Reader’s Links for December 23, 2020

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Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

128 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 23, 2020”

  6. Turkish government flips out over nudes.. i guess the nazi caliph Erdogan’s dick must stay limp at all times!

    Model facing prison for nude photos on Turkish flag, in mosque
    https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/model-facing-prison-for-nude-photos-on-turkish-flag-in-mosque/news-story/c38c6cf8155c658f283c18f4408b76ac
    A Playboy model is reportedly facing seven years in jail for posing nude in front of a Turkish mosque and taking naked snaps on the country’s flag.
    Marisa Papen sparked outrage after the racy photos were taken outside an iconic Istanbul mosque and at a seaside town, it has been claimed.
    Turkish prosecutors accused her of “insulting the signs of the state’s sovereignty” and branded the pics “lurid acts” and “obscene”, The Sun reports.
    At the time of the alleged offence the place of worship was a museum but has since been converted back into a Mosque.
    Marisa, who left the country, said she was shocked Turkish authorities are hunting her over the photos, it is reported.
    It comes just days after she announced she had opened her ‘Naked Atlas’ web page.
    The web page features all the countries she has ever posed nude.
    Marisa has previously caused controversy by posing nude in front of iconic buildings all over the world.
    In 2018, she was arrested in Italy for posing naked in front of The Vatican.
    She also sparked outrage for posing nude near Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall.
    The Belgian model was arrested in Egypt for the same offence at the Karnak Temple in Luxor.
    But luckily for her she was let out after day with a fine.
    Marisa claims the reason she does these outlandish photos is to raise awareness to her fight for women’s equality.
    In an interview with The Sun Online she said: “It’s a yell for freedom. I want to go back to a time when women were queens.
    “That’s why I want to go to all these countries where women are suppressed. Like I said it’s a yell for freedom and I want them to see my message.”
    This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

    • Look at the bright side. In Canada, the UK, parts of Australia and Germany, she would get the same sentence for not wearing a mask.

  8. How far we’ve fallen: Even ‘born alive’ legislation is controversial now – Liberty Unyielding
    Benny Huang
    9-11 minutes

    How far we’ve fallen: Even ‘born alive’ legislation is controversial now

    Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is calling it quits after eight years in the House of Representatives. Though she announced her intention not to seek another term in the midst of her unsuccessful presidential campaign, it’s also evident that she is no longer welcome in the Jackass Party. Ironically, most of Gabbard’s stances would have made her a mainstream Democrat before Barack Obama dragged the party to the left. She’s a 1990s Democrat who arrived just a little too late to the crazy party.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/12/23/how-far-weve-fallen-even-born-alive-legislation-is-controversial-now/

  10. Chinese billionaire suffers more blows from regime; CCP faces new crisis after retaliating Australia

  12. U.S. congress passes landmark bill in support of Tibet | U.S.-Tibet | U.S.-China news | World News

  16. Amistad Project Says State Legislators, Not Executive, Need to Certify Presidential Electors
    By Janita Kan
    December 23, 2020 Updated: December 23, 2020
    biggersmaller Print

    A group has brought a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to block the counting of electoral college votes from several contested states when Congress meets in a joint session on Jan. 6.

    The Amistad Project filed the lawsuit arguing that the state legislatures of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona were prevented from exercising their power under the U.S. Constitution to certify the presidential electors’ votes cast on Dec. 14. The group claims that a number of federal and state laws had unconstitutionally delegated the authority of state legislatures to certify these votes to state executive branches.

    Under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, presidential electors must be appointed by each state in the manner prescribed by the state’s legislature.

    The group argues that the provision prevents state legislatures delegating their power to state executive branch officials as a ministerial duty.

    “There are textual and structural arguments for these state statutes being unconstitutional,” the group wrote in their lawsuit. They argue that the state laws are an “unconstitutional delegation of the state legislative prerogatives of post-election certifications of Presidential votes and of Presidential electors.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/amistad-project-says-state-legislators-not-executive-need-to-certify-presidential-electors_3629806.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-23-1

    • The have a valid point and in my opinion they have standing to file the suit, what SCOTUS will do is the question? Will they accept this point or once again say that the law and the Constitution don’t matter.

  17. Drug Trafficking: The Dirtiest Little Secret

    by Chris Farrell
    December 23, 2020 at 5:00 am

    Here is the answer: Law enforcement corruption. The question? Why are we continuing to fight and lose the “War on Drugs,” proclaimed by President Nixon, almost fifty years ago, in June 1971?

    Think about the U.S. forces arrayed against Mexican drug cartels: DEA, FBI, Homeland Security, state police forces, county sheriffs, municipal police forces, even the postal service. We have established High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces with their own regional fusion centers.

    The United States is incapable of defeating Mexican cartels? We can transport armored and special operations forces halfway around the world to the Middle East and Southwest Asia, and defeat both conventional and irregular military forces — but we cannot secure our southern border and stop the poisoning of our own population?

    How can this be? Are we not smart enough? … Not strong enough? … Not enough money, or resources, or people? … Not enough technology? Are you prepared to believe any of those excuses?

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Over 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending in May 2020, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period…” That is equal to one-third of the total number of deaths supposedly attributed to the COVID pandemic.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16874/mexico-border-drug-trafficking

  18. Giuliani: ‘Big Revelations’ Concerning Georgia Voting Machines Coming
    By Zachary Stieber
    December 22, 2020 Updated: December 22, 2020
    biggersmaller Print

    President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani says he’s aware of a few “big revelations” concerning voting machines in Georgia that he believes will become public soon.

    “I happen to know that we have one or two, my fingers crossed, big revelations for Georgia within the next day or two with regard to the machines,” Giuliani said on “War Room: Pandemic” on Dec. 22.

    Giuliani touted the release of a report by a Georgia state senator who said coordinated illegal activities by election workers appeared to take place, in reference to the period of time where ballot counting was done with no oversight.

    “This is the first breakthough,” he said.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/giuliani-big-revelations-concerning-voting-machines-coming-in-georgia_3628886.html?utm_source=morningbriefnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mb-2020-12-23

  19. Law Prohibits Pence From Accepting Electoral Votes From Fraudulently Certified States – Constitutional Lawyer
    Ivan Raiklin says Vice President Pence can request states send Electoral College slates that actually reflect the will of the people

    Citing the United States Constitution and U.S. Code, Constitutional Lawyer Ivan Raiklin says it is Vice President Mike Pence’s duty to instruct states to expeditiously send their Electoral College Certificates immediately if they have not been received.

    U.S.C. 12 explains that “When no certificate of vote and list mentioned in sections 9 and 11 of this title from any State shall have been received by the President of the Senate or by the Archivist of the United States by the fourth Wednesday in December, after the meeting of the electors shall have been held, the President of the Senate … shall request, by the most expeditious method available, the secretary of state of the State to send up the certificate…”

    Beyond the allegations and evidence of widespread fraud presented by both President Donald Trump’s legal team and independent lawyers and witnesses across the United States, several states have now sent competing slates of delegates to Washington, D.C.

    https://nationalfile.com/law-prohibits-pence-from-accepting-electoral-votes-from-fraudulently-certified-states-constitutional-lawyer/

    • I don’t know this site so I don’t know how trustworthy the reporting is, having said that the argument sounds valid up to a point. I don’t think the Presidential Election can be decided this way, while Pence may have the authority to reject slates of electors because of vote fraud I think this would kick the election to Congress.Below is the complete US Code 1 sections 1 — 21 with 21 being definitions only

      The US Code is Code 1 section 12

      Here is the complete US code on the election of the President.

      US Code 1 sections 1 thru 20

      Section 1 U.S. Code § 1 – Time of appointing electors
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      The electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed, in each State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 672.)

      U.S. Code §?2. Failure to make choice on prescribed day
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      Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 672.)
      U.S. Code §?3. Number of electors
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      The number of electors shall be equal to the number of Senators and Representatives to which the several States are by law entitled at the time when the President and Vice President to be chosen come into office; except, that where no apportionment of Representatives has been made after any enumeration, at the time of choosing electors, the number of electors shall be according to the then existing apportionment of Senators and Representatives.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 672.)

