Households in Belgium and Germany pay twice as much for electricity as Poland, a German government research body says.
Energy price rises have particularly squeezed small to mid-sized homes in the two countries in the first half of 2023.
In Belgium, homes using less than 5,000 kWh of electricity a year pay an average of 45.59 cents per kWh, the German Federal Statistical Office finds.
This is much more than similarly-sized houses in nuclear-powered France, which only pay 27.35 cent per kWh.
It is also more than double what Poles pay for homes that size, which is as little as 19.92 cents a kWh.
Households in the statelet of Liechtenstein pay the most for electricity within the European Economic Community, at an average of 46.35 cent.
The results of the study provoke anger from Die Linke, Germany’s socialist party which asked the statistics office to compile the report..
“Almost all European countries have done better,” says Dietmar Bartsch, chair of the party’s Bundestag group.
Germany should implement “basic quotas” for electricity in the country, he says.
The data show price controls implemented by the country’s centre-left government do not go far enough, he adds.
Other parties argue high energy prices cannot be regulated away, however.
Decades of green energy policies since the Merkel era have also raised energy prices, as well as increasing inflation.
Germany’s governments largely refrained from investing in domestic fossil fuel production, and instead imported oil and gas from Russia.
With those imports cut off after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany increasingly struggles to keep the lights on. It relies now on older, brown coal power stations to keep power its energy grid.
While authorities so far have avoided rolling blackouts, the crisis damaged Germany’s manufacturing sector badly.
A recent study finds two in three companies operating in Germany are now looking to relocate at least some of their operations abroad to save money.
Zairon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64110324
German police raided 54 locations across the country on Thursday in an investigation of a Hamburg-based center suspected of promoting Iranian ideology and supporting the activities of the Hezbollah terror group, the government said, as Berlin moves to stem a rash of antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The Interior Ministry said the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, has long been under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. It said the activities of the group are aimed at spreading the “revolutionary concept” of Iran’s supreme leader.
“We have the Islamist scene in our sights,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement. “Now in particular, at a time when many Jews feel particularly threatened, we tolerate no Islamist propaganda and no antisemitic and anti-Israel agitation.”
Authorities were also looking into suspicions that the IZH supports banned activities in Germany by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, which has repeatedly traded fire with Israel across the border since Hamas’s murderous onslaught last month in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were murdered, mostly civilians, and over 240 were kidnapped to Gaza.
The IZH runs a mosque in Hamburg. The Interior Ministry said German intelligence believes it exerts significant influence or full control over some other mosques and groups, and that they often promote a “clearly antisemitic and anti-Israel attitude.” It said authorities were examining whether it can be banned, and that material seized during the searches would be evaluated.
Wednesday’s raids were carried out in Hamburg and six other German states — Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria in the south; Berlin; and Hesse, North-Rhine Westphalia and Lower Saxony in the west and northwest. In addition to IZH, the investigation is also targeting five other groups suspected of being sub-organizations of it.
On November 2, the German interior minister implemented a formal ban on activity by or in support of Hamas and dissolved Samidoun, a group that was behind a celebration of the terror attack’s massacres in Israel, following up on a pledge made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz shortly after the attack.
Speaking at the New Culture Forum’s Immigration Conference in October 2023, Amandeep Bhogal, Founding Chairman of the Global Britain Centre, discusses the failed policies of multiculturalism and mass migration and how “the Blob” (i.e. The Home Office) is working against our national interest.
The mayor of the Saint-Gilles neighbourhood in Brussels has said he would like to make Saint Nicholas, the Christian saint associated with Christmas, more Moroccan in order to connect with the residents of his area.
Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette stated that he would be open for Saint Nicholas to embrace Moroccan culture during the annual December 6th event in which a man dressed as the saint visits local schools in the area, Sudinfo reports.
Spinette stated that his government has relations with the Moroccan city of Berkane and that many of the residents of his area originate from the region. “It’s a way to find a connection with the Muslim community in the town,” he said. “You should know that many people living in Saint-Gilles are from this region of Morocco.”
