Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/22/2022

The World Health Organization warned that Ukrainians will be facing a “life-threatening” situation this winter, due to Russian attacks targeting the Ukrainian energy grid. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was using cold weather as a “weapon of mass destruction”.

In other news, according to Statistics Canada, the country’s murder rate has increased for the third year in a row.

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

Thanks to Dean, DV, JW, LP, MM, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, 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
» Australia: Reserve Bank Warns it Will Return to Super-Sized Rate Hikes Amid Fears Surging Wages Will Push Inflation to New Heights
» Canada: Premier Smith Announces Inflation Relief Measures, Including Fuel Tax Relief
» Czechia, Hungary and Romania at Risk of Currency Crisis, Warns Japanese Financial Group
» Federal Prosecutors Were Investigating FTX Months Before Collapse But Dropped Case
» Highlights From First FTX Bankruptcy Hearing: “Substantial Amount” of FTX Assets Stolen, “Dueling” Bahamas Liquidation Comes to a Head
» Inflation-Shocked Americans Plan to Cut Back on Christmas Gifts, Donations to Charity
» Sam Bankman-Fried’s Parents Bought Bahamas “Vacation Home” Among $121 Million in FTX Property Purchases
» UK: Taxpayers Face Astronomical £9.2 Billion Bill for Collapsed Energy Firms as MPs Demand to Know Where Money Has Gone
 
USA
» Antifa Member Sentenced to 20 Years for Stabbing Two Members of the Proud Boys
» Besotted Judge Calls Leftist Muslim Lawyer Who Firebombed Police Car a ‘Remarkable Person’
» Beyond Gross: Fake Meat Company Cited for Mold and ‘Dirty Conditions’ At Factory
» Biden Admin Will Extend Student Loan Payment Pause — Again — While Forgiveness is Tied Up in Court
» Biden Admin Calls for Return of Mask Mandates to Tackle ‘Long COVID’
» Biden Officials Off the Hook for Deposition in Social Media Censorship Case: 5th Circuit Judges
» Big Tech-Government Censorship Collusion Depositions to be Made Public
» Bombshell Arizona Report: Election Day Problems in Maricopa Far Wider Than County Admitting
» Breaking: Starbucks Shutters Another Seattle Location Citing Safety Issues
» Breaking: Colorado Club Q Shooting Suspect is Non-Binary, Uses ‘They/Them’ Pronouns: Attorneys
» California Workers Win $125,000 After Vaccine Discrimination Lawsuit
» Chaos Breaks Out as Reporters Ask Fauci About COVID Origins
» Colorado Mass Shooting Suspect Walked Free After Previous Alleged Bomb Threat. The DA Won’t Say Why
» Elon Musk Sets Mainstream Media Straight: “As is Obvious to All But the Media, There is Not One Permanent Ban on Even the Most Far Left Account Spouting Utter Lies”
» Fauci to be Deposed on His Role in Suppressing COVID Information by Missouri and Louisiana Attorneys General
» FTX Funded Research Claiming Ivermectin is Ineffective Against COVID
» Hero Army Vet ‘Went Into Combat Mode’ To Stop Shooter: ‘I Was Proud to be a Soldier’
» Idaho Police Remove Evidence Boxes From Home Where College Students Were Murdered
» Idaho Coed Killer: FBI Profiler Reveals Suspect’s Likely Attributes
» Illinois Has Created No Net New Jobs in 20 Years
» Johnstown Woman Jailed for Stabbing Man’s Nose With Large Knife, Police Report
» Kari Lake Gives Update, Says “Whistleblowers Are Coming Forward”
» Kevin McCarthy Threatens Biden’s DHS Secretary With Impeachment if He Doesn’t Resign
» Marcus Stokes Loses University of Florida Scholarship After Posting Online Rap Featuring N-Word
» More Details in Stabbing Death of Kissimmee Teen
» Multnomah County Sees Only 46% of Misdemeanor, Retail Theft Cases Prosecuted in 2022
» Ninth Circuit Allows Suit Challenging Constitutionality of California’s Election Laws to Proceed
» Oakland Shopper Stabbed in Brazen Daytime Attack on Lakeshore Avenue
» One Year After Waukesha Tragedy, Biden Has Yet to Visit
» Report: App Store ‘Gatekeepers’ Could Deplatform Twitter Itself
» Supreme Court Orders Trump’s Tax Returns to be Turned Over to House Democrats
» Trump Special Counsel’s Wife Was a Co-Producer for Michelle Obama’s Netflix Documentary
» University of Florida College of Medicine Pushes ‘Destructive’ Woke Agenda on Students, Report Says
» Wikileaks’ Website is Falling Apart
 
Canada
» Canada’s Murder Rate Increased for Third Year in a Row
» Day 28 Recap of Emergencies Act Hearings
» Independent Schools in Ontario Grew by a Whopping 52% Since 2013
 
Europe and the EU
» EU to Elon Musk’s Twitter: “We Will Have Control, We Will Have Access, People Will No Longer be Able to Say [Just] Anything.”
» Finland: Security Professionals Call for Return to Right of Armed Self Defence
» German Companies Scramble to Buy Generators Amid Grid Collapse Fears
» Hungary Calls for Sanctions on Russian Energy to be Lifted, Top Diplomat Accuses EU’s Borrell of Lying
» Is Hungary Now Eyeing Up Parts of Ukraine? Country’s Right-Wing Leader Viktor Orban Sparks Concern by Wearing a Scarf With Map of ‘Greater Hungary’ On it — Containing Parts of Austria and Romania as Well as Ukraine
» ‘Poland Can’t Take in What is Wrong and Harmful From the West, ‘ Says Polish Conservative Leader Kaczynski
» UK: Government to Beg Public to Turn Down Heating as Possible Blackouts Loom
» UK: Police Investigating Teacher for Saying 9/11 Terrorists Were Muslims
 
Middle East
» Do Drones Threaten Major Sporting Events?
» Kremlin Urges Turkey Not to ‘Destabilise’ Syria After Erdogan’s Planes Cross Into Russian and US-Controlled Airspace to Kill 35 People — Including a Journalist
» Study: Majority of Iranians Want Regime Change as Country’s Protests Continue to Grow
» Turkey Summons Swedish Envoy Over Images ‘Insulting´ Erdogan
» U.S. CENTCOM Reveals New Details on Iranian Drone Attack on Tanker
 
Russia
» Explosion Kills at Least Nine on Russia’s Sakhalin Island
» Russian Pranksters Dupe Polish President Into Revealing Leaders’ Phone Calls Over Ukrainian Missile Crisis, As He Tells Them: ‘I Don’t Need a War With Russia’
» Ukraine Tells People Not to Panic as WHO Warns of ‘Life-Threatening’ Winter
» Ukraine’s Zelensky Says Russia Using Cold as “Weapon of Mass Destruction”
» Western Countries Pledge Hundrends of Millions to Shore Up Tiny Moldova
 
South Asia
» India: Hindu Man Brutally Beaten by the Accomplices of Namazi Muslims in 12804 — Visakhapatnam Swarna Jayanti Express
 
Australia — Pacific
» Fiery Moment ‘Airbus Albo’ is Confronted for Being Overseas as Devastating Floods Ripped Through Outback Australia: ‘Your People Need You Here, Sir’
» Insane Video From the Height of the COVID Pandemic Reveals the Absurdity of Australia’s Overzealous Lockdown Laws — as a Man is Thrown to the Ground by Cops for Sitting on a Park Bench Without a Mask
» It’s Snowing in Australia as Polar Blast Strikes Just Before Christmas — So How’s the Weather Looking in Your City?
» Will Australia Have to Compensate China for Climate Change Damage? All the Unanswered Questions About the ‘$3 Trillion Fund’ For Poor Countries Anthony Albanese Signed Up to
 
