Will the European Union or certain countries in the EU ban meat production in order to meet emission regulations? In short, the answer is yes. There is a very real possibility in the near future that a member country (probably Sweden, Denmark, or the Netherlands) will impose a tax or an outright ban on meat production.
Why Sweden, Denmark, or the Netherlands? While this sounds absolutely crazy, part of the rationale is to avoid legal issues with the EU. A handful of European countries have legally binding net-zero plans for emissions and climate metrics, and the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark are small countries with large agricultural footprints. Small landmass with heavy agriculture industry makes for an easy target.
I wrote about such conflicting issues last month with the Netherlands closing down farms. The Dutch, like the Swedes and the Danes, are very serious about reducing emissions, as well as limiting meat consumption. The problem is they consume and produce lots of meat.
In Haarlem, a city west of Amsterdam, they have banned meat advertisements starting in 2024. Treating meat like cigarettes or alcohol to impose meat alternatives on consumers so consumers can eat highly processed fake meat products, or rely on imported meat, is a major turning point in reason and rationale.
Saxo Bank market strategist Charu Chanana stated in Saxo’s end of the year predictions that Sweden or Denmark “may decide to heavily tax meat from 2025 and could ban all domestically produced live animal-sourced meat entirely by 2030.” Charu added: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see schools in Denmark and Sweden banning meat altogether. It’s definitely going that way.”
In Sweden, statements purporting that Swedish meat consumption is declining and vegetarianism is on the rise contradict official statistics. According to recent EuroMeatNews and data from the Swedish Board of Agriculture, “Demand for Swedish meat and poultry increased significantly.”
Beef, pork, and poultry aside, the Swedes like their seafood. Most of their seafood is imported. According to a 2019 report from the University of Gothenburg: “72 percent of Swedish seafood comes from imports and 28 percent from domestic producers.” It is worth noting that 90 percent of the 72 percent of seafood imports come from China.
As for Denmark, Denmark has a sizable meat industry. Danish meat revenue amounted to $4.40 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow annually by 5 percent-plus. The Danes produce a huge amount of pork for markets—around 32 million piglets a year—and millions of those pigs are sold to the European Union (predominantly Germany and Poland). For comparison, 32 million piglets is almost twice the number of piglets that Canada sells to the United States each year.
Furthermore, while Denmark’s government and their EU representatives have meat production in the crosshairs for additional regulation and tax, they are certainly not against harvesting animals for fur. In Denmark, mink farming is very lucrative, and Denmark is one of the world’s largest producers of mink furs; there are thousands of mink farming operations, and tens of millions of mink. Latest figures show upwards of 98 percent of mink fur harvested in Denmark is exported to foreign markets. It’s a huge money maker.
In fact, Denmark’s mink are so plentiful, they’ve become an invasive species in Denmark, destroying local ecosystems. How is this not an issue?
I am not against lower emissions, or animal welfare, or even the growing popularity of vegetarianism, but I am against irrational thought processes from totalitarian technocrats.
Shuttering farms and banning meat production is not a rational strategy. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 14.5 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to livestock. However, according to the science journal Nature Food, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America are the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gasses.
Is it not a better idea to place limits and regulations on those who emit the most pollution and greenhouse gasses (in this case, Asia and South America)?
I find it highly irritating that Asia and South America continue on with endless pollution, while leaders in the Western world plot to destroy industry in the name of emissions controls. Westerners should not sit back and allow Asian and South American countries to catch up to our standards by using growth methods that pollute while Western markets are punished for economic success.
Let the socialists experiment with Asia and South America and allow the economic engines of the Western world to flourish, without interference from Marxist totalitarians.
Armenia Lashes Out At Russia, Cancels Military Drills On Its Territory
Armenia has canceled planned military drills with Russia which were to be held under the countries’ Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), straining relations further between the uneasy regional allies.
“These exercises will not take place,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a Tuesday press briefing. “Armenia does not believe it is expedient to conduct CSTO exercises in the republic this year.”
It’s a sign that the protracted war in Ukraine is causing Moscow to lose influence in the Southern Caucasus region, but it also follows the CSTO refusing to condemn Azerbaijan aggression related to the Nagorno-Karabakh war of 2020, and other skirmishes which followed.
Armenia had consistently called on Russia to intervene on its side, but the Kremlin resisted, instead only sending peace-keeping troops to mediate what in the end was a forced Armenian handover of key disputed land and villages it lost in the 2020 war.
Pashinyan in his latest comments specifically referenced the CSTO refusing to formally condemn Azerbaijan.
It’s an embarrassing blow to Russia, given its defense ministry just this month announced multiple joint exercises under the CSTO umbrella, at least one of which was supposed to be hosted in Armenia, dubbed the “Indestructible Brotherhood-2023” exercises.
Pashinyan addressed this head-on in his Tuesday comments: “Russia’s military presence in Armenia not only fails to guarantee its security, but it raises security threats for Armenia,” he said.
The Associated Press reviews of past two years of tense relations as follows:
The Azerbaijani move has left Russia in a precarious position. Armenia hosts a Russian military base, and Moscow has been the country’s top ally and sponsor. But the Kremlin also has sought to maintain warm ties with oil-rich Azerbaijan. Western sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine have made Russia increasingly dependent on Azerbaijan’s main ally, Turkey.
With its attention focused on the fighting in Ukraine, Russia has taken a wait-and-see attitude on the Lachin corridor blockade, angering Armenia.
Previously Armenian officials had claim that Moscow was pressuring the country to become a close ally nation of the Russia-Belarus ‘Union State’ – something which Russia has denied.
Armenia lost significant historical territory as a result of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war…
The Kremlin responded to Armenia’s cancelation of joint drills by saying, “In any case, Armenia is our close ally, and we will continue our dialogue, including the most complex issues,” according to a statement by Dmitry Peskov.
