The German government’s characterization of farmers’ protests as “far right” has so far failed to deter the protesters. Meanwhile, the Green Party said the greed of profiteering supermarket chains prompted the protests.
In other news, the United States and Britain launched a series of air strikes early today on Iranian-supported Houthis in Yemen, in response to the latter’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Dora, DV, JW, LP, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
Inflation Increases More Than Expected in December
Consumer prices increased more than expected in December as investors continue to look for signs the Federal Reserve can begin to cut interest rates.
The December Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed prices ticked up slightly at 0.3% over last month, an increase from the 0.2% seen in November. Prices rose 3.4% over the prior year, an increase from the 3.1% increase seen the month prior.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
World Bank Improves Forecast for Polish GDP Growth
The World Bank expects the Polish economy to grow by 2.6 percent in 2024 and 3.4 percent in 2025, an increase of 0.2 percent, despite pessimism about growth prospects in the global economy.
The bank’s analysts predict that the first half of the 2020s will produce the slowest global growth rates for over 30 years. The slowdown will affect developing economies too, which will grow by 3.9 percent. The World Bank further states that many countries will have GDP rates lower than at the start of the pandemic.
Poland’s prospects are much brighter in comparison. Despite predicting that the Polish economy will grow by 0.5 percent in 2023, and not 0.7 percent as previously expected, the bank now forecasts a stronger rebound for the Polish economy this and next year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authorities Treat Pro-Hamas and Anti-Drag Protests in Very Different Ways
After years of riots, including the latest outburst of pro-Hamas attacks targeting synagogues, churches, and Jewish restaurants, it turns out that there is a way to stop them after all.
New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella recently filed civil rights charges against a Neo-Nazi group which had been protesting outside a drag event at a cafe.
In December, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed civil rights charges against the same group for harassing drag events and migrant housing facilities. Campbell claimed that the Nationalist Social Club had “engaged in a concerted attempt to target and terrorize people across Massachusetts and interfere with their rights.”
The National Socialists didn’t actually do anything more (and arguably less) than BLM and Hamas supporters have spent the last three years doing to people around the country.
In New Hampshire, they were accused of banging on the windows and making intimidating gestures. In Massachusetts, they were charged with trespassing, intimidating hotel staff and disrupting the operations of hotels. They’ve also been accused of minor vandalism.
Name a leftist aligned protest movement that doesn’t routinely do all of these things…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
B-1 Bomber Crashes While Trying to Land at South Dakota Air Force Base. the Crew Safely Ejects
WASHINGTON (AP) — A B-1 Lancer bomber from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota crashed while trying to land and all four crew members ejected safely, the Air Force said.
The B-1 was on a training mission when the crash occurred Thursday evening, the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth said in a statement.
Visibility was poor, with freezing temperatures and low clouds, according to automated weather reporting equipment recording airfield conditions. The military is investigating the crash.
Three crew members were treated on base for minor injuries and released, according to a statement Friday. The fourth crew member was at a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The B-1 is a conventional supersonic bomber that first came into service in the 1980s. It has been used to support the U.S. bomber presence in the Asia-Pacific region and to conduct close air support missions in U.S. operations in Afghanistan. It does not carry nuclear weapons.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Jan. 6 Committee Coordinated With Fani Willis in Georgia Trump Prosecution: Report
Fani Willis’ Georgia election probe into former President Donald Trump had the help of the Jan. 6 committee in its early days.
According to a new report from Politico, the Jan. 6 Committee staff met with staff working for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in April of 2022.
Over the course of the next several weeks the committee staff coordinated with Willis’ team, answered questions, and shared insights into Trump’s alleged criminal activity with Jan. 6 and interference in the Georgia election.
When Willis was pressured by Congressional Republicans recently about the matter, she refused and said that the questions were in direct opposition to the “well-established principles of federalism and separation of powers” in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brooklyn Synagogue Forced to Shut Down After Radical Students’ Secret Tunnel Sparks Safety Concerns
The city has issued both a partial vacate order and an emergency work order for a Brooklyn synagogue complex after the discovery of a secret tunnel dug by extremist students from an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic group.
An investigation revealed that the 5-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide tunnel ran for about 60 feet beneath a single-story extension directly behind two four-story buildings at 784 and 786 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, the Department of Buildings said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Business Owners Say San Francisco is ‘Getting Worse’ for Restaurants Amidst Homeless Crisis: Report
San Francisco business owners in the city’s Little Saigon neighborhood are opposing a “drop-in health and resource center” that will provide health services for the homeless in the city’s Tenderloin district as the homeless crisis continues to hurt local restaurants.
Little Saigon is “one of the few commercial corridors in the Tenderloin, a neighborhood where nearly every block is impacted by homelessness, open drug use and mental illness,” according to an article published Thursday from The San Francisco Chronicle.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Public Schools Lost $23M Worth of Laptops, iPads and Other Devices in 1 Year: Report
An annual report from the Inspector General of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) revealed that millions of dollars worth of tech devices were reported lost or stolen “without appropriate search and recovery efforts.”
The fiscal year 2023 annual report released Tuesday states CPS schools reported 77,505 tech devices as lost or stolen during the 2021-22 school year, totaling well over $23 million in original purchase price.
The discovery, as a result of the district’s first post-COVID-19 inventory, calls the numbers “unacceptably high” and says the oversight process is in need of a “serious overhaul.”
The report said the missing items included laptops, iPads, Wi-Fi hotspots, printers, document cameras and interactive whiteboards.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Communist Party Member is Second-Largest Foreign Owner of American Land
The second-largest foreign owner of American land is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member, a new report has revealed.
According to Land Report, Chinese billionaire Chen Tianqiao owns approximately 200,000 acres of land in Oregon.
Chen is the founder, chairman, and CEO of global investment firm Shanda Group.
According to Chinese-language media reports, Chen has extensive ties to China’s Communist government, including CCP membership.
