The Quebec government is planning to ban unvaccinated people from buying marijuana or hard liquor. Meanwhile, the Italian government imposed a vax mandate on all citizens over the age of 50.
In other news, Pope Francis said that the modern crisis of faith can only be resolved if Christians reawaken their desire for God.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Reader from Chicago, SS, 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.
Globalist vs. Patriotic Economic Policies: Hungary and Greece as a Case Study
Around 2010, it became fashionable to talk about the economic policy pursued by the Hungarian governing parties since 2010 with the label of “unorthodox.” The meaning of the two terms speaks for itself, with the word “orthodox” alluding to something proven and therefore worthy of implementation, while “unorthodox” is different. In fact, it is very risky and sooner rather than later, is supposed to lead to bankruptcy.
The most obvious cases for comparing orthodox and unorthodox economic policies would be to be focus on the period from 2008 to the present, comparing the examples of Hungary and Greece. In 2008, the international press began to speculate as to whether Hungary or Greece would go bankrupt for the first time in the midst of the financial crisis. In both cases, the media took the bankruptcy for granted, and the object of the guesswork was which one will be first.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Raises Interest Rates to Highest Level Since 2014
The Monetary Policy Council (RPP) has decided to increase interest rates for the fourth time in a row. The main interest rate went up by 50 basis points in Poland and will now be 2.25 percent, up from 1.75 percent, which is the highest it has been in seven years. The rate increases will lead to loan installment payments going up.
Prior to the ongoing series of increases, the main rate amounted to only 0.1 percent and was the lowest in Polish history. Now, it has overtaken even the interest rate from prior to the pandemic (1.5 percent) and is the highest since October 2014, when the central bank decided to cut interest rates from 2.5 to 2 percent.
The goal of increasing interest rates is to stifle inflation, and to ensure that price growth is not close to 8 percent but instead 2.5 percent per year, which is the goal outlined by the National Bank of Poland.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AP Declares Mistreatment of Jan 6th Prisoners is a ‘Conspiracy Theory’
The Associated Press has declared, via its ‘fact checkers’, that the mistreatment of hundreds of people still in prison for being involved in the January 6th Capitol incident is a ‘conspiracy theory’.
Journalist Andy Ngo noted that there have been ongoing reports of abuse of those still incarcerated without trial, but that the AP says it isn’t true because they get fed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Around 700 Employees Fired From Mayo Clinic Due to COVID Vaccine Mandate
The Mayo Clinic fired around 700 employees who did not comply with its COVID-19 vaccine mandate Wednesday, according to NBC News.
Employees were required to either receive their first dose or obtain a medical or religious exemption to the mandate by Jan. 3, NBC News reported. The outlet also reported that employees who had received their first dose “were also expected not to delay” their second dose.
The clinic told NBC News that 99% of their employees complied with the mandate, while the other one percent did not and would be fired as a result. The clinic said the number of employees who’d be fired for non-compliance was roughly 700.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The mother of slain Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt has called for the release of surveillance footage of her police shooting death on the one year anniversary of the killing.
Babbitt, 36, was fatally shot by Capitol police officer Michael Byrd during the Capitol riot as she tried to climb through a broken window into the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House chamber.
On Thursday her mother Micki Witthoeft appeared outside the Capitol with controversial Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, demanding Speaker Nancy Pelosi release surveillance footage from the shooting and calling for ‘justice’ for those arrested in the riot, whom she called political prisoners.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Attorney for Jan. 6 Defendants Says His Client is at Risk of Death Due to Lack of Medical Care
Adefendant in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots is sick and at risk of dying because he’s being denied adequate medical care and a special diet for his celiac disease, his attorney says.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Author Faces Backlash for Book Claiming Rittenhouse Killed ‘Two Black Men’ While Waging ‘Race War’
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor and author Kara Cooney faced backlash Wednesday over a passage of her newly released book, “The Good Kings,” that falsely claims Kyle Rittenhouse shot two Black men.
In her book, Cooney asks readers to “consider 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who used his semi-automatic weapon to kill two Black men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while waging a glorious race war on behalf of his inherited White power.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Boston Marathon Bomber Received Hundreds in COVID-19 Relief Payments
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received $1,400 in COVID-19 relief funds during the latest round of federal stimulus, according to court documents.
Tsarnaev received the $1,400 stimulus payment in mid-June 2021, according to a Wednesday filing by federal prosecutors. The documents also show that the bomber received roughly $20,000 from other sources. The money may assist him in buying goods and products for use in prison, including clothing and food.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Class Action Lawsuit Says Google Pays Apple to Stay Out of the Search Engine Market
Those behind a class action lawsuit filed in the US claim that two Big Tech behemoths — Google and Apple — are colluding to violate antitrust legislation.
The lawsuit names both corporations as defendants, while the plaintiffs claim billions of dollars are changing hands between them in secret deals, ultimately aimed at cementing their dominant market positions.