      U.S. Code §?4. Vacancies in electoral college
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      Each State may, by law, provide for the filling of any vacancies which may occur in its college of electors when such college meets to give its electoral vote.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 673.)

      U.S. Code §?5. Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors
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      If any State shall have provided, by laws enacted prior to the day fixed for the appointment of the electors, for its final determination of any controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors of such State, by judicial or other methods or procedures, and such determination shall have been made at least six days before the time fixed for the meeting of the electors, such determination made pursuant to such law so existing on said day, and made at least six days prior to said time of meeting of the electors, shall be conclusive, and shall govern in the counting of the electoral votes as provided in the Constitution, and as hereinafter regulated, so far as the ascertainment of the electors appointed by such State is concerned.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 673.)

      U.S. Code § 6 – Credentials of electors; transmission to Archivist of the United States and to Congress; public inspection
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      It shall be the duty of the executive of each State, as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the appointment of the electors in such State by the final ascertainment, under and in pursuance of the laws of such State providing for such ascertainment, to communicate by registered mail under the seal of the State to the Archivist of the United States a certificate of such ascertainment of the electors appointed, setting forth the names of such electors and the canvass or other ascertainment under the laws of such State of the number of votes given or cast for each person for whose appointment any and all votes have been given or cast; and it shall also thereupon be the duty of the executive of each State to deliver to the electors of such State, on or before the day on which they are required by section 7 of this title to meet, six duplicate-originals of the same certificate under the seal of the State; and if there shall have been any final determination in a State in the manner provided for by law of a controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors of such State, it shall be the duty of the executive of such State, as soon as practicable after such determination, to communicate under the seal of the State to the Archivist of the United States a certificate of such determination in form and manner as the same shall have been made; and the certificate or certificates so received by the Archivist of the United States shall be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection; and the Archivist of the United States at the first meeting of Congress thereafter shall transmit to the two Houses of Congress copies in full of each and every such certificate so received at the National Archives and Records Administration.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 673; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, §?6, 65 Stat. 711; Pub. L. 98–497, title I, §?107(e)(1), (2)(A), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2291.)

      U.S. Code §?7. Meeting and vote of electors
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      The electors of President and Vice President of each State shall meet and give their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following their appointment at such place in each State as the legislature of such State shall direct.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 673.)

      U.S. Code §?8. Manner of voting
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      The electors shall vote for President and Vice President, respectively, in the manner directed by the Constitution.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 674.)

      U.S. Code §?9. Certificates of votes for President and Vice President
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      The electors shall make and sign six certificates of all the votes given by them, each of which certificates shall contain two distinct lists, one of the votes for President and the other of the votes for Vice President, and shall annex to each of the certificates one of the lists of the electors which shall have been furnished to them by direction of the executive of the State.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 674.)
      U.S. Code §?10. Sealing and endorsing certificates
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      The electors shall seal up the certificates so made by them, and certify upon each that the lists of all the votes of such State given for President, and of all the votes given for Vice President, are contained therein.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 674.)

      U.S. Code § 11 – Disposition of certificates
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      The electors shall dispose of the certificates so made by them and the lists attached thereto in the following manner:
      First. They shall forthwith forward by registered mail one of the same to the President of the Senate at the seat of government.
      Second. Two of the same shall be delivered to the secretary of state of the State, one of which shall be held subject to the order of the President of the Senate, the other to be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection.
      Third. On the day thereafter they shall forward by registered mail two of such certificates and lists to the Archivist of the United States at the seat of government, one of which shall be held subject to the order of the President of the Senate. The other shall be preserved by the Archivist of the United States for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection.
      Fourth. They shall forthwith cause the other of the certificates and lists to be delivered to the judge of the district in which the electors shall have assembled.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 674; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, §?7, 65 Stat. 712; Pub. L. 98–497, title I, §?107(e)(1), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2291.

      U.S. Code § 12 – Failure of certificates of electors to reach President of the Senate or Archivist of the United States; demand on State for certificate
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      When no certificate of vote and list mentioned in sections 9 and 11 of this title from any State shall have been received by the President of the Senate or by the Archivist of the United States by the fourth Wednesday in December, after the meeting of the electors shall have been held, the President of the Senate or, if he be absent from the seat of government, the Archivist of the United States shall request, by the most expeditious method available, the secretary of state of the State to send up the certificate and list lodged with him by the electors of such State; and it shall be his duty upon receipt of such request immediately to transmit same by registered mail to the President of the Senate at the seat of government.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 674; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, §?8, 65 Stat. 712; Pub. L. 98–497, title I, §?107(e)(1), (2)(B), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2291.)

      U.S. Code § 13 – Same; demand on district judge for certificate
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      When no certificates of votes from any State shall have been received at the seat of government on the fourth Wednesday in December, after the meeting of the electors shall have been held, the President of the Senate or, if he be absent from the seat of government, the Archivist of the United States shall send a special messenger to the district judge in whose custody one certificate of votes from that State has been lodged, and such judge shall forthwith transmit that list by the hand of such messenger to the seat of government.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 674; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, §?9, 65 Stat. 712; Pub. L. 98–497, title I, §?107(e)(1), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2291.)

      U.S. Code §?14. Forfeiture for messenger’s neglect of duty
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      Every person who, having been appointed, pursuant to section 13 of this title, to deliver the certificates of the votes of the electors to the President of the Senate, and having accepted such appointment, shall neglect to perform the services required from him, shall forfeit the sum of $1,000.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 675.)

      U.S. Code § 15 – Counting electoral votes in Congress
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      Congress shall be in session on the sixth day of January succeeding every meeting of the electors. The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives at the hour of 1 o’clock in the afternoon on that day, and the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer. Two tellers shall be previously appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence and hearing of the two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained and counted according to the rules in this subchapter provided, the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses. Upon such reading of any such certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received. When all objections so made to any vote or paper from a State shall have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the Senate for its decision; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, in like manner, submit such objections to the House of Representatives for its decision; and no electoral vote or votes from any State which shall have been regularly given by electors whose appointment has been lawfully certified to according to section 6 of this title from which but one return has been received shall be rejected, but the two Houses concurrently may reject the vote or votes when they agree that such vote or votes have not been so regularly given by electors whose appointment has been so certified. If more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State shall have been received by the President of the Senate, those votes, and those only, shall be counted which shall have been regularly given by the electors who are shown by the determination mentioned in section 5 of this title to have been appointed, if the determination in said section provided for shall have been made, or by such successors or substitutes, in case of a vacancy in the board of electors so ascertained, as have been appointed to fill such vacancy in the mode provided by the laws of the State; but in case there shall arise the question which of two or more of such State authorities determining what electors have been appointed, as mentioned in section 5 of this title, is the lawful tribunal of such State, the votes regularly given of those electors, and those only, of such State shall be counted whose title as electors the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide is supported by the decision of such State so authorized by its law; and in such case of more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State, if there shall have been no such determination of the question in the State aforesaid, then those votes, and those only, shall be counted which the two Houses shall concurrently decide were cast by lawful electors appointed in accordance with the laws of the State, unless the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide such votes not to be the lawful votes of the legally appointed electors of such State. But if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of the counting of such votes, then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State, under the seal thereof, shall be counted. When the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision of the questions submitted. No votes or papers from any other State shall be acted upon until the objections previously made to the votes or papers from any State shall have been finally disposed of.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 675.)

      U.S. Code §?16. Same; seats for officers and Members of two Houses in joint meeting
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      At such joint meeting of the two Houses seats shall be provided as follows: For the President of the Senate, the Speaker’s chair; for the Speaker, immediately upon his left; the Senators, in the body of the Hall upon the right of the presiding officer; for the Representatives, in the body of the Hall not provided for the Senators; for the tellers, Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of Representatives, at the Clerk’s desk; for the other officers of the two Houses, in front of the Clerk’s desk and upon each side of the Speaker’s platform. Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed and the result declared; and no recess shall be taken unless a question shall have arisen in regard to counting any such votes, or otherwise under this subchapter, in which case it shall be competent for either House, acting separately, in the manner hereinbefore provided, to direct a recess of such House not beyond the next calendar day, Sunday excepted, at the hour of 10 o’clock in the forenoon. But if the counting of the electoral votes and the declaration of the result shall not have been completed before the fifth calendar day next after such first meeting of the two Houses, no further or other recess shall be taken by either House.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 676.)

