Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/6/2023

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, collapsing thousands of buildings and killing more than 4,000 people. The World Health Organization warned that when all the bodies are found, the death toll may well exceed 20,000.

In other news, the U.S. Navy has begun a recovery mission in the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to find the debris from the shot-down Chinese spy balloon.

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

Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, JW, LP, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, SS, Vlad Tepes, 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
» Biden’s Economy Lost 2.5 Million Jobs in January, Despite Media Claims of 517,000 ‘Gain’
» Elon Musk Says Twitter is ‘Trending to Breakeven’ After Near Bankruptcy
 
USA
» “As Soon as it Was Her A** on the Line, Pelosi Had Been Born Again as a Champion of Law and Order”: Trump’s Defense Secretary Christopher Miller
» 2 Police Officers Shot, One is Deceased Another Critical in McKeesport
» Alec Baldwin Doomed as Prosecutors Release Witness List for Hollywood Star’s Trial
» Atlanta Man Caught Smuggling Drugs, Chicken Wings, Phones, Cigarettes Into County Jail
» Authorities Say Situation is Worsening at Ohio Train Derailment Site
» Biden Admin Using Anti-Terrorism Tech to Target Americans Who Question Vaccines, Election Results
» BLM Founder Accuses Biden of ‘Deep Cowardice’ for Failing to Defund Police
» Breaking: Ohio Residents to Evacuate Ahead of ‘Controlled Release’ of Toxic Material After Train Derailment, National Guard Deployed
» Breaking: Chinese Spy Balloon Carried Explosives to Self-Detonate
» California Quietly Ditches COVID-19 Mandate for School Children
» Children More Than 100 Times Less Likely to Die From COVID Than Adults, Study Finds
» ‘Defund Police’ Lawmaker Ripped for Hypocrisy After LAPD Was Called to Watch Staffer’s Lexus
» Democrat-Led State That’s ‘Killing Businesses’ Could Shrink Amid Push to Secede in Several Counties
» Equity is the New Communism
» Experts Want Labels for Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines Updated to Acknowledge Limitations
» Fauci Cashes in by Charging Up to $100k for Speaking Engagements: ‘The Audacity of This Man’
» Google to Roll Out ChatGPT Rival Powered by ‘Sentient’ AI
» Hillary Clinton Trashes Kamala Harris in Private: VP Does Not Have ‘Political Instincts’ To Win Primary
» Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral’s Historical Windows Shattered After Vandals Strike Louis Sullivan-Designed Church
» House Republicans Warn Taliban Purchasing Twitter Verification
» Long COVID Rates Could be Slashed in Half if People Ate Healthy and Exercised, Harvard Study Suggests
» Marjorie Taylor Greene Puts Mark Milley on Notice, Calls for Probe Into Why Trump Was Unaware of Previous Chinese Balloons: “We Must Investigate and Hold Accountable Those Who Broke Rank”
» Miami Should Begin ‘Preparing for Evacuation’ Due to Climate Change, Berkeley Professor Argues
» Naval Recovery Mission Underway to Find Chinese Spy Balloon Debris
» ND Mayor Vows to Stop Corn Mill Over Chinese Security Threat, Says Government’s Response Was ‘Lackluster’
» NE Ohio Train Derailment: Massive Explosion at Start of Controlled Release of Chemicals
» Neo-Nazi Couple Arrested for Alleged Plot to ‘Completely Destroy’ Baltimore
» NYC Public Employee Vaccine Mandate to End February 10
» Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine Announces ‘Controlled Release’ At 3,30 P.M. Amid Explosion Concerns at Train Derailment in Columbiana County
» Pfizer Warned Employees to Beware of Project Veritas Undercover Reporters: Report
» Radical-Left Superintendent in Fiery Political Turmoil After ‘Racist Views’ Against White People Exposed
» Salman Rushdie Speaks Out on Horrific Stabbing: ‘There Have Been Nightmares’ But I’m ‘Lucky’
» Tennis Champion Collapses, Dies Suddenly on Court at 43
» Twitter Boss Elon Musk Accuses Government Agency of Being ‘Worst Offender in US Government Censorship’
» Video: Rand Paul Slams “Very Very Weak” Biden for “Dithering for Days” Over Chinese Balloon
 
Canada
» Campus Watch: Laurier Students and Faculty Protest Mask Mandate
» Canada is Making a Big Push Toward “Smart Cities”
» Feds Have Spent $139 Million to Date on COVID Ad Campaigns
» Major Food Processing Plant Completely Destroyed by Huge Fire: ‘Total Loss’
» Most Canadians Agree ‘Canada is Broken’ — and They’re Angry About it: National Poll
» Opposition Parties Demand Answers as Liberals Say Little About Chinese Balloon
» Western University Drops Controversial Mask Mandate
» What Canadians Are Saying About Bill C-11
 
Europe and the EU
» Britons Should Delete TikTok to Protect Data From Communist China, MP Says
» Danish Bishops Protest Against Abolition of Great Prayer Day to Fund NATO
» EU’s Push for Insects in Food Supply Will Harm Traditional Farming, Warns Poland’s Former Agricultural Minister
» France: Populist MEP Has Immunity Stripped After Mosque Development ‘Hate Speech’
» Green Fail: Dozens of Scottish Wind Turbines Powered by Diesel Generators, Pour Hydraulic Oil Into Countryside
» New EU Sanctions on Russia Threaten Europe’s Diesel Supply
» Norway to Donate $7.3 Billion to Ukraine for Military and Humanitarian Assistance
» Polish Conservatives Slam EU Attempt to Take Control of Forests
» Pope Francis Claims Conservatives Used Benedict’s Death to ‘Score Points for Their Own Side’
» Swedish Police Chief Sounds Alarm Over ‘Unprecedented’ Crime
» UK Once Again Brings Coal Power Plants Online as, Foreseeably, it Gets Cold in Winter
» UK: Convicted Pedophile Found Dead in Prison Cell
» UK: Truss: Leftist ‘Economic Establishment’, Biden Killed My Low-Tax Agenda Govt
» ‘US Congressmen Surprised Germany Did Not Pay War Reparations to Poland, ‘ Says Polish Deputy FM
 
Middle East
» “Shocking Aerial Footage” — 3,000 Dead So Far in Turkey-Syria Quake, 1,000s of Buildings Collapsed
» 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Turkey, Syria; Death Toll Tops 2,300
 
Russia
» UN Chief Fears World Headed for ‘Wider War’ Over Ukraine-Russia
 
South Asia
» India’s Supreme Court to Look at Government’s YouTube Censorship Demands
 
Far East
» Chinese Search Engines Censor “Chinese Spy Balloon,” Only Show State-Controlled Sources
 
Australia — Pacific
» Fiery Moment Victim of Alice Springs Crime Wave Fires Back at Brooke Boney as the Indigenous TV Host Slams the ‘Extreme’ Views of White Locals: ‘The Black Fellas of This Town Are P***ed as Well’
» IGA Supermarket Bans Teenagers — Owners Say the Drastic Step Needed Due to Spate of Shoplifting and Staff Abuse
» Red Rooster Worker’s Bizarre Comment on TikTok Gets Her Fired From the Fast Food Giant — as Her Manager Warns ‘The Police Are Investigating’
 
Immigration
» 40% of Asylum Seekers Are Destroying Their Passports Upon Entry to Ireland
» France: Knife-Wielding Egyptian Migrants Caught Setting Fires While Yelling ‘Allah Akbar’
» Germany: Berlin University Says Students Shouldn’t Call Police on Migrant Sex Offender
» Irish President Attacks Anti-Mass Migration Protesters for ‘Sowing Hate’
» Local Leader Calls on German Government to Take Responsibility for Migrant Crisis Crippling Public Services
» NYC is So Bad That Migrants Are Fleeing to Canada
» Poll Shows Majority of Germans Wants Less Migrants as Country Struggles to Accommodate Millions of Newcomers
» Rancher, 73, Is Charged With Murder on His Arizona Land After Shooting Dead Mexican, 48, Who Had History of Illegal Crossings Into US and Multiple Deportations…
» Ron Desantis’ $12 Million Plan to Fly More Migrants Out of Florida…
» Texas Border Wall Construction Underway, Gov. Abbott Says
» UK: Another 200 Migrants Make Journey Across Channel Over the Weekend in First Arrivals Since Home Office Resumed Responsibility for Tackling Crisis After Eight Months of Royal Navy Control
» UK: Boris Johnson Urges Rishi Sunak to Forge Ahead With Controversial Plan to Deport Migrants to Rwanda
 
