Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/12/2022

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the now-bankrupt FTX crypto exchange, has been arrested in the Bahamas in advance of an expected indictment by prosecutors in the United States. Meanwhile, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s former girlfriend Caroline Ellison has hired a top-level team of lawyers to represent her.

In other news, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany and Russia may resume a commercial relationship once Russia has ended its war in Ukraine.

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

Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, JW, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

Financial Crisis
» Americans Plan on Spending Less This Christmas as Inflation Concerns Remain Steady, Poll
» Austrian Energy Prices More Than Double
» Barefoot Investor Scott Pape Sounds the Alarm About a Major Economic Slowdown — Here’s How it Could Impact You
» Jeep Lays Off 1,350 Workers in Illinois, Moves Factory to Mexico Due to Biden’s War on Climate Change
» Poles Are Changing the Way They Celebrate Christmas, Poll Finds
» Recession is Expected in Q1 2023: Bank of America
» Sam Bankman-Fried’s Ex-Girlfriend Caroline Ellison Recruits Legal Team of Former SEC Official and a Lawyer Who Probed Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme — as FTX Founder’s Parents Fear Legal Bills Will ‘Wipe Them Out’
» Sam Bankman-Fried is Arrested in the Bahamas After American Prosecutors Filed Criminal Charges Against FTX Founder
 
USA
» 3 Assistant Principals Hit With Criminal Citations for Alleged Failure to Report Sexual Assaults Against Teen Girl in Washington
» About Four-in-Ten U.S. Adults Believe Humanity is ‘Living in the End Times’
» Biden’s Non-Binary Nuclear Waste Guru Sam Brinton is Out at DOE Over Claims They Stole Two Suitcases From Airports
» Biden Official Hid Info About Meetings With George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi From Public
» Breaking: Twitter Disbands Infamous Trust and Safety Council
» Chicago Police Arrest Man Who Allegedly Stabbed Police Officer in the Head: Reports
» Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna is Open to Investigating Big Tech’s Political Censorship
» Disgraced Disinformation Czar Nina Jankowicz Planned Meetings With Facebook Security Policy Chief
» Elon Musk Meets With Censored Anti-Lockdown Stanford Professor at Twitter HQ
» Elon Musk: ‘Woke Mind Virus is Either Defeated or Nothing Else Matters’
» Elon Musk Fires Back at John Brennan: ‘Your House is Glass’
» Ex-CNN Producer John Griffin Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Crime
» Ex-Virginia Tech Soccer Player Allegedly Benched for Refusing to Kneel Allowed to Proceed With Lawsuit: Judge
» Fifty Years After Astronauts Left the Moon, They Are Going Back. Why?
» Former Loudoun County Superintendent, School Official, Indicted by Grand Jury Over Handling of Sexual Assaults
» Investigators: Mistaken Attack Leads to Shooting Death at Port St. John’s McDonald’s
» Kyle Rittenhouse: ‘Media Didn’t Just Make Up Lies, They Worked With Old Twitter to Ban the Truth’
» Marjorie Taylor Greene Sets Biden Admin Straight: “My Comments Were Making Fun of Joe Biden and the Democrats, The White House Needs to Learn How Sarcasm Works”
» Nevada Woman Shot and Killed Suspected Carjacker With His Own Gun
» NY Times Ridiculed for Using Shotgun Shell Photo to Promote Article Attacking AR-15s: ‘This is Hysterical’
» Ohio Advances Lawsuit to Declare Google a Common Carrier Subject to Government Regulation
» Pete Buttigieg Slammed for Using Taxpayer-Funded Private Jets
» Supreme Court Expands Review of Biden’s Student Loan Handout
» The Twitter Files: The Corporate Media Ignores the Biggest Story of the Decade
» Top Biden National Security Official Served on Pro-Terror Group
» Twitter Files Part 5 Reveals Staffers Who Didn’t Believe Trump Violated ‘Incitement’ Policy
» Twitter Users Applaud Elon Musk Getting ‘Political’ to Save the ‘Future of Civilization: ‘ ‘Must be Done’
» Twitter Users Push to Boycott Tesla After Elon Musk Tweets His Pronouns Are ‘Prosecute/Fauci’
» UPenn Deletes Disgraced Twitter Exec Yoel Roth’s PhD Dissertation Arguing Minors Should Have Access to Sex Apps
» US Scientists Make Major Breakthrough in ‘Limitless, Zero-Carbon’ Fusion Energy: Report
 
Canada
» Federal Health Body Offering TikTok Video Creation Workshop
 
Europe and the EU
» European Gas Crisis ‘Likely’ to Worsen as Winter Cold Snap Hits Continent
» European Parliament VP Arrested for Corruption Previously Accused Poland of ‘Authoritarianism’
» France: Morocco Victory Over Portugal Ignites More Clashes in Paris
» Germany: Munich Bans Disruptive Climate Protests After Activists Glue Themselves to Runways
» Green Fail: UK Grid Fires Up Coal Power Stations Amid Energy Crisis
» Ireland: Murder Accused Recounted to Psychologist How She Stabbed Father-of-Seven to Death
» Italian PM Pays Tribute to Friend Murdered in Rome Cafe Shooting
» Morocco’s World Cup Victory Sparks Fresh Riots as Fears Grow Over Upcoming France vs. Morocco Match
» Poland Aims to Create Largest Land Army in Europe: Report
» Riots to Celebrate Morocco’s Victory: A Taste of Things to Come
» Take a Knee Takes the L
» Two Chinese ‘Police Stations’ Uncovered in Germany
» UK Government Asked Twitter and Facebook to “Tweak” Algorithms During COVID
» UK: ‘We’re Led by Idiots’ — Farage Slams Green Agenda as Reserve Coal Power Stations Fired Up
» UK: Police Tell Drivers ‘Our Hands Are Tied’ as Just Stop Oil Stage More Slow Marches Through North and South London With No Arrests — Despite Causing Traffic Misery for Motorists on Day of Snow Chaos
 
Middle East
» Majidreza Rahnavard: Iran Carries Out Second Execution Over Protests
» Second Journalist Dies Suddenly at World Cup in Qatar
 
Russia
» ‘Highly Unlikely’ Weakened Russia Can Retake Lost Territory — UK Intel
» Massive Fires Erupt at Moscow Shopping Malls
» Moscow, Kyiv Spar Over Whether HIMARS Strike Hit Civilians or Soldiers
» Russia Could Resume Business With Germany if it Ends Ukraine War — Scholz
» Ukrainian Forces Attack Hotel Where Russia’s Wagner Mercenaries Were Holed Up, With Kyiv Claiming Another 200 Troops Killed in Separate Missile Strike
» Ukraine Updates: G7 Say Air Defenses the ‘Immediate Focus’
 
Far East
» Protests and Hunger Strike Take Place at Apple’s HQ, After the Company’s Censorship in China and More
 
