were 8,974 deaths “from alcohol-specific causes,” an 18.6% increase compared with 2019.

That represents the highest year-on-year increase since records began being collected in 2001.

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Hungary: Charges Pressed Against Man for Preparing Terrorist Attack in Siófok

The Budapest Prosecutor’s Office of Investigations has pressed charges against a 22 year-old man for preparing to carry out a terrorist act in Hungary “aimed at intimidating European residents”.

The Hungarian man converted to Islam in a Budapest mosque in June 2020 and became a follower of radical, Jihadist Islam by the spring of 2021, supporting the Islamic State terrorist organisation, the prosecutor’s office said.

He took an oath to the terrorist organisation, prepared an Islamic flag and displayed it in his home, and started looking for potential targets for an attack. Between March and May he communicated with people on various online platforms about carrying out terrorist attacks. He received written materials and advice about preparing a pipe bomb and started acquiring the necessary materials to prepare one, ordering a remote controller from a webshop.

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Italy: Cops Set to Drop Coke Charges Against League Ex-Comms Chief

Rape drug did not belong to Luca Morisi say prosecutors

(ANSA) — ROME, NOV 30 — Prosecutors said Tuesday they are set to drop charges of possessing drugs against the former communications chief of the rightwing League party after he was found with a small amount of cocaine in his home near Verona after two Romanian men he had spent the night with reported him to police.

Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that Verona prosecutors will shortly drop charges because of the “particular levity of the crime” allegedly committed by Luca Morisi.

Investigators have reportedly established that a phial of rape drug found with the coke had been brought there by one of the two young men and not by Morisi.

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Italy: New Search of Juve Offices Regards Ronaldo Ties

Turin giants under investigation over player trading

(ANSA) — ROME, DEC 3 — A new search of Juventus’s offices regarded the club’s relationship with their former player, Portugal and Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, sources said on Friday.

The Turin giants and several top officials, including Chairman Andrea Agnelli and Vice-Chairman Pavel Nedved, are under investigation in a criminal probe into player trades done between 2019 and this year.

Ronaldo’s transfer to Manchester United in the close season is one of the moves the investigators are focusing on.

The investigators staged the new search after questioning several club managers, summoned as witnesses, in recent days, the sources said.

Juventus has said it is confident it respected the law in relation to the transfers and added that it is cooperating with investigators.

The club is accused of giving false financial communications and issuing invoices for non-existent transactions.

Italian stock-market watchdog CONSOB is also looking into the revenue it posted from player trades amid reports that the values generated were inflated to make the club’s balance sheets look better.

In relation to Ronaldo, investigators in Turin are looking into the possible existence of a “private” written agreement between the player and the club.

This could affect the correctness of the 2021 balance sheet.

According to the transcript of a conversation on September 23 between a manager under investigation, Cesare Gabasio, and another one interviewed as a witness, Federico Cherubini, one of the participants allegedly said: “if these papers come out…

they’ll be at our throats over the balance sheet”.

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Italy: Ferrero Quits as Sampdoria Chairman After Arrest

Serie A club not involved in case say sources

(ANSA) — ROME, DEC 6 — Sampdoria said Monday that owner Massimo Ferrero was stepping down as chairman after being arrested by finance police in relation to a probe by prosecutors in the southern city of Paola into alleged corporate and bankruptcy felonies.

The Genoa-based Serie A club is not implicated in the case, it said.

Ferrero a businessman and cinema producer, was arrested in Milan and has been taken to San Vittore jail, according to sources.

Five other people probed in relation to the case have been put under house arrest, the sources said.

These included Ferrero’s daughter Vanessa and his grandson Giorgio.

The case regards the bankruptcy several years ago of four companies based in the Calabrian province of Cosenza in the hotel, tourism and cinema sectors, the sources said.

Ferrero’s lawyer Pina Tenga said she had requested that her client be transferred to Rome so he could attend a search of his home there and open a safe.

“They are treating him worse than (late Cosa Nostra boss) Totò Riina,” Tenga said.

Sampdoria expressed “great astonishment” at Ferrero being taken to jail for “bankruptcy issues regarding events of many years ago”.

It said the need for him to be taken to jail was “not clear”.

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Lockdown Sceptic MP Slams ‘Crazed Scientists’ Who Have ‘Socialist Wet Dream’ of Locking Down Britons Again

Lockdown sceptic Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne has criticised the “mad scientists” advising the government, accusing them of having a “socialist wet dream” of introducing more coronavirus restrictions before Christmas.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce next week whether Christmas can go ahead as normal as possible or whether he will attempt to introduce further restrictions, after already having reintroduced the mask mandate on public transport and in shops last month in response to the discovery of the Omicron variant of the Chinese coronavirus.

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New German Government Signs Coalition Deal

Germany’s Social Democrats have struck a coalition deal with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats for the first time in the nation’s history.

The former finance minister, Olaf Scholz, is poised to become the next chancellor.

The new coalition agreement was sealed on Tuesday, after all three parties’ members voted in favor of it over the weekend. The Greens were the last to release their vote results on Monday.

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Norwegian COVID Experts Says Omicron Could Provide “Best Scenario” of “Natural Immunity”

COVID experts in Norway say that Omicron variant being highly transmissible but “milder” could prove to be the “best scenario” because it would boost “natural immunity” and bring the end of the pandemic closer.

The country’s state epidemiologist Frode Forland was responding to news of the biggest Omicron outbreak outside of South Africa, which occurred at an Oslo Christmas party.

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PM Orban’s Farewell to Merkel: “We Understood Her, She Understood Us’

“The gloves are now off and we enter a new age,” Prime Minister Viktor Orban writes in an article on his homepage entitled Samizdat 14 on the occasion of German Chancellor Angela Merkel stepping down after 16 years.

