Tag: eu

The E.U. Doesn’t Want People To Sell Their Plasma, and It Doesn’t Care How Many Patients That Hurts

The European Union looks like it might take the foolish step of banning financial incentives for a variety of substances of human origin, including blood, blood plasma, sperm, and breast milk. The legislation on the safety and quality of Substances of Human Origin includes an approved amendment that says donors can only be compensated for “quantifiable losses” and that such donations are to be “financially neutral.” This legislation is supposed to harmonize the rules across the 27 member countries, promote safety, with the ban on financial incentives intended to avoid commodification and the exploitation of the poor. 

What it threatens to do instead is make access to these substances much more difficult—and so threaten the saving and creating of lives. And a further unintended consequence of this is that it will also likely help better line the pockets of American-based sperm banks and plasma collectors.

Take Canada as an illustrative example. In 2004, Canada passed the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. The legislation banned payment for sperm donation and was also billed as a way to promote safety and avoid commodification and exploitation. But the act did none of those things. 

Instead, the act resulted in a near-total collapse in the amount of Canadians willing to donate sperm and a massive increase in reliance on American sperm donors, who, of course, are financially incentivized to donate. In 2010, about 80 percent of the sperm used by Canadian women was provided by American men. In 2022, it was reported that 95 percent of sperm donations in Canada were imported.  

Something similar happened with blood plasma. Today, more than 80 percent of the plasma therapies Canadian rare disease patients rely on are made from plasma donated by Americans.

Much of this dependence is a result of bans on financial incentives in the largest provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. In 2014, Canada was 60 percent dependent on American plasma when Ontario passed a ban on financial incentives for plasma donation in order to stop a private company from opening three paid plasma collection centers there. 

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Direct Government Censorship Of The Internet Is Here

Censorship of the Internet has been getting worse for years, but we just crossed a threshold which is going to take things to a whole new level. 

On August 25th, a new law known as the “Digital Services Act” went into effect in the European Union.  Under this new law, European bureaucrats will be able to order big tech companies to censor any content that is considered to be “illegal”, “disinformation” or “hate speech”.  That includes content that is posted by users outside of the European Union, because someone that lives in the European Union might see it.  I wrote about this a few days ago, but I don’t think that people are really understanding the implications of this new law.  In the past, there have been times when governments have requested that big tech companies take down certain material, but now this new law will give government officials the power to force big tech companies to take down any content that they do not like. 

Any big tech companies that choose not to comply will be hit with extremely harsh penalties.

Of course mainstream news outlets such as the Washington Post are attempting to put a positive spin on this new law.  We are being told that it will “safeguard” us from “illegal content” and “disinformation”…

New rules meant to safeguard people from illegal content, targeted ads, unwanted algorithmic feeds and disinformation online are finally in force, thanks to new regulation in the European Union that took effect this month.

Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

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The EU Wants To Make It Legal To Install Spyware on Journalists’ Devices

In a contentious turn, EU leaders have unveiled draft legislation permitting national security agencies to deploy spyware on journalists’ phones in certain circumstances. The move has obviously triggered an outcry from media and civil society organizations, who argue that the draft European Media Freedom Act could be a perilous weapon against the press.

Sophie in’t Veld, a Dutch Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who has been integral in the European Parliament’s inquiry into the use of Pegasus spyware against journalists and prominent figures, termed the reasoning behind the draft as mendacious. “I think what the council is doing is unacceptable. It’s also incomprehensible. Well, it’s incomprehensible if they are serious about democracy,” in’t Veld remarked.

A striking aspect of the draft’s release was the absence of an in-person meeting involving ministers in charge of media affairs, which typically precedes such announcements.

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Leaked Document Shows The EU Countries That Want To Ban Private Messaging

A leaked European Council survey of the views on encryption of member countries showed that Spain strongly supports banning end-to-end encryption, a measure that has been proposed to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but would end privacy for all citizens.

The proposed law would require tech platforms to scan encrypted communications, something tech experts have warned is not possible without breaking the encryption.

According to the document, which was obtained by Wired, Spain’s position in encryption is the most radical.

“Ideally, in our view, it would be desirable to legislatively prevent EU-based service providers from implementing end-to-end encryption,” representatives from Spain said.

End-to-end encryption ensures that only the sender and receiver can see the content of a message. Even the owner of the platform does not have access to the content.

Of the 20 member countries represented in the survey, 15 support the banning of end-to-end encrypted communications, the report stated.

Poland suggested the introduction of measures that would allow a court to lift encryption and for parents to be allowed to decrypt the communications of their children.

“It is of utmost importance to provide clear wording in the CSA Regulation that end-to-end encryption is not a reason not to report CSA material,” Croatia’s representatives said.

Romania said: “We don’t want E2EE encryption to become a ‘safe haven’ for malicious actors…”

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Crushed Bug ‘Additive’ is Now Included in Pizza, Pasta & Cereals Across the EU

As of yesterday, a food additive made out of powdered crickets began appearing in foods from pizza, to pasta to cereals across the European Union.

Yes, really.

Defatted house crickets are on the menu for Europeans across the continent, without the vast majority of them knowing it is now in their food.

“This comes thanks to a European Commission ruling passed earlier this month,” reports RT.