Australia — Pacific
» Chilling Moment a Killer Calmly Plays With Her Phone After Crushing Her ‘Boyfriend’ With Her Car — as the Jilted Lover Breaks Down in Court When Jury Finds Her Guilty of Murder
» Three Camouflage-Wearing Killers Are Shot Dead After Murdering Two Cops and a Neighbour in Cold Blood — After Officers Were Ambushed at a Bush Property While Searching for a Missing Man
» Why This Young Australian Politician Has Called for the Police to be Completely Defunded as She’s Blasted for Needing a ‘Spoonful of Reality’
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Namibia Trolls Germany by Offering Safety for German Energy Refugees Amid Cost-of-Living Crisis
 
Immigration
» Child Rapist Migrant to Remain in Germany After Antifa Minister Blocks Deportations
» Hungary Struggles With Worsening Migrant Crisis Despite Cold Winter Weather
» Student Stabbed to Death by Homeless Migrant Near Marseille
» Surging Illegal Migration in Europe ‘Highest Since 2016, ‘ Frontex Warns
» UK Government Arrests Just 0.3 Per Cent of Illegal Boat Migrants
» UK: Asylum-Seekers Housing Crisis Could Take Up Majority of Our Foreign Aid Budget, Minister Says
» UK: Now Channel Migrants Are to be Housed in Holiday Camps as Ministers Scramble to Reduce £5.8million a Day Being Spent on Hotels for Asylum Seekers
 
Culture Wars
» Human Rights Commissioner in MA Quits After Mocking God, Blasting ‘Trash’ Christians Amid Christmas Tree Spat
» Rand Paul: “Republicans Are Not Perfect. But Are Not Pushing Your Child to Have Surgery to Remove Their Genitalia”
» Trans-Identified Biological Male Charged With Attacking Female Students in School Bathroom
» UK Civil Service Implements ‘Christmas’ and Alcohol Bans for Winter ‘Festive Celebrations’
» Yukon Taxpayers to Fund Gender-Affirming “Hair Removal, Facial Feminization” Services
 

Americans Plan on Spending Less This Christmas as Inflation Concerns Remain Steady, Poll

Americans plan on spending an average of $867 this year on gifts, $65 less than expected in October, as consumers feel the impact of inflation, according to a new poll.

The Gallup poll also found Americans have decreased their spending expectations for the first time since 2020.

The projected less spending comes amid the decreasing value of the dollar due to inflation.

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

Austrian Energy Prices More Than Double

Natural gas prices in Austria surged by 119% in October compared to last year and rose by another 5.6% from September, according to a report distributed on Friday by the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA).

The energy price index (EPI) calculated by the agency showed that year-on-year household energy prices jumped by 50.2% in October.

The AEA also said that energy prices remained at a record level in October and were the main drivers of inflation, as fuel oil jumped by 94.5%, diesel rose by 48.6%, district heating surged by 61.5% and electricity prices increased by 24.8%.

As many households in Austria are seeking alternative sources of heating amid the energy crisis, wood pellets saw a stark price hike of 163% in October compared to last year. Firewood was up by 81.7%.

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

Barefoot Investor Scott Pape Sounds the Alarm About a Major Economic Slowdown — Here’s How it Could Impact You

Barefoot Investor Scott Pape sounded the alarm saying more pain was on the way for residents already grappling with an energy crisis, cost of living pressures and rising interest rates.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Jeep Lays Off 1,350 Workers in Illinois, Moves Factory to Mexico Due to Biden’s War on Climate Change

Hundreds of workers could be laid off when automaker Stellantis closes an assembly plant in northern Illinois in 2023 due to the rising costs of producing electric vehicles.

1,350 workers are employed at a plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and the closure will result in layoffs and it may not resume operations, according to the Daily Mail.

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

Poles Are Changing the Way They Celebrate Christmas, Poll Finds

The current economic situation and trends in the economy, religion, and technology have changed the way Poles celebrate Christmas, a survey by the prezentmarzen.pl portal shows.

Some 39 percent of Poles plan to spend significantly less money on Christmas celebrations than in the previous years, while just 29 percent expect to have the same budget as last year. Meanwhile, 17 percent of respondents have saved up more money for Christmas to make sure that it will be enough to cover the increased cost.

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

Recession is Expected in Q1 2023: Bank of America

A recession may be coming in the first quarter of 2023, according to forecasts by Bank of America (BofA) economists.

“A recession is very likely in the U.S.,” BoFa wrote in its Year Ahead 2023 report. The bank points out that this recession can last through the third quarter of 2023.

There’s no official definition of a recession, but many economists define it as a period of two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth or gross domestic product (GDP) decline — a drop that’s already been seen in 2022.

Many Americans also believe the U.S. is already in a recession. More than half or 56% of Americans believe the country is in a recession, according to a recent poll by YouGovAmerica and The Economist.

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

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Ex-Girlfriend Caroline Ellison Recruits Legal Team of Former SEC Official and a Lawyer Who Probed Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme — as FTX Founder’s Parents Fear Legal Bills Will ‘Wipe Them Out’

Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend has hired a legal team which includes a former top SEC official and a lawyer who investigated the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.

Caroline Ellison, 28, has recruited the two heavyweights of financial law while prosecutors close in on Bankman-Fried over the multibillion-dollar collapse of his crypto trading firm FTX.

Ellison was CEO of Alameda Research, another company founded by Bankman-Fried which is accused of gambling with FTX client money on risky trades.

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

Sam Bankman-Fried is Arrested in the Bahamas After American Prosecutors Filed Criminal Charges Against FTX Founder

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, has been arrested.

The crypto billionaire, 30, was arrested in the Bahamas — where he has been hiding since his $32 billion empire came crashing down last month — and he is now facing criminal charges in the US.

American prosecutors have filed the unspecified charges against the FTX founder, and are ‘likely to request his extradition,’ almost one month to the day from when his company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In a statement, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said: ‘The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law.

‘While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere.’

Just before 7pm Eastern Standard Time, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams released a statement on Bankman-Fried’s arrest.

‘Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,’ Williams wrote.

‘We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,’ the attorney continued.

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

3 Assistant Principals Hit With Criminal Citations for Alleged Failure to Report Sexual Assaults Against Teen Girl in Washington

Three public school assistant principals in Bellingham, Wash. have been accused of failing to report sexual assaults that a student brought to their attention nearly a year ago. These administrators are Jeremy Louzao, 41, of Bellingham, Meghan Dunham, 50, of Bellingham, both assistant principals at Squalicum High School, and Maude Chimere Hackney, 41, of Olympia, an assistant principal at Bellingham High School. According to KOMO News, students in Whatcom County are planning a walkout for 9:50 am Monday at the high school in response.

According to the Bellingham police, a 15-year-old girl reported to assistant principal Louzao in January 2021 that a 14-year-old boy at Squalicum High School sexually assaulted her in November and December of 2020. The victim was told a safety agreement would be put in place, but according to police, the boy violated it only four days later.

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

About Four-in-Ten U.S. Adults Believe Humanity is ‘Living in the End Times’

Periods of catastrophe and anxiety, such as the coronavirus pandemic, have historically led some people to anticipate that the destruction of the world as we know it — the “end times” — is near. This thinking often has a religious component that draws on sacred scripture. In Christianity, for example, these beliefs include expectations that Jesus will return to Earth after or amid a time of great turmoil.