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

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

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White House: If Russia Invades Ukraine, We Will Strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank

The White House indicated that President Joe Biden spoke on Monday to the leaders of Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy, stressing the need for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine,

The conversation was part of the president’s consultations with European allies ahead of the virtual summit with Vladimir Putin.

According to a high-ranking White House official, the United States is ready to support Ukraine “if a new Russian invasion of Ukraine takes place, Moscow should expect higher US presence on NATO’s Eastern flank,” the Polish Press Agency reported, citing a “high ranking White House official.”

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China Threatens U.S. Over Expected Diplomatic Olympic Boycott: ‘China Will Take Firm Countermeasures’

Communist China has threatened to retaliate against the United States if the U.S. engages in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, which is expected to be announced this week.

“The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games,” CNN reported. “The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing.”

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Hospitality Industry Expects Revenue to Tank in Hong Kong if Vaccine Passport Measures Are Introduced

The hospitality industry in Hong Kong has warned that the vaccine passport requirements would plummet sales if enforced. The city recently announced new measures requiring at least two-thirds of people dining at restaurants to have a vaccine passport.

The new measures are an extension of measures currently in place in 15% of the city’s restaurants to all licensed bars and eateries in the city. Employees are also required to have a vaccine passport.

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New Zealand Prime Minister: “There’s Not Going to be an End Point to This Vaccination Program”

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has candidly revealed that “there’s not going to be an end point to this vaccination program.”

Yes, really.

“So long as there’s people who are eligible who haven’t been vaccinated, we’ve got work to do,” said Ardern.

“Do you know, I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied so long as there’s someone who is eligible and hasn’t been (vaccinated),” she added.

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South Africa: Healthcare Chief Says Omicron “May Signal the End of COVID-19”

The CEO of South Africa’s largest private healthcare network says that the Omicron variant is “so mild” that it “may signal the end of COVID-19.”

According to Richard Friedland, chief executive officer of Netcare Ltd., the early days of the variant suggest there is absolutely no need to panic and that it might actually be a good thing.

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Afghans Largest Group Applying for EU Asylum in September

Afghan nationals were the largest single group who applied for asylum in the European Union, Switzerland, and Norway in September, following the country’s fall to the Taliban in August.

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) reported that some 17,000 Afghan nationals had applied for asylum in the EU, Norway, and Switzerland in the month following the Taliban takeover, a 72 per cent increase compared to the previous month.

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Swedish MEP Leads European Parliament Plan to Flood Europe With Low-Skilled Labor Migrants

The Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani of the Centre Party has led the work on a bill that will facilitate labor migration of the low-skilled and self-employed to the EU, which will undoubtedly drive down wages for European workers during a time of economic uncertainty. The European Parliament has now adopted the proposal, Nyheter Idag reported.

“We must make it more attractive for labor migrants to come to Europe,” Al-Sahlani said after the vote in the European Parliament.

The European Parliament adopted the legislative initiative report on labor migration on Nov. 30, with 497 votes in favor, 160 votes against, and 38 MEPs abstaining from voting, the European Parliament announced in a press release.

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The Polish-Belarusian Border Separates Dictatorship From Democracy

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says that the Polish border separates more than countries. In the case, of Belarus, it separates two vastly different ideologies.

“The Polish-Belarusian border separates two worlds — dictatorship from democracy, and a normal state which cares for its citizens from a regime which uses the citizens of other countries as human shields,” said Morawiecki while taking part in a meeting on Monday with representatives of Polish uniform services who are serving on the Polish-Belarusian border.

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Sony Wins Order Against DNS Resolver Quad9, Paving the Way for More DNS-Level Censorship

DNS resolver Quad9 has lost its first appeal against an order filed by Sony to block a piracy site. The DNS resolver plans to appeal, warning that if the ruling is not challenged, several internet services will be put at risk as it would mean censorship at the DNS level could become normalized.

It means that instead of only going after those who are posting the “offending” content, infrastructure providers are now a target.

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These Universities Are Paying for Menstrual Products in Men’s Bathrooms

Universities across America are funding the inclusion of tampons and menstrual products in men’s restrooms.

At Davenport University, a private university in Michigan, the products were supplied by the Panther Resource Closet, a campus center designed to provide food, hygiene products, and clothes to students in need.

“I’m absolutely appalled that Davenport would go out of their way to provide a product which is specifically intended for the opposite sex,” Davenport student Josh Buehler told Campus Reform. “It’s not wanted or needed, and it contradicts basic biology to think that they are.”

Campus Reform obtained a picture of the menstrual products placed in the men’s restroom.

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Trans Swimmer Who Competed as a Man Until 2019 Smashes Ivy League Records at Women’s Meet

A transgender swimmer who competed as a man until November of 2019 recently smashed several women’s swimming records at an Akron, Ohio, meet, winning the 1,650-yard race by 38 seconds over the closest competitor.

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3 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/7/2021

  1. “14% of Czechs Determined to Resist Vaccination” many more refuse to get the third jab and most youngbelieve seem to have gone for it only to be allowed to travel anyway. It’s such a shame pur society has come to the point where people put entertainment before their health.

    • I don’t think anyone has put entertainment before their health. People may drink, smoke, take drugs like heroin – but they don’t go out of their way to get injected with a “vaccine” to get harmed. They are simply led by the propaganda, which they believe.

  2. The Budapest Prosecutor’s Office of Investigations has pressed charges against a man for preparing to carry out a terrorist act in Hungary. “The Hungarian man converted to Islam in a Budapest mosque in June 2020 and became a follower of radical, Jihadist Islam….”
    Memo to the Budapest Prosecutor:
    “Radical, Jihadist Islam” is ordinary Islam. Jihad and violence are mandated.

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