Republicans in the House of Representatives have thus far failed to elect a new Speaker. Twenty holdouts preferred Jim Jordan, and refused to vote for Kevin McCarthy. After three ballots failed to gain a majority, the House adjourned until tomorrow.
In other news, a doctor in Germany has been sentenced to almost three years in prison for illegally issuing thousands of coronavirus mask exemption certificates.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, Fjordman, Reader from Chicago, Roger, Seneca III, 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.
Food Prices Soared in 2022, Americans Hope for Improvement in 2023
Food prices soared in 2022, and so far there are few solutions on the horizon for 2023.
The latest Consumer Price Index Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that grocery prices increased 12% in the previous 12 months, far higher than the already elevated inflation rate.
The BLS index for wholesale prices showed the cost of fresh and dry vegetables skyrocketed this year with a 38.1% increase last month alone. The price for eggs for fresh use rose about 244% in the prior 12 months. A few foods, such as finfish and shellfish as well as beef and veal, saw decreases at the wholesale level, but most others saw double-digit increases.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s inflation figure of 9.6% for December was down from 11.3% in November and much lower than the 10.7% forecast by experts.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Swept by ‘Major Bankruptcy Wave’ As Inflation, Energy Crisis Bite
The number of bankruptcies in Sweden has risen to its highest level in a decade during the second half of 2022, according to the business and credit reference agency UC.
Between July and December 2022, 22 percent more bankruptcies were registered than in the same period in 2021, striking out hopes of a post-COVID recovery and the bout of optimism at the start of the year. As Sweden eased its pandemic-related restrictions, 2021 saw the lowest number of bankruptcies on record. The year 2022 also started on a high note, but the situation quickly deteriorated.
Among the year’s high-profile bankruptcies is ByggTema, the largest private construction company in the city of Orebro with a turnover of SEK 700 million ($67 million), followed by Lystra Personal Assistance in Stockholm and the clothing chain Indiska.
According to UC, nearly 3,500 companies filed for bankruptcy in the second half of the year alone, around 300 more than in 2013, when the previous record was registered.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The figures come amid warnings from retailers that inflation shows ‘no immediate sign of waning’ and follow Office for National Statistics studies showing households are reducing food spending.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
After Blowout Gubernatorial Victory, DeSantis Continues to Press Heavily Into U.S. Culture Wars
After a resounding re-election victory in the November election, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is delving even further into America’s increasingly bitter cultural wars.
In his initial 2018 race, DeSantis won against Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum by just 0.4%. In his 2022 re-election campaign, the Republican governor carried the race on a landslide, beating Democrat Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points.
That victory came after four years of DeSantis’s nonstop political crusading throughout the state, much of it at the forefront of hot-button cultural issues that many Republicans often opt to avoid.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Americans Strongly Support Security Measures for Absentee Ballot Drop Boxes, Poll Finds
Americans only have moderate trust in the midterm election results and overwhelmingly support strong security measures for drop boxes used to collect absentee and early ballots, according to recent polling.
The Rasmussen poll surveyed 1200 registered voters and was conducted Dec. 8-9. Of the 1200 registered voters that were interviewed, 76% said that drop boxes used to collect absentee and early voting ballots should be available only in places and times where they can be supervised and have video surveillance.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Andy Ngo Reports: How a Child Abduction Suspect Groomed His Victim on Twitter
A 26-year-old man accused of kidnapping a 13-year-old Utah boy and taking him across the country is revealed to be a dog fetishist and furry who allegedly groomed the child in disturbing online interactions.
Aaron Zeman, of Arizona, was with the missing child in Grand Island, Neb. when he was arrested on Dec. 28. A gasoline station attendant called police after growing suspicious of the suspect. The child, from Layton, Utah, was reported missing the day prior and a state-wide AMBER Alert was issued.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brooklyn Subway Shooter Frank James Pleads Guilty to Terror Charges
NEW YORK — Mass subway shooter Frank James admitted Tuesday he unleashed a wave of gunfire, smoke and horror on a Brooklyn train car in last year, wounding 10 people in a rush hour act of terrorism.
James, 63, could face up to life in prison for causing the chaotic ride on April 12.
“While I was on the train, I started shooting a firearm. My intention was to cause serious bodily injury to the people on the train,” James told Brooklyn Federal Court Judge William Kuntz. “And although it was not my attention to cause death, I was fully aware that a death or deaths could occur as a result of my discharging a firearm in such an enclosed space as a subway car.”
James put on a gas mask, set off a smoke bomb on a packed N train as it pulled into the 36th Street Station in Sunset Park, and opened fire 33 times as he told terrified passengers, “Start running.”
He was arrested the next day after an intense manhunt, and tried to claim he was just another rider on the train when officers and FBI agents questioned him.
James pleaded guilty to 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system, one for each gunshot victim, as well as a single count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Coca-Cola Accused of Paying NAACP to Call Soda Taxes ‘Racist’
TrueMedicine Care co-founder Calley Means published a thread to Twitter on Monday, where he broke down the grip that soda companies have over food regulation. Means claimed that his Twitter Blue access and his account is now under review, suggesting that this was due to Coca-Cola being a major advertiser for Twitter.
