Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/29/2022

Czechia has the most expensive electricity in the EU as well as the highest level of debt. Meanwhile, the Czech prime minister warned that the country cannot be self-sufficient in food.

In other news, a record fifty migrant boats landed at the Italian island of Lampedusa in the space of just 24 hours.

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

Thanks to Dean, DV, Reader from Chicago, Roger, Upananda Brahmachari, 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
» Affordability Crisis: Toronto Students Are Living in Homeless Shelters
» Czechia Cannot be Self-Sufficient in Terms of Food, Says Czech PM
» Czechia Has Fastest-Growing Debt Level in Entire EU
» Czechs Have Most Expensive Electricity in Europe Despite Exporting Huge Amounts of Power Abroad
» Energy Crisis: One in Four Britons Will Not Turn on Heating Over Winter Months — Poll
 
USA
» 35 Shot, 8 Killed, During Weekend in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago
» Court Says US Citizens Need a Permit to Publish Video Footage Taken at a National Park
» DeSantis Calls for “Reckoning” of Fauci if Republicans Take Congress
» DHS Wants to Continue Its “Disinformation” Work, Flag “Falsehoods” to Social Media Platforms
» DOJ Admits ‘Limited Set’ of Seized Trump Docs May be Privileged
» Drug Dealers Threaten, Extort Producers of Natalie Portman Project Filming in Baltimore
» Dutch Soldier Dies After Shooting in Downtown Indianapolis
» FBI Special Agent Who Opened Trump Investigation Reportedly Escorted Out of Bureau
» ‘Find Another Job’: Oklahoma Officials Respond to Teacher Quitting Over CRT Ban
» Graham Predicts ‘Riots in the Streets’ if Trump is Prosecuted for Mishandling Classified Info
» Hunter Biden ‘Laptop Denier’ to Join Biden’s Intelligence Advisory Board
» Kennewick School Board Votes to Protect Children From Critical Race Theory Racism
» Lizzo Claims She’s ‘Oppressed’
» Michigan Secretary of State Loses Round in Fight Over Dead People on Voter Rolls
» New York Professor Mandates Masks, Despite University Lifting Mask Mandate on Campus
» Oregon Police Seek Motive in Safeway Shooting After Suspect Found Dead: What We Know
» Stoner Nation: More Americans Smoke Weed Than Tobacco, Survey Finds
» The Effect of Emergency-Ordered School Closings, Learning Loss and Mask Mandates on Children
» ‘This is a Generation of Guinea Pigs’: Experts Weigh in on the Over Medication of American Teens
» U.S. Supreme Court Anti-Discrimination Ruling Means the End of Washington State’s Blaine Amendments
» Video: DNC Head Defends Joe Biden Calling Trump Supporters “Semi Fascist”
» Video: Jill Biden Physically Pulls Away ‘Stuck’ Joe From Reporters
» ‘Vote Republican’: Joe Rogan on How Americans Can ‘Protect Your Freedom’
» Woman Follows Suspect Vehicle While Calling 911 After Being Shot in the Neck at West Palm Beach Intersection
 
Canada
» “Get the F*** Out of This Province!” Canadian Deputy PM Pounced on in Alberta
» Abolish the Police? Student Agenda for Montreal College Students Goes Woke
» Conservative Leadership Race Sees Massive Voter Turnout
» Danielle Smith Would Invoke Sovereignty Act to Bar Federal ‘Climate Cops’
» First Person to Receive Compensation for COVID Vaccine Death Discusses Canada’s Vaccine Injury Support Program
 
Europe and the EU
» Brits Told to Get Used to Drinking Recycled Sewage
» EU Plans ‘Emergency Intervention and Structural Reform” of the Electricity Market
» Europe Warned of Danger for Many Winters to Come
» German Chancellor Demands Bigger EU, Less National Sovereignty for Members
» Italian Elections: Right-Populist Leading Polls Promises Pro-Family Tax Cuts
» Ozzy Osbourne Moving Back to England Due to High Crime in US
» Salvini: ‘Hungarian Family Legislation is the Best in Europe’
» ‘Sunday is a Time for Prayer and Family, Not Shopping’ — Polish Family Minister Rejects Dropping Sunday Shopping Ban
» Swedish Populists Warn of Mail-in Ballot Sabotage Ahead of Elections
» Swiss Politicians Form ‘Stop the Blackouts’ Coalition: “We Cannot Do Without Nuclear Power Plants”
» ‘These So-Called Eco-Warriors Are Waging a War Against the British People’: Priti Patel Blasts Mob’s War on Democracy as Just Stop Oil Protesters Disrupt Deliveries of Fuel, Food and Newspapers
» UK: Eight Arrested Following Just Stop Oil Roadblock in Essex
» UK: Please, No White Men: Air Force Requested Diverse Pilot for Top Gun Premiere
 
Middle East
» Iraq Protests: Multiple Deaths, Dozens Injured After Hundreds Storm Gov’t Palace, Clash With Security Forces
 
Russia
» Ukrainians Claim Southern Counter-Offensive Underway, Russian Lines Breached
 
South Asia
» India: Dalit Hindu Man Brutally Beaten Up by the Muslim Villagers in Bihar, Forced Him to Drink Urine
» India: Jamath Permission Necessary for Ganesha Puja in Muslim Majority Housing Colony: Madras HC
» Minor Hindu Girl Gang-Raped, Eyes Gouged Out in Sindh of Islamic Pakistan
 
Far East
» China Develops High-Performance Radar to Render US Stealth Technology Ineffective
 
Australia — Pacific
» CPAC Australia Event Location Kept Private Due to ‘Left Wing Cancel Culture’
» New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern Facing ‘Ugly Protests’
» New Zealand: Jacinda Arden ‘Can’t Verify’ Secret Interpol Memo to Ban Avi Yemini
 
Immigration
» Belgium: Former Football Player Speaks Out After Daughter’s Pool Sex Attack by Migrants
» Italian Island Sees Record-Breaking 50 Migrant Boats Land in 24 Hours
» Watch: African Jihadist Blocks Paris Train, Pelts Windows With Stones
 
Culture Wars
» Activity Book Tells Kids to ‘Explore’ Feelings on Assisted Dying
» Another UK Health Service Trust Caught Erasing ‘Mothers’ for ‘Birthing People’
» Could Same-Sex Marriage be Legalized in Poland?
» Drag Brunch in Roanoke Brings Protesters, Armed Counter-Protesters
» LA Libraries Host Drag Queen Story Hours Targeted at Children
» Rand Think Tank Calls for “Guardrails” on the Metaverse
» Report: Children’s Hospital CEO Doubles Down on Trans Surgeries for Minors in Letter to Employees
» Trudeau Splurges $100 Million on Radical Gender Ideologues
 

Affordability Crisis: Toronto Students Are Living in Homeless Shelters

As the affordability crisis worsens and rent prices rise, more and more students in Toronto are taking refuge in homeless shelters.

According to the Financial Times, roughly 26% of all residents staying at Covenant House Toronto were students in 2019 — half of which were college or university students. Moreover, Mark Aston, who works at the house, says that the number has risen over the course of the pandemic, and students now make up closer to a third of all residents at the homeless shelter.