He also holds executive roles in CCP-affiliated organizations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Congress Targets Ivy League Schools’ Tax-Exempt Status Over Antisemitism on Campus
The Congressional Ways and Means Committee in the House has suggested that due to investigations into antisemitism at several universities, the colleges could be losing their tax-exempt status as nonprofits.
After December’s congressional hearing over antisemitism in education with MIT, Harvard, and UPenn and subsequent resignations of Harvard and UPenn’s presidents, House Republicans are now taking aim at the tax-exempt status of multiple universities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
COVID mRNA Shots Bypassed Laws Protecting Americans, Expert Warns
A leading expert has warned the public that government officials and pharmaceutical companies bypassed “laws and regulations” that are in place to protect Americans when Covid mRNA shots were rolled out for public use.
The warning comes from a new analysis on the creation of the mRNA shots by Debbie Lerman, a graduate of Harvard and retired science writer.
Lerman uncovered evidence showing that the vaccines, that were purported to help victims fight the COVID-19 virus, were imposed on Americans by bypassing all of the “laws or regulations that we count on to protect us from potentially harmful, or deadly, medical products…”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Cross-Country Winter Storm to Hit Nearly Half of US With Blizzard Conditions, Severe Weather
A storm system over the Rockies and the Southwest promises to deliver blizzard conditions and severe weather across the eastern half of the nation over the next few days.
The FOX Forecast Center expects a band of heavy snow will fall from Missouri to Michigan, with severe thunderstorms possible from Texas through the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic.
Similar to the past two storm systems, major cities in the Northeast will miss out on seeing accumulating snow, with temperatures simply too warm to support frozen precipitation along the coast, but it’ll be a much different story along the Great Lakes.
The storm system has already produced blizzard conditions on some mountains in the Pacific Northwest and triggered a deadly avalanche in California.
Major impacts are expected to begin late on Thursday across the Plains and last until the storm system pushes into Canada and off the Eastern Seaboard on Saturday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DeSantis Violated ‘Soros-Backed’ District Attorney’s First Amendment Rights With Suspension: Court
A federal appeals court ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) violated the First Amendment rights of former state attorney Andrew Warren when he suspended him in 2022.
The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Wednesday vacated and remanded the case to U.S. district court to “reexamine whether DeSantis would have suspended Warren based solely on the unprotected activities that motivated the suspension.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Billionaire Elon Musk claimed that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies will result in people dying, as it has been revealed that airline companies are prioritizing diversity hiring over safety.
The comments were made following horrific reports of significant upticks in near-collisions on airport tarmacs over the past year, as well as the shocking situation that recently occurred on an Alaska Airlines flight when a panel blew off the side of a two-month-old Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft, causing depressurization of the cabin and the need for an emergency landing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Extremist students from an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic group secretly hired migrant laborers to help them build a controversial tunnel at the sect’s world headquarters in Crown Heights — all to fulfill what they felt was a religious obligation to expand the holy site, The Post has learned.
Six renegade members of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement secretly began digging the 3-foot-high, 20-foot-wide, 50-foot-long tunnel themselves, using crude instruments and their hands. They stuffed the dirt into their pockets so that their work wouldn’t be detected by the sect’s leaders and wider community, a source in the Orthodox community told The Post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Harvard University is being sued by students for what they claim is an “antisemitism cancer” growing on campus, accusing the institution of “hir[ing] professors who support anti-Jewish violence” and “ignoring students’ pleas for protection.”
“Harvard and its administrators… directly and intentionally discriminate against… Jewish Harvard student[s],” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Kasowitz Benson Torres (KBT), a major New York City law firm that has been investigating colleges for allegedly violating Jewish students’ Title VI civil rights.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
It has been revealed that a Palestinian college at which students from Harvard can attend a summer course, focused on public health in the area, glorified “martyrs” in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre.
The “Palestine Social Medicine” course is set to take place in August at Birzeit University in the West Bank, whose official X account sent out a post expressing the aforementioned sentiment three days after the Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist group began carrying out its indiscriminate killing spree in Israel.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Failed to Track More Than $1B in Weapons Sent to Ukraine: Watchdog
WASHINGTON — The US military failed to track more than $1 billion in weapons sent to Ukraine — which they were required to keep tabs on — between February and June of last year, according to a new Pentagon Inspector General report published Thursday.
The news comes as Congress again gears up to debate continuing aid to the war-torn country as the second anniversary of its invasion by Russia nears.
The IG report analyzed the Defense Department’s “enhanced end-use monitoring” (EEUM) program, required for certain types of smaller arms most susceptible to being intercepted and rerouted to the black market.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A former Atlanta professor claims he was fired for refusing to inflate students’ grades after they complained his class was difficult.
Former Spelman College Professor Kendrick Morales told “Fox & Friends” Thursday that when he told the school he would not offer his economics students easier work and raise their marks on assignments, the school boosted the grades anyway and later let him go.
“They definitely applied some pressure on me to raise grades above what I thought was reasonable, which I thought was totally against what I was supposed to do,” he told host Lawrence Jones.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Smirking Hunter Biden Pleads Not Guilty to 9 Federal Tax Charges at LA Court, Gets June Trial Date
LOS ANGELES — Welcome back to “The Surreal Life” starring Hunter Biden.
The first son pleaded not guilty Thursday to nine charges alleging that he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019 on foreign earnings that are the focus of a House impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden
Hunter, 53, nervously fidgeted with a pen before being given a trial date of June 20 — right in the middle of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.
He faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspect Busted for Fatal Stabbing of NYC Autistic Man in Apparent Mixup Over Backback: Cops
The suspect accused of stabbing an autistic Bronx man to death after a possible mixup over a backpack was arrested and charged with murder this week, authorities said.
Gregory Hightower, 31, was nabbed Wednesday afternoon — five days after he allegedly chased Tyrone Padilla into the lobby of his Fordham Heights building and stabbed him in the neck and armpit, cops said.
