Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/5/2023

Officials in the Department of Defense said that at least three more Chinese spy balloons had transited the United States during the Trump administration. Mr. Trump, however, said that such incidents never occurred. Meanwhile, the Chinese government criticized the US overreaction to the balloon, and warned of possible responses.

In other news, according to a recent study, Finland will need to triple its number of immigrants in order to maintain its labor force.

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

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

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

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

Financial Crisis
» Poland’s Unemployment Rate at 2.9 pct in December — Eurostat
» Polls Show Record Number of Americans Worse Off Financially Since Biden Took Office
 
USA
» “Confidential Letters”: FTX Demands Politicians Return Millions in SBF Donations
» Ban on Marijuana Users Owning Guns is Unconstitutional, U.S. Judge Rules
» Chinese Spy Balloon Crashed Off Hawaii Coast 4 Months Ago, US Officials Say
» Chinese Spy Balloons Over US During Trump Admin ‘Discovered After’ He Left Office: Senior Biden Official
» Connecticut Armed Robbers Shoot Store Owner Who Pulls Out Legal Firearms and Kills Suspect: Cops
» Cruz, Manchin Propose Bill Blocking Biden Admin From Banning Gas Stoves
» Democrat-Run Tourist Town Sees 200% Surge in Break-Ins Amid Violent Crime Spike: ‘Wildly Frustrating’
» Fake Meat Fail: Sales Collapse at Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods as 20% of Staff Laid Off
» Fauxcahontas: White Female Scholars Keep Pretending to be Native American
» GOP Bill Seeks to Reinstate Military Members Discharged Over COVID-19 Vaccination Status
» Gov. DeWine Issues Evacuation Notice for East Palestine Following Train Derailment
» Green Groups Targeting Blue-Collar Lobstermen Are Largely Funded by Dark Money
» Heart Attack Deaths Soaring Among Young Adults, Experts Warn
» Independents Favor Trump Over Biden in 2024: Poll
» It’s Official: Ugly People More Likely to Wear Masks — University Study
» January Gun Sales Total of Over 1.2 Million Firearms is the 4th Highest on Record
» Liberals Falsely Attack DeSantis Using Associated Press Fact-Check That Vindicates Him: ‘Authoritarianism’
» Majority of Democrats Want Someone Other Than Biden to be 2024 Nominee: Poll
» Medical Researcher Calls on Scientific Community to Admit Pandemic Measures ‘Were Wrong’
» North Dakota Police Claim Shannon Brandt Called Slain Teen ‘Republican Extremist’ Contradicted by 911 Call
» NYC Crime Drove ‘Mama Bear’ And Family to ‘Calmer’ Surroundings in South Carolina
» The Systemically Racist Black Memphis Police
» The Tracking of the Unvaccinated
» Trump Blasts Biden’s Response to China Balloon
» Twitter to Charge Businesses $1,000 Per Month for Verification Check
» U.S Officials Confirm Third Chinese Balloon, Refuse to Reveal Location
» U.S. Military Says it is Searching for Remnants of Chinese Spy Balloon
» UChicago Selects Failed Candidates Beto O’Rourke, Tim Ryan to Teach Politics
» US Intel Assesses Chinese Spy Balloons Transited US Several Times, Went ‘Undetected’: Senior Admin Official
» Videos: GOP Senators Slam “Paralyzed” Biden for “Telegraphing Weakness” To China
» White Student Sues Texas Med Schools That Rejected Him for Minorities With Lower GPAs, MCATs
 
Canada
» 85% of Vaccine “Adverse Effects” In Military Were Due to COVID-19 Shot
» Breaking: Laval Professor and mRNA Expert, Patrick Provost Was Suspended Without Pay for Anti-mRNA Vaccine Comments
» Campus Watch: U of T Prof Labels Police Departments White Supremacist Institutions
» Further Action Needed to Combat Unpopular Liberal Gun Laws, Says Alberta Minister
» Laurier Students Protest Never-Ending Mask Mandate
» Military Admits 26 ‘Serious’ Cases of Injury From COVID Vaccines
» Saskatchewan Will Use Sask First Act to Challenge Federal Overreach in Court, Says Justice Minister
» Saskatchewan Will Not Impose a Digital Healthcare ID to Secure Federal Funding, Says Premier Moe
» Since June, Fewer Albertans, Quebecers Want to Separate From Canada, Says Poll
» University of Lethbridge Students Protest Guest Speaker, Claiming ‘Racism is Not Free Speech’
» Watch: Thieves Drive Through Mall in Stolen Black Audi After Robbing Electronics Store
 
Europe and the EU
» Brain Dead Women Could be Used as Surrogates Under Norwegian Philosopher’s New Plan
» Finland Consumed 10% More Coal Last Year Compared to 2021
» Italy’s Internet Restored After Nationwide Outage; Reports of Global Ransomware Attack
» Majority of Poles Believe War in Ukraine Threatens Poland’s Security
» More Than 50,000 Danes Gather in Copenhagen to Protest Plans to Scrap Christian Holiday Dating Back to 1686 to Finance Increased Defence Spending in Wake of Ukraine War
» Rishi Sunak Prepares to Take the UK Out of Human Rights Convention Amid Warnings That 65,000 Migrants Could Cross the Channel in Small Boats This Year
» UK: Policing Just Stop Oil Protests Cost Taxpayers £7.5 Million in Just Nine Weeks, New Figures Show
 
Russia
» Epic Battle That Became a Slaughterhouse of Tanks: Russia’s Armoured Behemoths Will Soon Face Germany’s War Machines in a Chilling Echo of Ukraine 1943, When Hitler and Stalin Launched a Firestorm of Destruction That Has Never Been Matched
» Is Russia ‘Recruiting Female Prisoners’ To Help in Ukraine War? What Report Said
» Ukrainians Flock to Kyiv Ski Slopes as Missile Strikes Ease on Capital Amid Fresh Calls for Warplanes in Fight Against Russia
» Western Powers ‘Blocked’ Ceasefire Early in Ukraine War: Former Israeli Prime Minister
» ‘We’ve Received Everything on Our Wish List to Santa — Except Warplanes’: Ukraine’s Defence Minister Issues Fresh Request to Western Allies for Jets to Challenge Russia’s Air Superiority
 
Far East
» China Fumes After US Pops Its Balloon, Warns of Possible ‘Responses’ to ‘Clear Overreaction’
 
