News and Views: December 7, 2024

Pope puts Baby Jesus in swaddling keffiyeh at the Vatican pic.twitter.com/uiX4mK1WV6

— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) December 7, 2024

Vatican Nativity Scene has Jesus Lying on Keffiyeh Scarf 

Yes, Jesus is lying on a keffiyeh scarf.

The Palestinian keffiyeh has been a symbol of Palestinian nationalism and revolts since the 1930s.

The scarf has become a symbol for those who hate Israel and want to exterminate Jews.

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Feds Use Bank Loophole To Surveil Americans' Financial Data Without Warrants, House Judiciary Says   The FBI "manipulated" the SAR filing process by pressuring banks to file reports on individuals the FBI deems "suspicious," making financial institutions "de facto arms of law enforcement," the interim report released Friday said. SARs do not require any legal process, granting officials "virtually unchecked access" to "confidential and highly sensitive information."

   The Republican-led oversight committee accused the FBI of circumventing the Bank Secrecy Act, which specifies that it is a bank’s responsibility to file a SAR when it identifies a "suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation."

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Archbishop’s Resignation Exposes Church of England Fault Lines 

The abuse scandal that forced Archbishop Justin Welby to step down as Archbishop of Canterbury is just one of many long-brewing problems his successor will confront as fissures within the CofE widen.

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Court approves New York diocese’s $323 million abuse settlement 

The New York diocese announced in September that it had reached the massive settlement for abuse victims after a four-year-long process that included an earlier offer that the survivors had rejected.

   On Wednesday U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn approved the settlement, greenlighting the payout that includes contributions from insurers and diocesan churches.

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EPA Advisor Admits ‘Insurance Policy’ Against Trump Funnels Billions to Climate Groups  In a shocking video released by Project Veritas, an EPA official appears to confirm what many have long suspected: taxpayer money is being shoveled out the door with reckless abandon, all in the name of climate policy. The official’s words paint a damning picture of an agency prioritizing speed over prudence, all to sidestep political obstacles. His cavalier attitude suggests that the real motive is not saving the planet, but safeguarding their funding from potential Republican oversight.

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Extensive COVID Report Shows How Government Failed Americans 

The final report from Oversight on the COVID-19 pandemic has been released, and and it is clear that the government’s handling of the crisis was a failure on nearly every front.  Not only did government officials repeatedly mislead Americans about the origin of the virus and U.S. funding of gain-of-function research, but the various mandates, and the failure to adopt early interventions such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin likely caused hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

   The investigation “exposed high-level corruption in America’s public health system.”  However, the report falls short in its examination of the risks associated with the experimental COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

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California Fast Food Restaurants Shed Thousands of Jobs after $20 Minimum Wage Hike  California’s fast food industry shed more than 6,000 jobs after Democratic lawmakers passed a bill mandating a $20 minimum wage for most fast food and counter service restaurants in the state, according to a new analysis of labor data.

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Nowhere is safe from the tyranny of Pride 

There is a tiny rural township in Ontario, Canada, just over the border from the US state of Minnesota, that glories in the name of Emo. Emo has a population of just 1,300, and until fairly recently was known (though not by many) for its picturesque waterfront park, its annual Rainy River Agricultural Fair and its catch-and-release fishing tournament, the Emo Walleye Classic. It looks idyllic, with simple straggles of wooden houses and vivid verdure bordering the enormous Clearwater Lake.

   But no. It turns out that Emo is a false paradise, a hotbed of hate. All that sleepy angling and riparian tranquillity is a front. Prejudice and bigotry reign in the hearts of these simple townsfolk, for which they must be punished. Last month, the human-rights tribunal of Ontario ordered the town to pay $10,000 to an organisation called Borderland Pride, which brought a case against Emo for committing a supposedly terrible crime back in June 2020: the town council had refused to declare June 2020 as Pride Month. The horror!

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The Week in Pictures: Pardon Me? 

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