Culture Wars
» 13-Year-Old Girl Harassed by ‘Gender Fluid Male Lesbian, ‘ ‘Furries’ At New Hampshire Middle School: Mother’s Testimony
» Arkansas Bill Enforces Biological Sex for School Toilets
» Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Kicks Off for Thousands of U.S. Schools
» ‘Death Tourism’: Oregon Becomes National Destination for Assisted Suicide
» Demonic
» Expert Warns Boys Are Being Branded Sex Predators for ‘Clumsy Teenage Fumbles’ Amid ‘Dangerous’ Backlash After MeToo Movement Swept Schools — as Channel Four Airs New Drama Based on Allegations
» Nolte: Fat Satan Grammys Deliver Ratings Catastrophe of Just 12.4M Viewers
» Republicans Demand Answers From Smithsonian for Kicking Out Pro-Life Students
» Surfing Icon Says She’ll Boycott Professional Tour Over Transgender Competitors
» UK Plans to Ban “Online Misogyny”
» UK: Teachers Scramble to Fight the Rise of Andrew Tate and ‘Rampant Masculinity’ in Schools
 

Biden’s Economy Lost 2.5 Million Jobs in January, Despite Media Claims of 517,000 ‘Gain’

The United States economy suffered a whopping 2.5 million job losses in January despite efforts by the corporate media to try to spin the numbers in Democrat President Joe Biden’s favor.

The mainstream media praised Biden’s economy while cheering employment figures showing that the U.S. saw a “gain” of 517,000 jobs last month.

According to reports and the St. Louis Federal Reserve, however, these reports are false.

The Fed revealed that Biden’s economy actually lost 2.5 million jobs in January.

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

Elon Musk Says Twitter is ‘Trending to Breakeven’ After Near Bankruptcy

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said Sunday that the last few months have been “extremely tough,” but said the social media company is “now trending to breakeven.” CNBC was not able to independently verify this claim.

Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said in a tweet that he has had to “save Twitter from bankruptcy” while also fulfilling his roles at his other companies.

“Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone,” he wrote. “Twitter still has challenges, but it is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!”

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

“As Soon as it Was Her A** on the Line, Pelosi Had Been Born Again as a Champion of Law and Order”: Trump’s Defense Secretary Christopher Miller

Former President Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Christopher Miller has a new book where he calls out our ‘geriatric’ leaders including Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Mitch McConnell. Miller calls out their behavior on January 6 and for staying in power too long.

He says they panicked like the ‘greenest, pimple-faced 19-year-old Army private’ on that fateful day before slamming them for ‘ruthlessly and selfishly’ maintaining ‘their hold on power’ and not developing the next generation of leaders.

He wrote: “I had never seen anyone — not even the greenest, pimple-faced 19-year-old Army private — panic like our nation’s elder statesmen did on January 6 and in the months that followed.

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

2 Police Officers Shot, One is Deceased Another Critical in McKeesport

FOX3 has been informed by sources that while responding to a domestic dispute in the city of McKeesport, two police officers were shot, and one of those officers has sadly passed away as a result of their injuries. It is uncertain what condition the suspect is in.

The condition of the other officer is considered to be life-threatening. This occurrence happened on Grandview Avenue, specifically in the 1300 block.

Because to police action in the area, the Facebook page for the McKeesport Area School District states that all of the district’s schools and buildings are currently under lockdown.

           — Hat tip: MM [Return to headlines]
 

Alec Baldwin Doomed as Prosecutors Release Witness List for Hollywood Star’s Trial

Alec Baldwin appears doomed after prosecutors released the witness list for his trial, showing a long list of people ready to testify against the embattled Hollywood star.

The Santa Fe District Attorney is calling several members of the “Rust” crew to testify at Baldwin’s upcoming trial.

Baldwin is facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter and up to five years in prison if he is found guilty by the jury.

Prosecutors accuse Baldwin of acting recklessly by pulling the trigger of the gun that fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

He is also accused of failing in his role as producer to ensure safety on the set.

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

Atlanta Man Caught Smuggling Drugs, Chicken Wings, Phones, Cigarettes Into County Jail

An Atlanta smuggler is now living among his former customers after he was caught smuggling items to inmates in the county jail.

Atlanta authorities arrested 45-year-old Michael Anthony Dixon after catching him using a broken window at the DeKalb County Jail to smuggle items to inmates.

Dixon had been selling illegal drugs, tobacco, cell phones, chicken wings, and other contraband to inmates.

He was charged with crossing a guard line with weapons, intoxicants, drugs without consent, criminal trespass, possession of marijuana, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Deputies say Dixon was caught with a bag containing marijuana, cocaine, loose tobacco, packs of cigarettes, lighters, cell phones with chargers and cords, jewelry, ear pods, hex keys, glue gel, sweets, and cooked chicken wings.

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

Authorities Say Situation is Worsening at Ohio Train Derailment Site

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Officials were working to prevent any major explosion from the smoldering wreckage of an Ohio train derailment near the Pennsylvania state line as the governor activated the Ohio National Guard to help the village where many residents had to evacuate.

Authorities tell Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 the situation at the site of the train derailment in East Palestine is worsening and that an explosion is likely imminent.

Right now a mandatory evacuation order is in effect for anyone living within one mile of scene, that includes part of Darlington Township in Beaver County. Officials say they have made contact with everyone in that radius telling them to move out.

“We are at a risk now of a catastrophic failure of that container,” East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said. “Measures are being taken to try and control that and prevent that from happening.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday urged anyone living within one mile of that massive train derailment to immediately evacuate.

DeWine activated the Ohio National Guard to help.

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Biden Admin Using Anti-Terrorism Tech to Target Americans Who Question Vaccines, Election Results

Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is using powerful military-grade anti-terrorism technology to target American citizens who question vaccines or raise concerns about election fraud, a leading expert is warning.

Mike Benz, the executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, is accusing the U.S. federal government is adopting military-grade AI that was used to crack down on ISIS.

According to Benz, these anti-terrorist tools are being used to censor dissent by U.S. citizens on issues such as vaccine hesitancy and claims of election fraud.

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

BLM Founder Accuses Biden of ‘Deep Cowardice’ for Failing to Defund Police

Black Lives Matter (BLM) founder Patrisse Cullors has accused Democrat President Joe Biden of “deep cowardice” for failing to follow through on his promise to defund the police.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Cullors says Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and other top officials are cowards because they caved to political pressure.

Cullors claims that BLM helped “Joe Biden get into office” because he allegedly promised the Marxist organization that he would slash police budgets once in the White House.

Biden and Democrat officials are allowing money to continue to go to law enforcement due to a “failure of leadership” and “deep cowardice,” Cullors argues.

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

Breaking: Ohio Residents to Evacuate Ahead of ‘Controlled Release’ of Toxic Material After Train Derailment, National Guard Deployed

Authorities in Ohio have announced plans to release toxic chemicals from five cars of a derailed train as a way to reduce the threat of an explosion, WTAE reports.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride is scheduled to take place at 3:30 pm, and that residents have been asked to evacuate the area due to the risk of death or serious injury.

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

Breaking: Chinese Spy Balloon Carried Explosives to Self-Detonate

Following the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon over the weekend, Pentagon officials have revealed that the balloon potentially was carrying explosives to destroy itself.

According to the Daily Mail, Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command, revealed in a Monday call with reporters that the Balloon, in addition to potentially carrying explosives, was 200 feet tall, weighed thousands of pounds, and its payload was the size of a jetliner.

