A White House spokesman said that a USAF fighter jet shot down an unidentified flying object at 40,000 feet over Alaska. The craft appeared to be unmanned, and lacked any form of propulsion, meaning that it was drifting with the wind. It was said to be silvery and cylindrical, and about the size of a small car.
In other news, the Islamic State called for attacks on Christians around the world in response to last month’s burning of a Koran in Sweden.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Caroline Glick, Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Fjordman, LP, 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.
Mexico Stuns Markets With Half-Point Rate Hike on New Inflation Gain
(Bloomberg) — Mexico stunned markets Thursday by increasing interest rates by half a percentage point, in a move by the central bank to outpace the US Federal Reserve that no top economist predicted. The peso jumped on the surprise decision.
Banxico, as the central bank led by Governor Victoria Rodriguez is known, raised its key rate 50 basis points to a record 11%, matching its half-point hike in December. The board also said in a statement that it could deliver a smaller hike at its next meeting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
14 Climate Change Protesters Arrested for Occupying Gov. Healey’s Office Lobby After Hours
Fourteen climate change protesters who occupied Gov. Maura Healey’s Office lobby after the State House closed at 5 p.m. were arrested Thursday.
The protesters, a local chapter of national activist group Extinction Rebellion, aimed to pressure Healey to issue a moratorium on new fossil fuel infrastructure and cancel all fossil fuel infrastructure projects under construction.
State Police confirmed that eight men and six women were arrested after they declined to be summonsed for trespassing. All were compliant with police.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin Funded ‘Disinformation’ Group That Blacklists Conservative News Outlets
Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of State has been using taxpayer money to fund a radical “disinformation” research group that has been blacklisting conservative news outlets, according to reports.
The State Department funded the effort through its Global Engagement Center (GEC), a group recently exposed in Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files.”
The Biden admin helped facilitate funding for a group that reportedly works to demonetize conservative news sites by claiming it is disseminating “disinformation.”
The Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a United Kingdom-based nonprofit that styles itself as a “non-political” monitor working to “disrupt the business model of disinformation,” according to its website.
The GDI lists the Disinfo Cloud, a now-shuttered GEC project, as one of its funders.
However, GDI has worked to demonetize conservative news sites by collaborating with ad exchanges to flag alleged purveyors of disinformation, the Washington Examiner reported Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Cease and Desist letter went out to the Project Veritas Board of Directors on Thursday, as that body is set to meet to determine the future of founder James O’Keefe with the company.
The letter, shared by Twitter account Swig, was sent by law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, and states that the “firm represents a large group of significant donors to Project Veritas.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: FBI Retracts Leaked Document Orchestrating Investigation of Catholics
The FBI says it is retracting a leaked document published on the internet Feb. 8 that appears to reveal that the bureau’s Richmond division launched an investigation into “radical traditionalist” Catholics and their possible ties to “the far-right white nationalist movement.”
In response to an inquiry from CNA, the FBI said it will remove the document because “it does not meet our exacting standards.”
The document, which was published on the website UncoverDC and is titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” the document singles out Catholics who are interested in the traditional Latin Mass as potentially linked to violent extremist groups.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CDC Officially Adds COVID Shots to Routine Immunization Schedule for Children
For the first time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially added Covid shots to the routine immunization schedule for both children and adolescents.
The controversial move comes despite COVID-19 posing no threat to young children.
Concerns are also mounting that the shots pose a higher risk to children that the virus itself.
Nevertheless, the CDC and its advisory council continue to push for childhood vaccinations, despite the issues.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Spy Craft Payload Located Off Waters of South Carolina, Mostly Intact: US Official
The payload of the Chinese spy balloon has been found in waters off the coast of South Carolina, a U.S. official tells Fox News.
The payload was originally about the size of a bus and remains mostly intact since the balloon was shot down by U.S. military fighter jets, the official said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Didn’t Want to Kill Anyone’: Ga. EMT Crashes Car at 120 Mph After He Says Accelerator Got Stuck
COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — An Emergency Medical Technician asked the public for support online after being involved in a severe car accident.
Family members of EMT James Bennefield of Newnan wrote on GoFundMe that he picked up an extra shift on Christmas Eve and was on his way to work when his car malfunctioned.
According to Bennefield’s family, his car’s acceleration locked, his speed began to increase and there was nothing he could do.
“I called 911 and begged for help, but I could barely hear the dispatcher over the sound of the V8,” Bennefield said. “Being a holiday, traffic was light, but I knew I was approaching a busier area with some tight turns. I knew if I was going to die, I didn’t want to kill anyone else.”
Family members of Bennefield said the car reached 120 MPH, before Bennefield intentionally crashed, left the roadway and rolled several times, crushing the passenger side of the vehicle before coming to a stop.
Bennefield said he was flown to a trauma center in Georgia, where he received lifesaving medical care.
“I’m grateful to all the people that took part in saving my life,” Bennefield said.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk has once again said that it’s “highly likely” man will go to Mars within 10 years, putting his timeframe down to the fact he’s “congenitally optimistic.”
Musk retweeted a video posted by his aerospace firm SpaceX showing a successful test fire of its Starship prototype’s booster rocket and commenting: “One day, Starship will take us to Mars.”
At its full capacity, Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed. According to SpaceX’s website, it will “carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Finds Additional Classified File in Search of Mike Pence Home
The FBI has found an additional classified document in a search of former US Vice-President Mike Pence’s home in Indiana.
It follows disclosures by his attorneys that they found “a small number” of classified files from his vice-presidency at the home last month.
An adviser for Mr Pence confirmed that additional files were removed following “a thorough and unrestricted search”.
Mr Pence agreed to the consensual search, he added.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Turns Up Heat on Biden Family, Demands Documents From James and Hunter on Financial Conduct
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has demanded financial documents from Democrat President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his brother, James Biden.
House Republicans are turning up the heat on the Biden family over their foreign business pursuits.
Comer told Hunter and James Biden that he wants documents and communications from the Bidens as part of his probe into any possible involvement by the president in their financial conduct
The letter says: “Evidence obtained in our investigation reveals the Biden family business model is built on Joe Biden’s political career and connections.
“Biden family members attempted to sell access around the world, including individuals who were connected to the Chinese Communist Party, to enrich themselves to the detriment of American interests.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gov. Youngkin Rips Black Lives Matter Curriculum as ‘Politically-Driven’
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R., blasted a curriculum pushed by a program associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a report.
The Virginia Education Association (VEA), a teachers union, released a toolkit that pushes an initiative called the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, an event started by teachers in Seattle in 2016. The event is a week-long focus on the 13 Guiding Principles of the Black Lives Matter movement in schools which is set for Feb. 6-10 this year.
The organization’s 13 principles include “transgender affirming,” “queer affirming,” “restorative justice” and “globalism.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
High-Altitude Object Shot Down Over Alaska, US Says
US President Joe Biden ordered a fighter jet to shoot down an unidentified “high-altitude object” off Alaska on Friday, the White House says.
Spokesman John Kirby said the unmanned object was “the size of a small car” and posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian aviation.
The object’s purpose and origin was unclear, Mr Kirby said.
It comes a week after the American military destroyed a Chinese balloon over US territorial waters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hotel Clerk Schools Armed Robber on Second Amendment
A would-be-armed robber got the shock of his life when he tried to hold up a Houston hotel, only to be confronted by a clerk with a handgun.