“As per the decision, which cited the scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority, the additive is safe to use in a whole range of products, including but not limited to cereal bars, biscuits, pizza, pasta-based products, and whey powder.”

But don’t worry, because the crickets first have to be checked to make sure they “discard their bowel content” before being frozen.

Lovely stuff.

Critics suggested that once bugs become widely accepted as a food additive, their consumption will become normalized across the board.

“The Liberal World Order has decided that the little people must eat bugs to prevent the climate from fluctuating, in accordance with ruling class ideology,” writes Dave Blount.

“Yet rather than mindlessly obey The Experts as most did with Covid policy, people have resisted. So our moonbat overlords are furtively sneaking insects into food.”

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EU vice-president Eva Kaili and four others arrested in huge corruption probe linked to Qatar

Belgian police this evening, Friday, December 9, arrested one of the 14 EU vice-presidents, the Greek socialist MEP, Eva Kaili, according to vrt.be.

A source close to the case informed AFP that the police were probing alleged corruption linked to Qatar. Kaili’s arrest in Brussels came after four other suspects were detained in similar circumstances earlier today.

Among those detained is believed to be 53-year-old Luca Visentini, Ms Kaili’s partner. He is currently the head of the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC. According to the police source, Kaili was arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

Belgian prosecutors did not reveal the identities or nationalities of the other detainees, nor did they specify the country linked to the investigation. Their only comment was that it involved a ‘Gulf’ state. During raids on 16 properties earlier today, a total of €600.000 in cash was reportedly uncovered.

It was confirmed by a source close to the case that Qatar was suspected of attempting to corrupt a politician who was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019. He is thought to have been an Italian Socialist.

As a result of her arrest, Nikos Androulakis, the President of PASOK has expelled Eva Kaili from the party.

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‘Conspiracy Author’ David Icke Banned From EU, Labeled A “Terrorist”

Conspiracy author David Icke has been banned from entering the EU and designated as a “level three terrorist,” according to his son Gareth Icke.

The public speaker and former BBC television host was due to attend an event in Amsterdam this weekend, but will now reportedly be prevented from entering any country in the European Union for a period of two years.

“Received an email from the Dutch. My dad, David Icke, has been banned from entering the EU for two years,” tweeted Gareth Icke. “They claim he is a “level three terrorist,” he added.

“The old man is banned from entering the Netherlands,” wrote Icke in another tweet. “Zero convictions, zero crimes committed. Banned by the government. Wow.”

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Google, Twitter, Meta, TikTok and more just signed the EU’s “anti-disinformation” code

Big Tech companies have signed a new version of the European Union’s “anti-disinformation” code. Some of the companies that signed include Google, Twitter, Meta, TikTok, and Twitch – but also smaller players such as Vimeo and Clubhouse.

There are 34 signatories in total:

Apple declined to sign.

The “code of practice on disinformation,” will require online platforms to show how they are tackling “harmful content.”

It will also require platforms to fight “harmful misinformation” by forming partnerships with fact-checkers and developing tools. They will be forced to include “indicators of trustworthiness” on information verified independently on hot-button issues like COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Perhaps the most notable requirement is providing their efforts to tackle harmful content and disinformation on a country-by-country basis. The move was opposed by online platforms, but national regulators demanded that they need more specific data to better address the spread of disinformation.

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Censor The Internet Act: EU Agrees to Expand Online Censorship With ‘Digital Services Act’

The European Union is working to massively expand online censorship, strictly regulate speech during times of “crisis” and restrict online anonymity through digital passports.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both lobbied for the EU to back the censorship bill known as the Digital Services Act on Thursday.

From France 24, “EU agrees on new legislation to tame internet ‘Wild West’ “:

The Digital Services Act (DSA) — the second part of a massive project to regulate tech companies — aims to ensure tougher consequences for platforms and websites that host a long list of banned content ranging from hate speech to disinformation and child sexual abuse images.

[…] Tech giants have been repeatedly called out for failing to police their platforms — a New Zealand terrorist attack that was live-streamed on Facebook in 2019 caused global outrage, and the chaotic insurrection in the US last year was promoted online.

The dark side of the internet also includes e-commerce platforms filled with counterfeit or defective products.

[…] The regulation will require platforms to swiftly remove illegal content as soon as they are aware of its existence. Social networks would have to suspend users who frequently breach the law.

The DSA will force e-commerce sites to verify the identity of suppliers before proposing their products.

[…] The European Commission will oversee yearly audits [of Big Tech firms] and be able to impose fines of up to six percent of their annual sales for repeated infringements.

Looking over the outline of the new agreement it’s striking how they seamlessly conflate child sexual abuse material with “illegal hate speech.”

Both are jumbled together as “illegal content.”

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New EU Law Would Allow Seizure Of Private Property During Pandemic Emergencies

The European Union is reportedly drafting legislation that would allow Brussels to take private property in the event of a pandemic emergency.

In an unpublished New Year message to his staff, the EU’s Intermarket Commissioner, Thierry Breton has laid out his plans for the creation of a “Single Market Emergency Instrument” which will include a “toolbox of measures” in order to guarantee the “security of supply during a crisis”.

The proposed measures are likely to be put forward during the spring and could include export controls and new powers that allow the EU to collect data from businesses on their production process, their stockpiles and supply chains for their products, POLITICO reports.

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