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

California Quietly Ditches COVID-19 Mandate for School Children

The California Department of Public Health on Friday quietly dropped its plan to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for children to attend K-12 schools.

The move is a reversal from Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021 announcement that the state would force students to take the vaccine — a decision that was delayed by state officials until at least the summer of 2023.

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

Children More Than 100 Times Less Likely to Die From COVID Than Adults, Study Finds

Children are more than 100 times less likely to die from COVID-19 than adults, even as the virus ranks as the eighth most likely cause of death for children, according to a new study.

Overall, children ages 0-19 die from COVID at a rate of 1 per 100,000, with that rate dropping significantly to an average of .5 per 100,000 for children ages 1 to 14 from August 2021 through July 2022, according to a study published last week by JAMA Network.

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

‘Defund Police’ Lawmaker Ripped for Hypocrisy After LAPD Was Called to Watch Staffer’s Lexus

A Los Angeles city councilman who has expressed support for defunding and ultimately abolishing the police is under fire after his office called the LAPD to patrol a staffer’s broken-down Lexus.

A staffer for Democrat Los Angeles City Council Member Hugo Soto-Martinez called the LAPD Wednesday evening asking for “extra patrols throughout the night” for his parked white Lexus after the vehicle broke down, according to reports.

Soto-Martinez, who represents L.A.’s District 13, previously identified himself as a police “abolitionist” on a Los Angeles City Council candidate questionnaire.

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

Democrat-Led State That’s ‘Killing Businesses’ Could Shrink Amid Push to Secede in Several Counties

After 11 Oregon counties approved a preliminary vote to secede from the Democrat-led state, local leaders around the movement are explaining how the urban-rural divide has left them with no other choice.

“People in eastern Oregon have felt like their state-level governance has not heard them, has not paid attention to our concerns, and has not been working for eastern Oregon,” Greater Idaho Movement spokesperson Matt McCaw said on “Fox & Friends First” Monday.

McCaw, along with Oregon business owner Sandie Gilson, supports the idea of having select counties elect to move their state borderlines so state-level governance would come from Idaho.

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

Equity is the New Communism

by Daniel Greenfield

The Biden administration is ordering state and local governments to submit ‘equity plans’ or lose federal funding. This latest shot in the long “war against the suburbs” is part of former Rep. Marcia L. Fudge’s plan, as the boss of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to “weave equity throughout HUD’s work”.

Weaving equity into all of government has been the biggest agenda of the Biden administration. After taking office, it ordered every single agency to come up with an equity plan. State and city governments often already demand equity plans for nearly everything. Those who don’t, are quickly learning the Marxist jargon, the bureaucratic systems and the paperwork of ‘equity’.

In under a decade, equity plans have become widely embedded in American life. And they serve the same function that Communist Party dogma did in the USSR or Communist China.

Equity is a political statement of allegiance. It demands that individuals or institutions subscribe to a leftist worldview, that they formally repeat party dogma, such as that America is an inherently unfair society and that government regulations are the only remedy, that white people are racist, and that everyone is obligated to engage in a constant process of self-examination.

At the heart of equity is the rejection of meritocracy, of individualism, and, in a bitter irony in the wake of MLK Day, the idea that we should be judged not by skin color, but by the content of our character.

Even more insidiously, implementing equity plans involves hiring equity specialists, activists who function as political commissars, tasked with conducting indoctrination sessions, forcing ideological changes and purging personnel deemed insufficiently loyal to the Left.

Equity plans have embedded a layer of ‘equity commissars’ at every level of society…

           — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield [Return to headlines]
 

Experts Want Labels for Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines Updated to Acknowledge Limitations

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

A coalition of experts is calling for U.S. officials to update the labels for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to acknowledge limitations to clinical trials, including stating clearly that the phase III trials that led to clearance did not provide evidence of efficacy against death.

“Incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading labeling of any medical product can negatively impact the health and safety of Americans, with global ramifications considering the international importance of FDA decisions,” Peter Doshi, an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy whose expertise includes clinical trials, and eight other experts wrote in the petition.

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

Fauci Cashes in by Charging Up to $100k for Speaking Engagements: ‘The Audacity of This Man’

Dr. Anthony Fauci was called out on social media after it emerged that the retired NIAID director is now cashing in by charging up to $100,000 for speaking engagements.

To cash in on government service has long been the way of the Washington D.C. establishment and Fauci is no different.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s rapid response director Christina Pushaw broke the news by posting a screenshot from the Leading Motivational Speaker’s Agency’s website.

It shows Fauci is listed as a “motivational” and “health care” keynote speaker.

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

Google to Roll Out ChatGPT Rival Powered by ‘Sentient’ AI

At the end of November, AI research company OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a chatbot that’s both incredibly useful and — as many have pointed out, incredibly racist against white people, hates Donald Trump, and Republicans in general.

Last week, OpenAI expanded its partnership with Microsoft, which made a multi-year, multimillion dollar investment in the company “around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform.”

Not to be outdone, Google — which declared a “Code Red” over ChatGPT, is rolling out a rival.

The new system, Bard, is powered by LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) — the large language model that stirred controversy in May when a Google software engineer publicly asserted that the AI was “sentient.”

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

Hillary Clinton Trashes Kamala Harris in Private: VP Does Not Have ‘Political Instincts’ To Win Primary

Twice-failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is trashing Vice President Kamala Harris behind closed doors, according to a new report from The New York Times.

The Times article suggests that Democrat leaders are questioning Harris’ leadership abilities and arguing that the VP won’t make a strong presidential candidate.

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

Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral’s Historical Windows Shattered After Vandals Strike Louis Sullivan-Designed Church

UKRAINIAN VILLAGE — Several windows at a historical Orthodox church were damaged Thursday after someone threw rocks into the building.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, 1121 N. Leavitt St., is one the few houses of worship designed by famed Chicago architect Louis Sullivan.

Built in 1903, the church is a holy site for Orthodox Christians and a popular destination for architecture buffs and historians. The cathedral and rectory have been an official Chicago landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places since the 1970s.

But sometime Thursday morning, three windows at the front and rear of the church were smashed-in by rocks, said Rev. Alexander Koranda, the cathedral’s dean and administrator.

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

House Republicans Warn Taliban Purchasing Twitter Verification

House Republicans are sounding the alarm over the apparent purchases of verified accounts on Twitter by various terrorist groups, including the Taliban.

In a letter to Twitter CEO Elon Musk, a group of Republican lawmakers, including Texas Reps. Pat Fallon, Keith Self, and Ronny Jackson, as well as Guam delegate James Moylan, raised concerns that bad actors could be using the platform to spread propaganda.

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

Long COVID Rates Could be Slashed in Half if People Ate Healthy and Exercised, Harvard Study Suggests

Long covid symptoms can be blunted by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including by exercising regularly, sleeping enough, and maintaining a healthy weight, according to Harvard researchers.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Marjorie Taylor Greene Puts Mark Milley on Notice, Calls for Probe Into Why Trump Was Unaware of Previous Chinese Balloons: “We Must Investigate and Hold Accountable Those Who Broke Rank”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) put General Mark Milley on notice and called for a probe into why former President Trump was allegedly not informed of previous Chinese surveillance balloons that Biden officials are now claiming crossed over the U.S. a few times when Trump was president.

Greene said: “Defense officials now claim that Chinese Spy Balloons briefly flew over the U.S. during the Trump admin, but if true, WHY is this just now being reported?…”this information was discovered after the Trump administration left. How do they know now?

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

Miami Should Begin ‘Preparing for Evacuation’ Due to Climate Change, Berkeley Professor Argues

Daniel Aldana Cohen and Samantha Schuyler provided arguments regarding the question “Should We Start Preparing for the Evacuation of Miami?” in a piece for The Nation on Friday.

Cohen, a UC Berkeley sociology professor, offered the main argument in support of evacuating the major Florida city to both help Floridians and “force municipalities across the United States to get serious about hosting climate migrants in egalitarian ways.”

