The new speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies is Lorenzo Fontana, a member of the Lega. Mr. Fontana has caused controversy with his vigorous public support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, the Finnish government is preparing to evacuate citizens along the border with Russia in the event that war should break out.
In other news, the Eurozone posted a record trade deficit in August, largely caused by the massive increase in energy prices.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, LP, MM, Reader from Chicago, SS, Steen, 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.
Americans Are Getting Poorer: Price Inflation Grew Faster Than Wages Again in September
Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute
The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released new price inflation data today, and according to the report, September was yet another month of soaring inflation. According to the BLS, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose 8.2 percent year over year during September, before seasonal adjustment. That’s the nineteenth month in a row of inflation above the Fed’s arbitrary 2 percent inflation target, and it’s seven months in a row of price inflation above 8 percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British PM Truss Fires Finance Minister, Backtracks on Corporate Tax Rate
British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday announced she had fired her chief finance minister and was backtracking on a controversial tax policy that had generated controversy when she proposed it just last month.
Truss said during a news conference on Friday that former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng had left her administration. “My priority is making sure we deliver the economic stability that our country needs,” she told reporters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Euro Zone Posts Record Trade Deficit in August Amid Soaring Energy Prices
BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (Reuters) — The euro zone posted in August its largest trade deficit since it expanded to 19 countries in 2015.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Minister Expects Polish Economic Growth at Over 2% for 2023
As a result of the Polish government’s help with energy prices, the country’s economy should grow by over 2 percent in 2023, according to Waldemar Buda, the Polish minister for economic development and technology.
The state budget has been based on an assumption of growth of 1.7 percent, but Buda feels that this figure will be exceeded and there will not be a recession.
“Hard to call that a recession, it would be the dream of many European countries,” said Buda, speaking on Polish Radio 1.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Kids Are Not Alright: Bidenflation Hits Halloween Candy Prices
As kids get ready to go trick-or-treating for Halloween, the price of candy, chewing gum, and other sweets has reached its highest level ever recorded.
The US continues to suffer from 40-year high inflation, according to Politico. Prices for sweets rose 13.1% in September, an all time high. “Record levels of inflation, the rising cost of sugar, and drought conditions have all added up to make lighter loads for trick-or-treaters come Oct. 31,” according to the The Washington Examiner.
“Overall prices for Hershey, the makers of Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kats, and Twizzlers, rose 14% this summer,” according to the outlet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top Fed Official Under Investigation for Violating Insider Trading Rules
Raphael Bostic, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, is under investigation by the Federal Reserve Board’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for violations of ethics guidelines designed to prevent insider trading, the Atlanta Fed announced Friday.
The Atlanta Fed’s ethics department found multiple inaccuracies in Bostic’s financial disclosures, most prominently a series of trades during “blackout periods” in March and April 2020 when Fed officials are not allowed to engage in trading, the Atlanta Fed reported Friday. This prompted Bostic to amend his financial disclosures going back to the beginning of his tenure in 2017 and issue a 7-page explainer where he claimed that he was unaware of the trades, alongside an official investigation by the OIG.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Videos: Biden Economic Advisors Continue to Gaslight Amid Disastrous Inflation Data
As fresh economic data revealed inflation has risen yet again to record highs, Biden economic advisors claimed that the data highlights “progress” and a “strong” economy.
The September inflation rate was clocked at 8.2 percent, while the Core CPI surged to 6.6 percent, the highest rate for four decades.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An anti-war activist confronted Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a public town hall event on Wednesday over her “support for nuclear war and Ukrainian Nazis” only to get locked out of his account by Twitter for “harassment.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Best Places to Survive a Nuclear Apocalypse in the US
After President Biden’s nuclear “Armageddon” statements and reports, the federal government is purchasing $290 million in anti-radiation drugs for use in “nuclear emergencies,” the first question that comes to mind is where to shelter in the event of nuclear war.
To answer that question, the survivalist website Survivalfreedom.com outlines that some of the safest regions in a nuclear war “include the upper Midwest, Maine, West Texas, and multiple small pockets, usually in areas that don’t have large populations.” The most dangerous region is the East Coast because of the significant presence of military installations, defense companies, critical infrastructure, and major cities.
The survivalist website pointed to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) map that outlines the most likely targets of Russian Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CDC Director’s Only School Reopening Meeting With ‘Parents’ Was With Far-Left Activists
New documents have revealed that Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only met with parents one time in the lead-up to the release of the agency’s school reopening guidance last year, with those “parents” in attendance at that meeting being predominantly leftist activists, including the founder of a transgender advocacy group.
The meeting, which was held up as a solid example of the CDC consulting parents prior to the release of the guidelines for reopening K-12 schools following the Covid lockdowns, was actually a private roundtable that featured several heads of Democrat-funded organizations, according to documents provided to Fox News by nonpartisan watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CEO Allegedly Conspired to Store California Election Workers’ Data in China
Eugene Yu, whom police arrested last week for alleged data theft, allegedly conspired to store California election workers’ personal data in China during the 2020 presidential election, prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday.