We obtained a copy of the lawsuit complaint for you here.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Congressman Dan Crenshaw Drafts Anti-Censorship Social Media Bill
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw announced that he is working on a bill to remove the immunity protection afforded to large platforms by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
His bill will remove the Section 230 protections for platforms engaging in political discrimination and is the latest attempt that politicians have made to repeal the provision.
All previous tries at such legislation have failed and First Amendment protections generally neuter the purposes of the Section 230 reform bill attempts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Defense: Whitmer ‘Kidnapping Plot’ Disintegrating as FBI Loses Credibility
When law enforcement touted foiling a months-long kidnapping plot of Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in October 2020 that spanned several states and included encrypted chats and explosives, many believed it was an open-and-shut case.
But more than a year later, critics say the arrest and convictions of the lead FBI agent and an FBI confidential informant blurred the line between extremist and confidential informant. Moreover, three planned witnesses have been accused of crimes and won’t be testifying in the March 8 trial in Grand Rapids as defense attorneys question the FBI’s credibility.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DuckDuckGo, one of Google’s competitors in search, has accused the tech giant of manipulating browser extensions to favor its own products. The accusation adds more fuel to Google’s antitrust problems.
In an interview with The Washington Post, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said that Google has implemented manipulative design features, or “dark patterns,” to encourage users to abandon competitors.
According to Weinberg, for years Google has sent misleading notifications to Chrome users to discourage them from switching the default search engine and to disable extensions from rivals.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A week after Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking, two jurors in the case told media outlets that they may have swayed the jury by sharing their own experiences of sexual abuse during deliberations — disclosures that could jeopardize the trial.
Maxwell, a British socialite and longtime associate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted on five of the six counts against her on December 29 after five days of deliberation.
A juror, Scotty David, identified only by his first and middle names, told The Independent and Reuters that he used his personal experience of abuse to assuage doubts that other jurors had about some of the accusers’ testimonies. A second juror told The New York Times that they also shared a personal experience of sexual abuse that “appeared to help shape the jury’s discussions.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illinois Child Welfare Worker Fatally Stabbed During Visit
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois child welfare worker was stabbed to death during a home visit in a town south of Springfield, authorities said.
Diedre Silas, 36, an investigator for the state Department of Children and Family Services, was conducting a welfare check Tuesday on children living in the home in Thayer when she was stabbed, according to Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell.
Thayer is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) south of the capital city.
Benjamin Reed, 32, who authorities say lived in the home, faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery and unlawful restraint. Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright said conviction could put Reed in prison for life if a court finds the conduct in Silas’ death “exceptionally brutal, heinous and indicative of wanton cruelty.”
Authorities arrived at the scene just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and found what appeared to be blood near the door. They forced their way into the house and found the victim dead inside. Police obtained a search warrant and collected evidence that helped them find Reed at a Decatur hospital around 6:30 p.m., authorities said.
Reed was treated for a cut on the hand and taken to the Sangamon County Jail, where bond for his release was set at $5 million on Wednesday morning.
But at a late Wednesday news conference, Wright parried questions about why Silas was visiting the home, why she went alone and whether there was a suspected threat there, saying that responses “are relevant enough to this investigation that it’s not appropriate to answer those questions.”…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Jan. 6 Protester Claims in Federal Lawsuit That D.C. Police Beat Her
Victoria White filed a federal lawsuit against the Washington, D.C., police department claiming assault, battery and excessive force after officers allegedly beat her in the West Terrace tunnel of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kyle Rittenhouse Considering Writing a Book About His ‘Unorthodox Journey Into Adulthood’: Report
The 19-year-old stood trial last year for fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was acquitted of five felony charges in November, including first-degree intentional homicide.
His spokesperson David Hancock told Newsweek there were now preliminary “internal discussions” about having the teen pen a book about his life experiences thus far.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of drivers were stranded on I-95 in Virginia this week due to a snowstorm and an ensuing traffic jam. Liberals on social media used the opportunity to bash Glenn Youngkin, but there’s one little problem. Youngkin isn’t the governor yet.
This was Ralph Northam’s problem.
And make no mistake, this was a big problem.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The city council of overwhelmingly Democratic-voting Beverly Hills has issued a unanimous vote calling for the recall of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón over his progressive policies where he has elimated bail and dropped charges for many crimes.
The city council’s 5-0 vote in favor of a resolution demanding Gascón’s recall is not legally binding, but expresses the wealthy enclave’s fury over his policies as crime soars in the area.