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

Naval Recovery Mission Underway to Find Chinese Spy Balloon Debris

Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times

The U.S. military has started a recovery mission for debris from the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet on Feb. 4, according to the Pentagon.

Several U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels established a security perimeter where the balloon hit the water, about six nautical miles off the coast of South Carolina, and were searching for debris, a senior defense official and a senior military official said on Feb. 4.

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

ND Mayor Vows to Stop Corn Mill Over Chinese Security Threat, Says Government’s Response Was ‘Lackluster’

A North Dakota mayor has vowed to stop the development of a Chinese corn mill which was slated to be built in his town — and adjoining a U.S. military base — over security concerns.

Mayor Brandon Bochenski of Grand Forks, North Dakota, announced last week his intention to stop the development of a Chinese-owned corn mill due to concerns voiced by the federal government.

The Chinese-owned Fufeng Group paid $2.3 million to purchase the 300 acres of land just 12 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base. The company plans to invest $700 million to open the mill.

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

NE Ohio Train Derailment: Massive Explosion at Start of Controlled Release of Chemicals

EAST PALESTINE — UPDATE @ 8:15 p.m.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Monday night everyone in a two-mile radius of the train derailment scene in Northeast Ohio has been asked to shelter in place, according to our sister station WPXI in Pittsburgh.

He said he also spoke with President Biden Monday evening about the situation.

A massive explosion happened at the scene of the train derailment late Monday afternoon, WPXI reported.

This was a controlled explosion as officials released gas from one of the cars that was derailed Friday night in northeast Ohio.

A fireball could be seen shooting into the sky followed by dark black smoke.

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Neo-Nazi Couple Arrested for Alleged Plot to ‘Completely Destroy’ Baltimore

A neo-Nazi couple was arrested and charged with conspiracy to damage power substations encircling Baltimore City that would “completely destroy” the metro area, according to Department of Justice (DoJ) court documents.

On Monday, DoJ prosecutors announced Florida resident Brandon Clint Russell, an alleged leader of the neo-Nazi terror group Atomwaffen Divison, and Catonsville resident Sarah Beth Clendaniel conspired to destroy power substations with gunfire.

“It would probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully,” Clendaniel allegedly said last month, according to the criminal complaint.

The DoJ said Russell analyzed the metro area with open-source maps detailing critical infrastructure locations. He allegedly said the attack on more than one electrical substation would unleash a “cascading failure” that would plunge the city into darkness.

The FBI allegedly found a manifesto written by Clendaniel, referencing Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Hitler, and Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Brevik.

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

NYC Public Employee Vaccine Mandate to End February 10

On Monday, New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that as of February 10, public employees would no longer be subject to the controversial vaccine mandate.

Nearly 2,000 people who were fired for refusing to get the jab will now be eligible to work again, however, the city made it clear that they would not be automatically reinstated, and would need to apply via the normal hiring processes.

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

Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine Announces ‘Controlled Release’ At 3,30 P.M. Amid Explosion Concerns at Train Derailment in Columbiana County

The Columbiana County Sheriff previously warned those who don’t follow the evacuation order could be arrested and charged.

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — With concerns of a potential explosion connected to the train derailment in Columbiana County, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a plan to begin a “controlled release” around 3:30 p.m. Monday.

It comes as Gov. DeWine said the contents of five rail cars are “currently unstable and could potentially explode, causing deadly disbursement of shrapnel and toxic fumes.”

So how does the controlled release work? Scott Deutsch, an official with the Norfolk Southern Railroad, said it’s a process that could take one to three hours.

Deutsch said it begins by creating a small hole in the tank car.

“This will allow the material to come out of the tank car,” the official explained. “It will go into a pit and trench that we have dug and set up for this operation. Inside that trench will be flares lining that trench that then will light off the material.”

Gov. DeWine also provided new information about the evacuation order. He said the evacuation zone, following new modeling information, includes a one mile by two mile area surrounding East Palestine, which includes both Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Gov. DeWine said authorities have been sent back into area neighborhoods to knock on doors and ensure everybody in the evacuation zone has left.

“You need to leave. You just need to leave. We are ordering you to leave,” Gov. DeWine said of those within the impacted area. “This is a matter of life and death.

           — Hat tip: McN [Return to headlines]
 

Pfizer Warned Employees to Beware of Project Veritas Undercover Reporters: Report

In an internal document obtained by Project Veritas, Pfizer was seen warning employees about the undercover journalism group, after a video series saw a Pfizer director claim that the company was mutating Covid-19 viruses.

“Fact-based information rooted in sound science is vitally important to preserving Pfizer’s scientific innovations, reputation, and trust with business partners, and ultimately enables us to deliver breakthroughs for patients,” the letter began.

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

Radical-Left Superintendent in Fiery Political Turmoil After ‘Racist Views’ Against White People Exposed

A superintendent in Arizona previously honored by the Obama White House as a “champion of change” became embroiled in political turmoil after Fox News exposed past statements blasting the White race as “problematic.”

Arizona state GOP lawmakers called for superintendent Scott Menzel to be immediately fired in a Wednesday letter to the Scottsdale Unified School District board of education.

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

Salman Rushdie Speaks Out on Horrific Stabbing: ‘There Have Been Nightmares’ But I’m ‘Lucky’

Author Salman Rushdie gave his first interview after recovering from being brutally attacked last summer, saying he still suffered “nightmares” and post-traumatic stress but also felt “lucky.”

“There have been nightmares—not exactly the incident, but just frightening. Those seem to be diminishing,” he told The New Yorker’s David Remnick.

The 75-year-old British-Indian author and free speech advocate was stabbed multiple times before he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York last August. He suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and his right eye.

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

Tennis Champion Collapses, Dies Suddenly on Court at 43

A tennis champion has tragically died suddenly at just 43 years old, according to reports.

Ryan Vannah died after collapsing on the court last week.

He was playing mixed doubles at Red Rock Country Club in Las Vegas on January 29.

Vannah was in the middle of the game when he dropped to the court unexpectedly, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Efforts to revive him using CPR failed, despite doctors trying for 55 minutes.

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

Twitter Boss Elon Musk Accuses Government Agency of Being ‘Worst Offender in US Government Censorship’

Elon Musk accused a federal agency Monday many have never heard of being the “worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation.”

Musk, who owns Twitter, was referring to the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), which journalist Matt Taibbi described as a “fledgling analytic/intelligence” arm to participate in guiding Twitter’s moderation of content and how it often used the media to clash with the tech giant beginning in February 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic was underway.

“They are a threat to our democracy,” Mush wrote in a subsequent tweet. “That is the line they fed the media about me.”

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

Video: Rand Paul Slams “Very Very Weak” Biden for “Dithering for Days” Over Chinese Balloon

Senator Rand Paul tore into the Biden administration Sunday for “dithering for days” over the Chinese balloon and allowing it float the entire width of the country before shooting it down.

Appearing on Fox News, Paul urged that “This looks very, very weak in the eyes of our enemy, and I think it was a huge mistake.”

“We need a commander in chief and a national defense who is able to respond within seconds to minutes to penetration of our airspace,” Paul further asserted.

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

Campus Watch: Laurier Students and Faculty Protest Mask Mandate

Students and faculty at Waterloo’s Wilfrid Laurier University held a protest this past weekend against the school’s mask mandate.

The southwestern Ontario university continues to require that students wear masks in instructional spaces, even though masks are not required almost anywhere else in the province other than medical facilities.

The protest was organized by fourth year philosophy student Kamil Bachouchi and Students Against Mandate. Bachouchi has been leading what he calls “peaceful revolution” against the mandate, where he uses random items as face coverings.

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

Canada is Making a Big Push Toward “Smart Cities”

About 200 cities and towns have joined the Canadian government’s pro-climate change and pro-social justice “Smart City” scheme, which was first announced in 2018. Cities and towns that join the scheme can qualify for millions of dollars in awards from Infrastructure Canada for implementing digital “smart” plans.