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

Czechia Cannot be Self-Sufficient in Terms of Food, Says Czech PM

Food self-sufficiency is unrealistic for Czechia due to the world’s interconnectedness. Czechia, therefore, needs to focus on food security, such as maintaining adequate stocks of key foodstuffs, Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated on Thursday at the beginning of the agricultural fair Zeme živitelka in Ceské Budejovice.

Former President Vaclav Klaus also spoke at the opening. According to Klaus, the current inflation rate stems from irresponsible actions by governments, which create massive deficits in state budgets.

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

Czechia Has Fastest-Growing Debt Level in Entire EU

Last year, the Czech Republic was the fastest growing EU country in terms of debt, and while Italy and Greece take the crown for the most debt overall, there are fears that Czechia could soon be facing trouble over its public finances.

Last year’s budget deficit surpassed 2020’s record high, the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) states in its opinion published on Monday on the draft of the Czech Republic’s final state of accounts for 2021.

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

Czechs Have Most Expensive Electricity in Europe Despite Exporting Huge Amounts of Power Abroad

This July, Czech households paid the highest price in Europe for electricity; and yet, something many Czechs see only as a cruel joke, the country remains among the largest exporters of electricity in the world.

The July HEPI index (Household Energy Price Index), which compares the price of energy for households in individual European capitals, shows clearly what is occurring. People living in Prague pay the highest price for electricity in all of Europe, according to the purchasing power parity of the currency. This index includes member states and countries outside the EU, such as Switzerland, Norway, and Russia.

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

Energy Crisis: One in Four Britons Will Not Turn on Heating Over Winter Months — Poll

Just under one in four Britons will leave their heating off over the winter as the price of energy surges, polling has suggested.

Polling released on Monday has suggested that just under one in four Britons will not turn on their heating due to the rising price of energy.

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

35 Shot, 8 Killed, During Weekend in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago

At least 35 people were shot, eight of whom were killed, during the weekend in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago.

Breitbart News noted that 15 people were shot, six of them fatally, Friday into Saturday night alone.

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

Court Says US Citizens Need a Permit to Publish Video Footage Taken at a National Park

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s ruling in the Price v. Garland case has been criticized as creating what looks like a confusing precedent involving First Amendment rights implications — and the right of citizens to freely create and publish video material taken in US national parks.

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

DeSantis Calls for “Reckoning” of Fauci if Republicans Take Congress

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called on Republicans in Congress to investigate White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci if they take control of Congress and following statements from Fauci that he’s stepping down soon.

“If the Republicans take control, we need a reckoning on all of this,” he told Dan Bongino, adding that during the pandemic, Fauci “criticized me every step of the way.” The 81-year-old White House adviser had been “wrong on all the important” issues relating to COVID-19, said the governor.

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

DHS Wants to Continue Its “Disinformation” Work, Flag “Falsehoods” to Social Media Platforms

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) controversial “Disinformation Governance Board” was recently shut down after First Amendment concerns but the DHS seemingly still intends to continue its “disinformation” work.

A recent report from the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s “Disinformation Best Practices and Safeguards Subcommittee” states that while “there is no need for a separate Disinformation Governance Board.the Department must be able to address the disinformation threat streams that can undermine the security of our homeland.”

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

DOJ Admits ‘Limited Set’ of Seized Trump Docs May be Privileged

The DOJ told a judge on Monday that a “limited set” of materials seized in the Mar-a-Lago raid may be covered by attorney-client privilege, after the former president sought the appointment of a so-called special master to review the documents seized on Aug. 8.

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

Drug Dealers Threaten, Extort Producers of Natalie Portman Project Filming in Baltimore

Natalie Portman’s new Apple TV+ project was filming in Baltimore when some local drug dealers approached the production on Friday and demanded $50,000 from the team or they would be gunned down.

The Baltimore Banner reports that, “The leaders of the production decided to err on the side of caution and reschedule the shoot after they found another location,” according to Baltimore Police Department spokesperson James Moses.

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

Dutch Soldier Dies After Shooting in Downtown Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (WXIN) — The Dutch Ministry of Defense has confirmed one of three Dutch soldiers shot in downtown Indianapolis over the weekend has died.

According to Dutch officials, the man died on Sunday night in an Indianapolis hospital with his family and colleagues at his side.

The Marion County Coroner’s Office identified the deceased as 26-year-old Simmie Poetsema.

The soldier was shot early Saturday morning outside of a Hampton Inn. Two other soldiers from the Netherlands were also shot in the same incident.

The other two soldiers are conscious and able to speak, however, the Dutch Ministry of Defense says their conditions are “unchanged.”

No arrests have been made in the shooting. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says the shooting likely stemmed from an altercation outside of the hotel.

The servicemen were visiting Indianapolis on their day off from training in southern Indiana. The Indiana National Guard said the Dutch special forces were training at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville, Indiana. That facility is used for training by the U.S. Department of Defense as well as NATO allies.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

FBI Special Agent Who Opened Trump Investigation Reportedly Escorted Out of Bureau

Former FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Thibault was reportedly escorted out of the bureau on Friday, amid whistleblower allegations that he showed political bias in his handling of politically sensitive investigations.

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

‘Find Another Job’: Oklahoma Officials Respond to Teacher Quitting Over CRT Ban

Oklahoma officials are calling for teachers pushing Critical Race Theory (CRT) to leave the classroom after an Oklahoma teacher spoke out against the states’ education law following her resignation.

Summer Boismier quit her high school teaching position at Norman Public Schools in Norman, Oklahoma, after she shared a QR code in her classroom linking students to “Books Unbanned,” a program through Brooklyn Public Library, that allowed students to access books prohibited from being taught by a state law. The law, HB 1775, prohibits teaching that one race or sex is superior to another, with the intent to prevent the teaching of CRT and certain elements of gender ideology.

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

Graham Predicts ‘Riots in the Streets’ if Trump is Prosecuted for Mishandling Classified Info

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham predicts that if former President Trump is prosecuted for mishandling classified government information, there will be “riots in the streets.”

The South Carolina lawmaker made the prediction Sunday night on the Fox News Channel and argued that prosecuting Trump would be especially egregious considering Hillary Clinton, as secretary of State, was not prosecuted for her handling of classified emails.

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

Hunter Biden ‘Laptop Denier’ to Join Biden’s Intelligence Advisory Board

President Joe Biden announced he would appoint to the Intelligence Advisory Board an MSNBC analyst who derided the story about his son, Hunter’s, laptop as disinformation.

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

Kennewick School Board Votes to Protect Children From Critical Race Theory Racism

Last week the members of the Kennewick School Board voted unanimously (5-0) to promote education excellence and protect children from controversial Critical Race Theory (CRT) racism.

Kennewick board members passed Resolution 2340, on “Instruction, Race and the Curriculum,” which provides that student class time will be focused on learning and academics rather than on hurtful ideologies or political agendas. School leaders have passed similar resolutions in the Peninsula and Chehalis districts.