Latin America
» Bolsonaro Sues to Invalidate 250,000 Votes Over “Malfunctioning Ballot Boxes”
 
Immigration
» France: Migrant With Deportation Order Convicted for Sexually Assaulting 3 Underage Boys in Paris
» Germany’s Migration Policy is ‘From the Madhouse, ‘ Says FDP Deputy Leader About His Own Coalition Government
» Human Traffickers Shoot at Hungarian Police During Highway Chase
» Illegal Migrant’s Strangling Rampage Injures Three, Nearly Kills Elderly Woman in France
» UK: Exclusive: Number of Migrants in Hotels Hits 40,000 After Home Office Emptied Manston Processing Centre
 
Culture Wars
» Canada: Hamilton Library Hosts Drag Queen Storytime for “Gender-Variant” 0 to 4 Year Olds
» Feminist Scholar Says Children Should be ‘Raised by Society as a Whole’ In ‘Abolish the Family’ Speech at Major University
» Maine School Board Member Says Children’s Gender Identities Should be Kept Secret From Parents ‘Even if There Are Safety Concerns’
» ‘Nonbinary Identity is Real’: NHL Goes Full Woke in a Tweet. Is the League Trying to Alienate Fans?
» UK Govt Tells Staff ‘Protecting Women’ Is ‘Transphobic Coded Language’
» Woke Imperialism
 
General
» From Brolar Bears to Narlugas: The Bizarre Hybrid Animals That Could Soon Roam the Earth Because of Climate Change
 

Australia: Reserve Bank Warns it Will Return to Super-Sized Rate Hikes Amid Fears Surging Wages Will Push Inflation to New Heights

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe has warned borrowers could face bigger 0.5 percentage point rate hikes again, like they did in June, July, August and September, as wages ‘spiral’.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Canada: Premier Smith Announces Inflation Relief Measures, Including Fuel Tax Relief

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has announced wide-ranging measures in a new Inflation Relief Fund to help Albertans through the cost-of-living crisis.

In an announcement to the province on Tuesday night, Smith said details of the proposal are still being finalized but will include $600 for each senior and each child under 18 every six months. The measure is for families with household incomes below $180,000.

Smith said too many parents are having to choose between nutritious food for their families and mortgage payments, while seniors are choosing between medicine and fuel.

The province will also suspend the entire provincial fuel tax for at least six months and make the current fuel relief program permanent. Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney first stopped the fuel tax in April, but it was partially reinstated in October once oil prices fell below $100 USD per barrel.

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

Czechia, Hungary and Romania at Risk of Currency Crisis, Warns Japanese Financial Group

The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania are at risk of a currency crisis next year due to growing budgetary and external problems, analysts of the Japanese financial group Nomura Holdings predict.

The warning is based on an analysis of eight indicators, including the ratio of foreign exchange reserves to imports, short-term interest rates, and budget and trade indicators.

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

Federal Prosecutors Were Investigating FTX Months Before Collapse But Dropped Case

Federal prosecutors in New York were investigating the recently-imploded cryptocurrency exchange FTX months before it filed for bankruptcy on November 11, according to reports.

Slay News has been extensively reporting on the FTX scandal and highlighted the money laundering operation the company and its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, were running in Ukraine to pump money back to Democrats in America.

Bankman-Fried has also admitted that his company effectively acted as a laundromat for the Ukraine government.

However, despite spending months investigating FTX for money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York reportedly found no evidence of financial crimes and dropped the case.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the U.S. Attorney’s Office famous for prosecuting financial crimes spent months examining FTX and other cryptocurrency companies with both domestic and foreign branches.

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

Highlights From First FTX Bankruptcy Hearing: “Substantial Amount” of FTX Assets Stolen, “Dueling” Bahamas Liquidation Comes to a Head

Today at 11am ET, the first FTX bankruptcy court hearing finally took place in Delaware bankruptcy court before Judge John Dorsey, the official start of what will be a long, complex and unprecedented chapter 11 case; this is what we have learned so far (courtesy of the WSJ and Bloomberg).

A “substantial amount” of failed crypto exchange FTX’s assets is missing and may have been stolen as a run on customer deposits and a liquidity crunch precipitated a crisis of leadership and led the firm to collapse, FTX lawyer James Bromely said in court

“FTX was in the control of inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals, and some or all of them were compromised individuals,” said James Bromley, counsel to FTX’s new management, at its debut appearance at the Delaware bankruptcy court after the failed exchange filed for the largest-ever crypto bankruptcy case earlier this month.

FTX’s rapid downfall triggered an “unprecedented” bankruptcy, causing many standard procedures, such as this hearing, to be delayed.

Information about FTX’s biggest creditors will remain redacted for now.

The dueling liquidation proceedings will move to Delaware, where the Chapter 11 case is being heard. Judge Dorsey said he will sign an order formally moving a Chapter 15 bankruptcy case filed by Bahamian liquidators from New York to Delaware.

FTX expanded the number of affected customers and creditors from a “million” to millions.”

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

Inflation-Shocked Americans Plan to Cut Back on Christmas Gifts, Donations to Charity

As Americans feel the Grinch of inflation and wages struggle to keep up with consumer prices, retailers and charities nationwide are preparing for a light holiday season, the Wall Street Journal reports.

U.S. consumers and businesses have trimmed spending plans for gifts, charitable contributions and holiday events, data show. The penny-pinching threatens to spoil the year-end for many, especially firms and nonprofits that tally their largest share of sales and donations in November and December. —WSJ

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

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Parents Bought Bahamas “Vacation Home” Among $121 Million in FTX Property Purchases

It turns out that it wasn’t just the “executives” running the show at FTX and Alameda who were enjoying the luxuries of owning mansion in the Bahamas…

Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents were also among a group that “bought at least 19 properties worth nearly $121 million in the Bahamas over the past two years”, Reuters reported Tuesday morning, citing official property records.

Most of the property purchases were “luxury beachfront homes, including seven condominiums in an expensive resort community called Albany, costing almost $72 million”, the report says. The properties were officially purchased by a unit of FTX.

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

UK: Taxpayers Face Astronomical £9.2 Billion Bill for Collapsed Energy Firms as MPs Demand to Know Where Money Has Gone

The taxpayer has spent £9.2billion bailing out failed suppliers over the past 18 months, with Bulb costing £6.5billion alone.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Antifa Member Sentenced to 20 Years for Stabbing Two Members of the Proud Boys

A judge sentenced Alexander Contompasis, an admitted Antifa member, to 20 years in state prison on Thursday for stabbing two members of the Proud Boys during a brawl between Antifa and pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” protesters outside the state Capitol in Albany, NY in January of 2021.

Assistant District Attorney Bryanne Perlanski said that though the victims also engaged in physical violence at the Capitol, they did not bring a knife and told the judge that Contompasis went to the Capitol with “violence in his mind and in his heart.”

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

Besotted Judge Calls Leftist Muslim Lawyer Who Firebombed Police Car a ‘Remarkable Person’

As Kevin Downey Jr. reported on Friday, Merrick Garland’s intrepid Justice Department paused for a moment Friday from its valiant efforts to frame Donald Trump for a crime that would prevent him from becoming president again to show its compassionate side. It intervened in the sentencing of a Leftist lawyer who threw a Molotov cocktail into a police car during the George Floyd riots in New York City in 2020 to make sure that she got off with as light a sentence as possible. Merrick Garland, that paragon of impartial justice, can’t just sit there and allow a Leftist, someone who devoutly believes just as he does, to rot in prison for a little trifling firebomb, now can he? Of course he can’t. The judge at the sentencing hearing even unabashedly gushed over the defendant. And so once again we get to see how America’s two-tier justice system operates.