Video footage shows the crook running for his life after getting schooled by the clerk on the Second Amendment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘It’s Okay to be Angry About Socialism’
by Daniel Greenfield
Tickets to see Bernie Sanders in “It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism” are available on Ticketmaster for only $95 to anyone who wants front row seats. Members of the oppressed working classes willing to settle for Seat 208 in Row C can get away with paying as little as $35.
That’s in a city where the black median household income is $45,000 a year.
The event at D.C. Anthem theater promises to be a “progressive takedown of the uber-capitalist status quo”. The co-owner of the theater pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution when he told a massage therapist that he would give her a higher tip “if she were ‘willing to go a little higher’“. He’s also a donor to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. No word on how high she’s been willing to go.
Bernie’s prostitution career is more glamorous with a theater event promoting his book, but the difference between him and the theater’s massage therapist is he’s always willing to go higher.
“It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism”, Bernie’s latest book, which sells for $30 on Amazon, is being published by German ex-Nazi woke publisher Bertelsmann. At $95 for the seat and $30 for the book, that’s a $125 denunciation of the wickedness of capitalism. (Plus another $27 for the t-shirt.) Truly, as Bernie calls it, “a system that is fueled by uncontrolled greed”.
When there aren’t enough suckers walking the streets of D.C., the Bernie book tour goes international with an appearance at London’s Royal Festival Hall where tickets are going for £52. A socialist denouncing capitalism on behalf of capitalists at a royal hall defies satire. But Bernie’s wealth is built on getting his followers to pay millions to corporations to read his denunciations of corporations which he can’t abolish as long as they’re paying him his cut…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
John Fetterman ‘Hearing Muffled Voices’ Due to ‘Neurological Condition’
Democrat Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is reportedly “hearing muffled voices” due to a “neurological condition” following a stroke last year.
According to a report in The New York Times, Fetterman says he sometimes hears voices that sound like the muffled teacher from the “Peanuts” animated specials.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kentucky Senate Passes Bill to Ban TikTok From State-Issued Devices
The Kentucky Senate passed a measure Friday to ban TikTok from state government-issued devices, reflecting bipartisan concerns about the Chinese-owned social media app.
The bill easily cleared the Senate on a 31-0 vote to advance to the House. The action reflects a growing push among American lawmakers to block the social media platform from government devices, based on cybersecurity concerns.
In Kentucky, the measure is a “prudent” step in responding to those security concerns, said Republican state Sen. Robby Mills, the bill’s lead sponsor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A man who received a 2-year sentence for setting fire to a Seattle police precinct during the deadly 2020 Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) has filed to run for the Seattle City Council.
Isaiah Thomas Willoughby was released in March 2022 following a two-year prison sentence in conjunction with three years of supervised release for starting a fire outside the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct in the early morning hours of June 12, 2020. Willoughby pleaded guilty to federal arson charges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
North Carolina Man Shoots Armed Robbery Suspect During Home Invasion
An armed home invader was left in critical condition after allegedly breaking into the wrong person’s home in North Carolina on Tuesday.
According to the Mount Airy Police Department, they responded to a residence after receiving a call about a shooting around 4:19 pm, WFMY reported.
When first responders arrived on the scene in the 300 block of Andrews Street, suspected burglar Daniel Scott Laskey Brown, 26, was found with a gunshot wound to his neck in the front yard of homeowner Joshua Wade Murphy, 41.
Police said that Brown allegedly broke into Murphy’s home via the front door armed with a gun.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Developing Drone Swarm ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’: Report
The US Department of Defense (DOD) is gearing up to launch a program to develop “swarms” of thousands of autonomous land, sea, and air drones in order to dominate an enemy’s area defenses, recently-updated pre-solicitation contract documents show.
As reported by The Debrief, the documents suggest the development of “massive autonomous vehicle swarms” will be managed by the Strategic Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which has yet to formally announce the program. However, DARPA confirmed to the publication that the project is called the “Autonomous Multi-Domain Adaptive Swarms-of-Swarms” (AMASS) program.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspect in Barricade, Police Shootings Finally Caught After Pursuit, Hours-Long Standoff in Fallston
Police respond to ‘person in crisis’ call in Cockeysville, shots fired, search for man spans more than 36 hours
FALLSTON, Md. — Two Baltimore County police officers were shot over the past 36 hours in connection with a suicide call for a man who was finally captured early Friday morning in Harford County.
David Emory Linthicum, 24, was taken into custody shortly before 6 a.m. after having fled into a wooded area near the Fallston Mall the night before.
Charging documents obtained by 11 News state that a call came in Wednesday afternoon for suicidal person at a house in the 10000 block of Powers Avenue in Cockeysville.
The charging document states that the person’s father escorted an officer to the basement of the house, where they saw Linthicum “lying on his bed and holding a high-powered rifle.”
The charging document states Linthicum “fired about 15 rounds toward” his father and the officer, who both “fled the residence to seek cover from any further gunshots. Upon exiting … (the) officer realized he was struck with a fired round.” The father was not injured.
Police then issued a shelter-in-place order for the neighborhood as they searched for the man, who they identified as Linthicum, calling him “armed and dangerous.”
An intensive search of the area continued into Thursday, prompting the closure of seven schools in the Cockeysville area.
“We’re looking everywhere,” Baltimore County police spokeswoman Joy Stewart said Thursday.
Later Thursday evening, police again issued a shelter-in-place order, saying Linthicum had been spotted.
Now that the reported threat to the community is over with a suspect in custody, residents in the affected Cockeysville neighborhood told 11 News they are relieved.
[…]
During the search for Linthicum on Thursday, a Baltimore County police detective was shot and seriously injured on Warren Road. Police described it was an extremely brief encounter. A source told 11 News that the detective’s vehicle was stolen and a police pursuit ensued.
That pursuit led to Harford County, where authorities asked residents in the area of Maryland Route 152, U.S. Route 1, Old Joppa Road and Milton Avenue to shelter in place. Harford County Public Schools closed three schools early Friday morning and several others were without bus service as a result.
The vehicle ultimately stopped and the driver fled into a wooded area near the Fallston Mall. The Harford County sheriff said thermal cameras and other equipment were used to keep track of Linthicum.
“We have the individual contained. This will be resolved here. There is no threat to the community,” Gahler said late Thursday night. “We’re working to do everything we can to resolve this without the use of deadly force.”
The man, later identified as Linthicum, stayed in that wooded area for more than eight hours before his capture. Ultimately, authorities used what they called “less lethal methods” to get Linthicum in handcuffs, the sheriff said.
“Our community is safer this morning with this individual in custody, where he belongs,” Gahler said Friday morning. “Time was on our side. We had eyes on the suspect. We had him pinned down. Where he was was in a very wooded area amongst a lot of large boulders and rocks, trying to seclude himself, but he was unable to seclude himself from the helicopter from Baltimore County and the drones.”
The sheriff said deputies arrested Linthicum, who had some ammunition on him but no rifle. Authorities had previously received reports that Linthicum had a rifle when he ran from the stolen police vehicle. Law enforcement spent the later part of the morning searching the area for a rifle.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Texas’ Abbott Slams ‘Easy Bail for Criminals’ After Fentanyl Traffickers Released on Bond
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday slammed “easy bail for criminals” after the suspects accused of running a major fentanyl lab in Houston were released on bond a day after their arrest.