“Early in my career, I consulted for Coke to ensure sugar taxes failed and soda was included in food stamp funding,” Means claimed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dave Rubin’s “The Rubin Report” To Live Stream Exclusively on Rumble
Show host and commentator Dave Rubin’s popular “The Rubin Report” show, which features interviews and news commentary, will now be live streaming exclusively on the free speech video sharing platform Rumble.
The show will go live Monday to Friday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). Rubin will also continue live streaming an exclusive after-show for subscribers on Rumble’s membership platform Locals which he co-founded.
The Rubin Report is a top 15 podcast in the United States (US) Apple Podcasts “New Commentary” charts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump Jr. To Launch New Podcast Exclusively on Rumble
Donald Trump Jr. has signed a multi-year podcast deal with YouTube alternative Rumble.
Rumble will exclusively host Trump Jr.’s new podcast “Triggered with Don Jr.,” named after his 2019 book. It is a live show that will air twice a week starting January 23. The podcast will feature his takes on news of the day and guest interviews.
Since joining Rumble in 2021, Trump Jr. has gained over one million subscribers, making his channel one of the most followed on Rumble.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EA Exec: “This is Not a Platform Where You Get to Talk About Anything You Want”
Gaming platforms are increasingly rushing to please media spectators and tackle what it calls “toxicity” in gaming and work to address it through various censorship proposals.
In November, Ubisoft and Riot Games partnered on such a project. However, gaming developer Electronic Arts (EA) has been promoting the strategy for several years now through its “Positive Play” program, according to gaming news outlet IGN.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Cuts Back on Office Space at Twitter’s San Francisco HQ
Twitter CEO Elon Musk is reportedly continuing to cut costs at the social media company by reducing the amount of office space at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco, California.
An ownership group led by Musk acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal last year and took the company private. Shortly after stepping in as CEO, Musk announced a wave of layoffs that cut Twitter’s workforce by more than half from about 7,500 employees at the time of the takeover. Roughly 800 of those were workers based in San Francisco.
A report by the San Francisco Business Times, which cited the New York Times, said that Twitter has consolidated the office space footprint at its downtown San Francisco headquarters from six floors to two.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Epidemiologist Dr. Harvey Risch Says Required COVID Testing is Useless
Mandatory COVID-19 testing is useless and ineffective, according to Senior Research Scientist and Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health Dr. Harvey Risch.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Staffers Turn on Kamala Harris, Warn America That VP ‘Will Inhibit Any Administration’ She Leads
Former aides to Kamala Harris have turned on the vice president and issued a warning to the American people about her lack of leadership qualities.
The aides spilled the beans in a new book about Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration.
They reportedly told the author, Chris Whipple, how bad it really is behind the scenes and insist that Harris is in way over her head.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Burglars Arrested After Calling 911 for Help to Move Stolen Items
Two people in Florida were arrested after one of them made a 911 call to get help with moving their belongings from a home they were burglarizing, authorities said.
Deputies responded to a home Saturday after a 911 call was made, but nobody spoke, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. At the home, the deputies concluded that nobody lived there, but they found a male suspect and his girlfriend inside the home after entering it through an unlocked door.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Assistant FBI Director Says He Believes Idaho Killer Suspect Has Killed Before
Former assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker said Tuesday the man charged with murdering four Idaho college students has probably killed before.
“I hate to say this because it sounds so grim, but I don’t think this is the first time he’s ever killed,” Swecker said about accused killer Bryan Kohberger on the John Solomon Reports podcast. “I think the FBI is probably scouring the area around Pennsylvania where he spent a lot of time.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty to All Charges, Trial Set for Oct. 2
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to a litany of charges at his Tuesday arraignment in federal court.
The former cryptocurrency mogul faces charges of fraud, conspiracy, money-laundering and campaign finance law violations in connection with the collapse of his digital finance empire, according to Axios.
The judge set his trial date for Oct. 2, 2023.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Glenn Greenwald to Bring Written Reporting and Commentary Exclusively to Locals
The growing video-sharing platform Rumble has announced that journalist Glenn Greenwald will now publish written content, including original reporting and political commentary on its community platform, Locals.
Greenwald, who has one of the top newsletters on Substack, will now move to Locals and publish his written content, along with bonus video content.
The move follows Greenwald launching a new exclusive show on Rumble, called “System Update.” The show streams daily at 7 pm Eastern.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vice President Kamala Harris is requiring negative COVID-19 tests from Senators and their guests if they want to take part in a swearing-in ceremony photo-op and one new GOP Senator said no thanks.
“We look forward to welcoming your Senator on January 3, 2023, to the ceremonial reenactment for incoming and newly re-elected Senators in the Old Senate Chamber,” Grisella Martinez, Harris’ director of legislative affairs, wrote to Senate offices.
“As you are aware, White House COVID-19 protocols require that anyone over two-years of age who will interact with the Vice President take a medically-administered antigen test within 24 hours prior to interaction, and receive a negative result.
“This policy applies regardless of vaccination status.”
Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin refused and will not attend the photo op with his family.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
MOSCOW, Idaho — The Pennsylvania man accused of killing four University of Idaho college students in November is a criminal justice Ph.D. candidate who studied under a leading expert on serial killer Dennis Rader, known as the BTK Killer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Idaho Murders: Bryan Kohberger Seen on Body Camera Footage During Traffic Stop in Indiana
MOSCOW, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger, the criminology Ph.D. student suspected of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in November, was stopped last month in Indiana while on a cross-country road trip with his father to the family’s home in Pennsylvania, according to body camera footage obtained by Fox News Digital.
A wide-eyed Kohberger could be seen leaning over in the driver’s seat of a white Hyundai Elantra after he was pulled over by an Indiana state trooper at approximately 10:50 a.m. on Dec. 15 in Hancock County, Indiana.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Idaho Murders: Bryan Kohberger Waives Extradition, To Head to Moscow
STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger waived extradition Tuesday in a Pennsylvania courtroom and will be brought to Moscow to face murder charges for the deaths of four college students.
Kohberger, 28, entered the Monroe County courtroom in a red jail-issue jumpsuit and looked directly at his parents and sisters who were seated together in the front row of the gallery. His father nodded his head in acknowledgment before Kohberger turned his gaze forward.
Judge Margherita Worthington took her seat at the bench, and Kohberger and his attorney, Jason LaBar, stood up. She asked Kohberger if he waived his right to challenge his arrest on four counts of first-degree murder.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kari Lake Calls for a Recall of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake said that she wants the entire Maricopa County Board of Supervisors recalled due to their incompetence in handling the 2022 election.
“We need to recall everyone at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors — especially Bill Gates and Stephen Richer,” Lake said on Tuesday’s edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “These two men in charge of this election started a Super PAC to raise money and try to defeat me and they were in charge of the election when I’m on the ballot.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Matt Gaetz Nominates Jim Jordan for Speaker as McCarthy Falls Short in Second Round of Voting
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to be House Speaker before the second round of voting.
The move comes as House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) struggles to get the votes to win the speakership.
Jordan may not take it this round but it looks like McCarthy won’t have the votes to cross the finish line.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
McCarthy Loses Third Speaker Vote, Donalds Defects to Jordan
California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy lost his bid for speaker on the chamber’s third vote, losing one additional vote as Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds broke ranks to back Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan.
McCarthy claimed 202 votes, all from Republicans, while Jordan gained one additional vote for a total of 20. Donalds previously voted for McCarthy twice.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Missouri Executes Transgender Woman for 2003 Murder of Girlfriend
Missouri on Tuesday executed an inmate believed to be the first openly transgender woman to be put to death in the United States.
Amber McLaughlin, 49, died by lethal injection for the 2003 killing of her girlfriend, Beverly Guenther. Prior to the execution, McLaughlin could only be saved by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, who announced hours earlier that the state would carry out the execution Tuesday.
“McLaughlin’s conviction and sentence remains after multiple, thorough examinations of Missouri law. McLaughlin stalked, raped, and murdered Ms. Guenther. McLaughlin is a violent criminal,” Parson said in a statement. “Ms. Guenther’s family and loved ones deserve peace. The State of Missouri will carry out McLaughlin’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly Three-Fourths of GOP Voters Want New RNC Leadership
Nearly three-out-of-four GOP voters believe a new chairperson should be elected to the Republican National Committee, reflecting the growing dissatisfaction with Ronna McDaniel’s leadership.
A Convention of States Action survey conducted by the Trafalgar Group discovered that about 73% of Republican voters said a new person should be elected to lead the RNC this month. While 21% said they were unsure about who the next chair should be, 6% of GOP voters said McDaniel should run for a fourth therm, The Hill reported on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Browser Extension Replaces Wikipedia Pages in Search Results With Encyclosphere Pages
Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger has announced the launch of a browser plugin that adds Encyclosphere results, while offering the possibility to remove those from Wikipedia — when performing a search using Google or DuckDuckGo.
Other search engines will be added soon, according to the plugin’s page on Chrome Web Store (also works with Brave). The description also notes that Wikipedia results are removed when there are relevant ones from the Encyclosphere.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Details in Chelsea Market Basket Parking Lot Stabbing
The son of the man who was stabbed told police he heard the two men yelling before it escalated to violence, according to a court document
The man accused of stabbing another man over a parking spot outside of a Market Basket supermarket in Chelsea, Massachusetts, appeared in court Tuesday.
The person who was stabbed is recovering from the wound to his back and his young son was in the back seat of the car when it happened, according to court proceedings.
The child told police he heard the two men yelling before it escalated to violence, according to a court document.
Victor Rojas Avalo, a 25-year-old from Revere, appeared in Chelsea District Court to face a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. His bail was set at $500 bail he was ordered to stay away from both the victim and Market Basket.
Rojas Avalo pleaded not guilty, declined to answer questions after posting bail.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
New York Times Guest Essay Argues ‘Short People’ Better for the Planet
A guest essay for the New York Times insisted that being short is “better” for the future to the amusement of several Twitter users on Sunday and Monday.