“And I would find it comical to have a Sidi Nicolas who provides clementines to the children,” he said. Berkane is known for producing clementines and the word “Sidi” is a term of respect in Arabic that can mean “my lord”
“For us, St. Nicholas must be environmentally friendly, respectful of religions and intersectional,” Mayor Spinette said.
While the Belgian mayor attempts to make Saint Nicholas more Muslim and North African, although Saint Nicholas was Christian and Greek, an Austrian school has banned visits from Saint Nicholas entirely this year.
The German newspaper Junge Freiheitreports that a kindergarten in the Salzburg municipality of Plainfeld has told organisers behind the visits of Saint Nicholas on December 6th not to visit their kindergarten due to issues of diversity and “cultural differences.”
According to the newspaper, the request is the first time in decades that a man dressed as the Christian saint has been barred from visiting a school.
Wolfgang Ganzenhuber, a member of the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the mayor of the municipality, said that he spoke to parents who were outraged and angered by the kindergarten’s decision.
He stated that he was also surprised by the kindergarten’s announcement and had never had any complaints about Saint Nicholas visiting schools in his 14 years as mayor. He said that local schools were allowing their children to vote on whether Saint Nicholas should come to their school as a compromise.
In many parts of Europe, Saint Nicholas is depicted in an overtly Christian manner, with those playing him often wearing a bishop’s mitre and carrying a crozier or a cross, unlike his American counterpart Santa Claus, or Father Christmas in the UK, who are less overtly associated with Christianity.
Various regions of Europe also have different traditions regarding Saint Nicholas, some of which have drawn sharp criticism, such as the Dutch tradition of Saint Nicholas being accompanied by Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete, as those portraying the character usually darken their skin, resulting in accusations of racism by left-wing activists.
In parts of Austria and the German region of Bavaria, meanwhile, Saint Nicholas is often accompanied by a demonic-looking being named Krampus who assists Saint Nicholas by hitting naughty children with birch rods while Saint Nicholas hands out presents to good children.
Krampus-related violence has also been criticised, with several people being arrested in Salzburg last year, while a 14-year-old girl dressed as the character was injured after a 22-year-old attempted to rip her mask off.
Violence is not unfamiliar to the historic Saint Nicholas, however, who has become most well-known for punching the heretic Arius in the face at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD over the Arian heresy, although some dispute the attack actually took place.
Cologne was the center of a scandal back in 2015 when hundreds of women were mobbed and sexually assaulted predominantly by asylum seekers during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The German city of Cologne will refrain from divulging the location of new asylum accommodation until the final stages of its construction due to the discontent felt by locals who then attempt to thwart the process.
The city government’s Head of Social Affairs Harald Rau revealed that the area was under pressure to accommodate greater numbers of migrants, needed to expedite new housing initiatives, and simply couldn’t afford for local residents to hold up their development.
“We will not provide information about every item under review. We can only name the property at a more advanced stage and cannot respond to all of the usual objections to the construction of new accommodation,” Rau told journalists.
It means that homeowners could find themselves living next door to an asylum reception center and be too late to contest the decision taken behind closed doors by city councilors.
“We have found that if we announce very early on which accommodations for refugees are being examined, we trigger a dynamic that is not good for anyone,” Rau explained.
This dynamic, in layman’s terms, is local residents rejecting the plans amid a continuous influx of new arrivals to the city — up to 200 migrants are reaching Cologne every week and public services are saturated.
Rau recounted a recent experience with a project in the affluent Neumarkt district of the city being struck down by residents. “Unfortunately, the debate gained public momentum that led to the failure of the project,” he explained.
For the foreseeable future, the public will not be consulted on initiatives involving short-term accommodation for migrants, but political committees will still have the ability to contest long-term projects.
“The need is currently so great that we have to create places where possible,” Rau added.
The diverse English city of Bradford has announced that for the Christmas season, it will raise a “multi-faith festive tree” in the latest assault on Christianity, or at least the cultural vestiges of it, in Britain.
