According to the head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is all but surrounded by his forces, with the only road into the city under intense Russian fire. He advised Ukraine to pull its forces out, while it still can.
In other news, a French policeman caught an African migrant in the act when he was sexually assaulting a woman on a tram.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, JW, McN, Reader from Chicago, SS, WRSA, 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.
Overstimulated Demand — How COVID Cash Fueled Inflation
Government stimulus payments during the coronavirus pandemic may have played a larger role than thought in fueling inflation.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Productivity Crashes: Worst Decline Since 1974
The average annual productivity of the American worker fell 1.7 percent last year. | Economy
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
‘Worrisome and Unsustainable’: National Bank Paints Bleak Picture of Belgian Economy
The National Bank of Belgium’s (BNB) annual report has painted an extraordinarily bleak picture of Belgium’s current economic predicament and suggested that the country faces a serious risk of deindustrialisation in the coming months as high energy prices continue to threaten business competitiveness.
The study, published on Wednesday, also highlighted that mortgage affordability has fallen to “historically low levels” across Belgium due to sharp increases in housing prices and mortgage rates. Belgium’s budget deficit — one of the largest in the EU — was deemed both “worrisome and unsustainable”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
61% of Americans Believe Jan 6 Was Incited by Federal Agents, Poll Shows
An overwhelming majority of Americans say they believe the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was incited by federal government agents, a new poll has revealed.
According to a new survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports, 61 percent of U.S. voters say undercover feds helped to provoke the protesters into rioting.
The poll also reveals that voters overwhelmingly support releasing all security videos of Jan. 6 to the public.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Biden Has ‘Cancerous Tissue’ Removed From Chest
Joe Biden had a “cancerous tissue” removed on February 16, the Physician to the President said on Friday.
In a statement from Kevin O’Connor, D.O., he announced that the president had a “skin lesion” on his chest removed at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, which was later tested and found to be basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Man Arrested for Not Masking on Last Day of Gavin Newsom’s COVID Emergency Measures
On Tuesday, a California man was arrested for not wearing a mask at a Kaiser Permanente location for his eye appointment.
Jordan Henry recalled the incident on Twitter, stating in a video, “today I was arrested for not wearing a mask at a Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, California.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia University Permanently Drops SAT, ACT Admissions Requirement
Columbia University has permanently dropped its SAT and ACT standardized test requirements for undergraduate admissions.
The Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science will be “test-optional for all applicants,” meaning that applicants will no longer have to send SAT and ACT scores.
Columbia Undergraduate Admissions announced Wednesday that Columbia would become the first school in the Ivy League to become permanently test-optional.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) sent a letter to Congress and the New York delegation, calling for a bipartisan congressional investigation into the “problem codes” New York city officials secretly put in the digital files of educators who refused to get vaccinated.
The problem codes can result in educators being denied employment elsewhere.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Cotton: Biden Wants to Appease Chinese Communists
Senator Tom Cotton accused the Biden administration of “appeasing Chinese Communists” Thursday, noting that it’s a “losing policy” that Biden is intent on continuing.
Appearing on Fox Business, Cotton, another conservative who has been vindicated by fresh intelligence on the lab leak of COVID, proclaimed that “the only conspiracy… was the conspiracy of silence among liberals and the media, and the federal bureaucracy and the Democrats in Congress to suppress the common sense conclusion that the Chinese Communists were responsible, because of their negligent practices in this lab, for unleashing this pandemic on the world.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat Reps Turn on Biden: ‘White House F*cked This Up Royally, F*cking Amateur Hour’
House Democrats are furious with President Joe Biden after he came out in favor of overruling the District of Columbia’s crime bill.
On Thursday, Biden announced that he will sign a resolution to nix the crime bill.
The crime bill has come under heavy criticism from Republicans and centrist Democrats.
But last month, 173 House Democrats voted along with what they thought was the White House’s stance that Biden would veto the resolution in an attempt to stand up for the District’s “home rule.”
Instead, Biden made the revelation to Senate Democrats during lunch on Thursday and, in the process, angered their colleagues across the Capitol complex.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dianne Feinstein’s Hospitalization Leaves Senate Democrats Without Outright Majority
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced that she was hospitalized on Thursday and is receiving treatment for shingles, leaving Senate Democrats without an outright majority this week as two other senators are also away from the Capitol.
Feinstein confirmed her hospitalization on Thursday after her spokesperson announced she was leaving D.C. for California to focus on a “health matter.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Predicts Tesla’s AI-Powered Robots Will Outnumber Humans
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently predicted that AI-powered humanoid robots produced by the electric car company will one day outnumber humans. Musk has faced criticism following October’s completely underwhelming introduction of the Optimus robot.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Excess Deaths Among Young Adults Soar to Record High
Excess deaths among young adults are soaring to record highs as unexpected mortality rates continue to spike each month, the latest data shows.
The latest figures for December have just been published a show a large rise in excess mortality rates among adults under the age of 45.
December saw a staggering increase in excess death that was 43 percent higher than expected.