The response by local educators comes after Governor Inslee signed SB 5044 in May 2021 to require all school teachers to undergo training the CRT, in likely violation of employee First Amendment and other civil rights.

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

Lizzo Claims She’s ‘Oppressed’

Lizzo left her $26 million home and arrived at the VMAs in her private jet to tell us how ‘oppressed’ she was.

Yes, really.

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

Michigan Secretary of State Loses Round in Fight Over Dead People on Voter Rolls

Authored by Steven Kovac via The Epoch Times

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has failed to convince a judge to dismiss a case that could force the state to remove 25,975 deceased people from its voter rolls.

Benson moved for dismissal of a case brought against her in November 2021 by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) for her failure to clean up the state’s voter registration rolls—in an alleged violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

On Aug. 25, Benson’s motion to dismiss the case was denied by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The court also denied the motions to intervene filed by the Detroit/Downriver Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans, and Rise Inc.

Additionally, PILF’s suit seeks to force Benson to provide documentation of her efforts to remove deceased registrants from the voter rolls, something she has thus far also failed to do.

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

New York Professor Mandates Masks, Despite University Lifting Mask Mandate on Campus

The self-proclaimed queer feminist professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz requires mask wearing on her syllabus in order to participate in lectures, despite the university lifting the mandate. She claims not wearing one is racist and ableist.

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

Oregon Police Seek Motive in Safeway Shooting After Suspect Found Dead: What We Know

Authorities in Bend, Oregon, on Monday were investigating the motive of an unidentified gunman who killed two Safeway supermarket shoppers in one of three deadly weekend U.S. shootings.

Sunday night, a man fired shots inside a central Oregon grocery store about 160 miles southeast of Portland, killing two people and injuring another person. The suspect died.

Meanwhile, two other shootings across the U.S. left six people dead…

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Stoner Nation: More Americans Smoke Weed Than Tobacco, Survey Finds

For the first time ever, more Americans are smoking marijuana than tobacco.

The number of Americans smoking marijuana has reached 16%, the highest portion recorded since the pollster began asking the question in 2013, according to a new Gallup survey released this month. Just 11% of Americans say they’ve smoked cigarettes in the past week, though.

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

The Effect of Emergency-Ordered School Closings, Learning Loss and Mask Mandates on Children

Introduction

Governor Inslee responded to the national COVID health crisis by closing the public schools in Washington state to in-person instruction from March 2020 to September 2021, and allowing them to re-open sporadically the fall of 2021. Governor Inslee also mandated the use of masks and other face covering, and implemented social distancing rules in daycares and schools from March 2020 to March of 2022.

As a result of these three policies — school closures, masks mandates and social distancing, the 1.1 million students attending Washington’s public schools had their education disrupted for nearly two years.

The stated reason for imposing these policies was to slow or stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Recent studies have raised questions about whether or to what extent these extreme measures provided a public health benefit. There is no question, however, that these policies had a severe impact on children. This study reviews the human outcomes of school closures, mask mandates and social distancing and the impact they had on the social and learning losses experienced by children in Washington state.

Learning loss and social promotion

The data show Washington students have suffered significant learning loss as a result of these COVID rules. Governor Inslee and State superintendent Reykdal have acknowledged that the remote instruction provided in place of in-person instruction was inadequate, and failed to educate students to the minimum standards set by the state.

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

‘This is a Generation of Guinea Pigs’: Experts Weigh in on the Over Medication of American Teens

Vast numbers of American teens are on psychiatric medications, many of which are not recommended or approved for those under 18. In many cases, teens will be prescribed multiple drugs at once. The impact of psychiatric drugs on developing brains has not been measured.

“You can very cogently argue that we don’t have evidence about what it means to be on multiple psychotropic medications,” said UMass’ clinical psychologist Lisa Cosgrove, “This is a generation of guinea pigs.”

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

U.S. Supreme Court Anti-Discrimination Ruling Means the End of Washington State’s Blaine Amendments

Introduction

On June 21, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court held 6-3 in the landmark case of Carson, et al v. Makin that the state cannot prevent families from using a generally-available public tuition assistance program to send their children to private religious schools. This case and the cases leading up to Carson have the effect of repealing Washington state’s Blaine Amendments, measures adopted in the 1880s to ban public assistance to private “sectarian” schools, primarily targeting Catholic schools.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ended state policies that discriminate against parent-directed aid for private schools, states with programs that offer families general public aid cannot use the Blaine Amendments to deny families access to private religious schools.

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

Video: DNC Head Defends Joe Biden Calling Trump Supporters “Semi Fascist”

The current chair of the Democratic National Committee has defended Joe Biden’s comments about half the country being “semi-fascist”.

Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, Jaime Harrison claimed Biden was “calling what it what it is” in reference to the ‘Make American Great Again’ agenda.

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

Video: Jill Biden Physically Pulls Away ‘Stuck’ Joe From Reporters

As a confused looking Joe Biden spoke with reporters at the airport Sunday, Jill Biden, looking more like his carer than his wife, physically backed him away.

The guy has has COVID more times than Tom Brady has won the Super Bowl, so what is she doing?

And what’s with the hand? It appears to be stuck in a ‘shake my hand’ position.

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

‘Vote Republican’: Joe Rogan on How Americans Can ‘Protect Your Freedom’

Joe Rogan and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got into the harms of Covid policies on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, and Rogan took the opportunity to blast Democrats and give a boost to Republicans.

“Vote Republican,” he said in response to Rodger’s question about what Americans should do about it.

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

Woman Follows Suspect Vehicle While Calling 911 After Being Shot in the Neck at West Palm Beach Intersection

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A 44-year-old woman is in critical condition after a road rage incident ended in a shooting.

Detectives said people in two separate vehicles got into a verbal altercation before 8:30 a.m. near N. Australian Avenue and Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.

The confrontation continued as the two vehicles drove to a red light near the Palm Beach Outlets mall, when someone in a red 2016 Nissan ultima shot at the other car, hitting the 44-year-old woman in the neck.

The victim followed the other vehicle northbound on Interstate 95, calling 911 and providing information about the suspect vehicle to police. Other people who saw the shooting called 911 as well.

“She was critically wounded but was able to maintain following the suspect vehicle and along with others, provide information that led our detectives to that suspect vehicle,” said Mike Jachles, public information officer for the West Palm Beach Police Department.

She then pulled over in Martin County where she was airlifted to St. Mary’s Medical Center. She underwent surgery and is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, according to police.

           — Hat tip: Roger [Return to headlines]
 

“Get the F*** Out of This Province!” Canadian Deputy PM Pounced on in Alberta

Canadian deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland received an icy welcome to Alberta on Friday, as a man accosted her in a city hall building, calling her a traitor and a “f***ing bitch.” Video of the incident has been circulated on social media.

When the Canadian government confronted “freedom convoy” truckers paralyzing downtown Ottawa earlier this year in protest against vaccine mandates, Freeland — who is also finance minister — was the smiling face of the country’s alarmingly tyrannical response.