Investigators speculated that Padilla, who family members say suffered from autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder, might have inadvertently picked up the suspect’s backpack, sparking the deadly Friday morning attack.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
The Wellness Company Announces a Six Million Dollar Advertising Commitment With Rumble for 2024
The Wellness Company has declared a $6 million advertising partnership with Rumble for the year 2024, signifying a robust commitment to alternative technology and the ideals of free speech. According to Foster Coulson, Chairman and Founder of The Wellness Company, this collaboration is more than just a financial agreement; it represents a significant investment in a parallel economy. Coulson praises Rumble as a pioneering free speech platform, essential during a period when conservative voices faced challenges from mainstream tech.
The Wellness Company, rapidly emerging as a leading alternative to government healthcare backed by Big Pharma, is spearheaded by notable figures like Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Dr. Harvey Risch, and Dr. Jim Thorp.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s NY ‘Fraud’ Trial Judge Engoron Receives Bomb Threat at Home
Arthur Engoron, the radical judge overseeing President Donald Trump’s politically motivated civil “fraud” trial in New York, has received a bomb threat at home, according to reports.
The Daily Beast is reporting that bomb squad members rushed to Justice Arthur F. Engoron’s house on Long Island on Thursday.
The report cited a reliable source with knowledge of the situation.
The source reportedly told the outlet someone threatened to blow up Engoron’s residence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s Fox News Town Hall Crushes Haley-DeSantis Iowa GOP Debate in Ratings by Whopping 64%
Ratings for former President Donald Trump’s Wednesday night Fox News town hall in Iowa outpaced those for the simultaneous CNN debate between former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 64%, according to data released Thursday.
The 77-year-old GOP frontrunner headlined the most-watched TV show on the night, per early data published by Nielsen Media, with 4.4 million total viewers seeing his hour-long performance in Des Moines.
Just 2.7 million people watched Haley and DeSantis square off for two hours at Drake University in Iowa’s capital city.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump proclaimed, “I did nothing wrong” as he was unexpectedly allowed to address a New York court Thursday at the close of the civil fraud trial that threatens his business empire.
The dramatic moment unfolded after three Trump lawyers each made their final pitch to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, arguing that the claims and proposed $370 million fine against the former president were “manufactured.”
“I did nothing wrong, they should pay me for what we’ve had to go through,” Trump, 77, said of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, which is prosecuting the case and seeking the enormous penalty.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
United Flight Makes Emergency Landing Only Minutes After Takeoff Due to ‘Open Door’ Light
A United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Wednesday when one of the “open door” indicator lights came on shortly after takeoff.
Chicago-bound Flight 2434 left Sarasota, Florida with its 123 passengers and five crew members at 3:42 pm, and touched down in Tampa Bay less than an hour later.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Army Struggling to Recruit White Soldiers and the Reason is Obvious
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news
People reacted to the news that the U.S. Army is struggling to recruit white soldiers by asking why they would want to serve a regime that hates them.
A review of internal data by Military.com exposes why Army leadership are so concerned.
“A total of 44,042 new Army recruits were categorized by the service as white in 2018, but that number has fallen consistently each year to a low of 25,070 in 2023, with a 6% dip from 2022 to 2023 being the most significant drop. No other demographic group has seen such a precipitous decline, though there have been ups and downs from year to year,” reports the website.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating whether Boeing failed to make sure a panel that blew off a jetliner in midflight last week was safe and manufactured to meet the design that regulators approved.
The FAA investigation announced on Thursday (Friday morning AEDT) is focusing on plugs used to fill spots for extra exits when those doors are not required on Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners.
Boeing said it would cooperate with the investigation and one being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The 63-pound door plug that blew off an Alaska Airlines Max 9 was found near Portland, Oregon, and will be examined in the NTSB’s laboratory.
“This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again,” the FAA said in a statement.
“Boeing’s manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they’re legally accountable to meet.”
The FAA notified Boeing of the investigation in a letter dated Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Victim Doubles Down on Epstein’s Tapes in New Interview, Says Bill Clinton’s Face Clearly Visible
A victim who was featured in the recent Jeffrey Epstein document dump has doubled down on her confirmation that the late trafficker made secret recordings of powerful elites.
As Slay News reported, victim Sarah Ransome stated in the testimonies published in the unsealed files that Epstein had recorded tapes of his powerful clients raping underage girls.
Ransome claims Epstein made the tapes so he could blackmail those in the recordings.
She asserts that tapes include secret recordings of Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and billionaire Richard Branson.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has accused Big Tech of engineering electoral outcomes through censorship measures. This comes following YouTube’s banning of a popular conservative online personality who had just conducted an interview with Ramaswamy.
GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and video creator shaneyyricch have both vociferously criticized YouTube.
As per shaneyyricch, his channel had racked up a substantial 150,000 followers and had garnered over 185 million views in merely three months.
Despite this, it was terminated without any warning or given justification by YouTube. A ban slapped on him for violating community rules, he insists, had not been preceded by any strikes against his account.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
X Scores a Win in Defending University of Illinois Student From Discipline Over Online Post
As part of Elon Musk’s pledge in support of free speech, his company X has played a pivotal role in protecting a University of Illinois student from disciplinary measures. The university withdrew its action against Juan David Campolargo following X’s legal intervention. Campolargo, who faced potential expulsion from campus housing over a social media post, found an ally in Musk’s platform.
X disclosed on Wednesday that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had reversed its decision to penalize Campolargo. The student had been under scrutiny for allegedly breaching the university’s code of conduct with a post on X about a closed university event offering free food.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian police have warned residents against posting pictures or videos of porch thieves or ‘pirates’ as this could violate their privacy.
The warning has been issued by Quebec’s provincial police force, The Sûreté du Québec and has been widely criticized by locals online.
Lauren Small-Pennefather, a Montreal West councilor responsible for public security, said packages are stolen outside of homes regularly, especially during holiday season.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Church Fires Linked to Indigenous Mass Graves Scandal — Report
by RT
A spate of fires at Christian churches in Canada could be linked to the discovery of suspected mass graves of indigenous children on the grounds of residential schools previously operated by the Catholic Church, CBC has reported.