Yu’s firm, Konnech, entered a contract with Los Angeles County to provide secure poll worker management software for the 2020 election that stipulated all employee payroll and scheduling data collected by the company should be stored in the U.S., according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. Despite multiple statements to The New York Times denying Yu or Konnech stored data in China, new court filings indicate that Yu deliberately collaborated with unknown conspirators to transfer the personal information of hundreds of Los Angeles election workers through third party contractors based in China.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Far-Left Portland City Councilwoman Accused of Stolen Valor After Military Record Questioned
In a city council meeting on Thursday, far-left Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who is running for reelection, was accused of stolen valor. Hardesty has also called on her challenger Rene Gonzalez to “denounce” The Post Millennial’s editor-at-large Andy Ngo for his coverage of her.
The official Twitter account for Hardesty’s re-election posted on Thursday night, “Will Rene denounce attacks on Jo Ann from his supporter, right wing extremist Andy Ngo? Why is Rene the darling of the far right?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fauci Edited Paper by NIH-Funded Group Tied to Wuhan Lab
Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci edited a research paper by the group that worked with a high-profile Wuhan lab to study dangerous bat virus while pushing back concerns that the facility could be the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The paper, titled “Nipah virus dynamics in bats and implications for spillover to humans,” was funded by eight federal programs, half of which were from the NIAID that Fauci will head until this December.
Members of the nonprofit research group EcoHealth Alliance, which became a conduit for the Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct risky bat research using U.S. taxpayer dollars, make up over half of the roughly two dozen authors on the paper.
Fauci edited the paper in 2020 after receiving it for review that Jan. 8, two weeks before COVID-19 brought Wuhan into a complete lockdown.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After recently announcing a departure from the Democratic Party, Tulsi Gabbard made a string of appearances on highly-popular programs such as Tucker Carlson Tonight, Jesse Watters, and of course Joe Rogan.
This is not the first time Gabbard has made waves and certainly angered Democrat-supporting outlets by appearing on these or similar programs; often being heralded as the most reasonable or logically consistent member of the national party. Gabbard, who ran for president in the 2020 election (suspended campaign March 19, 2020) has become the darling of many right-wing pundits for her anti-war and anti-Hillary Clinton stances. However, a simple review of Gabbard’s policy positions from just a couple years ago in the aforementioned presidential race reveals that most of her opinions are more than left-leaning, but rather in lockstep with the establishment Democrats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Few states, if any, are as relentlessly and drearily woke as Oregon. Leftists can point proudly to Portland, with its ubiquitous crime, homelessness, broken windows, graffiti, and debris, as the model for what they want to do to the entire nation. But at least some Oregonians have decided that they don’t actually want to live in the Left’s paradise, and are tired of being tyrannized by the Leftists who run the state. Nine Oregon counties have already voted to secede from the state and join Idaho, and two more are set to vote in November about whether or not they want to do so as well. It’s an eloquent indication of which policies actually work for the American people: while Americans from all over the country flock to deep red Florida, in deep blue Oregon, people are actually trying to redraw the state boundaries so that they’re no longer in the blue state at all.
The Greater Idaho movement explains: “We promote the idea of creating a greater (bigger & stronger) Idaho so that conservative counties can become a part of a red state. We started from rural Oregon, but our movement now includes people of northwestern Oregon who welcome a new, smaller Oregon, as well as Idahoans, Californians, and Washingtonians.” The movement maintains that “moving the Idaho border is a win-win for each decision-making body.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How Cancer Deaths From the COVID Jabs Are Being Hidden
The fact that tumor sizes have become dramatically larger since 2021, patients are younger, and recurrence and metastasis are increasing should be front-page news, but you’re hearing nothing about it. Why is that? This former intelligence officer and strategist believes he knows why.
Story At-A-Glance
Analysis of U.S. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) data suggests the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been filtering and redesignating cancer deaths as COVID deaths since April 2021 to eliminate the cancer signal
The signal is being hidden by swapping the underlying cause of death with main cause of death
Uncontrollable turbo-charged cancers the medical establishment had never seen before only started to occur after the rollout of the COVID jabs
Before it was manipulated to eliminate the safety signal, data from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) showed cancer rates among military personnel and their families tripled after the rollout of the shots
After the rollout of the COVID jabs in 2021, cancer patients have gotten younger, with the largest increase occurring among 30— to 50-year-olds, tumor sizes are dramatically larger, multiple tumors in multiple organs are becoming more common, and recurrence and metastasis are increasing
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Frustration among employees of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx over the high crime rate and lack of enforcement has led to a mass exodus that threatens the stability of her office.
The number of resignations has been unprecedented. At first, Foxx tried to pin the exodus on the pandemic. But when other local prosecutors in neighboring counties didn’t experience anything like the wave of resignations seen in Cook County, Foxx’s mismanagement was laid bare for all to see.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Throws Out Fed Law Against Guns With Serial Numbers Removed
In a move that already has gun-control enthusiasts clutching their pearls, a judge on Wednesday ruled that a federal law barring possession of a gun with a removed serial number is unconstitutional.
