Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/8/2022

The Biden administration announced that sanctions would be extended to cover importation of Russian oil, causing crude oil prices to shoot up even further, and the price of gasoline in parts of California rose above $7/gallon in some locations. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Starbucks shut down operations in Russia, inflicting untold suffering upon the Russian people.

In other news, Hungary became the latest EU member state to end COVID lockdowns.

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

Thanks to Dean, DV, Fjordman, MM, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Biden Expected to Issue Executive Order on Cryptocurrency This Week
» Bloomberg: The Odds of a Russian Default Now Around 80%
» Food Prices Up 20% Over the Past Year
» UK: London Suspends Nickel Trade After Record Spike
 
USA
» 6 Teens Charged With Murder After Fatal Shooting Outside Des Moines East High School
» Biden Announces U.S. Ban on Russian Oil: Dealing ‘Blow to Putin’s War Machine’
» Breaking: NYT Reporter Says There Were ‘A Ton of FBI Informants’ At Capitol on Jan 6, Suggests Colleagues Exaggerated Danger
» DOJ Rushes to Obtain Indictment for January 6 Defendant to Cure Illegal Detention Claim
» Gas Prices Are Now Even Higher Than a Modern Classic Apocalypse Movie Predicted
» If US Was Invaded, Most Republicans and Independents Would Stay and Fight, Most Democrats Would Flee: Poll
» Loudoun County School District Called CPS on Dad for Asking Questions About Bad Teachers
» ‘Miss Me Yet?’: Trump Bashes Biden as Gas Prices Reach Record Highs
» NYC, N.J. Drop COVID-19 Mask Mandate for Schools as Cases Slow
» Pizza Hut Urges Teachers to Watch Out for Racist Toddlers
» Police Identify Teen Killed in Shooting Outside of East High, 6 Teens Charged
» Public Records Show Police Didn’t Recommend Dartmouth College to Cancel Andy Ngo Event
» State Agency Conducted ‘Mask Raids, ‘ Interviewed Preschoolers Alone
» ‘Vicious and Gruesome’: Married Couple Found With Throats Slashed Were Riding Bikes in Daytona Beach
» Video: Reporter Refuses to Accept Psaki’s Attempt to Blame Russia for Gas Price Surge
 
Canada
» Breaking: Leslyn Lewis Announces Conservative Leadership Bid
» Canadian Banks Say Freedom Convoy Backers’ Frozen Accounts Will be Flagged for Life
» Conservative MP Calls on Canadian Gov’t to End ‘Undemocratic’ Jab Mandate for Travelers
» ‘It’s Not Over’: Toronto Freedom Protesters Continue to March for an End to All Restrictions
» Jean Charest Set to Run for Conservative Party Leadership
» Poilievre Heavy Favourite Among CPC Voters: Poll
» Post Arrest Interview: Former RCMP Officer, Danny Bulford on State of Freedom in Canada
» Quebec’s Conservative Party Leader Calls on CAQ to Stop Charging Sales Tax on Gas
» Steven Guilbeault Spending Big Money to Justify Twitter Block
» Top Canadian Doctors Tell University Not to Boot Students for Refusing Vaccine, Testing
» Trudeau Bans Media He Doesn’t Like From His Speech Addressing ‘Slippage’ Of Democratic Values
» Trudeau’s Canada: Businesses to Voluntarily Impose Coronavirus Apartheid on Unvaxed in Capital
» UK Media Trash Trudeau for Using Putin Tactics in Convoy Crackdown
» Will History Look Kindly on QR Codes and Vaccine Passports?
 
Europe and the EU
» Blinken Says US, NATO Mulling Permanent Military Deployment in Baltics
» Czech Troops Deployed to Slovakia to Establish Refugee Camps
» Czech President Honors Ukraine’s Zelensky With Highest Order of Czechia
» ‘Europe’s Moral Strength is Being Tested!’ Polish PM Wants Greater EU Assistance for Ukraine
» Europeans Panic Buying Iodine Pills
» Finland and Sweden Seek US Defense Guarantees in ‘Northern Fortress’ Alliance to Deter Russian Ambitions in the Nordic Region
» France: Macron Decries Russophobia, Says He Still Has “Respect” For Russian People
» France: ‘Rockstar of the Right’ Marion: Zemmour Can Unite People Around Him to Win Presidency
» Fraud: German Hospitals Collected Funding Without Ever Treating a Corona Patient
» Hungary is Latest EU Nation to End Coronavirus Lockdowns
» Majority of Swedes Did Not Want to Send Weapons to Ukraine
» Poland U-Turns, Will Donate Fighter Jets to Ukraine Via U.S. ‘Immediately and Free of Charge’
» Scotland: Senior Epidemiologist Apologizes to Daughter’s Generation for “Morally Wrong” Lockdown Measures
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Israel Mulls European Request for Gas as Russia Threatens to Cut EU Supplies
 
Russia
» Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Starbucks Suspend Business in Russia
» Latest Developments
» Lithuania President to Blinken: Deterrence is No Longer Enough Against Russia
» MSNBC Race Baiter’s Hot Take on Ukrainians: People Only Care Because They’re White Christians
» Ruble Will Trade But Russia’s Stock Market to Remain Closed Wednesday
» Russia Doesn’t Show Up as World Court Considers Its Justification for Invading Ukraine
» Telegram Found Itself at the Heart of the Ukraine War. How Do You Use it and is it Safe?
» War Will Cause “Hell on Earth” For Global Food Prices
» Zelensky Calls Again for No-Fly Zone as He Addresses U.K. Parliament
 