‘Over the last 12 months, Los Angeles County has seen a dramatic increase in widespread crime including follow-home robberies, smash-and-grab incidents and the tragic death of beloved Beverly Hills philanthropist Jacqueline Avant,’ the city council said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Marjorie Taylor Greene on Big Tech Censorship: Don’t Trust Congress to Fix it, Embrace Alt-Tech
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently had her account with over 465,000 followers permanently banned by Twitter, has warned that Congress likely can’t do anything about Big Tech censorship and that people should embrace alternative social media platforms such as Gab, GETTR, Telegram, and Rumble.
Greene made the comments during an appearance on the Timcast IRL podcast where she noted that there are “tons of bills” targeting Big Tech censorship and hinted that members of Congress often don’t read the bills and instead rely on their staff.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Overwhelming Majority of Americans Say Strict Gun Laws Have Failed to Stop Retail Crime Surge
Anew poll from the Trafalgar Group in conjunction with Convention of States Action shows the vast majority of Americans believe strict gun laws in the nation’s major cities are ineffective when it comes to combating the current surge in retail crime.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Podcasting is Likely the Next Censorship Target
Legacy mainstream media has been sporadically bringing up the topic of podcasts for a while now, in search of ways to enforce censorship in this media format as well; and the New York Times has now done it again:
“The lack of moderation on podcast apps is particularly complicated for Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube. The video streaming site cracked down on videos about election fraud, the conspiracy theory QAnon, and vaccine misinformation, prompting some podcast episodes hosted there to be removed. But the same episodes remained accessible on Google’s Podcasts app. Mr. Bannon’s show was removed from YouTube shortly after Jan. 6, for instance, but the podcast remains available on Google’s Podcasts app.
“Google has argued that its Podcasts app more closely resembles a search engine than a publishing service because no audio is hosted by the company. A Google spokesman, Farshad Shadloo, said the app simply “crawls and indexes audio content” hosted elsewhere and that they have “policies against recommending podcasts that contain harmful misinformation, including misinformation about the 2020 U.S. elections.”
This latest attack against podcasts comes as reports indicate that the medium has gained serious momentum and therefore influence. Joe Rogan, for example, has a larger audience than CNN and Fox News shows.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: Biden’s Approval Rating Crashes to 24% With Independents
President Joe Biden’s approval ratings with crucial swing voters hit a new low, with only 24% of Independents approving of the president’s job, a new Civiqs poll found.
The Jan. 4 poll found that nationally, 56% of registered voters disapprove of how Biden is handling his job as president. That number is up more than 10% from when Biden was first sworn in on Inauguration Day, with 43% of voters disapproving.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rand Paul Vows to Bring Fauci to Justice if GOP Wins Back Senate in Midterms
Senator Rand Paul has vowed to directly go after Anthony Fauci and bring him to justice over repeated lies while under oath as regards his involvement in gain of function research that took place at Wuhan virology labs.
During a recent interview with his father, former Congressman Ron Paul, the Senator said that if the GOP wins, and he is once again elected, “I will be chairman of a committee in the Senate. We will use the subpoena power to bring forth all the records.”
“Right now they send us records. If we ask about their discussions, covering up where the virus came from, its origins in the lab, they white it all out,” Paul continued, referring to Democrats in power.
“They redact all the information and send us a blank piece of paper and they won’t tell us about their conversations,” the Senator further urged, adding that if power transfers back to Republicans, “We’ll get to the root of everything.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rumble Announces Its Own Advertising Marketplace to Strengthen Its “Immunity to Cancel Culture”
Free speech-focused video sharing platform Rumble has revealed that a significant portion of its ad inventory has been moved away from public ad exchanges and into an alpha version of the company’s own advertising marketplace.
Rumble said that the change will strengthen its “immunity to cancel culture” by allowing advertisers to “choose exactly what content they want to advertise on” and publishers to “choose which advertisers they want to work with.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
St. Louis Couple Who Waved Guns at Protesters Want Weapons Back
ST. LOUIS — The city of St. Louis has not destroyed guns seized months ago from the couple who made headlines by waving the weapons at racial injustice protesters, and the couple is trying to get them back.
Robert Dierker of the City Counselor’s Office told a judge during a virtual hearing Wednesday that the guns taken in 2020 from Mark and Patricia McCloskey have not been disposed of, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The US Copyright Office is Floating the Idea of Mandating a Content Upload Filter on the Internet
The US Copyright Office is inviting comments on whether to introduce a requirement applying to online services, that would be under obligation to filter all communications by users accused of copyright infringement.
This is similar to the “upload filter” proposals that were first introduced in the EU and have massive implications for the future of the internet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘This is Their Christmas’: DeSantis Criticizes Media, Democrats for Celebrating Jan. 6 Riot
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed journalists Thursday for being obsessed with the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol building.
DeSantis made the comments at a press conference about coronavirus testing in Florida, according to Business Insider.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Fires Back at Biden for His Remarks Holding Former President Responsible for Jan. 6
Former President Trump on Thursday responded to President Biden holding him responsible for incidents exactly one year earlier during the Jan. 6 riot.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Creates January 6th “Harmful” Content Enforcement Team
Twitter has announced the formation of a team of content reviewers to scan the platform for “harmful” content relating to the January 6, 2021 riot.