The biggest EU corruption scandal in history didn’t have to end with police investigations and arrests, but maybe Qatar can do better next time around…
After news broke of the biggest corruption scandal in EU history, it was difficult to fathom what Qatar, Socialist MEPs, and other EU officials were thinking. Did the police really find €1.6 million in bribe money found stuffed in paper bags and suitcases in their apartments? What happened to crypto and offshore bank accounts? It was cinematically and aesthetically very 1980s.
Regardless of the cinematic value, all of this “dirty bribe money” makes Qatar look very bad, and as the investigation grows, it is unclear how many from the EU’s left could be dragged down by corruption charges. While there may be a certain romance to stacks of cash neatly piled up in Louis Vuitton suitcases, there is a whole system of legal patronage that Brussels is built on. It’s about time someone told Qatar how the EU actually works.
Offer ‘side jobs’ for EU MEPs and officials
In Brussels, bribery is legal and thriving, and nobody has to serve a day in prison for taking a cut. MEPs are even allowed to accrue substantial fortunes by legally working part-time (representing citizens at the European level is apparently not necessarily a full-time job).
It is not just about George Soros and his frankly impressive network of NGOs, think tanks, and the massive sums of money they can throw around. There’s a wide range of special interests that promote their agenda through entirely legal lobbying. In fact, as a report shows, MEPs are collectively earning millions working various side jobs in addition to their role as politicians in the EU, often with a clear conflict of interest. Many of these people are already millionaires, and for those who are not, the salary of MEPs and EU officials are already the envy of most Europeans. Yet, there is always more money to be made.
Belgian police today released this photo of piles of cash in €200, €50, €20 and €10 notes. Sources said €150,000 of that was found at Greek MEP Eva Kaili’s flat. But she denies involvement in alleged #QatarGate@Europarl_EN bribery scandal. pic.twitter.com/pdjAwp0I2q
Take for instance MEP Guy Verhofstadt, a notorious hater of Hungary. Despite his association with left-wing policies, he is a very wealthy individual. He served as the former prime minister of Belgium before entering politics at the EU level and routinely ranked as one of the highest-earning politicians in the entire European Parliament. According to a report from Transparency International (TI) from 2018, records show he earned between €920,000 and €1.4 million in that year alone. That money comes on top of his salary as a member of parliament, which already amounts to approximately €13,000 per month, according to a report from Belgian news outlet BRF. A report from 2021, also citing TI data, put him in the top five earners in the European Parliament.
In other words, MEPs and officials can be bought, but they have to be bought the right way.
Qatar needs to adjust its bribe price
Qatar also needs to understand that politicians do not need millions in bribe money to do the country’s bidding. To Socialist MEP Eva Kaili’s credit, her newfound loyalty to Qatar did not come cheap, but in all likelihood, her loyalty could have been bought for far less. There are U.S. Republican think tanks and politicians bought off for a few thousand dollars by Google and other Big Tech companies. The money lobbyists offer is supposed to keep you on a leash, not set you up for retirement on a yacht.
A recent report from the Hungarian media details how it normally works within the EU if you want to buy influence. The report details how Soros’ Open Society Foundations does not, for example, pay journalists outright, but instead “covers” their costs, including lunches, stays in expensive hotels, and paid “trips.” Sometimes it is too difficult to hand officials money outright. Instead, NGOs end up contracting with a media worker for a whole month and spend around €10,000 paying that person’s bills instead of directly paying the journalist a fee or salary.
“It is customary, for example, that we go to brunch with them, but if we publish a report, we also take care of them. They are more likely to write these things if you have a communications package,” Orsolya Jeney, the former director of Amnesty International, told Hungarian news portal Origo.
Although this example applies to journalists, with politicians and officials, you can go much farther, such as a spoken or outspoken promise of a well-paid “honorary” board position at an NGO or corporation, often after they leave their position. Paid speeches are also a very lucrative option, one which U.S. politicians have made tens of millions. The revolving door between the corporate, non-profit, and political world is the status quo in the Western world, and especially in Brussels and Washington.
However, the obscene amounts of money being paid out by the Qataris likely not only made it harder to hide that money, but it probably also infuriated the journalists and other politicians making far less for their entirely legal bribes. It is almost tempting to think that the surprisingly extensive coverage of the latest EU corruption scandal may be born out of fear and jealousy that Qatar simply set the price of bribes too high. The Middle Eastern country entirely distorted the market for this kind of thing by throwing around that kind of money.
Qatar can overcome its poor image
Some may say that Qatar has the type of reputation that makes it difficult for an MEP or European official to openly lobby for the country. However, hundreds of so-called liberals have worked for Al Jazeera, despite the news outlet being funded by a state known for having no form of democracy and being governed by sharia law. George Soros also never let his background as an unscrupulous currency speculator or his insider trading conviction get in the way of being the darling of the entire left-liberal establishment.
This should all be an inspiration to Qatar. The formula is there. The country just needs to spend the money, build the NGO and media networks, and work within the system. It should also not be forgotten that Qatar not only has an enormous amount of money, but the country’s gas will also likely be needed to keep the lights on in Europe after the continent cuts itself off from Russian energy.
Be careful who you bribe
If Qatar cannot be bothered with the whole NGO network and legal bribery and wants to continue down the path of illegal bribery, it is important the country picks the right people to work with.
There were already warning signs from MEP Eva Kaili. Although officially a Socialist, she was the type of person who had a penchant for private jets, silk scarves from Hermes, and romps on Greek islands. As Focus online details, her Instagram is full of glossy shots of her jet-setting around the world and rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, including Greek oligarchs. She liked to flaunt her lifestyle, and as any good criminal knows, if you suddenly illicitly make hundreds of thousands, it is best to keep it quiet. Instead, Kaili was reportedly looking to buy luxury property in Brussels shortly before she was arrested.
Apparently, Kaili was not very quiet about her bribe money either, openly speaking to her accomplice over the phone while Belgian investigators listened in. She may not have been, in the end, the type of person Qatar could rely on to hide that kind of bribe money. Perhaps the oil-rich kingdom can do better next time around.