“This is outrageous,” Abbott said on Twitter, sharing news that four suspects arrested in a Houston drug bust had been released on bond by a judge.
The drug bust occurred on Jan. 30 and was executed by the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) under Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border security program.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Shoots Down ‘High-Altitude Object’ Over Alaska, White House Says
It was “cylindrical” and “silverish grey,” ABC’s Martha Raddatz was told.
The White House said Friday that a ‘high-altitude object’ has been shot down over Alaska.
President Joe Biden ordered the shootdown, spokesman John Kirby said, adding that the origin of the object has yet to be determined.
Responding to reporters’ shouted questions about the shootdown Friday afternoon outside the White House, Biden called the operation a “success.”
It comes just days after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon last Saturday, following a political firestorm.
Kirby said the object was about the size of a small car and was at flying about 40,000 feet.
He said because it posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight, that out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, Biden ordered the military to down the object.
ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz first reported that when fighters were scrambled, the pilots did visuals, got images and said there was no sign the object had propulsion.
It was described as “cylindrical and silver-ish gray” and seemed to be floating, a U.S. official said.
Asked if was “balloon-like,” the official said, “All I say is that it wasn’t ‘flying’ with any sort of propulsion, so if that is ‘balloon-like’ well — we just don’t have enough at this point.”
“It came in, inside our territorial waters, those waters right now are frozen, but inside territorial airspace and over territorial waters. Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within the last hour,” Kirby said.
“We don’t know who owns this object,” he said. The object came to U.S. attention Thursday evening, Kirby said.
It did not appear to have maneuverability capability, he said. “It was virtually at the whim of the wind.”
Fighter aircraft checked if it was manned and determined it wasn’t, he said. “We were able to get some fighter aircraft up and around it before the order to shoot it down. And the pilots’ assessment was that this was not manned.”
“It was difficult for the pilots to glean a whole lot of information,” he said, adding, “There was a limit to how much they could divine.”
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Mother Reads Shocking Porn Content From Books Given to Kids in NY Schools
Footage has emerged from yet another school board meeting in which a mother reads extreme pornographic content from books provided to children in the district.
These videos now seem to be appearing every week. The footage shows the school board members of Pittsford Schools in New York attempting to prevent the mother from reading out the graphic material as she asks them what they are going to do about it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Biden ‘Wonders Where the Hell the President of the United States is’
In another senior moment, Joe Biden stated Friday that he often wonders where the President of the United States is.
Biden was speaking at the White House during the National Governors Association Winter Meeting when he noted “Every time I hear ‘the president of the United States,’ I look around and say ‘Where the hell is he?’“
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Videos: House Republican Conference Chair Blasts FBI, Democrats for “Election Meddling”
A hearing of the new House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government today saw the House Republican Conference Chair blast Democrats for colluding with the FBI to meddle in the 2020 election.
Representative Elise Stefanik noted that the Subcommittee was formed to ‘root out’ a “systemic rot in the culture and the politicization of the leadership of the FBI.”
Stefanik pointed to a survey noting that had the FBI not worked to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story, it would have massively affected the way Americans voted.
The Congresswoman called it “the definition of election meddling.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Virginia Parents Outraged After Education Board Nominee Who Stood Against Socialism is Ousted
Virginia Democrats blocked a conservative appointee from serving on the state education board to silence opposing viewpoints, parents in the Old Dominion State told Fox News.
“Her ejection is a kick in the gut to all of us parents who are concerned about lack of transparency, lack of choice and hoards of our tax dollars being used to fund district-mandated social activism supplanting academics in the classroom,” Fairfax County parent Brooke Corbett told Fox News.
“Voting to remove her because she’s not qualified for the board as a public school parent is just as ludicrous as stating parents should not be telling schools what to teach when they object to offensive, unacademic socialist instruction,” she continued.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watchdog Group Files Lawsuit Against Interior Dept. Seeking Info on EcoHealth Alliance, Wuhan Lab
The conservative watchdog group Protect the People’s Trust on Friday announced a lawsuit against the Interior Department over allegedly withholding documents in connection with its alleged involvement with EcoHealth Alliance and research by the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
COVID-19 was first detected in the China city of Wuhan. Some people believe the virus leaked from the lab. The National Institutes of Health has given grant money to the nonprofit alliance, which has reportedly worked with the virology lab on bat coronavirus research.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
During a Thursday House Judiciary Committee hearing on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” whistleblowers and former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents roasted the agency’s potentially First Amendment violating censorship collusion with Big Tech firms and hit back at the FBI’s secret surveillance practices.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, highlighted an FBI whistleblower’s November 2022 claims that the agency accepts private user information from Facebook without the user’s consent and that this information is only from the conservative side of the political spectrum during his opening statement.
“In my time in Congress, I have never seen anything like this,” Jordan said in reference to the numerous whistleblower claims about the FBI’s politicization and surveillance.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
West Virginia Bill Would Make Obstructing Police, Causing Their Death, a Felony
The West Virginia Senate on Friday passed a bill that would make interfering with a police officer and causing their death a felony punishable by up to life in prison.
The bill calls for the same possible penalties as a murder conviction. The distinction is the bill doesn’t require the state to prove the traditional elements of murder, which include premeditation or malice, said Morgan County Republican Sen. Charles Trump.
“If you do it, we’re not going to hear you in court say, ‘I didn’t mean for anybody to die,’“ Trump said. “It doesn’t matter. You will be treated under the law as if you planned and intended that death.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Who Was Jennifer Angel? Oakland Baker Dragged 50 Feet While Chasing Thieves, Dies at Hospital
The owner of the popular bakery Angel Cakes, based in Oakland, California, has died after being robbed in a parking lot and from the injuries she sustained during the violent incident earlier this week.
The incident took place Monday. Jennifer Angel, 48, was put in a medically-induced coma at the hospital and died Wednesday, according to an update from her family.
Angel was believed to be running errands for the store when she was attacked by the suspects. They approached her and blocked her with their car as she was leaving her parking spot in the Wells Fargo garage on the 2000 block of Webster Street.
According to her fiancé, Ocean Mottley, the robber smashed the passenger side window glass and appeared to take something from the car, SFChronicle reported. At this point, Angel exited her vehicle and started to chase the robbery suspects on foot. This is when the tragedy occurred.
[Comment: The article says that Jennifer Angel was a “social justice activist and anarchist” and that “her family aren’t in support of arresting the ones involved in Angel’s death.”]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Woke Toronto Mayor John Tory Resigns After Admitting to Affair With Staffer
Toronto mayor John Tory resigned Friday after he revealed he had an affair with a staffer during the pandemic.
“During the pandemic I developed a relationship with an employee in my office in a way that did not meet the standards to which I hold myself as mayor, and as a family man. The relationship ended by mutual consent earlier this year,” Tory said during his resignation speech.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CBC Joins Global Initiative to Combat Disinformation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) announced on Wednesday that it was teaming up with European counterparts to combat online misinformation and disinformation through a new initiative called the “Public Spaces Incubator.”
According to a press release by the CBC, the main goal of the program is to tackle the “most threatening phenomena of our time” — online abuse and misinformation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Crown Wants 90 Days in Jail for Roadblock Organizer Who Faces Deportation
A Crown prosecutor asked a provincial court judge Thursday to sentence the leader of Extinction Rebellion Vancouver and its spinoff Save Old Growth to 90 days in jail, and revealed that the organizer is facing deportation to his native Pakistan.