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

Beyond Gross: Fake Meat Company Cited for Mold and ‘Dirty Conditions’ At Factory

They call the creation of laws “sausage making” for a reason. A lot of people wouldn’t enjoy their steaks and chops so much if they saw how they were made.

As it turns out, creating soy burgers and other “meat substitutes” isn’t much better — or safer. According to a report in Bloomberg, a plant operated by the fake meat company Beyond Meat is a veritable petri dish of really gross and nasty stuff.

“Products from the plant tested positive for Listeria, a harmful bacteria, on at least 11 occasions during the second half of last year and the first half of 2022, according to an internal document provided by a former employee concerned about conditions at the plant,” reported the news site.

It gets worse.

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

Biden Admin Will Extend Student Loan Payment Pause — Again — While Forgiveness is Tied Up in Court

The Biden administration extended the student loan repayment pause to until the end of June 2023 while the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan is tied up in court, according to a Tuesday press release from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).

Under the extension, loans do not need to be paid until 60 days after June 30, 2023, or whenever “litigation is resolved,” according to the DOE press release. The extension of the repayment pause comes as the Department of Justice (DOJ) urges the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling which blocked the student loan forgiveness plan.

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

Biden Admin Calls for Return of Mask Mandates to Tackle ‘Long COVID’

Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is calling for the return of masking and social distancing to be encouraged or even mandated to tackle “long Covid.”

According to a new report from Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the controversial measures should be brought back.

The report was commissioned by HHS and produced by the research agency Coforma.

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

Biden Officials Off the Hook for Deposition in Social Media Censorship Case: 5th Circuit Judges

On Monday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked deposition requests handed down to three officials in the Biden administration, overruling Louisiana District Judge Terry Doughty, who had originally placed the order.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly, and White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty had all been slated to provide depositions in an ongoing lawsuit alleging that the administration worked hand-in-hand with social media companies to censor certain points of view.

As the New York Post reports, in their decision, the panel of judges stated that they would be staying the depositions “pending further consideration” from Doughty and the district court.

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

Big Tech-Government Censorship Collusion Depositions to be Made Public

In an interview on Fox News’ Unfiltered with Dan Bongino, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said that over 45 officials in the Biden administration violated the First Amendment’s “fundamental, God-given right to express ourselves.”

In March, Schmitt and Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit alleging collusion between the federal government and social media companies to censor certain speech. The judge in the case ordered the depositions of top officials in the administration, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

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

Bombshell Arizona Report: Election Day Problems in Maricopa Far Wider Than County Admitting

Numerous issues plagued vote centers in Arizona’s Maricopa County on Election Day 2022, from ballots rejected by tabulators to hours-long lines for voting, according to affidavits filed with the Arizona attorney general’s office.

According to an affidavit report by Mark Sonnenklar, a roving attorney with the Republican National Committee’s Election Integrity program in Arizona, he and 10 other RNC roving attorneys reported their observations and those of Republican observers at vote centers on Election Day.

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

Breaking: Starbucks Shutters Another Seattle Location Citing Safety Issues

Starbucks told workers at yet another Seattle store that they will be closing the location after being unable to address safety concerns at the location. The store at Broadway East and Denny Way will cease operation by December 11.

Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said, “Unfortunately, despite several mitigating efforts, safety and security incidents at our Broadway and Denny store have continued to escalate.”

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

Breaking: Colorado Club Q Shooting Suspect is Non-Binary, Uses ‘They/Them’ Pronouns: Attorneys

Attorneys for Anderson Lee Aldrich, the individual charged with 5 counts of murder and 5 hate crimes, have said that Aldrich is “non-binary” and uses “they/them” pronouns.

Aldrich is accused of engaging in a mass shooting at Colorado Springs nightclub Club Q, killing 5 and wounding more than 17. Aldrich is being represented by public defenders.

In documents obtained by The New York Times, attorneys list Aldrich as “Mx. Anderson Aldrich.”

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

California Workers Win $125,000 After Vaccine Discrimination Lawsuit

Authored by Juliette Fairley via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

Five months after filing a lawsuit against the Goleta Water District in Santa Barbara, attorneys have secured a six-figure award in favor of five plaintiffs resulting from the utility’s restrictive COVID-19 employee vaccine mandate.

“This was fairly early on that they offered this judgment that the plaintiffs were the prevailing parties, which means they did not want to litigate this case clearly and go to discovery,” said Mariah Gondeiro, an Advocates for Faith & Freedom lawyer.

“I believe that we can use it in other cases as a precedent.”

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

Chaos Breaks Out as Reporters Ask Fauci About COVID Origins

Chaos broke out in the White House press room on Tuesday, after multiple reporters asked Anthony Fauci questions about the origins of Covid-19 and related investigations.

As reporters began asking questions, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to shut down the discussion.

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

Colorado Mass Shooting Suspect Walked Free After Previous Alleged Bomb Threat. The DA Won’t Say Why

Colorado Springs District Attorney Michael Allen failed to pursue formal charges against a suspect in the Saturday mass shooting in Colorado Springs last year after the man allegedly threatened to bomb his mother, according to multiple reports. Allen’s office refused to answer why charges were not filed and claimed “a public criminal record does not exist” in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, allegedly shot and killed five people and injured many others Saturday night at the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub Club Q. His mother had called authorities on June 18, 2021, accusing her son of threatening to harm her with a homemade bomb multiple weapons and ammunition, according to an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office press release, but Allen did not pursue formal charges in that case, according to The Gazette.

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

Elon Musk Sets Mainstream Media Straight: “As is Obvious to All But the Media, There is Not One Permanent Ban on Even the Most Far Left Account Spouting Utter Lies”

Twitter CEO Elon Musk set the mainstream media straight about free speech. He called out the media for ‘attacking free speech’ and still ‘think they’re the good guys.’

He also pointed out that it is mostly conservatives getting banned on social media platforms. A Twitter user said:

“Imagine if @ElonMusk were actually the right-wing bogeyman these spoiled lefty journos pretend he is and he decided to turn the tables and ban all left-wing ‘fake news’ from @Twitter. There’d be nothing left for them to publish!

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

Fauci to be Deposed on His Role in Suppressing COVID Information by Missouri and Louisiana Attorneys General

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, the wizened visage of the mismanagement of the COVID pandemic will be deposed Wednesday by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. The case is called Missouri vs. Biden, and it alleges that the Biden White House and its lickspittles closely coordinated with social media companies to suppress discussion of COVID and other administration failures.

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

FTX Funded Research Claiming Ivermectin is Ineffective Against COVID

The recently-imploded cryptocurrency exchange FTX funded the phony research that claimed Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine were ineffective when used to treat COVID-19.

New details are continuing to emerge that reveal how far-reaching the influence of FTX and its CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried was in the United States and beyond.

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

Hero Army Vet ‘Went Into Combat Mode’ To Stop Shooter: ‘I Was Proud to be a Soldier’

A former U.S. Army officer stepped in and saved countless lives when he went into “combat mode” and stopped Saturday night’s mass shooting at a club in Colorado Springs.

Richard M. Fierro said his Army training took over when he neutralized the gunman who opened fire in Club Q.

During his military career, Fierro was deployed to Iraq three times and once to Afghanistan.

Fierro left the Army at the rank of major in 2012.

“I don’t know exactly what I did, I just went into combat mode,” he said.

