RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/December 2023

December 2023[edit]

14

Sarah Huckabee Sanders appoints queerphobic Christian nationalist Jason Rapert to the Arkansas State Library Board.

26

FBI busts a Satanic neo-Nazi pedophile cult. If that sounds like O9A to you, you'd be right; the group ("764") is an offshoot of O9A.

21

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announces surprise abdication in TV address.

5

Controversial Australian-born British former journalist John Pilger has died at age 84.

3

Nebraska's GOP governor says the state will refuse to accept $18 million in federal funding that would have provided food benefits to low-income families to keep students fed during the summer break. Iowa has also refused the funding.

20

US destroys a swarm of drones and missiles launched by the Houthis at passerby ships. US has also sanctioned a network thought to be funding the Houthis.

25

A judge has blocked Idaho's gender-affirming care for children ban.

19

Israel is suffering from severe construction worker shortage as the current war in Gaza has meant many Palestinians and other foreign workers are staying away from working in Israel.

26

The Jamaican government has officially announced that a parliamentary bill to replace King Charles III with a president will be tabled in April.

33

Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine, vetoes a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for children.

3

Russia launches several missiles towards multiple Ukrainian cities. 12 people have been reported dead and several injured.

24

US murders dropped significantly in 2023, back to around the 1999–2019 annual baseline.

18

The DOJ has sent a letter to Greg Abbott saying that his new law that allows local law enforcement to arrest migrants is unconstitutional, and that they will sue if he doesn't reverse course.

7

Around a quarter of congregations of the United Methodist Church have chosen to leave the church over the last five years due to the church’s increasing liberal stance. Many have now disaffiliated, and now left a situation where a largest share of Christian congregations in the US are unaffiliated churches.

19

Israel reportedly killed an Iranian commander who was in Syria. Israel has "carried out military strikes in Syria for years" — BBC News. Israel also reports that it is openly flying fighter jets over Lebanon, and expects some kind of military response to the strike on an Iranian commander.

12

Far-right extremists are staging land grabs across Germany. (See: RW's article about the Reichsbürger movement.)

22

Japan loosens rules on exporting lethal weapons. It is thought that this will legally allow them to indirectly replenish Ukraine's stocks of Patriot-missiles, via transfers through the US and then through European countries.

23

The British government has backtracked on post-Brexit plans to reintroduce imperial measurements, after a public consultation revealed 99% of respondents prefer to keep metric measurements.

12

“Freedom of speech for me, not for thee” as a Swedish Tesla employee has been called in by the company’s management claiming a breach of company confidentiality. This is after his wife made critical comments about the company on Twitter.

8

Russia reportedly replacing the Wagner Group's presence in Africa with a new group (Africa Corps) that has the same name as a Nazi unit (Afrika Korps).

2

Ethiopia defaults on its sovereign debt

17

After decades of championing financial reforms, the People’s Bank of China (Chinese Central Bank) has lost powers to a Communist party body and a revamped regulator.

2

Argentina's new government allows employers to pay workers in "liters of milk", meat, or Bitcoin, instead of regular currency.

39

The National Assembly of Thailand has overwhelmingly voted by 369 to 10 to pass a bill that would allow same-sex marriage in Thailand. Now all it needs is Royal Assent.

24

An Oklahoma judge has exonerated a man who spent 48 years in prison for murder.

16

NASA is working to restore Voyager 1 from a new glitch that is fucking with the data it sends back to Earth.

22

It turns out Biden averted a second front in the war by convincing Israel not to preemptively strike Hezbollah on October 11^th.

16

Baroness Michelle Mone, who is under investigation for corruption, has her bank accounts frozen for over a year by the National Crime Agency.

15

Houthis' Red Sea attacks are disrupting global trade. Now, Iran threatens to entirely close the Mediterranean Sea, somehow.

21

Hyperloop One will shut down.