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

Feds Have Spent $139 Million to Date on COVID Ad Campaigns

A breakdown of advertising and media expenditures accrued by the federal government shows that Ottawa spent $139 million of tax dollars on Covid-19 campaigns since the beginning of the pandemic.

True North compiled the total costs of media expenditures related to the Covid-19 pandemic from annual reports on Government of Canada advertising activities.

From 2019-2020, the federal government spent $4,494,710 on Covid-19 national advertising. For the 2020-2021 fiscal year that budget ballooned to $72,805,066. The latest Annual Report on Government of Canada Advertising Activities: 2021 to 2022 shows a slight decrease in spending on Covid-19 advertising, down to $62,012,941.

As of this year, Canadians were billed a total of $139,312,717 for Covid-19 related media expenditures.

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

Major Food Processing Plant Completely Destroyed by Huge Fire: ‘Total Loss’

A major food processing plant has been completely destroyed by a massive fire after it went up in flames over the weekend, according to reports.

The W.E. Acres Crabmeal Ltd. plant in the Canadian province of New Brunswick caught fire on Friday.

The factory produces seafood, fertilizer, and animal feed, and the company is a major disturber in Canada, the United States, and globally.

The company’s owner Jim LeBlanc said the structure was a “total loss,” according to the Canadian Television Network.

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

Most Canadians Agree ‘Canada is Broken’ — and They’re Angry About it: National Poll

A majority of Canadians looking at the country they see around them say everything seems to be broken. Concerned about rising costs, the state of health care, affordable housing, jobs and more, half of us are also angry about the way Canada is being run, a national opinion poll says.

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

Opposition Parties Demand Answers as Liberals Say Little About Chinese Balloon

OTTAWA — Opposition parties say the public deserves answers about a Chinese balloon’s incursion over Canadian territory as the Trudeau government remains largely mum about its time in Canada.

That call for answers came Monday as the commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command revealed that “gaps” in the continent’s early warning system prevented officials from detecting such balloons in the past.

Defence Minister Anita Anand has confirmed the balloon violated Canadian airspace, but the government has otherwise declined to provide details about when and where the balloon flew in Canada, as well as whether there have been others.

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

Western University Drops Controversial Mask Mandate

The University of Western Ontario announced it would no longer make Covid-19 masking mandatory.

In a Feb. 6, Covid-19 update Western University Vice-Presidents Florentine Strzelczyk and Lynn Logan attributed recent guidance by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health as being behind the decision.

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

What Canadians Are Saying About Bill C-11

Bill C-11 is inching closer to becoming the law, and Canadians are weighing in.

The legislation, if passed, will take aim at Canadians’ online feeds. One such affected feed could be their homepage on YouTube, where content would be prioritized based on goals set out by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Bill C-11 moved through the Senate last week, and is on its way back to the House of Commons, where it is expected to be passed.

In light of this, Canadians have taken to social media to share their opinions.

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

Britons Should Delete TikTok to Protect Data From Communist China, MP Says

All Britons should delete TikTok off their phones to protect themselves from being spied upon by Communist China, a senior MP has said.

Alicia Kearns, the Conservative Party MP who serves as the head of the UK’s foreign affairs select committee warned on Sunday that there was now significant evidence that TikTok was being used to gather the data of individual users in the UK for intelligence purposes.

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

Danish Bishops Protest Against Abolition of Great Prayer Day to Fund NATO

It is a “significant intervention in the tradition of the national church” to want to abolish Great Prayer Day in Denmark. This is the opinion of the country’s 11 bishops , who have sent a joint statement to the Minister of the Church, Louise Schack-Elholm.

The government wants to abolish a public holiday in Denmark to finance new resources for NATO participation. The Great Prayer Day, is a Christian holiday that has been observed since 1686 and falls on the fourth Friday after Easter.

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

EU’s Push for Insects in Food Supply Will Harm Traditional Farming, Warns Poland’s Former Agricultural Minister

In January, the European Union approved the sale of insects for human consumption in powder and other dried forms, but not everyone is happy about this development.

Poland’s former agriculture minister, Jan Ardanowski, says that the EU institutions inspired by environmental movements have declared war on traditional agriculture and are seeking to line the pockets of large corporate food giants.

According to Ardanowski, this marks the beginning of changes in agriculture which will have severe consequences not only for farmers but also for nutrition standards.

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

France: Populist MEP Has Immunity Stripped After Mosque Development ‘Hate Speech’

Populist Reconquest MEP Nicolas Bay has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity after allegations of “hate speech” over criticism of a mosque development in northern France.

French MEP Nicolas Bay, a member of conservative writer Eric Zemmour’s Reconquest party, was stripped of his immunity by the European Parliament on Thursday after French authorities accused him of hate speech.

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

Green Fail: Dozens of Scottish Wind Turbines Powered by Diesel Generators, Pour Hydraulic Oil Into Countryside

Scotland’s green-obsessed left-separatist government has been left with egg on its face by revelations that dozens of gigantic onshore wind turbines are having to be hooked up to diesel generators, leaking thousands of litres of hydraulic oil into the countryside.

Scottish Power — led by a Spaniard, Ignacio Galan, and actually a subsidiary of Spanish firm Iberdrola — conceded that some 71 of its turbines had to be hooked up to diesel generators to keep them warm in December, according to the Sunday Mail, with a whistleblower telling the left-leaning newspaper that problems with the turbines are deep-seated.

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

New EU Sanctions on Russia Threaten Europe’s Diesel Supply

Brussels’ sanctions on Russian oil products could cause problems, primarily on the diesel market, Olivér Hortay, the head of Szazadvég’s energy and climate policy division, said while appearing on Kossuth Radio’s Sunday news program.

Hortay’s comment came after the sanctions came into force on Sunday, prohibiting the sale of fuel made from Russian oil in the European Union.

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

Norway to Donate $7.3 Billion to Ukraine for Military and Humanitarian Assistance

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Oil-rich Norway is looking to donate 75 billion kroner ($7.3 billion) to Kyiv as part of a five-year support package that would make the Scandinavian country one of the world’s biggest donors to war-torn Ukraine, the Norwegian government said Monday.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the money would be split evenly between military and humanitarian assistance over five years, broken down to 15 billion kroner ($1.5 billion) annually. The proposed aid package will be put to a vote in parliament.

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

Polish Conservatives Slam EU Attempt to Take Control of Forests

A committee of the European Parliament responsible for the environment has proposed that member states should lose their power of competence over the management of forestation. The EU parliament’s committee is proposing a treaty change that would transfer these powers away from being the domain of the member states to being shared with Brussels. Any such treaty change would have to be ratified by all member states and agreed upon by the European Council.

In an interview with the portal wPolityce.pl, Elzbieta Rafalska, a former labor minister and currently a conservative MEP, has said that forests are a key part of both Poland’s heritage and economy and should not be controlled by Brussels.

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

Pope Francis Claims Conservatives Used Benedict’s Death to ‘Score Points for Their Own Side’

Pope Francis has accused conservatives within the Catholic Church of using the death of Pope Benedict XVI to “score points for their own side.”

In the weeks since the prior pope passed, revelations have exposed tensions between him and his more liberal successor, however Francis denied allegations that he and Benedict were hostile towards one another.

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

Swedish Police Chief Sounds Alarm Over ‘Unprecedented’ Crime

Sweden, formerly a country well-known for its peaceful and law-abiding citizens, has for many years been plagued by gun violence, explosions and gang crime.

In 2022, Sweden took the unenviable European record for the most number of fatal shootings in a single year, eclipsing neighboring Nordic nations by some margin.

In a searing opinion piece, the country’s police chief has penned an article complaining that organized crime has reached “unprecedented levels” and become more complex and difficult to deal with.

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

UK Once Again Brings Coal Power Plants Online as, Foreseeably, it Gets Cold in Winter

A coal power plant that was due to be shut down last year is among those which have been ordered to spin up to cover a potential shortfall of energy generation in the UK this week, as wintry cold weather returns again.

National Grid ESO (Electricity System Operator) issued an instruction to two coal-fuelled power stations on Sunday and Monday, instructing them to get warmed ready for connection to the national grid on Tuesday to cover a potential shortage of generation.