Australia — Pacific
» Remember How New Zealand Went Full Tyranny for 2 Years to Keep COVID From Spreading? Yeaaaah…
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Armed Militants Abduct Catholic Priest in Central Nigeria
 
Immigration
» 2 Million Refugees Have Fled Ukraine Since Russia Invaded, UN Says
» France: Afghan Migrant Suspected of Raping Woman in Street in Broad Daylight
» Israel Will Allow 25,000 Non-Jewish Ukrainian Refugees to Stay in Country — Minister
» Migration: About 1,000 Migrants Attempt to Flee Morocco Into Spain’s Melilla
 
Culture Wars
» Breaking: Florida Passes Anti-Groomer Law Banning Gender Identity Indoctrination in Schools
» Catholic School District in Ontario to Fly Rainbow Flag During LGBT ‘Pride Month’
» ‘Sexy Summer Camp’ Led by Witch Teaches Children to Masturbate, Promotes Sex Work
 

Biden Expected to Issue Executive Order on Cryptocurrency This Week

President Joe Biden is expected to issue an executive order regarding cryptocurrency this week, marking the first official steps taken by the federal government towards regulating how digital currency is traded.

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

Bloomberg: The Odds of a Russian Default Now Around 80%

The term “collateral damage” doesn’t just apply to literal warfare, after all. Everyone knew that the level of economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West would have lots of secondary and tertiary effects. That now includes a rising potential for Russia to default on its debt — which could create plenty of economic pain outside of Russia.

Bloomberg notes that the odds of a Russian default are a lot higher than one would imagine and that it could come as early as a week from Wednesday.

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

Food Prices Up 20% Over the Past Year

If your grocery bills continue to frustrate you, you’re not alone. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released its report on worldwide food prices for February, and prices hit a record high last month. The February FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) reached a new high of 140.7 points, which reflects an increase of 3.9% over January and a whopping 20.7% over this time last year.

The FFPI serves as a “measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities,” notes the FAO. This month’s increase was largely due to “large increases in vegetable oil and dairy price sub-indices.” Cereal and meat prices are up as well, though not as high, while sugar prices are down.

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

UK: London Suspends Nickel Trade After Record Spike

The London Metal Exchange on Tuesday suspended trade in nickel after the base metal rocketed to a record peak above $100,000 as Russian supply concerns sparked sharp volatility.

“Following further unprecedented overnight increases in the three-month nickel price, the LME has made the decision to suspend trading for, at minimum, the remainder of today,” the exchange said in a brief statement.

Nickel earlier spiked to an all-time pinnacle of $101,365 per tonne.

It later settled back to $80,000, up 66.4 percent from Monday, before the market was halted.

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

6 Teens Charged With Murder After Fatal Shooting Outside Des Moines East High School

Police have arrested six local teenagers and charged each with murder in the Monday shooting outside of East High School that left one teenager dead and two others in critical condition.

A 15-year-old boy was killed in what police say was a targeted drive-by shooting. Two young women, one 16 and one 18, also were shot and remain in critical condition.

The fatal victim was the intended target, the two other victims were not, according to Sgt. Paul Parizek, spokesperson for the Des Moines Police Department. Parizek said the gunfire came from multiple shooters and from multiple vehicles.

According to Des Moines police the following local teenagers have been each charged as adults with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder:…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Biden Announces U.S. Ban on Russian Oil: Dealing ‘Blow to Putin’s War Machine’

President Biden announced Tuesday morning a ban on Russian imports of oil and natural gas in response to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s ongoing, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. and Western allies have already imposed sanctions on Russia that have hurt the country’s economy but none as far-reaching as an all out oil ban.

“Russian oil will no longer be available at U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another blow to Putin’s war machine,” said the president.

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

Breaking: NYT Reporter Says There Were ‘A Ton of FBI Informants’ At Capitol on Jan 6, Suggests Colleagues Exaggerated Danger

James O’Keefe and Project Veritas published a video of Matthew Rosenberg, national security correspondent for The New York Times, privately ranting about how, in his opinion, the establishment media’s continuous coverage describing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is overblown in its reliance on fear and trauma.

In private, Rosenberg says he’s “so over” the continued establishment narrative that drums up the severity of Jan. 6. “It’s like Jan. 6 stuff, but it’s like I’m so over it at this point. I’m so over it,” he told an undercover Project Veritas reporter.

Rosenberg belittled how the left had overreacted to it, remarking how he and two other colleagues “were outside and we were just having fun” that day. “Dude, come on, like, you [NYT Staff] were not in any danger [at Jan 6],” he lamented.

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

DOJ Rushes to Obtain Indictment for January 6 Defendant to Cure Illegal Detention Claim

As I reported Monday, a January 6 Defendant arrested December 13, 2021, had not yet been indicted even though the Federal Speedy Trial Act requires the Government to indict someone within 30 days of the date of their arrest. The Defendant, Lucas Denney, had a hearing Monday afternoon on his counsel’s motions filed last week seeking his release and dismissal of the then-pending charges based on a criminal Complaint.