Muhammad Zain Ul Haq, 22, pleaded guilty to five charges of mischief for his role in illegal road and bridge blockades in 2021, and one for breaching a release order for an August 2022 protest on the Cambie Bridge.
Ellen Leno, who is also seeking 18 months’ probation for Haq, said Haq has been arrested 10 times since joining an Extinction Rebellion protest on the Burrard Bridge in 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Toronto School Board Votes to Tackle “Caste Privilege”
Don’t think for a moment there’s only white privilege.
According to certain radical trustees on the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) there is also caste privilege.
In excess of 30 minutes — with more wasted time to come — a ridiculous motion to the board’s Governance and Policy committee was not only given credence this week but passed 6-1.
That motion, put forward by trustees Yalini Rajakulasingam and Anu Sriskandarajah, asked the board’s director Colleen Russell Rawlins to create a two-phased plan to—get this — address caste oppression at the TDSB.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Amsterdam Moves to Ban Smoking Weed in Its Red-Light District, Prostitution Still Allowed
Amsterdam will ban visitors to the city’s infamous Red-Light district from smoking marijuana and limit alcohol sales in the area starting in mid-May in response to complaints from local residents about noisy tourists, according to rules introduced on Thursday.
“Starting from mid-May, smoking on the street will no longer be allowed in the old inner city of Amsterdam. This should reduce the nuisance of drug use in public spaces, particularly from tourists and day-trippers,” Mayor Femke Halsema of Amsterdam said in a statement. “The ban on alcohol sales will also be tightened. During times when the sales ban is in effect, shops must either cover up or remove alcoholic beverages. Finally, the closing times for hospitality and prostitution will be brought forward, giving residents more peace and quiet late at night.”
As the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam is internationally known for its Red-Light District, which is one of the main tourist attractions in the city because of its coffee shops that sell marijuana and the legalization of prostitution.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Another Socialist MEP Detained by Police in EU Corruption Probe
A EU lawmaker linked to a corruption scandal that rocked the bloc’s Parliament in December was detained for questioning Friday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
EU Corruption Scandal a ‘Socialist Problem’, Centre Right Leader Claims
An ongoing bribery scandal plaguing the European Union is a “socialist problem”, the leader of a centre-right party has claimed.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Finland Mulls Policy That Could Evict People Who Smoke in Their Own Apartments
A group within the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is developing a policy that could ban people from smoking in their own apartment buildings and possibly evict those who do not comply with the ban.
The Working Group on the Development of Tobacco and Nicotine Policy of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has proposed to allow housing associations and other companies to ban smoking entirely in apartments and even on balconies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris: Female Tourists Sexually Abused and Raped Beside Eiffel Tower
Two Brazilian tourists were subjected to sexual assault and rape near Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower early Monday morning. Police are searching for suspects.
The two women, both sisters from Brazil, were sightseeing on Sunday and met with two young men who took them to the Champ-de-Mars, the large park by the famous Eiffel Tower and one of Paris’ most well-known tourist attractions.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
German Market Falls 3% in January as EV Sales Plunge
Tesla bucked the downward trend by boosting volume through price cuts.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Three in Four Children Suffering Psychologically Post-Lockdown
A considerable majority of children have been left struggling psychologically as a result of lockdown restriction, a German government report has claimed.
The revelation that many children have been left scarred as a result of COVID lockdown, Germany says, is met with officials now calling for measures to be taken to help those impacted.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s State-Backed Media Partners on Project to Curb Online “Disinformation”
Germany’s public broadcaster ZDF is partnering with public broadcasters from Belgium (RTBF), Canada (CBC), and Switzerland (SRG SSR) to develop online-based solutions to encourage “democratic discourse” and civic engagement away from “disinformation” and “hate.”
The “Public Spaces Incubator” project aims at developing and testing the building blocks for “respectful” and open online discussions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Fringe Group Accused of Plotting to Kill Viktor Orban and Overthrow Government
The Budapest prosecutor’s office has charged seven Hungarian nationals belonging to a fringe group with attempting to overthrow the existing constitutional order, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
It is understood some of the accused had set up an organization to “violently change the constitutional order” and had encouraged their followers to kill 33 public figures, including Prime Minister Viktor Orban; they had been recruiting members at meetings and via the internet.
The group was set up as a small state within a state, with even a judge, while another member was in charge of organizing the executive branch and drafting a new constitution.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS has called for attacks on Christians around the world in the wake of Koran book-burning stunts in Sweden.
The terrorist group launched a campaign calling for attacks against Christians, according to a report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center on February 6.
Videos and posts calling on Islamists to carry out attacks around the world, especially in Europe, were distributed on social media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Liberal MEP Radoslaw Sikorski faces sharp criticism in Poland after it was revealed he is on the payroll of the United Arab Emirates
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Orban: Listening to Zelensky, it is Clear This War is Going to Drag on for a Long Time
After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels along with other European leaders, Orban noted that from listening to Zelensky, there is little chance for peace or a ceasefire.
“Listening to the Ukrainian president, it is obvious that this war is dragging on. We cannot expect it to end any time soon,” the Hungarian prime minister said following the meeting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland is Becoming Key NATO Leader on Mainland Europe, Claims Top Military General
The center of gravity in NATO has shifted from Germany to Poland, the head of Poland’s military told MSNBC.
Speaking to the U.S. broadcaster, General Rajmund Andrzejczak claimed this was in part because of the strategic situation and Poland’s geographical location, but also because Poland has been investing heavily in its defense capacity.
Ukraine’s importance to Poland and the global order should not be overstated, and this is why Poland has helped to absorb refugees and provide much-needed military and humanitarian aid.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Intelligence Service Warns of Chinese and Russian Espionage at Universities
The FIS does not mention possible US espionage. It also fails to provide concrete evidence and facts that could support its threat analysis in connection with certain states.
The topic of academic infiltration by China has also occasionally come into the media spotlight in recent months. At Zurich universities, Chinese researchers are now being eyed more critically: The suspicion is that they might be working for a secret service.
According to Article 7 of the Chinese Intelligence Law, “all organisations and citizens must support and cooperate with the national intelligence service”, the Sunday edition of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) reported.
Swiss universities have apparently become more of a target for espionage recently. “China has set up a system to collect information from the Western scientific community,” Jean-Marc Rickli said recently. He deals with global risks at the Geneva-based Center for Security Policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tank Deliveries to Ukraine Leaving ‘Huge Gap’ In German Defences
Germany’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine will leave a “huge gap” in the country’s defences, an official from the country has warned.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Comedy legend and Monty Python star John Cleese slammed the BBC in a recent interview, arguing that the British media giant had lost its sense of humor and become “dominated by people who are frightened of offending” people.
Cleese, who played the character Basil Fawlty in the show “Fawlty Towers,” declared that he would not allow the show to air on BBC.
“I’m not doing it with the BBC because I won’t get the freedom,” he said in an interview with GB News, released Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Nolte: John Cleese Refuses to Air ‘Fawlty Towers’ Reboot on Woke BBC
John Cleese is bringing back his classic Fawlty Towers sitcom but refuses to air it on the woke BBC:
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Study: Soaring Excess Deaths Linked to High Vaccination Rates
Areas with higher vaccination rates also show soaring rates of excess deaths, a bombshell new study has revealed.