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

UK: Convicted Pedophile Found Dead in Prison Cell

A convicted pedophile has been found dead in his prison cell while awaiting sentencing for raping and torturing children.

39-year-old Andrew Hadwin from Bowburn in County Durham, UK, died on Thursday, according to the British Ministry of Justice.

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

UK: Truss: Leftist ‘Economic Establishment’, Biden Killed My Low-Tax Agenda Govt

Former prime minister Liz Truss has spoken out on her ouster, saying MPs within her own party who have bought into leftist tax-and-spend orthodoxy, the deep state, and foreign actors including U.S. President Joe Biden killed her premiership before she had “a realistic chance” to govern.

Truss, who became something a political answer to Jane Grey, England’s ‘Nine-Days Queen’, when parliamentary elites in her party killed her premiership after a historically brief 49 days, easily defeated Rishi Sunak in a Conservative Party leadership contest on a platform of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy independence.

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

‘US Congressmen Surprised Germany Did Not Pay War Reparations to Poland, ‘ Says Polish Deputy FM

Poland is seeking to build international pressure on Germany over what it claims is approximately $1.3 trillion in reparations Germany owes the country for the Second World War. During a trip to the United States, Polish Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk stated that he discussed the issue of reparations with several politicians in both parties who showed “greater interest than anticipated.”

“We see certain possibilities for cooperation with congressmen and senators from both parties,” said Mularczyk during a press briefing. He explained that many politicians were not aware of the magnitude of the problem, but they suggested “some possible ways” of acting.

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

“Shocking Aerial Footage” — 3,000 Dead So Far in Turkey-Syria Quake, 1,000s of Buildings Collapsed

Update (1506ET):

The death toll across Turkey and Syria has surpassed 3,000 people and could spark a humanitarian crisis in that area of the world, according to NYTimes.

About 10,000 rescuers had been dispersed across southeast Turkey by late Monday. The Turkish health minister said as many as 3,000 buildings have collapsed.

CNN reported the total number injured in Turkey and Syria has climbed to 13,600. That number will likely rise.

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

7.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Turkey, Syria; Death Toll Tops 2,300

ANKARA, Turkey — Crews continue to search through rubble after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, leveling buildings and leaving thousands of people dead or injured.

Update 11:15 a.m. EST Feb. 6: President Joe Biden said he has “authorized an immediate U.S. response” to a destructive earthquake that claimed thousands of lives in Turkey and Syria.

In a statement, Biden said his administration has been working closely with Turkish officials.

“At my direction, senior American officials reached out immediately to their Turkish counterparts to coordinate any and all needed assistance,” he said. “Our teams are deploying quickly to begin to support Turkish search and rescue efforts and address the needs of those injured and displaced by the earthquake. U.S.-supported humanitarian partners are also responding to the destruction in Syria. Today, our hearts and our deepest condolences are with all those who have lost precious loved ones, those who are injured, and those who saw their homes and businesses destroyed.”

Reports indicate that more than 2,300 people died and thousands more were injured after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Turkey and Syria on Monday.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

UN Chief Fears World Headed for ‘Wider War’ Over Ukraine-Russia

United Nations (United States) (AFP) — UN chief Antonio Guterres warned nations Monday that he fears the likelihood of further escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict means the world is heading towards a “wider war.”

The secretary-general laid out his priorities for the year in a gloomy speech to the United Nations General Assembly that focused on Russia’s invasion, the climate crisis and extreme poverty.

“We have started 2023 staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges unlike any in our lifetimes,” he told diplomats in New York.

           — Hat tip: JW [Return to headlines]
 

India’s Supreme Court to Look at Government’s YouTube Censorship Demands

India’s Supreme Court will hear petitions challenging the Internet and Broadcasting Ministry’s decision to block BBC’s two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” on YouTube and other social media platforms. The documentary, critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was labeled “propaganda” by the government and was censored.

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

Chinese Search Engines Censor “Chinese Spy Balloon,” Only Show State-Controlled Sources

Days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned a visit to China, a large Chinese balloon, accused of possibly conducting surveillance on military sites, was spotted over the state of Montana, where the Malmstrom Air Force Base, which has three nuclear missile silo fields, is located.

Tencent-owned Sogou search engine in China soon began censoring search results for “Spy Balloon”.

It is now restricting results to a favored white list of Chinese Communist Party and state-controlled websites such as China Daily and Xinhua.

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

Fiery Moment Victim of Alice Springs Crime Wave Fires Back at Brooke Boney as the Indigenous TV Host Slams the ‘Extreme’ Views of White Locals: ‘The Black Fellas of This Town Are P***ed as Well’

The Action for Alice Facebook page has been documenting the crime crises gripping the outback town for more than two years. Canberra has finally taken notice and brought back alcohol bans.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

IGA Supermarket Bans Teenagers — Owners Say the Drastic Step Needed Due to Spate of Shoplifting and Staff Abuse

Unaccompanied children under 16 may be refused entry or asked to leave the stores in WA’s mid-west.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Red Rooster Worker’s Bizarre Comment on TikTok Gets Her Fired From the Fast Food Giant — as Her Manager Warns ‘The Police Are Investigating’

A Red Rooster worker from Brisbane claims she was fired from the fast food giant over a caption on one of her TikTok videos.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

40% of Asylum Seekers Are Destroying Their Passports Upon Entry to Ireland

Irish authorities are ramping up immediate checks on new arrivals as they disembark from flights at Dublin Airport after a concerning rise in the number of people reaching the airport’s immigration control without travel documents.

The resumption of checks at the steps of aircraft has been reactivated by Minister for Justice Simon Harris over fears of asylum seekers destroying their passports and other travel documentation that can identify them before proceeding to immigration control where they are subsequently claiming asylum.

Without evidence, immigration officials have no way of corroborating an individual’s claim that they are in fact a genuine asylum seeker fleeing a war-torn nation or at risk of persecution.

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

France: Knife-Wielding Egyptian Migrants Caught Setting Fires While Yelling ‘Allah Akbar’

Egyptian suspects carrying knives were arrested for lighting fires while yelling “Allah akbar” over the weekend in France, according to reports.

The disturbing incident unfolded at around 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in Champigny-sur-Marne, a commune in the suburbs of Paris.

Authorities were alerted about men setting fire to trash bins while shouting Islamic slogans, Le Figaro reports.

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

Germany: Berlin University Says Students Shouldn’t Call Police on Migrant Sex Offender

A sex offender has been harassing women for weeks at Berlins’s Free University (FU), but victims are being urged not to alert the police over fears of racism. This is the advice of the university’s left-wing-dominated General Students’ Committee (AStA), which urges women not to take matters further in an e-mail sent to all student initiatives and university groups, as reported by the Morgenpost newspaper.

The AStA’s concern, however, seems to be less for the well-being of the women and more for the perpetrator, who reportedly has a migration background.

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

Irish President Attacks Anti-Mass Migration Protesters for ‘Sowing Hate’

The leftist President of Ireland has attacked anti-mass migration protesters in the country, accusing them of “sowing hate”.

Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, has lashed out at the growing number of anti-mass migration protests taking place in the country, attacking those attending the demonstrations for “sowing hate”.

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

Local Leader Calls on German Government to Take Responsibility for Migrant Crisis Crippling Public Services

Local authorities have criticized Germany’s federal government for the insufficient support being made available to social services saturated by the recent influx of asylum applications.

An invitation by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to a summit due to take place in early March to discuss the ongoing issue of mass migration is not enough, according to Reinhard Sager, the president of the German District Association. Sager has called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take responsibility, limit migration levels, and tackle the issues local authorities are having to deal with in providing for refugees.

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

NYC is So Bad That Migrants Are Fleeing to Canada

Migrants living illegally in New York City are so fed up with the Big Apple’s crime and filth that they’re taking officials up on offers to bus them to Canada on the taxpayer’s dime… In the middle of winter.