Author Mara Altman penned the essay remarking that not only do shorter people tend to live longer, but they’re also crucial in conserving food and resources in our dying planet.
“The short are also inherent conservationists, which is more crucial than ever in this world of eight billion. Thomas Samaras, who has been studying height for 40 years and is known in small circles as the Godfather of Shrink Think, a widely unknown philosophy that considers small superior, calculated that if we kept our proportions the same but were just 10 percent shorter in America alone, we would save 87 million tons of food per year (not to mention trillions of gallons of water, quadrillions of B.T.U.s of energy and millions of tons of trash),” she wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York Subway Shooter Pleads Guilty to Terrorism Charges
The 2022 New York subway shooter on Tuesday pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges.
The defendant, Frank James, pleaded guilty after initially pleading not guilty last May, the month after he opened fire on a crowded New York City subway train going through Brooklyn, according to CNN.
The 62-year-old James in the attack wounded 10 people and on Tuesday admitting that his intention was to “cause serious bodily injury to the people on the train.”
However, he also said he did not intend to “cause death.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A woman was hacked to death by a machete-wielding madman while working her job at Dollar Tree — less than two months after she married the love of her life.
The newlywed, 22-year-old Ohio woman Keris Riebel, was killed Sunday at the dollar store in Upper Sandusky, while working a shift on New Year’s Day.
Cops were called to the scene at 4:25 pm, shortly after 27-year-old Bethel Bekele was said to have entered the establishment. Upon arriving, officers came across the grisly scene — and found Riebel’s savaged body on the store floor.
Her attacker, however, was nowhere to be found. Within the hour, cops tracked down Bekele about a mile from the store — which is situated about 60 miles north of Columbus — and arrested him for murder.
Riebel is now being remembered as a ‘beautiful soul’ by those who knew her, including husband Jordan Riebel — after the pair had reportedly been planning to have children and start a family together.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has requested that the identities of the two people who helped to secure his bail be kept hidden, Bloomberg reports.
Lawyers for the disgraced former billionaire have argued that there is no need for the public to be aware of the identities of the guarantors, saying that allowing so would unnecessarily place the two individuals under the media spotlight.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
SUNY Professor Blames Local Police for ‘Murder’ of Suspect Who Attacked Them
A radical New York university professor is coming under fire for blaming two injured Suffolk County police officers, one of whom with life-threatening injuries, for the “murder” of their knife-wielding attacker.
“This was a wellness check — why didn’t they de-escalate the situation,” Professor Anna Hayward posted on an update regarding the conditions of the officers posted on the Stony Brook Medicine Instagram page, according to the New York Post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The 19 Republicans Who Abandoned McCarthy in First, Second Round of Speaker Votes
Nineteen House Republicans on Tuesday abandon fellow GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the first and rounds of balloting for speaker.
The loss on first round was the first time that has happened in roughly 100 years, according to MetroWeekly.com.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Files: Rep. Adam Schiff’s Office Requested Tech Giant to Suspend Accounts
It was revealed in the latest “Twitter Files,” that the office of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., made requests for Twitter to suspend certain accounts.
In the second of two back-to-back batches of Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files” shared on Tuesday by Substack writer Matt Taibbi, he reported that Twitter “received an astonishing variety of requests from officials asking for individuals they didn’t like to be banned.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The first “Twitter Files” of 2023 dove into the tech giant’s evolution from its resistance to its embrace of the intel community.
In the eleventh installment of Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files,” Substack writer Matt Taibbi reported about the “PR crisis” Twitter underwent in 2017 when Democrats pummeled the tech giant for its apparent inaction of investigating Russian influence on the platform as Facebook was public with uprooting suspicious foreign accounts following the 2016 presidential election.
Amid pressure, Twitter launched a “Russia Task Force” to investigate whether the Kremlin had such a foothold on the platform, even after it had suspended several suspected Russia-linked accounts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Let US Intelligence Community Influence Policies After Pressure From Democrats and Media
A new batch of internal Twitter Files has revealed that after mounting pressure from Democrats and the legacy media, Twitter allowed the United States (US) intelligence community to influence whether specific accounts would be allowed to advertise on Twitter. And once the US intelligence community gained this foothold, it would not leave.
This batch of Twitter Files was published by journalist Matt Taibbi and contains internal Twitter emails and messages documenting Twitter’s decision to allow the US intelligence community to influence content moderation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Youngkin Calls for Civil Rights Investigation Into Fairfax School Over Delay in Academic Honors
Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has called on state Attorney General Jason Miyares to investigate an incident in a Fairfax County school during which students received notification of certain scholarships and academic honors too late to include them on some college applications, a delay many parents claim was done to advance an equity agenda.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canada Enacts Temporary Ban on Foreign Home Buyers to Curb Prices
As of January 1st, the Canadian government has enacted a two-year ban on foreign nationals purchasing residential properties in an effort to stem rising housing costs.
The two-year foreign buyer ban came into effect on January 1st while the new policy had been passed in parliament last June.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
JCCF’s John Carpay Charged Over 2021 Surveillance of Manitoba Judge
John Carpay, the President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), has been charged by Winnipeg Police for obstruction of justice and has turned himself in to Calgary Police.