Australia — Pacific
» Australia’s Rich and Famous Go to War With Developers as Heritage Homes Are Replaced With ‘Eyesore’ Apartments and Residents Fume About Their Suburb Being Overrun With Outsiders: ‘You Can’t Move’
» Breaking: Rebel News Security Awarded Massive Police Payout Over Unlawful Arrest
» Cardinal Pell Remembered as One of Australia’s ‘Greatest Sons’
» ChatGPT Set to be Banned in Most Australian Schools
» Katie Hopkins Tells NSW Government to ‘Stick it Up Their Arse’ After COVID Fine Dropped
» Lidia Thorpe Quits the Greens to Sit on the Crossbench and Fight for Aboriginal Sovereignty — as She Delivers a Blistering Speech and Vows to Keep ‘Infiltrating’ The Government
» Poll Claims Majority of Australians Support Voice to Parliament
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Short of Doctors, Senegal Faces a Brain Drain to France
 
Immigration
» Business Leaders Criticise Finns Party’s Anti-Immigration Rhetoric
» Eric Adams Spends Coldest Winter Night in Shelter After Migrants Refused to Leave Hotel
» Hungary: Fidesz MP Challenges Von Der Leyen
» Manfred Weber Makes a Border Fence U-Turn
» Study: Immigration Needs Tripling to Maintain Finland’s Labour Force
 
Culture Wars
» Catholic Students Kicked Out of Air & Space Smithsonian Museum for Pro-Life Hats: ‘We Had Almost No Words’
» DeSantis Files Complaint Against Orlando Philharmonic Over Holiday Drag Event
» Furries Protest Against Women’s Rights Activists in Scotland
» Member of Church of England’s General Synod is Reported Over Tweets
» The FDA’s Power to Approve Drugs Faces Sweeping Challenge in Lawsuit Seeking to Pull Abortion Pill From U.S. Market
» The Strange Censorship of HBO Movie Posters
» Videos: Disney Cartoon Declares U.S. “Built on Slavery” Pushes ‘Reparations’ Propaganda
 

Poland’s Unemployment Rate at 2.9 pct in December — Eurostat

Poland’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate went down to 2.9 percent in December 2022 from 3.0 percent in November, Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, reported on Wednesday.

The number of unemployed edged down to 503,000 in December from 508,000 in November, Eurostat also said.

According to Eurostat, the unemployment rate in the eurozone countries, according to seasonally adjusted data, remained unchanged from the previous month at 6.6 percent in December.

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

Polls Show Record Number of Americans Worse Off Financially Since Biden Took Office

The Biden White House has made it their top priority to present the US economy as a wellspring of jobs creation and recovery. Biden relies primarily on jobs data as proof that his economy is the “best economy ever” and has consistently tried to take credit for falling unemployment data and “12 million jobs created since he took office.” This claim of course ignores the 25 million+ jobs lost during the covid lockdowns, which Biden avidly supported even after it became clear that covid was a non-threat to the vast majority of the population.

In other words, Biden has been trying to take credit for the recovery of jobs he originally helped to destroy. Many Democrat run states are still lagging and a return to financial stability has been difficult. Other concerns surround the manner in which labor data is being calculated. Only last year the Philly Fed had to revise and refute White House labor gains and cut over 1 million jobs from their stats in the process. That kind of discrepancy is not normal.

In the meantime, inflation numbers have dropped slightly while interest rates rise, yet prices on most goods remain high.

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

“Confidential Letters”: FTX Demands Politicians Return Millions in SBF Donations

Just when you thought the FTX travesty couldn’t get any more bizarre, the now bankrupt company is trying to claw back political donations and other spending that took place at the direction of former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

A press release made its way out mid-day Sunday that FTX’s debtors and the company had sent “confidential messages to political figures, political action funds, and other recipients of contributions or other payments that were made by or at the direction of the FTX Debtors, Samuel Bankman-Fried or other officers or principals of the FTX Debtors” requesting the funds back.

“These recipients are requested to return such funds to the FTX Debtors by February 28, 2023,” the release states.

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

Ban on Marijuana Users Owning Guns is Unconstitutional, U.S. Judge Rules

(Reuters) — A federal law prohibiting marijuana users from possessing firearms is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Oklahoma has concluded, citing last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that significantly expanded gun rights.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Wyrick, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump in Oklahoma City, on Friday dismissed an indictment against a man charged in August with violating that ban, saying it infringed his right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

Wyrick said that while the government can protect the public from dangerous people possessing guns, it could not argue Jared Harrison’s “mere status as a user of marijuana justifies stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a firearm.”

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

Chinese Spy Balloon Crashed Off Hawaii Coast 4 Months Ago, US Officials Say

EXCLUSIVE: A Chinese spy balloon crashed into the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii four months ago, U.S. officials say.

Fox News has also learned that at least one Chinese spy balloon flew over portions of Texas and Florida during the Trump administration, despite the former president’s insistence it never happened.

The news comes after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, seven days after it was allowed to drift across the continental United States.

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

Chinese Spy Balloons Over US During Trump Admin ‘Discovered After’ He Left Office: Senior Biden Official

Information suggesting that Chinese spy balloons traveled over the continental United States during the Trump administration was “discovered after” former President Donald Trump left office, a senior administration official told Fox News.

A defense official on Saturday said Chinese spy balloons briefly traveled over the United States at least three times during the Trump administration.

Trump and a number of his top national security and defense officials refuted the claim, telling Fox News Digital that it “never happened.”

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

Connecticut Armed Robbers Shoot Store Owner Who Pulls Out Legal Firearms and Kills Suspect: Cops

A Connecticut clothing store owner fatally shot a suspected robber during a shootout last week, but was wounded in the exchange of gunfire, according to police.

“A brief struggle took place between the store clerk and one of the suspects who pulled out a firearm,” the East Hartford Police Department reported. Police identified the store employee as a clerk, though NBC Connecticut reported it was the store owner who was on the premises working late that night.

Two men wearing black ski masks entered the clothing store Humble & Paid Co. just after 10:30 p.m. on Thursday with the intention of robbing the store, the police said in a press release.

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

Cruz, Manchin Propose Bill Blocking Biden Admin From Banning Gas Stoves

The Biden administration’s efforts to turn up the regulatory heat on gas stoves are drawing bipartisan opposition from a pair of senators who have introduced a bill to block a ban on gas stoves.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., introduced the “Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act” last week amid the Biden administration’s discussions of proposed restrictions on gas stoves.