The platform said that it “convened a cross-functional working group” from members of its Site Integrity division and the Trust and Safety team.
This new team will scan the platform for harmful content about the anniversary of last year’s riot at the US Capitol.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Rand Paul Slams ‘Hysteria’ Over Renewed Shut Down of Schools, ‘Vaccine Absolutism’
Appearing on Fox & Friends Wednesday, Senator Rand Paul blasted fresh shutdowns of schools, saying it goes against decades of modern medicine and is part of the government’s obsession with promulgating COVID ‘hysteria’ and ‘vaccine absolutism’.
“It’s tragic, and the thing is the science doesn’t support closing schools down,” the Senator urged.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: CNN Medical Ethics ‘Expert’ Calls for Denying Health Insurance to Unvaccinated ‘Jerks’
This is CNN. The network wheeled out professor of bioethics Arthur Caplan Wednesday who called for a raft of extreme actions to be taken against the unvaccinated, including denying them the right to buy affordable medical insurance, and increasing hospital bills.
Caplan declared that the time has come to “shame and blame” the unvaccinated and “penalize” them for not taking COVID shots.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘We Want Schools to be Open, ‘ White House Says as Chicago Cancels Classes
WASHINGTON — The challenge of reopening schools for in-person instruction amid a coronavirus surge fueled by the Omicron variant deepened on Wednesday, with Chicago teachers refusing to return to the classroom after a union vote Tuesday night. The city’s school superintendent in turn declined to allow them to teach remotely, instead canceling school for 330,000 children in the nation’s third-largest school district.
President Biden has repeatedly said he wants schools to stay open, in recognition of the damage that remote learning has done to children and the low risk of transmission in schools. “The president couldn’t be clearer — schools in this country should remain open,” White House pandemic response team coordinator Jeff Zients said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Whoopi Goldberg ‘Shocked’ At Catching COVID Despite Being Triple Vaxxed
The View host Whoopi Goldberg expressed “shock” at catching COVID-19 despite the fact that she had been triple vaccinated.
The actress and TV host missed the first episode of the show and had to appear via a remote live link from her home after she was infected with the virus over the Christmas period.
According to Goldberg, she “left a couple of weeks ago, just before the break, because somebody I had been around tested positive for coronavirus.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
YouTuber Arrested for Recording Cops Pushes Back
The city code in a Texas town is being challenged by YouTubers who say they are “First Amendment auditors” and who consider Killeen city ordinance to be in violation of the First Amendment.
The ordinance in question is said to be treating speech as capable of interfering with the work of an official. This is something YouTuber and one of the “auditors” Kevin Duane Butler — who has recently been arrested for filming police officers — says goes against a relevant state law.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CBC Producer Quits, Says Broadcaster “Embodied Some of the Worst Trends in Mainstream Media”
Last month, CBC journalist Tara Henley resigned from the Canadian broadcaster. On Monday, she published a post on Substack, explaining why she resigned.
In the Substack post, Henley said that when she started working at CBC, “the network produced some of the best journalism in the country.” But now the network “embodied some of the worst trends in mainstream media.”
She added: “In a short period of time, the CBC went from being a trusted source of news to churning out clickbait that reads like a parody of the student press.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Quebec to Ban Unvaccinated From Buying Marijuana and Hard Liquor
In what surely will be a massive step in reducing the spread of COVID-19, authorities in Quebec will ban the unvaccinated from being able to purchase marijuana or hard liquor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria Demotes Some 3.8 Million Double-Jabbed to ‘Unvaccinated’
The Austrian government announced today that the validity of the “Green Passport” has been reduced to six months. This also means that all people who have had their “full vaccination” for the last six months will be relegated to an inferior civil status and become “unvaccinated”.
Even the obedient have become second class people, excluded from social life thanks to the country’s “lockdown for the unvaccinated”. Austrians living in this fact-free dystopian nightmare, are currently faced with two options: Force the government out or take the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and perhaps eternal shot.
Six months ago around 3,8 million Austrians were considered “fully vaccinated”. They trusted the former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and the Greens who had promised that the double injection would “set them free”. Their “civic duty” and “solidarity” would conquer the disease they were told repeatedly and soon everything would return to normal. Or not? Chancellor Nehammer is bringing down the hammer, even on on his followers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czech PM Reveals What the Country Needs From Its Next President
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has commented on the country’s lower wage growth, the nuclear alliance with France and the ongoing search for President Milos Zeman’s successor in an interview with Czech media outlet, Seznam Zpravy.