After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act for the first time in the country’s history, Freeland orchestrated the freezing of financial accounts of hundreds of protesters — without any due process.

On Friday, Freeland — who was born in Alberta — was about to board an elevator in a Grand Prairie city hall building when a man in blue jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt called her first name. Freeland turned and cheerfully replied, “Yes?”

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

Abolish the Police? Student Agenda for Montreal College Students Goes Woke

A woke movement has been growing worldwide in recent years, especially around universities and schools. The number of people concerned with the movement has been growing due to the fact that it affects children and teenagers.

The start of the school year at Collège de Maisonneuve in Montreal caused controversy due to an article published in the student agenda. The article in question was entitled Abolish the police, explaining how a society without police would work, and would be beneficial. Furthermore, at the same institution, policing programs are offered.

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

Conservative Leadership Race Sees Massive Voter Turnout

With just over one week left to vote, the Conservative leadership race is nearing its conclusion, and the party has seen a massive voter turnout.

According to Yaroslav Baran, a party spokesman, over 326,000 Conservative Party members have cast their vote as of August 26 — and more continue to flood in. To put this massive voter turnout in perspective, the 2020 Conservative Party election (the year Erin O’Toole was elected) only saw 174,404 members cast votes.

The spokesman also revealed that the Conservative Party had shattered the record for total members, attracting 678,708 people as of July 29, which is nearly three times as many members as the party had during the 2020 leadership race and more than twice as many members as the Liberal Party had during their last leadership election in 2013 (nearly 300,000).

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

Danielle Smith Would Invoke Sovereignty Act to Bar Federal ‘Climate Cops’

United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidate Danielle Smith says she wouldn’t permit federal “climate cops” to operate in Alberta, if elected Premier.

She made the comments in response to an Environment and Climate Change Canada job posting for an “Enforcement Officer.”

Should the federal government send ECCC enforcement officers, Smith said her Alberta Sovereignty Act would bar them from the province.

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

First Person to Receive Compensation for COVID Vaccine Death Discusses Canada’s Vaccine Injury Support Program

In our first interview with Franci, she described the horrible experience she was having with trying to be compensated by VISP, after her late mother Hannelore Maria Warner died minutes after taking her first Moderna COVID-19 injection.

Like severely vaccine-injured B.C. father Shaun Mulldoon and others who have suffered from “doing their part” to be vaccinated for COVID-19 without being given informed consent, Franci believes that the run-around applicants receive from VISP is an added burden to bear. This is especially considering there is no monetary amount that could compensate a person for something like the death of a loved one.

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

Brits Told to Get Used to Drinking Recycled Sewage

British Environment Agency CEO James Bevan says that Brits should get used to the idea of having to drink recycled sewage in times of water uncertainty.

“We need to treat water as a precious resource, not a free good,” writes Bevan in The Sunday Times. “We will have to be more selective about what we use drinking water for. It makes no sense to use it to clean the car or water the lawn.”

“We will need to be less squeamish about where our drinking water comes from. Part of the solution will be to reprocess the water that results from sewage treatment and turn it back into drinking water — perfectly safe and healthy, but not something many people fancy.”

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

EU Plans ‘Emergency Intervention and Structural Reform” of the Electricity Market

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that a major reform is coming to the EU electricity market in the wake of skyrocketing energy prices and foreboding predictions of rolling blackouts.

“The skyrocketing electricity prices are now exposing, for different reasons, the limitations of our current electricity market design,” said von der Leyen. “It was developed under completely different circumstances and for completely different purposes. It is no longer fit for purpose.”

“That is why we, the Commission, are now working on an emergency intervention and a structural reform of the electricity market. We need a new market model for electricity that really functions and brings us back into balance.”

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

Europe Warned of Danger for Many Winters to Come

Europe could face gas shortages for several winters as a result of the Russian supply cut, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told a news conference on Monday, as reported by Reuters.

“I do not think this crisis is going to be limited to just one winter. It may well be that we will have a number of winters where we have to somehow find solutions,” van Beurden said.

The chief executive pointed out that Europe will remain under pressure as it takes steps to scrap Russian gas supplies by 2027. “If there was no Russian gas supply at all… life would be very hard,” van Beurden noted, adding “We should all be very mindful and responsible when it comes to that.”

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

German Chancellor Demands Bigger EU, Less National Sovereignty for Members

PRAGUE (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Monday for a growing European Union to agree on a series of changes that would help it overcome internal divisions and stand up to external rivals such as Russia and China.

In a wide-ranging speech at Charles University in Prague, Scholz said the EU must make itself “fit” for future enlargement from 27 to 30 — or even 36 — nations by taking more decisions by majority vote, rather than requiring unanimity on all issues that has in the past allowed individual member states to veto key decisions.

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

Italian Elections: Right-Populist Leading Polls Promises Pro-Family Tax Cuts

Italian social conservative firebrand Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brother of Italy (FdI), has promised to cut taxes as her party remains the most popular ahead of next month’s national elections.

Ms Meloni, who appeared at a campaign event alongside former European Parliament president Antonio Tajani, has promised radical tax reforms that would favour households with larger families, presumably to combat Italy’s demographic decline without resorting to mass immigration.

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

Ozzy Osbourne Moving Back to England Due to High Crime in US

The iconic Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon are returning home to England after two decades in the United States because he doesn’t want to “die in America.” The couple cite “crazy” gun violence, high taxes and political strife keeping Americans divided as reasons for leaving their Beverly Hills home to a large estate in Buckinghamshire.

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

Salvini: ‘Hungarian Family Legislation is the Best in Europe’

In the run-up to the early Italian parliamentary elections in September, the Italian right is setting the tone. Former Interior Minister Salvini, head of the right-wing Lega, has now suggested adopting Hungarian President Viktor Orban’s family protection measures.

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

‘Sunday is a Time for Prayer and Family, Not Shopping’ — Polish Family Minister Rejects Dropping Sunday Shopping Ban

In Poland, as in many European countries such as Germany, Spain, and Italy, Sunday represents a day of rest, so most shops are closed. Yet, there has long been pushback against this policy — which is based on Christian tradition — from business interests, libertarians, and a number of citizens, including in Poland.

Poland’s family minister, however, is defending the policy, arguing that family, tradition, and Christianity come first before narrow business interests. However, she says she is nevertheless willing to hear from the business community on the issue.

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

Swedish Populists Warn of Mail-in Ballot Sabotage Ahead of Elections

The populist Sweden Democrats (SD) have warned over the possibility of mail-in ballot sabotage ahead of national elections on September 11th, claiming to have received a number of reports of incorrect mailings.

The anti-mass migration populist party say they have received reports that voters have received ballot papers from municipalities they do not live in and that they have begun an investigation into the matter, raising alarms over possible sabotage.

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

Swiss Politicians Form ‘Stop the Blackouts’ Coalition: “We Cannot Do Without Nuclear Power Plants”

With the Swiss people anxiously awaiting Tuesday’s governmental unveiling of their cunning plan to cope with potential energy shortages caused by the war in Ukraine, which is largely expected to push for voluntary cuts by consumers; Reuters reports that a group of Swiss politicians has formed ‘Stop The Blackouts’, which will launch a petition seeking a revision to the country’s energy policy to guarantee adequate power supplies and keep nuclear as part of the mix.

