Authoritarianism - Page 2

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned Canadian Members of Parliament (MPs) of rising levels of “anti-government” and “anti-authority” sentiment since the onset of the Wuhan virus pandemic.

A survey done by Germany’s pro-censorship federal government has found that almost half of people in the country feel that accusations of racism and “political correctness” can stifle free speech.

Shanghai officials claimed on Friday that the city’s coronavirus outbreak is “under effective control” after a month under harsh lockdown restrictions – but the lockdown will continue. Meanwhile, the city created some 9,000 permanent coronavirus testing stations in a bid to “normalize” mass testing forever.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s border guard agency says that about 2,200 Ukrainian men of fighting age have been detained so far while trying to leave the country in violation of martial law.

Several of the organisers of the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, Canada have been handed additional charges during separate court appearances this week.

The Greek government is set to halt its mandatory vaccination policy for those over the age of 60 on April 15th but may bring back fines for the still-unvaccinated in September of this year.

In an apparent move of desperation, Germany has agreed to a gas deal with Islamist Qatar to try and wean itself off Russian energy.

Germany’s health minister denounced the country’s unjabbed population in a public demand for compulsory vaccination on Thursday.

An advisor to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has alleged that the government was justified in invoking emergency powers last month, claiming Freedom Convoy protestors wanted to overthrow the government.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ongoing crackdown on participants of Canada’s peaceful “Freedom Convoy” in response to Trudeau supporting the freedoms of Ukrainian citizens while simultaneously stripping Canadians of their constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Canada’s authoritarian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, flush with new “emergency powers” that enable him to crush political dissent without due process, promised on Tuesday that Canada would stand against imported Russian authoritarianism in Ukraine.

The Canadian authorities have made dozens more arrests in the capital city of Ottawa as they move to crush the anti-vaccine mandate Freedom Convoy.

Police aggressively pushed back protesters, took control of some trucks and advanced toward Parliament on Saturday after arresting more than 100 people and towing away vehicles in Canada’s besieged capital. Scores of trucks left under the increasing pressure, raising authorities’ hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Italian lawmakers over the age of 50 require a coronavirus health pass in order to enter the country’s parliament, with some comparing the rules to living under the former Fascist regime.

Conservative Party deputy leader and lawmaker Candice Bergen condemned leftist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for calling those protesting vaccine mandates “racist” and “misogynist” after he “wore blackface on more times than he can remember.”

A Spanish court has ruled that a mother who attempted to flee to Portugal to prevent her two children from being vaccinated cannot have any contact with them or approach them.

PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron maintained on Friday his rude remarks about the country’s minority of vaccine refusers, saying he cannot accept them infringing on others’ freedom.

China’s state-run Global Times on Monday gloated that Twitter’s ban of Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) proves the Chinese Communist Party’s point that “freedom of speech” is an illusion, so Americans are hypocrites for criticizing China’s vast censorship apparatus.

AMSTERDAM (AP) – Thousands of people in the capital of the Netherlands defied a ban and gathered Sunday for a demonstration against the Dutch government’s coronavirus lockdown measures before police pushed the crowd off an Amsterdam square.

Press freedom advocates report 2021 was another dismal year for journalism around the world. Few of those advocates have examined how the antics of politically biased American corporate media are hurting their cause.

PARIS (AP) – France’s government is forging ahead with efforts to increase pressure on unvaccinated people to get coronavirus jabs, as the omicron variant fuels a record surge in infections.

The coronavirus pandemic has been an indisputable boon for authoritarianism. Individual liberty and personal sovereignty are in retreat around the world. Tyrannical China is rising as the dominant world power, having paid no price for unleashing the disease, while the United States and its allies are having deep second thoughts about economic freedom, free speech, and other bulwarks against authoritarian control.

Several of the world’s free nations will greet the year 2022 under the immediate threat of conquest by authoritarian forces, either through military invasion or subversion from within.

Anti-Covid passport protestors broke through a police line to protest in front of the Romanian parliament, entering the building’s courtyard before being stopped by police.

The Austrian government has announced that it will allow unvaccinated people to enjoy Christmas and New Year’s Eve without being under lockdown restrictions — but some limitations will still apply.

Britain’s health secretary, Sajid Javid, has railed against the unvaccinated for the “impact” he says they are having on fellow citizens, guilt-tripping them to “really think about the damage they are doing to society”. 

An Irish grandma who violated the nation’s mask mandate is to spend Christmas behind bars after being sentenced to a year in prison.

Former Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico was arrested on live television this week after attempting to give a statement ahead of a planned protest that would defy the country’s Wuhan virus restrictions.

Conservative lockdown-sceptic MP Steve Baker has accused Boris Johnson’s government of creating a “miserable dystopia” in pushing for new coronavirus restrictions.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Armenia’s parliament approved a law Friday that would allow employers to fire workers who refuse to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test result.

A member of the populist Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) has expressed concern that amendments to a law on administrative enforcement could be used to imprison unvaccinated people for as long as a year.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has exclaimed “thank goodness we left” the EU in response to reports that the head of the bloc, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen saying mandatory vaccination should be considered, while countries like Greece are threatening to fine senior citizens for every month they go unvaccinated.

The Greek government will fine all unvaccinated people aged 60 and older €100 (£85/$113) every month before mandatory vaccination is enforced next month. 

Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a co-founder of critical race theory (CRT), explained the importance of “looking at history to understand our present” while calling for youth to “understand the ground upon which we stand is ground that’s soaked in blood of theft.”

A Norwegian newspaper editor and the country’s Climate Minister have both criticised Swedish climate activist Great Thunberg.

The American people must never lose sight of what makes our country great as we march toward victory in our ongoing efforts to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. We must defeat this enemy while being true to our highest values, upholding the religious liberty and civil rights of our fellow citizens by rejecting vaccine mandates.