Winnipeg Police issued the charges on December 30, 2022, in relation to a June 2021 incident where Carpay hired a private investigator to conduct surveillance on a number of Manitoba government officials, including the Chief Justice of Manitoba Glenn Joyal. Carpay turned himself in immediately after learning of the warrant for his arrest.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mandating Electric Vehicle Sales Projected to Cost Nearly $100 Billion
The Trudeau government’s electric vehicle mandate will cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $100 billion to achieve, new federal estimates show.
As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement found that a bulk of the spending will be for increased electricity usage and could lead to lower consumer choice.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mendicino Says Feds Working With ‘Potential’ Third Parties on Firearms Confiscation
After four provinces said they would not aid Ottawa in confiscating legally-acquired firearms, federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino now says Ottawa is working with “potential” third parties to implement its gun buyback scheme.
In September, Alberta was the first province to oppose Mendicino’s request to aid the federal government’s confiscation program. It was followed promptly by Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick.
Mendicino says Ottawa is looking at a “variety of options” to deliver the buyback program.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Author and clinical psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson has revealed that the College of Psychologists of Ontario, a regulatory body that licenses practicing clinical psychologists, has demanded that he undergo “social media communications retraining” or face an in-person tribunal and suspension of his license.
Peterson claimed that the regulatory body issued this demand because he retweeted Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre, criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his political allies, criticized climate change models, objected to “surgery on gender dysphoric minors,” and warned Canadians it was “wrong for social service workers and police to threaten to apprehend the children of the Trucker Convoy protestors.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trudeau Slammed for “Missed Opportunity” Over Germany LNG Deal
As a US ship arrived in Germany’s newly built liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal with a fresh shipment of gas, critics of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted him for turning down an opportunity to sell Canadian gas to the European nation.
Conservative MP and foreign affairs critic Michael Chong called the deal a “missed opportunity” for Canada as Germany seeks for ways to offset its dependency on Russian energy.
“Germany’s newly constructed LNG terminal received its first full cargo from the U.S. today — not Canada,” tweeted Chong.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Actors Banned From Playing Doctors or Pharmacists in Polish Ads for Medical Products
The use of actors to play medical professionals for the advertisement of medical products is now prohibited in Poland.
The bill on medical products was passed in April last year; however, some of the regulations only entered into force on Jan. 1, 2023.
According to the chairman of the Supreme Medical Council, Lukasz Jankowski, advertisements that portray a doctor are misleading. “It is a change in a very positive direction. You cannot mislead a patient and pretend to be a doctor who is recommending medical products,” said Jankowski.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Great Mosque of Paris has filed a complaint against Michel Houellebecq, considered France’s greatest living author, after he said that the native French population does not wish for Muslims to assimilate but to “stop stealing from them and attacking them” or, if the Muslim population cannot manage that, then they should simply leave France.
Houellebecq made the remarks during an explosive interview in November, in which he and philosopher Michel Onfray discussed a wide-range of topics, including the Great Replacement, Islam, God, the European Union, euthanasia, and the future of France.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium Has Now Killed Over 27,000 People With Euthanasia
Belgium has now killed over 27,000 people with euthanasia since the European nation’s “assisted suicide” laws were first introduced in 2002.
Along with Canada, Germany, and Switzerland, Belgium has some of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Eight in Ten Arrested in Stockholm Are Children as Violent Crime Surges
A Swedish police officer has claimed that children as young as 14 are being arrested for firearm violence and that eight in ten arrested in Stockholm are under the age of eighteen.
Max Åkerwall, deputy commander for firearm violence at the Stockholm police, has claimed that violent crimes involving criminal gangs are being increasingly perpetrated by children under the age of eighteen as gangs recruit younger and younger members.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden failed last year in its fight against gang crime, the country’s Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said after a wave of violence over the festive period saw the 63rd fatal shooting across the country in 2022.
“The citizens have a legitimate expectation that the results will be significantly much better,” Strömmer said in a video published by Swedish broadcaster SVT.
The Moderate party justice minister, who has served in the cabinet of Ulf Kristersson since October last year, called for regional law enforcement agencies to pool their resources and “make a powerful mobilization” in order to “break this gross and serious crime.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Female Jogger’s Throat Slashed by Afghan Suspect on NYE
A female jogger narrowly survived a brutal attack by an Afghan suspect who stabbed her in the throat last week, according to reports.
The horrifying incident unfolded at around 3:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in Reims, a large city in the department of Marne.
A 34-year-old woman was running on a trail popular with fitness enthusiasts when she was ambushed by a man wearing a ‘djellaba’ and shouting “in a foreign language,” Le Figaro reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Interior Minister Mocked After Saying ‘Only’ 690 Cars Torched on New Year’s Eve
There were riots in several French cities, almost 700 cars were set on fire, and nearly 500 people were arrested on New Year’s Eve in France. However, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a statement that New Year’s Eve celebrations in the country had taken place “without any major incidents.”
The French authorities were on high alert for the end of the year, with 90,000 police officers and gendarmes mobilized across the country for New Year’s Eve, according to a statement by Darmanin.