The figure is more than double the number of excess deaths for November and almost four times higher than in October.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police in Oklahoma say that a home intruder got more than he bargained for when the homeowner attacked him with a machete and held him until police arrived.
Tulsa Police Department officers were called to a reported 1st degree burglary in progress around 2:00 a.m. Tuesday and arrived to find several family members and children screaming at the home’s front yard, according to a department Facebook post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former ‘Disinformation Czar’ Fundraises to Launch Defamation Suit Against Fox News
Nina Jankowicz, the former Biden administration official who was slated to head the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board to fight “misinformation” before resigning a month after taking the position, is pleading for financial support to sue Fox News for their alleged “their malicious reckless lies” about her.
In a Thursday video uploaded to YouTube with an accompanying GoFundMe page, the former “Ministry of Truth” head announced the lawsuit.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
America First Legal (AFL) has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) related to contracts and grants to third parties to censor COVID-19 “misinformation” and criticism of the Biden administration’s response to the pandemic.
The HHS does not have the authority to regulate content or censor misinformation of any kind. However, it has been using grants and contracts to get third parties to do so on its behalf.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FTX Engineering Chief Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges
Nishad Singh, the former engineering chief for failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, pleaded guilty to criminal charges in New York on Tuesday. Multiple FTX executives have now pleaded guilty, applying more pressure on disgraced CEO and Democrat super donor Sam Bankman-Fried.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Gavin Newsom Roasted for Leaving California on ‘Personal Travel’ Amid Devastating Winter Storms
Critics are roasting Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for being away on “personal travel” amid the devastating winter storms slamming parts of the state with feet of snow.
It’s unclear where Newsom traveled as his office does not comment on such matters due to what they say are security concerns, however the governor reportedly left California on Wednesday after a visit to the Diablo Canyon power plant in Avila Beach.
“Californians are trapped in their homes without power. More storms are on the way. And Governor Newsom has just left the state for ‘personal travel,’“ Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., said in a Thursday tweet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Global Warming Gets Snowed Under
by Daniel Greenfield
Two years after the Los Angeles Times predicted the end of snow in California, I stood outside in a hailstorm as my daughter giggled and tasted the little pieces of ice falling on her pink jacket.
We were not up north, but in Los Angeles where colorful trumpet vines drape across walls all through the winter and jackets normally might as well be fossils. But on Friday, snow had fallen on the Hollywood sign and dusted homes in the Hollywood Hills. On Saturday, hail was falling not all that far from the ocean so that my daughter got her first taste of the real thing.
Higher up, California children who had never seen snow were building their first snowmen…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Primary Voters Strongly Prefer Trump: Poll
Former President Donald Trump stands well ahead of his Republican primary rivals and other would-be challengers, a recent survey revealed.
When asked to choose between Trump and “another candidate,” GOP primary voters broke 63.9% in favor over Trump with 31.0% opting for an unspecified alternative candidate, according to a Cyngal poll.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gov. DeSantis Says He’d Like Open Carry Added to Constitutional Carry Bill
On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told Gun Owners of America (GOA) that he would like to see open carry added to the constitutional carry legislation currently making its way through the Florida legislature.
GOA’s Luis Valdes asked DeSantis if he would support open carry being added to the constitutional carry legislation, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
DeSantis responded, “Yeah, absolutely.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Grieving Mother Calls Biden ‘Despicable’ For Laughing About Her Sons’ Deaths: ‘How Dare You!’
A grieving Michigan mother, whose two sons died of fentanyl poisoning, has slammed Democrat President Joe Biden after he laughed about their deaths during a speech.
As Slay News reported, Biden provoked outrage by laughing while telling the story of Rebecca Kiessling and her sons Caleb, 20, and Kyler, 18.
The young men died in July 2020 after taking fentanyl-laced Percocet pills.
In a powerful statement during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, Kiessling blasted the federal government for allowing drugs and illegal aliens to flow across the porous Southern Border.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Howard Law School Sued by White Student Over Racial Discrimination
Authored by Jonathan Turley
A new lawsuit is garnering attention in Washington where a white law student has sued Howard University’s School of Law for racial discrimination.
Michael Newman alleging the school maintains a “hostile education environment.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Jim Jordan Ramps Up Investigations Into Weaponization of Federal Government
Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is ramping up his investigations into the weaponization of the federal government.
Jordan has now asked the House Administration Committee to provide his team with millions of dollars in funding to expand its investigations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joe Rogan and Russell Brand Discuss Benefits of Rumble and Why YouTube Can’t be Trusted
Russell Brand, the popular British comedian, actor and commentator, recently made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The podcast, which is known for its long-form conversations on a wide range of topics, touched on YouTube’s censorship, how creators can’t trust YouTube, and the growth of the alternative video platform Rumble.
Brand talked about how, when using YouTube as a primary platform, videos were often censored or demonetized. Brand described trying to avoid getting demonetized on YouTube as “algebra.” “You changed this word, you changed that word. You have to order it. You have, there’s certain things,” Brand said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Justice Department Rules Trump Can be Sued Over Jan 6
Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has ruled that President Donald Trump can be sued over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
On Thursday, the DOJ opened up the possibility of lawsuits over the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which the Democrats and their allies in the media falsely claim was an “insurrection” led by Trump.