36

Joe Biden federally pardons any American who has ever possessed or used marijuana, regardless of whether they were arrested. (Doesn't apply to dealers.)

17

Conservative bishops around the world unhappy with the Pope's guidance on blessing same-sex couples. Some say they will simply not follow it.

14

US abstains on UN measure to speed up aid delivery to Gaza, allowing it to pass. (Strangely enough, Russia also abstains.)

18

Republican-led states lead the way on stripping Medicaid coverage from millions of poor people, including many children.

25

After being convicted of the defamation of two Georgia election workers while acting as one of Trump's lawyers and subsequently slammed with US$150 million in damages, Rudy Giuliani declares bankruptcy.

23

The United Nations has raised concerns about Israel's increased arrest rates of Palestinians and abuses inflicted upon Palestinian detainees, including rape threats, beatings, and restricted access to food and water.

11

Putin, about Finland joining NATO: "There were no problems, but now there will be, because we will now create the Leningrad military district there and definitely concentrate military units there."

16

18-year-old hacker given life in hospital-prison after he hacked Rockstar Games using his hotel television, an Amazon TV remote, and a mobile phone. This was after his laptop was already confiscated due to previous high-profile hacking incidents.

14

Shooting in downtown Prague, in Czechia. Unclear how many are dead, but dozens injured. Shooter dead from police counter-fire. Update: at least fifteen dead. The killer was a student and the shooting took place in the philosophy department at his university.

12

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has introduced a bill to strip states that "misuse" the 14^th amendment from federal funding. A.K.A., he's trying to make it so Colorado receives no federal funding 'cause he's angry they took Trump off the ballot.

5

France passes anti-immigration bill.

11

Strange incident: Tankers carrying five million barrels of Russian oil were sent to India, but have never arrived. The ships are just idling at sea.

8

Wikimedia Russia shuts down after apparent threats to label its director a "foreign agent".

21

The new government has sacked the heads of the public broadcasters Polskie Radio and TVP, and the press agency PAP. Plus, the news channels TVP Info and TVP World have closed down in an aim to depoliticise the media.

26

European Union investigates Twitter's potential social media law violations. The EU will examine how Twitter handles hate speech, incitement to terrorism, and misinformation.

7

Indian government suspends half of the opposition's members of parliament.

23

Polish court sentences fourteen pro-Russian spies for trying to derail a military aid train to Ukraine.

9

British government releases draft educators' guidance on transgender students. It says "there will be very few occasions in which a school or college will be able to agree to a change of pronouns", and that schools should consider whether someone is transgender because of "influence by social media or peers" (i.e., "ROGD"). For her part, Liz Truss chipped in to say this guidance (which explicitly attacks "gender identity ideology") is somehow too pro-trans.

22

St. Louis police crash their car into a gay bar, then arrest the bar's owner when he comes to see about it.

36

Javier Milei^{(Edit draft)} does the first thing all "libertarians" do after they get in power: Crack down on public protesting.

27

The NYPD will stop withholding bodycam footage from civilian investigators.

18

Mark Zuckerberg is, instead of using his money to fix climate change, which he could if he wanted to, using it to have a huge underground bunker built for him in Hawaii, so that he and his family alone can survive climate change.

11

Leaked ISI documents throw the espionage charges against Imran Khan into dispute, suggesting he didn't compromise encrypted Pakistani communication. Khan alleges a U.S.-led conspiracy against him.

14

The three hostages killed by the IDF were allegedly waving white flags when they were shot.

9

Noted television presenter and talk show host Esther Rantzen has said she has joined Dignitas, and is willing to commit assisted suicide due to problems with her lung cancer treatment.

14

Pope Francis now formally approves blessings of gay couples by Catholic priests, but maintains the Church's formal opposition to gay marriage.

14

In a move reminiscent of BT Openreach’s removal of Huawei telecoms equipment, National Grid, which owns the British electrical grid, is removing the Nari Technology equipment due to national security concerns by a division of GCHQ.