The French politician also pointed out that New Year’s Eve 2022 showed a historic improvement in the number of vehicles set on fire, with “only” 690 cars burned nationwide. According to figures in the release, that number was 874 last year, a 21 percent improvement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Doctor Jailed for Issuing Thousands of Coronavirus Mask Exemption Certificates
BERLIN (AP) — A German doctor was sentenced late Monday to two years and nine months in prison for illegally issuing more than 4,000 people with exemptions from wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic.
A regional court in the southwestern town of Weinheim confirmed Tuesday that the doctor was convicted of “issuing incorrect health certificates” to people from across Germany, most of whom she had never met or examined.
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Greta’s Gangster Friend the Target of a Recent Bombing
Swedish outlet Samnytt revealed that the rapper, who goes by the name “1.Cuz”, was allegedly targeted after mocking the now-deceased rape gangster Mehdi “Dumle” Sachit, who was shot dead on Christmas Day.
In addition to his violence-glorifying music, the man, who is Somali, has also been involved in politically expedient issues such as climate change and vaccine campaigns together with Greta Thunberg, according to Samnytt.
Abas Abdikarim Bakar is also active in gang crime and has been convicted of transporting five automatic weapons and ammunition through Stockholm. He spent two years in prison.
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Le Pen Warned France: Macron Prepares to Raise Retirement Age to 65
In his New Year’s speech, French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to continue in 2023 with an unpopular overhaul of the country’s pension system, which will effectively force people to work longer in a country where an earlier retirement was once seen as politically sacred.
The new pension rules will come into effect from the end of the summer, the president said in his New Year’s address to the French nation, calling on citizens to “remain united and not give in to division.”
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One in Three UK Police Forces Use Chinese Surveillance Equipment With Security Concerns
Over a third of police forces in the UK are using surveillance cameras made by companies with ties to the communist Chinese government, thereby endangering Britain’s national security, the surveillance watchdog has claimed.
The government’s independent biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner Fraser Sampson has called for police forces to begin phasing out and replacing surveillance equipment made by Chinese companies such as Hikivision and DJI, both of which are mandated by law to share intelligence with the communist government in Beijing.
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On New Year’s Day, Ukrainians celebrated Stepan Bandera’s 114th birthday anniversary, which has outraged Poles across the political spectrum. In cities like Lviv and others, Ukrainians offered up an homage to Bandera, the leader of OUN-UPA in 1930s and 1940s, who collaborated with the Nazis and is regarded in Poland as a war criminal.
Bandera’s birthday was also commemorated on the official Twitter profile of the parliament of Ukraine.
The crowds who paid homage to Bandera prompted backlash from Polish users on social media. Law and Justice (PiS) MP Kacper Plazynski posted on Twitter that Bandera was responsible for the genocide of Poles.
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Polish PM in Favor of Death Penalty, Claims Its Abolition Was ‘Premature’
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has spoken out in favor of the death penalty for the most heinous crimes, deviating from the Roman Catholic Church’s position on the matter.
During a Q&A session on his Facebook page on Monday evening, the Polish leader called the abolition of the death penalty 25 years ago in Poland a “premature invention.”
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Polish Official: Russia Pushes False Narrative About Poles Fighting in Ukraine
Russian propaganda is continuing the false narrative about mass participation and huge losses incurred by Polish mercenaries engaged in the war in Ukraine, says Stanislaw Zaryn, the government’s information security spokesman.
Zaryn took to Twitter on Monday to highlight how the topic of Polish mercenaries in Ukraine “is a constant element used in propaganda directed at the Russian public.” He argues that the objective is to present Poland as a warmonger.
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Qatargate: 2 Socialist MEPs to Have Their Immunity Lifted as EU Corruption Probe Grows
The European Parliament announced on Monday, Jan. 2, that it had initiated an urgent procedure, following a request from the Belgian judiciary to lift the immunity of two MEPs in the corruption investigation into alleged bribes offered by Qatar to European officials and civil servants, news agencies AFP and EFE reported.
The two MEPs are Italian Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian Marc Tarabella, both members of the European Social Democrats (S&D) group.
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UK Retail is Flooded With Facial Recognition, Digital ID Trials
What some might see as UK authorities’ “age verification fixation” continues, this time with pilots whose purported goal is, as ever, a noble one — make sure alcohol is not sold to minors in stores or hospitality venues.
But — as ever — there’s quite a bit of “surveillance state-creation hazard” in the entire scheme once you scratch the surface, particularly since this one goes as far as to utilize biometrics, among other tech, to achieve the said goal.
The trials were organized at various points during 2022 in a number of cities in England, including Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, and Nottingham, where Trent University teamed up with local bars to monitor students buying alcoholic beverages.
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A Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist has pleaded not guilty to fraud amid allegations she pocketed tens of thousands of pounds in donations ring-fenced for a youth charity based in Bristol, England.
Xahra Saleem, 22, entered her plea at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, denying two counts of fraud by abuse of position.
The BLM organizer was central to the setting up of online fundraising campaigns at the peak of the movement in the summer of 2020 following the murder of convicted robber George Floyd during an arrest by police officers in the U.S. city of Minneapolis.