Taking his cue from the guiding precedent of the Supreme Court’s landmark June gun ruling that found Americans have a constitutionally-protected right to carry a handgun in public, U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin said the serial-number law was inconsistent with the country’s “historical tradition of firearms regulation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A King County, Washington judge rejected an injunction filed by Seattle firefighters who were about to be terminated for not complying with the city’s COVID vaccine mandate for first responders. This will allow the firefighters to be fired.
Judge Matthew Williams, while wearing a mask during a Zoom hearing, denied the motion for the injunction, which would have prevented the firefighters from being terminated for refusing to get the jab for religious reasons.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Minnesota Woman Allegedly Assaulted for Wearing American Flag Shirt
A woman in Minnesota says that she was assaulted because she wore an American flag shirt.
On Oct. 2, officers from the Mankato Department of Public Safety were called to an apartment after receiving a 911 call involving a woman who was screaming.
According to a police report, when officers arrived at the apartment complex, they found that the woman was “soaking wet” and was “bleeding from the nose,” with a swollen face. Police officers also saw that broken plastic was on the kitchen floor in addition to “several cell phones that had cracks on the screen.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mother of 3, Police Officer, Teen: What We Know About the Victims in Raleigh’s Hedingham Shooting
The Raleigh Police Department on Friday released the names of five people who were killed and two who were injured in a shooting in an east Raleigh community.
The Raleigh Police Department on Friday released the names of five people who were killed and two who were injured in a shooting in an east Raleigh community.
Police said a 15-year-old boy opened fire in the streets of the Hedingham neighborhood and an adjacent greenway Thursday afternoon.
Five people died, identified by police as an off-duty Raleigh police officer, Gabriel Torres, 29, who was on his way to work when he was shot, and James Roger Thompson, 16; Mary Marshall, 34; Nicole Conners, 52 and Susan Karnatz, 49.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
No Motive Surfaces in 15-Year-Old’s Shooting Rampage in Raleigh
RALEIGH — A 15-year-old boy killed five people and injured two more in a shooting rampage in Raleigh, police said, horrifying a community that is now mourning victims whose lives were cut short as they were going about their daily routines.
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said the teen was captured hours after the victims were gunned down Thursday evening. He was hospitalized and in critical condition following his arrest, but authorities have not said how he was injured. Patterson said Friday that police haven’t determined a motive for the attack.
The victims were different races and ranged in age from 16 to their late 50s, Patterson said. Family members and friends said some of the victims were gunned down while doing normal, everyday activities — an off-duty police officer was killed while on his way to work, one of the women who died was on her porch talking to a neighbor, another woman who died was out walking her dog and another was out exercising.
Gov. Roy Cooper called the shooting an “infuriating and tragic act of gun violence.” He added: “No neighborhood, no parent, no child, no grandparent, no one should feel this fear in their communities — no one.”
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Ron DeSantis Announces $5,000 Bonuses to Law Enforcement Officers
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday announced $5,000 bonuses to Cape Coral law enforcement officers, showing once again that his administration values its officers amid leftist calls to defund the police.
“We understand the vital, vital role that law enforcement plays in a situation like this [hurricane response], of course, because if you look at the people that were helping rescue folks, you had police officers, sheriff’s deputies, you had state agencies, [the]Coast Guard,” he said, noting that the response “spanned the gamut.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rumble Begins Testing Limited Inventory of Video Ads
Rumble is on the path to allowing creators to monetize content and to allow more businesses to advertise on the platform — allowing it to become even more competitive to Big Tech. This week, Rumble announced beta testing of limited inventory of video ads.
Rumble recently announced that it had launched the beta version of an ad platform, Rumble Ads, which will be available to verified businesses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
San Francisco Residents Fed Up With Crime, Homelessness: ‘It’s Getting Less Safe’
SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden City is still getting more dangerous, several Bay Area residents told Fox News despite that a new district attorney has repealed some of her predecessor’s progressive policies.
“Crime in the city is worse right now,” John, who has lived in San Francisco for over 50 years, said. “We do have a new DA, so maybe things will get better.
“But I’ve been assaulted recently, so I’m kind of leery about that getting better right away,” the 74-year-old continued.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspect in Raleigh Shooting is 15 Years Old and in Critical Condition, Police Say
The mass shooting in Raleigh, N.C., that killed five people including a police officer was carried out by a 15-year-old who is now in critical condition, officials said on Friday.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, was taken into custody after a lengthy standoff, police said.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
The FBI Paid Danchenko Over $200k: Day 3 Trial Summary
Authored by Techno Fog via The Reactionary (emphasis ours)
Day 3 of the Igor Danchenko false statements trial started with the testimony of Democrat activist and Clinton ally Charles Dolan. For background, Dolan has historic ties to the Democrat party, was a state chairman of Bill Clinton’s 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns, and was an advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.
And he was also a source for the Steele dossier.
Dolan’s connections to Russia began from his consulting work, where he served to attract foreign investments into Russia in the 2000s. As part of that job, he would have regular conference calls with the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin and had occasional meetings with other Russian officials. Other work, such as assisting Disney in obtaining a broadcast license, would keep him connected to Russia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s Truth Social App Soars to No. 1 on the Google Play Store
Former President Donald Trump’s social media app Truth Social soared to the No. 1 downloaded app on the Google Play store Friday after its long-awaited debut.