In the United States, 39% of adults say they believe “we are living in the end times,” while 58% say they do not believe we are living in the end times, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

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

Biden’s Non-Binary Nuclear Waste Guru Sam Brinton is Out at DOE Over Claims They Stole Two Suitcases From Airports

President Joe Biden’s non-binary nuclear waste official has left the administration.

Sam Brinton, 35, who uses ‘they/their’ pronouns, no longer has their Department of Energy job after they were accused of stealing luggage in two separate incidents.

A Department of Energy spokesperson said on Monday evening: ‘Sam Brinton is no longer a DOE employee. By law, the Department of Energy cannot comment further on personnel matters.’

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

Biden Official Hid Info About Meetings With George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi From Public

EXCLUSIVE: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler scrubbed mention of a meeting with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and key details of a meeting with billionaire Democratic donor George Soros from the public version of his calendar.

Gensler’s public calendar showed that he only had a staff meeting on Aug. 7, 2021, while his private calendar lists a meeting with Clinton, according to a Fox News Digital review. And on Aug. 20, 2021, his public calendar lists a meeting with Soros but hid the meeting’s agenda, which his private calendar shows was to discuss a forthcoming Wall Street Journal op-ed the business magnate was planning to write.

Gensler’s private calendar revealing the discrepancies was obtained by the watchdog group Energy Policy Advocates and shared with Fox News Digital. The group was only able to obtain the internal records after filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the SEC.

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

Breaking: Twitter Disbands Infamous Trust and Safety Council

Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council has been dissolved, according to an email to the remaining members.

The letter begins, “As Twitter moves into a new phase, we are reevaluating how best to bring external insights into our product and policy development work. As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this.

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

Chicago Police Arrest Man Who Allegedly Stabbed Police Officer in the Head: Reports

Chicago Police arrested a 41-year-old man on Saturday after he stabbed an officer in the head and shoulder with a knife, according to reports.

Officers were dispatched to a residence at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 10, and when they arrived, they learned a man, later identified as Romaine Heath, 41, entered the dwelling and threatened a woman with a knife.

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

Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna is Open to Investigating Big Tech’s Political Censorship

House Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said he is “open” to Congressional hearings on Twitter’s suppression of Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” story.

“I have said I am open to hearings in Congress on this,” Khanna said in an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “On the one hand, we don’t want censorship. We don’t want to have people censored or boxed out, or shadow-banned and removed from Twitter because of their viewpoint. On the other hand, we do want respect, and we don’t want accounts that are filled with anti-Semitism or just spewing racism or hate on these accounts. And I think Congress should have an honest, thoughtful conversation about how we uphold both of those values.”

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

Disgraced Disinformation Czar Nina Jankowicz Planned Meetings With Facebook Security Policy Chief

New records released by Senator Josh Hawley have revealed that Nina Jankowicz, the disgraced head of the terminated Disinformation Governance Board had planned to meet with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, along with other Department of Homeland Security officials.

The documents revealed that “the Disinformation Governance Board plans to partner with Big Tech were far more extensive than DHS or the White House has admitted,” a press release from Hawley’s office read.

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

Elon Musk Meets With Censored Anti-Lockdown Stanford Professor at Twitter HQ

In between triggering deep staters by calling for Anthony Fauci’s prosecution, Elon Musk met with a Stanford professor who had been blacklisted by Twitter 1.0 for speaking out against lockdowns.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, an author of the Great Barrington Declaration in which thousands of scientists called for a policy of herd immunity over lockdowns, was just one of the many experts who was censored by Twitter during the pandemic for challenging the isolation orthodoxy.

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

Elon Musk: ‘Woke Mind Virus is Either Defeated or Nothing Else Matters’

Twitter boss Elon Musk has renewed his commitment to defeating, what he has termed, “the woke mind virus.”

Musk fired back after he was booed when he made a surprise appearance on stage with comedian Dave Chappelle.

He appeared at Chappelle’s show at the Chase Center in San Francisco Sunday night.

When Chappelle introduced Musk, a mix of boos and cheers could be heard from the crowd.

The booing prompted Chappelle to quip, “It sounds like some of the people you fired are in the audience.”

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

Elon Musk Fires Back at John Brennan: ‘Your House is Glass’

Elon Musk has fired back at John Brennan after the former CIA director attacked the new Twitter boss.

Brennan, who now works as an MSNBC analyst, trashed Musk after he targeted Dr. Anthony Fauci in a cryptic tweet.

As Slay News reported, Musk hinted that information about Fauci may soon be revealed in future “Twitter Files” releases.

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

Ex-CNN Producer John Griffin Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Crime

Warning: Some Details From Indictment May Be Disturbing

John Griffin, a former senior producer for CNN who was accused of child sex crimes, pleaded guilty in federal court after being charged a year ago, according to the Associated Press.

The federal government dropped two of the three charges against Griffin as part of the agreement. According to the AP, he “must pay full restitution to the victims, an amount which will be determined by the court” and “has agreed to forfeit a Tesla vehicle, and electronic items and to donate half of the proceeds from the sale of his Vermont home and the upcoming sale of a Mercedes vehicle into the court registry.”

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

Ex-Virginia Tech Soccer Player Allegedly Benched for Refusing to Kneel Allowed to Proceed With Lawsuit: Judge

A judge recently ruled that a former Virginia Tech women’s soccer player can continue a lawsuit against her former coach after she was allegedly benched and pressured to leave the team for declining to kneel during a pregame social justice demonstration.

Kiersten Hening, who was a midfielder/defender for the Hokies from 2018 to 2020, sued coach Charles “Chugger” Aidair in 2021 on First Amendment grounds, which federal Judge Thomas Cullen announced on Dec. 2 can proceed to trial.

Hening alleged that Adair was not a fan of her political views and that she often differed from her teammates on social justice issues during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

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

Fifty Years After Astronauts Left the Moon, They Are Going Back. Why?

As I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come — but we believe not too long into the future — I’d like to just say what I believe history will record: that America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus—Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.

These words were spoken by Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan on 14 December 1972, as he prepared to return home from the Moon. With Neil Armstrong’s “one giant leap for mankind”, little more than three years earlier, they bookended a grand human endeavour. After 50 years, they remain the last (officially prepared) words spoken on the Moon.

When Cernan, fellow Moon-walker Harrison Schmitt and command-module pilot Ronald Evans had blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida seven days earlier, it was already clear that this would be the last Apollo mission. But few anticipated that, 50 years on, human exploration of space would be confined to low Earth orbit. Apollo 17 still marks the last time boots crunched into the soil of an alien world; the last time astronauts skipped joyously in the Moon’s low gravity; the last time anyone directly witnessed Earth’s blue globe rising above the grey lunar horizon.