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

Democrat-Run Tourist Town Sees 200% Surge in Break-Ins Amid Violent Crime Spike: ‘Wildly Frustrating’

Break-ins in Asheville, North Carolina, saw a 200% monthly surge in January amid a violent crime spike in the Democrat-run tourist town that has hemorrhaged police officers in recent years.

The Asheville Police Department, which serves a town of approximately 90,000 people, responded to 41 break-ins throughout 2022 and has already fielded 11 reports of break-ins in 2023 as of Feb. 1, according to local ABC affiliate WLOS.

Chris Faber, whose bar in downtown Asheville was targeted twice last month within a span of a few days, told the outlet that a suspect broke into his establishment and stole about 20 bottles of whiskey and up to $800 in cash.

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

Fake Meat Fail: Sales Collapse at Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods as 20% of Staff Laid Off

The fake meat industry appears to be in a death-spiral as sales at plant-based ‘meat’ companies Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have imploded.

As Axios reports, “after years of hype, the tide is turning against the first generation of plant-based protein makers.”

Last year, both companies were riding high — with prime placement on supermarket shelves, and Burger King even adding an Impossible Whopper to its menu.

Impossible Meat even began to branch out — looking to expand offerings to highly processed meats such as chicken nuggets and sausages.

Sales have collapsed, however, which according to a recent Bloomberg report, has resulted in Impossible Foods planning to lay off around 20% of its workers.

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

Fauxcahontas: White Female Scholars Keep Pretending to be Native American

A headline Jan. 24 in the New York Post trumpeted: “‘Native American’ novelist praised by GMA, NYT accused of being a ‘Pretendian.’“

It tells the story of Erika Wurth, an English professor at Western Illinois University, whose claims to Native American ancestry have been meticulously debunked by activists and researchers even as the scholar maintains her claims.

“Wurth has lectured widely and has mined Native American traditions and folk tales in her seven books,” including most recently “White Horse,” a Book of the Month Club pick in November and featured on a list of Good Housekeeping’s best books by Native writers, the Post reported.

AncestorStealing, a website that has researched and outed a parade of alleged fake Indians, argues it’s done for notoriety, profit and gain: “It’s all about the money. Wurth has profited greatly from claiming this ‘Native’ background.”

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

GOP Bill Seeks to Reinstate Military Members Discharged Over COVID-19 Vaccination Status

Nineteen Republican U.S. senators introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Department of Defense to offer reinstatement to service members who were fired over the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

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

Gov. DeWine Issues Evacuation Notice for East Palestine Following Train Derailment

COLUMBUS — Governor Mike DeWine and Columbiana County officials have issued an urgent warning Sunday night to those living a mile within the area of the train derailment in East Palestine to immediately evacuate, according to the Governor’s spokesperson.

A train derailed in eastern Ohio and caught fire Friday night and caused officials in East Palestine to order evacuations.

Teams are working to prevent an explosion from happening and residents living within a mile of the site “are asked to leave the area immediately,” the governor wrote on social media.

“A drastic temperature change has taken place in a rail car, and there is now the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure which could cause an explosion with the potential of deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile,” Governor DeWine said.

Most individuals in the one-mile radius have already evacuated but local officials say more than 500 people have decline to leave their homes, according to the governor’s office.

“Those who have the means to leave are advised to immediately evacuate,” said DeWine.

The Ohio National Guard has been activated and deployed to the scene to assist local authorities.

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Green Groups Targeting Blue-Collar Lobstermen Are Largely Funded by Dark Money

Environmental groups that have led litigation targeting the lobster fishing industry have been heavily funded by various liberal dark money groups that don’t disclose their individual donors, a Fox News Digital review of tax filings found.

The organizations — the Center For Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and Defenders Of Wildlife — first filed a joint federal lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2018, arguing a rule issued by the agency years earlier failed to properly protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales from lobster fishing equipment. In April 2020, a federal judge ruled in favor of the groups, ordering the NMFS to issue tighter restrictions.

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

Heart Attack Deaths Soaring Among Young Adults, Experts Warn

Experts are raising the alarm over the soaring number of deaths caused by heart attacks and strokes among young people.

Excess deaths have skyrocketed in the past two years but many fear the issue is being ignored, or even covered up, by governments, Big Tech, and the corporate media.

Early last year, a bombshell study compiled data from several life insurance companies.

The researchers determined that there was an overwhelming spike in the death of young people.

The data revealed an unexplained increase (40%) in “all-cause deaths” among 18 to 49-year-olds.

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

Independents Favor Trump Over Biden in 2024: Poll

In a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, registered voters prefer former President Donald Trump over Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, with Trump garnering 48 percent support compared to Biden at 45 percent and Independents favoring Trump by 50 percent, 9 points over Biden at 41 percent.

The poll’s results show that among registered voters, 53 percent disapprove and 42 percent strongly disapprove when asked about “the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president.” 91 percent of Republicans, 16 percent of Democrats, and 51 percent of Independents said they disapprove.

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

It’s Official: Ugly People More Likely to Wear Masks — University Study

Aggravated by the holdouts who keep wearing face masks despite mounting evidence that they’re essentially useless against Covid-19? Maybe you should be a little grateful.

According to findings published at Frontiers in Psychology, people who consider themselves less attractive are more likely to continue wearing face masks.

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

January Gun Sales Total of Over 1.2 Million Firearms is the 4th Highest on Record

Never before has the federal government and its regulatory apparatus been more weaponized against lawful gun ownership. Never before have more states enacted more gun control law, directly in contradiction of Supreme Court precedent while, in effect, saying, “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?

Americans see all of this — combined with understaffed law enforcement and the catch-and-release criminal justice system that’s operating in most urban areas — and are acting accordingly. They’re buying guns. Lots of them. Again. Still. As can be seen in January’s adjusted NICS background check totals.

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

Liberals Falsely Attack DeSantis Using Associated Press Fact-Check That Vindicates Him: ‘Authoritarianism’

Left-wing social media users used an Associated Press fact-check that defended Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., in an attempt to smear his administration.

Associated Press reporter Philip Marcelo published a fact-check on Saturday about the claim that the Republican governor is requiring “all female student-athletes in the state” to provide “detailed information” regarding their menstrual cycles in order to compete in school sports. Although the article was titled “Florida weighs mandating menstrual cycle details for female athletes” and featured an image of DeSantis, Marcelo ruled the claim as “false.”

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

Majority of Democrats Want Someone Other Than Biden to be 2024 Nominee: Poll

A majority of Democrats said the party should nominate someone other than President Biden for the White House in 2024, according to a new ABC News-Washington Post poll.