Fiala discussed at length his efforts to get on with President Zeman despite their clear political differences, and expressed his desire for the country’s governing parties to find a common candidate for Zeman’s successor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Bans Page of Polish Right-Wing Confederation Party With Nearly 700,000 Followers
Facebook blocked the official page of the Polish right-wing Confederation party on Wednesday, with the social media platform stating that the page had broken rules concerning information on Covid-19.
The page was followed by over 670,000 people, making it the largest political party fanpage in Poland. In comparison, the Law and Justice (PiS) and Civic Platform (PO) pages have only around 300,000 followers each.
Poland’s plenipotentiary for cybersecurity issues, Janusz Cieszynski, informed that the government officials were told in advance by Facebook’s representatives about their decision concerning Confederation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Censored UK Catholic Charity
Facebook censored a Catholic charity without explanation. The censorship came as a result of an ad where the charity was promoting a petition to stop the abduction, forced conversion, and marriage of Christian women.
Aid to the Church in Need UK launched the ads in early November. The campaign was inspired by the group’s new report called “Hear Her Cries,” which details the abuse of women and girls who are Christian or members of other minority religions in Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Mozambique.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Radicalized Muslim Arrested for Allegedly Kidnapping and Raping Teenage Girl for Days
A man who has been described as a radical Islamist was arrested in northern France late last month after he was accused of having kidnapped a teenage girl and holding her against her will for several days while repeatedly raping her.
The 15-year-old victim, who reportedly is from Iraq, is said to have alerted one of the neighbors to the situation after she had been held captive at the apartment in Leers for close to a week after the man had abducted her in the commune of Douai, which lies about 60 kilometers to the south. Once alerted to the situation, the neighbor helped the young victim to escape the man’s apartment and promptly called the police, La Voix du Nord reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French President Emmanuel Macron admitted Tuesday that part of his “strategy” on tackling COVID is to “piss off” the unvaccinated as much as possible by limiting their freedoms and coercing them into taking shots.
Macron made the comments in an interview with the Le Parisien newspaper, noting “As for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And we will continue to do this, to the end. This is the strategy.”
To the end of what?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French National Assembly Approves Twice-Blocked Vax Pass Law Despite Controversy
The French National Assembly has voted to adopt a law that would implement a new regime of vaccination passes, despite having previously blocked the bill twice.
Despite debate on the issue having previously been postponed twice, the French National Assembly has approved a bill that will lead to the implementation of a vaccination pass regime in the European country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Several leading figures in Germany’s new left-liberal coalition government have started advocating for a new EU-wide crusade against the hugely popular encrypted messaging application Telegram, claiming it’s a vector for disinformation and so-called extremist content.
However, aggressive condemnation of the app from Germany’s establishment was not always the case, with the German government-financed media outlet Deutsche Welle praising the fact that the app could not be censored or controlled by the Belarusian government during election fraud protests last year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German City Bans Unboosted, Untested Patrons From Restaurants
The German city of Hamburg is to ban unboosted people who lack proof of a negative COVID test from restaurants as part of its rollout of new 2G-Plus rules.
Unboosted individuals will no longer be able to eat in a restaurant without a negative COVID test from Monday as part of its rollout of so-called “2G-plus” rules aimed at curbing the spread of the disease.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Makes Vax Mandatory for Over-50s, Ban Unvaxxed From Various Workplaces
Italy has made vaccination against the Chinese Coronavirus mandatory for over-50s in the country, as well as banning the unvaccinated from various workplaces, according to government sources.
Compulsory vaccination is imminent for those over the age of 50 in Italy, according to reports from government sources, with the country set also to ban the unjabbed and unrecovered from various workplaces.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Whatever you think of their behavior, no one can now deny…
The unvaccinated are a persecuted minority.
Demonized by the media, ostracized by society, oppressed by the state.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rally Against Lockdowns Sees 100,000 Germans Protest, Ruling Party Demands Clampdown
More than 100,000 took to the streets in Germany on Monday night to protest the nation’s lockdown rules, as eastern members of the ruling Free Democratic Party demand a clampdown.
A number of protests have taken place in Germany, with estimates putting the number of anti-lockdown protesters attending events at over 100,000 in total nationwide. According to reports, 50,000 turned out in Baden-Wurtemburg, “tens of thousands” in Saxony, and 17,000 in Thuringia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scottish Newspaper Asks Readers if ‘COVID Internment Camps’ Should be Introduced
One of Scotland’s largest newspapers is asking its readers if the country should follow Australia’s example by introducing “COVID internment camps.”
Yes, really.
The question was posed via the Daily Record’s official Facebook page.
“Australians are being detained in Covid internment camps for 14 days if they test positive or are suspected positive. Should we follow their lead?” asks the post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspicious ‘Suicide’ of Italian Doctor Linked to His Trailblazing COVID Therapy
Why would an Italian physician who had found a cheap and effective way to treat Covid, suddenly take his own life? On July 27, 2021 Dr. Giuseppe De Donno was found lifeless by some family members in his home in Eremo, a hamlet of the Municipality of Curtatone, near Mantua, Italy. He was found hanged, leaving no note.