At least 33 churches were destroyed or badly damaged by fire between May 2021 and December 2023, the Canadian broadcaster said in a report on Wednesday, with just two of those having been ruled by investigators as accidental. The network added that 24 of the fires were cases of suspected arson, while several more remain under active investigation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Numerous Canadian Universities Embroiled in Class-Action Antisemitism Lawsuits
Six Canadian universities are now facing class-action lawsuits over allegations of rampant antisemitism and an unsafe environment for Jewish students.
The institutions named in the lawsuits include Queen’s University, York University, Concordia University, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of British Columbia, and McMaster University.
The Toronto-based personal injury law firm, Diamond and Diamond, representing the plaintiffs, said that given this issue is similar on university campuses across Canada, it intends to file class actions against other universities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vaughan Man Assaults 4 Jewish People on Way Home From Synagogue
York Regional Police announced that they have arrested a suspect believed to be involved in an assault targeting four Jewish people walking home from a synagogue on Saturday.
The incident occurred around 1:45 p.m. on Saturday near the area of Bathurst Street and Flamingo Road, south of Highway 7.
The man allegedly approached the four people on an electric bicycle.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Anna Stanley via FathomJournal.org
Scandalous Indoctrination: Inside a Kings College Counter-Terrorism Course for UK Civil Servants
A former civil servant, Anna Stanley reports on a counter-terrorism course she attended which she found a deeply, existentially depressing experience. She argues that ‘prestigious’ educational institutions are delivering politically biased, anti-government training, amounting to indoctrination and that extremism and terrorism are misunderstood by civil servants to the point of being a national security risk.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After Dramatic Arrest of 2 Polish MPs, Speaker Postpones Sitting of Parliament
Szymon Holownia, the speaker of the Polish parliament and ally of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has attempted to pour oil on troubled waters with a decision to postpone until next week the sitting of parliament that was due to take place this week.
Holownia assured that his decision will not in any way threaten parliament meeting before the end of January deadline for agreeing on a state budget for this year. If parliament failed to agree to a budget, the president could dissolve the legislature, precipitating early elections.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Government Launches ‘Marketing Campaign’ to Get Children Back to School
A new government push to get children into schools comes at least four years too late, commentators have warned.
Welcoming the back-to-school ad campaign, Toby Young—General Secretary of the Free Speech Union and Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Sceptic (formerly Lockdown Sceptics)—told The European Conservative:
For those of us who criticised the government for closing schools during the pandemic, this is a welcome change. The pity is it’s taken almost four years for the government to issue the correct advice.
During lockdown, the British government—led by Public Health England—became the country’s biggest advertiser, with some advertising campaigns effectively branding those who chose to spend time with their out-of-home loved ones as murderers. Schools were also forced to shut during much of this time, a decision which campaigners say the official COVID Inquiry is now failing to properly scrutinise.
Just a few years on, ministers have launched what has been described as a “nationwide marketing campaign” to push their newfound view that “moments matter, attendance counts.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Crisis in Poland: Conservative MPs Go on Hunger Strike After Their Arrest in the Presidential Palace
The former interior minister Mariusz Kaminski and his deputy Maciej Wasik were elected to serve as MPs in last October’s election, even though their party lost power to a new parliamentary majority. They were both detained in the presidential palace on the evening of Jan. 9.
On Jan. 10, the Law and Justice (PiS) party held a press conference in front of the offices of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, at which they read a statement by Kaminski announcing his hunger strike.
“I treat my sentencing as an act of political revenge,” wrote the former minister. “Therefore, as a political prisoner, I am starting a hunger protest from the first day of my imprisonment.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Deputy Italian Prime Minister Calls for Creation of an EU Army, Consolidation of Power in Brussels
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani has joined the growing chorus calling for the formation of a European Union Army, arguing that sacrificing the national sovereignty of member states is worth the tradeoff for security.
Antonio Tajani, who took over as the leader of the centre-right Forza Italia party following the death of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last year and who currently serves both foreign minister and deputy prime minister in the Giorgia Meloni coalition government, argued that one of the top reforms needed for the European Union is the formation of a collective military among the 27 countries that constitute the bloc.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Army: Commission Floats €100 Billion Defense Fund
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said Tuesday that Brussels is preparing to propose a massive common defense fund of €100 billion.
The details are included in the new European Defense Investment Program (EDIP) that’s set to be presented on February 27th. The program is intended to boost joint arms procurement and ramp up domestic production to prepare for and deter any possible future conflict, primarily with Russia.
“I believe we have to have a huge defense fund to help to accelerate, even probably in the amount of €100 billion,” Breton said at an event organized in the European Parliament by the liberal Renew Group. “I’m convinced we will do this.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Ombudsman Probes ‘Conflict of Interest’ on Child Sexual Exploitation Policy
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly confirmed that her office will investigate a potential conflict of interest involving Europol and a U.S.-based non-profit that coordinates software developers under the umbrella of campaigning against child sexual exploitation.
The group’s positioning as “Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children” means that it can expect to benefit from its role in shaping forthcoming EU laws on child sexual exploitation, according to an article in Euractiv on Monday, January 8th. Thorn has already been involved in high-level EU consulting, going back as far as at least 2020. Critics such as Arda Gerkens—the director of EOKM, Europe’s oldest hotline for reporting online child abuse—have described it as a tech company ‘pretending’ to be an NGO.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Parliament to Investigate Spanish Amnesty Law
The European Parliament has approved as admissible a citizens’ request to review Spain’s proposed amnesty law for Catalan separatists as possibly violating EU treaties, El Debate reports.
The petition, submitted by Rosa Diez, a Spanish former Socialist MP, specifically asks the EU parliament to find out whether the amnesty law complies with articles 2 and 19 of the Treaty on the European Union, as well as with the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Article 2 outlines “European values” including democracy and the rule of law. Article 19 details what the rule of law means in the treaty.