In recent weeks I’ve been seeing an interesting narrative fallacy being sold to the general public when it comes to the designs of globalists. The mainstream media and others are now openly suggesting that it’s actually okay to be opposed to certain aspects of groups like the World Economic Forum. They give you permission to be concerned, just don’t dare call it conspiracy.
This propaganda is a deviation from the abject denials we’re accustomed to hearing in the Liberty Movement for the past decade or more. We have all been confronted with the usual cognitive dissonance – The claims that globalist groups “just sit around talking about boring economic issues” and nothing they do has any bearing on global politics or your everyday life. In some cases we were even told that these groups of elites “don’t exist”.
Now, the media is admitting that yes, perhaps the globalists do have more than just a little influence over governments, social policies and economic outcomes. But, what the mainstream doesn’t like is the assertion that globalists have nefarious or authoritarian intentions. That’s just crazy tinfoil hat talk, right?
The reason for the narrative shift is obvious. Far too many people witnessed the true globalist agenda in action during the pandemic lockdowns and now they see the conspiracy for what it is. The globalists, in turn, seem to have been shocked to discover many millions of people in opposition to the mandates and the refusals to comply were clearly far greater than they expected. They are still trying to push their brand of covid fear, but the cat is out of the bag now.
They failed to get what they wanted in the west, which was a perpetual Chinese-style medical tyranny with vaccine passports as the norm. So, the globalist strategy has changed and they are seeking to adapt. They admit to a certain level of influence, but they pretend as if they are benevolent or indifferent.
The response to this lie is relatively straightforward. I could point out how Klaus Schwab of the WEF savored the thrill of the initial pandemic outbreak and declared that covid was the perfect “opportunity” to initiate what the WEF calls the “Great Reset.”
I could also point out that Klaus Schwab’s vision of the Reset, what he calls the “4th Industrial Revolution”, is a veritable nightmare world in which Artificial Intelligence runs everything, society is condensed into digital enclaves called “smart cities” and people are oppressed by carbon taxation. I could point out that the WEF actively supports the concept of the “Shared Economy” in which you will “own nothing, have no privacy” and you will supposedly be happy about it, but only because you won’t have any other choice.
What I really want to talk about, however, is the process by which the elites hope to achieve their dystopian epoch, as well as the globalist mindset which lends itself to the horrors of technocracy. The common naive assumption among skeptics of conspiracy is that the globalists are regular human beings with the same drives and limited desires as the rest of us. They might have some power, but world events are still random and certainly not controlled.
This is a fallacy. The globalists are not like us. They are not human. Or, I should say, they despise humanity and seek to do away with it. And, because of this, they have entirely different aspirations compared to the majority of us which include aspirations of dominance.
What we are dealing with here are not normal people with conscience, ethics or empathy. Their behavior is much more akin to higher functioning psychopaths and sociopaths rather than the everyday person on the street. We saw this on full display during the covid lockdowns and the vicious attempts to enforce vaccine passports; their actions betray their long game.
Take a look at comments by New Zealand’s prime minister and WEF attendee, Jacinda Ardern, from a year ago. She admits to the deliberate tactic of creating a two-tier class system within her own country based on vaccination status. There is no remorse or guilt in her demeanor, she is proud of taking such authoritarian actions despite numerous studies that prove the mandates are ineffective.
Beyond the covid response, though, I suggest people who deny globalist conspiracy take a deeper dive into the philosophical roots of organizations like the WEF. Their entire ideology can be summed up in a couple words – Futurism and godhood.
Futurism is an ideological movement which believes that all “new” innovations, social or technological, should supplant the previous existing systems for the sake of progress. They believe that all old ways of thinking, including notions of principles, heritage, religious belief systems, codes of conduct, etc. are crutches holding humanity back from greatness.
But what is the greatness the futurists seek? As mentioned above, they want godhood. An era in which the natural world and human will is enslaved by the hands of a select few. Case in point – The following presentation from 2018 by WEF “guru” Yuval Harari on the future of humanity as the globalists see it:
Harari’s conclusions are rooted in elitist biases and ignore numerous psychological and social realities, but we can set those aside for a moment and examine his basic premise that humanity as we know it will no longer exist in the next century because of “digital evolution” and “human hacking.”
The foundation of the WEF vision is built on the idea that data is the new Holy Grail, the new conquest. This is something I have written about extensively in the past (check out my article ‘Artificial Intelligence: A Secular Look At The Digital Antichrist’) but it is good to see it expressed with such arrogance by someone like Harari because it is undeniable evidence – The globalists think they are going to build a completely centralized economy and society based on human data rather than production. In other words, YOU become the product. The average citizen, your thoughts and your behaviors, become the stock in trade.
Globalists also believe that data is most valuable because it can be exploited to control people’s behaviors, to hack the body and mind in order to create human puppets, or create super-beings. They dream of becoming little gods with omnipotent knowledge. Yuval even proudly proclaims that intelligent design will no longer be the realm of God in heaven, but of the new digitized man.
While Harari pays lip service to “democracy” vs “digital dictatorship”, he goes on to assert that centralization may become the defacto system of governance. He says this not because he fears dictatorship, but because that has always been the WEF’s intent. The globalist argues that governments cannot be trusted to hold a monopoly on the digital wellspring and that someone needs to step in to regulate data; but “who would do this?”, he asks.
He already knows the answer. The UN, a globalist edifice, has consistently said it should be the governing body that takes control of AI and data regulation through UNESCO. That is to say, Harari is playing coy, he knows that the people who will step in to control the data are people just like him.
At no point in Harari’s speech does he suggest that that any of these developments should be obstructed or stopped. At no point does he offer the idea that the digitization of humanity is wrong and that there are other better ways of living. He actually mocks the concept of “going back” to old ways; only the future and the Tabula Rasa (blank slate) hold promise for the globalists, everything else is an impediment to their designs.
But here’s the thing, what the globalists are trying to accomplish is a fantasy. People are not algorithms, despite how much Harari would like them to be. People have habits, yes, but they are also unpredictable and are prone to sudden awakenings and epiphanies in the moment of crisis.