His apparent suicide remains inexplicable. The tragedy involving the former head of pneumology at the Carlo Poma hospital in Mantua and real Covid trailblazer, was initially ignored by the mainstream media.
De Donno had been promoting therapeutic plasmapheresis, which made the headlines in 2020 during the first lockdown period when, first, together with Massimo Franchini, head of the Carlo Poma Immunohematology and Transfusion, had begun treating Covid patients with hyperimmune plasma therapy.
The treatment involved the infusion of blood from those who had been infected with the Coronavirus, appropriately treated, into other infected patients. In the period March-April 2020, at the Mantua hospital, about 58 terminally ill Coronavirus patients were given the transfusion with 200 cc of plasma from the patients recovered from Covid-19, rich in immunizing antibodies, and all were saved. The therapy showed stellar results.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Heart Surgeon Urges Government to Rely on Drug Therapies for COVID
The Swiss heart surgeon Paul R. Vogt from the University Hospital Zurich has called for large studies on drug therapies for the early treatment of Covid-19. He explained that such interventions from general practitioners could prevent hospitalization and enable healing.
Vogt pointed out that data from many smaller studies showed that 80 to 90 percent of Covid hospitalizations could be prevented. He said he had tried the drug therapy on himself when he fell ill with Covid-19 and after three days he was fit again.
Vogt said he suspected that such therapies were neglected in favor of mass vaccination, through which the pharmaceutical industry could achieve high profits. Vogt, together with the Zurich lawyer Mathias Erne, has urged health authorities and parliamentarians to fund drug therapies, but have received no response.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Government Admits Evidence for Face Masks Stopping Virus Spread in Schools “Not Conclusive”
The UK government had admitted that the evidence for the efficacy of face masks stopping the spread of COVID-19 in schools is “not conclusive.”
Schools were ordered once again to instruct pupils to wear face masks in classrooms to stop the spread of Omicron, despite warnings that the face coverings are damaging learning.
Now authorities have been forced to acknowledge that proof face masks prevent the spread of the virus is statistically insignificant.
“The government’s own study in the autumn did not provide proof of a statistically significant impact,” reports BBC News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lawmaker Calls for ‘Paedophile’ Lord Ahmed of Rotherham to Lose His Title
British lawmaker Alexander Stafford MP has called for Lord Ahmed of Rotherham to be stripped of his title, calling the convicted child molestor’s peerage “an insult to his victims”.
Nazir Ahmed was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer in 1998 on the recommendation of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, representing Labour until 2013, when he resigned from the leftist party ahead of an internal investigation into comments he made blaming a Jewish conspiracy for his 2009 conviction for dangerous driving over an incident that left a 28-year-old father of two dead.
He continued to sit in the Upper House as an independent until late 2020, however, when he resigned before he could be expelled for another scandal that saw the House of Lords Conduct Committee and Commissioner for Standards accuse him of “sexually assaulting” and “emotionally and sexually” exploiting a member of the public who came to him for help.
The Pakistani migrant has now been involved in arguably his worst scandal yet, however, with a jury convicting him of the buggery of a boy under the age of 11 and the attempted rape of a young girl in the 1970s, prompting Mr Stafford to call for his noble title to be stripped once and for all.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
SAGE government advisors said there’d be 3-5,000 daily Omicron deaths in January without further lockdown restrictions.
Today, the official number of total COVID-19 deaths was 48.
The lockdown fanatics got it wrong — again.
[Comment: Article dated January 4, 2022.]
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Kazakhstan Unrest: Why Have There Been Riots and Deaths?
Security forces in Kazakhstan say they have killed dozens of protesters in the main city, Almaty, to quell massive riots.
Some 13 security officers have been killed, with hundreds more wounded in the unrest.
The protests followed a hike in the price of fuel.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kazakhstan Unrest: Russian Troops Fly in as Crackdown Continues
A Russian-led force has arrived in Kazakhstan at the request of the country’s authoritarian president, amid a violent crackdown on anti-government protests.
Machine gun fire reverberated through the largest city Almaty after days of unrest sparked by a fuel price hike.
Officials have reported deaths of police and protesters.
The president has blamed foreign-trained “terrorists”, without giving evidence.
In an address on state TV on Wednesday, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed to the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) for support in quelling the protests. The bloc includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan and Armenia.
The overseas force being sent to Kazakhstan reportedly numbers about 2,500 soldiers. The CSTO says the troops are a peacekeeping force and will protect state and military installations. They will stay in the country for several days or weeks, the Russian RIA news agency reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
YouTube Threatens to Censor Video of a Man in the US Over an Order From a Russian Judge
A Russian-language YouTuber based in the US showed that Google is threatening to block one of his videos after Russian censors flagged it as prohibited content. The man is in America, not Russia, meaning Russian law should not apply to him.