      U.S. Code §?17. Same; limit of debate in each House
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      When the two Houses separate to decide upon an objection that may have been made to the counting of any electoral vote or votes from any State, or other question arising in the matter, each Senator and Representative may speak to such objection or question five minutes, and not more than once; but after such debate shall have lasted two hours it shall be the duty of the presiding officer of each House to put the main question without further debate.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 676.)

      U.S. Code § 18 – Same; parliamentary procedure at joint meeting
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      While the two Houses shall be in meeting as provided in this chapter, the President of the Senate shall have power to preserve order; and no debate shall be allowed and no question shall be put by the presiding officer except to either House on a motion to withdraw.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 676; Sept. 3, 1954, ch. 1263, §?3, 68 Stat. 1227.)

      U.S. Code § 19 – Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act
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      (a)
      (1)
      If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President.
      (2)
      The same rule shall apply in the case of the death, resignation, removal from office, or inability of an individual acting as President under this subsection.
      (b)
      If, at the time when under subsection (a) of this section a Speaker is to begin the discharge of the powers and duties of the office of President, there is no Speaker, or the Speaker fails to qualify as Acting President, then the President pro tempore of the Senate shall, upon his resignation as President pro tempore and as Senator, act as President.
      (c) An individual acting as President under subsection (a) or subsection (b) of this section shall continue to act until the expiration of the then current Presidential term, except that—
      (1)
      if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded in whole or in part on the failure of both the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect to qualify, then he shall act only until a President or Vice President qualifies; and
      (2)
      if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded in whole or in part on the inability of the President or Vice President, then he shall act only until the removal of the disability of one of such individuals.
      (d)
      (1)
      If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is no President pro tempore to act as President under subsection (b) of this section, then the officer of the United States who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President shall act as President: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Homeland Security.
      (2)
      An individual acting as President under this subsection shall continue so to do until the expiration of the then current Presidential term, but not after a qualified and prior-entitled individual is able to act, except that the removal of the disability of an individual higher on the list contained in paragraph (1) of this subsection or the ability to qualify on the part of an individual higher on such list shall not terminate his service.
      (3)
      The taking of the oath of office by an individual specified in the list in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be held to constitute his resignation from the office by virtue of the holding of which he qualifies to act as President.
      (e)
      Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section shall apply only to such officers as are eligible to the office of President under the Constitution. Subsection (d) of this section shall apply only to officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, prior to the time of the death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, of the President pro tempore, and only to officers not under impeachment by the House of Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the office of President devolve upon them.
      (f)
      During the period that any individual acts as President under this section, his compensation shall be at the rate then provided by law in the case of the President.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 677; Pub. L. 89–174, §?6(a), Sept. 9, 1965, 79 Stat. 669; Pub. L. 89–670, §?10(a), Oct. 15, 1966, 80 Stat. 948; Pub. L. 91–375, §?6(b), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 775; Pub. L. 95–91, title VII, §?709(g), Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 609; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, §?508(a), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 692; Pub. L. 100–527, §?13(a), Oct. 25, 1988, 102 Stat. 2643; Pub. L. 109–177, title V, §?503, Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 247.)

      U.S. Code § 20 – Resignation or refusal of office
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      The only evidence of a refusal to accept, or of a resignation of the office of President or Vice President, shall be an instrument in writing, declaring the same, and subscribed by the person refusing to accept or resigning, as the case may be, and delivered into the office of the Secretary of State.
      (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 678.)

      https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/21

      U.S. Code § 21 – Definitions
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      As used in this chapter the term—
      (a)
      “State” includes the District of Columbia.
      (b)
      “executives of each State” includes the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia.
      (Added Pub. L. 87–389, §?2(a), Oct. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 820.)

  20. Europe’s Human-Rights Court Hit by Cyberattack After Turkey Case

    Hackers launched a “large-scale cyberattack” on the website of the European Court of Human Rights after it published a ruling critical of Turkey.

    The tribunal said the attack followed its Dec. 22 order for Turkey to immediately release Selahattin Demirtas, a former leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party. The court website was offline for around 16 hours starting Tuesday, a spokesperson said. The website and the ruling could be accessed on Wednesday.

    A group of hackers, Anka Neferler Timi, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter post and demanded an apology from the court for the ruling. The group previously said they targeted Greek government websites earlier this year when tensions were running high between the government in Athens and Turkey.

    Bloomberg was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the hackers’ official Twitter account or their claim for responsibility for cyberattacks. The Twitter handle purportedly used by the group was established earlier this month and had 97 followers by early Wednesday.

    A website named after the hacker group said their aim is to pursue interest of the Turkish nation and the religion of Islam without any financial gain.

    […]

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-23/europe-s-human-rights-court-hit-by-cyberattack-after-turkey-case

  21. India Rooting for Pakistan-Israel Peace Deal, Here’s Why

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccw6x6OC_a0&feature=emb_logo

    ……..
    ~ Richard ~
    You’ll like this one – it pulls together a wide assortment of players.
    Left unsaid is the mad scramble to defend against a possible demonrat regime in Washington.

    Bibi, Abe, Modi, and el-Sisi bonded personally in reaction to 0’s shameful public abuse of them. Extraordinary, unprecedented violation of diplomatic norms. While not given much coverage by US media, it was a scandal in each country domestically.

    Personal relationships between leaders, not their nations. Nonetheless, it opened windows, offered options that may be useful in the near future.

    • A short ways above I posted an article about Pence and his duties, below it in a reply i posted the entire US Code 1, this is the Law that rules Presidential Electoral Collage Elections. From what I read he may be right about what Pence can do, if he is willing to touch off a Constitutional Crisis, but I think he is wrong about how the election would be decided after Pence acts.

      • Its just too terrible to take in. The whole thing, all of it. Shot through with rot.

        The inauguration of a ChiCom puppet as Prez and communist/-Iran/-MB tool as VP remains hypothetical.

        What’s all too real is the degradation of our institutions. That pork bill passing with veto-proof majorities in both Houses of Congress? The pitifully few GOP opposed?

        Very difficult times.

        • Remember what Brad Johnson said about Italy and pray his informant knew what he was talking about.

          • I’m praying, I just dont want to be whining at Him. Maybe He wants some introspection at this point. A time of trials, judgement pending.

            That’s why I’m taking a hard look at the institutions we’ve allowed to get this corrupt. We’ve got to take responsibility for whatever happens. It’s terrible feeling so helpless, worse knowing it actually is out of our hands at this point.

            We wait.
            Wars always have long intevals of waiting. In fear.

    • That is good, she is one of the people connected with the TFI channel, you know the jinhoist channel I post.

  22. Corona-Leugner legen sich auf verbotenem Marsch mit der Polizei an

    Sie duzen die Beamten. Sie pöbeln. Sie tragen keinen Mund-Nasen-Schutz. Sie schreien, „spazieren“ gehen zu wollen. Als sie einer jungen Polizistin und ihre Kollegen gegenüber handgreiflich werden, reicht es den Einsatzkräften …

  23. Israeli who died from second bout of COVID-19 confirmed to have different strain

    Probe as to why patient, 74, who had been clear of infection, became fatally ill finds that second illness was caused by a mutated coronavirus variant

    A man who died several weeks ago while suffering from a second bout of the coronavirus has been confirmed to have been infected with two different strains, leading to his fatal illness the second time around, a report said Sunday.

    It is the first such case in Israel in which a reinfected patient has died. [There’ve been reports from other countries around the world.]

    The incident came amid growing international alarm at the discovery of mutated and highly infectious variants of the coronavirus in Britain and South Africa, prompting some countries, including Israel, to place strict travel bans on visitors from those countries.