Attorneys for the DOJ Civil Division filed a court brief in response to the D.C. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking the agency to respond to Trump’s claim of absolute immunity.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Who Killed Chicago Cop Was Freed by Prosecutors Without Charge in Earlier Shooting
A Chicago police officer was killed in the line of duty Wednesday night.
The officer has been identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Andres Vasquez Lasso, 32.
He was shot and killed on Chicago’s Southwest Side in an exchange of gunfire.
The suspect who killed the cop was accused of chasing a woman down the street with a gun.
During the gunfire, the suspect was also shot in the head and is in critical condition.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Race-faking white Muslim Raquel Saraswati preached about Islamist extremist violence years before she was exposed for lying about her Arab, Latin and South Asian heritage.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
New Jersey Woman Dies After Burning Down House Full of Cats Rather Than Face Eviction
A Roosevelt, New Jersey woman and her dozens of feline friends are dead after she allegedly burned down the house they had been living in to avoid being evicted by the landlord, who was trying to force her out in order to sell the property.
The blaze quickly spread to the attached unit, and while the occupants were able to escape, their possessions were engulfed in flames.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No-Permit Concealed Carry Advances in Nebraska Legislature
After years of trying to pass a bill to allow people to carry concealed guns in Nebraska without a permit, conservative lawmakers are on the cusp of doing so, thanks in part to the defection of two Democratic Omaha senators — the only Black lawmakers in the body — who cited racial disparity in enforcing gun laws in their districts.
After three days of debate, lawmakers voted 36-12 Friday to advance the bill. It must survive two more rounds of debate to pass.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Professor Featured by DePaul University Claims: ‘How We Eat Our Chicken’ is a Racial Issue
The largest Catholic university in the U.S. shared a video on its YouTube page where alumna and Nevada State College professor Erika Abad found a racial divide in just about everything, including the idea that something as basic as “how we eat our chicken” is racialized.
DePaul University Office of Alumni Relations YouTube channel hosts a “Perspectives on Racial Justice” series that “seeks to further DePaul University’s commitment to ending racial injustice on campus and in our community.” The stated purpose of this series presented by a coalition of faculty and university alumni is to “bring awareness to racial inequalities, continue the dialogue on issues of race and ethnicity and support our communities of color.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Purebloods Only: Lawmakers Move to Ban Vaccinated Giving Blood
Lawmakers in Montana are moving to ban vaccinated people from donating blood, according to reports.
House Bill 645 would make it illegal to donate blood if the donor has received an mRNA Covid shot.
It would also make it a crime to accept blood from Covid vaccinated individuals.
Under the law, a $500 fine would be issued for each offense.
The legislation seeks to ensure that donated blood supply only comes from “purebloods” — people who have not been injected with mRNA shots.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘My wife has greenlighted it,’ RFK Jr. said of his potential 2024 run for president
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering running for president in 2024, challenging President Biden for the Democratic nomination, and he says his wife approves.
“I am thinking about it yes. I have passed the biggest hurdle, that my wife has greenlighted it,” Kennedy told a crowd in New Hampshire on Friday, according to reports.
Kennedy’s wife, actress Cheryl Hines, was reportedly attending the speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which for nearly a quarter-century has been a must stop in the Granite State for potential or actual White House contenders.
| — Hat tip: WRSA | [Return to headlines] |
Newly released surveillance video shows the viral incident which took place at an Ohio elementary school, involving black students allegedly assaulting white students and forcing them to say “Black Lives Matter.”
The incident occurred at Kenwood Elementary on February 10.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ted Cruz Calls for Fauci to be Prosecuted and Jailed for Lying to Congress
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has dropped the hammer on Dr. Anthony Fauci by calling for him to be prosecuted and imprisoned for lying to Congress.
Cruz was responding as mounting evidence suggests that Fauci covered up reports that Covid leaked from a Chinese lab.
Cruz said at CPAC this week:
“There has been no person who has done more to destroy trust in the scientific and medical community than Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told millions of Americans lies willingly, knowingly, glibly, and supremely arrogantly.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Vows ‘Quantum Leap’ in Living Standards, Would Create ‘Freedom Cities’
Former President Donald Trump on Friday announced a plan for a prospective second term through which the U.S. would develop new cities and bolster living standards nationwide.
“Our objective will be a quantum leap in the American standard of living,” he declared in a policy video.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US State Department Entity Flagged Thousands of Accounts to Twitter for Censorship
A United States (US) government department and a government-funded think tank collectively flagged tens of thousands of tweets to Twitter for censorship.