Truth Social sat atop the free apps list ahead of such brand names as Tik Tok, Amazon, WhatsApp and Instagram.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Threatens Pulitzer Prize Board With Defamation Suit
Donald Trump has repeatedly called on the Pulitzer Prize Board to rescind the 2018 National Reporting awards won by The New York Times and The Washington Post for their reporting on the debunked claims that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election. Those calls were rejected over the summer.
On Thursday, Trump’s legal team notified the board, giving them five days to remove a “defamatory statement” on the Pulitzer Board’s website justifying the 2018 awards and insisting that none of the reporting has been discredited, and threatened legal action if they don’t.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
WaPo Article Claims Climate Change is Causing Rise in Hate Speech
An embarrassing news article in the Washington Post by Amudalat Ajasa claims that researchers are worried over rising global temperatures — but not for the reason you might think. Indeed, these researchers are reportedly concerned that hotter temperatures are spurring a rise in “hate speech.”
In a Thursday article titled, “Hotter days bring out hotter tempers, research finds,” Ajasa cited two studies showing that hotter temperatures, reportedly caused by climate change, are prompting people to exhibit increased aggression that manifests in “hate speech and hostile behaviour.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Waukesha Suspect Interrupts Trial With Outburst, Forces Jury to Leave
The alleged Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade killer continued his disruptive courtroom behavior Friday, prompting Judge Jennifer Dorow to temporarily excuse the jury.
Darrell Brooks disrupted the day’s proceedings by bombarding the judge with questioning about paperwork from the clerk of court’s office when the jury entered the courtroom. Brooks argued with the judge, refusing to drop the issue and raising his voice while behaving erratically, prompting Dorow to send jurors out of the room.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Waukesha Massacre Suspect Attempting to Use ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Defense
As the trial of Waukesha parade massacre suspect Darrel Brooks continues, the defendant is attempting to use the idea of being a sovereign citizen as a defense.
According to TMJ4, “A sovereign citizen is someone who believes they are not under the jurisdiction of any sort of government and therefore thinks the laws don’t apply to them.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wawa Cites Safety Concerns in Latest Philadelphia Store Closings
Citing safety concerns, Wawa, which calls Philadelphia, Pa., home, is closing two more stores in the city. The company has already closed or changed the hours of operation of several Philly stores.
The two stores in the heart of the city, located at 12th and Market and 19th and Market, will close permanently this fall. Both were already closing at midnight out of security concerns, having abandoned Wawa’s traditional open-24-hours-a-day store policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Armed Forces Ramps Up Discharges of Unvaccinated Soldiers
The head of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will be moving full steam ahead with his plan to purge the military of soldiers who made a personal health decision and refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
While the new vaccination policy by Chief of the Defence Staff. Gen. Wayne Eyre no longer makes the Covid-19 shot mandatory for all members, those who refused to be vaccinated when it was mandatory will continue to be discharged.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Wednesday evening, the educrats who make up the Halton District School Board had a meeting in Burlington, Ont. and I attended as my alter-ego, Mammary Menzoid, given that David Menzies was booted from the previous HDSB meeting last month and threatened with trespassing for the crime of… asking insensitive questions pertaining to Kerry Luc Lemieux, a.k.a., Kayla Lemieux, a.k.a., Busty Lemieux?
Lemieux is the vulgar cross-dressing teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School. The story has generated media attention the world over, from the U.K. and Australia to India and Pakistan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The public inquiry investigating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act began yesterday. As part of the government’s obligations following the invocation of the Act, a commission must be convened within 60 days and its subsequent report must be tabled in Parliament within 360 days after the Act is revoked.
This inquiry, deemed the Public Order Emergency Commission, was announced by Trudeau on April 25 after the Emergencies Act was revoked on February 23. The mandate delivered from the prime minister tasks the commission with handling the examination and assessment of the basis for the Trudeau government’s decision to use the Emergencies Act, the circumstances leading up to the invocation and whether this was an appropriate and effective measure chosen by the government to address the Freedom Convoy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Livestream Recap: Interviews From Day 1 of the Trucker Commission
Ezra Levant and Sheila Gunn Reid are joined by others to discuss what happened during the first day of the Public Order Emergency Commission.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On February 14, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ushered in martial law through the invocation of the Emergencies Act to squash a peaceful, three-week-long protest that saw him cower into hiding under the guise of a COVID-19 infection (despite being at least double, if not triple, vaccinated at the time).
It’s a decision that his government will face scrutiny over in the weeks to come.
Rebel News will be on the ground to bring you honest reporting without fear of biting the hand that feeds like the mainstreamists. You can follow along and help fund our coverage of the Public Order Emergency Commission here.
Back in March 2022, just a few days after the trampling of an Indigenous elder, the cannister shooting of Rebel journalist Alexa Lavoie and the general jack boots militant style shut down of freedom-loving Canadian truckers and their supporters, the federal government pledged $20 million in grant funding to Ottawa businesses allegedly shuttered by what they continually refer to as an illegal blockade.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ontario Provincial Police Says Trudeau’s Use of Emergencies Act Was Unnecessary
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) joined civil liberty groups from other provinces and Freedom Convoy protestors in the declaration that the use of the act to deal with the demonstrations last year was not needed.