For most of the eight billion people now on Earth, the Apollo era is legend; the main significance of the photograph of a ‘blue marble’ Earth taken from Apollo 17 is as one of the default iPhone wallpapers. But with the launch last month of the Artemis I mission, NASA finally seems to be intent on rekindling the glory days of Apollo. Humanity is about to make a giant leap again. But to what end?

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

Former Loudoun County Superintendent, School Official, Indicted by Grand Jury Over Handling of Sexual Assaults

Indictments against two Loudoun County Public Schools officials, related to the handling of sexual assaults were unsealed Monday, less than a week after former Superintendent Scott Ziegler was fired from his post over the scandal.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares office revealed on Monday that three misdemeanor charges were filed against Ziegler, and one indictment was filed against school spokesman Wayde Byard for felony perjury.

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

Investigators: Mistaken Attack Leads to Shooting Death at Port St. John’s McDonald’s

Mistaken attack in Port St. John’s McDonald’s parking lot leads to deadly shooting

A man who Brevard County sheriff’s investigators said mistakenly attacked a driver eating food in a McDonald’s parking lot, was shot and killed in an apparent case of self-defense.

The shooting happened about 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the McDonald’s restaurant, 6857 North U.S. 1, in Port St. John. Deputies were called to the site and found the man who carried out the attack, wounded by gunfire in the darkened parking lot, the sheriff’s office reported.

The unidentified man was treated by paramedics then taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead by doctors, the sheriff’s office reported.

The man who was killed attacked the driver thinking he was someone else, the sheriff’s office reported in a press release.

Sheriff’s investigators talked with witnesses and determined that the unidentified man had walked up earlier to a car where a driver was eating food. The unnamed driver told investigators that the man starting beating him during an unprovoked attack.

Investigators said the driver then pulled out a gun and fired one shot.

No arrested were made in the case. Sheriff’s investigators plan to interview other witnesses at the scene. An investigation is ongoing.

           — Hat tip: Roger [Return to headlines]
 

Kyle Rittenhouse: ‘Media Didn’t Just Make Up Lies, They Worked With Old Twitter to Ban the Truth’

Kyle Rittenhouse has shamed America’s liberal corporate media following Elon Musk’s bombshell revelations in the “Twitter Files.”

Rittenhouse is warning America that “the media didn’t just make up lies” but they “actually worked with” Twitter’s old management “to ban the truth.”

“I saw that ‘NOT GUILTY’ is trending,” Rittenhouse recalls.

“When I clicked it was many people defending lies and telling the truth about my story…

“I am glad Elon Musk has taken over Twitter so lies can actually be combatted with truth without being banned and censored.

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

Marjorie Taylor Greene Sets Biden Admin Straight: “My Comments Were Making Fun of Joe Biden and the Democrats, The White House Needs to Learn How Sarcasm Works”

Majorie Taylor Greene fired back at Joe Biden’s White House over a joke she told at a gala for the New York Young Republicans Club. Greene’s joke hit back at false media claims that she was involved in plotting the Capitol riot. She said:

“Then Jan. 6 happened. And next thing you know, I organized the whole thing, along with Steve Bannon here. And I will tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed.

“See that’s the whole joke, isn’t it? They say that whole thing was planned and I’m like, are you kidding me? A bunch of conservatives, second amendment supporters, went in the Capitol without guns, and they think that we organized that?”

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

Nevada Woman Shot and Killed Suspected Carjacker With His Own Gun

A woman shot and killed a suspected carjacker in self-defense last month when he was trying to drive off in her car in a North Las Vegas neighborhood, police said this week, according to a report.

The victim and a friend had parked near another friend’s house as they waited to go inside for an early Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 19 when a car parked in front of them, they told Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, according to FOX 5 Las Vegas.

Two or three men got out of the car and allegedly pulled the woman out of the driver’s seat and her friend out of the passenger’s side. One of the suspects got in but couldn’t figure out how to drive it because it was a push-to-start.

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

NY Times Ridiculed for Using Shotgun Shell Photo to Promote Article Attacking AR-15s: ‘This is Hysterical’

While attacking America’s “toxic gun culture,” the New York Times appeared to have inadvertently used the wrong photo while referring to AR-15s, as many Twitter users pointed out over the weekend.

The paper’s editorial board published an op-ed on Saturday titled “America’s Toxic Gun Culture,” claiming that the prevalence of AR-15s among “right-wing” figures is causing a rise in political violence.

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

Ohio Advances Lawsuit to Declare Google a Common Carrier Subject to Government Regulation

Ohio has a court date for the first-of-its-kind lawsuit against Google.

Delaware County Common Pleas Court set May 14 as the date Attorney General Dave Yost begins his case against the internet search giant in an effort to have it declared a common carrier and subject to government regulation.

“By manipulating search results to self-preference its own products, Google is tilting the playing field against consumers and against emerging competitors,” Yost said. “It’s time to bring those unfair practices to an end.”

As previously reported by The Center Square, a Delaware County judge ruled in May the state’s lawsuit could move forward.

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

Pete Buttigieg Slammed for Using Taxpayer-Funded Private Jets

White House Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was called out for his climate hypocrisy after it was revealed that he has been flying on taxpayer-funder private jets, all the while advocating for reduced carbon emissions, Fox News reports.

The roasting took place on the Fox News show “Outnumbered,” where the panel took shots at Buttigieg for his hypocritical actions.

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

Supreme Court Expands Review of Biden’s Student Loan Handout

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear another challenge to President Biden’s contentious student loan relief program.

The new case involves challenges brought by Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor. Per Biden’s program, Brown is ineligible for relief because her loans are held by commercial entities rather than the Education Department. Taylor is eligible for $10,000 in loan relief, but not the higher $20,000 he would be entitled to under a Pell Grant.

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

The Twitter Files: The Corporate Media Ignores the Biggest Story of the Decade

The biggest story of the past decade is not the covid pandemic, the January 6th protests, the war in Ukraine, the BLM riots, or even the stagflationary crisis in the US.

Behind these major events is another story, one that connects them all together in a disturbing way. Even more important than the effects of geopolitical and economic chaos is the effect of mass censorship; without the free exchange of information and debate the public remains ignorant. And if the public remains ignorant, crisis events have an increasing potential to explode.

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

Top Biden National Security Official Served on Pro-Terror Group

by Daniel Greenfield

When Jose Padilla, a Muslim terror convert was arrested, Human Rights First became his loudest defenders. The leftist group, originally founded under the auspices of France’s Human Rights League, which historically included many Communists including Ho Chi Minh, was one of the most extreme voices against our effort to fight the Islamic terrorists murdering us.

Human Rights First continues to demand that Gitmo be shut down and warned that even saying the words “Islamic terrorism” was wrong. It bizarrely argued that there is “no reliable data to substantiate a claim that the United States is disproportionately threatened by foreign terrorists”. And it warned that designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group would only fuel more terrorism by the religion that shall not be named lest its members blow us up.

Last year, HRF commemorated the anniversary of September 11 by blasting “the post-9/11 policies that have given rise to anti-Muslim sentiment” and demanded that America “leave behind the short-sighted narrowly focused security approach… in the aftermath of the attacks of 9/11.”