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

Idaho Police Remove Evidence Boxes From Home Where College Students Were Murdered

MOSCOW, Idaho — Investigators continued combing through the scene where four college students were murdered on Tuesday, removing multiple boxes of evidence from the home in Moscow, Idaho.

Detectives from the FBI, Idaho State Police, and Moscow Police Department have spent the past nine days at the three-story residence where Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle were stabbed to death on Nov. 13.

A law enforcement officer could be seen loading a cardboard box and plastic bin into an SUV before driving away on Tuesday.

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

Idaho Coed Killer: FBI Profiler Reveals Suspect’s Likely Attributes

The suspect behind the unsolved murders of four University of Idaho students earlier this month was likely someone who knew the victims or a stalker who was familiar with their habits, one of the nation’s foremost criminal profilers hypothesized on Tuesday.

Tuesday marked nine days since the co-eds were discovered stabbed to death inside their Moscow, Idaho, home. As of Sunday, local, state and federal law enforcement had received at least 646 tips in the week since the Nov. 13 attack, but they are still searching for the person or people behind it.

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

Illinois Has Created No Net New Jobs in 20 Years

Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner via Wirepoints.org

Illinois has many deep, structural issues that continue to be ignored by those in power. Among them is one that impacts people’s lives deeply — Illinois’ lack of job creation.

A Wirepoints review of employment growth across the 50 states shows Illinois’ economy hasn’t created any net new employment in more than 20 years. In fact, Illinois has lost 106,697 net jobs since 2000, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

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

Johnstown Woman Jailed for Stabbing Man’s Nose With Large Knife, Police Report

CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Johnstown woman is facing felony charges after allegedly stabbing a man in the nose following an argument over an ashtray Monday.

Tesia Nelson, 27, was hit with felony counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children as a result of an alleged stabbing that occurred in the West End area of Johnstown around 1:25 a.m. Nov. 21, according to charges filed by the Johnstown Police Department.

Police reported that a witness told them Nelson and the man got into an argument over the location of an ashtray after they had been drinking, and the argument eventually turned violent. The witness added that the two were on the floor of the living room “wrestling around” before Nelson got up, went to the kitchen, and returned with a large chef’s knife, police noted.

Nelson then allegedly stabbed the man in the nose, which began to profusely bleed, according to the witness. At this point, the witness reported grabbing two children that were at the home and going upstairs to call 911.

Nelson was arrested soon after police arrived. Officers said they witnessed her carrying two young children out the back door without any cold weather clothes despite the fact it was around 19 degrees Fahrenheit at the time. However, the man was not home.

Police noted Nelson admitted that she stabbed the man in the nose with a knife after an argument over an ashtray, according to the affidavit. Nelson also alleged she doesn’t know where he would have gone nor does he have a cell phone on him.

Police recovered the knife from the scene and mentioned that they saw blood on the floor as well as a blood-soaked baby wipe. At the time of the written affidavit (Nov. 21), police said the man was unable to be located and was not a patient at Conemaugh, Windber or Indiana hospitals.

           — Hat tip: Roger [Return to headlines]
 

Kari Lake Gives Update, Says “Whistleblowers Are Coming Forward”

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

Arizona Republican governor’s candidate Kari Lake issued a Monday update, saying her attorneys are working to obtain more information and “whistleblowers are coming forward” after reports of poll issues on Election Day in Maricopa County.

“Attorneys are working diligently to gather information,” said Lake, a former local news anchor who was backed by former President Donald Trump. “Whistleblowers are coming forward and the curtain is being lifted. Whether done accidentally or intentionally. It is clear that this election was a debacle that destroyed any trust in our elections.”

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

Kevin McCarthy Threatens Biden’s DHS Secretary With Impeachment if He Doesn’t Resign

House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with impeachment Tuesday during a visit to the border in El Paso, Texas.

McCarthy, who is vying for the House speakership, said Republicans will push for Mayorkas’ impeachment if he refuses to step down. He was joined by several Republican colleagues, including Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents a southern border district, that made the trip to show support for Border Patrol.

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

Marcus Stokes Loses University of Florida Scholarship After Posting Online Rap Featuring N-Word

Marcus Stokes, one of the country’s best high school football players, lost his University of Florida scholarship after posting a clip while rapping the n-word.

The University of Florida is a public research university and therefore should be mindful of he First Amendment.

In the video that he posted on social media, the quarterback recruit rapped, “Welcome back, n***a.”

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

More Details in Stabbing Death of Kissimmee Teen

Kissimmee Police released additional details into the stabbing death of a 16-year-old girl in the early morning hours of last Thursday.

Anas Muhammad, 17, has been arrested in connection with the death of Paola Pagan, his downstairs neighbor at the Kensington Apartments along John Young Parkway in north Kissimmee. A case or charges have yet to be filed in Osceola County court.

According to a case affidavit, the victim’s mother found her inside the apartment door around 6:26 a.m., minutes after Paola left to go to the bus stop to head to Osceola High School, with stab wounds to her neck.

KPD’s investigation involved interviewing other juveniles who lived in the apartment complex, who Pagan’s mother said she was friends with. One of them reportedly told detectives she used to be friends with a male juvenile who lived directly above her, who went by the name “Nas”.

Detectives went to the unit Thursday afternoon and a black male, later identified as Muhammad, answered. He gave an account of what he said he did that morning, but when his phone showed a call that didn’t match the story, Muhammad reportedly, “put out his hands and asked to handcuffed, and he stated, ‘How much time would get for murder?’“

He then apologized to his mother then confessed, that he waited at the bottom of the stairs for Pagan to walk into a breezeway, approached her from behind and stabbed her numerous times with a small pocketknife. He then fled the scene, but when questioned led police to where he discarded much of the clothing he was wearing along the Kissimmee Trail.

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Multnomah County Sees Only 46% of Misdemeanor, Retail Theft Cases Prosecuted in 2022

A new report has revealed that Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt is prosecuting less than half of all misdemeanor theft cases referred to his office by police.

According to KGW, thieves regularly steal armloads of merchandise and walk right out the front door with no fear of repercussions. The ongoing retail theft has driven some stores to close and reduce their hours.

The outlet reported that in 2022, Multnomah County is prosecuting only 46 percent of theft cases involving less than $1,000 in merchandise, compared to an 84 percent prosecution rate in Clackamas County, and a 93 percent prosecution rate in Washington County.

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

Ninth Circuit Allows Suit Challenging Constitutionality of California’s Election Laws to Proceed

I’ve written extensively about California’s elections, election laws, and specific problems with laws passed in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2021 with the alleged purpose of “expanding access,” but which really open the door to massive election integrity issues and fraud. As we’re all painfully aware, numerous states have now adopted these practices, and Democrats in Congress would love to take them nationwide. While conservatives definitely need to play the game as it’s now constituted to win, it’s also important to fight these laws with whatever means available, and for Californians lawfare is about the only way to fight right now.

Thankfully, the people at Election Integrity Project California (EIPCa) are leading the fight. They filed suit against then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla, then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and 13 county registrars in early 2021 on behalf of their organization and 13 people who ran for Congress in 2020 (including RedState’s Buzz Patterson). Among the suit’s allegations are that there are insufficient safeguards to prevent ineligible people from receiving mail ballots (that the voter rolls haven’t been cleaned up, essentially), that the Secretary of State’s regulations prevent meaningful standards from being applied to verify signatures on vote-by-mail ballots, and that different votes received disparate treatment depending upon in which county they were cast.

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

Oakland Shopper Stabbed in Brazen Daytime Attack on Lakeshore Avenue

OAKLAND — An Oakland resident was recovering at local hospital and a suspect in custody after a brazen stabbing in the city’s busy Lakeshore Avenue shopping district.