On Tuesday, blogger Felix Glyukman took to Facebook to reveal that Google was threatening to remove the video at the request of the Russian government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Persecution of Novak Djokavic
Novak Djokavic is a political prisoner.
This isn’t about the “rule of law,” it’s an odious example of arbitrary lawlessness.
This is about making an example out of Djokavic to send a message to everyone else.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Unvaxxed Aussies Told They Won’t be Allowed to Exercise or Go to Work
Unvaccinated Australians in the Northern Territory have been put under a new lockdown during which they won’t be allowed to go outside to exercise or travel to work.
Yes, really.
The onerous new measures were announced by NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner in response to the detection of 256 new cases of COVID-19, including 27 cases of community transmission.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
25-Year-Old Soccer Star Suddenly Collapses, Dies During Training
A 25-year-old Guatemalan soccer star collapsed during training and tragically died shortly after being rushed to hospital.
Marcos Menaldo, a defender who played for Deportivo Marquense, reported suffering breathing difficulties during the training session on Monday.
“The tragedy occurred at the Marquesa de la Ensenada Stadium where Menaldo received emergency CPR treatment on the pitch in San Marcos before being transferred to the Hospital de Especialidades where he died,” reports the Mirror.
Menaldo was a fan favorite after leading his team to the second division title last month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Banksy-Funded Boat Brings Migrants to Safety in Lampedusa
A group of 31 migrants and refugees arrived at Italy’s Lampedusa island on Wednesday after being rescued by the Louise Michel, a ship funded by English street artist and activist, Banksy.
They were rescued near an offshore gas platform, 80 nautical miles south of the island, near the coast of Tunisia.
The migrants, who were mainly from Tunisia and Bangladesh, had been sailing on an overcrowded wooden boat.
This was the first landing by a volunteer rescue ship authorised in Lampedusa by Italian authorities in the past three years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czechia: Afghan Migrant Arrested After Woman Stabbed and Teen Raped
An Afghan national was arrested by Czech police in the city of Karlovy Vary on New Year’s Day after allegedly stabbing a woman and raping a 19-year-old a short time later.
The first incident took place around three hours after midnight on New Year’s Day, according to Jakub Kopriva, spokesman for the Karlovy Vary Regional Police, who stated that the female victim, a 37-year-old woman, received serious injuries after being stabbed.
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France: Migrant Arrested After Attempt to Shove Man Under Subway Train
A 25-year-old Tunisian migrant was arrested by police in Paris after allegedly shoving a man onto the tracks of the city’s metro before smashing various items while yelling “Allahu Akbar.”
The incident took place on Monday night at around midnight at the Gare-de-l’Est station and saw police alerted to the actions of a male as he was observed on CCTV breaking objects and shouting “Allahu Akbar” on the platform of the 5th line of the Paris subway, it is claimed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Prisons Are Full of Immigrants
According to data reported on by the Il Giornale daily, foreigners make up 32 percent of the Italy’s prison residents. It means that the number of non-EU citizens who committed crimes in 2021 is equal to one-third of the total. According to the data released by the Department of Prison Administration, as of last Oct. 31, there were 54,307 inmates in Italian prisons, of which 17,315 came from a foreign country. At the end of 2020, when the number of inmates was higher, there were 19,900 foreigners. At the end of 2019, it was 20,200 foreigners.
According to the Antigone report, the presence of foreign prisoners in Italian institutions is not uniform both at the regional level and the individual prisons level. In fact, in some institutions, regardless of their size, there is a very high presence in absolute or percentage terms, while it happens that in other facilities, the presence of foreign prisoners is reduced to a few individuals. In some prisons, foreigners make up to 78 percent of the total number of prisoners, though.
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Germany is unable to return tens of thousands of illegal migrants to the EU countries they first entered due to the fact that there is no record of them in the EU databases, including information on which country they first entered upon their arrival in the EU.
In the first eleven months of last year, more than 35,000 asylum seekers in Germany were missing from a total of almost 75,000 in the Eurodac database, a system to identify asylum seekers, according to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. It is mandatory for all countries to enter any asylum seeker into the Eurodac database that arrives on their territory without a visa. The EU database is in place to provide an international comparison of fingerprints of asylum seekers, with the aim of preventing multiple applications in different countries
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Nigel Farage Predicts 60,000 Boat Migrants Will Reach Britain This Year, As First of 2022 Land
Brexit leader Nigel Farage has predicted that “at least 60,000” will land on British beaches in 2022 as the first illegals came ashore since the start of the year adding to last year’s banner year.
In 2021, a record 28,381 boat migrants crossed the Channel from France, more than three times as many landed in the prior year.