This secret censorship was exposed in the latest batch of “Twitter Files” (internal communications from the previous Twitter regime that reveal numerous examples of clandestine censorship) which was published by journalist Matt Taibbi.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Jon Stewart Slams ‘Media Narrative Machine’ For Dismissing Lab Leak as ‘Conspiracy Theory’
Jon Stewart, who was one of the only personalities on the left to raise the possibility that the COVID pandemic was caused by a lab leak in Wuhan, has slammed the ‘media narrative machine,’ after renewed credence was given to the likelihood by the Department of Energy.
in 2021, Stewart annoyed many on the left by performing a bit on the Late Show, seemingly also to the chagrin of Stephen Colbert, in which he rubbished the notion that the coronavirus originated in a wet market and instead urged people to look at the ‘Wuhan coronavirus laboratory’.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Walmart to Close All Portland Stores in March
Residents of Portland, Oregon will soon have to travel further to stock up at Walmart as the company announced it will be closing both of the city’s locations by the end of March.
The stores at opposite ends of the city on Hayden Meadows Drive and SE 82nd Avenue, respectively, have become a staple in the retail habits of so many, however, Walmart claimed the decision to shut them down was made due to a lack of profits. Some have questioned, however, if the decision came about as the result of rampant shoplifting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The dad of a white student who was forced to his knees to chant ‘Black Lives Matter’ by black bullies has said he and his wife were ‘livid’ after discovering the ordeal.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Youngkin’s Approval Rating at 57% in Virginia in New Poll
Fifty-seven percent of Virginians say they approve of the way Gov. Glenn Youngkin is handling his job as governor — an increase of five points since November — according to a new poll published Thursday from Roanoke College.
The new poll also revealed Youngkin’s disapproval rating is down six points from November, standing at 35%. According to pollsters, the numbers “mark Youngkin’s highest approval rating and lowest unfavorable rating recorded by the Roanoke College Poll during his time in office.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: “We Need to Know What Trudeau Knew” Poilievre Says on Election Interference
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says that Liberals have “deep ties” to China and that a public inquiry is needed to find out what exactly Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knew about Beijing’s election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
“We do need a public inquiry that can requisition documents and force testimony under oath,” Poilievre told True North in a sit down interview with Andrew Lawton in London, Ont. “But we also need Parliament to continue its examination.”
“We need to know what Justin Trudeau and his top staff knew,” he continued. “There’s reports that CSIS was briefing them about the way in which Beijing was supporting Justin Trudeau and giving money to his foundation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Military Defines “Racism” As Denying You Have Racist Beliefs
Canada’s military is hurdling forward with a new “anti-racist” policy informed by the concepts of critical race theory and white privilege.
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has redefined being racist as anybody who believes in “equality but not equity” or those who “refuse to engage in self-reflection and education to address their own” supposedly racist beliefs.
This is according to the Department of National Defence’s (DND) Director Anti-Racism Implementation “Anti-Racism Toolkit”, which is meant to be taught to serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Were Chinese Communist Police Stations Used for Election Interference?
An alleged Chinese police station operates a ten-minute car ride away from Liberal MP Han Dong’s riding, where intelligence officials say Canadians of Chinese origin were coerced to vote for Dong.
The alleged Warden Ave. police station neighbouring Toronto’s Don Valley North district was named last year as a station that Chinese state actors use to coerce expatriated citizens to behave in the interests of the Chinese party.
Last week, anonymous sources at Canada’s intelligence service told media that Beijing preferred Dong as the 2019 Liberal candidate for Don Valley North. The sources also told Global News that voters were bussed into Dong’s electoral district with fake addresses and were coerced into voting in Dong’s favour.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Aggro-Culture: Farmers’ Protest Brings Brussels’ EU Quarter to a Standstill
Convoys of tractors brought traffic in Brussels to a standstill Friday, as thousands of Belgian farmers protested the Flemish regional government’s plans to limit nitrogen emissions from agriculture.
Some 2,700 tractors rolled into Brussels from the Flanders region, according to police estimates, filling the streets with a cacophony of honks as farmers vented their anger over the planned cuts, which they say threaten to put many of them out of business.
“It’s an economic and social catastrophe,” said Nele Kempeneers, a spokesperson for Belgian farmers’ association Boerenbond, one of the unions that organized the protest. “A lot of farms will have to limit the amount of animals that they keep, or simply close down.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Corruption Scandal: MEPs Eva Kaili and Marc Tarabella to Stay in Pre-Trial Jail Detention
The pre-trial jail detention of MEPs Eva Kaili and Marc Tarabella, who are accused of being involved in the cash-for-favour scheme that has engulfed the European Parliament, was on Friday extended by Belgian authorities.
Greek MEP Kaili, who was arrested and jailed in early December, has had her detention extended by two months, the Federal prosecutor’s office announced on Friday. Her Belgian counterpart will appear before judges again in a month.
Both have been charged with participation in a criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering as part of an investigation into the illicit lobbying allegedly carried out by Qatar and Morocco in a bid to influence EU decision-making.
Both countries have vehemently denied the claims.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ECJ Ruling on Forest Policy is About Foreign Domination Not Environment, Says Former Polish PM
Former Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has criticized the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling giving environmentalists the right to question forestry management decisions, stating that it has less to do with protecting nature and is directed at giving foreign organizations the right to block decisions.