Inquiry commissioner Paul Rouleau said during the hearings that they will focus mainly on the government’s invocation of the act, with groups alleging that the government acted unconstitutionally, according to the Toronto Star.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ever wonder what really took place during Canada’s great Trucker Freedom Convoy earlier this year? A new interactive site called Convoy Live.com aims to allow you to do just that.
The new site features a map of Ottawa and allows its users to select raw livestream and video footage of the Convoy between the dates of January 28 — February 21.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Convoy Lawyer Keith Wilson Gives His Thoughts on the Emergencies Act Inquiry
“It will be interesting,” was one Wilson’s statements during the short interview with Rebel News, referring to the launch of the Public Order Emergency Commission which is investigating the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act.
Keith Wilson, a lawyer for Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich, spoke to Rebel News at the Library & Archive Federal Building in Ottawa, where the Emergencies Act inquiry is taking place.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Brexit, China-Linked COVID Authoritarian Jeremy Hunt Becomes UK Chancellor
Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed Jeremy Hunt, an anti-Brexit MP who advocated China-style lockdowns and whose wife has actually presented propaganda shows for a state television corporation, as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The appointment of Hunt, who backed Rishi Sunak over Truss for the party leadership earlier this year — having been rejected by ordinary party members for the role by a landslide when he stood for it himself against Boris Johnson — signals she is highly unlikely to implement even the mildest of fiscally conservative reforms, with the establishment “blob” now in full control.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: New Italian Speaker is Pro-Putin, Against Same-Sex Marriage
Italian Lega member Lorenzo Fontana was elected Speaker of the House. The center-right voted for the deputy secretary of the Lega to fill the third highest position in the country.
Fontana is known for his socially conservative, Eurosceptic positions and has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him in 2018 “a shining light even for us in the West”.
Fontana’s election was also greeted with long applause from the center— right deputies — the majority all standing to clap their hands while the members of the Pd and M5S remained seated and did not applaud the new Speaker of the House. There was no shortage of very critical voices from pro-war politicians denouncing Fontana.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU’s proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, drafted by the European Commission, was under the spotlight for the first time last week in a “political” debate in the European Parliament (EP) last week.
And reports say that this debate got heated over issues like biometric surveillance, including facial recognition, and the very scope of the draft in its current form.
The strategy of the rapporteurs for the act — a social democrat and a liberal — whose job is to present it on behalf of the Commission, was to first focus on administrative and technical sides, ostensibly to make it more palatable to MEPs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Esteemed British cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra called Facebook an “enemy of democracy” after he was suspended by the Big Tech platform for three days for sharing a post by Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo alleging Covid vaccines elevate the risk of cardiac-related deaths in men between the ages of 18 and 39.
Dr. Lapado was himself censored by rival platform Twitter over his post.
Malhotra was initially suspended for 24 hours for sharing Ladapo’s post. The suspension was extended to three days after Facebook flagged a post from two weeks ago, where Dr. Malhotra said that COVID-19 vaccines should be “suspended until all the raw data (from the trials) has been released for independent analysis.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Finland Preparing to Evacuate Citizens Along Russian Border Should War Arise
As tensions remain high due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Finnish Defence Forces and others are preparing to evacuate residents along the Russian border in the event of a possible conflict.
The Finnish Defence Forces and other authorities may go as far as going door to door in the event of war to help evacuate those living along the border with Russia and gave a presentation on the issue in the eastern town of Lieksa this week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In an interview with NTD broadcast on Sunday, former French presidential candidate Jean Lasalle accused President Emmanuel Macron and other members of the French government of lying about their vaccination status.Jean Lassalle is a French politician who represented the 4th constituency of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the National Assembly from 2002 to June 21, 2022.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
The President of Germany has come under fire after he was pictured travelling on a train in the country without wearing a mask, something mandated by local COVID lockdown rules.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Federal President of Germany, has been accused of flouting lockdown rules after images were released of him travelling on a train without wearing a mask.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Record Number of HIV Cases Diagnosed in Poland This Year
The latest data published by the National Institute of Public Health delivered some startling news to Poland. The country has seen more HIV infections than ever before in 2022, and the nation’s health ministry is raising the alarm.
There are a number of factors driving the increase, with the Polish Ministry of Health listing “changing social behavior in the sexual sphere,” but also the influx of war refugees from Ukraine. Ukraine has the highest number of HIV and AIDS cases in all of Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Muslim organizations of that country had already moved with such a law. Their point was that there was an attempt to take away everyone’s right to cultural behavior in Switzerland.
Suman Dutta | HENB | Bern | Oct 14, 2022:: When the Supreme Court in India gave a split verdict on wearing Hijab in class-rooms, the fuss about burqa or hijab (veil and head scarf) started long ago in Europe. It is argued that burqa or hijab is dangerous for the safety of common people. Shockingly, an Iranian young woman was killed by the country’s morality police for not wearing the hijab properly which created a tremendous controversy on Hijab and women rights worldwide. So far there has been a lot of discussion in Switzerland. Now it is going to be banned through a bill. Not only that, if anybody wears a burqa or hijab, then she will have to pay a fine of 1,000 Swiss Francs or 83,000 Rupees (appx) in Indian currency. The Swiss government is going to bring such a law.