The West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce’s Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Business Committee said this week that City Hall will see a “multi-faith” evergreen erected in front of it during Christmas to celebrate the multicultural nature of the city, with over a third of its population being from minority backgrounds per the latest census.
Announcing the decision, committee chairwoman Nasreen Karim said per the local Telegraph & Argus newspaper: “I am truly delighted that this initiative is taking off.
“The whole purpose of the BAME Business Committee was to ensure that all diverse businesses were being represented by the Chamber, to ensure all voices were being heard.
“We want to bring communities together. This tree encompasses that. It’s an opportunity for not just the business community but the community at large to celebrate the tapestry of our vibrant community, especially during a time of world conflicts.”
The tree will be unveiled in a launching ceremony attended by representatives of various faith groups and cultural representatives from the city.
The initiative of the multi-faith tree was initially proposed by Saleem Kader, who serves as a board member of the Chamber of Commerce’s BAME committee.
“We wanted to celebrate the fact that this city, despite its critics, demonstrates how true is the power of multiculturalism,” Kader said.
“The city with the many cultures from all over the world blended together in harmony, this is truly something to be very proud of.”
In an apparent attempt to placate the native British population, the vast majority of whom celebrate Christmas, a traditional Christmas tree will also accompany the “multi-faith” tree.
However, the plans have drawn backlash on social media, with GB News presenter Darren Grimes questioning: “Will you be forcing other faiths in Bradford to observe multi-faith symbols in the name of diversity and inclusion, or does this only apply to important events within the Christian calendar?”
In Paris, in a snatch-and-grab operation, jewels worth almost 600,000 euros were stolen from the wife of the president of Mongolia’s Olympic Committee. More on this robbery, and other robberies in the capital, are discussed in the report here: “French police make arrests after gang robs €600,000 worth of jewelry from Mongolia’s Olympic Committee president’s wife in Paris,” by Thomas Brooke, Remix News, November 3, 2023:
Three members of a Parisian gang have been arrested on suspicion of robbing almost €600,000 worth of jewelry from the wife of Mongolia’s Olympic Committee president in the French capital last month.
The vehicle transporting Battushig Batbold and his wife, Tselmuun Nyamtaishir, was tailed from the Charles de Gaulle airport by three suspects on a motorbike near the Stade de France on Oct. 11, according to the public prosecutor’s office.
Agence France-Presse reported how the gang seized the opportunity to strike when the pair’s vehicle slowed in traffic in the Landy Tunnel near the stadium, smashing the rear window and snatching a bag of valuables from the back seat.
Batbold, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told police that the bag contained jewelry worth an estimated €570,000.
Mongolia is a poor country. But Batbold was apparently rich enough to buy his wife jewels worth 570,000 euros (and that was the cost just for the jewelry she took with her while traveling). How might that have come about? He is not only the president of Mongolia’s Olympic Committee, but also a member of the International Olympic Committee. He has a vote on where future Olympics will take place. Now everyone knows that two Arab countries — Qatar and Saudi Arabia — have been spending vast sums to increase their presence in world sports, and have spent staggering sums to buy players, leagues, and votes on everything from where the FIFA World Cup games were held in 2022 (Qatar), to where the Olympic Games will be held in 2036.
For Saudi Arabia, hosting the Olympics remains, as the Crown Prince has said, “the ultimate goal.” Meanwhile, it has set up its own LIV Golf tour, giving golf pros who sign up with it multimillion-dollar contracts. Dustin Johnson, for example, was paid $150 million to sign with the LIV tour. The Saudis have also been building up their soccer teams. They paid soccer star Cristiano Renaldo $200 million to sign with the Saudi club Al-Nassr, and spent another $675 million to induce several other soccer stars to sign.
Qatar is no slouch, either. It already managed to be chosen as the site of the 2022 FIFA World Cup competition. Qatar spent a staggering $220 billion to host that event. Everyone knows that bribery of FIFA officials was a decisive factor in the choice of Qatar. Now, having hosted the Asian Games, Qatar wants to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. It is already deploying its chief argument — its willingness to spend large sums — to those who may be willing and able to help it attain its goal.