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

Gas Prices Are Now Even Higher Than a Modern Classic Apocalypse Movie Predicted

Gas prices have surged to all time highs and are now even more expensive than a fairly recent movie predicted they would be during the APOCOLPYSE.

Prices in areas of California have surpassed $7 per gallon, as the national U.S. average price surged beyond $4 per gallon on Sunday.

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

If US Was Invaded, Most Republicans and Independents Would Stay and Fight, Most Democrats Would Flee: Poll

A new poll shows that if America was invaded, the majority of Republicans and independents would stay and fight, while the majority of Democrats would flee.

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

Loudoun County School District Called CPS on Dad for Asking Questions About Bad Teachers

We were all shocked and horrified when the Daily Wire broke the story about the Loudoun County dad who was dragged out of a school board meeting for trying to speak out about the massive coverup of the rape of his daughter that occurred in the girls’ bathroom by a gender-fluid boy in a skirt. But that’s not the only horror Loudoun County schools have been hiding. Luke Rosiak, the same reporter who broke the rape story is back at it again, and this time he uncovered how a Loudoun County school official called Child Protective Services on a dad for asking questions about county test scores.

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

‘Miss Me Yet?’: Trump Bashes Biden as Gas Prices Reach Record Highs

Former President Donald Trump released a statement on Tuesday, just 12 words long: “BREAKING NEWS: HIGHEST GAS PRICES IN HISTORY! DO YOU MISS ME YET?”

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

NYC, N.J. Drop COVID-19 Mask Mandate for Schools as Cases Slow

March 7 (UPI) — Beginning Monday, New York City and New Jersey are lifting certain COVID-19 restrictions for face masks and proof of vaccination as infections slow in many parts of the United States.

New York City dropped a requirement that said customers must show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants and indoor venues.

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

Pizza Hut Urges Teachers to Watch Out for Racist Toddlers

Fast food chain Pizza Hut has produced a training program for teachers that claims to “promote awareness, respect, and empathy for different lived experiencing,” arguing that “everyone has as racial identity.”

In one pamphlet produced by the program, toddlers express racist views, arguing that “Children as young as three-years-old begin to show evidence of societal messages affecting how they feel about themselves or their group identity — this is the beginning of internalized superiority or internalized oppression.”

The program is similar to Coca Cola’s anti-white online training program that instructed its employees to “be less white,” which faced a massive public backlash on social media.

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

Police Identify Teen Killed in Shooting Outside of East High, 6 Teens Charged

DES MOINES, Iowa — Des Moines police on Tuesday released new details in a deadly drive-by shooting outside of East High School that took the life of a 15-year-old boy.

On Tuesday afternoon, Des Moines police said the victim in the shooting was 15-year-old Jose David Lopez, of Des Moines. On Monday, police confirmed that Lopez was not a student at East High.

According to police, six teens have been charged with first-degree murder after detectives determined that shots were fired by multiple shooters from multiple vehicles.

Police executed five search warrants in Des Moines since the shooting. They said they have recovered six firearms during the investigation.

The following people have been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the shooting: 17-year-old Octavio Lopez, 14-year-old Nyang Chamdual, 16-year-old Manuel Buezo, 16-year-old Romero Perdomo, 15-year-old Alex Perdomo and 17-year-old Henry Valladares-Amaya.

All of the teens are Des Moines residents…

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Public Records Show Police Didn’t Recommend Dartmouth College to Cancel Andy Ngo Event

Andy Ngo was scheduled to speak at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire on January 18, but that engagement was cancelled at the last minute and held online due to what the university called “concerning information” received from the local police department. But what FIRE found upon a public information records request was that Dartmouth essentially cancelled the event “by enacting an improper ‘heckler’s veto’“ that acceded to the illiberal demands of Ngo’s ideological opponents.”

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

State Agency Conducted ‘Mask Raids, ‘ Interviewed Preschoolers Alone

Stephanie and Richard Rosado recently told their 4-year-old son about the importance of not talking to strangers. Only days later, state regulators came to the child’s preschool, isolated him in a room away from his teachers and friends and asked him questions about masking.

His parents, and many others at the preschool, were furious.

Regulators questioned the Rosados’ son as part of an investigation into masking practices at Aspen Leaf Preschool, which operates three locations in San Diego. All three locations were simultaneously “raided,” as some parents have called it, in mid-January. Regulators separated the children and toddlers from familiar adults at each of the centers to ask questions about the preschools’ masking policies.

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

‘Vicious and Gruesome’: Married Couple Found With Throats Slashed Were Riding Bikes in Daytona Beach

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — LATEST: Daytona Beach police release video of person of interest in stabbing death of married couple

Two people are dead following a weekend in a residential area of Daytona Beach, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.

The victims were found Sunday morning in the 700 block of North Wild Olive Avenue with multiple stab wounds and lacerations.

Authorities confirmed the identity of the pair as 48-year-old Terry Aultman and 55-year-old Brenda Aultman.

The couple was found on the side of the road.

“We found two people possibly dead… there’s blood everywhere,” a 911 caller said.

The 911 callers stated they found the man lying face-down on his chest and the woman lying face-up on her back in a grassy area next to the sidewalk.

Police say at first, they thought it was a hit and run, but then, saw that both had slashed throats.