Oakland police said the incident took place at around 11:30 a.m. in the 3200 block of Lakeshore Avenue near Lake Merritt.

Officers responded to a 911 call and located a 35-year-old man with a stab wound to his neck. They rendered aid at the scene and the man was transported to a local hospital for treatment. He was expected to recover, but his condition was not released.

Witnesses pointed out the suspect to officers, who arrested the him after a short foot chase.

Investigators told the East Bay Times that it was a random attack with the victim sitting down, having a cup of coffee when he was stabbed.

The 46-year-old suspect did not know the victim and was booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of attempted murder.

           — Hat tip: MM [Return to headlines]
 

One Year After Waukesha Tragedy, Biden Has Yet to Visit

On Nov. 21, 2021, a man drove a red SUV through the barriers and plowed a destructive course through a Waukesha, Wis., Christmas parade, killing or injuring 50+ people, including children. The now-convicted murderer was career criminal Darrell E. Brooks. The horrific events of that day shocked America, but President Joe Biden seems to have been less disturbed, as he has never visited Waukesha since the tragedy occurred.

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

Report: App Store ‘Gatekeepers’ Could Deplatform Twitter Itself

App store ‘gatekeepers’ Apple, Google Play and Amazon could all decide to deplatform Twitter itself following new owner Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech, according to a report.

Speculation over app stores potentially targeting Twitter intensified after Apple executive Phil Schiller deactivated his Twitter account for no apparent reason days after Donald Trump was restored to the platform.

Twitter users also noticed that the official Apple account itself had apparently removed all of its tweets, although it was later revealed that this was nothing new.

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

Supreme Court Orders Trump’s Tax Returns to be Turned Over to House Democrats

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the handover of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Last month, Chief Justice John Roberts granted a stay, temporarily blocking the former president from having to turn over his tax records to Democrats on the committee.

Trump and his legal team had filed asking the Supreme Court to block the release of his tax records.

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

Trump Special Counsel’s Wife Was a Co-Producer for Michelle Obama’s Netflix Documentary

The wife of Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate former President Donald Trump, was a producer of a documentary on Michelle Obama in 2020 and has an extensive record of producing left-wing films.

Katy Chevigny, 42, is a filmmaker who married Smith in 2011, and who produced “Becoming,” a Netflix documentary based on the memoir published by Michelle Obama in 2020. As one of the four top producers on the project, Chevigny led the documentary’s creation and worked closely with the Obamas and their company, Higher Ground Productions, on the project.

Chevigny has previously produced other left-wing films, such as “Dark Money,” which portrays the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC and “uncovers the shocking and vital truth of how American elections are bought and sold,” per a summary of the movie on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

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

University of Florida College of Medicine Pushes ‘Destructive’ Woke Agenda on Students, Report Says

EXCLUSIVE: The University of Florida College of Medicine incorporates aspects of critical race theory into its admissions and educational programs, according to a new report obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.

The report from Do No Harm, a group of medical workers against divisive racial policies in medicine, explains that the college uses “equity” initiatives to train a new generation of “antiracists” in medical fields — two terms at the core of critical race theory. Those initiatives include active recruitment of “underrepresented groups,” suggested readings on diversity and equity for aspiring student and a code of ethics that explains how to address implicit bias.

The College of Medicine is “indoctrinating its medical school graduates in divisive philosophies and other forms of social justice activism. The conditioning begins from the moment a prospective student begins exploring UFCOM, continues through the admissions process, and persists throughout the doctoral program.”

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

Wikileaks’ Website is Falling Apart

For a period of time in the 2000s and 2010s, WikiLeaks was a name synonymous with whistleblowing. The non-profit organization’s website was the place on the internet for information that someone, somewhere didn’t want you to see. But now, much of that information appears to have vanished. WikiLeaks’ website is full of broken pages, error notices, and a noticeable dearth of the documents it once held—as first reported by the Daily Dot and confirmed by Gizmodo.

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

Canada’s Murder Rate Increased for Third Year in a Row

Statistics Canada data shows that Canada’s homicide rate went up in 2021 — the third year the national murder rate has continued to climb.

In their latest report Homicide trends in Canada, 2021, the department reported 788 homicides last year or 29 more than in 2020.

Overall the homicide rate went up by 3% last year. Nearly one quarter, or 23% of all murders, were a result of gang-related violence. Meanwhile, spousal violence accounted for 17% of all homicides.

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

Day 28 Recap of Emergencies Act Hearings

Mendicino aware convoy didn’t pose national security threat

On Day 28 of the Emergencies Act hearings, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino testified that he was aware that the Freedom Convoy did not pose a threat to national security as is required in the Act.

Previously redacted hand-written notes which were made public Tuesday indicated that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security and intelligence advisor Jody Thomas was aware on Feb. 14 — the day the Emergencies Act was invoked — that a Section 2 threat to the security of Canada was not met.

Commission counsel asked Mendicino, “were you aware that it had been concluded that Section 2 of the CSIS Act was not met?”

“Yes, I was aware that CSIS had concluded that Section 2 under the CSIS Act was not met. I was aware of that fact,” Mendicino responded.

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

Independent Schools in Ontario Grew by a Whopping 52% Since 2013

More Canadian parents are choosing alternatives to public education, a new study has found.

According to the think tank Cardus, the number of independent schools in Ontario has grown by 52% since 2013.

The report, titled Naturally Diverse: The Landscape of Independent Schools in Ontario found that there are at least 1,445 independent schools throughout Ontario.

In total, independent schools saw a surge of 29,531 new students from 2013 to 2020. According to the latest available data, there are over 154,000 students enrolled in an independent school throughout the province.

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

EU to Elon Musk’s Twitter: “We Will Have Control, We Will Have Access, People Will No Longer be Able to Say [Just] Anything.”

European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, has demanded that Elon Musk increase the number of Twitter censors in the European Union. Since Musk took over the social media company, he has fired about half of the workforce.

Breton issued a warning, saying that Europe, “will not have a trembling hand” and that Musk “knows the European position perfectly.”

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

Finland: Security Professionals Call for Return to Right of Armed Self Defence

A group of security professionals have called on the government of Finland to allow members of the public the right to armed self-defence, claiming police are not able to protect all citizens from violence.

The group Citizens’ Initiative has called on the government to introduce reforms to allow individual citizens to be licensed to carry firearms for self-defence purposes, arguing that many may be at risk of violence and that police may be unable to help them.

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

German Companies Scramble to Buy Generators Amid Grid Collapse Fears

Medium and large companies have reportedly been scrambling to purchase electricity generators amid fears that the country could see parts of its national grid collapse.

Companies responsible for the sale of electricity generators in Germany are reported to be seeing their business boom with many enterprises reportedly fearing that there could be widespread power outages or even partial grid collapse throughout Germany this winter.

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

Hungary Calls for Sanctions on Russian Energy to be Lifted, Top Diplomat Accuses EU’s Borrell of Lying

Sanctions against Russia in the field of energy must be lifted, and there should be no talk of introducing new sanctions, said Tamas Menczer, the minister of state for bilateral relations of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in a video posted on his Facebook page on Monday.

Menczer said it was “shocking, but he lied,” referring to Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.

“Josep Borrell is quite simply not telling the truth: He has now claimed that the sanctions policy was never intended to end the war,” Menczer said. “On the contrary, the truth is that Brussels introduced the sanctions policy to end the war.”