The ECJ ruling sided with the European Commission, which alleged that Poland’s forest management law violates the EU animal and bird settlement directive and that environmental organizations should have the right to legally challenge plans for managing forestry resources.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Needs New NATO Without US — Orban
Europe needs its own military bloc free of American influence, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Swiss magazine Weltwoche on Thursday. The politician accused the US of dragging Europe into a conflict that cannot be won and risking a global war.
“The solution would be a European NATO,” Orban said, arguing that America’s desire for further expansion of its influence is what led to the current tensions between the West and Russia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France Green-Lights Biometric Medical ID
French data protection agency CNIL has greenlit the use of facial biometrics for the verification of users of the country’s upcoming digital health card, the Carte Vitale.
According to a report by French news outlet The Connexion, CNIL claims that facial recognition will make the health card app more “secure.” However, facial recognition on the Carte Vitale app will only be used until the country’s upcoming national digital ID, the France Identite, is available.
France Identite will replace or complement traditional physical identity cards.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Train Crash May Have Been Due to Outdated Signalling System, Investigation Finds
Reports of potential “human error” have emerged following Tuesday’s fatal train crash in Greece.
As the search for missing passengers continues, an investigation launched by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has pointed to failings in the train’s signalling system and a lack of investment in the railway service over the last number of decades.
According to researchers, if this equipment was functional it could have prevented the train crash which killed more than 50 people.
But anger is growing, as thousands of people, including rail workers, took to the streets on Thursday to confront the government on a degrading railway system.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian President Honors Outgoing Czech Premier Zeman as She Hails Visegrad Alliance
Hungarian President Katalin Novak presented the Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit to her outgoing Czech counterpart, Milos Zeman, at a ceremony in Prague on Friday as she expressed her appreciation for his 33-year-long political career on behalf of all Hungarians.
The honor was presented at a farewell meeting at Prague Castle following a ceremony involving the caste guard and the Czech military band. Both Czech and Hungarian flags were flown over the courtyard, and the two nations’ heads of state stood for their respective national anthems.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Indigenous Sami Occupying Norwegian Govt Buildings to Protest Wind Farm Dragged Out by Cops
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Police on Thursday removed activists from the entrance to two Norwegian government offices as campaigners continued their protest against a wind farm that they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer in Arctic Norway.
The activists, mainly teenagers, began their protest a week ago and have been blocking the entrance to several ministries in the Norwegian capital since Monday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kaczynski: ‘Biden Has Interesting Ideas on Polish Role in Security Architecture’
The leader of the conservatives ruling in Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, told Polish TVP public TV and radio that U.S. President Joe Biden “revealed some interesting ideas about the role of Poland in the new security architecture” during his trip to Warsaw,
Kaczynski refused to be drawn into providing details but remarked that the ideas seemed “highly coherent” and “offered a promising perspective for the new security architecture in this part of the world with a major role played by Poland.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
One in Five Germans Fear Green Agenda Will Destroy Their Jobs
Around 20 per cent of Germans reportedly fear for their jobs amid the country’s green agenda push, research has reportedly found.
A survey done by the German Trade Union Confederation has reportedly found that one in five employees now fear for the future of their jobs as a result of the country’s push for green agenda measures aimed at curbing climate change.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sex Crimes Have Spiked 75 Per Cent in Ireland Since 2011: Report
The number of sex crimes recorded each year in Ireland has increased by 75 per cent since 2011, according to a report on Wednesday.
Ireland has reportedly seen a massive spike in the number of sexual offences recorded in the country on a yearly basis, with the figure said to have increased by over 75 per cent since 2011.
The revelation coincides with ongoing anti-immigration protests which have partly focused on the idea that insufficiently vetted migrant males arriving from abroad could endanger women and children in the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Lockdown Govt Wanted to ‘Lock Up’ Nigel Farage for Posting Pic in Pub
Disgraced former Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s team reportedly sought to lock up Brexit leader Nigel Farage in 2020 for supposedly breaching Chinese coronavirus lockdown rules by having a pint in a pub.
In the latest round of the “lockdown files”, a series of some 100,000 text messages from ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock leaked to The Telegraph newspaper by Hancock biographer and journalist Isabel Oakeshott, Mr Hancock was allegedly shown to have sought to imprison Nigel Farage after the Brexiteer tweeted a picture of himself in a pub shortly after returning from an overseas trip to attend a Donald Trump rally in America, which at the time would have required that he self-isolate for at least two weeks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: A Day in Khan’s London: Triple Stabbing, Home Invasion Knifing, Man Set on Fire
The British capital of London saw two days of horrific violence to start the week, with Monday alone seeing a man knifed multiple times during an aggravated burglary, three teens hospitalised in a triple stabbing, and a man set on fire.
The first major incident in the city, where Labour leftist Sadiq Khan serves as Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner, took place in the early hours of Monday morning, and saw a man stabbed in the back and arms multiple times during a break-in in Highbury Grange, Islington, according to MyLondon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Just Stop Oil Protesters Blocking Road to Buckingham Palace Glue Themselves to the Mall
Police have removed and arrested 25 Just Stop Oil protesters who had glued themselves to the road of The Mall outside of Buckingham Palace.
Specialist officers used debonding liquid in plastic syringes to free the protesters who had glued themselves to the ground or to each other.