16

Netanyahu hints at new Hamas talks after hostage deaths

16

Severe flooding in Tamil Nadu, India after nearly a meter of heavy rain- in the dry season.

41

Norway bans conversion therapy.

15

IDF sniper kills two Christian women in a Gaza church in cold blood.

24

Breaking from the rest of the British government, David Cameron advocates for a "sustainable ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas.

9

Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dies, leaving Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to take the role as new emir.

19

Some economists now confident that the Federal Reserve can tackle inflation "without the surge in unemployment and the deep recession that many economists had predicted would accompany it." Associated Press also reported: "Prices spikes are also moderating overseas ... Though inflation is still at 4.6% in the United Kingdom, it has fallen to 2.4% in the 20 countries that use the euro currency."

14

The IDF says it mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip because they thought they were Hamas members.

13

A congressional staffer filmed themselves having gay sex in the senate hearing room. The video leaked and has now gone viral among conservatives.

20

Because the Iowa state Capital allowed for the placement of religious displays, the Satanic Temple put up their own display. A few days later, veteran House candidate Michael Cassidy destroyed the display, becoming a hero to the Christian right, who have raised $20,000 for his legal defence.

15

The US Supreme Court declined to hear a conservative challenge to an Illinois law banning AR-15 semiautomatic weapons. This leaves in place the decision from a lower court upholding the ban on the basis that recent broad SCOTUS decisions concerning the right to bear arms "extends only to weapons in common use for a lawful purpose," rather than to semiautomatic weapons that "are much more like machine guns and military-grade weaponry than they are like the many different types of firearms that are used for individual self-defense."

19

Rudy Giuliani must pay more than $148 million to Georgia election workers over false election claims.

6

Footage shows bodies piled up after Israeli attack on Gaza school

4

John Fetterman tells NBC he's "not a progressive", that he fiercely supports Israel, and advocates curtailing immigration.

25

EU Votes to Greenlight Accession Negotiations for Ukraine, Moldova

24

German prosecutors indict 27 people allegedly involved with the far-right plot to overthrow the government and instate a prince as the country's new ruler. The prosecutors state that the accused have QAnon beliefs, and more especially are part of the "Reich Citizens" movement.

14

Yemen's Houthi rebels keep attacking cargo vessels moving through the Red Sea, a key chokehold for global trade. They say they'll hit any ships they believe are headed to Israel, but have begun repeatedly firing at seemingly-uninvolved vessels such as Norwegian, Panamanian and Hongkonger cargo ships. The US has asked Australia to send a warship to the area to guard against attacks.

19

Government will cover dental care costs for millions of Canadians. Apparently a result of NDP arm-twisting.

23

The European Commission and Parliament has provisionally agreed to a set of rules aimed at the gig economy, that basically say; if it looks like a job, and is supervised like a job, it'll be classified as a job. Of course, that means that employers are taxed and employees have worker's rights like a job.

5

Tucker Carlson is launching his own paid streaming service for interviews and political commentary. The CEO of the "Tucker Carlson Network" will be Neil Patel. Carlson and Patel previously founded The Daily Caller together.

15

US Supreme Court will hear a case about whether to nationally restrict access to abortion pills.

16

House Republicans formally authorize impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

19

Massive automobile recall affects nearly every vehicle Tesla Motors has sold in the United States to date (over 2 million). It comes after a federal investigation into crashes apparently linked to the cars' autopilot system — the company is recalling the vehicles to issue fixes to the systems.

19

Thailand's Cabinet has approved an amendment to their civil code to legalise same-sex marriage. Parliament will likely vote on the amendment sometime this month.

28

The European Court of Human Rights has demanded in a ruling that Poland must establish some kind of civil union for LGBT+ people, as the current set-up breaks Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights which deals with the right to respect for private and family life.

31

After the GOP-dominated state congress voted to allow religious displays in the Iowa State Capital, there are calls to reframe it after the local Satanic Temple put its display in the capital.