British researchers conducted an analysis of official data for England and compared vaccination rates and excess death rates for all 300-plus lower-tier administrative areas in the country.
Their findings add to the mounting concerns that the mRNA Covid shots are contributing to the sharp rise in excess deaths that started spiking in mid-2021.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: It’s Not About Democracy
What’s happening in Israel is not what it seems. The left, in all its component parts, is not fighting against an effort by the government and the Knesset to destroy Israel’s democracy.
We know this for three reasons.
First, the leaders of the fight against judicial reform, who claim that if Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s judicial reform package now making its way through the legislative process in the Knesset passes, Israeli democracy will die, know that this isn’t true.
In a past address to the Kohelet Forum, opposition leader Yair Lapid set out a position on judicial activism completely aligned with Levin’s package. Indeed, Lapid’s remarks laid the foundations of the current reform.
In that speech, Lapid said, “I have opposed, and I still oppose, judicial activism of the sort introduced by [former Supreme Court President and the father of Israel’s judicial revolution] Justice Aharon Barak. I don’t think it is right that everything is justiciable. I don’t think it is right for the Supreme Court to change fundamental things in accordance with what it refers to as the judgment of ‘the reasonable person.’ That’s an amorphous and completely subjective definition that the Knesset never introduced to the legal code. It’s not right in my mind that the separation of powers, the sacrosanct foundation of the democratic method, should be breached by one branch of government placing itself above the others.”…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Christians in Aleppo Hard Hit by Quake
While Turkey is the focus of earthquake reporting, the war-torn country Syria finds itself in a terrible situation. Western sanctions stand in the way of aid to quake victims.
A German weekly publication Tichy’s Einblick (TE) spoke to the Christian aid organization CSI, which works on the ground in Syria. They interviewed Pastor Peter Fuchs, CSI’s Germany manager, who has repeatedly visited Syria and is in close contact with the local officials.
TE asked Fuchs about the many images of killed Christian clergymen circulating on social media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
One day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenesky’s plea in London for fighter jets, British Defence Minister Ben Wallace shot down Kyiv’s hopes for a fast delivery of such aircraft after Russia threatened “consequences.”
After Zelensky’s visit to London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked his defense minister to see how quickly the U.K. could provide fighter aircraft to Ukraine. Defence Minister Ben Wallace told the BBC: “The Ukrainians will not get British fighter jets immediately, (it is) a process that could take months.”
Wallace said that the U.K. instead wanted to help the Ukrainians with “alternative air defenses,” by which he meant long-range missiles and drones.
Russia’s embassy in London had responded to initial news that the U.K. may send fighter jets to Ukraine with a statement that indicated any such action will have “military and political consequences for the European continent and the entire world.”
It is unclear if Russia’s threat had any influence on the U.K.’s decision; however, Russia has issued a series of red lines that the West has continuously crossed, such as the supply of advanced main battle tanks, which are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the spring. It is also unclear what kind of retaliatory measures Russia would take in the event the West supplied fighter jets to Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moldova’s Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita resigned on Friday, bringing an end to a turbulent 18 months in power marked by economic turmoil and the spillover effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Moldovan Government Resigns in Wake of Multiple Crises
Moldova’s government has collapsed and its pro-EU prime minister has stepped down after 18 months of political and economic turbulence.
Europe’s poorest country was struggling with “multiple crises”, outgoing PM Natalia Gavrilita said on Friday.
With the war raging in neighbouring Ukraine, Moldova has been facing inflation, high energy prices, a refugee influx and Russian aggression.
The news came just hours after Russian missiles flew over Moldovan airspace.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prepare for ‘Significant Russian Gains’ — British Commander in Afghanistan
The former commander of British forces in Afghanistan’s dangerous Helmand province has warned people in the West to be prepared for “significant” Russian advances in the coming weeks.
With many Western observers buoyed by Ukrainian successes including the abandonment of Russia’s northern front against Kyiv (Kiev), rout from most of the Kharkiv (Kharkov) region, and retreat across the River Dnieper from Kherson city in 2022, some have developed a feeling that the largely static front lines of the Ukraine war indicate that the Russian military is a spent force.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Plans Speech and ‘Large-Scale Concert Rally’ For Ukraine Invasion Anniversary
The Kremlin on Friday confirmed a report that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will give his long-delayed 2022 annual address to the Federal Assembly on February 21, 2023, a date chosen to coincide with the anniversary of his attack on Ukraine.
The address is reportedly to be followed up with a “large-scale concert and rally event at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium” the next day.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top Putin Ally Claims Biden, 80, Has ‘Dementia’ and May Start WW3
Close Vladimir Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev posted on Telegram: ‘Of course, progressive dementia is not a hindrance to being re-elected President of the United States.’
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
China Responds to Nord Stream Attack Report: U.S Must ‘Explain Itself to the World’
China has weighed in on the recent bombshell report alleging that the U.S. government was behind the attack that destroyed the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Europe last year.
As Slay News reported, renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh’s report claims that U.S. intelligence was responsible for destroying the Nord Stream pipelines.
Russia is outraged over the report, with one top Russian official declaring that Democrat President Joe Biden “is a terrorist who must be brought to justice.”
China has responded that demanding that the United States “explain itself to the world” if the revelations in Hersh’s report are true.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A judge has released disturbing footage of a man trying to mow down his partner outside of a Narellan McDonald’s before threatening her and a staff member with a knife.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya is Being Used as a Testing Ground for Biometric-Based Vaccine Tracking for Babies
Advancements are being made in controversial tests carried out in a hospital in a small town in Kenya to develop a biometric vaccination management program for newborns.
The new method aims to ensure that as soon as a child is born and receives their first vaccine, biometric scanning of four of their fingers takes place, and in addition to fingerprinting babies, their caregivers’ biometric voice data is also collected.
The purpose of this is to monitor identities and manage vaccination histories, those behind the scheme said, noting that it is supposed to be used for the first 24 months of the babies’ lives and track how eight vaccines and one supplement are given to them.
Both the fingerprints and the voice data will then allegedly be removed, the group developing the biometric system has promised.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
African Illegal Arrested for Raping Underage Girl on Road in Spain
Police in Spain arrested an African illegal alien with a criminal background for allegedly stalking and raping an underage girl on her way home from a nightclub this week, according to reports.
The disturbing incident unfolded during the overnight hours on Sunday in Valencia.
A girl under the age of 17 was climbing into a taxi outside a club when a man she had met inside slid into the vehicle with her.
However, the girl did not have enough money to pay for the full ride home, so the driver dumped them off in the town of Burjassot.
At that point, the man allegedly dragged the victim into bushes along the road and raped her.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Pensioner Stabbed to Death in Her Own Home by Asylum Seeker Living in Nearby Temporary Shelter
Dutch authorities have confirmed the main suspect in the murder of an elderly woman stabbed to death in her home is a 30-year-old asylum seeker who had been living in a temporary refugee shelter nearby.
Seventy-year-old Fenny suffered fatal stab wounds in an attack at her home in Groningen on Jan. 31. She is understood to have run outside after the attack crying, “I’ve been stabbed. I’ve been stabbed,” showing a wound to her abdomen to a neighbor who called for help.
Fenny was transferred to the hospital where she died a few days later as a result of her injuries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commission President Says Europe Will Strengthen Its Borders, But Doubts Persist
The European Union will reinforce its external borders and take steps to prevent illegal migration flows, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels after a one-day summit of EU leaders on Friday morning.