The liquid was squirted into the activists’ hands, which allowed the police to separate them before they searched and detained the campaigners.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London’s Labour Mayor Says People Who Disagree With His ULEZ Expansion Are ‘Far Right’
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has made the audacious claim that opponents of his proposed expansion to the city’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) are members of the far right.
The Labour mayor made the claim during a People’s Question Time event on Thursday evening. He sparked a furious backlash among members of the audience for attempting to discredit those campaigning against his plans to roll out the ULEZ scheme, which sees users of the most polluting vehicles charged £12.50 (€14.12) a day for driving in the city, across the Greater London Authority boundary.
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UK: Rocker Rod Stewart: ‘If the Ukrainians Lose it’s the End of Civilization as We Know it’
Veteran rocker Rod Stewart has no doubt what outcome of the Ukraine-Russia war would most benefit humanity, telling an interviewer he’s backing Ukraine because, “If the Ukrainians lose it’s the end of civilization as we know it.”
Stewart pledged his support for Ukraine while visiting a hospital in Essex, England, adding more fighter jets from NATO members, specifically F-16s, would help the Ukraine cause.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Top Scientist Changed Story on Wuhan Lab Leak After Receiving Millions in Grants From Fauci
A top British scientist declared in 2020 that Covid most likely leaked from a lab in China but mysteriously changed his story in a complete U-turn just a few days later.
Danish-born and British-educated scientist Kristian Andersen raised the alarm in January 2020, shortly after the virus had spread globally.
Andersen stated that the coronavirus looked “engineered” and determined that he believed it must have leaked from a laboratory.
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Vigilantes or Vandals? ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ Target Brussels SUVs
On Tuesday evening, so-called “tyre extinguisher” activists were busy in Brussels, targeting 41 SUVs in the city’s Flagey neighbourhood. The activists left leaflets on the windshields of the vehicles, stating that their large vehicles “kill” by the significant quantities of greenhouse gasses they emit.
The action sparked debate online, with some defending the eco-activist vigilantes and others denouncing their handiwork as petty vandalism.
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Grenade Explosion at Courthouse in Montenegro Kills 1, Injures 5
Montenegro explosion was preceded by a number of hoax bomb alerts
One person was killed and at least five others were injured on Friday when a hand grenade exploded at the entrance of a courthouse in Montenegro’s capital, police said.
Police spokeswoman Carna Rastoder said the man who detonated the grenade was killed.
“For now, we have information that five people were injured,” Rastoder said without giving additional details.
Police later said the injured people were hospitalized and that their injuries were not serious.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Bakhmut “Practically Surrounded” As Wagner Chief Urges Zelensky Surrender His Forces ‘To Save Lives’
Wagner Group is heavily involved in fighting to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut, and its head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said at this point the strategic city on Donetsk Oblast is “practically surrounded”.
Prigozhin issued a video message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. Donned in military fatigues, he urged for the order be given for Ukrainian forces to retreat in order to save soldiers’ lives. “Units of the private military company Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut. Only one route (out) is left,” he said. “The pincers are closing.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Blinken Unveils $400 Million More in Arms With Ukraine Against the Ropes in Bakhmut
As we reported earlier Ukrainian forces are nearly completely encircled in the key eastern city of Bakhmut, a dire situation which President Zelensky himself has increasingly acknowledged in a series of statements this week. Front line commanders have also said that Russian artillery has been relentless and “around the clock” in its sustainment.
As expected, Ukraine’s leadership has pleaded for more urgent weapons and ammo from its Western backers. On Friday Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new package of ammunition and other defense support, likely timed to give a mere symbolic answer to Ukrainians’ desperate appeals for more help from Bakhmut.
It’s valued at $400 million, and as international reports describe, “The package will be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval during an emergency,” according to Blinken’s description of the aid.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
India G20: Bitter Divisions Over Ukraine War Mar Talks
Angry exchanges over Russia’s war in Ukraine have dominated G20 talks, with hosts India saying the disagreements mean there will be no joint statement.
The US secretary of state said the meeting had been marred by Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified war”.
Russia’s foreign minister accused the West of “blackmail and threats”.
India had wanted to focus on other issues affecting developing nations, but it said the differences over Ukraine “could not be reconciled”.
“We tried, but the gap between the countries was too much,” India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar said.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
NBC Reporter Goes to Crimea, Shocks Viewers by Telling the Truth
Mainstream media correspondents for major US networks rarely, if ever, report from inside Crimea and certainly are nowhere near Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine. However, this week NBC News chief international correspondent Keir Simmons went to Sevastopol, surrounded by a significant Russian military presence given it is home to the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, and in a live segment admitted that it’s not at all realistic Zelensky and Ukrainian forces can ever hope to take Crimea.