Investigators say the victims were married and were riding their bikes home from Main Street when they were attacked. Right now, they can’t explain what the motive could be…

           — Hat tip: MM [Return to headlines]
 

Video: Reporter Refuses to Accept Psaki’s Attempt to Blame Russia for Gas Price Surge

As the price of gas surged to a national average of $4 and even surpassed $7 in some areas, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki attempted to deflect the blame away from the Biden administration, but one reporter refused to accept it.

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

Breaking: Leslyn Lewis Announces Conservative Leadership Bid

Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis is running for the Conservative leadership once again.

The rising MP for Haldimand-Norfolk made the announcement in a tweet on Tuesday, officially launching her second bid for the position. Lewis came in third behind Erin O’Toole and Peter MacKay during the last contest.

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

Canadian Banks Say Freedom Convoy Backers’ Frozen Accounts Will be Flagged for Life

Freedom Convoy supporters whose bank accounts were frozen will be flagged for life.

The personal accounts of protesters that were locked after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act have been permanently marked, the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) revealed at the House of Commons finance committee meeting on Monday.

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

Conservative MP Calls on Canadian Gov’t to End ‘Undemocratic’ Jab Mandate for Travelers

OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Dr. Leslyn Lewis, a Conservative Party of Canada MP, criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “undemocratic” mandate barring those who reject COVID vaccines from traveling.

“I keep hearing from my constituents how exhausted and frustrated they are with these mandates and that they just want their lives to get back to normal,” said Lewis during a debate in Canada’s House of Commons last Friday.

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

‘It’s Not Over’: Toronto Freedom Protesters Continue to March for an End to All Restrictions

Despite Ontario and other provinces across the country lifting vaccine passport requirements for restaurants, movie theatres, gym and other indoor activities, freedom protesters in Toronto want all medical segregation to be removed. This past weekend at the weekly freedom rally that takes place every Saturday at Queens Park North, notorious for marching throughout the downtown core, the attendees are adamant on demonstrating until the federal vaccine mandate for flying and boarding a train imposed by Trudeau are removed for everyone. I wanted to know what their thoughts were and that’s why I went out.

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

Jean Charest Set to Run for Conservative Party Leadership

Former Quebec Liberal premier Jean Charest is set to launch his leadership campaign for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) on March 10 in Calgary.

Charest had received support from CPC MPs from Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario, who called on him to run for the party’s leadership in a letter published on Feb 22.

“Mr. Charest, Canada needs you. The leadership race for the Conservative Party of Canada boils down to one fundamental question: who is best positioned to unseat the federal Liberals and finally provide our country with a Prime Minister who will revive our economy and govern with confidence under the Conservative banner?” the letter read.

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

Poilievre Heavy Favourite Among CPC Voters: Poll

Canadians were asked their opinions of Conservative Party leadership candidates, both declared and undeclared.

The poll found that Jean Charest would start the race with a slight lead in name recognition over the others, and leads in favourability at 16 percent. Veteran MP Pierre Poilievre sits at 15, with former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown at 11, and Lewis at 8.

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

Post Arrest Interview: Former RCMP Officer, Danny Bulford on State of Freedom in Canada

Alexa Lavoie interviewed Danny Bulford, the former RCMP officer who worked closely with Justin Trudeau who was arrested for his participation in the organization of the Freedom Convoy. He explains what happened during his arrest as well as the charges that were laid against him.

Since he left his job due to government mandates, he joined the Freedom Convoy as an organizer. He expressed and divulged what he experienced and what he felt during the dismantling of the convoy on February 18 and 19.

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

Quebec’s Conservative Party Leader Calls on CAQ to Stop Charging Sales Tax on Gas

The Conservative Party of Quebec is calling for the CAQ government to stop charging the sales tax (QST) on gas in order to give Quebecers a break, a measure that the Legault government has so far ruled out

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

Steven Guilbeault Spending Big Money to Justify Twitter Block

The way we gather information from government sources has changed a lot in recent times. In today’s age of social media, bureaucrats regularly communicate with constituents via their social media platforms. Perhaps the most common platform for this outreach from the government is Twitter, a platform popular with Rebel News founder Ezra Levant.

Having spent the day in court for a lawsuit against Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault for blocking him on Twitter, Ezra joined guest host David Menzies on last night’s episode of The Ezra Levant Show to outline why this case matters.

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

Top Canadian Doctors Tell University Not to Boot Students for Refusing Vaccine, Testing

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (LifeSiteNews) — Top doctors in Vancouver have penned a letter telling the University of British Columbia to allow students who refuse to get vaccinated or tested to remain enrolled.

On February 16, the four top doctors at Vancouver Coastal Health wrote a letter to University of British Columbia president Santa Ono to inform him that in light of the recent evidence and information the school should not go ahead with their plan to “de-register” students who have not declared their vaccination status and who refuse to get tested, as it would constitute unscientific discrimination.

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

Trudeau Bans Media He Doesn’t Like From His Speech Addressing ‘Slippage’ Of Democratic Values

On yesterday’s episode of The Ezra Levant Show, guest host David Menzies discussed his visit to Saint Demetrius the Great Martyr Ukrainian Catholic Church in west-end Toronto on Friday, where Justin Trudeau was making an appearance.

Here’s a bit of what David had to say:

“We visited Saint Demetrius the Great Martyr Ukrainian Catholic Church in west-end Toronto on Friday to see what the PM had to say. And knock me down with a feather! We yet again discovered that the only media allowed inside the a Trudeau presser were those journalists who are state-funded trained seals, you know, members of the CBC and CTV and the like. Justin knows full well that when it comes to media coverage, it’s a prudent strategy to have the scribes dependent upon federal government funding.