Speaking at a press conference, von der Leyen said: “Migration is a European challenge that requires a European response. We must act together.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Expands Governor’s Power to Move Migrants
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been granted power to relocate undocumented migrants anywhere in the US under a bill passed by the state legislature.
The measure was approved by both Republican-controlled chambers along party lines and now heads to Mr DeSantis’ desk for his signature.
The Florida governor flew migrants from Texas to Massachusetts last year, prompting a lawsuit.
The Republican is a hotly tipped White House contender for 2024.
Also on Friday, Florida lawmakers gave Mr DeSantis effective control of the board that oversees development in and around Disney’s state theme parks, raising the stakes in his battle with the entertainment conglomerate, which he has labelled “woke”.
The bill authorises the governor to appoint five supervisors to run an oversight board of the area surrounding the Walt Disney World resort. The board has the power to delay or block development plans by Disney, such as to build a new theme park, hotel or road, on the 25,000 acres.
“There’s a new sheriff in town,” Mr DeSantis said earlier this week as he claimed victory in his spat with the state’s biggest private employer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France Sentences People Smugglers Who Made 1.6 Million Euros in Profit
Court sentenced six members of a people smuggling network operating in the English Channel to between two and five years in prison.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Encounters Hit 156,274 in January as Biden Admin Claims New Border Measures ‘Are Working’
There were more than 156,000 migrant encounters in January, the Biden administration announced Friday — claiming that the numbers show that the new border measures are “working,” despite the numbers being higher than last January.
The 156,274 encounters are slightly higher than the 154,874 encountered in January last year, and significantly higher than the 78,414 encountered in Jan 2021.
However, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) noted that the new numbers are a sharp drop from the record 251,978 encounters in December — which marked a new record at the besieged southern border. It is the first month in 10 months where encounters were below 200,000 encounters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senator Hawley: Biden is “Not Even Attempting to Enforce the Law” at the Border
GOP Senator Josh Hawley charged Thursday that the Biden Administration has purposefully left the border wide open and isn’t making any effort to enforce immigration laws.
“Frankly, what Joe Biden has done here is inexcusable,” Hawley told reporters, adding “he’s not even attempting to enforce the law. Just ask the Border Patrol.”
“Border Patrol will tell you they’ve had their legal authorities taken away from them. ICE will say the same. They’ve had their manpower reduced. They have been completely hamstrung,” Hawley continued.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Border Force has intercepted more Channel migrants as the yearly total has risen to 1,960 — with the first boat landing in Dover in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The asylum seekers made the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits in 44 inflatable dinghies or other small craft — an average of 45 people per vessel.
780 of those people reached the UK in the first nine days of February.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Migrants Hosted in Free Hotels Up From Under 2,600 to Over 37,000
The number of migrants being hosted in British hotels at the taxpayers’ expense rose from 2,577 in March 2020 to 37,142 by September 2022.
According to government data analysed by the Guardian, an even larger number of migrants are being hosted in so-called dispersal accommodation — typically shared houses and flats — with the figure already standing at 41,388 in March 2020, and rising by another 11,910 between then and September 2022.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian Refugee Ordered Deported After Acquittal for Deaths of 7 Americans
A refugee from Ukraine has been ordered deported after being acquitted on all charges of negligent homicide for the deaths of seven Americans.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Leftists were aghast with shock during a discussion panel in which an Asian conservative suggested that working hard, not having kids out of wedlock and not committing crimes was a lifestyle to aspire to.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Church of England Will Bless Gay Civil Unions
The Church of England will offer blessings to same-sex civil unions after its General Synod voted in favor of the measure, its two leaders, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, announced on Thursday.
“For the first time, the Church of England will publicly, unreservedly and joyfully welcome same-sex couples in church,” the archbishops said in a statement, while conceding that “the church continues to have deep differences on these questions.” They insisted the Church was “committed to respecting” those “for whom this goes too far.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Missouri University Calls Whistleblower Allegations Against Transgender Center ‘Troubling’
Washington University in St. Louis is calling whistleblower allegations against its transgender center “troubling” after a former employee penned an op-ed and filed an affidavit with the state attorney general’s office.
Jaime Reed, a former case manager at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital wrote an op-ed published Thursday in the Free Press, alleging the health center has a “lack of regard for the rights of parents.”
“Two weeks ago, I brought my concerns and documents to the attention of Missouri’s attorney general. He is a Republican. I am a progressive. But the safety of children should not be a matter for our culture wars,” Reed wrote in the op-ed.
In the affidavit, Reed accused hospital employees at the transgender center of lying to parents of patients, among other allegations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California mother Aurora Regino is suing her child’s school district for allegedly transitioning her 11-year-old’s gender in secret, claiming her rights as a parent were violated.
Fox News’ Claudia Cowan gave an update on the case on “America’s Newsroom” Friday after Regino discovered her daughter, a fifth-grade student in the Chico Unified School District, was living a double life as a male named “Jaden” and was receiving school counseling on socially transitioning. She is now again identifying as a female.
“They were talking to my daughter about different support groups in town to help her with her transition and then discussed breast binding with my daughter that I had no knowledge of,” Regino told Cowan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nolte: Woke Disney+ Loses 2.4 Million Subscribers
The child grooming outlet called Disney+ lost 2.4 million subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2022. That’s the first subscriber loss since the woke outlet launched in 2020.
The news wasn’t all bad for the perverts looking to sexualize underage children. The loss was primarily in India over a contract issue involving sports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Same-Sex Marriages to Receive Blessings in the Church of England
Same sex marriages will receive “prayers for God’s blessing” for the first time in the Church of England following a General Synod vote.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK Priest Faces Legal Challenge After Expressing Pro-Life Views in the ‘Censorship Zone’
A Catholic priest in Birmingham, England is launching a legal challenge after he was charged with breaching a censorship zone by silently praying while holding a sign saying “praying for free speech” near a closed abortion clinic.
Father Sean Gough was charged with “intimidating service-users,” even though the clinic was closed at the time of his protest. In addition, he faced a further charge related to parking his car, with an “unborn lives matter” bumper sticker, in the vicinity of the clinic, according to ADF UK, the organization supporting Gough’s legal battle.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wyoming Moves to Ban Child Sex-Change Surgeries and Transgender Treatments
Lawmakers in Wyoming’s state Senate have passed a bill that would ban child sex-change surgeries and other life-altering transgender treatments.
Senate File 144, introduced by state Senator Anthony Bouchard, seeks to outlaw so-called “gender-affirming care” which includes surgically removing parts of a child’s body as well as the use of hormonal therapy and puberty blockers on children.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wildebeest is a Faster Way of Deploying a Mastodon Server
Cloudflare has launched Wildebeest, a Mastodon-compatible server that will allow people who want to explore the decentralized social network through their own server.
Decentralized social media network Mastodon has become somewhat more popular recently, with its independent servers, aka communities, each of which has its own topics and themes. (Though, after an initial boost of users, support appears to have dropped off.)
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Terrible article in German. Evil and bitter irony. By the way, the author’s surname is Ukrainian.
Kyrgyz relatives of the wife of the user “Moon ..” should take note. The same will happen in Russia.