With its own people on the inside, HRF is well positioned to dismantle our national security…

           — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield [Return to headlines]
 

Twitter Files Part 5 Reveals Staffers Who Didn’t Believe Trump Violated ‘Incitement’ Policy

The fifth installment of Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files” Monday revealed that staffers believed that tweets written by former President Donald Trump around the events of Jan. 6, 2021, had not actually violated its policies despite the company saying so at the time.

“For years, Twitter had resisted calls both internal and external to ban Trump on the grounds that blocking a world leader from the platform or removing their controversial tweets would hide important information that people should be able to see and debate,” Bari Weiss of The Free Press wrote toward the beginning of her thread on Monday. “But after January 6, as @mtaibbi and @shellenbergermd have documented, pressure grew, both inside and outside of Twitter, to ban Trump.”

Weiss cited “dissenters” within Twitter that did not want to ban Trump, including one who wrote, “Maybe because I am from China. I deeply understand how censorship can destroy the public conversation.”

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

Twitter Users Applaud Elon Musk Getting ‘Political’ to Save the ‘Future of Civilization: ‘ ‘Must be Done’

Twitter CEO Elon Musk caused a stir Sunday when he declared that his increased political involvement “must be done for the future of civilization.”

The comment came after a Twitter user named Gali wrote how he thought Musk “getting too political is a mistake.”

“Must be done for the future of civilization, without which nothing matters,” Musk responded.

Many Twitter users praised Musk for the move and agreed the world is facing a major inflection point.

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

Twitter Users Push to Boycott Tesla After Elon Musk Tweets His Pronouns Are ‘Prosecute/Fauci’

Boycott Tesla was trending on Twitter Monday, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also owns Twitter, tweeted his pronouns are “Prosecute/Fauci.”

Musk’s tweet teased new details regarding the government’s top health official that Musk said would be found in a future installment of the “Twitter Files.” The tweet elicited a firestorm on the platform, with some cheering the Twitter CEO for calling out Fauci, and others accusing Musk of mocking the LGBTQ community.

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

UPenn Deletes Disgraced Twitter Exec Yoel Roth’s PhD Dissertation Arguing Minors Should Have Access to Sex Apps

It has been revealed that former Head of Trust and Safety at Twitter Yoel Roth’s doctoral dissertation, entitled “Gay Data,” has been withdrawn from the University of Pennsylvania.

According to the Substack Contra, Roth’s dissertation was withdrawn from the website as of December 11.

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

US Scientists Make Major Breakthrough in ‘Limitless, Zero-Carbon’ Fusion Energy: Report

U.S. government scientists at a California laboratory have reportedly made a monumental breakthrough in harnessing the power of fusion energy.

The scientists, working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, recently achieved a net energy gain in a fusion reaction, the Financial Times reported, citing three people with knowledge of the experiment.

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

Federal Health Body Offering TikTok Video Creation Workshop

A federal body in charge of funding medical research is holding a 90-minute “interactive workshop” on how to create TikTok videos.

Instagram and TikTok for #SciComm is being led by influencer and neurologist Dr. Samantha Yammine who is also known as “Science Sam” online. The event is hosted by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).

The free event is being advertised to health researchers at Canadian post-secondary institutions on Feb. 7, 2023.

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

European Gas Crisis ‘Likely’ to Worsen as Winter Cold Snap Hits Continent

Winter temperatures have dropped considerably across Europe, a fact that has been deemed “likely” to worsen the continent’s gas crisis.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

European Parliament VP Arrested for Corruption Previously Accused Poland of ‘Authoritarianism’

Vice-President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, who was arrested on Friday on suspicion of having participated in money laundering and corruption involving the state of Qatar, has previously accused the Polish government of an “alarming turn towards authoritarianism” and recently praised Qatar as a leader in promoting labor rights.

In 2016, Kaili criticized the Polish government for the fact it took action against the illegal election of two constitutional court justices ahead of schedule by the previous parliamentary majority in 2015, and for the fact that the ruling party ensured there was pluralism in the media by removing opposition influence over public broadcasters and newspapers. She demanded the use of Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty against Poland involving sanctions and the suspension of voting rights.

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

France: Morocco Victory Over Portugal Ignites More Clashes in Paris

It was a turbulent night for the police. Clashes broke out between police and fans on the Champs-Élysées in the wake of Morocco’s 1-0 victory over Portugal in the quarter-finals of the Qatari World Cup. The police were fired upon with fireworks, with the latter responding with tear gas. According to an initial report by the police prefecture and reported by Le Parisien on the night of 10 December, at least 74 people were arrested.

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

Germany: Munich Bans Disruptive Climate Protests After Activists Glue Themselves to Runways

Munich has banned certain climate protests following last week’s airport blockades.

All climate-related gatherings aimed at blocking key roads and other areas will be prohibited for at least a month.

Bavaria’s state capital made the announcement on Friday after climate activists briefly disrupted traffic at Munich airport in a protest against the environmental impact of air travel.

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

Green Fail: UK Grid Fires Up Coal Power Stations Amid Energy Crisis

Britain’s National Grid has announced it is firing up two coal-fired reserve power plants as a winter snap and lack of wind leave the country facing blackouts amid a general energy crisis.

“We’ve issued a notification to warm two winter contingency coal units,” the Grid said in a statement posted to social media, expressing hope that the measure “should give the public confidence in Monday’s energy supply.”

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

Ireland: Murder Accused Recounted to Psychologist How She Stabbed Father-of-Seven to Death

Christina Anderson told a psychologist of the moment she stabbed a father of seven to death, recounting how she saw him outside her home and believed he was there to kill her, a Central Criminal Court jury has heard.

The trial heard on Monday that the murder accused, who later confirmed she realised she was delusional at the time, said she stabbed the man once before: “I went back out and stabbed him three more times to make sure he was dead.”

Ms Anderson also told the psychologist: “It’s a tragedy. No one was trying to kill me, I was ill.”

The murder trial also heard that following the fatal incident, the accused told the psychologist she was hearing voices telling her to buy knives the week before the stabbing.

Dr Harry Wood, a consultant and forensic psychologist, told defence counsel Michael O’Higgins SC he interviewed the accused following the killing and she told him: “I stabbed a man outside my house. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know his name and I’d never seen him before.”

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Italian PM Pays Tribute to Friend Murdered in Rome Cafe Shooting

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has paid tribute to a friend of hers who was murdered in a café shooting in Rome on Sunday.

Three women, including a 50-year-old friend of Meloni, Nicoletta Golisano, were killed in the shooting, which left four others wounded, in what is understood to have been instigated by a dispute over housing.

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

Morocco’s World Cup Victory Sparks Fresh Riots as Fears Grow Over Upcoming France vs. Morocco Match

From Brussels to Paris, people took to the streets after Morocco’s victory over Portugal in the World Cup, but perhaps the largest gathering featured 20,000 people ot the Champs-Élysées in Paris, with celebrations eventually devolving into running street battles with police.

