#8: "SUN TAX" IN ROMANIA
Socialist EU MEPs busted for corruption + Antifa vandalizes Charles de Gaulle monument + virologist fantasizes of genetic "body tuning" to fight viruses + MORE!
ROMANIANS WANT TO TAX THE SUN
The Romanian government is facing accusations of putting a tax on the sun after a new ordinance categorizes households with solar panels as “small energy producers.”
Prosumers could face tariffs for renewable energy production by 2026 if the power produced by the panels exceeds 8% of national production capacities or over 30 kW.
Minister of Energy Virgil-Daniel Popescu has since called the sun tax “fake news.”
“The sun tax is fake news. Absolutely no tax is introduced, all Romanians who install photovoltaic panels on their house will pay absolutely no tax for the energy consumed, for the energy produced,” said Popescu.
However, the minister’s assurances have not prevented opposition parties from holding the government’s feet to the fire over the proposed regulatory scheme.
Populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) leader George Simion sabotaged the minister’s press conference last week by taking over the podium.
The scandal was livestreamed on Simion’s Facebook page which was viewed by tens of thousands of Romanians.
"We are waiting for them to escort us out after they also explain to us about the sun tax. I was told that I was not allowed to participate and yet I came. If I break a law, let a state body come and tell me,” said Simion.
Romanian grendarmerie attempted to evict Simion and other party members from the premises but were eventually schooled by the party leader after they couldn’t cite a law that they had broken. Simion eventually left peacefully on his own accord.
SOCIALIST EU POLITICIANS ARRESTED ON SUSPICIONS OF CORRUPTION
Four high-ranking left-wing Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have been arrested by police in Belgium on suspicions of corruption related to lobbying activity in Qatar.
As first reported by the Belgian outlet Le Soir European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili was among those detained. Kaili was also a member of the far-left Greek party Pasok.
A raid on one of the homes discovered bags of cash containing approximately 600,000 euros.
Investigators are alleging that they "suspect a Gulf country of trying to influence the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament.” Suspects are believed to have received large sums of money and gifts in exchange for political favours.
Former Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Italian MEP Pier-Antionio Panzeri was also nabbed by police alongside EU Secretary General of the International Trade Union Confederation Luca Visentini. Four parliamentary assistants close to the Socialists and Democrats have had their offices searched as well.
An NGO director was also arrested during the raids. The common trait of all of the suspects is that they have deep connections to human rights groups and NGOs.
ANTIFA DISGRACES CHARLES DE GAULLE MONUMENT
A statue of General Charles de Gaulle was splattered with red paint by Antifascists in Metz, France only one year after being erected to honour the World War II leader.
Police believe the incident took place on the night of Dec. 7.
Metz Mayor Francois Grosdidier called the defacing an “outrage to the man who, more than any other, embodies free France and the spririt of resistance.”
If you know anything about history, de Gaulle was the preeminent anti-fascist who led the nation out from the grips of Nazi occupation.
He is rightly hailed as a great restorer of French nationalism at one of the bleakest moments in European history.
The French far-left’s hatred for de Gaulle is not new. Historic posters by the Communist Party of France state “de Gaulle is fascism.”
GERMAN VIROLOGIST FANTASIZES ABOUT GENETIC “BODY TUNING”
German virologist and HIV researcher Hendrick Streeck fantasized in a recent interview on WELT TV about genetically modifying humans to be immune to certain viruses.
“It is a very human dream to push personal performance limits upwards. Three types of body tuning are used for this purpose. Chemical, in which we take medicines that improve our thinking skills, for example,” said Streeck.
““Technologically, we are trying to achieve this with exoskeletons, among other things - and then of course there is genetics, which can be an intervention in the germ line before a human is even born.”
According to Streeck, altering the gene code is only limited by the imagination.
“There are hardly any limits to the imagination, at least since the discovery of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors. With this we can change all sorts of things in unborn people,” he explained.
“We could create children who are immune to certain diseases or more resistant to cold. And there is also a lot of research going on in other areas, i.e. technology and pharmacy.”
SWEDISH SCHOOL KIDS THROW LOW-CARBON LUNCHES ON FLOOR
What child doesn’t love a nice cold plate of boiled cabbage and potatoes?
A municipal experiment to serve locally-sourced vegetarian low-carbon lunches to schoolkids in Lycksele, Sweden has gone awry after students chucked the dishes into the garbage.
Schoolkids have described the meals as “pig food” and “disgusting.”
According to lunchlady Petra Lindblom, students have responded with cusswords and contempt when she serves them the gruel.
Parents are not happy either…
"If any "green daredevil" has chosen to start experimenting with the school lunch in Lycksele municipality, then it is time that this person is stripped of responsibility,” wrote an anonymous parent in a local newspaper.