Shortage of men in Ukraine? We could help there
https://unser-mitteleuropa.com/maennermangel-in-der-ukraine-da-koennten-wir-helfen/
I saw this article at its original source:
https://www.anderweltonline.com/klartext/klartext-20231/maennermangel-in-der-ukraine-da-koennten-wir-helfen/
Terrible it may look superficially, but it was not meant to be taken literally. Albeit a bit too dark for mere satire, too, but the author knows it. Mr. Haisenko himself has Ukrainian roots, so he knows both sides. It was more a bitter hit piece against how things are in his chosen homeland Germany itself, with all the lies around “refugees” and the many beardy-weirdy “women and children” that arrive. Ukrainian women are hardly expected to stoop so low as to take in this kind of excess from here, no matter the numbers that are going to hit the marriage market after their sad loss. (Haisenko actually writes many good and thoughtful articles, shall take a closer look if some of them could be a welcome addition here.)
.
.
MERCILESS ILLUMINATION OF SWEDISH ISLAM
That the Muslim Brotherhood has an influence in Sweden is beyond doubt, the only question is how far-reaching it is.
Sameh Egyptson’s controversial treatise is a 744-page indictment of the Islamic Brotherhood’s more or less formalised links to the organisation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Controversial thesis on political Islam approved in Lund
Sameh Egyptson’s thesis has been heavily criticised even before he was allowed to defend it academically. Lund University has put in place extra security for his dissertation.
***
https://www.lundagard.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Namnlost-1-1024×687.jpg
***
It took him 20 years to finish it, and when Sameh Egyptson presented his thesis on Friday, it was with a level of coverage that few academic works have received in a long time.
The thesis, “Global Political Islam? : Muslim Brotherhood & Islamic League in Sweden” is controversial, not least for the main thesis that Sameh Egyptson claims to have proved.
– That the Islamic League is the national organisation for the Muslim Brotherhood’s international network in Sweden, he says.
SVT Nyheter Skåne has contacted the Islamic League, which has consistently denied the connection Egyptson makes, including in Dagens Nyheter.
Large source material
The 700-page dissertation has taken 20 years to complete, and as a basis for his evidence Egyptson has reviewed source material from interviews and statements in both Swedish and Arabic, as well as public documents.
In this way, he believes he has been able to prove that the organisation, ideology and practical policies of the Islamic League in Sweden and the Muslim Brotherhood are the same.
He believes that academic research into this is an important part of combating the Muslim Brotherhood, which he sees as a threat to democracy.
– Their aim is to create an Islamic order in the world based on Sharia law, he says, but not all scholars agree.
University closed building
The defence took place on Friday. Several critics were present, including people whom Egyptson had identified in his thesis as representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood.
As a result, Lund University decided to close down teaching in the building where the defence was to be held and took extra security measures.
– This is one of the most high-profile dissertations we have ever had. This is not something we are used to dealing with,’ says Stephan Borghammar, Dean of the Faculties of Humanities and Theology at Lund University.
After a total of four hours of defence and two and a half hours of waiting for the grading committee’s statement, Samir Egyptson’s thesis was approved with the numbers two for and one against.
FACTS
The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is a political-religious Islamic (Sunni) organisation, founded in 1928 in Egypt. A key objective has been to seek to Islamise the state. Religion is not seen as a private matter but as a total way of life that should permeate all sectors of society.
With globalisation, the MB ideology has spread across the world, where local operations have been built up.
In the 1950s and 60s, Sayyid Qutb was a leading spokesman for the MB in Egypt. He is seen as one of the most important ideologues for militant Islamists in Egypt and his ideas were later translated into practical jihad. The EU and US terrorist labelled movement Hamas is seen as an offshoot of the Palestinian MB.
Through its extensive network, the MB in Egypt has been involved in a variety of activities, running schools and hospitals. For decades, the MB was the main opposition group in Egypt, but was banned after army chief Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Islamist President Muhammad Mursi in 2013.
Although the MB has officially renounced violent practices and leading representatives of the movement have said they respect a multi-party democratic system, the organisation has remained controversial in Egypt. There are also different factions, some reform-minded and others more conservative, which contributes to some ambiguity about its objectives.
Source: NE
.
.
Sameh Egyptson, Biography
Egyptson was born in Aswan in southern Egypt and grew up in a Coptic Christian family in Cairo. After high school, Egyptson studied Middle Eastern and Egyptian history at Ain Shams University, while also studying at the Coptic Institute in Cairo. Egyptson moved to Sweden in 1990 and has studied languages, Islamology and religious studies at Uppsala and Lund universities.
In 1999, he began doctoral studies at Lund University, focusing on interreligious relations between Christianity and Islam. From 1999 until 2004, Egyptson led an interreligious research project in Egypt under the direction of Professor Aasulv Lande, Professor of Mission Studies and Ecumenical Studies at Lund University. Researchers from Lund University, the Coptic Church and Al-Azhar participated in the project. The project was noticed by, among others, Lund University’s magazine LUM and Tidningen Dagen and was described as a unique peace project.
From 2008 to 2013, Egyptson led the Swedish Culture Center in Cairo, which, among other things, during the Arab Spring was active in matters concerning freedom of expression in Egypt. Egyptson was also the initiator of a development project (Swedish House) in Cairo’s poor neighborhood of Shubra El-Kheima.
More recently (2021) he is working on a project dealing with Interreligious relations and power.
Egyptson lives in Höllviken in Vellinge and together with his wife runs the company Egyptson AB which, among other things, arranges cultural trips to Egypt.
On February 10, 2023, Egyptson defended his dissertation at Lund University under high profile with his thesis “Global political Islam? The Muslim Brotherhood & Islamic Association in Sweden”, which was approved by a dissenting evaluation board.
Media
Dagens Nyheter’s culture page drew attention to the Scandinavian Culture Center that Sameh Egyptson founded in Cairo in 2008. The language newspaper also drew attention to the center as the first to teach the Swedish language in the Middle East. The center also served as a meeting place for Swedish and Egyptian political parties during the Arab Spring. Egyptson has appeared on television, among other things, in debate programs such as SVT Debatt on the Egyptian Revolution and he has also been hired by SVT to report during the so-called Arab Spring. Since 2013, he has taken a special interest in the Muslim Brotherhood’s mission in Sweden and has also participated regularly in the public debate. After the publication of his book Holy White Lies at Dar El Maaref Publishing House, Cairo in October 2018, the book was rewritten in several media, including Svenska Dagbladet and Sydsvenska Dagbladet and has also been referenced in debate articles. Egyptson has also written debate articles himself, including about the political development in Egypt, about Islamism and the Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden, about how the Social Democrats have handled Islamist schools] and about how the Center Party has handled connections to Islam. Before his defense, Egyptson received attention in the media for the conclusions in his thesis.
Bibliography
Holy white lies: Muslim Brotherhood in the West : case – Sweden (First edition). Cairo: Dar El Maaref Publishing House. 2018. Libris nx159shplq7vwm94.
ISBN 9789770287804
al-Kadhib al-abyaḍ al-muqaddas: qirāʼāt fī nuṣūṣ al-Ikhwān al-Muslimīn wa-taṭbīqātuhā fī al-gharb (al-Suwayd namūdhajan) (1. al-ṭabʻah.). al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Maʿārif. 2018. Libris fpz45m83cwjxz1xf.
ISBN 9789770287156
The Conquest: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Infiltration of Sweden. [Höllviken]: Egyptson Mgt AB. 2020. Libris v7vsnh18s7vf6t98.