Psychopaths tend to be robotic people, acting impulsively but also very predictably. They lack imagination, intuition and foresight, and so it’s not surprising that organizations of psychopaths like the WEF would place such an obsessive value on AI, algorithms and a cold technocratic evolution. They don’t view their data Shangri-La as humanity’s future; they see it as THEIR future – The future of the non-humans, or the anti-humans as it were.
Who will produce all the goods, services and necessities required in this brave new world? Well, all of us peons, of course. Sure, the globalists will offer grand promises of a robot driven production economy in which people no longer need to engage in menial labor, but this will be another lie. They’ll still need people to plant the crops, maintain infrastructure, take care of manufacturing, do their fighting for them, etc., they’ll just need less of us.
At bottom, an economy built on data is an economy dependent on illusion.
Data is vaporous and oftentimes meaningless because it is subject to the biases of the interpreter. Algorithms can also be programmed to the biases of the engineers. There is nothing inherently objective about data – it is all dependent on the intentions of the people analyzing it.
For example, to use Harari’s anecdote of an algorithm that “knows you are gay” before you do; any twisted group of people could simply write code for an algorithm that tells the majority of easily manipulated kids that they are gay, even when they are not. And, if you are gullible enough to believe the algorithm is infallible, then you could be led to believe that numerous falsehoods are true and be convinced to behave against your nature. You have allowed a biased digital phantom to dictate your identity, and have made yourself “hackable.”
In the meantime, the elitists entertain delusions of surpassing their mortal limitations by “hacking” the human body, as well as reading the minds of the masses and predicting the future based on data trends. This is an obsession which ignores the unpredictable wages of the human soul, that very element of conscience and of imagination which psychopaths lack. It’s something that cannot be hacked.
The legitimacy of the data based system and the hacking of humanity that the WEF aspires to is less important than what the masses can be convinced of. If the average person can be persuaded to implant their cell phone in their skull in the near future, then yes, humanity might become hackable in a rudimentary way.
The algorithms then supplant conscience, empathy and principles. And, without these things all morality becomes relative by default. Evil becomes good, and good becomes evil.
By the same token, if humanity can be persuaded to set down their cell phones and live a less tech focused life, then the digital empire of the globalists comes crashing down quite easily. There is no system the elites can impose that would make their digital consciousness a reality without the consent of the public at large.
Without a vast global framework in which people willingly embrace the algorithms rather than their own experience and intuitions, the globalist religion of total centralization dies. The first step is to accept that the conspiracy does indeed exist. The second step is to accept that the conspiracy is malicious and destructive. The third step is to refuse to comply, by whatever means necessary.
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The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) said Wang could not be granted refugee status despite having “well-founded” concerns about returning to China because he committed fraud before entering Australia on a tourist visa, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The AAT also doubted Wang’s espionage claims and questioned how it could “safely find that (Wang) was engaged in espionage activities.”
Wang defected to Australia in 2019 and provided an unprecedented account of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence operations overseas.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, the then 27-year-old talked about how he had become disillusioned by the CCP’s totalitarian agenda which led to his decision.
“As I grew older and my worldview changed, I gradually realised the damage that the CCP’s authoritarianism was doing to democracy and human rights around the world,” Wang, the first Chinese spy to go public with his identity, said.
“My opposition to the Party and communism became ever-clearer, so I made plans to leave this organisation.”
“I thought and rethought it time and time again,” he said. “I wondered if this decision would be a good thing or a bad thing for my life. I couldn’t tell you definitively, but I firmly believe that if I had stayed with [the CCP], I would come to no good end.”
The Australian Department of Home Affairs rejected Wang’s asylum application over an alleged fraud committed against Sydney businessman Filip Shu.
Wang now faces potential deportation back to China.
Espionage in Hong Kong and Taiwan
“My jaw dropped as I read Wang’s 12-page Chinese-language confession and plea for help,” wrote Alex Joske, a former analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Other than admitting to being a CCP agent, Wang also disclosed to Australian immigration officials the communist regime’s espionage activities in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
During 2018, Wang admitted to coordinating a mass disinformation campaign targeting “nine-in-one” regional elections in Taiwan aimed at undermining the administration of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. He travelled to Taiwan on a forged South Korean passport, where he took part in coordinating on-the-ground operations, he told Nine Network newspapers in 2019.
Wang also said he was sent to Hong Kong, where he infiltrated universities and stole military and weapons intelligence, all on the orders of his CCP superiors.
Wang provided the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) with a detailed account of everything he knew, including his role in the kidnapping of Causeway Bay bookstore owner Li in Hong Kong.
Further, he claimed he secretly met with the head of the CCP’s spy operations in Australia, saying the man worked in the country’s energy sector.
In a rare move, the CCP’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission responded swiftly to Wang Liqiang’s case after he went public saying Wang was unemployed and had been convicted of fraud.
Wang said he had anticipated the CCP’s defamation campaign against him and, through his lawyer, refuted the claims saying he had given a sworn statement to the Australian government and that he was aware of the serious consequences of making false accounts.
‘Real and Chilling Impact’: Former Senator
The denial of Wang’s asylum triggered concerns over the trial’s decision.
Eric Abetz, a former Liberal senator for Tasmania, said he hoped due process was followed.
“It would indeed be a sad and worrying outcome should genuine defectors not be assisted. This would have a very real and chilling impact if protection was not granted,” he told The Epoch Times in an email.
“One must assume the decision to deport was made on legitimate grounds and not influenced by other considerations.”
Policymakers from both major parties in Australia supported granting asylum to Wang Liqiang in 2019.
Current Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said back then that Wang might have a “legitimate claim for asylum.”
“We know that he has outlined a range of activities which clearly put him in a circumstance whereby it’s a legitimate claim for asylum,” said Albanese, then opposition leader.
Liberal MP Shadow Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie also supported granting Wang asylum.