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

‘These So-Called Eco-Warriors Are Waging a War Against the British People’: Priti Patel Blasts Mob’s War on Democracy as Just Stop Oil Protesters Disrupt Deliveries of Fuel, Food and Newspapers

Priti Patel has furiously criticised eco ‘thugs’ for ‘waging a war against the British people’ after they spent days tunnelling under roads, disrupting grocery and fuel deliveries and the production of the Daily Mail newspaper.

The Home Secretary urged police to be tougher on ‘lawless’ Just Stop Oil activists whose protest blocking a fuel depot in turn shut the roads leading to a printworks.

The Mail was only able to deliver newspapers to readers yesterday morning after a last-minute agreement to print at alternative sites, with some delivery drivers diverted many miles away and other drivers brought in to fulfil orders.

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

UK: Eight Arrested Following Just Stop Oil Roadblock in Essex

Police have made eight arrests after environmental protesters blocked an oil tanker in Essex.

Officers were called to the scene in St Clements Way, in West Thurrock Grays at around 8pm on Sunday after reports of a group obstructing the road and a tanker.

One person climbed on top of the vehicle while others are reported to have deflated its tires.

The road was temporarily closed but re-opened at around 3am on Monday.

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

UK: Please, No White Men: Air Force Requested Diverse Pilot for Top Gun Premiere

The Royal Air force (RAF) specifically requested that anyone but a white male pilot be sent to appear alongside film star Tom Cruise at the premiere of the film Top Gun: Maverick earlier this year.

The email, which was sent in April ahead of the May 19th Top Gun: Maverick premiere in London, called for candidates among the RAF’s pilots to be selected to appear alongside the film’s star, Tom Cruise — but asked that no white males be considered if possible.

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

Iraq Protests: Multiple Deaths, Dozens Injured After Hundreds Storm Gov’t Palace, Clash With Security Forces

Clashes between security forces and hundreds of protesters who stormed the government palace in Baghdad Monday have resulted in multiple deaths and dozens more injured, according to reports.

The Associated Press reported that at least 15 people had been killed, while local outlets put the figure at 12. Injuries, meanwhile, ranged from a few dozen to a few hundred.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq called on protesters to leave Baghdad’s International Zone and vacate all governmental buildings.

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

Ukrainians Claim Southern Counter-Offensive Underway, Russian Lines Breached

Ukrainian officials claim that a long-awaited counter-offensive in the southern Kherson region is underway, and that the Russians’ first line of defence has been breached.

Russia found early success in southern Ukraine shortly after their invasion commenced, with forces striking northward from the Crimea, annexed in 2014, capturing swathes of territory even as a lightning strike for Kyiv — claimed to have been a mere feint by the Russians — appeared to end in failure.

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

India: Dalit Hindu Man Brutally Beaten Up by the Muslim Villagers in Bihar, Forced Him to Drink Urine

On the allegation of theft, the hands and feet of a Dalit youth were tied and beaten up with a stick. It is alleged that on asking for water, the victim was made to drink urine. The victim says that all the accused are Muslim residents of Ijra village. The police have registered a case and started searching for the accused. The video of the beating is going viral on social media.

Vinod Yadav | HENB | Darbhanga | Aug 27, 2022:: A video has gone viral from Darbhanga, Bihar, where a Dalit youth of Hindu faith was tied with his hands and feet and beaten up by Muslim villagers with a stick on the allegation of theft. It is alleged that on asking for water, the victim was made to drink urine. It is being told that the youths who beat up are residents of a nearby village. This video of brutal beating is going viral on social media. The victim has been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. At the same time, the police has started investigating the matter.

Darbhanga SDPO Krishnanandan Kumar said that the matter is being investigated, soon the accused will be arrested. On this matter, the victim’s son Abhishek Paswan says that all the allegations against his father are false. His father was coming to Darbhanga from Madhubani at his aunt’s house on the night of 16 August. Then some youths of Izra village asked the father’s name and brutally beat him up. When the father asked for water, he was made to drink urine. The victim Ram Prakash Paswan is a resident of Rajora village under Keoti police station. Speaking to the media, the victim’s son also alleged that a mob of 25 to 30 people including Mohammad Akram, Mohammad Munna and Mohammad Raja brutally thrashed his father on suspicion of theft.

Doctors told that due to the beating, apart from the spinal cord of the patient, shoulder and waist ribs have been broken. Also there is a problem in kidney. The victim’s son alleges that in return for leaving his father, they demanded Rs 20 lakh. The people of the village immediately gave 50 thousand rupees to save his life. After this, the father was forcibly confessed to theft and was written on a paper. It is alleged that they have also been threatened that everyone will be killed if they complain to the police.

By this time, Bajrang Dal has also entered into the matter for justice for Ram Prakash Paswan. Bajrang Dal convener Rajiv Kumar Madhukar raised questions on the functioning of Madhubani Police. Also, he accused of doing such mob lynching. Rajeev Kumar says that no one has the right to take the law into their own hands even if they steal. If justice is not found on this matter, then there will be agitation from Bihar to the country level. Though the matter came to light a little later, the repercussions of it are now rising high.

Many BJP leaders commented on this matter describing Bihar is now passing through a Jungle Regime under Nitish Kumar — Tejashwi Yadav rule.

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

India: Jamath Permission Necessary for Ganesha Puja in Muslim Majority Housing Colony: Madras HC

Grant nod to install Ganesha idol after obtaining local jamath consent: Madras High Court.

B Upendran | HENB | Chennai | Aug 28, 2022:: In a very alarming turn, the Madras High Court issued an order to obtain permission of the Muslim community for observing Ganesha Chaturthi Puja in a Muslim dominated area.

In India, Muslims are free to observe their religious festivals and practice their own faith without any hindrance as they are a minority. But, majority Hindus are restricted to perform their religion, rituals and festivals in any Muslim area as Hindus are minority in those Muslim areas. And when the judiciary is not ready to understand the cor issue of Islamic intolerance, the Islam ignorant system leads the society in a de facto Sharia dominance rather.

The Madras High Court has directed the Coimbatore police to grant permission to install Ganesha idol at a housing board colony, where Muslims lived in large numbers, after obtaining the consent from the local Jamath.

Justice N Sathish Kumar gave a direction to this effect on August 26 while disposing of a criminal original petition from Mahalakshmi, who prayed for a direction to grant permission to install Ganesha Idol at Pullakadu Housing Unit in Ukkadam South and celebrate Vinayaka Chaturthi festival falling on August 31.

According to the petitioner, the residents in the housing colony want to celebrate Vinayaka Chaturthi in their area and that other community people are also willing to participate in the said celebrations and they have also agreed to even offer annadhanam (food distribution) to the devotees. She sought local police permission.

The Additional Public Prosecutor, appearing for the police, submitted that the area is predominantly surrounded by Muslim community and therefore there will be a law and order problem.