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

Is Hungary Now Eyeing Up Parts of Ukraine? Country’s Right-Wing Leader Viktor Orban Sparks Concern by Wearing a Scarf With Map of ‘Greater Hungary’ On it — Containing Parts of Austria and Romania as Well as Ukraine

Hungary and Ukraine have repeatedly clashed in recent years over the right of ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine to use their native tongue after Ukraine passed a law in 2017.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

‘Poland Can’t Take in What is Wrong and Harmful From the West, ‘ Says Polish Conservative Leader Kaczynski

If Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS) wins the upcoming elections, it will act against “the ability of minority, leftist groups to terrorize schools,” said party chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski during a public meeting in the Silesia region.

“One dominating ideology, destroying all, children and youth in particular, leads to that,” said Kaczynski. For decades, he has argued that a moral revolution that some call the neo-Marxist revolution has marched through the Western world’s institutions.

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

UK: Government to Beg Public to Turn Down Heating as Possible Blackouts Loom

UK government officials are set to urge the general public to turn down their heating as fears over possible winter blackouts loom.

Britons are to be asked by their government to turn down their heating before Christmas in a bid to save energy, reporting on Monday morning has claimed.

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

UK: Police Investigating Teacher for Saying 9/11 Terrorists Were Muslims

A teacher has been referred to the police for referring to the fact that the September 11th terrorists were Muslims.

The teacher’s remarks, couched in woke terms, were made in an attempt to dress down Muslim pupils who had heckled Khakan Qureshi, a speaker who had been invited to the school to talk about his experience being Muslim and gay.

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

Do Drones Threaten Major Sporting Events?

The World Cup in Qatar has just begun. For the French Minister of the Interior large gatherings also raised the terrorist threat of a “drone loaded with explosives going into a crowd”, which he said could concern a ceremony such as the Olympic Games for example.

According to Gérald Darmanin, drones are the “main terrorist threat of today and tomorrow”. The French Minister of the Interior warned about the possibility of an attack with a “drone loaded with explosives that goes on a crowd, on an exposed team”, during an opening ceremony “like at the Olympic Games for example”, reported French daily Le Figaro. During events such as these, “cyber attacks, anti-drone warfare, questions of terrorist threats and the flow of people are important issues”, he insisted.

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

Kremlin Urges Turkey Not to ‘Destabilise’ Syria After Erdogan’s Planes Cross Into Russian and US-Controlled Airspace to Kill 35 People — Including a Journalist

‘We have been on top of the terrorists for the past few days with our planes, artillery and drones,’ Erdogan said. ‘As soon as possible, we will root out all of them together with our tanks and soldiers.’

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Study: Majority of Iranians Want Regime Change as Country’s Protests Continue to Grow

As protests against the Islamic regime in Iran continue, a new study by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change found 84% of Iranians support regime change. The study also found that Iranian society has become more secular, spanning both genders, all age groups and rural-urban areas.

The findings were published Tuesday by Kasra Aarabi and Jemima Shelley, and compares polling from June 2020 and February 2022. It revealed overwhelming support for the anti-compulsory hijab policy with 70% of men and 74% of women opposing it. Over three-fourths polled consider religion unimportant in their lives, and they prefer a more secular life than the current theocratic one.

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

Turkey Summons Swedish Envoy Over Images ‘Insulting´ Erdogan

Anadolu Agency said Staffan Herrstrom was summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. CENTCOM Reveals New Details on Iranian Drone Attack on Tanker

An analysis of debris left over from a drone attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman confirm the drone was Iranian, according to a Tuesday U.S. Central Command statement.

On Nov. 15, a Shahed 136 explosive-tipped drone flew into the aft section of the merchant oil tanker M/T Pacific Zircon punching a hole through the hull, “while subsequently penetrating and damaging internal compartments. The UAV’s explosive impact also damaged a shipboard boiler, potable water tank and life raft,” reads the statement.

The next day, the U.S. Navy sent two explosive ordnance technicians aboard the Liberian-flagged tanker to assess the damage to the ship and analyze the debris.

“During a two-hour survey and evidence collection process, the technicians also obtained explosive residue samples for lab testing,” reads the statement from CENTCOM.

“U.S. 5th Fleet transported the gathered evidence to a lab at its Bahrain headquarters where technicians confirmed Iran’s connection to the attack. The aerial drone that hit the commercial tanker was identified as a Shahed-136 UAV, fitting a historical pattern of Iran’s increasing use of a lethal capability directly or through its proxies across the Middle East.”

CENTCOM released images that tied debris discovered aboard Pacific Zircon from the strike — including a satellite navigation guidance antenna, hatches and stabilizer that match the Shahed-136 design.

The release stopped short of saying the drone had originated in Iran. The Shahed 136 design has been used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen and tied to a fatal attack last year on the tanker Mercer Street on July 30, which killed two crewmembers, USNI News reported at the time.

Last week, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters, “we are confident that Iran likely conducted this attack using a UAV, a lethal capability it is increasingly employing directly and via its proxies throughout the Middle East.”

Israeli officials told CNN the attack was intended to disrupt the World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar.

           — Hat tip: JW [Return to headlines]
 

Explosion Kills at Least Nine on Russia’s Sakhalin Island

A gas explosion in an apartment building has killed at least nine people, including four children, on the island of Sakhalin in far eastern Russia, regional authorities said.

A section of the five-story building in the town of Tymovskoye collapsed after a gas cylinder exploded in one of the apartments on November 19 at around 5:30 a.m. Moscow time (0230 GMT/UTC), authorities said.

Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko wrote on Telegram that rescue teams were searching for more victims under the rubble. He said some of the 33 people known to have lived in the building remained unaccounted for.

The regional prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the explosion while the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on causing death and damage to property through negligence.

Sakhalin is located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Japan.

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Pranksters Dupe Polish President Into Revealing Leaders’ Phone Calls Over Ukrainian Missile Crisis, As He Tells Them: ‘I Don’t Need a War With Russia’

The comedy duo of Vladimir Kuznezow and Alexej Stoljarow duped the Polish leader (pictured) into thinking he was having a secure phone call with the French president following the explosion.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Tells People Not to Panic as WHO Warns of ‘Life-Threatening’ Winter

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in a Monday statement that the power situation in Ukraine is so dire that it will potentially be “life-threatening” for millions of Ukrainians due to the recent devastating series of Russian air attacks on the national energy grid.

“Put simply — this winter will be about survival,” Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe at the United Nations’ health body, said from the Ukrainian capital. “This winter will be life-threatening for millions of people in Ukraine,” he added.

The attacks, the last major wave of which came this past Tuesday and continued intermittently into the weekend, are “already having knock-out effects on the health system and on the people’s health,” Kluge described.

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

Ukraine’s Zelensky Says Russia Using Cold as “Weapon of Mass Destruction”

Kyiv: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Russia was trying to use the cold this winter as a “weapon of mass destruction” by striking energy infrastructure.

“The Kremlin wants to transform the cold this winter into a weapon of mass destruction,” Zelensky told a meeting of French mayors in a video message.

“To survive this winter and to prevent Russia transforming the cold into an instrument of terror and submission, we need a lot of things,” he added.

He urged the Association of French Mayors to send generators, support for de-mining operations and equipment for Ukraine’s emergency services and medics.

“I call on you to be very concrete with your help and to support out towns and communities against terrorism,” he added.

The World Health Organization warned on Monday that millions of Ukrainian lives were at risk as the country’s power grid struggles under a barrage of Russian attacks.

Moscow has been deliberately targeting energy infrastructure, leaving millions of homes across the country without electricity as temperatures plunge.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Western Countries Pledge Hundrends of Millions to Shore Up Tiny Moldova

NATO countries and other global allies are now looking to shore up tiny Moldova’s resources amid renewed fears of future Russian aggression and energy supply cuts against it.