“I’m of the view that anyone who’s willing to assist us in defending our sovereignty deserves our protection,” Hastie, who chaired the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, said at the time. “I think he deserves our protection and our support.”
‘Setting a Very Bad Precedent’: Australian Chinese Writer
Jennifer Zeng, an Australian Chinese writer, and YouTuber focusing on Chinese politics, said the CCP would definitely exert pressure on the Australian government on such matters, particularly as the Labor government works to normalise ties with Beijing.
During the pandemic, Beijing launched a comprehensive trade war against Australian exporters in response to calls for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Meanwhile, Zeng, who applied for asylum in Australia in 2001, cited her own experience of the CCP exerting pressure on Home Affairs during her asylum application.
“Wang’s repatriation will set a very bad precedent for the future,” she told The Epoch Times in an interview. “It will discourage other defectors, including those who know other secrets in the CCP system, such as the secret of forced organ harvesting … They will lose trust in Western governments.”
“The CCP punishes those who betray themselves very severely. They are ruthless in dealing with the so-called traitors … If that [the deportation] were to happen, it would be very regrettable and would make the free world, including the Chinese people in China who yearn for freedom, very disappointed with the Australian government.”
The denial of Wang’s asylum comes after Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited China on Dec. 21, wishing to restart Australian exports to Beijing after years of diplomatic tension with the previous Liberal government.
Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said on Jan. 10 that Wong’s visit helped restart bilateral discussions on trade, economics, and investment. Xiao thanked the Albanese government and Australian media for sending “positive messages” to the public.
Zeng, who currently lives in the United States, hopes that the U.S. government can step in and offer Wang asylum to avoid deportation to China.
“Anything that is good for the Western free world and those who aspire to it, especially those in the CCP system, we should welcome them, support them, and help them,” she said.
Both the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Department of Home Affairs told The Epoch Times that they were not able to comment on the case.
The famed psychologist and scholar, and global media personality, Jordan Peterson is being told that he must report to the Ontario College of Psychologists for re-education or else lose his license to practice. He is challenging the order in court, for whatever that’s worth.
No question that this follows his aggressive questioning of the whole of the Covidian agenda, including mass forced vaccination of the population.
It’s hardly the first time he has gotten in trouble with the powers that be. His initial fame came from his brave refusal to acquiesce to the “preferred pronoun” movement in Canada that came before lockdowns. That he is now ensnared in the machinery of the biomedical security state is predictable; this is today’s means by which regime enemies are punished and silenced.
It so happens that I heard Jordan speak in Budapest only months before the lockdowns that coincided with his own grave problem that he encountered with prescription medicine: as with many he was misled about what he believed was a simple medication. The timing was a tragedy because it took him out of the space of public intellectual life right when we needed him most: during the early months of lockdowns.
His voice went silent during these times. It was heartbreaking. The very small resistance continued despite his incapacitation. Once he got better, he gradually became aware of what had taken place and then became ferocious, as any thinking person must. Thus his current issues with the authorities.
Looking back at this date, it seems almost like he saw what was coming. In those months before lockdowns, I wrote the following report on what I saw in Budapest.
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Almost from the first words of his outdoor lecture in Budapest, Hungary, held in the courtyard of the St. Stephen’s Basilica, Jordan Peterson’s eyes teared up and his voice cracked with emotion. Not just once. It happened repeatedly. His eyes never entirely dried. The audience could see it all because of the cameras and the huge monitors that made him some 25 times life-size, which is pretty apropos to his status as an intellectual in this part of the world. Indeed, in most parts of the world.
Tonight was interesting, however, because his tears were clearly not performative in any sense. It was a show of extreme vulnerability that he surely hoped that he would not show. He strikes me as a deeply emotional person—a temperamental cryer—who has probably practiced a lifetime to stop this.
It didn’t work this time. Before long, during his impassioned presentation on behalf of the dignity of every individual and the responsibility of living a life of truth, audience members too were tearing up in the midst of the awesome silence that fell over this massive crowd during the hour-long presentation.
He never quite got around to explaining his emotion. I think I can, however. So here is my go at it.
The first issue had to do with his introduction in this hugely dramatic space, which was filled with flares and fanfare and oceans of love from those who gathered, not just people with tickets (which were hard to get) but an equal number behind the barricades, extending as far back as one could see. It was impossible not to view this as a show of incredible affection for the man, his work, his influence, his personal courage, and his message. The crowds and the anticipation were overwhelming.
Now, if you are Peterson, you would have to contrast this scene with the raging nonsense you will read about yourself in the mainstream press, to say nothing of the academic literature along with various left-wing hit sites out there who routinely twist anyone’s words to confirm their wild narratives. His every word is picked apart, his footnotes followed, his analogies deconstructed in an unending game of gotcha in order to put him into some kind of predefined political category for easy dismissal.
For the easily led, he is a target. For the witch hunters in media and academia, he is a convenient scapegoat. Within the academy, he is the object of unrelenting envy. In the face of all this, including campus protests and media hectoring, he has been steadfast and brave, refusing to be intimidated and instead using the attention to get his message out there. To cut through all this nonsense, and like and appreciate him in any case, already marks you as being in possession of a discerning mind, a rebel against conventional wisdom. Apparently, there is no shortage of such rebels.
The crowds—I don’t have an estimate but there were 20,000 people at the Brain Bar event at which he was a main draw—might have seemed to him as a tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit. That people were there at all, seeking not a confirmation of political bias but rather to gain a greater sense of personal purpose, shows that the powerful in this world cannot finally rule the day.
He is just one man with a message against the world’s most powerful voices in media, academia, and government—and yet through ideas alone, beginning as nothing but one man in a classroom, he has become the world’s most influential public intellectual.
As for his emotion this night, Jordan probably felt a deep sense of gratitude for being the recipient of this affection and for his place in inspiring people to become intellectual dissidents. That is enough to cause tears of gratitude.