According to the NY Post, the National Guard has been helping distribute tickets at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan for migrants who want to travel upstate before crossing into Canada, migrants told the outlet.

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

Poll Shows Majority of Germans Wants Less Migrants as Country Struggles to Accommodate Millions of Newcomers

Another poll highlights the growing frustration of German citizens over a huge influx of migrants, which could spell trouble for Germany’s left-wing, pro-immigration government.

According to a survey conducted by the INSA opinion research institute for the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, the majority of German citizens, 51 percent, believe their country is taking in too many refugees. Another 33 percent think the number is appropriate, and only 11 percent of respondents believe Germany should take in more people.

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

Rancher, 73, Is Charged With Murder on His Arizona Land After Shooting Dead Mexican, 48, Who Had History of Illegal Crossings Into US and Multiple Deportations…

Judge refuses to reduce $1M bail despite plea his wife is alone

An Arizona rancher has been charged with first-degree murder and had his bail set at a whopping $1million for fatally shooting a Mexican citizen on his property.

George Alan Kelly, 73, was arrested following the January 30 fatal shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, on his ranch in Kino Springs, just a mile and a half north of the US-Mexico border.

Authorities are still investigating the fatal shooting, with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s chief deputy saying it does not appear that Kelly knew Cuen-Butimea ahead of the shooting.

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

Ron Desantis’ $12 Million Plan to Fly More Migrants Out of Florida…

Governor’s bid to expand program that saw him jet 50 Venezuelans to Martha’s Vineyard last year and spark a firestorm

Ron DeSantis is proposing spending $12 million to broaden Florida’s migrant flight program after sending two planes with 50 mostly Venezuelan asylum-seekers to Democratic enclave island of Martha’s Vineyard in September.

The move last year was highly popular among those critical of President Joe Biden’s handling of the southern border crisis — but was slammed by Democrats as a political stunt rather than a legitimate solution to relieving southern communities of mass influxes of migrants over the last two years.

Now, DeSantis wants to cement this program and transport more asylum-seekers out of his state.

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

Texas Border Wall Construction Underway, Gov. Abbott Says

Texas has resumed building a wall along the state’s border with Mexico, after months of negotiations with private property owners.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott boasted about building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, posting a video on social media of the wall being constructed.

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

UK: Another 200 Migrants Make Journey Across Channel Over the Weekend in First Arrivals Since Home Office Resumed Responsibility for Tackling Crisis After Eight Months of Royal Navy Control

More than 200 migrants arrived in the UK over the weekend for the first time since the Home Office resumed responsibility for tackling the crisis.

The Royal Navy has been in control of migrant arrivals to the country for eight months but last week the Home Office took back control.

Saturday saw a total of 218 asylum seekers intercepted at sea by Border Force vessels.

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

UK: Boris Johnson Urges Rishi Sunak to Forge Ahead With Controversial Plan to Deport Migrants to Rwanda

Boris Johnson last night urged Rishi Sunak to push on with the Rwanda plan, as he warned Labour have ‘not the ghost of an idea’ about how to stop small boat crossings.

In a rare Commons intervention, the former prime minister said those who oppose sending illegal migrants to Rwanda are ‘wholly wrong’ to ‘disparage’ the country.

Mr Johnson was cheered by his backbench colleagues as he told MPs during Home Office questions that Labour has no plan to tackle Channel migrants.

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

13-Year-Old Girl Harassed by ‘Gender Fluid Male Lesbian, ‘ ‘Furries’ At New Hampshire Middle School: Mother’s Testimony

A New Hampshire mother gave powerful testimony last month in favor of a bill seeking to preserve female-only spaces in which she told of how her 13-year-old daughter is being harassed at school by a male student who identifies as a gender-fluid lesbian.

Samia DeMarco told the House Judiciary Committee the male student is allowed to use the girls’ facilities at her daughter’s school, and how the student once left the stall door open while urinating. On another occasion, the male student and a group of transgender friends, some of whom identify as animals, entered the female locker room and watched the girls changing.

[Comment: My head hurts trying to comprehend the headline.]

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

Arkansas Bill Enforces Biological Sex for School Toilets

Although a Democrat is currently calling the shots in the White House, resistance to gender madness and other “woke” oddities is growing in the US. In Arkansas, Republican Representative Mary Bentley introduced a bill that would require transgender students in public schools to use bathrooms, locker rooms, or showers that strictly match their biological sex.

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

Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Kicks Off for Thousands of U.S. Schools

Originally started by Seattle teachers in 2016, Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (BLMSWA) is a week-long focus on the “13 Guiding Principles of the Black Lives Matter movement.” Such principles include “fostering a queer-affirming network” by freeing an individual from the “tight grip of heteronormative thinking” and “disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure.”

BLMSWA is endorsed by several educator organizations including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American School Counselor Association, and the National Education Association. The AFT passed a resolution which, among other things, will “encourage its members to wear Black Lives Matter at School shirts to school that week and teach lessons about related topics.”

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

‘Death Tourism’: Oregon Becomes National Destination for Assisted Suicide

Individuals residing in states that outlaw euthanasia, such as Texas, have started traveling to Oregon to gain assistance in their suicide, making the state the first “death tourism” destination in the US.

According to the Daily Mail, Dr. Nicholas Gideonse, the director of End of Life Choices Oregon, recently admitted to assisting a man from Texas with Lou Gehrig’s disease who came to the doctor’s Portland clinic in achieving suicide and said that “for a small number of patients who otherwise qualify or are determined to go through that and who have the energy and the resources … it has started to happen.”

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

Demonic

Have celebrities like Sam Smith, who constantly talk about how depressed they are, ever considered that being the literal embodiment of demonic energy might not be the best path to contentment and peace of mind?

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

Expert Warns Boys Are Being Branded Sex Predators for ‘Clumsy Teenage Fumbles’ Amid ‘Dangerous’ Backlash After MeToo Movement Swept Schools — as Channel Four Airs New Drama Based on Allegations

Julie Lynn-Evans, a British psychotherapist with more than three decades’ experience, said that the movements were ‘a force for good but it is often a double-edged sword’.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Nolte: Fat Satan Grammys Deliver Ratings Catastrophe of Just 12.4M Viewers

The Woke Grammys, complete with a cameo from Fat Satan, delivered another ratings catastrophe with just 12.4 million viewers.

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

Republicans Demand Answers From Smithsonian for Kicking Out Pro-Life Students

FIRST ON FOX: On Jan. 20, The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum kicked out a dozen Catholic high school students and their chaperons for wearing beanies inscribed with pro-life messages. Now congressional Republicans are demanding answers.

Representatives Chip Roy, R-Texas and Josh Brecheen, R-Oklahoma, have penned a letter along with over two dozen Republicans including Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia., Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, and Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Arizona, demanding answers from the Smithsonian. Senators Tim Scott, R-S.C., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Rick Scott, R-Florida, Mike Lee, R-Utah, Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, Marco Rubio, R-Florida, Steve Daines, R-Montana, Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, led the effort in the Senate.

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

Surfing Icon Says She’ll Boycott Professional Tour Over Transgender Competitors

American surfing icon Bethany Hamilton has vowed to boycott the professional tour over a rule change that allows biological males who identify as women to compete against female surfers.

Hamilton took the stance after the World Surf League (WSL) announced it would comply with the policies of the International Surfing Association (ISA) when it comes to transgender surfers.

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

UK Plans to Ban “Online Misogyny”

Tory peers, including former culture secretary Baroness Morgan, are pushing for the Online Safety Bill to include a code of practice that will require online platforms to crack down on misogyny and online abuse, and violence against girls and women.

According to The Telegraph, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan agrees with the peers.

“Michelle completely agrees with what the peers are saying, but this is stuff that the Bill is already doing,” a government source told the paper.

As it is, the online censorship bill, dubbed the “Online Safety Bill” requires social media platforms to strictly follow their terms and conditions, which generally ban misogyny.

Failure to enforce their policies would result in hefty fines. Platforms would also be required to provide users with tools that would allow women to filter misogynistic content and comments.