    The nursing home resident, 74, became ill in August with COVID-19, the disease cause by the virus. He was treated at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tivka, where he eventually recovered. Three subsequent virus tests all showed that he was no longer infected.

    However, in November he became ill again with COVID-19 symptoms and was admitted to Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. Doctors were unable to save him and he died three weeks ago, the Kan public broadcaster reported at the time.

    Doctors wondered if the virus had been hidden in the man’s body, undetected by tests, or if he had become reinfected, a circumstance that has been recorded in only a small number of cases around the world.…
    https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-who-died-from-second-bout-of-coronavirus-confirmed-to-have-different-strain/
    …….
    Possible implications = Massive.
    • How many reinfections go unreported or covered up entirely?
    • How many experience MORE severe illness the second time around? (“antibody-dependent enhancement”)

  24. npr – Dominion Voting Systems Employee Sues Trump Campaign And Allies, Alleging Defamation

    A top employee of Dominion Voting Systems, who has gone into hiding after becoming the subject of conspiracy theories on the right since the election, is suing the Trump campaign, a number of campaign surrogates and pro-Trump media outlets, alleging defamation.

    Eric Coomer, director of product strategy and security for the Denver-based company, has been baselessly accused of using his position to mastermind a high-tech plot to steal the election for President-elect Joe Biden. Biden’s victory has been certified in the states by officials of both parties with no evidence of widespread fraud or irregularities.

    Coomer’s suit, filed Tuesday in Colorado state district court in Denver, accuses those responsible of spreading the falsehoods of intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

    The lawsuit says the claims made about Coomer have led to death threats, constant harassment and “untold damage to his reputation as a national expert on voting systems.” Coomer was forced to leave his home one week after the presidential election ended and move to a safe undisclosed location where he remains.

    Among those being sued, along with the president’s campaign, are his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and outside lawyer Sidney Powell, who has been spotted at the White House in recent days as the president has continued to look for ways of overturning the election, including a meeting with conservative lawmakers who are planning an ill-fated push to challenge state electors when Congress certifies their votes on Jan. 6.

    Coomer is also suing figures in right-wing media, including the networks Newsmax and One America News Network, OANN reporter Chanel Rion, blogger Michelle Malkin and others.

    “Today I have filed a lawsuit in Colorado in an effort to unwind as much of the damage as possible done to me, my family, my life, and my livelihood as a result of the numerous false public statements that I was somehow responsible for ‘rigging’ the 2020 presidential election,” Coomer said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

    “The widespread dissemination of false conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election has had devastating consequences both for me personally and for many of the thousands of American election workers and officials, both Republican and Democratic, who put aside their political beliefs to run free, fair, and transparent elections. Elections are not about politics; they are about accurately tabulating legally cast votes,” Coomer said.

    Dominion Voting Systems provides election equipment and software to 28 states, including the majority of the equipment used in the swing states on which President Trump has focused most of his post-election ire. The company has also started to take legal action against its detractors; it recently demanded that Powell retract baseless claims about the company and its voting systems.

    Coomer said the allegations against him began with a conservative Colorado activist and podcaster, Joe Oltmann, who is also named in the suit. Several days after the election Oltmann said that he’d infiltrated an earlier call with Denver-area antifa members and heard a man identified as “Eric from Dominion” say he would make sure Trump wouldn’t win the election. According to Oltmann, the man said, “Don’t worry about the election. Trump is not going to win. I made effing sure of that.”

    Oltmann has never provided a recording of that call, but the allegation spread rapidly through right-wing social media, making its way to pro-Trump media outlets now included in the lawsuit.

    Coomer said that conversation never took place and that he has no association with left-wing groups.

    “I have a personal political opinion. I may share that with friends and family, but I have never participated, or belonged to, any political groups, political action groups, social justice groups. I do not donate to political campaigns. I don’t donate to any PACs or anything like that,” he told CPR News.

    In addition to his own information, Coomer said the personal addresses of everyone from his parents and siblings to his ex-girlfriends have been posted online. Some have also received threatening letters.

    He said he’s hopeful this lawsuit will help him reclaim his personal and professional reputation, “While I intend to do everything I can to recapture my prior lifestyle, I have few illusions in this regard.”

    https://www.npr.org/2020/12/22/949294173/dominion-voting-systems-employee-sues-trump-campaign-and-allies-for-defamation

    https://www.cpr.org/2020/12/22/trump-campaign-and-others-sued-for-defamation-for-spreading-election-fraud-conspiracies/

  25. Some Republican Senators Are on Board With Electoral College Challenge: Rep. Taylor-Greene
    By Jack Phillips
    December 23, 2020 Updated: December 23, 2020
    biggersmaller Print

    Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said that some Republican senators will join an effort to challenge Electoral College votes when the Joint Session of Congress meets on Jan. 6.

    The process requires one senator and one House representative to initiate. Other than Taylor-Greene, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and a number of GOP House lawmakers have pledged they would challenge the votes.

    “We have a very strong case, and our numbers are growing strong,” she said Tuesday on Newsmax of the effort. “We talked to senators and we’re good to go for this objection.”

    Taylor-Greene did not say what senators would join the challenge. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) have both suggested they might get involved, but there has been no public confirmation.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/some-republican-senators-are-on-board-with-electoral-college-challenge-rep-taylor-greene_3630313.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-23-2

  26. The CDC’s Affirmative Action Eugenics for the Coronavirus Vaccine – Frontpagemag
    Daniel Greenfield
    9-11 minutes

    When the government decides who gets to live or die based on race.

    Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

    Before the coronavirus pandemic, the CDC was too busy fighting racism to do its job. As the vaccine rolls out, the CDC decided to build the vaccine waiting list around affirmative action

    Who gets to live or die? Much like in Nazi Germany, it helps to be a member of the right race.

    The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has announced that the priorities for distributing vaccines are to prevent death, preserve society, and help those facing “disparities”, and then maybe, “increase the chance for everyone to enjoy health and well-being.”

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/12/cdcs-affirmative-action-eugenics-coronavirus-daniel-greenfield/

  27. Beijing Biden – Frontpagemag
    Lloyd Billingsley
    6-7 minutes

    For the Delaware Democrat, PRC Communists were “not bad folks” from the start.

    Last June, on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, Joe Biden called for “recommitting to the universal struggle for human dignity.” Biden used the occasion to attack President Trump but offered no direct criticism of China’s Communist regime, which during the campaign he described as “not bad folks, folks.” With the PRC, that was Biden’s essential message from the start.

    When Joe Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972, Chairman Mao still headed the Communist dictatorship. His Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution claimed countless millions of lives but did not kill off the Chinese people’s desire for freedom. The chairman passed away in 1976, about 80 years too late, and in 1985 and 1986 Chinese students mounted pro-democracy protests in Beijing and Shanghai.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/12/beijing-biden-lloyd-billingsley/

  28. Montreal offers ‘light therapy’ in pandemic winter

    In the heart of downtown Montreal, a special sound and light display has been set up to try to bring some comfort to residents of a city that has been battered by months of coronavirus, and may be in need of a little seasonal “light therapy”.

    • Turkish craftsman makes gold and silver face masks

      A Turkish craftsman in Istanbul has started designing face masks in gold and silver, costing between 200 and 2,200 euros to help keep his business as a silversmith afloat during tough times caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

    • Rome hospital offers ‘hugging curtain’ for hospitalised children

      Rome’s San Raffaele rehabilitation hospital has come up with a creative solution to allow friends and families to enjoy personal contact with child patients who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus: a “hugging curtain.”

    • Angry lorry drivers confront police officers at Dover port

      Angry lorry drivers confront police officers at Dover port, as they have been blocked for days confronted with a lack of facilities, as they wait for cross-Channel travel to France to resume.

      They have to produce a negative Covid test to leave the United Kingdom and London has warned it could take days to clear the backlog.

    • Covid-19 vaccines leave Pfizer factory to be distributed in Europe

      Trucks transporting the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine leave the factory in Puurs, Belgium, escorted by police, to be distributed in Europe.