However, petitioner’s counsel submitted that even the local Jamath people are willing to participate in the celebrations and they had no objections…

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

Minor Hindu Girl Gang-Raped, Eyes Gouged Out in Sindh of Islamic Pakistan

8-yr-old Hindu girl gang-raped by suspected Islamist hooligans, her eyes gouged out to deface the identity.

Seema Singh Meghwar | HENB | Karachi | Aug 28, 2022:: Another incident of Islamic crime against minorities in Pakistan that have become endemic to the Islamic state, an eight-year-old Hindu girl was brutally gang-raped in Umarkot region of Sindh province, her eyes gouged out after that to destroy her identity.

The minor was brutalized on Sunday. The suspected Islamist elements allegedly scratched her entire face and pierced her eyes with sharp knife like object.

The incident came into light after a Hindu rights activist in Pakistan tweeted some video clips taken from local TV news channels of Pakistan in which the victim can be seen on a stretcher while her parents were taking her inside a hospital compound.

A woman accompanying the victim’s family to the hospital can also be seen in the video. The woman told news reporters that the girl’s condition is horrible because the bleeding has not stopped.

“She has been continuously bleeding from her genitals, the doctors in the local emergency hospital have referred her into BIDS hospital where a gynecologist will examine her condition because she is continuously bleeding,” she said, adding that the girl is in desperate need of antibiotics.

“The rapists have literally scratched her entire face and have also gouged her eyes, just looking at her once is enough to give anybody chills down their spine,” she said while adding that the poor in Pakistan have no place. “Anybody can see the condition of this girl, this is not the only case, thousands of incidents like this happen every day but no action is taken whatsoever, where should these people go, the government must answer,” she said.

In another video clip posted by the Hindu rights activist, the victim’s mother told the news media that the victim had gone to a local shop, but did not return. In the video the woman can be seen talking in native language.

She was recovered by Umarkot police hours after her disappearance. The cops took her to a civil hospital in the region and have lodged a probe in the matter. The accused elements are currently on the run, police making efforts to arrest them, said reports.

The anchor of Mehran Tribune TV channel described the situation of Pakistan minorities as worse than anything and they have hardly any way to appeal for them for redressal.

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

China Develops High-Performance Radar to Render US Stealth Technology Ineffective

Various research projects in China have been focused on anti-stealth radar advances, including developing quantum radar technology. China has reported yet another breakthrough in its technological competition with the US.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP), which appears in Hong Kong, has revealed that Chinese researchers have developed a medium-wave infrared system that renders the “stealth” technology of enemy fighter jets ineffective. The system can already identify aircraft at a distance of 285 kilometers.

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

CPAC Australia Event Location Kept Private Due to ‘Left Wing Cancel Culture’

Organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference Australia say they’re not disclosing the location of their fall event for now to prevent it from being shut down by protesters.

CPAC Australia announced Friday that a venue in Sydney is secured for the Oct. 1-2 conference. However, the organizers also said the “left wing cancel culture crowd” wants to stop the event from happening.

The concern is not unfounded, considering Australian politicians made attempts to shut down the conference in previous years.

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

New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern Facing ‘Ugly Protests’

Sky News host Rita Panahi says New Zealanders are finally waking up to the “gross ineptitude” of their “lockdown happy Prime Minister”.

“After enjoying one of the longest political honeymoons in modern politics, thanks largely to adoring media coverage,” she said.

“Jacinda Ardern and her Labour party are facing some ugly poll numbers and protests.”

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

New Zealand: Jacinda Arden ‘Can’t Verify’ Secret Interpol Memo to Ban Avi Yemini

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has further distanced herself from a plot to stop two Australian journalists from reporting at an anti-government protest in Wellington last week.

In a press conference on Monday, Ardern was asked by reporter Sean Plunket if she had any comments on an explosive Interpol memo which revealed that Wellington’s Interpol bureau went on a ‘fishing expedition’ to ‘dig up dirt’ on journalists Avi Yemini and Rukshan Fernando who were assigned to travel to the country to report on a protest at Parliament for Rebel News.

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

Belgium: Former Football Player Speaks Out After Daughter’s Pool Sex Attack by Migrants

Former professional Belgian footballer Frédéric Dupré has spoken out after his daughter was one of the victims of alleged sexual assaults by a pair of migrants at a swimming pool in Ghent.

The alleged sexual assaults and harassment occurred on Thursday at the Rozebroeken swimming pool and saw the two asylum seekers, supposedly minors, arrested and interviewed by police after they were removed from the pool by lifeguards.

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

Italian Island Sees Record-Breaking 50 Migrant Boats Land in 24 Hours

The Italian island of Lampedusa saw a record-breaking number of migrant boats land this weekend, with 50 landings taking place within the space of just 24 hours.

The number of boat landings exceeds the previous record of 36 landings in a 24-hour period. At one point, an estimated 11 migrant boats arrive in the span of a single hour as the island, which lies between Tunisia and Sicily, again became overwhelmed.

[Comment: The migrants want to get in before the populist Right comes to power in Italy.]

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

Watch: African Jihadist Blocks Paris Train, Pelts Windows With Stones

An illegal migrant from Africa was arrested after standing on rail tracks in Paris and pelting a blocked train with stones while shouting Islamic slogans, according to reports.

The incident unfolded on Saturday evening in the 18th arrondissement of the French capital.

Video shot by a witness shows a man hurling rocks at the driver’s compartment of a tram stopped at a station.

The crazed man can be heard yelling “Allah akbar” during the standoff.

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

Activity Book Tells Kids to ‘Explore’ Feelings on Assisted Dying

The Canadian Virtual Hospice has created an “activity book” to help children “explore their feelings” about doctor-assisted dying “by someone in your life.”

The workplace explains what doctor-assisted suicide is — more commonly referred to as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) or euthanasia — and explains why someone would want it, who is eligible and how it works.

“This book was created for young people, like you, who have someone in their life who may have MAiD,” the activity book reads.

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

Another UK Health Service Trust Caught Erasing ‘Mothers’ for ‘Birthing People’

Yet another National Health Service (NHS) trust has been caught erasing mothers in favour of woke “Birthing people” language, as the governing Conservative Party continues to allow far-left ideologues to take over all levels of the state unchecked.

No amount of negative media coverage or public commentary on Britain’s socialised health service appeasing far-left gender identity activist by erasing “mothers”, “women”, and so on in favour of terms like “birthing people” and “people with cervixes” seems to be able to hold back its continued spread, with the NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) becoming the latest arm of the service to push them.

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

Could Same-Sex Marriage be Legalized in Poland?

While public surveys show that there is little support for legalizing same-sex marriage in Poland, the country’s left-liberal opposition parties appear to be laying the groundwork for legalization should they come to power after upcoming elections.

Insight into how the left might accomplish this goal was made clear during the Campus Polska conference panel on Saturday where the leader of the Polska 2050 party, Szymon Holownia, and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski were both asked about their views on the introduction of same-sex marriage. The influential Warsaw mayor, who belongs to the Civic Platform party (PO), said that in many European states, same-sex marriage is being introduced by conservative parties. He called for a debate about marriage equality to be preceded by the introduction of civil partnerships.