Claims of ‘rule of law’ violations have most recently been used by Brussels to punish conservative governments like Poland and Hungary.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In an exclusive interview with Remix News, Pawel Pietkun, TVP World’s deputy director for correspondents and foreign offices, says that no one expected Poland’s English-language news channel to be taken off the air by Donald Tusk. It is still not clear whether TVP World will soon resume its broadcasting or will simply be shut down despite its undeniable success after two years of existence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Extreme Right’ Smears Fail to Deter German Farmer Protests
German farmers’ protests continue, with a third consecutive day of demonstrations across the country against Olaf Scholz’s planned cuts to diesel subsidies.
Incessant media attempts to label the protests as ‘extreme right’ are failing to convince the wider public. On Wednesday, Rainer Wendt, federal chairman of police union Deutsche Polizeigewerkschaft, described such accusations as a “malicious” smear campaign by the government against what he called a “democratically performed” and “very orderly and disciplined protest.”
Earlier in the week Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, increasingly seen by farmers as a hate figure, tarnished the protests as a tool of extremists as he warned about “fantasies of subversion” among the crowds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Flemish N-VA Leader Floats Prospective ECR Departure After 2024 Euro Elections
The centre-right head of the regionalist Flemish government stirred the pot Tuesday afternoon by strongly insinuating that his New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party could defect from the conservative ECR parliamentary bloc after June’s European elections, citing wider ideological differences between his party and the group.
Jan Jambon serves as minister-president of Flanders and is a leading figure within the N-VA. He made the comments at an event to mark Belgium’s Presidency of the European Council in Antwerp, saying that his party primarily joined the ECR in 2014 to form relations with Britain’s Conservative Party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Forgotten Victims of Revolutionary Wars Finally Get a Proper Burial
The remains of some victims massacred by revolutionaries in 1793 during the Vendée wars, discovered by chance a few years ago in Le Mans, are to be given a burial at the request of the mayor of Le Mans. This would be a rare acknowledgement of the crimes of the Revolution.
In 2009, construction work on a cultural centre in Le Mans, western France, uncovered the bones of 154 men, women, and children massacred during the Battle of Le Mans in December 1793, at the height of the Revolutionary Terror.
The Vendée insurgents in revolt against the Republic had embarked on a military campaign across Anjou, Brittany and Normandy, in the hope of joining forces with the British and some of the emigrant nobility on the coast. This expedition, known as the Virée de Galerne, ended in bitter failure. On their way back to Vendée, the insurgents came up against Republican troops in Le Mans, who had been sent from Paris by the Convention to crush the revolt. The victims exhumed in 2009 were massacred during the battle, which took place on December 13, 1793 and resulted in very heavy losses for the already weakened Catholic and Royal Army.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Greens Shift Blame to Supermarkets as Farmer Protests Rage
Green Party political efforts to spin Germany’s ongoing farmers’ demonstrations as solely caused by profiteering supermarkets have been dismissed as a cheap diversionary tactic.
On a fourth consecutive day of protests, the Green leadership responded to the farmers by blaming the greed of the country’s major supermarket chains rather than the government’s Net Zero-related policies. Green MEP Anna Cavazzini cited “market power” as causing the low prices open to German farmers. This follows crudely engineered media smears tying the demonstrations to the ‘far right.’
The supermarket excuse was dismissed by competition economist Justus Haucap, who labelled Cavazzini’s comments as a “smokescreen” to obfuscate the role of reduced government diesel subsidies and farm equipment as a key reason for bringing farmers to the streets.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis: Human Gluttony is ‘Killing the Planet’
ROME — Pope Francis offered an extended reflection on the sin of gluttony Wednesday, calling it “the most dangerous vice” because it is “killing the planet.”
“The way we eat is the manifestation of something inner,” the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in the Vatican, “a predisposition to balance or immoderation; the capacity to give thanks or the arrogant presumption of autonomy; the empathy of those who share food with the needy, or the selfishness of those who hoard everything for themselves.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scholz Demands EU Members Give More Weapons to Ukraine
In an uncharacteristically frank manner, on Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz berated the majority of European Union member states for not sending sufficient military hardware to an ailing Ukraine.
With delays to further American aid caused by U.S. congressional disunity coupled with Russia’s strategy of attrition warfare seemingly paying off, Scholz is stressing the need for the EU to step up. Whether this new, tougher look for Scholz will gain any political traction remains to be seen.
Late last year, Scholz’s government doubled its military aid to Ukraine to €8 billion, making Germany one of Ukraine’s top suppliers in 2024. Yet this will not be sufficient to give Ukraine the edge over Russia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden’s civil defence minister has warned his country could soon face the prospect of war and urged citizens to join voluntary defence organisations in preparation for a potential armed conflict.
In a rousing speech that took note of his country’s hotly anticipated accession to NATO this year and ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine, Carl-Oskar Bohlin called on ordinary citizens to ask themselves ‘who are you if war comes?’.
Speaking at Sweden’s annual ‘Folk och Försvar’ (Society and Defence) conference in Sälen this past weekend, the minister said: ‘It is human to want to view life as you wish it was, rather than as it actually is.
‘For a nation for whom peace has been a pleasant companion for almost 210 years, the idea that it is an immovable constant is conveniently close at hand. But taking comfort in this conclusion has become more dangerous than it has been for a very long time,’ Bohlin said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Communications Regulator Forms 350-Person Team to Enforce UK’s New Online Censorship Law
The authorities in the UK are “thinking of the children” — but really, of online censorship, say critics — and in doing so, thanks to Online Safety Act, are dipping their toes into the long since established in the US “revolving door” policy.
In the UK there is evidence of this flow going in one direction — from private Big Tech corporations to government jobs.
Reports say that in order to implement the controversial law that considerably restricts online speech, the regulator tasked with this, Ofcom, has employed as many as some 350 new staff — those from tech giants among them.