In videos seen by hundreds of thousands on social media, crowds of revelers are seen throwing bricks and bottles and shooting firework mortars at police, who were forced to don riot gear and charge the crowd to restore order. In the videos, police strike rioters with batons and deploy tear gas.

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

Poland Aims to Create Largest Land Army in Europe: Report

Poland aims to create the largest land army in Europe, according to a report from French newspaper Le Figaro, with the paper’s analysis pointing out the colossal weapons contracts signed by Warsaw, including tanks, self-propelled guns, and missile launchers.

Poland is arming quickly and securing weapons at a frantic pace. Prior to contracts with South Korea, Warsaw ordered 250 American Abrams tanks to replace the old Soviet-era tanks it sent to Ukraine and other heavy equipment. The deal signed with the South Korean company Hyundai Rotem for the delivery of tanks will amount to four times the number of Leclerc tanks currently used by the French army.

Le Figaro noted that Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak promised in July that Poland will have the “strongest land forces in Europe.”

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

Riots to Celebrate Morocco’s Victory: A Taste of Things to Come

The world is going to change before people really notice, and it’s not going to be a harmonious symbiosis of migrants and White Europeans, warns Polish satirist and writer Marcin Wolski

World War III has not yet begun and we’re already facing a fourth one.

After Morocco defeated the Belgians at the FIFA World Cup, there were riots in many European cities. Migrants burned cars and attacked the police in response to some supposed grievances from the past.

There was delight that the “whiteys” got beat, a clear example of racism in reverse.

We knew it was coming. If you carelessly allow hordes of aliens onto your territory without any programs to assimilate them, and without the sanctions of possible repatriation for breaking the law, this is what happens.

The problem is that nowadays the law protects all kinds of pseudoscience such as climate change, gender ideology, and multiculturalism. So, with the help of the law, it was possible to get migrants from the Third World to become valued workers and citizens.

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

Take a Knee Takes the L

If the World Cup winner was decided on who best pushed “the message,” England won!

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

Two Chinese ‘Police Stations’ Uncovered in Germany

China has set up at least two “police stations” in Germany, authorities have confirmed, sparking fresh concern about the overseas centres that critics say are used to harass dissidents.

The German set-ups do not have fixed offices and are overseen by private individuals from the Chinese diaspora, according to the interior ministry.

“Chinese authorities have no executive powers on (German territory),” the ministry said Thursday, in reply to a question from a lawmaker.

“The German government is in contact with the Chinese embassy about this matter.”

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

UK Government Asked Twitter and Facebook to “Tweak” Algorithms During COVID

Former United Kingdom Health Secretary Matt Hancock, self-styled as an official who was at the forefront of Britain’s battle against Covid, didn’t seem to feel like he had done enough in 2020 and 2021, so he felt compelled to milk the pandemic cow by writing a book about that “battle.”

But he wasn’t laboring alone, since he had a co-author, Isabel Oakeshott, who reports say is actually opposed to Hancock’s policies and is a lockdown skeptic.

And now, Oakeshott, who had access to official records and Hancock’s notes exchanged with “all the key players in Britain’s Covid-19 story” — as the book’s blurb states — has penned her own “story,” an article based on the collaboration published by the Spectator, whose content draws from the material used for the book.

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

UK: ‘We’re Led by Idiots’ — Farage Slams Green Agenda as Reserve Coal Power Stations Fired Up

Brexit champion Nigel Farage has slammed green-obsessed “idiots” running the country as the National Grid warms up two coal-fired reserve power plants in case of shortages.

“So it’s a cold morning, there’s snow across much of the country,” began the Reform UK (Brexit Party) honourary president in a short video posted to social media.

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

UK: Police Tell Drivers ‘Our Hands Are Tied’ as Just Stop Oil Stage More Slow Marches Through North and South London With No Arrests — Despite Causing Traffic Misery for Motorists on Day of Snow Chaos

Police reportedly told a driver ‘our hands are tied’ as eco-protesters Just Stop Oil caused more misery for Londoners stuck in snow chaos by blocking roads with yet another day of slow marching.

From 8.15am, 20 demonstrators walked onto the A24 near Clapham South and continued along Clapham High Street ‘to demand that the government halts all new fossil fuel licences and consents’.

It was the first of two marches today as demonstrators then headed to Camden Town, north London, causing more disruption.

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

Majidreza Rahnavard: Iran Carries Out Second Execution Over Protests

Iran says it has publicly hanged a 23-year-old in what is the second execution linked to the recent anti-government protests.

Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged early on Monday in the city of Mashhad, the judiciary said.

A court convicted him of “enmity against God” after finding he had stabbed to death two members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force.

Rahnavard was hanged just 23 days after his arrest.

Human rights groups have warned that protesters are being sentenced to death after sham trials with no due process.

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

Second Journalist Dies Suddenly at World Cup in Qatar

A second journalist has died suddenly while covering the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, just hours after American sports reporter Grant Wahl suffered a fatal “heart attack” at the event.

As Slay News reported, 48-year-old Wahl, a celebrated soccer journalist, collapsed and died suddenly on Friday.

He reportedly collapsed while covering Friday’s quarterfinal game between Argentina and Netherlands.

Paramedics performed CPR on Wahl for several minutes at the scene.

He was then rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

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

‘Highly Unlikely’ Weakened Russia Can Retake Lost Territory — UK Intel

Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is gambling its reputation somewhat by predicting Russia is “unlikely” to make significant gains in the coming months.

Citing statements by Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov on the ongoing objectives of what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, the MoD said that Moscow probably still regards the total “liberation” of the four Ukrainian regions annexed following widely unrecognised referendums as “minimum political objectives”.

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

Massive Fires Erupt at Moscow Shopping Malls

The Stroitrakt shopping mall in Balashikha, a suburb of Moscow, caught fire on Monday morning. More than 100,000 square feet of the mall was damaged in the blaze, and at least one person was injured, according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

A similar blaze erupted at another Moscow shopping center called Mega Khimki on Thursday, damaging a comparable amount of retail space and killing at least one person.

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

Moscow, Kyiv Spar Over Whether HIMARS Strike Hit Civilians or Soldiers

An strike on Russian-controlled Melitopol by U.S.-supplied HIMARS artillery either killed a number of civilians or “hundreds” of soldiers.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Could Resume Business With Germany if it Ends Ukraine War — Scholz

BERLIN, Dec 12 (Reuters) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that economic cooperation between Germany and Russia could be possible again if the Kremlin ended its war in Ukraine.

Scholz has said in previous speeches that the West would not lift sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine until Moscow withdrew its troops from Ukraine and reached a peace agreement with Kyiv.

“At the moment the relations we have are being reduced, reduced, reduced,” he told the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, referring to western sanctions on Russia that have quashed bilateral trade and investment.

“But a Russia that ends the war,” Scholz said, should be given a chance for renewed economic cooperation. “But that is not now.”