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

UK: Teachers Scramble to Fight the Rise of Andrew Tate and ‘Rampant Masculinity’ in Schools

Teachers in Britain are reportedly scrambling to educate themselves on how to tackle “rampant masculinity” and the popularity of Andrew Tate.

Courses aimed at educating teachers on how to combat ideas spread by online star Andrew Tate reportedly sold out last week, as progressive-minded educators struggle to prevent their male students from looking up to the influencer.

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

14 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/6/2023

  1. .
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    Neocon oracle: Wrong of Sweden to bow to “an aspiring Mussolini”

    Published 5 February 2023

    Former US national security adviser John Bolton is not impressed by Sweden’s swagger in the face of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Instead, Bolton wants to expel the Turks from NATO.
    – This is not like Sweden, says John Bolton in a long interview with Nyheter Idag (!).

    – I don’t think it’s in Sweden’s character to bow to this kind of rogue behaviour. It shouldn’t for any NATO member, Bolton says, among other things, in the interview.

    According to the American ex-official, who is among the hawks in the Republican Party’s neoconservative faction, the Turkish people probably do not support Erdogan’s policies.

    – I think this is the politics of an aspiring Mussolini, and I think that if there is a free and fair election in Turkey, Erdogan is very likely to lose,” Bolton said.

    If Erdogan is re-elected through electoral fraud, Bolton has previously said he wants the country expelled from Nato. And it’s a message he repeats in the interview with Nyheter Idag.

    – Then I think we have to ask ourselves what is the value of NATO if we have such a member, he says.

    The road into NATO
    Turkey’s demand: ban blasphemy – Sweden: “No”
    Risk of Sweden never joining NATO
    Kristersson’s desperate attempt to appease Turkey
    Turkish ruling party ends NATO bid after Koran burning
    Satirical drawing of Erdogan published by SVT

  2. “Instead, Bolton wants to expel the Turks from NATO.” — This is the first time that I hear of the glad tidings, been saying that this would be a desirable development for a while. Not good for Sweden if it doesn’t know better by then, but for all of us together who lived with a rattlesnake under the same roof.

    • I never had a class in geography but as I recall, Turkiye doesn’t have any coastline on the Atlantic.

      Perhaps it should have never been in NATO in the first place, or the organization should have been renamed to something more appropriate like “Warmongers R Us(A)”.

      • Moon, why do you call it Turkiye and not Turkey? Or am I missing something?

        As for my humble opinion on the bloody turks, throw them all out. Side with the Russians and take the north side of the Bosporus and call it a day.

        • My reply seems to have disappeared- probably my error.

          Anyway, Erdogan wants non-Turks to spell (and pronounce) it “Turkiye”; imho, an incentive to carry on as before.

          Related to which, expats (eg long-term US residents in the UK) should, perhaps, be allowed to retain their original citizenship and voting rights in their country of origin, but this should not be hereditary. Most Turks in Germany have been there for 2-3 generations, but are allowed to keep dual citizenship and vote in Turkish elections. They should be told to make up their minds or leave.

      • There are several countries in NATO without a direct coastline on the Atlantic. I don’t see any issue with the geographical definition being a bit fuzzy, this is about political allegiance. In that, the inclusion of Turkey always was quite odd although one could say the country was in much better shape at the beginning than it is now, in relative terms that is. When it was led by Kemal Atatürk, Turkey became much more secular. He was even quite outspoken and unafraid calling Islam the pile of ideological toxic waste it is. Look at some photos from the 1930s, for example, and it looks almost normal, people dressing freely. It is only in recent times that it made a U-turn, and Erdogan steers the ship full steam back into the dark ages now.

        The most popular version I know of why Turkey got into NATO at all (not sure how much actual documentation exists for this), is that its location directly at the underbelly of the Soviet Union was a strategic asset too good to pass up. And that therefore, Germany was also made to accept several waves of “guest workers” from there, as a kind of trade with a view to foster development on both sides, for the reconstruction of war-torn Germany and lifting the development standard in Turkey. This actually worked out in the beginning, the first generation of them was not known for the kind of barbarism we have today. They were largely grateful for the chance to work for a better life and made themselves worthy of respect. Many of those first immigrants now are very frustrated over what this has turned into.

        What to do now? Europe is left to fend with the Muslim flood and its own self-destructive delusion about it. If the NATO as self-aware organisation had any interest in it, it would recognize the weakening effect this has. If I was advising the American president, I would tell him to take Israel in instead and repurpose the Atlantic alliance to its protection. Otherwise the whole thing doesn’t make much sense in today’s world anymore. The lies about Russia and the ridiculous effort to antagonize it resembles what was initiated against Germany at the beginning of the previous century. The theory seems plausible that the Anglosphere does everything in its might to prevent Germans and Russians from ever uniting their powers. China is a separate problem, but we’d be better off to offer the unfortunate Taiwanese a place to go. Those refugees won’t harm us, quite the opposite. I suspect the Left is rather afraid of their industriousness.

        None of this is likely to be resolved in a constructive manner. Collectively, we are hell-bent on another round of all-out mayhem and destruction. I’m beginning to wonder if this is nature’s way of correcting the fact that 8 billion are too many and further growth unsustainable — by making them mad?

  3. I know these guys have some potential issue in the US but this episode is worth taking a look at.
    https://rumble.com/v28ofr6-no-one-is-ready-for-whats-coming-in-2023-and-the-banks-are-in-deep-sht-reda.html
    1. Banks – fdic meeting footage
    2. Blood Donations – So there is a rule, if you have engaged in homosexual sex in the last 3 months they don’t want your blood. However if you are trans the rule doesn’t apply to you, cause you are a woman.
    and more

    • I’d be more concerned whether any blood donated was vaxx-taminated, which they don’t check for btw, than if the donor enjoyed the odd bit of sodomy.

      There are several blood plasma harvesting clinics in my locale, and I often drive individuals selling their blood plasma to and from their appointments. Many of them have such appalling hygiene that I wouldn’t accept any bodily fluid from them except under the most extreme duress, which is what you get if you happen to fall into the clutches of the medical mafia.

      • I presumed they assume the donors will have an HIV test in the preceding 3 months. That is not the requirement. One might be influenced to think that from the variety of commercials advertising various related pharmaceuticals. I just wanted to point out the logic, if you pretend the problem goes away.

    • the perspective here is that the enemy is percieved as coming more from the inside than not the external side. they have to prepare to fight political internal opponents in the imminent civil war than not an improbable war with either russia or china…

  4. .
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    Islamists have infiltrated Swedish society

    Published 7 February 2023 in Fria Tider

    In a weighty thesis, x-muslim and PhD student Sameh shows Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood have infiltrated Swedish political parties, schools and student associations.

    The 740-page thesis is due to be defended on Friday and points to a long list of those in power who are accused of being members of the international Islamist organisation.

    – I argue that a small group of Islamists have infiltrated Swedish political parties, schools and study associations. They have succeeded in becoming the representative of Muslims in Sweden
    – when in fact they represent the Muslim Brotherhood,” Sameh Egyptson tells Dagens Nyheter.

    This becomes “very clear” when you look at what these leaders say in Arabic, to an Arab audience, he continues.

    – Then they are openly professing their allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood, says Sameh Egyptson to DN.

    The Stockholm mosque on Södermalm and the Islamic centre there are singled out in the thesis as the headquarters for the activities.

    DN has interviewed Muslim representatives and left-wing activists who are highly critical of the thesis.

    One of the critics is S-profile and deacon Anna Ardin, known for framing Julian Assange, who claims that the whole thing is just an “anti-Muslim conspiracy theory”.

    She compares it to “skullduggery and racial biology” and hopes the thesis will be rejected on Friday.

  5. “French MEP Nicolas Bay, a member of conservative writer Eric Zemmour’s Reconquest party, was stripped of his immunity by the European Parliament on Thursday after French authorities accused him of hate speech.”

    So, the EU has adopted a new yardstick for it’s adjudication. To be accused is to be guilty.

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