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

Trudeau’s Canada: Businesses to Voluntarily Impose Coronavirus Apartheid on Unvaxed in Capital

Businesses in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa say they will keep the Trudeau government’s scrapped vaccine passport system, allocating certain times in which only vaccinated people may enter.

While the government of Ontario ended the mandatory vaccine passport system for indoor dining, gyms and other venues on March 1st, some are choosing to keep the system in place during certain hours or on certain nights of the week.

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

UK Media Trash Trudeau for Using Putin Tactics in Convoy Crackdown

One day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to London to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UK media outlets continue to skewer Trudeau over his handling of the Freedom Convoy protesters in Ottawa.

One commentator on talkRADIO called Trudeau’s crackdowns on protesters akin to the tactics Russian president Vladimir Putin uses against dissenters in his own country.

“This was the man that basically froze the bank accounts of truckers, decided that he was going to forcibly round them up. He took tactics directly out of the rulebook of Vladimir Putin to deal with his own people, and then he has the audacity and lack of self-awareness to stand at a podium and tell us that he wants to stand up for sovereignty and democracy?” said Cristo Foufas.

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

Will History Look Kindly on QR Codes and Vaccine Passports?

In today’s story I’m featuring an aspiring young lawyer who is a few weeks away from completing his law degree at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. As a precursor to this degree, David Fanni holds a bachelor’s degree, majoring in history and political science, from the University of Toronto.

In December of 2021, David wrote an article that was published in the University of Leicester Student Law Review. His article, titled Freedom of Conscience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of Ontario’s Vaccine Passport Policy, criticizes the Ontario Governments implementation of vaccine passports. He analyses the constitutional implications of the Re-Opening Ontario Act 2020 as it relates to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically how it infringes on Section 2(a) that outlines Freedom of Conscience and Religion.

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

Blinken Says US, NATO Mulling Permanent Military Deployment in Baltics

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his official visit to Lithuania on Monday allowed for the possibility of NATO permanently deploying its troops in the Baltic states amid the situation in Ukraine.

The Baltic states have requested Washington for a permanent troop deployment, which would be another defense boosting by the alliance close to the Russian borders. Earlier, Pentagon chief ordered the deployment of additional 500 soldiers to Europe.

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

Czech Troops Deployed to Slovakia to Establish Refugee Camps

The Czech army deployed troops to Slovakia on Monday to assist with the construction and operation of a humanitarian base for up to 400 Ukrainian refugees.

News of the operation was published on the Czech army’s social media platforms, which informed that the camp would be in operation for at least a month, and logistics with tents, containers with sanitary facilities, and electric generators are on the way to the site.

Also on Monday, the Slovak government agreed that 50 additional Czech soldiers would help the country cope with the influx of refugees from Ukraine, in addition to the 50 Czech police officers who arrived in Slovakia last week to help with refugee registration.

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

Czech President Honors Ukraine’s Zelensky With Highest Order of Czechia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been honored by Czech President Milos Zeman during the state decorations ceremony, following proposals to do so from Deputy Barbora Urbanova of the Mayors and Independents party.

The Czech president expressed his admiration for the Ukrainian leader, who has so far refused U.S. assistance in fleeing the country and remained in Kyiv to help coordinate his country’s defenses.

“Although the United States offered to evacuate him, Zelensky remained in the capital of his country, from where he controls the defense,” the Czech president said in a surprising step, considering he strong support for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past.

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

‘Europe’s Moral Strength is Being Tested!’ Polish PM Wants Greater EU Assistance for Ukraine

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called on Europe’s leaders to intensify their aid to Ukraine, insisting the war-torn country’s army was currently defending the whole of Europe.

In an address subsequently published on his social media platforms, the Polish leader claimed it should not just be up to Ukrainian forces to protect Europe’s borders, nor should it be the sole responsibility of Ukraine’s neighbors to welcome refugees.

“Today, Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, but for the whole of Europe; for our freedom and for our future,” Morawiecki said. “This is why I am appealing to all leaders and citizens of the European Union: this is our common cause and our shared responsibility,” he added.

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

Europeans Panic Buying Iodine Pills

People in multiple different European countries are panic buying iodine pills in fear of nuclear fallout caused by the conflict in Ukraine.

They’re flying off the shelves in Romania at the same rate as after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

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

Finland and Sweden Seek US Defense Guarantees in ‘Northern Fortress’ Alliance to Deter Russian Ambitions in the Nordic Region

An alliance between the United States and non-NATO members, Finland and Sweden, will create a common security system for the Nordic region, with Finnish press declaring 2022 as a breakthrough period for the country in terms of its national security as the “essential burying of neutrality.”

Bilateral and tripartite agreements between the two nations, along with NATO and guaranteed by the U.S. — labeled the so-called “Northern Fortress” — is intended to weaken Russia’s ambitions in the Nordic region, according to Finland’s commentariat.

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

France: Macron Decries Russophobia, Says He Still Has “Respect” For Russian People

Amid a global deluge of Russophobia, French President Emmanuel Macron said he still had “respect” for the Russian people and that the country’s civil society needed to be part of the future of peace in Europe.

Macron made the comments in the aftermath of two weeks of virulent anti-Russian sentiment that has led to the country, and by extension many of its citizens, being deplatformed on a national level.