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Number of Immigrants in Portuguese Public Schools in Up 47% in Two Years
The number of immigrants attending public schools in Portugal has increased by 47 percent in just two years, the Jornal de Notici has reported.
Educational establishments have needed to reinvent themselves in order to accommodate the significant rise in foreign students, including a number of Portuguese nationals who have lived and studied abroad and as a result cannot speak, read or write Portuguese.
The largest contingent of foreign students stems from Brazil, however, there has been a clear uptrend in students migrating from China, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Venezuela who are seeking education in Portugal.
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A Pennsylvania Republican candidate for governor claims secret flights are carrying illegal immigrants into the state.
Lou Barletta said a flight landed at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown last Thursday and that others arrived at Scranton a week earlier.
He posted images of what he said were chartered airplanes that had taken off from El Paso, Texas, and arrived at Scranton on Christmas day.
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Asylum seekers suspected of lying about their age could face controversial X-ray checks under moves announced by Priti Patel today.
The Home Secretary will unveil a scientific committee to scrutinise ways of analysing migrants who claim to be under 18.
Miss Patel said the deception carried out by some asylum seekers is an ‘appalling abuse of our system, which we will end’.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Christian Victory as Infamous ‘Gay Cake’ Case Thrown Out by European Court of Human Rights
A claim brought against a Christian bakery in Northern Ireland which refused the custom of a request to print “Support Gay Marriage” on one of its cakes has been thrown out by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The ruling is the latest in a seven-year long legal battle which began in 2014 when the claimant Gareth Lee, a member of the LGBT community, ordered a cake from Daniel and Amy McArthur, a Christian couple who run the Ashers bakery in Belfast.
Upon reviewing the request, in which a design had been sought with the words “Support Gay Marriage” printed across the top, the couple told Lee they would be unable to process the order because it was inconsistent with their religious beliefs.
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A court in Germany has ruled in favor of a trans woman who had sued her ex-neighbor for repeatedly addressing her by her male birth name, a judgment first reported by the Rheinische Post.
Sophie Vivien Kutzner was born a biological male, but Kutzner says she never felt like a male. In recent years, Kutzner began dressing a woman, painting her nails, and gave herself a new male name. Kutzner brought the court case after her male neighbor refused to call her by her new female name, instead opting to call her by her male birth name, “Rüdiger” — a concept known as “deadnaming.”
The neighbor, Wolfgang E., was reprimanded by the court and warned that should he refer to the trans woman by her former name again, or he could face a fine of up to €250,000 and/or a custodial sentence.
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Jon Stewart has categorically refuted claims made by certain media outlets that he has accused J.K. Rowling of anti-Semitism, insisting comments made during a recent podcast were light-hearted and not intended to be taken seriously.
In a December podcast entitled “The Problem with Goblins: J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter & Jews,” Stewart said:
“Here’s how you know Jews are still where they are. … Talking to people, here’s what I say: Have you ever seen a Harry Potter movie? … Have you ever seen the scenes in Gringotts Bank? … Do you know what those folks who run the bank are? … Jews!”
Following the unearthing of the comments, several media outlets ran stories reporting that Stewart had accused J.K Rowling of anti-Semitism, an accusation Stewart vehemently denies.
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Minds Lets Users Build Their Own Newsfeed Algorithm
Alternative social media platform Minds has launched a “Build your algorithm” feature allowing users to have more control of their newsfeed.
According to the blog post announcing the new feature, it is a tool that accomplishes one of the platform’s core values: “To empower you to take back control of your social media.”
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PayPal Permanently Bans Another Conservative Journalist From Having an Account
Online banking giant Paypal has reportedly banned a conservative journalist from having an account, and he claims it is for political reasons.
Ian Miles Cheong who reports for The Post Millenial, made the claims on Twitter, noting “PayPal just informed me that they have permanently banned my account.”
“The supervisor was extremely rude and implied that it had everything to do with my politics,” Cheong added.
[Comment: Wow, as journalists and commentators go, Ian Miles Cheong is mainstream Right.]
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Pope Francis: Modern Crisis of Faith is the ‘Eclipse of Desire for God’
Pope Francis urged Christians to rekindle their desire for God, insisting desire was the secret of the Magi who found Christ in Bethlehem.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
In other news, Pope Francis said that the modern crisis of faith can only be resolved if Christians reawaken their desire for God.
That’s wonderful:
Let’s start with him: He must sever all servility and obsequiousness and love of islam. Praise Christianity and Judaism instead in a sincere way.
Judaism is the Trunk of the Tree. We are the branch.
Islam is a dead twig tied to the tree.
An interesting article about Kazachstan capital:
https://vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/sinister-sites-astana-khazakhstan/
“radical Islamist … arrested in northern France” for kidnapping and rape.
Memo to French authorities:
“radical Islamist” = observant muslim.