Some may be wondering how the Mongolian member of the IOC was able to buy such expensive jewelry for his wife. It may be because of his success as a businessman. But might it be thanks to cash provided by Qatar, or Saudi Arabia, or perhaps both? When the Mongolian couple returns to Ulan Bator, they will no doubt be questioned about the source of their sudden good fortune. It may all, of course, be completely above-board.
Police are seeking to link the crime to a similar robbery targeting a group of Saudi nationals the previous week during which valuables worth an estimated €500,000 were stolen.
They revealed that three male suspects, aged 22 to 25, were arrested last week in Seine-Saint-Denis, but only recently made this public. No further details about the identity of the suspects have been released….
Seine-Saint-Denis is the almost entirely Muslim suburb of Paris, so it is certain that the thieves were young Muslims.
Thefts from vehicles in France have gone up by more than 30% in one year. Robberies have increased by 14% year over year. And sexual offenses have increased, in just one year, by more than 11%. These figures are staggering. And President Macron has recognized that more than half the crimes in Paris are committed by “foreigners.” Everyone knows what he means: those “foreigners” are Muslim migrants Yet Macron continues, inexplicably, to oppose stricter limits on Muslim immigration, even though he recognizes the outsize role that Muslim migrants play in crime.
In 2024, Paris will host the Summer Olympics. How much luggage will be snatched by thieves from vehicles, hotel rooms, and right out of the hands of startled tourists by those busy North Africans from Seine-Saint-Denis who are so eager to supplement the generous benefits they already receive from the French state, with whatever additional funds their lightning-quick snatch-and-grab feats can provide?
Spain’s Ministry of Interior has confirmed that the director of the country’s Civil Guard, Leonardo Marcos, has decided to sanction Agustín Leal, the spokesman for Justice for the Civil Guard (JUCIL), an advocacy group representing a majority of the country’s civil guards. Leal is facing a possible three-month suspension for using social media to express views contrary to the government’s amnesty for separatist Catalan politicians.
JUCIL has described this as “an attempt to silence the civil guard” in its mission of “defending the rights and freedoms of Spaniards,” as well as in its struggle to “achieve better working conditions.”
Members of another advocacy group for the Civil Guard, APROGC, are facing a similar sanction after publicly recalling that their oath of service included the commitment to shed their blood in the defence of Spain and her constitution, intimating that what the government is doing and its possible consequences could end up requiring just such a sacrifice.
Once more is known concerning the specific action faced by Leal, JUCIL will begin preparing a legal defence, which, according to a statement issued by the group, will pursue “respect, neutrality, and objectivity, as guaranteed by Article 20 of the Constitution, which recognizes and protects the right to freedom of expression.” The statement added:
As a consequence of heightened social tension, some politicians want to return to the methods used by the Ministry [of Interior] in the eighties, during which certain [advocacy] groups within the Civil Guard faced persecution.
The situation bears providing some background: In October of 2017, separatist politicians in Catalonia, whose parties, taken together, had never gained even 50% of the total Catalan popular vote, held a referendum that international observers found to be rife with irregularities and which the opposition boycotted. On the basis of the referendum’s pro-independence result, they declared an independent Catalan republic, attempting to force a majority of the region, including the vast swath of people who had actively boycotted the vote, into a new, perilous future.
Indeed, the pursuit of independence is not oriented towards the good of the many but rather largely proceeds from a part of the Catalan bourgeoisie’s desire to appropriate the fruits of Madrid’s many generations-long privileged investments in the region.
Spain’s present government is willing to grant these politicians amnesty (which legal scholars by and large consider unconstitutional) in order to gain the few extra votes necessary for their leader’s investiture.
With massive protests throughout Spain and law enforcement spokesmen openly expressing their opposition, the country is in the throes of a civic uprising.