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

Drag Brunch in Roanoke Brings Protesters, Armed Counter-Protesters

ROANOKE, Texas — Protesters and counter-protesters got in heated exchanges outside a “drag brunch” in Roanoke on Sunday.

Video from outside Anderson Distillery and Grill on early Sunday shows the two groups gathered on both sides of the street, shouting at each other.

Some seen in front of the restaurant are wearing black face masks and holding rifles.

Roanoke Police say they were aware of the protest ahead of time and brought extra officers and resources to increase security.

The event called “Barrel Babes Drag Brunch” which the location described as “similar to a variety show with professional drag artists lip-syncing, dancing and performing comedy routines.”

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

LA Libraries Host Drag Queen Story Hours Targeted at Children

DTLA hosted a Proud Festival over the weekend, which was a free community event for people of all ages. “Family Day” was part of the Sunday afternoon festivities, featuring a “splash zone” along with “finger painting, law games, balloon animals,” and a “Drag Queen story time.”

The event was captured by TPUSA contributor Drew Hernandez, host of Frontlines, who sat with families to watch the story time unfold. After the books were read, the Drag Queen called “Pickle” took photos with the kids.

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

Rand Think Tank Calls for “Guardrails” on the Metaverse

Like the pop song says, right now, collectively, as humanity — we might be “slow dancing in a burning room.”

While the world looks to be on the brink of catastrophe — there are plenty of theoretical, and even quasi-theoretical discussions about a hypothetical future, not few of those involving a thing called, “the metaverse.”

Regardless, it’s true — anybody who makes it out of here alive — might actually have to deal with this future problem.

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

Report: Children’s Hospital CEO Doubles Down on Trans Surgeries for Minors in Letter to Employees

The president and CEO of Boston Children’s Hospital is doubling down on his hospital’s policy of offering transgender surgeries to underage children, according to emails obtained by independent journalist Chris Elston, also known as Billboard Chris.

Boston Children’s Hospital came under fire in August when publicly available video circulated in which the hospital advertised “gender-affirming” hysterectomies for underage children. The hospital also offered vaginoplasties to underage girls as young as 17, a policy they reversed after receiving backlash. An analysis from the Daily Caller News Foundation found that doctors performed 65 chest surgeries on transgender minors between 2017 and 2020.

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

Trudeau Splurges $100 Million on Radical Gender Ideologues

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to lavish gender radicals who vote for him with the hard-earned money of Canadians at every opportunity.

This time Trudeau announced a $100 million taxpayer investment into the pockets of radical LGBTQ groups pushing gender nonsense onto children.

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

10 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/29/2022

  1. “structural reform of the electricity market” – Ursula von Der Leyen.
    A “Reset”?

  2. The last rebellion
    (translated from German)

    The capitalist mega-machine is in danger of collapsing because of its own contradictions – the tendency for the rate of profit to fall fuels crises, wars and totalitarian rule.
    The West is rearming, NATO is on a warpath, prices are soaring and the destruction of plundered nature is becoming increasingly visible and tangible. In the Rubicon interview, journalist Patrik Baab describes the “tendency of the profit ratio to fall” as the main economic cause of the current systemic crisis. What does he really mean by this?

    Why the rate of profit tends to fall
    War, inflation, environmental degradation and totalitarianism threaten people all over the world. The economic causes lie mainly in the capitalist system, says journalist Patrik Baab. In an interview with Rubikon, he explained the current crisis in part by a certain mechanism that is firmly rooted in the world capitalist system: the tendency for the rate of profit to fall.

    The German philosopher and economist Karl Marx addressed this phenomenon more than 150 years ago. He described it in detail in his work “Das Kapital”. Marx had realised that technological development was making it increasingly difficult to exploit capital. The more labour entrepreneurs save by using machines, the more the utilisation rate of capital decreases.

    In other words:

    Since capital investment tends to yield less and less profit in percentage terms, firms have to produce more and more goods faster and faster to make up for the loss. This forces them to keep up with the latest technology and to economise on labour and wages.

    In this way, individual companies increase their profits in the short term. In the long run, however, this sets off a downward spiral in the capitalist market: investment becomes increasingly unprofitable, and capitalists have to spend more and more money on the process of exploitation to compensate. This is the compulsion for constant economic growth, which politicians constantly promote as the highest good.

    In the process, the weaker perish and the stronger triumph. Capital assets are increasingly concentrated at the top. Corporations grow into global monopolies that also merge with government agencies and eliminate market competition.

    At the same time, the use of capital continues to fall, fuelling the spiral.

    This ongoing trend is not altered by the very high short-term profits of a few companies, as we have seen recently with the manufacturers of Corona drugs or now with some large energy and arms companies.

    Marx described the mechanism he observed, produced by the capitalist system itself, as the tendential decline in the rate of profit. He expressed it, mutatis mutandis, as follows: the more constant capital, the machines, replaces variable capital, human labour power, i.e. the greater the proportion of labour taken over by the machines, the lower the rate of profit becomes in the medium term.

    Only human beings can be exploited
    First of all, it is necessary to clarify what Marx considered as real profit: this can only be created by the exploitation of productive human labour. Speculative profits, for example, which are also commonly called profits, are simply redistributed, artificially inflated monetary assets.

    According to Marx, only human beings can be forced into unpaid extra work. Wage earners must always produce higher returns, but this is not reflected in their wages. The rest, the surplus value, ends up in the accounts of the company’s owners and shareholders.

    Machines, on the other hand, and nowadays even computers, cannot be forced to do unpaid extra work. They provide a specific service for which the company has already paid at the time of purchase, i.e. for which it has been paid. Nor can you save much on maintenance, except again with pay cuts. Besides, there’s another thing as car manufacturer Henry Ford put it simply: “Cars don’t buy cars”. And machines and computers certainly don’t buy goods.

    Take, for example, a group of young people who are on the run: they have to buy their own housing and land to build on the market and pay for it. They need permits for everything, and the materials are not just lying around. Nobody can put up a hut in the forest with impunity. Everything that politics decides is done within the framework of the ubiquitous profit machine, the market, this automatic subject.

    Gambling and war
    Politics, as manager of the order of domination, also tries to solve the problems that arise when the rate of profit tends to fall in line with the means of the market. In recent decades, we have seen most central banks lower their policy rates more and more, some even below zero. In this way, they wanted to get cheap money into the market to encourage entrepreneurs to invest even in “projects” that had long seemed unprofitable. They wanted to stimulate stagnant growth again, to get the economy humming.

    Another strategy is to conquer new markets and the last untapped resources. These are in Russia. Russia has therefore been the target of the Western imperialist military alliance for a very long time. It is marching straight east, subjugating one country after another. Joining NATO is certainly not as voluntary as it seems. Those who join have more than a hope of getting a bigger slice of the pie in the Western market. So is the fear of an attack – from NATO.

    With its systemic strategies, politics and the military inevitably reach their limits, including the limits of the entire planet. Following the logic of the market will catapult humanity not only into insane wars and unimaginable misery, but also into an environmental crisis, the true effects of which can only be speculated on today.