           — Hat tip: JW [Return to headlines]
 

Ukrainian Forces Attack Hotel Where Russia’s Wagner Mercenaries Were Holed Up, With Kyiv Claiming Another 200 Troops Killed in Separate Missile Strike

Serhiy Gaidai (pictured), the governor of the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, told Ukrainian television that forces launched a strike on a hotel in the town of Kadiivka on Saturday.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Updates: G7 Say Air Defenses the ‘Immediate Focus’

The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers on Monday pledged to continue helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion. G7 leaders were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via videolink during Monday’s meeting.

In a joint statement issued by the UK government, G7 leaders slammed Moscow’s “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” and said if Russia ever were to use chemical, biological or nuclear weapons it “would be met with severe consequences.”

G7 leaders emphasized the importance of boosting Ukraine’s air defenses.

“We will continue to coordinate efforts to meet Ukraine’s urgent requirements for military and defense equipment with an immediate focus on providing Ukraine with air defense systems and capabilities,” G7 leaders said.

Ukraine has been urging its Western partners to help boost its air defense system capabilities with advanced weapons systems, amid Russian missile attacks on critical and civilian infrastructure.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Protests and Hunger Strike Take Place at Apple’s HQ, After the Company’s Censorship in China and More

Apple’s policies ensuring its comfortable presence in the Chinese market, over the years criticized on a number of occasions and from many quarters, seem to have caught up with the giant right at its own doorstep.

Local press in San Francisco report about a protest staged by Chinese activists in front of Apple headquarters in Cupertino. University of Southern California student Han Wang started his hunger strike there on Monday, joined by a number of others.

A bigger protest took place at Apple Park for December 10, United Nations Human Rights Day.

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

Chilling Moment a Killer Calmly Plays With Her Phone After Crushing Her ‘Boyfriend’ With Her Car — as the Jilted Lover Breaks Down in Court When Jury Finds Her Guilty of Murder

Jackline Sabana Musa drove her black Toyota Kluger into Payman Thagipur, 31, in the garage of his apartment building in Sydney’s west in June 2020. She has been found guilty of murder.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Three Camouflage-Wearing Killers Are Shot Dead After Murdering Two Cops and a Neighbour in Cold Blood — After Officers Were Ambushed at a Bush Property While Searching for a Missing Man

Three suspects have been shot dead by specialist tactical police in a firefight at a rural Queensland town following the deaths of two police officers and a neighbour.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Why This Young Australian Politician Has Called for the Police to be Completely Defunded as She’s Blasted for Needing a ‘Spoonful of Reality’

A Victorian Socialists party member has called for police to be defunded after the state recorded the highest police funding in the country, claiming officers harassed people of colour.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Namibia Trolls Germany by Offering Safety for German Energy Refugees Amid Cost-of-Living Crisis

Namibia, a former German colony in the southwest of Africa, has pledged to accept any Germans struggling to pay the spiraling energy costs in the country who wish to migrate, insisting there is “no upper limit” to those wanting to escape the cost-of-living crisis.

The country’s president, Hage Gottfried Geingob, welcomed Germany’s Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck to Windhoek this week, and told German officials Namibia has ample space to host as many Germans who wanted refuge from the inflation encapsulating Europe.

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

Child Rapist Migrant to Remain in Germany After Antifa Minister Blocks Deportations

A foreign migrant who has been convicted of raping a child in Germany is to remain in the country after its pro-Antifa Interior Minister blocked his deportation.

A migrant convicted of raping a 14-year-old in 2019 has been released from prison after efforts to deport the criminal back to his home country were blocked by the country’s Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser.

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

Hungary Struggles With Worsening Migrant Crisis Despite Cold Winter Weather

In recent years, the number of illegal migrants attempting to enter Hungary has tended to decrease by mid-December due to winter weather, but this year migration pressure is not decreasing, but increasing, said György Bakondi, the prime minister’s chief advisor on homeland security, to M1 news channel on Saturday evening.

György Bakondi pointed out that this can be observed not only along the Serbian-Hungarian border, but also along the Balkans route from Turkey. This development suggests that violent attempts to break into Hungary in groups will continue into the end of the year and the beginning of next year. So far in 2022, Hungary has registered over 262,000 illegal crossing attempts compared with 114,000 in the same period of 2021.

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

Student Stabbed to Death by Homeless Migrant Near Marseille

A 22-year-old student was stabbed to death in France by a homeless migrant from Cape Verde as she walked home from her part-time job, local media reported on Sunday.

The attack occurred on Sunday, Dec. 4, in the southern French village of Cabrie’s, just 20 kilometers north of Marseille, shortly after 9 p.m.

Fortune Kolagbe, a Togolese national who had been studying economics and business management at the Aix-Marseille University, had been walking from her part-time job at Burger King to the bus stop to head home to study for an exam.

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

Surging Illegal Migration in Europe ‘Highest Since 2016, ‘ Frontex Warns

The European Union is experiencing the highest level of illegal migration since the crisis in 2016, according to new data released by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

At least 308,000 illegal entries were recorded during the first 11 months of 2022, marking a 68% increase over the same period last year.

More than 27,000 “irregular entries” took place in the month of November, more than half of which (14,105) came via the Western Balkans route, Frontex explained in its latest report.

Illegal migrant traffic in the Western Balkans has remained extraordinarily high all year, with 45% of all incursions into the E.U. taking place on this frontier.

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

UK Government Arrests Just 0.3 Per Cent of Illegal Boat Migrants

The UK government has arrested just 0.3 per cent of illegal boat migrants despite passing a law that makes it a crime to arrive in the UK without proper permission.

“Fewer than 100 people who crossed the English Channel in small boats have been arrested for arriving illegally in the UK under a new power to deter them,” reports BBC News.

Back in June, the Home Office passed a new law that stated anyone arriving in the UK without good reason or proper permission would be arrested and jailed for four years.

Despite the law being passed to supposedly deter migrants from making the crossing, the fact that it has gone almost entirely unenforced has failed to disincentivize the illegals from making the crossing from France.

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

UK: Asylum-Seekers Housing Crisis Could Take Up Majority of Our Foreign Aid Budget, Minister Says

International development minister Andrew Mitchell (pictured) said he was forced to ‘pause’ decisions on aid funding because Home Office demands on his budget were ‘effectively out of control’.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Now Channel Migrants Are to be Housed in Holiday Camps as Ministers Scramble to Reduce £5.8million a Day Being Spent on Hotels for Asylum Seekers

Plans to house people in holiday parks as well as old student halls are expected to be announced soon by the government — and could be put into action as early as January.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Human Rights Commissioner in MA Quits After Mocking God, Blasting ‘Trash’ Christians Amid Christmas Tree Spat

A member of a Boston suburb’s Human Rights Commission resigned after posting a profanity-laden post to Facebook last week that mocked God and cursed her fellow citizens amid controversy regarding a local library’s Christmas trees.

The town of Dedham, Massachusetts, about 30 miles southwest of Boston, drew national attention after Lisa Desmond, manager of the local Endicott Branch Library, wrote on Facebook earlier this month that its annual Christmas tree display had apparently been canceled to prevent offending people.