Aside from crippling financial sanctions, utterly absurd measures were also imposed like banning Siberian cats from competitions and a university attempting to cancel a course on 19th century Russian writer Dostoevsky.

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

France: ‘Rockstar of the Right’ Marion: Zemmour Can Unite People Around Him to Win Presidency

Marion Maréchal, the niece of populist Presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen, has formally joined the presidential campaign of right-wing rival conservative Eric Zemmour, arguing that he stands a better chance of uniting voters to defeat Emmanuel Macron.

Maréchal, who is a former MP of the Front National (FN) that was led by Marine Le Pen before the party rebranded to become the National Rally (RN), formally pledged her support to conservative pundit and writer Eric Zemmour at a rally in Toulon on Sunday.

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

Fraud: German Hospitals Collected Funding Without Ever Treating a Corona Patient

In connection with the Corona crisis, numerous German hospitals have collected money on fraudulent grounds. Millions are at stake.

German hospitals are alleged to have cheated during the Corona crisis in order to collect millions for intensive care beds. In the first wave of the pandemic, all hospitals in Germany received a flat rate for hospital beds that the hospitals kept free for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

As a key measure, it was agreed that the compensation payments for loss of income, which expired at the end of September last year, would be continued. The federal states then designated hospitals that received compensation payments for hospital beds that were empty due to postponed interventions.

Fraud is also alleged to have taken place in connection with funds for new intensive care beds. A group of lawyers, public prosecutors and a judge have filed criminal charges against two large German hospitals in the Saarland area.

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

Hungary is Latest EU Nation to End Coronavirus Lockdowns

As of Monday, the Hungarian government has lifted nearly all of its Wuhan coronavirus restrictions, with mask mandates now limited to only hospitals and retirement homes.

The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban ended mask mandates for indoor public spaces and on public transport on Monday and has also scrapped capacity limits on events that previously required proof of vaccination or a negative test for the coronavirus.

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

Majority of Swedes Did Not Want to Send Weapons to Ukraine

Only 39 percent of Swedes wanted Sweden to assist Ukraine with weapons, when Sifo conducted an opinion poll on 25 February. A narrow majority, 51 percent, wanted Sweden to help with financial assistance. Nevertheless, the Riksdag voted to send weapons to Ukraine.

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

Poland U-Turns, Will Donate Fighter Jets to Ukraine Via U.S. ‘Immediately and Free of Charge’

The Polish government confirmed on late Tuesday that it has made its entire fleet of MIG-29 fighter jets available “immediately and free of charge” to Ukraine.

Last week, the Polish government asserted that sending major offensive weapons like fighter jets to Ukraine would be tantamount to “joining [the] conflict” and that NATO was not at war with Russia.

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

Scotland: Senior Epidemiologist Apologizes to Daughter’s Generation for “Morally Wrong” Lockdown Measures

A senior epidemiologist has publicly apologized to his daughter’s generation for failing to more strenuously oppose “morally wrong” COVID lockdown measures such as school closures that caused massive damage to children.

The stunning admission was made by Professor Mark Woolhouse, who revealed to Sky News that he was told to “correct” his views after he criticized doomsday COVID models.

The Edinburgh University academic said “plain common sense” was a “casualty” of lockdown and that his daughter’s generation “has been so badly served by mine.”

Decrying harmful lockdown measures such as closing schools as “morally wrong,” Woolhouse said he was told to stay silent when he questioned “implausible” graphs presented by Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) Sir Patrick Vallance that said COVID cases would exponentially double.

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

Israel Mulls European Request for Gas as Russia Threatens to Cut EU Supplies

Senior sources at the Energy Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the European Energy Commissioner has asked Israel whether it could supply liquified natural gas to help the continent wean itself off Russian supplies.

Energy Ministry officials told the Times of Israel that the ministry is considering the European request but added that the country’s ability to help would depend on the Karish gas field coming online.

This is expected in the fall. Earlier this week, the field was connected to the country’s national gas line.

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

Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Starbucks Suspend Business in Russia

Iconic U.S.-based companies Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Starbucks all announced on Tuesday that they will temporarily suspend business activities in Russia following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of last month.

Coca-Cola became the most recent company to make the move to halt operations.

“Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine,” the beverage company stated in a press release.

[Comment: The first two are junk food. As for the third, I’ve gone to independent coffeehouses because Starbucks has gone woke.]

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

Latest Developments

In Ukraine: One convoy of civilians was evacuated from the besieged northeastern city of Sumy, but renewed Russian shelling forced the effort to be halted. Heavy fighting continued across the country, particularly in Mariupol, where evacuation efforts failed for the fourth day.

Combat went on around the strategic town of Izyum, eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces advanced as they attempted to encircle some of the country’s most hardened forces in the Donbas region. Ukraine continued to repel Russian attempts to break into the southeastern port city of Mykolaiv, the gateway to Odessa.

Refugees: Two million people have fled Ukraine in the 13 days since the war began, the U.N.’s refugee agency said, as the exodus picks up pace.

In Russia: Since the war began, many non-Russians living in Russia with the means have rushed to leave the country—some indefinitely, others for good. Reasons include the financial, logistical and moral.

The West: President Biden said the U.S. would ban Russian oil and natural-gas imports into the U.S., targeting the lifeblood of Moscow’s economy. Poland said it would make its MiG-29 combat jets available to the U.S. after days of talks about how to get such planes into the hands of Ukraine.