    • CBC – Dr. Anthony Fauci on COVID-19 vaccines and why U.S. could see ‘pretty dark January’

      Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S, talks to National co-host Andrew Chang about getting people to take COVID-19 vaccines, the new coronavirus variant,

      and why travel over the holidays could result in a ‘pretty dark January’ for the country.

    • CBC – Health Canada approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

      Health Canada has approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way for thousands of doses to arrive by year’s end.

      Dr. Noah Ivers of Women’s College Hospital in Toronto says the two approved vaccines use similar technologies but have different handling requirements.

      + comments on the YT page

    • sky news – COVID-19: Second variant found in two coronavirus cases in UK is ‘highly concerning’

      The new variant is “very different” to a fresh strain found in the UK, but both appear to be more transmissible, an expert says.

      Two cases of a new, “more transmissible” COVID-19 variant linked to South Africa have been identified in the UK, the health secretary has said.

      Both cases are contacts of people who travelled from South Africa over the last few weeks, Matt Hancock said at a Downing Street news conference.

      Those with the new variant, and contacts of them, are quarantining.

      There are immediate restrictions on travelling from South Africa. Sky News understands incoming flights from the country will be stopped.

      In addition, people who have been in contact with anyone who has been in South Africa in the last fortnight have been told they must quarantine.

      It is thought the South African strain may be behind a record number of people being hospitalised with COVID-19 in that country.

      It comes as UK government figures showed 744 more people have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19, the highest number since 29 April.

      And there were a further 39,237 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus, the highest daily figure during the pandemic – although this is partly due to much wider testing.

      Dr Susan Hopkins, from Public Health England, said the new variant recently discovered in the UK, and the one found in South Africa, are “very different” and are “different mutations”.

      “Both of them look like they’re more transmissible,” she added.

      Dr Hopkins told the Number 10 press conference: “We have more evidence on the transmission for the UK variant, because we’ve been studying that with great detail with academic partners.

      “We’re still learning about the South African variant. We are pretty confident that the system we have in place will help control the spread.”

      Regarding inoculation, Dr Hopkins said the Pfizer vaccine produces a “strong immune response and it’s broad and acts against lots of variation in the virus”, adding that there is “no evidence at the moment that the vaccine will not work”.

      Mr Hancock said: “This new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the UK.”

      The new strain is “shortly to be analysed at Porton Down”, the health secretary added.

      Mr Hancock said ministers are “incredibly grateful to the South African government for the rigour of their science and the openness and the transparency with which they have rightly acted as we did when we discovered a new variant here”.

      The new South African strain of the virus is a significant worry and the government has moved swiftly to shut it down.

      Health authorities in the country believe the 501.V2 variant is more common in younger adults.

      It also seems to have a higher viral load and as a result spreads more easily from person to person.

      It’s thought it could partly explain the recent surge of infections in South Africa.

      Genetic analysis shows that it shares some of the mutations of the new strain already widespread in the UK, but the two viruses have evolved separately.

      The health secretary has ordered anyone who has been to South Africa, or been in contact with someone who has, in the last two weeks to self-isolate immediately.

      Once again the rapid genetic analysis of strains in the UK has picked up a mutant virus at an early stage – but has it been soon enough?

      https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-uk-confirms-two-cases-of-another-new-variant-linked-to-south-africa-12171410

      https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-uk-confirms-two-cases-of-another-new-variant-linked-to-south-africa-12171410

      sky pravda – ‘Extraordinarily rapid rise’ in COVID-19 cases ‘driven by new variant’

      Dr Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England, highlights an “extraordinarily rapid rise” in COVID-19 cases in the UK, driven by a new variant of the virus.

      Two graphs illustrate that the previous tier system was ‘proving effective’ in supressing the original coronavirus variant, which first hit the UK in March – but that the new, more infectious, variant requires stricter measures.

      + comments on the YT page

    • DAILY MAIL – Children may be more vulnerable to new strain

      Children may be more easily infected by the new mutant strain of coronavirus, scientists have suggested.

      The virus has been less of a problem for children until now, as it finds it harder to get into their body.

      But the new strain is suspected by scientists to more efficiently infect them, potentially making them ‘equally susceptible’ to adults.

      Children tend to mix more frequently than grown-ups, and this could help to explain figures showing around one in 50 teenagers in England aged 13 to 17 have the virus.

      However experts stress that they do not yet know definitively that the new strain is more likely to infect children. Importantly, the new variant is believed not to make people any more ill, and children rarely suffer severe symptoms.

      ==============================

      Professor Livermore said there was even evidence to suggest the variant was less deadly and therefore less of a threat than the original version.

      He added: ‘Despite the Government’s recent dramatic show of urgency, this variant appears to have been first identified in Kent as long ago as September, even before the second national lockdown was imposed in England.

      ‘And that begs two questions: First, if VUI-202012/01 is as harmful as the Government suggests, why did ministers not act sooner, instead of letting the public plan for a relaxed Christmas?

      ‘Second, if tough new controls are the only answer, why was the lockdown lifted in December?

      ‘These contradictions arise precisely because of the lack of evidence behind the fear that VUI-202012/01 is sweeping through the country like wildfire.

      ‘So far its spread seems to be focused on populations that had little exposure to Covid-19 until now, such as in Kent and East Anglia.

      ‘The problem is that, beyond the frightening headlines, there is little concrete information to underwrite the official claim that the situation is getting ‘out of control’.’

      Professor Livermore said even if the disease is more infectious, it will likely mean it is less deadly, and therefore less of a threat to people.

      He added: ‘If it does transpire that the new strain is more easily transmitted, we must remember that such a scenario isn’t always a bad thing.

      ‘In line with Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory about the survival of the fittest, it is a fact of life that viruses evolve and adapt. There are a number of new features that can ensure a particular strain survives.

      ‘One is a lower infectious dose, where the victim needs to inhale fewer virus particles to become infected. Another is the creation of a milder or asymptomatic form of the disease, which means carriers continue to go about their daily lives, thereby spreading the contagion more extensively.

      =========================================
      QUESTIONS ANSWERED ON NEW COVID MUTATION: HOW DID IT HAPPEN, IS IT MORE DANGEROUS AND HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN IN THE UK?

      What has happened to the coronavirus to trigger such concern?

      A new strain of Covid has developed which is said to spread far faster. A ‘strain’ is a new version of a virus which has genetic mutations. The new strain is a version of Sars-Cov-2, the coronavirus which causes the disease Covid-19.

      It has been named VUI-202012/01. These letters and numbers stand for ‘variant under investigation’ and the month, December 2020.

      What makes it so worrying?

      This particular variant is defined by up to 17 changes or mutations in the coronavirus spike protein. It is the combination of some of these changes which scientists believe could make it more infectious.

      It is thought they could help the virus’ spike protein latch on to human cells and gain entry more easily.

      Is it certain the new variation is accelerating the spread of the virus?

      No, but scientists say preliminary evidence suggests it does.

      Boris Johnson said it may spread up to 70 per cent more easily than other strains of the virus, potentially driving up the ‘R rate’ – which measures how quickly the virus spreads – significantly.

      On Saturday night, Mr Johnson said it could drive up the ‘R rate’ by as much as 0.4.

      This would be particularly significant in areas such as Eastern England, where it is 1.4, and both London and the South East, where it is 1.3. The ‘R rate’ must remain below 1 for infections to decrease.

      Is the new variant more dangerous?

      Scientists don’t think so for now. When asked on Saturday night if it was more lethal than the previous strain, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said ‘the answer seems to be ‘No’, as far as we can tell at the moment’.

      Yesterday Dr Susan Hopkins, of Public Health England, said there was evidence of people with the new variant having higher viral loads inside them.

      But she said this did not mean people would get more ill.

      Ravi Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘It’s unlikely it’ll make people sicker, but it could make it harder to control.’

      If it does make the virus harder to control and hospitals become overrun, it could pose new challenges.

      Are mutations unusual?

      No. Seasonal influenza mutates every year. Variants of Sars-Cov-2 have also been observed in other countries, such as Spain.