Former senior Microsoft, Google, and Meta employees are now working for Ofcom — and a further 100 jobs will be created in order to make sure the Online Safety Act is enforced.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Parliament Cold, Damp, and Mice-Infested — Politico
by RT.com
Politicians and aides alike “dread” coming to work at Westminster Palace, Politico reported on Tuesday, describing how the crumbling Victorian building is driving them to work elsewhere in order to avoid the cold, the mold, and the rodents.
British lawmakers returned to work at the House of Commons on Monday, as the Met Office warned that freezing temperatures will linger for the next week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Climate change campaigners declaring war on ‘gas guzzling’ cars have made a blunder after slashing the tyres of an eco-friendly Tesla in a comically ‘ridiculous’ protest.
The eco-warriors, who call themselves the Tyre Extinguishers and operate across the world, slashed the man’s car in Clifton, Bristol.
One owner had been out walking his dog when he noticed his car had a leaflet left in his windscreen which read ‘your gas guzzler kills’ before seeing the group had deflated his tyres.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Traffic Lights and ULEZ Cameras Cut Down in Chislehurst
A set of traffic lights have been cut down in Chislehurst along with the ULEZ cameras attached to them.
Three Chislehurst Matters councillors for Chislehurst Ward LB Bromley, Mark Smith, Mike Jack and Alison Stammers took to Twitter to document the vandalism.
The lights were seen on the ground with the poles cut on January 10, surrounded by a cordon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Victory for Conservatives After Court Declares Changes in Polish Public Media Unlawful
In a ruling seen as a victory for conservatives, the National Court Register (KRS) rejected the appointment of new supervisory board members of TVP, the national broadcaster, appointed by Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz.
The KRS in Warsaw ruled against the changes made in the public broadcasting system under pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk, including at Polish Television (TVP) where the management was sacked and new staff seen to be more sympathetic to the liberals’ cause were installed.
The court declined the registration of new supervisory board members appointed by Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza Health Ministry Says at Least 23,469 Palestinians Killed in War
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said Thursday that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and airstrikes has risen to at least 23,469 since the latest war erupted on Oct. 7.
The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the ministry, said 59,604 other people were wounded over the same period. He said 70% of those killed were women and children.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
US, Britain Launch Strikes Against Houthi Militants in Yemen Terrorizing Red Sea Shipping
The US and Britain began launching strikes Thursday against Houthis-linked targets in Yemen — just days after the Iran-backed rebels carried out their “largest attack” to date on shipping vessels in the Red Sea, President Biden announced.
The retaliatory strikes mark the first time attacks have targeted Houthi militants since they began launching their attacks in the Red Sea last year and the first strikes the US has deployed against the Houthis in Yemen since 2016.
“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
“These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation.”
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
US-UK Coalition Strike Iran-Backed Houthi Targets in Yemen After Spate of Ship Attacks in Red Sea
The United States and Britain carried out a series of air strikes on military locations belonging to Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen early Friday in response to the militant group’s ongoing attacks on vessels traveling through the Red Sea.
Fox News is told there were attacks on more than a dozen Houthi targets by air, surface, and subsurface platforms. The attacks were carried out with support from Australia, the Netherlands, Bahrain, and Canada. A U.S. defense official says the U.K. contributed aircraft.
President Biden said he’d authorized the strikes “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
X Restricts Access to Accounts Criticizing Turkey’s President Erdogan After Government Orders
The social media platform X publicized on Wednesday that it is strategically restricting access to certain accounts that critique Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This decision echoes earlier restrictions implemented before the general elections in May, in accordance with controversial censorship laws.
Under current scrutiny are 12 accounts overseen by Kurdish businessman Muhammed Yakut or connected fan accounts disseminating his videos. Yakut, originating from Diyarbakir province in southeastern Turkey, previously utilized YouTube to expose alleged ties between key figures in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and questionable business practices as well as a murky historical coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Yakut’s YouTube channel was incapacitated following a court order just before Turkey’s elections in May.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Air-Defence Systems: Zelensky Tours Baltic States Appealing for More Weapons
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Latvia, the final stop on his Baltic mini-tour as he attempts to drum up further support and particularly more missiles for his nation’s taxed air defence system.
Ukraine has proven stopping Russia is possible, but it “badly” needs modern air defence systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said as he tours European nations again, seeking more arms for his defensive war against Russia. His visits to the first two tour stops Lithuania and Estonia were fruitful, with new support packages announced, and he arrived in Latvia, the final stop, on Thursday afternoon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Begin Mass Production of ‘Drel’ Glide Bomb With Cluster Munitions
Russia has announced successful tests and plans to begin mass production of its new Drel bomb this year, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing a representative of state defense corporation Rostec.
“Mass production of the munition will begin this year,” Rostec announced.
Officially, the Russian Federation says the Drel is designed to destroy armored vehicles, ground radar stations, power plant control centers and anti-aircraft missile systems.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Announces Purchase of 50,000 Women’s Uniforms as Worries Grow Women Could be Drafted
With Ukraine’s armed forces struggling to fill its ranks, there is a new piece of evidence that the country could move to draft women in large numbers to replenish lost manpower.
There was already talk of women being conscripted into the army if necessary, and in October of last year, requirements for women with medical degrees to register for the military came into force.
While the latest draft law does not include conscription for women, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced in a Facebook post on Monday that the ministry had purchased 50,000 women’s uniforms, adding that this was the first time such an investment had been made.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine War: MPs Reject Bid to Crack Down on Draft Dodgers
Ukraine’s parliament has refused to consider a conscription bill that proposes a crackdown on draft dodgers.
MPs have criticised certain punishment measures included in the bill as unconstitutional.
Some have also suggested reducing the length of military service proposed in the bill from 36 to 18 months.
The bill was drafted in a bid to conscript more people, as Kyiv faces problems on the battlefield after nearly two years of war with Russia.
It also included plans to lower the age at which men can be conscripted into the armed forces from 27 to 25.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 450,000-500,000 extra soldiers were needed to fight Russia’s invasion.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Another fatal end of a Love Jihad.