There is far more that overwhelms you about being in this remarkable and indescribably beautiful city. The history is deep and rich and present everywhere you look. There is drama within eyesight of anywhere you stand. The Danube river and bridges, the castles, the stunning Parliament building, the churches and universities, all of it, are not dusty old monuments but currently in use amidst a teeming commercial life that is equal parts old and new.
The whole city also feels extremely young, similarly today to what it might have been like in the late 19th century, in the last years of the Belle Époque when Budapest’s cultural and commercial life rivaled Vienna’s. It’s a magical place, as delightful to visit as anywhere on the planet, in my view.
But what you see is only on the surface. The scars of this city are extremely deep, having been put through astonishing traumas of totalitarianism of the left and right, the bombings, the terror and cruelty and poverty—the experience is not that far back in history. It was tyrannized by Soviet occupation twice, first after World War I and then following World War II, between which it experienced Nazi occupation and devastating Allied bombing that destroyed its infrastructure (all of which has since been rebuilt).
And yet you can walk the city and not see this deep suffering overtly. The city, which wears this grim past lightly, is a tribute to the survival of hope in the face of overwhelming forces that sought to destroy it. The city lives. It thrives. It dreams anew.
In addition to being a psychologist, Peterson is also a historian of totalitarianism. There are ways to read history as a dry reportage of events. That is not how he reads history. Good historians recount events. Great historians tell stories as if they lived them. Peterson is next level: he has sought the inner philosophical and psychological turmoil that shape history through the moral choices of both the oppressed and oppressors. He seeks to understand the inner horror from the point of view of human nature.
As he exclaimed in a slightly terrifying moment, he has read about the history of Hungary and totalitarianism “not as a victim, not as a hero, but as a perpetrator.” What he means is that we must come to terms with evil not just as something external to ourselves but as a force deep within the human personality itself—not excluding our own personalities. What character traits do we need to acquire, what values do we need to adopt, that can prepare us to resist when evil invites our participation in violence and terror? He never stops reminding us what we are capable of doing both good and evil, and urges that we steel ourselves to live good lives even when it is not in our political and economic interests to do so.
So here we were in St. Stephen’s square outside the great Basilica, packed with young people there to hear his message, in this remarkable city, a tribute to the resiliency of the human personality in the presence of one hundred years of oppression and violence. And yet there we were in this year, an age of hope, everyone given yet another chance to get it right, to live well, to treat others with dignity, to build peace and prosperity yet again.
The look on his face, and tears in his eyes, seem to suggest to himself and others: we can do this. We will not give in to evil. We can be strong. We can learn, build, and achieve. Against all odds, he has emerged as a leading voice to add to the possibility of success in our times.
I’ve heard Peterson live before and, like you, watched many of his speeches and interviews on YouTube. I can tell you, I’ve never heard anything like what he said on this evening. It was for the ages.
The latter part of his presentation was lighter, with some very charming “one-minute therapy” sessions on stage with audience members that variously turned profound once again. And here is what is amazing: you discover that the real core of Peterson is not his political outlook or his role as a cultural pundit, historian, or philosopher but his professional training as a psychotherapist, just one man there to help one individual find a way forward through the terrifying struggles of life. Through technology, he finds himself in the blessed role of serving millions of willing readers and listeners.
Even now he can’t possibly know the full impact of his influence. I suspect, for example, that he is unaware of the crucial role he played in American political life when only two years ago, young men were being drawn to the invidious politics of the so-called alt-right as an alternative to the false moralism of the social-justice left. They were drawn to his brave stances against speech controls, but he knew better than to side with any mob on either side of the extremes. He schooled even his new fans in the evils of every brand of identity politics—and the moral urgency of universal human dignity—and justly earned the wrath of alt-right leadership. Thus did he contribute to saving a generation from perdition in extremely volatile times. For this, he deserves the gratitude of every genuine liberal, but, so far as I know, he has never been publicly credited for this achievement.
“Ego Sum Via Veritas et Vita,” read the sign above the entrance to the Basilica. I am the way, the truth, and the life. The sign reminds us of the universal hunger to find direction, purpose, meaning, and redemption in the midst of the chaos and anomy of the historical narrative.
Peterson is not a religious man but he respects its ethos and contribution. This night he became a preacher of goodness, of civility, of moral strength in the face of struggle. The poetry of it all, and the promise that goodness and decency can prevail, was manifest in the crowds and the city right here, this night, in Budapest. It combined to inspire him to find the fullness of his voice.
And this is why he cried tears of joy.
* * *
Soon after this presentation, Peterson was in the hospital in recovery at the same time the world of freedom and rights fell apart. He woke to a different world. He began to fight again. And here we are, exactly as he predicted: he is the enemy of the state. He has spent his entire professional career not only as a scholar and therapist—really a genius—but also as a resistor and a bringer of light in dark times.
The (Surprisingly High) Cost Of Mobile Internet Around The World
Israel has the cheapest mobile internet in the world, with one gigabyte of data costing on average just $0.04 in 2022. With three in four Israelis owning a smartphone, the country has an even higher smartphone penetration than the United States.
This is according to UK-based price comparison website cable.co.uk, who analyzed 5,292 mobile data plans across 233 countries.
As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the chart below, Italy places second in the global ranking, with a low cost of $0.12 per 1GB. The country has excellent internet infrastructure with 5G now available to around 95 percent of its residents. It also maintains the internet of neighboring San Marino ($0.14), which places third in the global ranking.
According to Dan Howdle, a consumer telecoms analyst at cable.co.uk, many of the cheapest countries have excellent mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure which allows providers to offer large amounts of data at cheap prices.
In some countries, economic conditions dictate the price which has to remain low so people can afford it.
Some of the costliest data plans, however, are in the remote island nations of Africa and South America. For instance, the Falkland Islands rank in 231st place with 1GB of internet costing $38.45, while the same amount of mobile data in Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic, costs an average of $41.06 – more than 1,000 times that of Israel’s.
Regionally, North America is the most expensive overall, with an average cost of $4.98 per GB, which is higher than the global average of $3.12.