ISBN 9789151963761
Egyptson, Sameh; Wahlby Mercedes, Egyptson Pia (2021). The settlement. Egyptson Mgt. Libris 7mwnp1lk5tt2hl2g.
ISBN 9789152711422
Egyptson, Sameh (2023) (in English). Global political Islam?: The Muslim Brotherhood & the Islamic Federation in Sweden. Lund: Center for Theological and Religious Studies, Humanities and Theological Faculties, Lund University. Libris 0gjrblf2xzwlmls8.
ISBN 9789180394628
.
.
January 9, 2023, Sameh Egyptson
Today, Fenix reports that Säpo’s main source of information on the Muslim Brotherhood, research student Sameh Egyptson, has business contacts with security companies in the Egyptian regime.
Since the spring of 2022, the wind has been blowing about the Muslim independent school Progress School. It has been accused by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate of being an environment where students are at risk of radicalisation. In its decision, the Inspectorate relies on a statement from the Swedish Security Service, which alleges that the school has links to the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. When copies of the Säpo statement have been requested, the sources of these allegations have been masked.
The school has challenged the decision in several instances, and the matter is now before the Administrative Court. Shortly after the New Year, the school’s defence lawyer filed a new appeal. Fenix has read the appeal, and it is astonishing.
The school’s defence lawyer has put Säpo’s statement about the school side by side with texts from research student Sameh Egyptson, and discovered that large parts of Säpo’s statement are plagiarised verbatim from Egyptson’s book and blog texts.
Top: Säpo’s letter. Bottom: two excerpts from Egyptson’s book included in the appeal. The example is one of the milder ones, as the other examples, including verbatim plagiarism, contain sensitive personal data.
We have previously noted that Sameh Egyptson has figured as a Säpo source, and also that Egyptson has spread well-known anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on his blog. Egypson has countered this by saying that Fenix is out to character assassinate him personally. This, of course, is not the case.
Our aim is to scrutinise Swedish authorities and influential commentators who risk damaging democracy. Egyptson, despite his diligent advocacy against Muslim organisations, has not been perceived as having any major influence. But now it turns out that Egyptson has a much greater influence in Swedish government than was previously known.
We now know that several authorities have based decisions at least partly on the conspiracy theories Egyptson has been the originator of. In addition to Säpo and Skolinspektionen, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (in the aftermath of the publication of what Swedish religious scholars consider a highly inaccurate report, Egyptson was invited as an expert to work with the authors of the report to educate officials at the agency).
This week we are therefore releasing a major review, with data that has not been published before. Some of the information is covered by the protection of sources and has been anonymised. However, Phoenix has confirmed this information by consulting several independent sources. Fenix has also approached Sameh Egyptson for comment and to give him the opportunity to give his view, but he has not returned.
Over the past year, we have received various anonymous tips that Egyptson has links to the Egyptian regime, via the Scandinavian-Egyptian Centre that Egyptson owns in Cairo. This is run by a relative of Egyptson. We have therefore hired a journalist in Cairo to visit the centre to find out about its activities and interview people there. It proved very difficult to gain insight and elaborate, but the centre is reported to have been closed during the covert pandemic and is now used for state security operations. The owner is still Sameh Egyptson.
Since 2013, Egypt is once again a military dictatorship. Following the Arab Spring, democratic elections were held and won by moderate Islamists, with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Mursi government faced strong criticism from hard-line Islamists in Al-Nour, military officials with financial interests in the state, as well as more liberal forces. With the support of the UAE, the armed forces overthrew Mursi, who later died in prison, and murdered or imprisoned thousands of his supporters. The Egyptian regime today cooperates with Al-Nour, but regards the Muslim Brotherhood as its main enemy.
It is important to remember that Sweden has freedom of business, and individuals and companies have the right to conduct business even abroad and even with rogue regimes. The big question is not about Egyptson’s personal conduct but about whether Säpo has based its statement on an appropriate basis. Säpo’s main source thus has business contacts with a regime that actively murders and imprisons the same group that the person claims to be conducting research on.
In the next article: several right-wing theories have been given space in guest posts on the Egyptson website. The author then moved to Hungary to “escape the PK media” and the “Islamization” of Sweden.
Hassan Larsson
——————————
https://www.tankesmedjanfenix.se/2023/01/09/fenix-avslojar-sapos-kalla-har-affarskontakter-med-egyptiska-regimen/
.
.
The equally controversial, before this
AFA thug and much more, Tobias Hübinette,
has the following to say about Sameh Egyptson.
FEBRUARY 8, 2023
About Sameh Egyptson’s thesis
DN’s Niklas Orrenius has interviewed doctoral student Sameh Egyptson, who on Friday will defend his thesis in theology at Lund University “Global political Islam? The Muslim Brotherhood & the Islamic Federation in Sweden”. Mika Vähäkangas, professor of mission science and ecumenism, and Mats Lindberg, professor of political science, have acted as supervisors, while political scientist Khaled Salih from the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr has been appointed as an opponent for Friday’s defense.
https://www.dn.se/sverige/storbrak-vantas-kring-avhandling-om-muslimska-brodraskapet-i-sverige/
It is extremely rare that Swedish dissertations are noticed and debated, but sometimes it happens – my own dissertation resulted in a packed auditorium, an extremely aggressive defense and subsequent attempts to subsequently fail me and take away my doctoral title as well as registrations etc. at the same time as my dissertation became the most downloaded Swedish humanities thesis – and there are some indications that Sameh’s thesis may also result in something similar.
The thesis, which is pure “bricks” (closer to 750 pages), briefly advances the hypothesis that organizations and people who sympathize with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) have come to dominate large parts of the Swedish Muslim minority, with the Islamic Federation of Sweden at the head and that the Swedish state and Swedish majority society in general have allowed this to happen by, among other things, awarding these organizations and individuals hundreds of millions in support and grants.
The dissertation is packed with names of people who Sameh believes can be connected to a kind of Swedish MB-associated network, most of whom are Swedish Muslims, but many are also non-Muslims, and not least it concerns a number of majority Swedish researchers and anti-racists.
At the same time, it must be said that even though numerous names of well-known Swedish Muslims and well-known Ajority Swedish anti-racists appear in the thesis, for reasons of research ethics, Sameh has removed an entire chapter from the thesis, which consisted of a network and genealogy-like overview of who can be linked to who organizationally speaking, who are or have been married to whom and who are the children and relatives of whom, etc.
I myself am suspended in the thesis (NOTE: I am not a Muslim) as I have worked for Ibn Rushd Studieförbund when I had funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations to spread knowledge about the equality data issue among the country’s Muslims.
In addition, I participated in writing the Swedish Muslims in Cooperation network’s report on the situation of Swedish Muslims to the UN’s Racial Discrimination Committee in 2018, which later formed the basis for the UN’s subsequent criticism of Sweden.
Sameh and I both knew the journalist Anders Thunberg, who passed away in 2020, and together we wrote an obituary about Anders in DN, and Sameh has also sent me a copy of the dissertation for the defense, which since the so-called nailing took place has been downloaded and read here:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/24507e9e-1c05-469d-8594-7ee70735c252
Really terrible times are coming in Russia.
Almost three hundred priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, who take an anti-war position, can be defrocked.
https://irp.news/svjashhennikov-rpc-mogut-lishit-sana-za-antivoennuju-poziciju/