This is especially as the “the people there… view themselves as Russian.” Simmons noted that “This is the closest that any US news crew has got to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in many many years.” He explained that “Vladimir Putin will be determined to defend that port — to not have it take it away from him — he may well do pretty much anything to try to achieve that.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Has No Immediate Plans to Repair or Reactivate Nord Stream Pipelines
Six months ago, a series of explosions caused damage to Russia’s undersea Nord Stream gas pipeline. The pipeline’s future has been uncertain due to rising tensions between Moscow and Washington, particularly with an anticipated spring offensive in Ukraine. Earlier this year, there were discussions about the possibility of repairs within a year by the German energy company Uniper. However, sources now tell Reuters that Russia plans to “seal up” the pipelines.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russians Pound Access Routes to Ukraine’s Besieged Bakhmut
CHASIV YAR, Ukraine, March 3 (Reuters) — Russian troops and mercenaries rained artillery on the last access routes to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Friday, bringing Moscow closer to its first major victory in half a year after the bloodiest fighting of the war.
The head of Russia’s Wagner private army, speaking in a video recorded some 7 km (4 miles) north of Bakhmut, said the city, which has been blasted to ruins, was now almost completely surrounded with only one road still open for Ukraine’s troops.
Reuters observed intense Russian shelling of routes leading west out of Bakhmut, an apparent attempt to block Ukrainian forces’ access in and out of the city. A bridge in the adjacent town of Khromove was damaged by Russian tank shelling.
Ukrainian soldiers were working to repair damaged roads and more troops were heading towards the frontline in a sign that Ukraine was not yet ready to give up the city. To the west, Ukrainians were digging new trenches for defensive positions.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine has said it will defend ‘fortress Bakhmut’ for as long as possible, but this week officials conceded the situation was becoming increasingly difficult.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
War Tourism is Flourishing in Ukraine’s Destroyed Cities
After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Bucha, a town near Kyiv that was not previously known for tourism, became a popular travel destination.
This was caused by photos that circulated around the world thanks to the media. According to news outlet Business Insider, the cost of such a trip is around €250. Companies also guarantee an English-speaking guide and conversations with the local population, and emphasize that visitors only travel using “safe routes.”
“Usually they come alone, sometimes hitchhiking,” said Jakub Stasiak, a journalist and volunteer currently in Ukraine. “They go to destroyed places, for example, to hear explosions and take a photo for Instagram,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan Grow Harsher
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have once again been made even more stringent by the country’s lawmakers. Amid a long-running international outcry against the notorious blasphemy laws, the National Assembly of Pakistan on January 17 unanimously passed “The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2023,” which increased the minimum punishment for those found guilty of insulting the Islamic Prophet Mohammad’s companions, wives and family members from three years to 10 years’ imprisonment, along with a fine of 1 million Pakistani rupees ($4,122).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
India’s Largest Whiskey Company Looks to Fill Market Vacuum in Russia Created by Sanction
The largest producer of whiskey in India, Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD), began unprecedented liquor exports to Russia last month.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The Tesla Model 3 from Shanghai outsold every SUV on the Australian market. More new cars came from China in February than South Korea, with a Hyundai absent from the top 10.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Surveillance cameras made by Chinese companies will be removed from the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney and two other regional locations.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Up to 30 men chanted the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ and ‘Hail Mary’ as they walked down King Street in Newtown, Sydney, on Friday night.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Channel migrants will be barred from using human rights laws to avoid removal from Britain under measures to be unveiled by Suella Braverman.
Tough powers will be contained in the Home Secretary’s landmark immigration Bill due to be published early next week.
It will severely restrict the way claims under the Human Rights Act can be used by asylum seekers arriving by ‘irregular routes’ such as across the Channel, the Daily Mail understands.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Gang Stole Identities of 3,000 Texans to Give to Illegal Immigrants
The Texas Department of Public Safety sent thousands of Texas driver’s licenses to a crime group in a security lapse that is being investigated, the Dallas Morning News reports.
At least 3,000 Texans of Asian descent were targeted in what DPS Chief Steve McCraw described as “a Chinese organized crime group based in New York working in a number of different states.” According to Breitbart News, the gang used the fraudulently obtained identities to give to illegal alien look-alikes in New York.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Police Catch African Migrant Sexually Assaulting Woman on Tram
A migrant from Africa was caught in the act of sexually assaulting a young woman aboard a tram in France this week, authorities say.
The disturbing incident unfolded during the early afternoon on Monday in La Courneuve, a commune in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Posing as Minor Who Killed Father of Four That Took Him in Gets 60 Years in Prison
A 25-year-old migrant who posed as a minor to illegally cross the border was sentenced to 60 years for killing the father of four who took him in.
Yery Noel Medina Ulloa of Honduras pleaded guilty Friday in Florida to stabbing Francisco Javier Cuellar, 46, to death in 2021 — days after the Florida man took the illegal migrant into his care.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYC Official Says City is Spending an Estimated $5M a Day on Housing, Feeding Migrants
New York City is spending nearly $5 million a day to house and feed thousands of migrants — but the Big Apple is still barely getting a dime in aid from President Biden and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The mind-blowing cost of the crisis was revealed Friday afternoon after city Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol told a City Council panel that Gotham’s Department of Homeless Services and Health & Hospitals each spend an average of $363 daily to provide food and shelter for just a single migrant.