Two veteran members of a sorority at the University of Wyoming have been expelled after expressing disapproval towards the admission of a trans-identified male to the sisterhood. Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith had been alumni members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority for over 50 years, but have now been removed in apparent retaliation for advocating that membership be restricted to females only.
According to a press release issued by the Independent Women’s Forum, Levang and Tuck-Smith were voted out by the sorority’s national leadership on November 9. Levang had been the past Kappa Kappa Gamma National Foundation President, while Tuck-Smith was an active contributor and organizer.
The women’s removal came after they had been vocally opposed to the admission of a trans-identified male to the KKG chapter at the University of Wyoming, and had supported a lawsuit launched by members of that sorority to have Dallin “Artemis” Langford removed.
Langford, who began identifying as a “lesbian” in 2017, first became the subject of international attention earlier this year after multiple female KKG members launched a lawsuit against the national governing body of their sorority demanding his membership be revoked.
"Brave and unique."
That's how MSNBC described a 6'2" male who intimidated his way into membership at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at the University of Wyoming.
Some sorority sisters claim Artemis Langford has watched them with a visible erection.
Although Langford had required a majority vote to gain admission to the KKG house at the University, one sorority sister revealed that the female members were initially promised anonymity in the voting process only to be told they would have to identify themselves on the ballot form at the last minute. This resulted in many of the women feeling “intimidated” into voting for Langford to avoid accusations of “transphobia.”
As previously reported by Reduxx, the female KKG members involved in the lawsuit noted that there had been several disturbing instances of inappropriate behavior from Langford following his admission.
Court records revealed that the young women alleged Langford, who is 6’2″, had been voyeuristically peeping on them while they were in intimate situations, and, on at least one occasion, had a visible erection while doing so.
“One sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel … She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw [Langford] watching her silently,” one court document, which had anonymized Langford, reads.
“[Langford] has, while watching members enter the sorority house, had an erection visible through his leggings,” the suit says. “Other times, he has had a pillow in his lap.”
A 6'2 trans-identified male will remain at a sorority in Wyoming after a court dismissed a suit brought by 6 of its female members.
The women said Artemis Langford had been "watching" them undress in the sorority house, sometimes while erect.https://t.co/k4yJsIbQCD
The complaint added that Langford was “sexually interested in women” as evidenced by his Tinder profile “through which he seeks to meet women.” It was further alleged that Langford took photographs of the women while at a sorority slumber party, where he also is said to have asked the women uncomfortable questions about female genitalia.
The day after the slumber party, it was reported that Langford stood silently in the corner of the room while watching other pledges change out of their sleeping garments.
The lawsuit also highlighted a disturbing incident involving one of the women as she changed her clothing.
Unaware that Langford was in the house, she faced away from the other members and removed her shirt in a communal area. The woman, who was not wearing a bra, turned to discover Langford staring at her after she had put on a clean shirt.
Curiously, court documents also reveal that Langford was admitted to KKG despite not even meeting their basic academic eligibility requirements.
While KKG requires applicants to have a 2.7 Grade Point Average (GPA), Langford only had a 1.9 at the time he submitted his membership request, and was not on a grade probation. The legal complaint notes that this indicates Langford’s application was “evaluated using a different standard.”
From the legal complaint filed against KKG / REDUXX.INFO
Despite expressing overwhelming discomfort with Langford’s admission to the sorority, on August 25, Judge Alan Johnson dismissed the case of Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity, claiming that re-defining “woman” to include males was “Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bedrock right as a private, voluntary organization — and one this Court may not invade.”
In his decision, Johnson wrote: “The University of Wyoming chapter voted to admit — and, more broadly, a sorority of hundreds of thousands approved — Langford. With its inquiry beginning and ending there, the Court will not define ‘woman’ today. The delegate of a private, voluntary organization interpreted ‘woman’, otherwise undefined in the non-profit’s bylaws, expansively; this Judge may not invade Kappa Kappa Gamma’s freedom of expressive association and inject the circumscribed definition Plaintiffs urge.”