      However, one scientific paper suggests the number and combination of changes which have occurred in this new variant is potentially ‘unprecedented’.

      Most mutations observed to date are thought to have happened more slowly. Also, most changes have no effect on how easily the virus spreads.

      There are already about 4,000 mutations in the spike protein gene.

      What has caused the mutation?

      This is still being investigated. One theory is that growing natural immunity in the UK population, which makes it harder for the virus to spread, might have forced it to adapt.

      Another theory is that it has developed in chronically ill patients who have fought the virus off over a long period of time, with it then being passed onto others.

      Prof Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, yesterday said it was ‘plausible’ and ‘highly likely’ this has happened.

      However, he stressed it is impossible to prove at the moment.

      What evidence is there to support the latter theory?

      Some evidence supporting it was spotted when samples of virus were collected from a Cambridge patient. They had been treated with convalescent plasma – blood plasma containing antibodies from a recovered patient.

      It is possible the virus mutated during that treatment, developing more resistance to the antibodies. This patient died of the infection, but it’s also possible the mutation has occurred elsewhere.

      A paper co-authored by Andrew Rambaut, Professor of Molecular Evolution at the University of Edinburgh, states: ‘If antibody therapy is administered after many weeks of chronic infection, the virus population may be unusually large and genetically diverse…creating suitable circumstances for the rapid fixation of multiple virus genetic changes.’

      Professor Hunter added: ‘Mutation in viruses are a random event and the longer someone is infected the more likely a random event is to occur.’

      What do these mutations do?

      Many occur in what’s called the ‘receptor binding domain’ of the virus’ spike protein. This helps the virus latch on to human cells and gain entry. The mutations make it easier for the virus to bind to human cells’ ACE2 receptors.

      It is also possible the changes help the virus avoid human antibodies which would otherwise help fight off infection.

      Who detected it?

      It was discovered by the Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, which carries out random genetic sequencing of positive covid-19 samples.

      It is a consortium of the UK’s four public health agencies, Wellcome Sanger Institute and 12 academic institutions.

      How long has it been in the UK and where did it start?

      As of mid-December, there were more than 1,000 cases in nearly 60 different local authorities, although the true number will be higher.

      They have predominantly been found in the south east of England, in Kent and London. It may now account for 60 per cent of the capital’s cases.

      But it has been detected elsewhere, including in Wales and Scotland.

      The two earliest samples were collected on September 20 in Kent and another the next day in London.

      Why was action to tackle it not taken sooner?

      Because the potentially greater transmissibility was only discovered late last week by academics.

      Has it been detected anywhere else in the world?

      One aspect of the new variant, known as a N501Y mutation, was circulating in Australia between June and July, in America in July and in Brazil as far back as April, according to scientists.

      It is therefore unclear what role, if any, travellers carrying the virus may have had.

      Dr Julian Tang, a Virologist and expert in Respiratory science at the University of Leicester, said: ‘Whether or not these viruses were brought to the UK and Europe later by travellers or arose spontaneously in multiple locations around the world – in response to human host immune selection pressures – requires further investigation.’

      Another change, known as the D614G variant, has previously been detected in western Europe and North America. But it is possible that the new variant evolved in the UK.

      What can I do to avoid getting the new variant?

      The same as always – keeping your distance from people, washing your hands regularly, wearing a mask and abiding by the tier restrictions in your area.

      Yesterday Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association, said: ‘The way in which you control the spread of the virus, including this new variant, is exactly the same. It is about continuing stringent measures. The same rules apply.’

      Will the new variant reduce the effectiveness of vaccines?

      More studies are needed.

      Dr Susan Hopkins, of Public Health England, said that until these are carried out scientists cannot be certain whether – and by how much – the new variant reduces the effectiveness of developed vaccines.

      She said: ‘The vaccine induces a strong, multiple response, immune response and therefore it is unlikely that this vaccine response is going to be completely gone.’ When mutations happen it is, in theory possible the antibodies generated by vaccines can be evaded.

      But vaccines produce a wide range of antibodies that simultaneously attack the virus from different angles, making it hard for it to evade all of them at once.

      Vaccines could also be tweaked to make them more effective if the new mutation does prove to be more resistant to them.

      So what are the scientists doing now?

      Scientists will be growing the new strain in the lab to see how it responds. This includes looking at whether it produces the same antibody response, how it reacts to the vaccine, and modelling the new strain.

      It could take up to two weeks for this process to be complete.

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9078911/How-mutated-form-Covid-rapidly-spread-England-fortnight.html

    • Kazuko said that’s what they’re saying in Japan.
      Then there’s the fact that 0’s handlers put this disgusting Pres. Moon in office.

      • South Korea is probably getting close to a military Coup, at least they would be if things in their military is anywhere close to what it was before O put Moon in office. Back then their military was very anti-Communism.

      • Back when I could talk to people at the VA the recent retirees said that the South Korean Military was very anti communism. I wonder if they are getting close to a Military Coup?

        OT: Happy Hanukkah

  31. Bob Dylan’s ‘Neighborhood Bully’ Gets Memory-Holed

    I wanted to hear the Bob Dylan song “Neighborhood Bully” off his 1983 record Infidels. That’s how I discovered that YouTube won’t let you hear the song. It turns out that this man Bob Dylan, so beloved by the American cultural establishment and winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature, is guilty of hate speech. Sooner or later, they all are.…

    “Neighborhood Bully” is assumed to be a song about Israel being singled out and maligned among the world’s nations, but Dylan has rejected this interpretation just as he always denied narrow political readings of his work.…

    The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land
    He’s wandered the earth an exiled man
    Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
    He’s always on trial for just being born
    He’s the neighborhood bully…

    Discovering that a cultural product of any note is not instantly available on one of the major internet content platforms is enough to trigger a state of mild alarm. You start to wonder whether it is you who has made some kind of mistake. That sensation turns into a full-on paranoid itch when the missing artifact in question is a song by one of the most legendary and popular musicians of the past century, on a site, YouTube, where one can easily watch pirated movies, Hitler’s speeches, and snuff films, and that’s owned by Google, whose business model is being the universal database that contains everything.

    Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
    That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him
    Because there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
    And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac
    He’s the neighborhood bully…

    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/neighborhood-bully-memory-holed

  39. Millionaire makes shocking claim after Trump meeting; State Reps call on senators to reject electors

    • Police blame residents for fire at Bosnia migrant centre

      SARAJEVO (Reuters) – A fire at a migrant centre housing about 1,200 people in northwestern Bosnia on Wednesday was probably set by migrants displeased with its temporary closure, police and a United Nations official said.

      Police in the town of Bihac said the fire, which destroyed four large tents at the Lipa camp, was extinguished quickly. No casualties were reported.

      Television footage showed flames and black smoke rising above the camp as migrants looked on. Some climbed the perimeter fence, carrying their belongings.

      “The investigation is still ongoing but it’s certain the fire was set, probably by the camp residents,” police spokesman Ale Siljdedic said by telephone.

      The Lipa camp was set to be shut on Wednesday for winter refurbishing, but Bosnia’s authorities have failed to find alternative accommodation for residents.

      The migrants will join about 1,500 others sleeping rough in cold weather. About 10,000 migrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are stuck in Bosnia, hoping to reach wealthier countries in the European Union.

      “As far as we know now, a group of former residents put three tents and containers on fire after most of the migrants had left the camp,” Peter Van der Auweraert, head of the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) that is running migrant camps in Bosnia, said on Twitter.

      Most of the migrants headed for Bihac though authorities have closed migrant centres there and refused to reopen them, urging other parts of Bosnia to share the burden of the migrant crisis.