Companies: PepsiCo is exploring options for its business in Russia, including writing off the value of the unit, according to people familiar with the matter. McDonald’s said it was temporarily closing its roughly 850 restaurants in the country. Starbucks will suspend all business activity in Russia, including shipment of all Starbucks products.

Markets: Major stock indexes were mixed, while bond yields and oil prices rose, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved into a correction. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, jumped 5% to $129.44 a barrel. Shell said it was withdrawing from Russian oil and gas and halted spot purchases of Russian crude.

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

Lithuania President to Blinken: Deterrence is No Longer Enough Against Russia

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda tells US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Russia poses a long-term threat to Europe and that deterrence is no longer enough.

“Unfortunately, the worsening security situation in the Baltic region is of great concern for all of us and around the world,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda tells Blinken.

“Russia’s reckless aggression against Ukraine once again proves that it is a long-term threat to European security, the security of our alliance,” he says.

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

MSNBC Race Baiter’s Hot Take on Ukrainians: People Only Care Because They’re White Christians

Every issue covered by MSNBC’s Joy Reid is filtered through her race bait tinted spectacles, and the conflict over Ukraine is no different.

In a broadcast Monday, Reid stated that more people care about what is going on in Ukraine than they usually do about crises in other foreign nations because the people there are white and Christians.

Reid cited Yemen, where Saudi Arabia, with the backing of the U.S. is essentially waging a war against Iran, resulting in horrific humanitarian consequences for the local population.

Reid suggested that people don’t care as much about that though because those people are brown.

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

Ruble Will Trade But Russia’s Stock Market to Remain Closed Wednesday

Russia’s stock market will remain closed Wednesday while trading on its currency market will open, the country’s central bank said in a statement.

The Moscow Exchange’s stock trading has been shut since Feb 25. When markets do reopen, investors expect a strong selloff because of the war with Ukraine and punishing Western sanctions. Stocks of many Russian companies traded in London and New York fell to pennies a share before trading was suspended on those venues.

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

Russia Doesn’t Show Up as World Court Considers Its Justification for Invading Ukraine

Russia failed to appear before the International Court of Justice this week to answer Ukraine’s claim that Moscow falsely accused Kyiv of genocide to justify its invasion.

Ukraine, which sent a team of experts in international law to argue its case at The Hague, urged the world court to issue emergency orders directing Russia to cease a war Kyiv said had no lawful basis under the Genocide Convention or the United Nations Charter.

“The fact that Russia’s seats are empty speaks loudly,” Ukraine’s representative, Anton Korynevich, told the court. “They are not here in this court of law. They are on a battlefield, waging aggressive war against my country.”

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

Telegram Found Itself at the Heart of the Ukraine War. How Do You Use it and is it Safe?

The messaging tool Telegram has become one of the apps at the heart of the war in Ukraine.

Just days after Russia invaded, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent a message to his Telegram followers from the capital Kyiv where he called on his countrymen to resist the Russian attack.

Meanwhile, many people in Russia are using the app to access the news and conversations about Ukraine that are not the state-sanctioned version of events.

But how can you use the app and is it safe?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

War Will Cause “Hell on Earth” For Global Food Prices

The world is heading for a “catastrophic” global food crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine, which will cause “hell on earth” for food prices, according to experts.

“Half the world’s population gets food as a result of fertilisers… and if that’s removed from the field for some crops, [the yield] will drop by 50%,” Svein Tore Holsether, head of agri company Yara International, told the BBC.

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

Zelensky Calls Again for No-Fly Zone as He Addresses U.K. Parliament

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a brief but impassioned speech Tuesday to British lawmakers in which he compared his country’s resistance against Russia to the U.K.’s fight against Nazi Germany.

Invoking Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime leader, he described how Ukrainians would fight on, whatever the odds, as the lawmakers looked on via video screens. “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores and in the streets. We will fight on the banks of our rivers,” he said.

The British lawmakers rose to give him a standing ovation. But in their following remarks, neither Prime Minister Boris Johnson nor opposition leader Keir Starmer mentioned Mr. Zelensky’s request that Britain do more to “ensure that our Ukrainian skies are safe”—a thinly-veiled hint that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should enforce a no-fly zone above Ukraine to impede Russia’s air force.

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

Remember How New Zealand Went Full Tyranny for 2 Years to Keep COVID From Spreading? Yeaaaah…

New Zealand went absolutely bonkers over Covid. Sure, the average age of victims was almost (or over) 80, but instead of locking down the vulnerable and letting everyone else get natural immunity, they locked everything down for 2 years and then basically made it impossible to leave your home if you didn’t inject yourself with an experimental vax that would become ineffective in less than a year.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister was a prime example of why Karens should never, ever be put in charge of a nation.

Anyway, now that they did all that, their Covid levels are through the roof, even though most of them are triple— or quadruple-vaxxed.

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

Armed Militants Abduct Catholic Priest in Central Nigeria

Armed gunmen identified only as “terrorists” broke into a church in Kaduna, Nigeria Tuesday and kidnapped the Catholic priest, Father Joseph Aketeh.

The Chancellor of the Catholic Deanery of Kaduna Diocese, Reverend Father Anthony Dodo, reported that the gunmen broke into the parish compound in the early hours of Tuesday and shot the security guard at the gate, before moving to the priests’ residence.