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

Rand Paul: “Republicans Are Not Perfect. But Are Not Pushing Your Child to Have Surgery to Remove Their Genitalia”

Senator Rand Paul warned Friday that under Democratic government young people in America are falling prey to a rapidly worsening mental health crisis.

In an appearance on The Ingraham Angle, Paul raised the issue of doctors carrying out transgender surgeries on children, and the propaganda that has prompted a massive increase in Americans feeling they do not have the ‘right’ body.

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

Trans-Identified Biological Male Charged With Attacking Female Students in School Bathroom

A transgender student in Edmond, Oklahoma has been charged with assault after allegedly attacking two female students inside of a high school women’s restroom.

According to Reduxx, the biological male student, identified as “A” in the police report, was charged with Assault and Battery and Disorderly Conduct, and was handed a summons for the two charges stemming from the incident inside of a women’s restroom at Edmond Memorial High School in October.

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

UK Civil Service Implements ‘Christmas’ and Alcohol Bans for Winter ‘Festive Celebrations’

Britain’s woke civil service has banned many of its members from hosting “Christmas” parties, insisting that only alcohol-free “festive celebrations” are permissible instead.

The war on Christmas is alive and well in 2022, with parts of the UK’s ultra-woke civil service reportedly implementing a ban on the traditional end-of-year Christmas party, permitting its members to only host alcohol-free “festive celebrations” instead.

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

Yukon Taxpayers to Fund Gender-Affirming “Hair Removal, Facial Feminization” Services

The Government of Yukon announced on Friday that new changes to the territory’s healthcare insurance plan will allow people to claim “gender-affirming” services at the expense of taxpayers.

All residents enrolled in the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan are eligible under the new coverage.

“This addresses the gap Yukoners faced when accessing gender-affirming care offered in private facilities,” a news release explains.

“Yukoners can now access services including tracheal shave, facial feminization, body contouring, vocal surgery and hair removal without having to pay out-of-pocket.”

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

6 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/12/2022

  1. .

    US nuclear fuel disposal chief fired after theft charges

    Published 13 December 2022 in Fria Tider

    The acting head of US nuclear fuel disposal, transvestite Sam Brinton, has been asked to leave his post. The announcement comes after Brinton was charged with stealing women’s clothing.

    Senior civil servant and LGBTQ activist Sam Brinton was charged in late October with stealing a bag full of women’s clothing from a Minneapolis airport. Last week, Brinton found himself in hot water again when a Las Vegas court ruled that he should be arrested on suspicion of yet another bag theft.

    The Free Times and thus GoV wrote extensively about the criminal charges against Brinton on Saturday.
    https://gatesofvienna.net/2022/12/gates-of-vienna-news-feed-12-11-2022/#comment-585112

    The media attention surrounding Brinton has been extensive and two Republican congressmen have called for his resignation. Last night, the US Department of Energy announced that Brinton’s employment has been terminated.

    – Sam Brinton is no longer an employee of the Department of Energy. By law, the Department of Energy cannot comment on personnel matters beyond that, an Energy Department spokesperson tells the Daily Beast.

  2. IRONY ON

    We are sorry to report the suicide of Mr Sam Bankman-Fried.
    The guard on duty, Mr Hillaron Clintonisto said he must have done it while he answered a call of nature.
    IRONY OFF

  3. .

    Merry Christmas – Paradise is near

    LAST UPDATE: 14/12-22

    By Lars Hedegaard

    picture
    https://www.snaphanen.dk/upload/2017/12/Screenshot-2017-12-23-at-17.49.05-1200×594.png

    Visions, emotions and white supremacy

    If you asked the average citizen not so many years ago what politics is about, most would probably have answered economy, standard of living, employment, social security, good pension conditions, order in public finances, law and order and the like.

    But that is a thing of the past. Today, decisive political change is taking place not in an area that traditionalists would call politics, but in a very different place that not so long ago we would have called culture.

    Traditional political relations go back and forth and up and down. Cultural change, on the other hand, is permanent and has a much greater long-term impact on life and society. The smart left realized this a long time ago. If you want revolution, don’t march around with red banners demanding nationalisation of the means of production or working class dictatorship – that’s a revolutionary strategy for dummies.

    Now the smart ones have to take a completely different path, as they have learned from the two cunning communists Antonio Gramsci and Saul Alinsky, who advocated a gradual strategy, replacing bombastic slogans with a patient struggle to gain control of society’s institutions and gain dominion over culture – among the fine ones called “cultural hegemony”.

    And after decades of dogged effort, it has almost succeeded.

    Today there is hardly any “highest point of society”, as Lenin called them, that has not been conquered by the Left. This is true of schools, universities, the media, the civil service, the judiciary, the church, Big Tech and big business, which is becoming more and more awake.

    The last bastions are the nuclear family and the traditional notion of gender. Until they are dissolved and forgotten, the left cannot seriously realize its dream of a society where everything is governed by “visions,” “feelings” and grand plans to break ties with 300,000 years of human history and experience and plunge into endless experiments and upheavals.

    But things are moving forward. The whole father, mother and child thing is now a joke and a manifestation of “white supremacy.” In fact, it’s best not to bring children into the world at all, which is why unlimited abortion is high on the left’s Christmas wish list. Leaving abortion policy to the voters of individual states, as the U.S. Supreme Court does, provokes uncontrollable rage and causes millions of Americans to vote for politicians who are running the country into the ground.

    Another way to abolish the family is to dissolve gender identity. That’s why we’ve seen a recent drumbeat of gender-reassignment propaganda. In the US, it starts in school when teachers ask children if they are sure they are boys or girls and if they would prefer to be something else. And if you get in early enough, it turns out that a surprising number of people want to try it. And there’s help available in the form of drugs that block puberty and friendly doctors who can cut off breasts and genitals. More regrets, but there’s nothing to be done about it.

    Add to that the drumbeat of LBTQ+++ propaganda that gets admiration from on high. When Mette Frederiksen and several bourgeois politicians go on nude parades, it’s not because they care about gay rights, which they already do, but because they want to show their revolutionary fervor and hatred of history. In a society with no standards and no history, politicians are free to act as they please.

    Something must also be done about language. That is why the Cambridge Dictionary has just changed the definitions of “man” and “woman”. A woman is now “an adult person who lives and identifies as a woman, even if she or he could be said to have had a different gender at birth”. A man is defined in the same way. Note the word “they”. You can no longer say “she” or “he”.

    The Merriam-Webster dictionary has also introduced a new definition. A woman is now a person who “has a gender identity that is the opposite of male”. In other words, a woman is something that does not exist and is defined as the opposite of something that also does not exist.

    Some have called it circular reasoning, but it doesn’t matter, because old-fashioned logic has also become an expression of white power. The same goes for “objectivity”, which Democratic Washington Governor Jay Inslee now wants to abolish because it is rooted in “white culture”.

    Nirvana is just around the corner, and if you’re one of the quick and smart, you’d better hurry up and hop on the ski express while there’s still room in the front car.

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