Around 45 countries and international institutions have met in Paris to discuss assistance to the ‘NATO-friendly’ country, which is neither an EU nor a NATO member. The countries reportedly pledged millions of Euros in new aid to Moldova amid fears of destabilization due to the war in neighboring Ukraine.

Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria is also seen as a potential flashpoint, and early in the invasion of Ukraine there was constant speculation that the Kremlin was eyeing an incursion into Moldova next. Currently Russia has what it calls “peacekeeping” troops in contested Transnistria.

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

India: Hindu Man Brutally Beaten by the Accomplices of Namazi Muslims in 12804 — Visakhapatnam Swarna Jayanti Express

Stop Namaz in the Rly compartment with immediate effect.

Suchitra Pathak | HENB | New Delhi | Nov 22, 2022:: In a surfaced video in the social media (including a facebook page of Sudarshan TV), it is seen a Hindu man travelling in 12804 — Visakhapatnam Swarna Jayanti Express (from Hazrat Nizamuddin Delhi to Visakhapatnam Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh), has been beaten to bleeding as he protested the blocked in the passage of the running train due to Namaz by some Muslim co-passengers in a group.

According to statement of the victim Hindu man as derived from the video, some Muslim co-passengers used to perform Namaz (three times — at 5.15 am in the morning, 1.30 pm at noon and 5.15 pm in the evening) in the common passage of the S-4 compartment of the said train creating blockade severally for the other co passengers.

When the victim was denied for passing through that common passage even for responding to nature’s call during that Namaz, the Hindu man started chanting some mantras (hymns) in that place next to offering the Namaz. That created a ruckus and some accomplices of Namazi Muslims came from the pantry car of the train and started beating the Hindu man all of a sudden. The Hindu man was left in a bleeding condition from his face (forehead and nose).

In its bizarre, the Muslim commoners in India always try to perform Namaz in public places like Bus-stand/terminus, Railway Stations, Play-grounds, Govt Offices, Hospitals, Courts, Roads and streets, even in running trains creating great inconvenience to non-Muslim people with an insanity to establish Islam by their way of preaching Sharia in daily life.

But, the present bullying of Namazi people in running trains upon a protesting Hindu passenger is simply beyond any condemnation.

The Hindu interlocutor and Hindu Existence Website Editor, Upananda Brahmachari has tweeted the matter to attract the attention of Railway Minister, Railway Department and Home Minister to stop such illegal and unfair Namaz in running trains.

Stop Namaz in Running Train

The Railway Department of Govt of India must act immediately to address such nuisance of Namaz in the running train.

Govt of India and State Govts must stop such Namaz nuisance in public places creating inconveniences to others here and there.

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

Fiery Moment ‘Airbus Albo’ is Confronted for Being Overseas as Devastating Floods Ripped Through Outback Australia: ‘Your People Need You Here, Sir’

A furious tradie has confronted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for being overseas while floods ripped through central New South Wales.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Insane Video From the Height of the COVID Pandemic Reveals the Absurdity of Australia’s Overzealous Lockdown Laws — as a Man is Thrown to the Ground by Cops for Sitting on a Park Bench Without a Mask

Two police officers on July 24, last year, approached Edwin Paz, 31, and another unnamed man sitting on a bench in Victoria Park, Camperdown in Sydney’s inner-west.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

It’s Snowing in Australia as Polar Blast Strikes Just Before Christmas — So How’s the Weather Looking in Your City?

Residents in Australia’s southeastern alpine regions woke up on Wednesday to blankets of white snow with 25 to 30cm recorded in the last 24 hours.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Will Australia Have to Compensate China for Climate Change Damage? All the Unanswered Questions About the ‘$3 Trillion Fund’ For Poor Countries Anthony Albanese Signed Up to

Australia has agreed to a fund to pay developing countries to deal with the effects of climate change, but very little is known about how it would work or how much it would cost taxpayers.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Bolsonaro Sues to Invalidate 250,000 Votes Over “Malfunctioning Ballot Boxes”

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has filed a lawsuit asking a court to invalidate 250,000 votes from “malfunctioning ballot boxes,” according to Gazeta Do Povo

According to the petition, an audit carried out at the request of the Liberal Party found that the old ballot boxes “cannot be considered” due to having identical identification numbers.

According to the lawsuit, the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015 models of the voting machines presented “insurmountable operating problems, with emphasis on the very serious failure in the individualization of each URNA LOG file and its repercussions in later stages, such as the Digital Record of the Vote (RDV) and the issuance of the Ballot Box (BU), and, consequently, in the absence of certainty as to the authenticity of the voting result,” (translated).

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

France: Migrant With Deportation Order Convicted for Sexually Assaulting 3 Underage Boys in Paris

Sometimes the French criminal system moves quickly. Just last week, a migrant man with a deportation order was arrested for sexually assaulting three underage boys in Paris. Now, he has already been sentenced to four years in prison.

The first incident took place on Nov. 18, 2022, in the early morning, when the 20-year-old migrant approached a 16-year-old outside his high school. The migrant threatened him with a sharp object and stated he “also had a 9mm pistol” on him. The attacker then dragged the teenager away and groped his crotch.

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

Germany’s Migration Policy is ‘From the Madhouse, ‘ Says FDP Deputy Leader About His Own Coalition Government

Although the Free Democrats (FDP) are a part of Germany’s governing traffic light coalition, the party is increasingly at odds with its own partners on issues such as illegal immigration, energy policy, and plans to distribute huge sums of money to citizens.

Leading these critiques is the deputy leader of FDP, Wolfgang Kubicki, who has launched another attack against the other two parties, the Greens and the Social Democrats (SPD), that make up the coalition.

The 70-year-old vice-president of the Bundestag described the migration policy as “an absolute piece from the madhouse.” The federal government is now financing “on behalf of the state a refugee ship in the Mediterranean for private sea rescue.” That is completely against the interests of “the southern EU countries and also against our own,” he said.

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

Human Traffickers Shoot at Hungarian Police During Highway Chase

To keep illegals flooding into the EU, human traffickers are now willing to accept the deaths of police officers. During a chase on the Hungarian highway, alleged Iraqi traffickers opened fire at the police. In the end, the traffickers could only be arrested and disarmed by a counter-terrorism unit.

The Austrian outlet eXXpress reported on the police operation.

Drivers who were driving on M1 highway towards Budapest on Monday morning must have literally felt like they were the real actors in the wrong violent action movie. What unsuspecting motorists experienced was not the usual traffic. It became a life-threatening journey instead.

Hungarian police on Wednesday released on-board camera footage of the patrol car chasing a van carrying two Iraqi smugglers and 21 migrants on the M1 highway. During the chase, shots were fired from the van at the moving police car.

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

Illegal Migrant’s Strangling Rampage Injures Three, Nearly Kills Elderly Woman in France

An elderly woman was critically wounded and three more people injured when an illegal migrant wearing traditional North African garments embarked on a strangling spree in France last week, according to reports.

The harrowing incident unfolded at around 5:50 p.m. last Wednesday in Villeurbanne, a commune in the metropolis of Lyon.

A man wearing a ‘djellaba’ began arguing with the manager of a gas station and was subsequently ejected from the shop.

“I’m going to kill everyone,” the man reportedly yelled before storming off.

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

UK: Exclusive: Number of Migrants in Hotels Hits 40,000 After Home Office Emptied Manston Processing Centre

The number of migrants housed in hotels has hit 40,000 after the Home Office emptied the Manston processing centre, the Mail can reveal.

Sources said there were now a record number of migrants — most of whom arrived by small boat across the Channel — in hotel accommodation.