This is part of a bill sent to parliament on Wednesday to implement the so-called “burqa ban” proposed by right-wingers, which won a narrow victory in a referendum last year. Although known as the “burqa ban”, it applies, for example, to masked football fans as well as a Muslim woman wearing a niqab.
Plans for fines up to CHF 10,000 have been dropped after consultations, as this was considered disproportionate. Implementation of the ban will be done through a new law and not by amending the penal code, as originally proposed. This is more appropriate to ensure public security and order, the government says.
According to the bill, concealing the face in a public place is prohibited. Eyes, nose and mouth must be visible. A football fan may, for example, wear a cap or hood, but not a balaclava. A Muslim woman may wear a hijab — a scarf covering her hair — but not a niqab, which shows only the eyes, or a burqa which covers the whole body…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Eco-Vandals Defaced a Van Gogh for the Stupidest Reason Ever and the Reactions Are Priceless
Eco-vandals threw tomato soup on one of Van Gogh’s priceless “Sunflowers” paintings at Britain’s National Museum on Thursday, the latest in a long string of attacks on Western Civilization’s treasures.
The reason for the Van Gogh attack? Two members of Just Stop Oil attempted to destroy the artwork and glued themselves to the wall because they’re anti-oil and “Sunflowers” is an oil painting.
Get it?
Yeah, me neither.
The enemies of civilization are idiot vandal-savants with moral pretentious, dressed up like dues collectors from 1984’s Junior Anti-Sex League.
Here’s what passes for their thinking:
Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” had nothing to do with climate change, [Just Stop Oil spokesweasel Mel Carrington] said. It was simply “an iconic painting, by an iconic painter” and an attack on it would generate headlines. But the choice of soup was more symbolic, Carrington said: In Britain, many householders were struggling to pay fuel and food bills because of soaring inflation, and some could not even afford to heat up a can of soup. The government should be helping ordinary people deal with “the cost of living crisis,” rather than enabling fossil fuel extraction, she added.
Fortunately, the only damage done was “some minor damage to the frame,” according to an email released by the National Gallery. The painting itself sits safely behind glass.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar’s emir has thanked Russia and its president Vladimir Putin for helping the Gulf nation organise this year’s World Cup, and said he is ‘proud’ of the countries’ relationship.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
90% of Seized Russian Assets Frozen by Just 7 EU Member States
So far, €17.4 billion worth of Russian assets under sanctions have been frozen in the European Union as a result of the Russian war against Ukraine, a significant amount. Just seven member states have carried out 90 percent of the seizures, said European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders while speaking at a press conference in Luxembourg on Thursday.
Speaking after a meeting of EU justice ministers, the Belgian commissioner said all member states must implement the sanctions measures and report back to the European Commission. He said that the European Commission and the European public prosecutor had also raised the possibility of extending the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to prosecute breaches of EU sanctions, but that the issue still needed careful consideration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Musk, the world’s richest man with a fortune north of $200billion, said Friday that it is costing SpaceX $20m a month to maintain Starlink services to Ukraine and the firm cannot sustain the cost.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Musk Asks US Government to Take Over Funding of Satellite Network for Ukraine
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk said the Starlink network is costing millions of dollars a month.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Musk Demands Pentagon Foot Starlink-Ukraine Bill After Being Told to ‘F**k Off’
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been generous in providing free Starlink satellite internet terminals for Ukraine’s military to boost communication channels as the war enters its eighth month.
Musk recently tweeted the Ukrainian “operation has cost SpaceX $80 million and will exceed $100 million by the end of the year.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Musk Says SpaceX Will Stop Funding Starlink Terminals in Ukraine
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX will no longer fund donated Starlink internet terminals in Ukraine.
It follows a CNN report that SpaceX was pulling funding for the terminals, citing documents obtained from the Pentagon. The company is asking the U.S. government to pay for the terminals instead, according to the report.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Making ‘Tactical Advances’ In Donbas: UK Defence Intel
Russian forces are making “tactical advances” in the Donbas following a long run of bad news for their “special military operation”, according to British intelligence.
“In the last three days, pro-Russian forces have made tactical advances towards the centre of the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed in one of its regular military intelligence updates on the war in Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey and Russia to Study Putin’s Gas Hub Proposal
Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated the idea of exporting more gas through the TurkStream gas pipeline running beneath the Black Sea.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine War: New Russian ‘Gas Hub’ In Turkey, Rape ‘Deliberate Strategy’, Crimean Bridge Repair Plan
1. No ‘massive’ strikes planned for Ukraine, says Putin
Russia is currently not planning any large strikes in Ukraine, the Russian president said on Friday.
“In the immediate future, there is no need for massive strikes,” said Vladimir Putin at a press conference after a regional summit in Kazakhstan. “Currently, there are other objectives. For now. Then we’ll see.”
He added that Russia was not aiming “to destroy Ukraine”.