While the KKG bylaws state that “a new member shall be a woman,” Judge Johnson found that no bylaw defined “woman.” Johnson also cited a 2018 Guide for Supporting our LGBTQIA+ Members which states: “Kappa Kappa Gamma is a single-gender organization comprised of women and individuals who identify as women whose governing documents do not discriminate in membership selection except by requiring good scholarship and ethical character.”
Though the female complainants have expressed a desire to appeal the decision, there have been reports that KKG administrators are attempting to bar the young women from doing so.
Since news of the lawsuit first became widely circulated, Langford has received ample sympathetic coverage in mainstream media, with one MSNBC host labeling him “brave and unique.” In a recent profile by the Washington Post, Langford was given a platform to accuse the sorority sisters involved in the suit of lying while being compared to women who had historically been denied the right to a basic education.
In a statement provided to the Independent Women’s Forum, now-expelled member Cheryl Tuck-Smith said that she was hurt when she discovered she would be terminated as a member of KKG.
“[I’m also] disturbed that KKG has become a political tool rather than an organization that promotes women. My dismissal simply spurs me on to educate others about the dangers of DEI which in reality does not support diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said.
Patsy Levang similarly conveyed disappointment, but added “I will not be quiet about the truth.”
It seems as though every day, the media, the United Nations, government officials, and others seek to scare the public into capitulating to the radical, destructive, expensive green agenda; here is a small snippet of what Joe Biden said on Tuesday:
Anyone who willfully denies the impact of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future.
The impacts we’re seeing are only going to get worse, more frequent, more ferocious, and more costly.
Last year alone, natural disasters in America caused $178 billion — $178 billion in damages.
He said storms are more frequent than ever without showing numbers. This year we had three hurricanes that hit land in the U.S., which is certainly not more frequent than normal. There are very few deaths, as a percentage of total deaths, from natural disasters this year or almost all years. Worldwide, deaths from natural disasters range from .01% to .4%. Exactly how much lower than .01% do politicians and bureaucrats think they can go if they get their way? Don’t they always tell us we have a population crisis too?
Contrast that to how many people die young in under-developed countries that don’t have the access to natural energy resources to improve their quality and length of life. Why don’t Biden and others encourage them to develop if they care so much for the disadvantaged? Why do the green pushers contribute so greatly to keeping countries poor?
As for cost, high inflation makes storms cost even more each year, even if there are fewer storms. Let’s put the $178 billion cost in perspective. It is around .7% of the $26 trillion economy. Why would we spend trillions on policies to intentionally destroy so many businesses that directly and indirectly employ tens of millions to save a small sum of $178 billion, even if these policies could change the climate (they can’t). Why would we greatly harm the poor and middle classes and reduce their quality of life?
Talk about inflation and mixed-messaging—Jeff Bezos, who owns the WaPo, an outlet that spreads the green propaganda every day, spent $68 million buying a three-bedroom house on the ocean in Miami. He clearly doesn’t believe it is going to be underwater soon as the WaPo constantly tells us.
And wildfires in California, an often-cited natural disaster, weren’t “worse” this year, there were far fewer than normal. That is why we didn’t read about them. Stories of fewer wildfires wouldn’t scare people into capitulating to the green pushers, and the propaganda would be ineffective.
It’s nearly August, but one familiar summer trend has been very scarce this year: wildfires. California is off to its slowest start to fire season in 25 years. … The reason for the state’s good fortune now, experts say, is water. Lots of it.
Did they get better because of government policies, or because people capitulated to electric cars? Nope, they got much better because of record snow and rain which the fear mongers did not predict. The climate is and has always changed cyclically and naturally as those of us who are falsely called climate change deniers have always said.
What the public never gets to see from the media, the UN, John Kerry, Biden, bureaucrats, scientists, educators, entertainers, and other green pushers is any scientific data that shows a link between temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity because there is none. That pesky 35-year cooling period from 1940–1975 shows it has always been a lie and a massive fraud.
We must stop this insanity before the United States is internally destroyed to the benefit of our enemies China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