There were 37,000 migrants in hotels at a cost of £5.6million a day at the beginning of this month, when a processing backlog had also led to around 4,000 being held at Manston, in Kent.

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

Canada: Hamilton Library Hosts Drag Queen Storytime for “Gender-Variant” 0 to 4 Year Olds

On Thursday the Hamilton Public Library (HPL) will host what’s being billed as a “family-friendly” drag queen storytime advertised to “gender-variant” 0 to 4 year olds.

According to the event page, performer Hexe Noire will be leading the “supportive and inclusive storytime” at the city’s Terryberry Branch.

“Hear family-friendly, culturally diverse stories and songs in celebration of families with 2SLGBTQ+ parent(s) and gender-variant children,” reads the event descriptor.

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

Feminist Scholar Says Children Should be ‘Raised by Society as a Whole’ In ‘Abolish the Family’ Speech at Major University

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, when parents and their children across America will gather, often with other family members, and hopefully for joyous times, I couldn’t let the following insanity pass by.

As observers of the far-left are well aware, these people continue their insidious efforts, one bite at a time, to destroy the very culture of American society and replace it with a utopian (dystopian) world.

In this case, a world devoid of even the cornerstone of mankind, the traditional family. In its place, children would instead be raised by society as a whole. Insane? Of course, it is; I told you so in the first paragraph.

Thus argues Sophie Lewis, as reported by The College Fix. Lewis, an expert on “feminist, trans and queer politics and philosophy” recently spoke at UMass Boston at an event named after her latest book, “Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation.”

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

Maine School Board Member Says Children’s Gender Identities Should be Kept Secret From Parents ‘Even if There Are Safety Concerns’

A newly uncovered video has revealed that a Maine school board member supports keeping the gender identities of students a secret from parents “even if there are safety concerns.”

Chris McLaughlin is a school board member in Hermon, a town just outside of Bangor, Maine, and also serves as a social worker.

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

‘Nonbinary Identity is Real’: NHL Goes Full Woke in a Tweet. Is the League Trying to Alienate Fans?

The NHL has gone completely woke.

In a tweet Tuesday, the NHL claimed that “[n]onbinary identity is real.”

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

UK Govt Tells Staff ‘Protecting Women’ Is ‘Transphobic Coded Language’

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials in Britain have been warned that phrases such as “protecting women and girls” are “transphobic coded” and should be avoided ahead of Transgender Awareness Week.

In a document compiled by the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) diversity and inclusion team — which is a thing that exists even in a time of harsh cutbacks and tax rises and despite over 12 years of nominally Conservative government, apparently — thousands of MoJ staffers were warned against phrases ranging from “adult human female” to “same-sex attracted”, according to The Telegraph.

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

Woke Imperialism

A Qatari man on Twitter received over 600,000 likes for asking why other countries with different cultures should embrace and promote LGBT.

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

From Brolar Bears to Narlugas: The Bizarre Hybrid Animals That Could Soon Roam the Earth Because of Climate Change

MailOnline takes a look at the weird and wonderful hybrid species we could see in the near future as a result of climate change.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

8 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/22/2022

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    “This is Agenda 2030, this is The Great Reset”
    new documentary shocks viewers

    A new documentary called “Died Suddenly” premiered yesterday and has already had several million viewers. The documentary examines, among other things, the strange rubber-like plugs that are suddenly found in many dead people in the US. Several doctors, as well as people injured by the “covid vaccine”, take part in the more than one hour long film, which is shocking.

    https://rumble.com/embed/v1to6s2/?pub=4

  2. “A teacher has been referred to the police for referring to the fact that the September 11th terrorists were Muslims.”

    Haven’t the police got anything better to do? There is a violent crime wave in the UK fueled by politically correct policing, soft sentencing and selective law enforcement.

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    BlackRock: $2 trillion in losses

    By Ernst Wolff
    Published on: November 21, 2022

    View / Listen
    https://tube4.apolut.net/w/vocbhsUE5EczEkdsFFTJNo

    BlackRock is the most powerful financial firm ever. But despite managing more than $10 trillion in 2021, it’s currently in considerably worse shape than it was a year ago, with assets under management falling below $8 trillion in Q3 2022, a loss of more than 20 percent.

    Is BlackRock in existential trouble, as some websites claim, or even heading for insolvency?

    Absolutely not. The current loss is the result of a strategy in which BlackRock itself is heavily involved and which has two goals: the destruction of the middle class and the introduction of a new monetary system.

    Here’s the background:
    BlackRock was founded in New York in 1988. Benefiting from deregulation in the global financial system, the company became the largest asset manager in the world within three decades.
    BlackRock’s main shareholder is Vanguard. The two together are major shareholders in six of the following eight largest asset managers in the world and are also among the major shareholders in the world’s largest digital companies, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft.
    In addition, BlackRock has the world’s most comprehensive financial data analytics system in the form of its Aladdin computer network, which has also been relied upon by the largest central banks since the global financial crisis of 2007-08, when BlackRock became their most important advisor.

    Since BlackRock and Vanguard can influence almost all the world’s markets in their favor, both have a decisive say in the monetary policy of the central banks. So their decision a few months ago to abandon loose monetary policy and raise key interest rates is by no means a decision taken against BlackRock and Vanguard.

    But why are the two financial giants pursuing policies that shrink their own assets?

    For two reasons.
    First, the most successful business model of the past two decades has been that of the platform economy. But companies like Amazon, Uber, airbnb, booking.com, MyHammer or Lieferando are not only exceedingly profitable, they thrive on destroying the middle class.

    Amazon, for example, has ruined hundreds of thousands of retailers worldwide, Uber has driven just as many cab companies into bankruptcy.
    The current monetary policy of the central banks – raising interest rates – is ensuring that SMEs come under even more pressure than before, and is giving the large platform companies, which can easily absorb temporary losses, further takeovers and thus giving them and BlackRock even more market power in the future.

    On the other hand, our global financial system is broken and can no longer be kept alive in the long run. Therefore, a new system based on digital central money is being prepared in the background. Lending is to be taken away from the commercial banks and placed exclusively in the hands of the central banks.

    But this means the end of all financial freedom and thus the end of democracy. In order to impose this system on people, you have to get them into social, economic and financial trouble. This is also what the current monetary policy achieves. It drives inflation under conditions of the highest debt level ever, makes it difficult to service loans, and also creates an army of unemployed who will eventually be willing to accept any monetary system, no matter how undemocratic, out of sheer desperation.

    So if BlackRock is currently accepting losses, it is nothing more than a strategic maneuver with the clear goal of looking even wealthier and more powerful than before at the end of the lean period.

  4. Brolarbears is normal. I saw where experts, using DNA, determined that polar bears were once brown bears and evolved as they took up residence in the Arctic? That they might revert to brown is normal.

  5. Re: Culture wars: Feminist Scholar says “Children should be raised by Society as a Whole”.

    Reminds me of Hillary Clinton’s quotation of the “old African saying”, which Africans seem not to have heard of, that “It takes a village to raise a child”. The early Israeli kibbutzim tried this, no doubt with the best of intentions, and the children grew up with psychological problems. Even the great writer Robert A Heinlein, no socialist, in “Stranger in a Strange Land”, seems to endorse the idea; playing amateur psychologist and having read his widow’s posthumous collection of his non-fiction writings (“Grumbles from the Grave”), which tells us what a sadness it was that they couldn’t have children themselves, I wonder whether he imagined being a surrogate father in such a situation? Certainly there are more references to childbirth and young children than one would expect in science fiction novels.

    Slightly off topic (?), it is well researched and written up that children, and especially boys, do best when raised with male and female parental role models,.

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