Putin’s remarks come after Russian missiles rained down on a number of Ukrainian cities earlier this week in what he called retaliation for the partial destruction of the Crimean bridge, which Russia blames on Kyiv.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the deadly car bomb that caused part of the bridge linking Russia and Crimea to collapse.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian City Removes Hungarian Monument
Hungary has protested the decision of the western Ukrainian town of Munkacs (Mukachevo) to remove a historic monument celebrating 1,000 years of Hungarian presence in the Carpathian Basin.
“Today’s decision of the Executive Committee of the Munkacs City Council to remove the millennium Turul statue, the symbol of the city restored to its original form in 2008, from Munkacs Castle, is deeply shocking and outrageous,” said Janos Árpad Potapi, minister of state for national policy of the Prime Minister’s Office, in a statement sent to daily Magyar Nemzet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Will Push Russia Back Behind Pre-War Front Lines, Predicts US General
Lt. Gen. (ret) Ben Hodges, the former commander of the United States Army Europe, said that by the end of the year, Ukraine will have pushed back the Russian forces behind their pre-invasion lines and that by next summer Ukraine will also regain control of the Crimean Peninsula.
“One of the reasons I overestimated Russia’s military capability before the Feb. 24 moment is that I failed to understand the extent of corruption within the Russian Ministry of Defense,” Hodges said.
“I remain confident that Ukrainian forces will push the Russian military over the Feb. 23 line by the end of this year. By mid-summer next year, the Ukrainian army will control the Crimean Peninsula,” says Hodges. He went on to explain why he does not believe Russia will ever use nuclear weapons.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Apple Music Censors Song After Protest in China
Apple on Friday removed a song from Apple Music whose title is linked with what wire services are referring to as a rare political protest in China.
The song, “Sitong Qiao” (the name of an overpass where protest banners were displayed), disappeared from Apple Music in that country, a VOA journalist covering China posted on Twitter (which in turn labeled the media attached to the tweet as age restricted adult content, and is not showing it to users who are not logged in).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Conducting ‘Race-Baiting’ Social Media Campaigns to Polarize Americans: Former CIA Officer
Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke and Kevin Hogan via The Epoch Times
China’s communist regime is using social media to weaponize racial enmity in the United States, according to a former intelligence officer.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is actively working to erode trust in the U.S. political system and to increase political polarization among Americans by inflaming racial tensions on social media, according to Nicholas Eftimiades, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Police Station in Sydney ‘Flew Under the Radar’ Until Now
A Chinese police station set up in Sydney is similar to dozens around the world being used by the Chinese Communist Party to track down dissidents, a human rights organisation has claimed.
Human rights watchdog Safeguard Defenders told the ABC China had established police stations — known as contact points — in 30 different countries under the pretext of helping citizens renew national ID cards, passports and drivers’ licences.
But the group alleges the stations are also being used to track down and facilitate the return of dissidents to China.
The ABC reported this week that an official “contact point” had been established in Sydney in 2019 but “flew under the radar in the Australian and international press”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meat for the Elite? Warning Over Threat of Methane Tax
The traditional Aussie BBQ will be a thing of the past if Labor pledge to cut methane emissions, Nationals leader David Littleproud has warned.
The government is expected to announce this month that Australia will join an American led push to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent over the next decade.
The push comes as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern infuriated farmers by announcing a plan to tax livestock burps.
Littleproud said any moves to cut methane in Australia would make meat unaffordable and be the “death of the BBQ”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Iraqi Stabs Christian Iraqi Over Possible Political and Religious Motive
A 19-year-old man from Iraq has been charged with attempted murder in Vienna, Austria, after stabbing a fellow 53-year-old Iraqi in June in Klagenfurt, police said Wednesday. Video footage of the crime is only now being released months later, and the police are investigating the suspicion that the perpetrator may have been hired for the attack.
The suspect says he was angry because of social media statements by the victim, but denied he intended to kill the man. Instead, according to prosecutors, he claims, “I just wanted to scare him.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Channel Migrant Crisis: Human Traffickers Now Stuffing More Migrants on Each Small Boat
It appears that human traffickers are stuffing more and more migrants onto the small boats used for crossing the English Channel, with the average number of migrants per boat breaching 50 for the first time on Wednesday.
Human traffickers at the centre of the deadly trade that illegally smuggles people into Britain via the English Channel appear to be shoving more and more migrants onto each individual boat, government statistics appear to reveal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Migration Along the Balkan Route Has Increased by 170% Since January
The number of migrants who illegally entered the countries of the European Union via the so-called Balkan route from January to September increased by 170 percent year-over-year, the EU border agency Frontex revealed on Thursday.
It is the highest increase among the main migration routes to the EU for the aforementioned period.
In the first nine months of this year, 228,000 migrants were detained at the EU’s external border without a permit, the most since 2016.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Arrests Bangladeshi Smugglers Accused of Torturing Migrants
Italian authorities have arrested two Bangladeshi people smugglers accused of torturing migrants in Libya in order to get money from their victims.