Given that there are more than 30,000 migrants currently being housed in city taxpayer-funded facilities, that would amount to a daily staggering bill of $10.89 million.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Population Replacement Progressing in Spain With the Government Now Pressing the Accelerator
Nearly 5.5 million foreigners, more than a third of them from Latin American countries, live in Spain, according to official data. This is out of a total population of 47.6 million people, and this does not take into account all those who are in Spain illegally or the increasing number of Spanish citizens with an immigration background.
In terms of having its own population replaced by non-European immigrants and their offspring, Spain is still lagging behind countries like France, Britain, Germany and Sweden, but it has been catching up fast of late.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Migrant Tried to Burn Down Govt Building After Being Denied Cash Handouts
A migrant is said to have tried to burn down a local government building after staff reportedly refused to give him cash handouts.
Abdulrahman Mohammed Seni, originally from Chad, is said to have tried to set fire to the children’s services building at Leeds County Council using a lighter and an aerosol can.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An Arizona school board member wearing cat ears during a meeting said she would oppose having a contract with a Christian university over the religious and Biblical beliefs they espouse, Fox News Digital found.
The Washington Elementary School District, which serves students in the Phoenix and Glendale areas, had an ongoing contract with Arizona Christian University for five years, enabling their student teachers to be placed in its schools for field experience. The contract opened up opportunities for recruitment and hiring.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In response to Hershey Canada’s International Women’s Day campaign featuring a trans-identified biological male, Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing announced an anti-woke competing chocolate brand with two varieties: Jeremy’s Chocolate.
The new candy line features two products, a chocolate bar called “She/Her,” and another with nuts called “He/Him.” The launch video, which featured Daily Wire personalities Brett Cooper and Michael Knowles, Boering said “our friends over at Hersey’s don’t even know what a woman is.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-NCAA Swimmer Gaines Warns Biological Males Will ‘Take Advantage’ Of Chance to Win Against Females
Riley Gaines, the former NCAA swimmer who has become an advocate for fairness to women in sports, on Friday warned those attending the annual CPAC gathering that allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports is creating opportunities for some transgender athletes to exploit the situation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
He Has No Idea What He’s Talking About
Doug Emhoff says ‘toxic masculinity’ is the expectation that men need to be “tough” — like that’s a bad thing.
Of course men need to be tough in order to cope with the hardships of life and protect their family.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
San Diego Cardinal Says Gay Sex Shouldn’t be a Barrier to Communion
ROME — Progressive San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy has doubled down in his defense of active homosexuality, asserting that gay sex is not necessarily a serious sin.
Individual conscience always trumps Catholic moral teaching, the cardinal asserts in a March 2 article in the Jesuit-run America magazine, so all those who think they should be receiving Holy Communion at Mass should be encouraged to do so, regardless of the objective evil of their moral choices.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tennessee Bans Youth Exposure to Drag Shows
Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee this week signed into law a measure barring drag shows on public property or in venues in which a child might see them.
“This bill gives confidence to parents that they can take their kids to a public or private show and will not be blindsided by a sexualized performance,” wrote Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who sponsored the bill, on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A new poll suggests that ‘THE MESSAGE’ in terms of social engineering via television is failing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The businesswoman behind the controversial show in which dancers dress in bondage gear and thongs to perform handstands in front of babies and parents has been revealed.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Footage has emerged of dancers dressed in bondage gear and underwear performing handstands in front of babies and parents at an ‘absolutely abhorrent’ sensory event in London.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Dr Charlotte Proudman, who styles herself as #thefeministbarrister, has condemned Harry Potter as “a little patriarch” who lives in “a largely male, white fairytale”.
“I’ve never liked Harry Potter,” wrote the lawyer, who runs the Right to Equality project, on social media, in reference to the popular children’s character created by Joanne ‘JK’ Rowling.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Hungarian President Honors Outgoing Czech Premier Zeman as She Hails Visegrad Alliance…”
Zeman is not a “Premier”, but an “Outgoing President”, though he used to be a Premier before that…
Our New President, being a NATO General, is probably going to work with our Ukrainian Government of the Czech Republic, on getting the Czech Republic out of Visegrad, divide and rule, you know the tune…
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TRUE or FALSE?
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Steve Kirsch’s newsletter
https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/vaccinated-thailand-princess-bajrakitiyabha
Vaccinated Thailand Princess Bajrakitiyabha dies suddenly at age 44.
Immediate CPR unsuccessful. ECMO unsuccessful. What a tragedy. It was Thailand which PROVED that the COVID vaccines CAUSE heart injury in nearly 30% of young adults.
The high symbolic value of this loss at least has a chance of raising consciousness of the problem, namely that the public is fed lies from the start of this crisis. And that the powers in charge of protecting the country operate on the same lies, the only question being whether they are guilty of conspiring while in the know or just as duped as the rest. Different peoples will make up their minds with different outcomes, but I know the Thais aren’t taking this lightly.
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Completely lacks interest afterwards
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America’s Nuclear Missile Fields; Defending America’s Satellites 60 Minutes Full Episodes
https://youtu.be/Zy2RGu2L2DI