    Some profiteers are well aware of this. The subject has been debated for decades in the think tanks of the leading technology companies. It is more present than ever in Silicon Valley, the World Economic Forum and other technocratic conversations. Politicians have failed previous attempts at solutions, the rate of profit is in the basement, the destruction is gigantic: the industrial capitalist system has outlived its usefulness. And the productive forces, i.e. technological development, are also way ahead.

    Technocracy as a new form of government?
    No one can now look into the heads of the leading technocrats and therefore cannot know what is going on inside. But I can describe what is there and draw reasonable conclusions from it without having a crystal ball. First of all, there are some basic points to consider:

    First, capitalism has become a global system by its internal logic. Its market dominates all spheres of life down to the last “corner” of the planet. Constant competition has swallowed up the world’s wealth. This has given rise to multinational monopolies and cartel-like constructs that dominate the world economy and most state apparatus. They have virtually eliminated market competition.

    Second, technology has developed rapidly. The science that deals with it and drives its development is largely under the control of private monopolies. That is where the money is, where the relevant salaries, fees and bonuses flow. The state-owned science companies have more or less mutated into toothless minions and, like the state, are subject to the dictates of big business.

    Thirdly, oil and coal are still important as energy sources, but there are now many more modern technologies that are increasingly pushing the former into the background. The big technology companies are working on this with great zeal. Of course, they sometimes fail here and sometimes there, because the last raw materials stored in the earth “require” capitalisation. But in the long run, historically speaking, the most progressive has always prevailed. The goal of not completely destroying people’s neighborhoods may well be bought by the profiteers in Silicon Valley; it is, after all, their own.

    Fourth, technology companies have digital capabilities at their disposal, on which not only all companies today are more or less dependent. They also enable the total surveillance of all humanity. As the most advanced industry, this gives them enormous power over the entire economy, governments, the state apparatus and all people.

    Fifthly, the profit-driven economy, with its constant compulsion to grow, runs up against ecological limits. If it continues to operate in this way, it is tantamount to self-destruction. The failure is already obvious: the falling profit rate and the high degree of monopolisation. Classical competitive capitalism is as good as dead. The old oil and coal companies have lost much of their former power. The tech giants are now on top and making a lot of money even in crises like this.

    Totalitarian rule
    It can therefore be assumed that the technological elites are striving for a new form of government that no longer has much to do with the classical capitalist mode of production. They could maintain their power through their monopolies, from which all violence, propaganda and extensive surveillance emanate. They will continue to depend on national governments and state apparatus to maintain their rule.

    Their biggest problem, and ours, will be that they no longer need large numbers of people to produce goods. They must succeed in integrating even the masses who are “useless” to them into their apparatus or make them obey. It is a totalitarian, global and nationally organized rule for the technology moguls.

    At present we are witnessing a visible war for power – between the old big bourgeoisie and the new technocrats. The latter have enormous means at their disposal to impose totalitarian rule. We can already feel that they are trying. We should be prepared for it.

    Property and power
    However, there is no going back to the old order, if only because of technological progress and the deepening ecological crisis, not to mention that industrial capitalism was hardly less brutal for the vast majority of people in many parts of the world. Outside the imperialist centres, misery was a constant companion of the people. In this country, too, it is visibly spreading.

    All is not lost, however. It would be possible to break the power of the technology companies. For it too is based on ownership of the relevant means of production, just as in all known class societies.

    Whoever owns the means of production has the weapons, controls the distribution of everything, pays the propagandists and “science” – and rules. This has always been the case. However, economic property relations are not set in stone, but can be changed.

    by Susan Bonath
    https://theplattform.net/de/kanal/rubikon/das-letzte-aufbaumen
    The final battle
    27.08.2022 – Rubicon

    • We are far too late to repatriate the the 3rd world from our midst, it will have to be done the good ole fashioned way, for the 3rd worlder will not leave no matter how nice you are to them, so now cometh the sword and leave none to stand until none are left.

      • Well yes, G, but bear with me a moment.

        I work a couple of days a week in a charity shop. The last few days we’ve had a student doing “work experience”; she’s courteous, helpful and very quick mentally. She enjoyed it so much last week that she’s coming back one day a week voluntarily.

        Her family is from one of the Gulf states, and probably wealthy; her English is excellent. She’s doing a masters’ degree in, I think, biochemistry. Now, hold onto your hat: she’s rejected her parents’ proposed husband, which they’ve accepted; she plans to pursue her career, marry later to a man she’s chosen, and have a family in her thirties.

        Your proposal seems to me like bombing civilians, which would likely include people like her. This wasn’t acceptable, at least in retrospect, in WW2, and certainly isn’t now. The Israelis maintain the moral high ground by minimising civilian casualties on both sides, with great difficulty as their enemies use their own civilians as human sheilds, which is of course a “war crime”. Do you really want us to act like the “Palestinians”?

        • What you think or people like you who think what was or wasn’t acceptable in wartime and what is or isn’t a so called war crime is irrelevant and immaterial and you think we are now too civilized for such massive casualties? Human nature trumps what is or isn’t so called civilized, for in the end, there is only Victors and vanquished, wolves and sheep and how we get there is a matter of semantics. As for your 3rd world friend, I don’t care, there are too many of them in our western countries Balkanizing us to a point of no return, so it comes down to them? Or Us? Homogeneous societies are peaceful, vibrant and productive societies, Diversity is Balkanization and then massive bloodshed as history has shown time immortal and yet useful idiots keep trying it to virtue signal how great , wonderful, civilized and humanitarian they are, then are completely shocked and horrified when it always goes south. Ask the Rhodesians and South Africans how well that diversity shoved up their backsides all worked out, and you can thank you labor hero Wilson for throwing the whites in Africa under the bus and the current 3rd world hellholes they are now. So is that going to work out now that they current idiots in charge letting the 3rd world without so much as a bloody whimper? No, it won’t, they have brought war upon you and you cheered for it.

          As for the bloody Israeli’s? They keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result with the sand rats extolling their virtue by claiming the high moral ground while emptying the treasury doing so with lots of casualties on their side, I call it bloody stupidity of the highest order. You know what you get when you take that so called high moral ground in warfare? You get bloody buried in it. You want to solve the sand rat problem in gaza and west bank? You eliminate the bloody problem so they are no longer a problem, then you will have peace.

  3. Sahih al-Bukhari is listed as an extremist book

    The Russian Ministry of Justice has included Sahih al-Bukhari, one of the six main collections of Sunni Islamic tradition, on the list of extremist materials.

    In addition, “Bulyug al-Maram” and the first volume of “The Interpretation of the Holy Quran” were included in the register. As follows from the conclusion of the Kazan Interregional Center for Expertise, the said scriptures contain theses that deny the secular system of the modern state, as well as signs of a hostile attitude towards non-Muslims, Jews and Christians.

    The examination claims that the scriptures “promote the superiority of Islam” and are aimed at “inciting Muslims to commit violent acts.”

    https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5536646

Comments are closed.