Canada is the most expensive of the region ($5.94), followed by the United States ($5.94), while Greenland is the cheapest ($3.36).
“I don’t even know if I will be alive tomorrow. I might OD tonight,” Pete—a pseudonym—told The Epoch Times.
“You are talking to a drug user right now and that’s the name of the game.”
The 34-year-old comedian has been using the opiate fentanyl since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and commonly checks in and out of rehabilitation centers. With his addiction, he wakes up some mornings homeless on the streets of Southern California.
“You are talking on the phone to a guy about to get his drugs right now,” he said slurring his words off of Huntington Beach’s 17th Street. “And you just missed me getting shaken down by some guy over here.”
A homeless man contorts his body while working off a drug high in Santa Ana, Calif., on June 28, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
The “guy” Pete was referencing, a drug dealer, did not give Pete the drugs he wanted. Instead, he paid a nearby homeless individual $80 to help him track down a dealer.
“I would say that the easiest cities to get [fentanyl] in Orange County would be either Costa Mesa or Santa Ana,” Pete said the morning after being arrested for public drunkenness by Newport Beach Police.
“You can ask any homeless person and they can tell you where to find fentanyl to inject or smoke,” he said.
Dealers which are nicknamed “Fentanyl Fairies” blend in with local homeless populations, even sometimes pushing shopping carts that appear to be filled with their belongings.
There’s a “connection with homelessness and fentanyl,” Pete said.
“When you are selling everything to feed your own addiction, you become homeless. Dealers look homeless and sell to the homeless.”
A Record Year
As 2022 came to a close, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced a record-breaking seizure of over 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl throughout the country.
United States Customs and Border Protection agents also faced their busiest year on record regarding fentanyl seizures. According to the Department of Justice, 60 percent of apprehensions occurred in California’s Imperial and San Diego counties with more than 5,000 pounds of fentanyl confiscated from drug traffickers, just in the first nine months of the year.
In San Diego County, the drug has been declared a public health crisis response with homeless individuals experiencing the greatest increase of deaths from fentanyl over the last three years, according to county officials.
Mock sizing of a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl in a file photo. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
“From 2020 to 2021, the number of fentanyl overdose deaths increased by 90 percent among the unhoused population versus a 32 percent increase among individuals who were not experiencing homelessness,” County of San Diego spokesperson Fernanda Lopez Halvorson, told The Epoch times.
According to Lopez Halvorson, the county is now saturated with naloxone, known best by its brand name Narcan, to reverse and block the effects of opioids, such as fentanyl.
“The overarching goal is to distribute 33,000 naloxone kits by June 30, 2023,” Lopez Halvorson said.
“Overdose deaths are preventable using a comprehensive approach that includes widespread public messaging on the risks of fentanyl and offering naloxone, a safe medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, and an effective treatment for opioid use disorder.”
At 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin, deaths caused by fentanyl are on the rise in Southern California as the powerful opiate continues to be used more as a substitute ingredient for illicit drugs due to its powerful effect at a cheaper cost. Often, officials say, San Diego is a first stop for smugglers.
A firefighter displays Narcan, a lifesaving medicine used to treat drug overdoses, on Feb 26, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Just in north Orange County, fentanyl deaths among the homeless population continue to increase in Santa Ana and Anaheim, both of which topped the lists for homeless deaths involving the drug in 2020, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (pdf).
In Santa Ana, which recorded the most homeless deaths involving fentanyl, all officers are now equipped with naloxone, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.
“With fentanyl being such a potent drug, our officers are instructed to take additional precautionary measures when handling this,” Santa Ana Police Department Sgt. Maria Lopez told The Epoch Times.
“Our officers are trained in the use of Narcan and administer the medication when they suspect opioid overdose.”
Further north, in Long Beach, medics recently shared having to use Narcan multiple times in one week on the same person.
“Usually when it’s a fentanyl [overdose], most of these people have what we call the ‘agonal breathing.’ They look like they’re dead and they might be close to death, but they’re breathing maybe once every minute or so with unbelievably small pupils,” one Long Beach firefighter told The Epoch Times.
A fast driving ambulance navigates the Los Angeles streets on April 4, 2012. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
As a first responder, the firefighter said he has become all too familiar with two usual responses of recovering someone who has overdosed on fentanyl.
“More times than not, they are kind of mad at you for ruining the drug high that nearly killed them,” he said.
The other response, he said, is projectile vomiting.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office, which oversees Long Beach, told The Epoch Times that the total number of homeless deaths involving fentanyl as a contributing factor was 310 cases, with cases still pending to the yearly total.
Sign of the Times
Along 1st Street in Santa Ana, on a recent day, a man began stripping off his clothing and started clawing at the sky. Working up a sweat as the veins in his arms and head began to protrude, he suddenly bent forward with convulsions in what is known as “nodding out”—body language for an individual working off a fentanyl high.
Just blocks away a group of about 10 who appeared homeless gathered under shelter at Birch Park as rain began to fall.
“I’ve got a prize for you!” one man said, between toppling two metallic poles together, pointing his chin toward four homeless individuals to his right.
A homeless encampment in Santa Ana, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
There, two men and two women in their mid-to-late 20s passed around a zip-locked bag of an off-white, powder-like substance. They were surrounded by others passed out on benches next to trash bags filled with dirty blankets and comforters.
A clean-shaven Hispanic man, who appeared to be in his late 50s walked toward the group asking if they wanted money.
“Nah, we’re alright,” one of the women said. “We’ll take some cigarettes, though.”
The man then approached them, placing both knees on the ground before exchanging his cash for a smaller cut of the group’s product.
Then the man with the metal poles began to tap them together at an even faster pace, showing the whites of his eyes as they locked on the man who then retreated.
During 2022, fentanyl seizures increased 594 percent throughout the State of California, according to the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 83 illegal aliens to Haiti on Monday and 273 to Cuba on Sunday after they were intercepted in the Florida Keys over the New Year period.