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Russia Says Toll From Ukraine Strike Rises to 89
The toll from a Ukrainian New Year strike in Makiivka has risen to 89, Moscow said Wednesday, after Russians gathered to mourn the troops.
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Sergey Milyakov, 51, was found dead in his room aboard a ship anchored at Paradip Port in Jagatsingpur at 4:30am local time this morning. Officials did not give a cause of death
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Alameddine boss Rafat Alameddine and Commancheros president Allan Meehan are out of the country as police try to contain their gangs’ bloody war.
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The Border Force intercepted the first group migrants to cross the Channel this year, while the French coastguard prevented a further 80 from reaching the UK.
A Border Force vessel intercepted the 44 asylum seekers from one boat off the coast of Dover, Kent, at around 2pm yesterday.
The migrants could be seen wrapped in hats, blankets and warm clothing after battling cold conditions at sea — with one woman wearing a grey dressing gown.
[Comment: Article dated January 3, 2023.]
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German NGO Migrant Boat Service ‘Sea-Eye’ Asks German Government to Protect Them From Italy
The NGO behind the “Sea-Eye” migrant boat service has called on the German government to protect them from the Italian authorities during their activities in the Mediterranean Sea.
The government in Rome has been taking new measures to restrict the operation of migrant boat services off the coast of Italy.
In a statement released by Sea-Eye regarding Italy’s new rules, the NGO writes that Italy has no authority over their boats.
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NYC Mayor Adams Calls Out Biden, Says Migrant Crisis a ‘Real Embarrassment’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday called the migrant crisis that he says is overwhelming the Big Apple a “real embarrassment” on a national level as he claimed that there is “no more room at the inn” in the self-described sanctuary city.
Adams was asked about the migrant crisis that has reached into New York City as tens of thousands of migrants have made their way — including by bus — to the city in recent months.
“It’s a real embarrassment, I believe, on a national level, and we must have an appropriate response. We have had conversations around the issues on migrants for decades. This is a national issue. It must have a national response,” he said on WABC’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning.”
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Six Men Charged in New Year’s Day Stabbing at Irish Hotel Currently Housing Asylum Seekers
Six men have been charged in connection with an incident on New Year’s Day at an Irish hotel housing asylum seekers that saw four people hospitalized with stab wounds.
All individuals, aged in their 20s and 30s, are residents of the Hotel Killarney in County Kerry, which is currently being used as a Direct Provision center accommodating asylum seekers.
According to police, a fight broke out at the location shortly after 8 p.m. on Sunday, which the Irish Times reports was “between two groups of men from Eastern Europe and North Africa.”
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Trudeau Liberals Exceed Immigration Goals, Increase to 500,000 by 2025
Canada set a new immigration record for 2022, welcoming more than 430,000 newcomers into the country, Trudeau’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, said on Tuesday.
Ottawa intended to welcome 431,645, a goal that has been reached, surpassing the previous year’s record of more than 401,000 immigrants.
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A failure to integrate the large influx of immigrants into Germany in recent years is to blame for the riots that took place in multiple cities across the country on New Year’s Eve, deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group, Jens Spahn, has claimed.
This site has already reported on the migrant-fueled incidents on Saturday evening, as German celebrations to see in the new year in style descended into chaos. Numerous videos circulating on social media show the extent of the violence and damage done, particularly in the German capital and the port city of Hamburg.
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Utter mayhem yet again in numerous major European cities on New Year’s Eve as migrant youths attacked police, firefighters and ambulance workers.
And the media barely covered it.
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Conservatives celebrated on Tuesday the successful enactment of a new law in Louisiana that requires ID and age verification within the state to access online porn.
The bill was originally spearheaded by Louisiana State Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R., earlier in 2022 and finally went into effect on Sunday. The new law states that websites containing 33.3% or more of pornographic material will now be held liable for ensuring their viewers are 18 or older or risk legal ramifications.
“Online pornography is extreme and graphic and only one click away from our children. This is not your daddy’s Playboy. And if pornography companies refuse to be responsible, then we must hold them accountable. This law is a first step,” Schlegel tweeted on Dec. 29.
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A new study claims that language relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in scientific publications has increased by 4,200% between 2010 and 2021.
The National Association of Scholars released a report in late November outlining the steep increase of DEI-related language being used on university websites, university social media accounts, academic associations, scientific publications, and scientific grants.
Analyzing several different repositories for scientific publications, the study saw a substantial increase in DEI-related language being used.
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An Australian trans-identified male is suing a female-only social media platform for alleged discrimination after being barred from using the service in September 2021.
According to the Guardian, Roxanne Tickle, a male who identifies as a woman, filed the federal court lawsuit on December 22, claiming to have been unlawfully barred from using the Giggle for Girls social media app. A further complaint against Giggle CEO Sall Grover in the lawsuit is that she believes “transgender women, including the Applicant, to be male.”
The trans-identified male is seeking damages, complete access to the female-only online space, and a written apology from Grover.
