Yellow Jacket Movement Spreads to Brussels, Protesters Clash with Police over High Taxes

The French Yellow Vest protest movement against high taxes has spread to Belgium after protesters clashed with police in Brussels on Friday. Hundreds of Belgians wearing the yellow vests synonymous with the French grassroots movement are believed to have been protesting against living costs, high fuel taxes, and low wages and pensions.

Like the protests that have been taking place across France for the past two weeks, protesters blocked traffic, some handing out yellow vests to drivers and bystanders. Small rallies and roadblocks have been taking place in the French-speaking south of Belgium for about two weeks, with roadblocks also occurring in the city of Charleroi, 38 miles south of Brussels. Violence broke out after police blocked protesters from marching on government buildings in the Belgian capital, with two police vehicles reportedly attacked, one of which was overturned and another set on fire, while traffic lights and road signs were also damaged. Riot police responded with water cannons and tear gas, and police charged around 60 people with disturbing public order. Brussels city police spokesman Ilse Van De Keere said, “Our officers started to use water cannons after they began throwing objects. They were throwing pool balls.” Some protesters chanted “We are the people!” and held up signs reading, “Union is Strength” and “Shame on the Police.” One female protester told Agence France-Presse, “As in France, there are the very, very rich who are high up and then there are the very, very poor who are becoming increasingly poorer. “A time will come when we have millions of people on the street.” Another Yellow Vest said, “We are being taxed and strangled through taxes. “And so we are out on the streets to say that we aren’t able to make ends meet any more. We don’t have enough to live on to the end of the month,” he added.

French protesters told media last week that they were also taking to the streets over the cost of living and fuel tax hikes — with taxes on diesel rising by 23 per cent in just 12 months — brought about by progressive French President Emmanuel Macron as part of his environmental reforms. The tax hikes were said to affect those in the suburbs and countryside, who have no alternative but to use their cars for transport. “Macron is the president of the rich and not the poor. He needs to think about the poor as well,” one protester said. Despite civil unrest and violent outbreaks in protests in France, Macron has vowed “no retreat” on his globalist reforms, including further fuel tax rises in the new year.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/11/30/populist-yellow-jacket-movement-spreads-brussels-protesters-clash-police-high-taxes/

Report: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Ordered Oppo Research on George Soros, Then Denied in Public

A new report claims that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg directly ordered opposition research on billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a claim which she previously denied. A new report from the New York Times claims that according to three individuals with knowledge of the situation, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg directly ordered staff to investigate billionaire philanthropist George Soros’ financial investments following his outspoken attacks against multiple tech firms. Sandberg’s requests for further information on Soros appear to indicate that the company COO was directly engaged in Facebook’s actions against Soros.

A recent article published by the New York Times titled “Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis,” provides insight into how Facebook has operated through numerous crises over the past few years. The report alleged that Facebook hired a PR firm called Definers Public Affairs which published articles critical of Facebook’s competitors through an associated conservative news website. Facebook also reportedly hired a Republican opposition research firm to discredit activist protesters critical of Facebook’s data breaches. This was done partly by linking them to the left-wing financier George Soros.

Sandberg outright denied knowledge of Definers research of Soro and their plans to discredit protesters by linking them to him, stating: “At the time, they [Definers] were trying to show that some of the activity against us that appeared to be grassroots also had major organizations behind them. I did not know we hired them or about the work they were doing, but I should have. I have great respect for George Soros ― and the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories against him are abhorrent.” But now, three internal sources claim that Sandberg requested information on Soros’ financial investments. When questioned about this, Facebook stated: “Mr. Soros is a prominent investor and we looked into his investments and trading activity related to Facebook.” The company continued to state: “That research was already underway when Sheryl sent an email asking if Mr. Soros had shorted Facebook’s stock.” In a statement, Facebook said that Ms. Sandberg “takes full responsibility for any activity that happened on her watch,” but that she did not personally direct any employees to research Freedom from Facebook, an anti-Facebook group who was later targeted by Definers Press. A spokesperson for Freedom from Facebook was not convinced by Sandberg or the company’s statements about the coalition.

“In light of Sandberg’s continuously changing story on the Soros research, there’s no way their denials about attacking other critics can be taken at face value,” Vale told the New York Times. “Facebook must immediately release any emails and any research about targeting the Freedom from Facebook coalition or any member organizations.” Elliot J. Schrage, a Facebook deputy who oversaw the company’s communications team, took responsibility last week fort he hiring of Definers Press and their subsequent investigation into Soros. “We had not heard such criticism from him before and wanted to determine if he had any financial motivation,” Shrage said discussing Soros. “Definers researched this using public information.”

Rashad Robinson, the head of the racial-justice group Color of Change which was mentioned by Definers in a memo related to George Soros, met with Sandberg and discussed their conversation saying: “She very much placed it on the now departed communications chief [Schrage] and also worked to assure us that Joel Kaplan had nothing to do with it either,” Robinson stated. “We were not satisfied with that answer,” he said.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/11/30/report-facebook-coo-sheryl-sandberg-ordered-oppo-research-on-george-soros-then-denied-in-public/

Republicans Working with Democrats to Ban Counting U.S. Citizens in Census

Republican lawmakers are working with Democrats to ban the 2020 Census from asking United States residents whether or not they are American citizens. In March, President Donald Trump’s administration announced they would put the citizenship question back on the census. It has not been included since 1950. For seven decades, all residents living in the United States have been counted on the census but have not been asked whether or not they are American citizens, making it impossible for the federal government to know the size of the citizen population versus the immigrant population. Now, Republican and Democrat lawmakers are looking to reach a deal before the new year that would prevent the U.S. citizenship question from being asked on the 2020 Census, a Reuters report reveals:

Derek Kilmer, a Democrat from Washington state and also a member of the subcommittee, told Reuters he would “pursue action with my colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee to block the inclusion of the citizenship question.” [Emphasis added] Getting a deal done this year will not be easy as it would likely mean making concessions to Republicans on funding for the Trump administration’s proposed border wall with Mexico, two of the sources familiar with the Democrats’ thinking said. [Emphasis added]

Center for Security Policy CEO Frank Gaffney said if Republicans aid Democrats in blocking the American citizenship question on the 2020 Census, this is the “serial GOP acquiescence to Democrats’ demands – especially those that contribute to the fundamental transformation of America” that can be expected in the upcoming Congress. “Unfortunately, the radical left has already made great strides in making-over American society by alienating its young people from our country, symbols, values, and history,” Gaffney continued. “This trend must be reversed if the United States is to survive as a constitutional republic,” Gaffney said. “Let’s start by finding out how many of those here are American citizens.”

In a Rasmussen Reports poll, nearly 2-in-3 likely voters, or about 66 percent, said the U.S. Census should ask respondents whether they are citizens of the country. Only about a quarter of Americans said they opposed the citizenship question on the census. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has noted the citizenship question on the census is necessary to further implement congressional apportionment based on the citizen population rather than the current rules that base state representation on the total population — including citizens, illegal alien residents, legal immigrants, and nonimmigrants on visas. Should congressional apportionment be based on the number of American citizens in each state — which is only possible through asking the citizenship question on the census — Democrat-strong coastal areas with large foreign populations like California and Florida could lose representation, while states with small foreign populations like Wyoming and Ohio would likely gain representation in Congress. Such a rule change would shift power from coastal states to the heartland of the country, Breitbart News reported.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/11/30/republicans-working-with-democrats-to-ban-counting-u-s-citizens-in-census/

>>4097184

Indeed, especially since this was to be the hub of NWO law and order…