(L) An illegal alien vessel about seven miles south of Big Pine Key, Florida, on Jan. 1, 2023; (R) A vessel carrying Haitians on Jan. 3, 2023, who were repatriated to Haiti on Jan. 9, 2023. (Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard)
The Coast Guard said it continues to intercept and rescue illegal aliens from overloaded and unseaworthy vessels and warned that those interdicted at sea would be repatriated.
In a statement about the 83 Haitians repatriated on Monday, Lt. Travis Poulos said Coast Guard District Seven and partner agencies continue to patrol the Florida Straits, Windward, and Mona passages.
“These ventures are extremely dangerous and could cost you your life,” Poulos said.
The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk’s crew departs Matanzas, Cuba, following a repatriation of Cuban illegal aliens to Cuba on Jan. 8, 2023. (Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Newmeyer/U.S. Coast Guard)
The 83 Haitians were first spotted in a sailing vessel by a West Palm Beach Coast Guard crew near Hobe Sound on Jan. 2, then again by a good Samaritan on Jan. 4 about five miles east of Key Lago—around 156 miles apart. There were men, women, and children aboard, according to the Coast Guard.
Lt. Cmdr. John Beal said Coast Guard District Seven crew continue to intercept and rescue Cubans “from grossly overloaded, unseaworthy vessels.”
“These illegal voyages are always dangerous and often deadly,” Beal said in a statement on Sunday.
“We are working closely with partner agencies to save lives and prevent illegal entry to the United States via our southeast maritime border. Those interdicted at sea will be repatriated.”
Florida’s state government will also deploy aircraft from the Florida National Guard to back up marine patrols to “support water interdictions and ensure the safety of migrants attempting to reach Florida through the Florida Straits.”
A vessel carrying illegal aliens who were repatriated to Cuba on Jan. 8, 2023; reported to U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstanders by a good Samaritan about four miles south of Duck Key, Florida, Jan. 1, 2023. (Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard Station Marathon’s crew)
DeSantis Activates National Guard
Over 300 illegal aliens unlawfully arrived in the Florida Keys over the New Year period, prompting Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign an executive order on Jan. 6 to activate the National Guard.
State officials were forced to shut the Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles west of Key West, after 300 aliens landed there, while a further 45 arrived in Key West. The Coast Guard said around 10 vessels were reported and intercepted throughout the Florida Keys between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
“As the negative impacts of [President Joe] Biden’s lawless immigration policies continue unabated, the burden of the Biden administration’s failure falls on local law enforcement who lack the resources to deal with the crisis,” the Republican governor said in a statement.
“That is why I am activating the National Guard and directing state resources to help alleviate the strain on local resources. When Biden continues to ignore his legal responsibilities, we will step in to support our communities.”
A boat that was left along the shoreline after it was used recently to transport Cuban illegal aliens from the island nation to America in Key West, Florida, on Jan. 6, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In addition, DeSantis’s executive order (pdf) directs state law enforcement and other state agencies to “provide resources in support of local governments” responding to the influx of illegal aliens in the Florida Keys, as well as “additional support toward efforts to prevent further migrant landings on Florida’s shores.”
The 194 deputies of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department struggled to manage the influx of hundreds of illegal aliens while also trying to ensure public safety, according to DeSantis’s office.
Biden Parole Program
On Jan. 5, Biden announced a new policy to turn back Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who arrive illegally in the United States. People from these four countries make up the majority of illegal aliens crossing the southwest border, Biden said.
The “parole program” will allow up to 30,000 people a month from those four countries to seek asylum in the United States, provided they apply online while in a non-U.S. country, pay their airfare, and find a U.S. sponsor. They then need to make an appointment via the CBP One app to meet with a border agent.
“But if their application is denied or if they attempt to cross into the United States unlawfully, they will be returned back to Mexico and will not be eligible for this program after that,” Biden said.
The president said his administration expects this will “substantially reduce” the number of people attempting to cross the southwest border “without going through a legal process.”
“We can’t stop people from making the journey, but we can require … that they come here in an orderly way under U.S. law,” he added.
“And let me say it again: The actions we’re announcing today will make things better … but will not fix the border problem completely.”
The Coast Guard said it’s intercepted and blocked 4,795 Cubans trying to enter the United States illegally since October, while the governor’s office said over 8,000 illegal aliens have been encountered in the waters off Florida since August.
Cannabis Grower Tilray Mulls Expansion Into Fruit And Vegetable Growing, Alcohol, While Awaiting U.S. Legalization
We once thought the obvious pivot would be traditional food and beverage manufacturers looking to eventually incorporate marijuana based products into their portfolios of products. Now, it looks like the opposite could be happening.
As marijuana legalization at the federal level in the U.S. has not proceeded as expediently as once predicted, grower Tilray Brands is now considering acquisitions that could move it into the alcohol – or even the produce – space.
Chief Executive Officer Irwin Simon said this week that, while it has set up infrastructure for the eventual distribution of its products in the U.S., a “lack of political action” has caused it to shift its vision, Yahoo reported.
Now the company is considering using some of its growing capacity for fruits and vegetables as a short term measure. It is also considering acquisitions that would move it further into setting up a U.S. distribution network, for when marijuana is eventually legalized.
Simon asked rhetorically on a company conference call this week: “There’s food shortages in the world of lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries. If we have overcapacity, how do we start growing fruits and vegetables at some of these facilities and supply food to the world?”
Analysts were hesitant at the idea, instead asking if the company should simply be focused on reducing its growing capacity. In response, Simon reminded them that the company’s top priority remains cannabis and that the idea of growing fruits and vegetables would only be a “temporary bridge”. Later in the day, on a different call, Simon reassured analysts that facilities would be easily converted for legalized cannabis in the U.S. or Europe when the time was right.
Tilray already owns SweetWater Brewing Co and Montauk Brewing Co, as well as a bourbon maker, Breckenridge Distillery, Yahoo reported. While those names are small in size, the company isn’t against taking on a larger potential brand name. “If there was a national brand, we would look at that too,” Simon concluded.