“I believe that I am being discriminated against by being provided with extremely limited functionality of a smartphone app by the app provider compared to that of other users because I am a transgender woman,” Tickle stated in an earlier complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission filed in 2021.
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A school district in Nevada is being sued by two parents after their children were allegedly required to read a “pornographic” monologue that was barred from being read at a school board meeting, according to the lawsuit.
Candara Evans and Terrell Evans, both parents of children attending Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, are suing the district’s superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara, the district, and the teacher, alleging that they were involved in “unlawful grooming and abuse of a minor” which included “pornographic material,” according to KTSM.
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€1 million to perform at New Year’s event
For years, Polish conservative commentators have complained about the Americanization of Polish and European culture, lamenting how changing views on Catholicism and traditional values have eroded the social fabric of the country.
Now, the conservative Polish government is being criticized after it reportedly paid €1 million to the U.S. pop-rap group Black Eyed Peas for them to perform during a New Year’s live special, “New Year’s Eve of Dreams,” which ran on Polish public broadcaster TVP in the mountain resort of Zakopane. The rap group took the opportunity to mock the Law and Justice (PiS) party, imply it was hateful, and sport LGBT armbands during a performance watched by over 8 million Poles.
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Report of the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death: Bringing Death Back Into Life
Executive summary
The story of dying in the 21st century is a story of paradox. While many people are overtreated in hospitals with families and communities relegated to the margins, still more remain undertreated, dying of preventable conditions and without access to basic pain relief. The unbalanced and contradictory picture of death and dying is the basis for this Commission.
How people die has changed radically over recent generations. Death comes later in life for many and dying is often prolonged. Death and dying have moved from a family and community setting to primarily the domain of health systems. Futile or potentially inappropriate treatment can continue into the last hours of life. The roles of families and communities have receded as death and dying have become unfamiliar and skills, traditions, and knowledge are lost. Death and dying have become unbalanced in high-income countries, and increasingly in low-and-middle-income countries; there is an excessive focus on clinical interventions at the end of life, to the detriment of broader inputs and contributions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that death is prominent in daily media reports and health systems have been overwhelmed. People have died the ultimate medicalised deaths, often alone but for masked staff in hospitals and intensive care units, unable to communicate with family except electronically. This situation has further fuelled the fear of death, reinforcing the idea of health-care services as the custodian of death.
Climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental destruction, and attitudes to death in high-income countries have similar roots—our delusion that we are in control of, and not part of, nature. Large sums are being invested to dramatically extend life, even achieve immortality, for a small minority in a world that struggles to support its current population. Health care and individuals appear to struggle to accept the inevitability of death.
Philosophers and theologians from around the globe have recognised the value that death holds for human life. Death and life are bound together: without death there would be no life. Death allows new ideas and new ways. Death also reminds us of our fragility and sameness: we all die. Caring for the dying is a gift, as some philosophers and many carers, both lay and professional, have recognised. Much of the value of death is no longer recognised in the modern world, but rediscovering this value can help care at the end of life and enhance living.
Treatment in the last months of life is costly and a cause of families falling into poverty in countries without universal health coverage. In high-income countries between 8% and 11•2% of annual health expenditure for the entire population is spent on the less than 1% who die in that year. Some of this high expenditure is justified, but there is evidence that patients and health professionals hope for better outcomes than are likely, meaning treatment that is intended to be curative often continues for too long.
Conversations about death and dying can be difficult. Doctors, patients, or family members may find it easier to avoid them altogether and continue treatment, leading to inappropriate treatment at the end of life. Palliative care can provide better outcomes for patients and carers at the end of life, leading to improved quality of life, often at a lower cost, but attempts to influence mainstream health-care services have had limited success and palliative care broadly remains a service-based response to this social concern…
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Republican State Puts Banks on Notice Over Wokeness: ‘Won’t be Tolerated’
FIRST ON FOX: Kentucky issued an official notice Monday morning listing 11 banks it accused of boycotting energy companies and which would be subject to divestment within months.
Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball announced that, after a review of their energy and climate policies, the listed banks — which included BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and HSBC among others — were found to be in an active boycott of fossil fuel companies. The Kentucky state government could begin divesting from the firms if they didn’t reverse their boycotts, according to the notice obtained first by FOX Business.
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U.S. News & World Report Changes Ranking System After Harvard, Yale Cite ‘Diversity’ Concerns
U.S. News & World Report, a giant in the school ranking industry, announced on Jan. 2 that it would change its ranking system in an attempt to appease schools like Harvard and Yale after complaints that the magazine was undermining “diversity.”
The magazine also issued a public statement Tuesday on its website that further explained the reasoning behind why it changed its ranking methodology, in what it called a “series of modifications.”
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The theological fracture within the country’s largest mainline Methodist denomination has grown more contentious as a church conference in Georgia has temporarily blocked churches from disaffiliating.
The United Methodist Church North Georgia Conference last week cited “misinformation” for its decision to “pause” any further disaffiliation efforts from congregations attempting to leave the denomination, according to a Dec. 28 email sent to member churches.
The email claimed “many local churches have been misled about the disaffiliation process and have been presented with information about the process” and about denominational leadership “that is factually incorrect and defamatory.”
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