Fifty-eight percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents support the idea of nominating someone other than Biden, the poll found. Just 31 percent said they would support Biden, who would be 86 years old at the end of a potential second term.

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

Medical Researcher Calls on Scientific Community to Admit Pandemic Measures ‘Were Wrong’

Pressure is mounting on federal health officials and so-called experts in the scientific community over the grave errors that were made during the Covid pandemic.

Many leading experts have since come out against tyrannical measures such as lockdowns, masking, and vaccine mandates.

At least one medical researcher is now calling on the scientific community to admit that decisions made during the pandemic “were wrong.”

“I was wrong,” wrote Kevin Bass, an MD/Ph.D. student, in a recent op-ed for Newsweek.

We in the scientific community were wrong. And it cost lives.”

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

North Dakota Police Claim Shannon Brandt Called Slain Teen ‘Republican Extremist’ Contradicted by 911 Call

FIRST ON FOX: Shannon Brandt did not call 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson a “Republican extremist” during an initial 911 call, casting doubt over an affidavit filed by police in the hours after the teenager was killed.

A probable cause affidavit filed by North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Christopher Allen states that Brandt, 41, hit the teenager with his 2003 Ford Explorer on Sept. 18, 2021 in McHenry, North Dakota, adding that he told a 911 operator he was part of a “Republican extremist group,” and that he had a “political argument” with Ellingson. According to the affidavit, Brandt also told the 911 operator that Ellingson was calling other people to “get him.”

Ellingson was severely injured as a result of the incident and was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

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

NYC Crime Drove ‘Mama Bear’ And Family to ‘Calmer’ Surroundings in South Carolina

Big Apple crime was too much for this mama to “bear.”

The heroic Bronx mother who landed on The Post’s front page as “Mama Bear” — when she ferociously fought off the creep who sucker-punched her 4-year-old son in Times Square — has fled the city with her three cubs.

On Jan. 27, nearly a year after the horrifying Feb. 17 attack on her son Angel, Rafaela Rivera and her husband, Federico, loaded Angel, now 5, Carmen, 18, and Federico Jr., 15, into their red Toyota Scion and headed south to the “calmer” environs of Myrtle Beach, SC.

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

The Systemically Racist Black Memphis Police

by Daniel Greenfield

When the Biden administration announced that it was opening a civil rights investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols at a Memphis traffic stop, experts and legal scholars were baffled.

“What is the basis for believing that the police beat Nichols to his death because he was a black man?” former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy wondered.

“That civil-rights provision makes it a crime for people acting willfully and under color of law (e.g., on-duty police officers) to deprive others of their federal rights or subject them to discriminatory treatment by reason of their ‘color, or race,’ he pointed out.

Biden’s racist DOJ operatives have repeatedly and wrongly targeted police officers using Section 242. Some of the officers, like those lynched as a result of George Floyd’s drug overdose death, like Tou Thao, the child of Hmong refugees, were members of minority groups. But the DOJ, under the Trump administration, avoided prosecuting the law enforcement personnel, three of whom were black, in the accidental death of drug dealer Freddie Gray.

The Section 242 investigation of the black police officers on the scene in Memphis during the Tyre Nichols death shows that Biden’s DOJ is pursuing a much more ambitious agenda.

The real case, the ideological one, not the technical one that the Biden DOJ may choose to pursue for ideological reasons, is being laid out in press releases and editorials.

“Black cops killed Tyre Nichols. Systemic racism is the death of us all,” a Boston Globe column contended. “5 Black Memphis Cops Upheld Institutional And Cultural Racism In Tyre Nichols’ Murder,” Forbes raved. The Washington Post headlined it, “Black Memphis police spark dialogue on systemic racism in the U.S.” “Our country will continue to sanction the taking of black lives with impunity until it embraces an affirmative vision of public safety and dismantles its racist policing system rooted in enslavement,” Rep. Cori Bush of the Squad fumed…

           — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield [Return to headlines]
 

The Tracking of the Unvaccinated

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quietly introduced a new program to track people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 after they visit a doctor or go to a hospital, according to documents and a video highlighted by National File but published back in 2021.

In September 2021 the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee held a meeting to discuss new ICD-10 codes that the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) wanted to be created for marking people as “Partially Vaccinated for COVID-19,” “Unvaccinated for COVID-19,” and “Other underimmunization status.”

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

Trump Blasts Biden’s Response to China Balloon

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday slammed President Joe Biden over his handling of the Chinese spy balloon over the United States, which he said never happened under his administration.

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

Twitter to Charge Businesses $1,000 Per Month for Verification Check

Twitter will reportedly begin making businesses fork over $1,000 per month for verification checkmark badges, as owner Elon Musk continues to expand on different revenue streams for the company.

According to The Information, a social media consultant who obtained internal documents from Twitter revealed that the proposal to start charging businesses for their newly-gold verification checks will also affect the business’ affiliated accounts, which would be charged an additional $50 per month. However, it was reported that the pricing model has yet to be finalized.

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

U.S Officials Confirm Third Chinese Balloon, Refuse to Reveal Location

United States government officials have confirmed that a third Chinese spy balloon has been identified in the skies but are refusing to reveal the craft’s location.

The news comes after the U.S. military used an F-22 Raptor to take out a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, as Slay News reported.

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

U.S. Military Says it is Searching for Remnants of Chinese Spy Balloon

WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) — The U.S. military said on Sunday it is searching for remnants of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down the previous day, in a dramatic spy saga that has further strained American-Chinese relations.

The U.S. Navy is working to recover the balloon and its payload and the Coast Guard is providing security for the operation, said General Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.

           — Hat tip: JW [Return to headlines]
 

UChicago Selects Failed Candidates Beto O’Rourke, Tim Ryan to Teach Politics

wo failed Democratic political candidates will bring their experience to the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics as fellows for winter-spring seminars.

Robert O’Rourke, also known as “Beto,” recently completed a trifecta of losses — in 2018, he lost in a Texas U.S. Senate bid against Ted Cruz, in 2020 he lost in the Democratic primaries for president, and in 2022 he lost in a gubernatorial bid against Republican Greg Abbott.

Fellow Democrat Tim Ryan knows something about losing as well — he lost to political outsider J.D. Vance to become the next Ohio senator. Ryan also dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.

Both were chosen for Pritzker Fellowships and will lead seminars on various topics for the Institute of Politics.

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

US Intel Assesses Chinese Spy Balloons Transited US Several Times, Went ‘Undetected’: Senior Admin Official

U.S. intelligence assesses that Chinese government surveillance balloons have transited the continental United States several times but went “undetected,” a senior administration official told Fox News Digital.