27

Far-right Polish MP Grzegorz Braun has been suspended from parliament after he used a fire extinguisher to blow out a menorah that was being used for Hanukkah celebrations in the Sejm. He claimed that “There can be no place for the acts of this racist, tribal, wild Talmudic cult on the premises of the Sejm,”

36

The Names of Thousands of Neo-Nazi Music Fans Just Got Leaked (Sweden)

22

Video shows Israeli soldier shooting mentally disabled Palestinian man in the illegally occupied West Bank city of Hebron

6

The "love only for the rich" plan: Home Secretary James Cleverly introduces plan to only allow family visas to be granted to people who make over £38,700 a year in salary; a quarter of the population at most.

20

Civilians make up 61% of Gaza deaths from airstrikes, Israeli study finds.

33

Biden administration announces largest passenger rail investment ($8.2 billion) since Amtrak creation in 1971.

20

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying very hard to force some lady to give birth to a nonviable fetus.

12

The U.S. blocks the U.N. Security Council's proposal to demand a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

18

Twitter's "Grok" A.I. releases, and it spreads intense misinformation already. Update: Grok is "woke", disappointing a lot of its users and gives answers seemingly from OpenAI.

18

20 percent of Americans aged 18-29: "the Holocaust is a myth". In that age bracket, a further 30 percent neither agree nor disagree (p. 103). It's a rather extreme break from the much lower levels of Holocaust denial among older age brackets.

21

Belgian's deputy prime minister Petra de Sutter has said on Twitter that she wants violent West Bank settlers to be denied entry into Belgium and proposes and supports a Schengen-wide ban.

11

Federal court blocks US government's 2018 immigrant family separation policy for eight years, "except in specific circumstances outlined by the settlement."

21

European Union countries have negotiated a deal to regulate artificial intelligence. The proposal will be voted on early next year.

1

UK government creates "blacklist" of over fifty countries, states, and cities for allowing gender transition "too easily". The full list of places deemed too permissive includes Russia, Wyoming, and Florida, somehow. However they also "whitelisted" fourteen new countries that were deemed non-permissive enough to be acceptable, including China, Iran, Belarus, and Georgia.

24

The U.S. approves CRISPR gene-editing to treat sickle cell disease.

24

Brazil deploys troops to Venezuela border. Due to "challenging terrain", Venezuela would reportedly need to send its soldiers through Brazil to reach the disputed Essequibo region in Guyana it is claiming.

5

"Gang of 30" Tory members of parliament "plotting" against Rishi Sunak over his immigration policy.

15

Chairman of the Florida GOP, Christian Ziegler, refuses to step down amid a police investigation into whether he raped a woman who he and his wife (a co-founder of Moms for Liberty) had threesomes with. The Florida GOP is calling for an emergency meeting over the situation. His wife, Bridget Ziegler, was involved with drafting Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law and with removing books with LGBT people from school libraries, while privately getting it on with another lady.

15

After the expulsion of George Santos from the House, according to USA Today fellow Congressmen are now looking to expel its resident Floridaman Matt Gaetz.

20

US Department of Labor fines a major poultry supplier for child labor violations, e.g. minors as young as 14 working excessive hours, and handling sharp knives. Earlier this year the department noted an almost 70% increase in child labor violations compared to 2018. USA Today: "In fiscal year 2022, the department found 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of labor laws."

17

Insane, far-right Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has resigned, citing Sunak not being able to pass the Rwanda bill, which he apparently thinks he could have done if he just tried harder.

30

Now it is getting heavy, PostNord Sverige postal workers have won the right in court not to post licence plates to Tesla customers because of the Swedish Tesla strike. Plus, Finnish dock workers have agreed to assist their Swedish comrades in the strike by stopping Tesla imports through Finland.

11

Rees-Mogg’s investment firm Somerset Capital Management is to be wound-down, after it lost two-thirds of its value and the largest investor pulled out.

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