Upendra Singh | HENB | Mumbai | Jan 10. 2023:: Mumbai: A private bank manager employed in a bank’s Jui Nagar branch was killed in a Turbhe lodge allegedly by a male friend she met on social media three months back.
Shoaib Shaikh (24), a Muslim youth, was dating the victim, Amit Kaur (35), a Sikh divorced mother of a teenager, since September 2023. As he allegedly suspected her of having an affair with another Hindu person, Shaikh had planned to kill her after a night out to celebrate her birthday on January 8.
“Shaikh was picked up and during questioning, he admitted to killing the woman in a Navi Mumbai lodge,” said DCP Datta Nalawade.
On Monday, Shaikh met Kaur after her working hours. They celebrated her birthday before checking into the lodge. “Shaikh and Kaur used their respective identity cards to book the room. Around midnight, the lodge staff noticed Shaikh leaving the premises. But they did not find anything suspicious about him. It was only when police opened the room that they found Kaur lying strangled,” said Turbhe police senior inspector Ravindra Daundkar.
After leaving the lodge, Shaikh, a school dropout, had returned to his Saki Naka home. He was employed in a garage owned by a relative. Around 2 am, Saki Naka police officer Kore received a call from an informer who tipped him off about “a man from his neighbourhood who had done something wrong…Shaikh was brought to the police station and while questioning he revealed he had killed his girlfriend,” said an officer.
After recording his statement, Saki Naka police got in touch with their counterparts at Turbhe; around 3.30 am, a team visited the lodge and confirmed that Shaikh had indeed committed the offence. Saki Naka senior inspector Gabaji Chimte said Shaikh has been handed over to the Turbhe police station where a case has been registered under the IPC section 302 (murder). It is learnt that Shoaib Shaikh is a school dropout and worked at a garage owned by a family member.
The victim Amit Kaur stayed with her mother in GTB Nagar, while her teenage daughter lives with her ex-husband.
This is nothing but a fatal end of dangerous Love Jihad. How do Hindu and Sikh girls and women become so unmindful before making love with a Muslim person?
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Cubans Prepare for 500% Fuel Price Hike Amid Economic Crisis
Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com
The government of Cuba has announced a 500% increase in fuel prices beginning on February 1.
The Cuban government can no longer afford its massive subsidy campaign for nearly all essential goods.
Officials confirmed on Monday that the cost of one liter of regular gasoline would increase from the current 20 cents to $1.10.
The government of Cuba has announced a 500% increase in fuel prices beginning on February 1, as the nation suffers its worst economic crisis since the 1990s, with Cubans now readying themselves to weather what is being called a humanitarian crisis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Violence Rattles Ecuador as a Nightclub Arson Kills 2 and a Bomb Scare Sparks an Evacuation
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A bomb threat sent an anti-explosives unit scrambling into a bustling area of Ecuador’s tense capital Thursday while authorities in a western city responded to a nightclub arson that killed two people, as the South American country staggers under a spike in violence.
Police in the capital, Quito, said they were forced to evacuate people from the area surrounding the Playón de la Marín bus station when they were alerted about a backpack with an alleged explosive placed in a garbage can.
The backpack turned out to not have any explosives, authorities said, but it followed five similar incidents in the capital Wednesday with actual explosives. Explosives packed in two vehicles, at a pedestrian bridge and near a prison, caused minor damage but no deaths or injuries.
Meanwhile, authorities told reporters that unknown suspects set fire to a nightclub in the Amazon city of Coca, which killed at least two people and injured nine others. The blaze also spread to 11 nearby stores, officials said. The investigation is ongoing.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus Pushing EU for More Migrant Deportations to Syria
Cyprus has once again pressed Brussels to designate Syria, or at least parts of the country, as ‘safe’ in order to ramp up returns of illegal migrants. The call came during a visit to the country by Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Tuesday, January 9th. However, the EU official refused to commit to Nicosia’s request, the Cyprus Mail wrote.
Like other Mediterranean member states, Cyprus has been experiencing “unprecedented” migration flows lately, the country’s interior minister, Constantinos Ioannou warned after the meeting. Because of its proximity to Syria, Ioannou explained, the island is exposed to “disproportionately large numbers of illegal migrants arriving from the area, which puts pressure on our reception system.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk claimed in a tweet that the government would start forcing Americans to house migrants in their homes after a Brooklyn school was closed for a day.
‘This is what happens when you run out of hotel rooms. Soon, cities will run out of schools to vacate.,’ the Tesla CEO wrote on X, which he owns. ‘Then they will come for your homes.’
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Knife Crime Reaches 10-Year High in Berlin as Immigration Soars
The German capital Berlin, often held up as a multicultural oasis, saw knife crime reach a record 10-year high in 2023 in tandem with a nationwide increase in immigration. Overall, violent crime hit a 10-year-high as well in 2023, according to Berlin police data obtained before its official publication in the spring.
“Unfortunately, we will once again reach a 10-year high,” a police spokesperson told dpa.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s left-liberal establishment media has been promoting a “secret’ deportation plan formulated by the Alternative for Germany (AfD); however, AfD politician René Springer says the plan is no secret and vowed to deport millions should the AfD come to power.
“We will return foreigners to their homeland. By the millions,” he wrote on X. “This is not a secret plan. This is a promise. For more security. For more justice. To preserve our identity. For Germany.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday sharply condemned alleged plans by members of far-right groups who supposedly met recently at a mansion outside Berlin to devise a plot to deport millions of immigrants, even those with German citizenship, if the groups take power.
The alleged plan, which was published in an article by the investigative journalists’ group Correctiv on Wednesday, has led to an uproar in the country because it echoes the Nazis’ ideology of deporting all people who are not ethnically German.