A defense official on Saturday said Chinese spy balloons briefly traveled over the United States at least three times during the Trump administration.

Former President Trump and a number of his top national security and defense officials refuted Biden administration officials’ claims that Chinese surveillance balloons briefly transited the continental United States during the Trump administration, telling Fox News Digital that it “never happened.”

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

Videos: GOP Senators Slam “Paralyzed” Biden for “Telegraphing Weakness” To China

Republican Senators Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz all blasted the Biden administration Sunday over its weakness in responding to China’s brazen efforts to encroach into U.S. airspace.

“I think the only reason they shot [the balloon] down is because it made it into the news, and they felt it forced to as a matter of politics rather than national security,” Cruz told CBS News, adding “That’s a bad message for the Chinese government to hear.”

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

White Student Sues Texas Med Schools That Rejected Him for Minorities With Lower GPAs, MCATs

A white male student has sued six Texas medical schools that rejected him for admissions but allegedly admitted other students — namely students of color and women — who had lower MCAT scores.

The class-action lawsuit was filed Jan. 10 by the America First Legal Foundation’s Center for Legal Equality.

It names as defendants Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the John Sealy School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the Long School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

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

85% of Vaccine “Adverse Effects” In Military Were Due to COVID-19 Shot

Data provided by the federal government shows that Covid shots made up a vast majority of “adverse effects” due to vaccination reported in the Canadian military.

As first revealed by Blacklock’s Reporter, 131 of 154 total adverse reactions that happened in 2021 was due to Covid-19 vaccines.

The numbers were reported by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in response to an Inquiry of Ministry filed by Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant who requested the data on vaccine-related injuries in the military.

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

Breaking: Laval Professor and mRNA Expert, Patrick Provost Was Suspended Without Pay for Anti-mRNA Vaccine Comments

[FOR FRENCH VERISON, SCROLL DOWN]

Patrick Provost ran an RNA lab for 20 years and has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed studies.

He is launching an appeal of the internal decision.

In 2003, Provost’s work on the role of messenger RNA in gene expression, it was named one of the 10 discoveries of the year 2003 by Québec Science Magazine and the five discoveries of 2021 by the Le Soleil.

Last summer, Provost was suspended from his duties for eight weeks without pay after a complaint from a colleague about his public comments on the COVID mRNA vaccines.

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Campus Watch: U of T Prof Labels Police Departments White Supremacist Institutions

University of Toronto gender studies professor and social justice activist Beverly Bain says police departments are masculinist and white supremacist institutions that seek to protect property rather than people.

The Canadian scholar, who describes herself as a “Black Radical Queer anti-capitalist feminist revolutionary,” has advocated for the defunding and abolishing of police and prisons.

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Further Action Needed to Combat Unpopular Liberal Gun Laws, Says Alberta Minister

Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the Liberal government is still intent on banning shotguns and rifles.

Early Friday morning, Liberals on the House of Commons Public Safety committee withdrew a controversial amendment to Bill C-21, which would ban numerous models of rifles and shotguns, including those primarily used by hunters, farmers, and sport shooters.

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Laurier Students Protest Never-Ending Mask Mandate

Saturday afternoon, dozens of students, faculty and their supporters rallied at the Waterloo post-secondary against a requirement to mask up to attend campus. Wilfred Laurier University dropped its mandatory vaccination policy in May 2022.

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Military Admits 26 ‘Serious’ Cases of Injury From COVID Vaccines

The vaccine injuries from the COVID-19 mRNA shots amounted to 85% of all adverse reactions to vaccines by military personnel, with 313 general adverse reactions reported.

The next highest rate of vaccine injury was from the meningitis vaccine, with 8 adverse reactions reported in two years.

The information on the number of severe injuries to service members was made public in a National Defence reply to an inquiry of the ministry made by Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant.

Canadian Armed Forces faced formal discharge from the military if they did not comply with the vaccine mandate, which has since been lifted.

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Saskatchewan Will Use Sask First Act to Challenge Federal Overreach in Court, Says Justice Minister

On Wednesday, Saskatchewan’s justice minister accused Ottawa of significantly harming investor confidence more than pushback on pro-autonomy legislation from Indigenous and environmental groups.

Minister Bronwyn Eyre reaffirmed that the proposed Saskatchewan First Act does not seek to override Canada’s constitution but to reiterate areas of provincial jurisdiction.

“This is about protecting the people of the province and the economy of the province from policy [that causes harm],” said Eyre.

The Act passed a second reading in November and asserts Saskatchewan has exclusive jurisdiction over its resources per section 92A. It also sets up a tribunal for future court cases on resource development matters.

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Saskatchewan Will Not Impose a Digital Healthcare ID to Secure Federal Funding, Says Premier Moe

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told the Trudeau Liberals that his province would not facilitate a national healthcare “digital ID” — even if it’s required to secure healthcare funding from the feds.

“The Government of Saskatchewan is not creating a digital ID, nor will we accept any requirements for the creation of a digital ID tied to healthcare funding,” penned Moe in a public letter to the province.

Moe said he would refuse the Trudeau Liberals if they required a digital ID for the provinces to secure healthcare funding from them.

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Since June, Fewer Albertans, Quebecers Want to Separate From Canada, Says Poll

According to a poll by Research Co., about one-in-five Canadians would prefer their residing province join the United States and become an American state. However, this comes amid a supposed decline in support for separation among some provinces.

According to the Wednesday poll, Alberta is the province with the highest proportion of people who support the sentiment at 21%.

Ontario has the second-highest proportion of people hoping to join the US (19%), followed by Quebec (18%), British Columbia, and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (13%).

Canadians residing in the Maritimes appeared to be the least sympathetic to the idea (11%).

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University of Lethbridge Students Protest Guest Speaker, Claiming ‘Racism is Not Free Speech’

Alberta’s advanced education minister is set to announce new steps to “strengthen free speech” on post-secondary campuses following the cancellation of a speaking engagement by controversial academic Frances Widdowson.

The University of Lethbridge said last week that they rescinded a space previously offered to the former Mount Royal University (MRU) professor, who made headlines in 2020 for comments suggesting there had been an educational benefit to residential schools.

The decision said that though the university did not agree with Widdowson, it would allow her speech to proceed in line with its policy on free expression.

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Watch: Thieves Drive Through Mall in Stolen Black Audi After Robbing Electronics Store

It was like a scene out of Blues Brothers last week when thieves drove a car through the Vaughan Mills mall location about 25 miles northeast of Toronto, Ontario.