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

2 Million Refugees Have Fled Ukraine Since Russia Invaded, UN Says

GENEVA — The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II.

“Today the outflow of refugees from Ukraine reaches two million people. Two million,” Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, wrote on Twitter.

The update came as a new effort to evacuate civilians along safe corridors finally got underway Tuesday. The route out of the eastern city of Sumy was one of five promised by the Russians to offer civilians a way to escape the Russian onslaught.

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

France: Afghan Migrant Suspected of Raping Woman in Street in Broad Daylight

A homeless man from Afghanistan has been arrested under suspicion of raping a woman in front of her home in France last month, according to reports.

The horrifying incident unfolded at around 8 a.m. on February 27 in Villeurbanne, a commune in the metropolis of Lyon.

A 27-year-old woman was returning from a trip on the subway when she was reportedly attacked and raped by a man in front of her apartment building.

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

Israel Will Allow 25,000 Non-Jewish Ukrainian Refugees to Stay in Country — Minister

Israel will allow 25,000 Ukrainians who are not eligible for immigration to stay in the country as refugees amid Russia’s invasion of their nation, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced Tuesday.

The minister said 20,000 of those had been in Israel before the outbreak of hostilities, and an additional 5,000 would be accepted from the time the invasion began.

This in addition to tens of thousands it expects to arrive in the country as part of Jewish immigration in the wake of the war, Shaked said.

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

Migration: About 1,000 Migrants Attempt to Flee Morocco Into Spain’s Melilla

A thousand migrants tried unsuccessfully on Tuesday morning to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla, on Morocco’s northern coast, days after the most massive attempt ever recorded, local authorities said.

“At around 6am, the anti-intrusion device of the Civil Guard command detected a large group of migrants made up of around a thousand migrants approaching the fence (of Melilla), in a coordinated and perfectly organised manner, before breaking up into several sub-groups,” the Melilla prefecture said in a statement.

At around 8am, “around 400 people, from one of these sub-groups, managed to reach the fence” but were stopped by Moroccan police, the prefecture said. None of these people finally managed to cross the fence and enter Melilla.

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

Breaking: Florida Passes Anti-Groomer Law Banning Gender Identity Indoctrination in Schools

The anti-groomer law banning gender identity indoctrination in Florida’s pre-K through third-grade classrooms was approved Tuesday by the state’s Senate and sent to Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for signing.

House Bill 1557, known as the Parental Rights in Education Bill and dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by left-wing activists, passed by a 22 — 17 vote.

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

Catholic School District in Ontario to Fly Rainbow Flag During LGBT ‘Pride Month’

HAMILTON, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic school board in Ontario has voted to fly the pro-homosexual rainbow flag outside all of its school buildings during June in honor of so-called LGBT “pride month.”

In a 6-3 vote, the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) in Ontario passed a motion on March 1 to fly the rainbow banner outside of their schools to recognize the homosexual lifestyle-affirming movement, standing directly against the Catholic teaching supposedly upheld by the school’s administrators.

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

‘Sexy Summer Camp’ Led by Witch Teaches Children to Masturbate, Promotes Sex Work

A virtual summer camp aimed at people of all ages in the rural Appalachia region of the eastern US has been revealed to have taught people, including children, about masturbation, gender diversity, “self-managed abortions,” and more over the summer of 2021.

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

14 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/8/2022

  1. Re: Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Starbucks suspend usiness in Russia.

    Also PornHub; write your own jokes!

    • What a dump bunch of wimps this German government is , Germany used to be on the top in Europe, not anymore, it’s became left banana republic, this currently government it’s a disaster, very radical left with Greens , SPD, FDP , they will finished thus country very quickly, mark my words..

      • Do you know ,all of Putin’s kids went to school in Germany and private German schools in Russia ?

  2. Belarusian colleagues volunteers batalion name after Polish Hero Kalinowski..just get position next to us..:-)) Tough guys ! Islamist from Russian Federation Forces..are dead as cucumber in my salad if meet them :-))
    Mihail ( Michal ) my new Belarusian budy and Commander ! Prace him !! hi is fighting for you ! Ziveli Belarusian people !! ..we will get united again !
    https://twitter.com/i/status/1501580854224723970

  3. The interesting thing in this video is the even handed and reserved response to the pfizer documents and the questioning of what governments knew and at the very end, Ukraine. It may be a typical British response. A seed of doubt has taken root.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YOD9drZasM

  4. Hey you guys..You don’t know what good stuff you re missing..Baron decide to censor all good stuff posted by me from Frontline.. ;-))

    • The Baron is a little old fashioned when it comes to war porn my friend, so one must keep it to a dull roar, remember, it is his blog, so it is his rules. Frankly I would like to see it for I have done and seen far worse, I have a strong stomach for such things, but most people here don’t and will give them nightmares, so keep that in consideration. Good hunting and keep up the good work.

    • No, for Germany at this time is weak and almost defenseless due to years of neglect and silly women running Germany.

  5. Obviously I don’t want my homeland invaded, but wow – if it ever happens, most of the pinkos and ghetto apes would tuck tail and run. Wouldn’t that be great? If you can fend-off the invaders, you’ll not only secure the homeland, but it’ll be better than ever if you just keep the damn borders closed. Oh, to dream the impossible dream!

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