The two alleged smugglers, aged 24 and 32, were arrested on Tuesday, October 11 after arrest warrants had been created by an investigations judge on charges of abduction of migrants in order to extort them and of aiding in people smuggling.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Number of Refugees Resettled in Britain Increases 56-Fold to 240,000 Over Past Year: Migration Watch
The number of refugees resettled in Britain through official schemes has increased by 56 times over the past year compared to the average over the the previous five years, according to a report from Migration Watch UK.
The think tank, which advocates for reasonable border control against mass migration said that direct refugee immigration to the UK over the past year totalled approximately 240,000 people, up from an average of around 4,200 per year between 2015 and 2020.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Refugee Activists Abandon Migrant Woman Illegally Crossing Polish Border With Belarus
The Polish Border Guard found a 27-year-old Syrian woman abandoned in a forest who was left behind by pro-refugee activists helping her to cross the border. They ditched the woman after she could no longer walk any further.
Despite the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border being less intense than last year and with reduced media attention, border guards still report numerous incidents of attempts at illegal crossings. On Wednesday the border guards found the Syrian woman, whose husband had been trying to find her. She had been left in the forest by pro-refugee activists who had cooperated with people smugglers to get migrants across the border.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poignant images today showed a little girl clinging to an adult’s hand moments after arriving onshore from a dangerous crossing over the English Channel.
Scores of migrants were spotted being picked up by Border Force crowded on a vessel at the end of their 20-mile journey.
The first group were escorted into the harbour at Dover, Kent on board Border Force vessel Ranger around 9.30am.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Teacher Fired Allegedly for Refusing to Read LGBT Books to Five-Year-Olds
A California teacher was terminated from her position allegedly because she refused to read books about same-sex marriage to students aged one to five years old, according to a lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Society.
Educator Nelli Parinsenkova is suing Bright Horizons, a nationwide childcare facility, for alleged religious discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, according to a press release from her lawyers. Parinsenkova worked at the Bright Horizons Studio City location in California for four years.
The litigation claims that after the Studio City location director discovered Parinsenkova’s Christian beliefs she “enforced company policy requiring all teachers to support and promote celebrations of ‘diversity’ including same-sex marriage to children in the care program.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A North Carolina mother read from a graphic novel found in her child’s seventh-grade classroom during an Oct. 12 school board meeting, according to video footage from the event.
The mother alleges that the book “This Book Is Gay,” by Juno Dawson is available to seventh-grade students at a middle school in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. The book was allegedly found at Collingswood Middle School and allegedly on a recommended reading list at another school in the district.
Before reading the graphic novel, the mother insisted children leave the room before she read a chapter titled “The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Senators Warn DOJ Not to Police Speech Against Transgender Surgeries on Children
Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Senate Republicans are warning Attorney General Merrick Garland not to target Americans who speak against transgender surgeries on children the way his department did to parents protesting at school board meetings.
In a letter sent on Tuesday to Garland, a group of five senators said they remain concerned that he would repeat a pattern played out in his previous handling of unruly school board protesters.
“In your confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, you promised that, under your watch, the Department of Justice would not be politicized or weaponized,” wrote Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). “You have already broken that promise more than once, and we are concerned you are poised to do so once again.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Think Tank Sues Biden DOJ for Info on Abortion Protests Outside SCOTUS Justices’ Homes
WASHINGTON (TND) — A conservative think tank is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the Biden administration’s alleged failure to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests relating to protests near Supreme Court justices’ homes.
Earlier this year, the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project requested documents and communications regarding abortion protests held outside the homes of U.S. Supreme Court justices. The protests were held in the wake of a leaked Dobbs v. Jackson draft decision in May which allowed states to set their own abortion policies.
According to the lawsuit, the requests focused specifically on 8 U.S.C. 1507, a statute barring certain protests at courthouses and justices’ residences that have the goal of influencing justices’ decisions. The Oversight Project alleges the abortion protestors violated both state and federal law and says administration officials “failed to publicly condemn” their behavior for days, nor have any been prosecuted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
I’m so sorry that you don’t understand Russian and can’t feel the whole nightmare going on here. You cannot see the horror of propaganda from TV and Radio screens, what is written in the press and social networks.
To say that Kafka and Orwell and Goebbels nervously smoke on the sidelines and envy is to say nothing.
Cancer. Black seed oil and Artemisia annua can prevent cancer as they support and regulate the immune system which is the body’s first line of defence against cancer. Also I was reading yesterday that Vitamin K2 prevents prostate cancer! Doesn’t affect me as I don’t have a prostate, but some readers may be interested. Anyone taking Vitamin D3 should have Vitamin K2 to make sure the extra calcium goes into the bones, not heart and arteries. Taking Vitamin K2 improves bone density without the need for extra calcium.
Covid vaccines destroy the immune system, that’s how the cancer gets started.
If you already have cancer can it slow it down??? Thank You
“Switzerland is Introducing a Law That Imposes a Fine of 1000 Swiss Francs for Wearing Burqa-Hijab in Public
[…]
According to the bill, concealing the face in a public place is prohibited. Eyes, nose and mouth must be visible.”
After mask mandates, it’s hard not to make the obvious comment.
I’ve actually considered going about in a burqa during mask mandates…
You could wear the mask on top of the burka.