Police are calling it “an audacious crime,” according to New Market Today. The vehicle drove through the front doors of the mall and proceeded to drive to an electronics store that was robbed. Then, when the suspects were done, they drove the car right back out of the mall.

York Regional Police Sgt. Clint Whitney said last Wednesday, at a press conference about the incident: “Fortunately, nobody was harmed in this incident. Nonetheless, it’s an audacious crime and remarkable.”

And hey — if you’re going to drive through a mall to rob it — why not do it in style? The suspects were driving a stolen black Audi A4 with Quebec license plates, the report says.

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

Brain Dead Women Could be Used as Surrogates Under Norwegian Philosopher’s New Plan

A Norwegian philosopher has come under fire for posing the idea of using brain dead women as human incubators for women who struggle or “prefer not to” have children naturally, prompting backlash and ethics concerns from social media users.

Dr. Anna Smajdor, an associate philosophy professor at the University of Oslo who works in the field of “reproductive ethics,” admitted that her controversial entry in the Journal of Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics is “undoubtedly disturbing,” but still promotes the idea of using the bodies of brain dead women as surrogates for “prospective parents who wish to have children but cannot, or prefer not to, gestate.”

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

Finland Consumed 10% More Coal Last Year Compared to 2021

Use of the fossil fuel increased during 2022 due to the energy crisis, but consumption has long been in decline.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Italy’s Internet Restored After Nationwide Outage; Reports of Global Ransomware Attack

Update (1615ET):

Network data from NetBlocks shows internet across Italy has mostly been restored after more than five hours of outages.

Reuters confirmed the outage was due to “an international interconnection problem.”

In a separate report, Reuters said that Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency warned about a ransomware attack targeting servers worldwide.

The hacking attack sought to exploit a software vulnerability, ACN director general Roberto Baldoni told Reuters, adding it was on a massive scale.

Italy’s ANSA news agency, citing the ACN, reported that servers had been compromised in other European countries such as France and Finland as well as the United States and Canada. —RTRS

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was aware of the attack. The agency said:

“CISA is working with our public and private sector partners to assess the impacts of these reported incidents and providing assistance where needed.”

Reuters pointed out that the cyberattack and Italy’s internet outage “were not believed to be related.”

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Majority of Poles Believe War in Ukraine Threatens Poland’s Security

According to a January-held CBOS survey, 79 percent of Poles think that Russia’s war in Ukraine poses a threat to Poland’s security.

Out of those 79 percent, 36 percent said the war in Ukraine definitely threatens Poland’s security and 43 percent said “rather yes”.

The opposite opinion was held by 16 percent of respondents.

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More Than 50,000 Danes Gather in Copenhagen to Protest Plans to Scrap Christian Holiday Dating Back to 1686 to Finance Increased Defence Spending in Wake of Ukraine War

The demonstration was organised by the country’s biggest labour unions which oppose abolishing the Great Prayer Day, a Christian holiday that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Rishi Sunak Prepares to Take the UK Out of Human Rights Convention Amid Warnings That 65,000 Migrants Could Cross the Channel in Small Boats This Year

Rishi Sunak is ready to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights if it is the only way he can stop the flow of small boats carrying migrants across the Channel

The Prime Minister was today reported to be preparing for the extreme move after being told that 65,000 could make the hazardous journey this year, a 50 per cent increase on the record set in 2022.

It comes after he last week vowed to tackle the ‘ridiculous’ Channel migrant situation.

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UK: Policing Just Stop Oil Protests Cost Taxpayers £7.5 Million in Just Nine Weeks, New Figures Show

Home Secretary Suella Braverman declared ‘enough is enough’ as Met Police data revealed the daily cost of dealing with the environmental activists reached up to £630,000 last autumn.

The force said the money ‘could have been better used’ tackling ‘priority crime’ in local communities.

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Epic Battle That Became a Slaughterhouse of Tanks: Russia’s Armoured Behemoths Will Soon Face Germany’s War Machines in a Chilling Echo of Ukraine 1943, When Hitler and Stalin Launched a Firestorm of Destruction That Has Never Been Matched

Eighty years on from the battle that decisively pushed the Nazis back from the eastern front, German panzers are about to meet a new generation of Russian tanks.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Is Russia ‘Recruiting Female Prisoners’ To Help in Ukraine War? What Report Said

In September last year, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilisation in Russia aiming to draft 300,000 reservists to support its military campaign.

Russia is recruiting convicted women from penal colonies in occupied regions of Ukraine to help in Moscow’s war effort, a report by the Ukrainian military noted. In its intelligence report, Ukraine’s military said that Russian forces were trying to “replenish” their army.

“In order to replenish the losses in manpower, the enemy is trying to attract convicted women to participate in hostilities. Over the course of a week, the occupiers recruited about 50 people from the women’s correctional colony of the city of Snizhne in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region. It is also known that they were sent to the territory of the Russian Federation for training,” the statement said.

In September last year, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilisation in Russia aiming to draft 300,000 reservists to support its military campaign. However, later reports suggested that Russian was recruiting homeless people and those with little military experience to reinforce its army.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Ukrainians Flock to Kyiv Ski Slopes as Missile Strikes Ease on Capital Amid Fresh Calls for Warplanes in Fight Against Russia

As Ukraine enters its first full winter since Russia’s catastrophic invasion last year, many flocked to Protasiv Yar ski resort near to downtown Kyiv. It comes just as missile strikes have died down.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Western Powers ‘Blocked’ Ceasefire Early in Ukraine War: Former Israeli Prime Minister

Naftali Bennett, the Prime Minister of Israel towards the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, says the West “blocked” a ceasefire he was helping to broker early in the war.

Bennett, who was prime minister and then alternate prime minister in Israel during a confusing period of coalition politics prior to the return of Benjamin Netanyahu as head of government in December, said that “there was a good chance of reaching a ceasefire” before the Western powers “curbed” negotiations in a wide-ranging interview uploaded to YouTube.

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‘We’ve Received Everything on Our Wish List to Santa — Except Warplanes’: Ukraine’s Defence Minister Issues Fresh Request to Western Allies for Jets to Challenge Russia’s Air Superiority

Oleksii Reznikov (pictured) said Ukraine has already received everything except planes. Western leaders have expressed concern that providing warplanes could provoke the Kremlin further.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

China Fumes After US Pops Its Balloon, Warns of Possible ‘Responses’ to ‘Clear Overreaction’

China’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it “strongly disapproves of and protests” the U.S. decision to shoot down a spy balloon that had been in U.S. airspace for the last several days and warned that it may take unspecified “responses” to that action.