      The United Nations mission in Bosnia expressed its concern over the lack of a political solution for the camp’s winter preparation, echoing warnings by the EU of a looming humanitarian crisis.

      https://ca.news.yahoo.com/police-blame-residents-fire-bosnia-175618072.html

  41. US General Sees ‘Heightened Risk’ From Iran as One Year Anniversary of Soleimani Killing Approaches (sputniknews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202012231081552395-us-general-sees-heightened-risk-from-iran-as-one-year-anniversary-of-soleimani-killing-approaches/

    “US troops and diplomatic staff in Iraq face a “heightened risk” of attack from Iran or ‘Iranian-backed’ groups as the one year anniversary of Qasem Soleimani’s death approaches, Gen. Kenneth ‘Frank’ McKenzie, commander of USCENTCOM, the command responsible for the Middle East, has said.

    “I do believe we remain in a period of heightened risk,” McKenzie said, speaking to ABC News. “I would just emphasize this key point: We’re not looking to escalate ourselves. We’re not looking for war with Iran, I really want to emphasize that.”

    McKenzie said he believed Iran was also not seeking to escalate things, and “doesn’t want a war with the United States right now. And I know for a fact that the United States doesn’t seek war with Iran.”

    The commander’s comments come just days after separate remarks earlier in which he warned that the US would be “prepared to react” if Iran launched an attack on the anniversary.

    “We are prepared to defend ourselves, our friends and partners in the region, and we’re prepared to react if necessary,” McKenzie said in the earlier remarks. “My assessment is we are in a very good position and we’ll be prepared for anything the Iranians or their proxies acting for them might choose to do,” he added.

    On Monday, the US Navy confirmed that the USS Georgia nuclear attack submarine, equipped with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, had passed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf. Israeli media then reported that an Israeli Navy submarine had visibly crossed the Suez Canal in what was dubbed a ‘show of force’ aimed at Iran…”

    US Defense Chiefs to Give Trump Response Options to Iran After Baghdad Embassy Attack – Report (sputniknews Dec 23, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202012231081552409-us-defense-chiefs-present-trump-with-response-options-to-iran-after-baghdad-embassy-attack—report/

    “According to a senior US administration official, US President Donald Trump was joined by defense leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss possible responses to an attack against the US embassy in Baghdad on Sunday.

    The meeting reportedly included Pompeo, acting US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, and other top defense officials. They intend to offer “a range of options” to Trump to deter attacks against US personnel by Iran or by militias in Iraq that are sympathetic to Iran.

    The Sunday bombardment of the Green Zone, a fortified area in central Baghdad that houses the US embassy, managed to penetrate US anti-missile defenses and do “minor damage” to the embassy compound. An Iraqi civilian was injured.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi denounced the attack, saying on Monday that a round of arrests prevented a second attack from being carried out, although he named no groups allegedly responsible for the first attack. However, Pompeo firmly pointed the finger at “Iran-backed militias.”

    Tehran has denied involvement in the attack. “The US military presence is the source of instability in our region. No amount of spin can divert blame for its evils,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter on Monday…”

  42. Mauritania Claims Troops Fired on by Morocco in Western Sahara Border Skirmish Day After Joint Talks (sputniknews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/africa/202012231081552322-mauritania-claims-troops-fired-on-by-morocco-in-western-sahara-border-skirmish-day-after-joint/

    “The day before, the two nations’ leaders had met to discuss enhanced military cooperation as Morocco faces a renewed challenge to its territorial claims over Western Sahara. However, Mauritania has long recognized the indigenous Polisario’s Front’s claim on the land.

    According to a Wednesday statement by the Mauritanian National Army, some of its troops came under fire on Tuesday night as they approached a defensive position occupied by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. The Mauritanian troops had been chasing a group of smugglers north of the village of Inal, a town near the Mauritania-Western Sahara border about 125 miles east of Guerguerat.

    The two forces established communication, and the incident ended before anyone on either side was injured. Morocco has not yet publicly acknowledged the incident.
    Ironically, the episode happened just a day after Mauritania and Morocco held a joint military commission in Nouakchott.

    According to a Mauritanian news release, the meeting “dealt with the existing cooperation relations between the armies of the two brotherly countries, especially in the field of defense and security, and the means for their future development.”…”

  43. FBI Reportedly Blames Iran for Hit List of Officials Who Rejected Trump’s Vote Fraud Claims (sputniknews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/202012231081548312-fbi-reportedly-blames-iran-for-hit-list-of-officials-who-rejected-trumps-vote-fraud-claims/

    “This is the second time Iran has been accused of ‘meddling’ in the 2020 US election.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation has concluded that Iran was responsible for an online ‘Enemies of the People’ website listing the names, pictures, home addresses and other personal information of federal and state officials who rejected President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims, the Washington Post has reported, citing anonymous sources.

    “We have known since day one that foreign actors seek to undermine trust in the United States’ elections process,” one source told the newspaper. “President Trump has perpetuated a false narrative that has allowed this type of foreign attack to penetrate the minds of American citizens,” the source added.

    The website, created by a shadowy group and since taken down, proposed the assassination of senior officials and leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as election officials, whom they alleged were complicit in manipulating the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favour.

    Among the targets were FBI director Christopher Wray and former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency chief Christopher Krebs, the governors of the battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and Michigan, voting machine company executives, and others, such as Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

    The virtual campaign also reportedly used the Twitter hashtags #remembertheirfaces and #NoQuarterForTraitors, although a cursory search of the hashtags shows them to have been used long before the 3 November vote, and for a variety of purposes unrelated to the hit list.

    One state official told the newspaper that the FBI called individuals whose names appeared on the website and told them that Iran was behind the website.

    This is the second time US officials have blamed Iran for meddling in the 2020 vote. In October, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe claimed Iran had sent incendiary emails to Democratic voters posing as a pro-Trump extremist group and threatening to “come after” anyone who votes Biden.

    Iran has yet to respond to the ‘Enemies of the People’ site claims, but blasted the earlier allegations as “malign and dangerous.”

    “Unlike the US, Iran does not interfere in other countries’ elections. The world has been witnessing the US’s own desperate public attempts to question the outcome of its own elections at the highest level, Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman from the Iranian Mission to the United Nations, was quoted as saying at the time.

    In August, National Counterintelligence and Security Center director Bill Evanina accused Russia, China and Iran of interfering in the US election, with Russia supposedly using “a range of measures to primarily denigrate” Biden, while China was reportedly “expanding its influence efforts” in Biden’s favour. Iran, meanwhile, was accused of “seek[ing] to undermine US democratic institutions” in general and spread disinformation online.

    This is the second presidential election in a row that US officials have accused foreign actors of widespread meddling. In 2016, officials accused Moscow of a massive hacking, trolling and influence campaign in Trump’s favour. After three years of investigation and a $32 million Russiagate probe, the claims died on the vine without providing any definitive evidence.

    The idea of Democrats and Republicans drawing up competing lists of ‘enemies of the people’ is nothing new in the fallout of from the highly contentious 3 November vote. Earlier this week, conservatives fumed after a Washington Post cartoonist depicted over 100 US state attorneys general and members of Congress as rats for “collaborat[ing] with President Trump in his attempt to subvert the Constitution.” Republicans blasted the cartoon and accused its author of aping Nazi German propaganda.

    President Trump continues to refuse to concede the election, accusing Democrats of a systematic campaign of fraud in key swing states involving mail-in vote dumps in the dead of night, voting machine manipulations, and other illegal machinations. Democratic officials, state courts and even some Republicans have rejected the claims and proclaimed Biden the legitimately elected president.”

  44. London stabbing: Horror knife attack on busy Kensington street – Met Police rush to scene (express, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1376006/london-news-stabbing-met-police-latest-fishmongers-harrow-road-emergency-kensington

    “TWO MEN have been injured with one rushed to hospital following reports of a knife attack in Kensington, police said.

    The Met Police were called to a disturbance outside Kings Seafood on Harrow Road at 9am this morning.

    Officers arrived at the scene to find a man suffering from slash injuries, which the force believe to have been self-inflicted.

    He was taken to a nearby hospital by the London Ambulance Service for his injuries.

    Police said he has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and affray.

    A second man was treated for his injuries at the scene by medics.

    A police cordon has been put in place in surrounding areas.

    An investigation remains ongoing.

    The Met Police said in a statement: “Police were called at 09:00hrs on Wednesday, 23 December to a shop on Harrow Road, W9 following reports of a disturbance and a man with a knife.