Scholz said Germany will not allow anyone living in the country to be judged based on whether they have foreign roots or not.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republicans Move to Block Tax Dollars From Funding Illegal Aliens’ ‘Free’ Healthcare
Republicans have moved to block federal taxpayer money from being used to pay for “free” healthcare for illegal aliens.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has announced that he is introducing a bill on Thursday that seeks to crack down on tax dollars being used to pay for the medical care of foreign nationals who entered he country illegally.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Romania Agrees to Take Back Migrants From Austria and Will Get Something in Return
In a matter of days, Romania is ready to readmit migrants from Afghanistan and Syria who have crossed through Romanian territory to reach Austria and other Western countries. This change in policy was announced by Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu, who said the procedure was in line with the Dublin Treaty.
Although the minister referred to international regulations, the readmission of the migrants was made conditional by the Vienna government led by Karl Nehammer to withdraw its veto on the partial accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, but only in terms of air travel and shipments, which is being referred to as Schengen “lite.” However, Austria will continue to block Romania’s access to Schengen by land.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leaders from Whitewater, a small town in Wisconsin about 50 miles from Milwaukee, are calling on the Biden administration to help them deal with a “rapid increase” in illegal immigrants from Nicaragua and Venezuela.
With a population of less than 15,000, Whitewater has struggled to provide resources for the nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants who have arrived since 2022.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Texas National Guard has seized control of a park at the U.S. southern border and is now blocking Border Patrol from entering the area — part of an effort to stop the surge of illegal immigration into Texas and a move likely to significantly increase tensions between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the federal government.
The state government has taken control of Shelby Park in the city of Eagle Pass, Texas, which has been at the center of the migrant crisis that has engulfed the U.S. border. Authorities have now set up razor wire and fences to block off the area.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas said he was informed that the decision was made as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency declaration. Salinas told reporters it was not something the city had requested, and he said his understanding is that Border Patrol was now not in the area as a result.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No migrants have crossed the Channel for at least 25 days — the longest break for nearly four years.
Official figures show the most recent arrival was a single dinghy carrying 55 people on December 16.
The 25 days between then and yesterday was the most prolonged gap between boats since a 25-day period during February and March 2020.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Tuesday, St. Paul, Minnesota swore in its all-female city council. The council is now comprised of seven women under the age of 40, with six of them being “people of color.” They are also all Democrats.
During the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday evening, Democrat Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said that “while this is historic, it should also simply be the way it is. The norm.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Macron Changes Plans on Euthanasia
Stated as one of Emmanuel Macron’s campaign objectives, the change to the euthanasia and assisted suicide regime in France has still not been finalised despite numerous announcements. In his greetings to representatives of religious denominations, the president once again put off the deadline and highlighted the need for a law on palliative care decoupled from that on euthanasia. The maximalist option seems to be receding.
On Monday, January 8th, Emmanuel Macron received religious representatives at the Élysée Palace for the traditional New Year’s greetings ceremony. On this occasion, he announced his intention to initiate two separate legislative processes, one for developing a palliative care plan by 2034, and the other, independent, on active assistance in dying.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Johns Hopkins Hospital has sparked outrage after its DEI chief sent out a letter labeling all white people, Christians, men and English-speakers as ‘privileged’.
The letter, posted on Twitter by End Wokeness, was written by Chief Diversity Officer Sherita Hill Golden, was part of the ‘monthly diversity digest’.
A furious hospital employee shared the memo with the Twitter account.
In it, Dr. Hill explains that ‘privilege’ is the ‘diversity word of the month’.
To explain who the phrase applies to, she offered a list. It reads: ‘Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it.
‘White people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people and English-speaking people,’ all fit the bill, according to Golden.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ottawa Hospital Now Offering Genital Sex Change Surgeries
The Ottawa Hospital is only the second clinic in Canada to offer genital sex change surgery surgery along with facial contouring surgeries, double mastectomies of healthy breasts, and breast augmentation for males. The hospital called this “gender-affirming care.”
“The Ottawa Hospital understands that trans and non-binary people often face barriers accessing gender-affirming care,” reads a news release. “Faced with long wait times or even lack of access in the communities where they live, they may struggle to achieve their gender-affirming goals.”
The hospital says it “is here to help.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani has joined the growing chorus calling for the formation of a European Union Army”.
Klaus Schwab approves this message.
There is a trend which is quite troubling, namely that hit pieces like this are spread with increasing intensity through many of our otherwise esteemed alternative media. The following was found via uncut-news.ch which carries mostly German translations:
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/01/10/this-genocide-is-being-live-streamed-we-cant-say-we-didnt-know/
On Telegram, channels which carry otherwise suppressed reports from the Russian side of the Ukraine conflict and rightfully decry the sudden surge in irrational hatred against everyone and everything that is Russian, are howling with the uninformed pack when it’s about Israel and the rabid islamic fascism that seeks to end its existence. It seems that even on the side of truth, too many are equally unwilling to use their brains as those they criticize.
In a wider context, I’m getting the sinking feeling that it would not be wise for Trump to seek another term as president now. Not because of anything happening inside the USA, he would be more than legitimate for fixing the corrupt mess at home. But the developments in the outside world will destroy him. They will destroy anyone who puts himself at the helm in Washington now. This is because he will have to make extremely unpopular, even objectively ugly decisions which will be punished by history for a long time. Welcome to the German experience.
Chinese Scientists Reveal Experiments With Virus 100% Fatal To Mice
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/chinese-scientists-reveal-experiments-virus-100-percent-fatal-mice
NEWS TIP
https://gellerreport.com/2024/01/hamas-leader-ismail-haniyeh-donations-to-gaza-are-not-humanitarian-aid-but-financial-jihad.html/
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh: We Should Hold on to the Moment of the Victory of October 7 and Build Upon It; Time Is on Our Side; Donations to Gaza Are Not “Humanitarian Aid” but “Financial Jihad”
Please review video
https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-leader-ismail-haniyeh-victory-october-seven-financial-jihad
What is the point of strikes that do not mortally destroy the heart, brains, and soul of these radicals? If you mean to go to war destroy your opponent. Measured response is a term used by the weak, the ignorant, and morally corrupt, and those about to be humiliated.