“China strongly disapproves of and protests against the U.S. attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force,” the Foreign Ministry said. “The Chinese side has, after verification, repeatedly informed the U.S. side of the civilian nature of the airship and conveyed that its entry into the U.S. due to force majeure was totally unexpected.

“The Chinese side has clearly asked the U.S. side to properly handle the matter in a calm, professional and restrained manner,” it added. “The spokesperson of the U.S. Department of Defense also noted that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”

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Australia’s Rich and Famous Go to War With Developers as Heritage Homes Are Replaced With ‘Eyesore’ Apartments and Residents Fume About Their Suburb Being Overrun With Outsiders: ‘You Can’t Move’

Sydney’s ultra-rich residents in harbourside Mosman are fighting to keep developers away from their suburb amid plans to demolish a 117-year-old home.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Breaking: Rebel News Security Awarded Massive Police Payout Over Unlawful Arrest

Daniel Jones has been awarded a massive payout after Victoria Police finally conceded to unlawfully arresting Avi Yemini’s security guard during an anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne.

Police targeted Jones for providing security to Yemini’s team, as Rebel News reported from the anti-lockdown protest outside Flinders Street Station on July 25, 2021.

Jones was helping to shepherd Avi Yemini and his cameraman through the crowd, ensuring they didn’t get in the way of police, when an officer tapped him on the shoulder, signalling to other officers that he was to be arrested.

Jones told the police, ‘I’m working, I’m on the job, I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing’.

“But that was all completely ignored,” he said. “I was hit, thrown to the ground and had handcuffs placed on me.”

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Cardinal Pell Remembered as One of Australia’s ‘Greatest Sons’

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott described Cardinal George Pell as “one of our country’s greatest sons” as he was farewelled in Sydney yesterday.

Abbott told more than a thousand mourners packed into St Mary’s Cathedral that Pell was “the greatest Catholic Australia has ever produced”.

As a small group of protestors outside the church chanted “Pell go hell”, Abbott told mourners inside that Cardinal Pell as a “great hero” and a “saint for our times” who was “made a scapegoat for the church itself”, a reference to his conviction — later overturned — on child sex offences.

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ChatGPT Set to be Banned in Most Australian Schools

Artificial intelligence service ChatGPT will be banned in Victorian schools.

The Victorian Education Department joins schools in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and West Australia in blocking student access to the chatbot that has stunned users with its ability to produce lengthy, thorough essays on almost any topic in seconds.

A department spokesperson said: “The department is undertaking further analysis of the implications of these emerging technologies and is preparing advice for schools.”

Teachers have said they fear cheating students will use the technology to write essays and to complete questionnaires.

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Katie Hopkins Tells NSW Government to ‘Stick it Up Their Arse’ After COVID Fine Dropped

British political commentator Katie Hopkins has told the NSW government to “stick it up your arse” after they advised her that a fine for failure to wear a mask when she was in Australia had been dropped.

Hopkins was fined $1000 last July for not wearing a mask when she was in Australia to appear on the Seven Network’s Big Brother program.

The 46-year-old broadcaster was deported before she could appear on the reality TV show after she boasted about an elaborate plan to breach hotel quarantine.

In a video broadcast from her hotel room, she described Covid-19 lockdowns as “the greatest hoax in history” and joked that she would find a way to get around Australia’s strict quarantine regulations.

The broadcast incensed authorities who issued her with a $1000 fine for not wearing a mask, and swiftly put her on a plane back to England.

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Lidia Thorpe Quits the Greens to Sit on the Crossbench and Fight for Aboriginal Sovereignty — as She Delivers a Blistering Speech and Vows to Keep ‘Infiltrating’ The Government

Lidia Thorpe will quit the Greens to become the leader of the black sovereignty movement.

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Poll Claims Majority of Australians Support Voice to Parliament

A new poll conducted by Newspoll for The Australian shows majority support for a constitutional Voice to Parliament among Australians ahead of a planned referendum later this year.

The poll results reveal 56% of voters are in favor of the change, with 37% against it, while 28% of those surveyed either “partly” or “strongly” support the proposal.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, spoke about the responsibility of Australians to “bring the country together” and improve the lives of First Nations peoples through the Voice.

The purported purpose of the Voice is for consultation and does not have the power of veto or serve as a funding body, according to the Prime Minister.

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Short of Doctors, Senegal Faces a Brain Drain to France

France recently presented a law that could make it easier for foreign doctors to come to the country.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Business Leaders Criticise Finns Party’s Anti-Immigration Rhetoric

As Finland seeks to attract more workers from abroad, prominent business people have highlighted the “irresponsible damage” caused by the Finns Party’s statements on work-based immigration.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Eric Adams Spends Coldest Winter Night in Shelter After Migrants Refused to Leave Hotel

New York City Mayor Eric Adams slept at a migrant facility in Brooklyn on the coldest night of 2023 to promote the new housing option after some migrants recently refused to leave a hotel.

“Spent the coldest night of the year at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal with ‘Homeless Hero’ and advocate Shams DaBaron & @AMEddieGibbs,” Adams posted to Twitter on Saturday. “Our brothers are being kept warm and the team working here is giving new meaning to the words ‘love thy neighbor.’“

The mayor’s post included video and photos of him at the facility, including showing him sleeping on a cot, dining with migrants and playing video games.

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Hungary: Fidesz MP Challenges Von Der Leyen

In a current plenary debate on migration, the Hungarian Fidesz MEP Kinga Gal confronted the EU Commission after Commission President von der Leyen had once again spoken out in favor of a European redistribution mechanism for migrants.

A relevant resolution of the EU Parliament also proposed the “improvement of voluntary solidarity, combating the causes of migration from third countries and the introduction of safe and legal routes to Europe”.

The Hungarian Fidesz ruling party has no time for such plans. Instead of stabbing Hungary in the back, the European Commission should finally reimburse the costs of Hungary’s border protection measures and support member states that protect their external borders in their efforts to fight illegal migration, Fidesz MEP Gal said in the debate.

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Manfred Weber Makes a Border Fence U-Turn

After a series of criticisms concerning Hungary’s migration policy, Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, now argues that the EU should indeed finance border fences.

MEPs discussed the migratory challenges facing Europe, ahead of next week’s extraordinary European Council meeting in Stockholm. Manfred Weber, the group leader and president of the European People’s Party, said that

with more than 300,000 illegal border crossings, we must first re-establish control of our external borders. We believe the Commission should also financially support building fences in exceptional cases.”

