#22: SPY BALLOON DOWN
Toddler drag queen makeover + Austrian anti-migration party victorious + Imams fired for human trafficking + MORE!
CHINESE PSYOPS OVERDRIVE
The Chinese spy balloon was officially shot down on Saturday afternoon after US President Joe Biden gave the authorization to remove the mysterious object from American airspace.
Amid the national security panic, China’s state-influenced search engines and social media clamped down on any reference to the term “spy balloon.”
On social media some noted how the WeChat search engine has eradicated about half of the search results relating to the term “spy balloon” virtually overnight. Additionally, the only promoted content on the matter is from state-approved media outlets like Xinhua.
Chinese state media’s coverage of the story has gone from outright denial to ridicule and predictably, reinforcing the Chinese government’s message – that this is a weather balloon gone off course.
The outlet Global Times even cited an expert who speculated that “it is more possible that the balloon comes from a commercial boat sailing along the US west coast as they usually send such balloons to monitor the weather. The US military also sometimes fly sounding balloons during exercises to attain radar information and ensure security. “
On Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry also released a report on the “perils” of American foreign policy.
As far as the government report goes, it’s a short one – about the length of a college essay. It’s also very poorly cited and lacking any authorship beyond mere attributions by Chinese state media to vague “experts.”
The timing of the report is curious, along with its poor composition, raising the question of whether it was hastily written to distract from the very serious accusation that it had willfully breached American territorial integrity.
Titled The U.S. Willful Practice of Long-arm Jurisdiction, the report echoes common Chinese government complaints: that the US was using its hegemony to bully other countries, violate sovereignty and levy sanctions.
“(US long arm jursidiction is) a hegemonic tool to maintain U.S. hegemony, suppress foreign competitors, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and even subvert the governments of other countries,” claimed the report.
DRAG QUEEN MAKEOVER FOR ONE-YEAR-OLDS
An event meant to instill “equality between boys and girls” by the Meriadeck library in Bordeaux, France features a drag queen “sensory make-up” workshop for 18-month-olds to 4-year-olds.
The drag queen in question – Serge – a mustachioed long-haired man who wears a dress – has apparently loved putting on makeup since childhood and now wants to share the experience.
“Since she was very young, Serge has loved to wear make-up. Watching her do it, the children then do their own makeup,”
The event is a part of Bordeaux’s series of events on "awakening” toddlers featuring books that challenge stereotypes.
“The libraries of Bordeaux offer a whole program for toddlers and their parents on the theme of equality between girls and boys,” a city website states.
Serge’s picture has since been removed from the website but has been shared on social media.
FORMER ACTIVIST SAYS THE “FAR-RIGHT” BEING PROVEN RIGHT ON MIGRATION
A public television audience member who had once been part of a program to help Syrian migrants settle in Ireland complained to the hosts that the “far-right” – that is, migration critics – have so far been proven right.
This comes at a time when Ireland is seeing a growing row over plans to house an ever increasing number of asylum seekers in communities without asking residents.
During a Q&A period on the RTE program Upfront, the audience member said that politicians had deceived their citizens when it comes to the issue.
“Four years ago, in 2019, I was part of the Lismore Welcome Project, when we brought a Syrian family to Lismore,” said the audience member.
“At that very meeting, David Stanton stood up – he was the Minister then – and told us the hotel would not be used for refugees.”
“What is happening now is, they are proceeding without planning for the building. And it is feeding into the far-right, and it is giving the far-right an argument,” he continued.
“The far-right was at that meeting four years ago, and everything they said at the meeting has been proved right.”
AUSTRIAN FREEDOM PARTY RIDES TO STUNNING VICTORY
The anti-migration Freedom of Austria Party (FPÖ) has become the nation’s most popular movement after seizing over 24% in lower Austria’s state elections.
FPÖ has proposed closing Austria’s borders and holding a national referendum on Russian sanctions and sending arms to Ukraine.
“Corruption has been voted out,” said federal party manager Christian Hafenecker. “This is the beginning.”
FPÖ’s rise has federal implications, threatening the dominance of the country’s conservative ruling government led by Austria’s People’s Party.
One of the slogans party leader Herbert Kickl ran on was “Fortress Austria – close borders – guarantee security.”
IMAMS FIRED FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING VIA “PLEASURE MARRIAGES”
Sweden’s Shia community organization (ISS) has defrocked two imams and a number of other officials after they were accused of human trafficking by granting temporary “pleasure marriages” for profit.
The suspects in questions are believed to have granted the Islamic marriages to Muslim men seeking sex with prostitutes.
ISS chairman Haider Ibrahim has claimed that the incident was an isolated case and Swedish authorities have decided not to strip the organization of government subsidies as a result.
Some subsections of Islam allow for temporary marriage, however, a vast majority do not, including Saudi Arabia where it is akin to prostitution.
HUNGARIAN COURT UPHOLDS BAN ON CHANGING BIRTH GENDER
On Thursday, the Hungarian Constitutional Court upheld a federal law that prohibited transgender people from changing their sex of birth on government documents.
The ruling cited the need for medical professionals and criminal justice authorities to know the sex of persons in question.
“The fact that the State registers the individual’s sex at birth instead of or in addition to his or her self-identified sex, which corresponds to his or her gender identity, as a result of sex reassignment treatment, may be justified for several reasons,” ruled the court.
“On the one hand, an individual’s right to healthcare may require the inclusion of his or her sex at birth in civil registers as an indispensable piece of information about the individual provided to the healthcare institution, which may, for example, be necessary for the provision of appropriate healthcare.”
A number of NGOs and LGBT groups have challenged the law and are proposing to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.