    “Officers attended and found the man [A] suffering from slash injuries, which are believed to have been self-inflicted.

    “He was taken by the London Ambulance Service to a central London hospital for treatment.

    “A second man was also treated by the LAS for slash wounds.

    “The man [A] has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and affray.”

    Call 116 123 for free impartial advice from the Samaritans.”

  45. Turkish parliament extends law for troop deployment to Libya (abcnews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-parliament-extends-law-troop-deployment-libya-74874952

    “Turkey’s parliament extended for 18 months a law that allows the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya.

    The bill renewed a one-year mandate that came into force in January following a security and military agreement with the U.N.-backed administration in Tripoli, in western Libya.

    The Turkish decision Tuesday comes in the wake of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire in Libya that was declared in October. The cease-fire deal envisioned the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries within three months.

    Opposition parties voted against the extension but the combined votes of Turkey’s ruling party and its nationalist allies allowed the bill to pass.

    Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

    The oil-rich North African nation is now split between the Tripoli government and its rival administration in the east. Both sides are backed by regional and foreign powers and numerous local militias.

    Ankara’s support for the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord has turned the tide of war in Libya. Turkish military assistance — including advisors, equipment and intelligence — helped block a year-long military attempt to capture Tripoli by forces loyal to Khalifa Hifter, a Libyan commander who rules the eastern half of the country.

    Turkey has been accused of sending thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Libya. Throughout his march on the capital, which collapsed in June, Hifter had the backing of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France and Russia.

    Turkey also signed a controversial maritime agreement with the Tripoli government last year, giving it access to a contested economic zone across the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The deal added tensions to Turkey’s ongoing dispute with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over oil and gas drilling rights.”

  47. More than 100 killed in latest ethnic massacre in Ethiopia (abcnews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-dozen-killed-latest-ethiopia-massacre-74879020

    “The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission says more than 100 people have been killed in the latest massacre along ethnic lines in the western part of the country.

    The Amhara Mass Media Agency, affiliated with the country’s Amhara region, in a separate report cited witnesses as saying the attack occurred early Wednesday in the Metekel zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region.

    The attack occurred a day after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the region and spoke about the need to bring those responsible for recent attacks to justice. Ethnic tensions are a major challenge as Abiy tries to promote national unity in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups.

    The attacks are separate from the deadly conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, where Ethiopian forces and allied regional forces began fighting Tigray regional forces in early November.

    Some people in remote villages remained encircled and under threat on Wednesday evening, with the overall death toll above 200, asserted Belete Molla, head of the National Movement of Amhara political party. He said he had spoken by phone with some residents.

    It was not immediately clear who the attackers were, though Belete asserted that they were Gumuz militia members. The ruling party in the region, the Benishangul-Gumuz Prosperity Party, said in a statement that “armed bandits” had committed a “horrifying crime.”

    Amharas are the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia. Amharas in the region have been targeted repeatedly in recent weeks.

    One rebel attack on Nov. 1 in the far western Oromia region killed at least 54 people, according to Amnesty International.

    An attack in the Benishangul-Gumuz region in early October killed at least 14 civilians, according to a security official. It followed similar deadly attacks in September that also displaced over 300 people, leading the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to say it was deeply alarmed.”

  48. Independent election watchdog shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Kabul (abcnews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/independent-election-watchdog-shot-dead-unidentified-gunmen-kabul/story?id=74878843

    “Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, the executive director of the non-governmental organization Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen Wednesday morning in Kabul.

    Rasheed’s brother told Afghan news outlet Tolo News that his brother was attacked as he was headed to his office when gunmen started shooting at his vehicle. Rasheed’s driver was wounded.

    Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack…”

  49. Turkish court convicts former editor on terror charges (abcnews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-court-convicts-exiled-journalist-dundar-74875584

    “A Turkish court on Wednesday convicted the former editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet on espionage and terror-related charges over a 2015 news story, a verdict the exiled journalist said exemplified the pressures on Turkish media.

    The court in Istanbul found Can Dundar guilty of “obtaining secret documents for espionage” and “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being a member.” It sentenced him to 27 1/2 years in prison.

    Dundar fled to Germany in 2016, and he was tried in absentia. His lawyers said the proceedings did not adhere to the standards for a fair trial and judicial impartiality, and they did not attend Wednesday’s court hearing in protest.

    In an interview with The Associated Press at his Berlin office, Dundar called the verdict “a personal decision by the president of Turkey to deter the journalists writing against him.”

    Dundar was first charged in 2015 and tried and convicted in 2016 for a Cumhuriyet article that accused Turkey’s intelligence service of illegally sending weapons to Syria. Wednesday’s verdict came in his retrial.

    The story featured a 2014 video that showed men in police uniforms and civilian clothing unscrewing bolts to open trucks and unpacking boxes. Later images showed trucks full of mortar rounds. The AP cannot confirm the authenticity of the video.

    The news report claimed that Turkish intelligence service and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not allow a prosecutor to pursue an investigation into arms smuggling.

    The story infuriated Erdogan, who said the trucks carried aid to Turkmen groups in Syria and that Dundar would “pay a high price.” Cumhuriyet’s Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gul. also faced criminal charges in the first trial.

    Turkey later intervened directly in the Syrian civil war, launching four cross-border operations.

    Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 154th out of 180 countries in its 2020 Press Freedom Index. Dundar said the trial verdict could have a further chilling effect.

    “The problem is there is a cloud of fear over the country, so those decisions may deter some journalists in Turkey to write against the government, to write about the truth,” he said.

    “There are still brave journalists defending the truth in Turkey, but I hope the world will see much better now what kind of government we are struggling against,” he added.

    German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted: “The decision against Can Dundar is a heavy blow against independent journalistic work in Turkey.”

    “Journalism is an indispensable service to society, including and especially when it takes a critical view of what those in government are doing,” he said.

    Dundar was accused of aiding the network of U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom the Turkish government accuses of masterminding a failed 2016 coup. Gulen denies the allegations and remains in Pennsylvania.

    Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reported that in reaching its verdict, the Istanbul court said that the 2015 news report aimed to present Turkey as a “country that supports terror” domestically and internationally. The court said that perception helped Gulen’s network, which also used the story in its own publications.

    Dundar and Gul were arrested in 2015 and spent three months in pre-trial detention. In 2016, a court sentenced them to five to six years in prison for “obtaining and revealing secret documents to be used for espionage.” Dundar was attacked outside the courthouse the day the verdict was issued.

    After Dundar appealed the conviction, the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the sentence in 2018 and ordered a retrial with harsher sentences. The retrial began in 2019.

    Dundar’s property in Turkey is in the process of being seized. He remains defiant.

    “I am here, working as a journalist, and I don’t have any fear anymore,” he told the AP. “Because I was attacked by gunmen in Turkey, just because of these news (reports), now I am in exile, all our assets are confiscated. What else can they do?””

  50. EU to spend hundreds of millions more on refugees in Turkey (abcnews, Dec 23, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-spend-hundreds-millions-refugees-turkey-74878572

    “The European Union plans to spend hundreds of millions of euros over the next year helping refugees living in Turkey, most of them people who fled the war in Syria.

    The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, said Wednesday that it is extending two programs, one that provides cash assistance to refugees in Turkey to meet their basic needs and the other that provides funds to help educate children.

    The programs will be extended until early 2022 at a total cost of 485 million euros ($590 million).

    The commission said they provide much-needed cash to more than 1.8 million refugees and help educate more than 700,000 children. The programs are managed by the Turkish Red Crescent in partnership with the Red Cross and UNICEF. Money does not go directly to Turkey’s government.

    Turkey is home to almost 4 million refugees. Around 70% are women and children, and the overwhelming majority of refugees live outside migrant camps.

    The European Union relies on Turkey to stop migrants and refugees from trying to reach the bloc’s 27 member nations illegally. Well over a million people entered the EU in 2015, overwhelming Greece and Italy and sparking one of the bloc’s worst political crises…”