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Study: Immigration Needs Tripling to Maintain Finland’s Labour Force

The business-backed think tank Etla Economic Research Institute calculates that yearly net migration of 44,000 people is needed to stabilize the size of Finland’s labour force.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Catholic Students Kicked Out of Air & Space Smithsonian Museum for Pro-Life Hats: ‘We Had Almost No Words’

A pro-life student is opening up about his shocking encounter at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum after being kicked out with his fellow group of Catholic school kids for wearing pro-life hats.

Student Patrick Murphy told “Hannity” that the group was viewing an exhibit when they were approached by two women, presumably security guards, about their attire.

“They (said), ‘All people wearing a pro-life hat, take it off’,” Murphy recalled, “and immediately we’re confused.”

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DeSantis Files Complaint Against Orlando Philharmonic Over Holiday Drag Event

The administration of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis filed a complaint against the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation for allegedly violating state law by hosting a holiday drag event with minors in the audience.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation filed the complaint against the Orlando foundation for hosting “A Drag Queen Christmas,” which was advertised with the description of “All ages welcome.”

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Furries Protest Against Women’s Rights Activists in Scotland

Women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen was met with hundreds of supporters of her anti-gender ideology Standing for Women rally in Glasgow, Scotland, as well as Antifa, trans activists, and furries who came out to counter-protest.

The rally took place in George Square on Sunday, which brought out left-wing activists screaming words like “TERF,” otherwise known as “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” at Keen and the other speakers as they denounced radical gender ideology.

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Member of Church of England’s General Synod is Reported Over Tweets

A Church of England Bishop called the police to report a member of the church because of his criticism of gender ideology on Twitter.

According to Christian Concern, Sam Margrave was already receiving death threats from activists because he argued against gender ideology on social media. Margrave believes that gender ideology contradicts the Christian belief that a normal relationship is that between a man and a woman.

The bishop reported Margrave, a member of the church’s governing general synod, proposed a debate on LGBT issues.

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The FDA’s Power to Approve Drugs Faces Sweeping Challenge in Lawsuit Seeking to Pull Abortion Pill From U.S. Market

The Food and Drug Administration is squaring off with anti-abortion physicians in an unprecedented legal challenge to its more than two-decade-old approval of a pill used to terminate early pregnancies.

The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine asked a federal district court in Dallas late last year to declare the FDA approval unlawful and completely remove the abortion pill from the U.S. market.

The case has thrust the FDA in the middle of the fierce national battle over abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last June. If the lawsuit prevails, women across the U.S. would lose access, at least temporarily, to the most commonly used abortion method. The FDA’s powers to approve drugs would also be weakened.

The court could issue a ruling as soon as Feb. 10 when it will be fully briefed.

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The Strange Censorship of HBO Movie Posters

In recent times, media companies have been censoring old content to fit today corporate sensibilities and the streaming platform HBO Max is censoring cigarettes from old movie posters.

HBO Max is a streaming service offered by Warner Brothers Discovery that provides access to a wide variety of content including original programming, movies, and documentaries. It offers access to most of HBO’s original content, as well as a selection of content from other networks such as DC, Cartoon Network, and more. It is available as a standalone subscription or as an add-on to an existing HBO cable or streaming service subscription.

When viewers go to select a movie to watch, they will notice that HBO Max has censored iconic film posters, like “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” and “McCabe & Mrs Miller.”

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Videos: Disney Cartoon Declares U.S. “Built on Slavery” Pushes ‘Reparations’ Propaganda

A Disney+ cartoon aimed at children has been heavily criticised for proclaiming that America was “built on slavery” and for pushing the notion of ‘reparations’.

The The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder aired an episode last week that featured children discovering that their town was founded by a slave owner and then concluding that Abraham Lincoln had no desire to end slavery.

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12 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/5/2023

    • India knows and will not forget, even if the rest of the world chooses to ignore the largest-scale genocide ever in known history. Even less likely will India forget that the ideology which enabled this persists, even flourishes to this day and onward.

  1. Rishi Sunak is ready to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights if it is the only way he can stop the flow of small boats carrying migrants across the Channel.
    This will have its problems but could be a way to stop the unprecedented numbers of illegal immigrants swarming across the English Channel. This Government and indeed all European Governments should realise that there area and will continue to be many thousands of peoples from African/Middle East and the Sub Indian continent, for one reason or another seemingly happy to pay the Traffikers in the hope they can point the way to a generous country like the UK.

    • It’s already too late for Britistan, you will need force to get rid of the rest of them in your country and you have no army left to defend Britain any longer.

  2. The business-backed think tank Etla Economic Research Institute calculates that yearly net migration of 44,000 people is needed to stabilize the size of Finland’s labour force.
    And meanwhile begin the destruction of the indigenous folk. Start producing more babies Finland of Finnish indig females.
    We are facing similar problems in the United Kingdom-again the white indigenous people are not producing children, so many females putting off starting families, leaving what is natural for them to those the UK has welcomed into the country these past40 years or so. The changing face will soon outnumber those indigenous peoples.

    • This is a problem by all europeans.
      The feminst propaganda brainwashing was and is effective.

      Of course, if certain groups, like left wing, Last Generation (Friends of Greta), teddybear thrower do this, I have nothing against it.
      In fact, I think we should point out that an early death is very good for fighting CO2. Maybe those Last Generation … take the hint and opt out of life – early, very early.

      • Likely they will still vote in German elections in perpetuity.

        In America at least, the dead still overwhelmingly identify as Democrats. Perhaps in Germany they also overwhelmingly identify as Greens.

  3. Oleksii Reznikov (pictured) said Ukraine has already received everything except planes. Western leaders have expressed concern that providing warplanes could provoke the Kremlin further.
    As has been said, the more Military Arms the West inc USA supply to Ukraine the longer the war with Russia will drag on-Ukraine cannot win an out and out war against Russia, therefore surely before more people die it is worth encouraging both sides to come to the negotiating table and quickly.

  4. So Finland has to triple the number of immigrants. Really? Even if it means Finland is no longer Finland? Have the Finns not heard of automation, or is this a scam? I know what I believe.

  5. There may have been balloon incidents during the Trump administration but that doesn’t mean anyone told him.

  6. Hi John K – if Finland want to fill their country with non-indigenous peoples then that is way to go. I suspect that Finnish people may have something to say about such an issue.

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