Reader’s Links for January 17, 2021

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

92 Replies to “Reader’s Links for January 17, 2021”

  1. Hong Kong Internet Firm Starts Blocking Pro-Democracy Websites After Twitter Bans Trump

    (ConservativeInsider.org) – China’s continued crackdown on Hong Kong is chipping away at citizens’ access to free speech every day. But, watching American social media networks censor our president, has emboldened the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to move forward with its latest power grab. Soon after President Trump was banned from Twitter and Facebook, a Hong Kong internet provider stopped users from accessing pro-democracy site HKChronicles.

    On Thursday, January 14, Hong Kong Broadband Network released a statement that they “disabled the access” to the pro-democracy site to comply with the National Security Law. The site’s chief editor, Naomi Chan, asked readers to “make early preparations” as she expected further internet censorship and disruptions.

    PhD law student and political activist Glacier Kwong detailed where the slippery slope of Internet censorship likely leads:

    https://conservativeinsider.org/hong-kong-internet-firm-starts-blocking-pro-democracy-websites-after-twitter-bans-trump/?utm_source=&utm_placement=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=CInewsletter

  2. Democrats Changed Us House Rules so They Could Smear Trump During Impeachment
    2 minutes

    Democrats Changed Us House Rules so They Could Smear Trump During Impeachment

    (ConservativeInsider.org) – The US House of Representatives was once home to civil discussions where lawmakers ensured debates stuck to politics rather than personal attacks. Rules have been in place for decades to guard against harmful rhetoric, but Democrats temporarily changed them this week to make sure they could insult President Donald Trump during his impeachment process.

    On Tuesday, January 12, Democrats passed a temporary rule change declaring that the current House rules prohibiting personal attacks on the President “shall not apply” during the debate over Trump’s impeachment.

    https://conservativeinsider.org/democrats-changed-us-house-rules-so-they-could-smear-trump-during-impeachment/?utm_source=&utm_placement=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=CInewsletter

  3. Troops at Inauguration Pre-Screened for Extremism, Says DC Guard Commander
    By Katie Bo Williams Senior National Security Correspondent
    18-23 minutes

    The National Guard at the US Capitol building in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack.

    The National Guard at the US Capitol building in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack. AP Photo

    The roughly 25,000 National Guardsmen deployed to the U.S. capital to ensure President-elect Joe Biden is able to be sworn in peacefully went through an additional background check to weed out any whiff of domestic extremism.

    Added for one of the most fraught deployments in the history of the Guard, the screening is “about the same” as the standard background check that Guardsmen go through when they initially enlist, the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard said in an interview on Saturday. It is intended as “another layer” of security on top of continuous monitoring of the force, he said.

    https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/01/troops-inauguration-pre-screened-extremism-says-dc-guard-commander/171456/

    • Another sign that a large number of soldiers are publicly saying that Biden didn’t win the election. These are the people the left wants to use to oppress us and they have to screen them to see if they are politically reliable.

  4. Rand Paul: We’re Becoming ‘Militarized Zone’ in D.C., Have to ‘Resist’ Rapid Loss of Civil Liberties in a Crisis
    Ian Hanchett
    2 minutes

    1:43

    On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) stated that there wasn’t enough security during last week’s Capitol riot “and now we’re going to become a militarized zone.” Paul also stated that we have to “resist” the rapid loss of civil liberties during a crisis.

    Paul said, “Well, the thing is Laura, you know government. They either underreact or overreact. So, I think there was too little security obviously last week, and now we’re going to become a militarized zone. And they’re checking congressmen as they come in to see if they have a sharp pencil or a sharp pen. So, it’s gotten ridiculous. And so, we’ll see what happens, and whether it’s permanent. But most people who write about civil liberties say that in times of war, or in times of stress, or in times of crisis, you lose your civil liberties very quickly. But it’s very difficult to get them back. Because government, once it grows large, never wants to give up on this. But yes, we have to resist this. And we have to have security, obviously. But I think living in a wartime state with…we have troops in the Capitol. They’re staying in the Capitol. They’re platooning and camping in the Capitol. So, I understand, that last week, we weren’t prepared and that was a real problem, and I regret everything that happened last week with that. But going forward, this week, I think we — there’s a danger of overreacting.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/01/15/rand-paul-were-becoming-militarized-zone-in-d-c-have-to-resist-rapid-loss-of-civil-liberties-in-a-crisis/

  5. China ‘Sought to Influence’ 2020 US Election, Director of National Intelligence Assesses
    CIA Management Pressured Analysts to Withdraw Assessment
    By Ivan Pentchoukov
    January 17, 2021 Updated: January 17, 2021
    biggersmaller Print

    Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe assessed that China interfered in the 2020 federal elections, according to a letter transmitted to Congress.

    In the letter (pdf), Ratcliffe alleges that intelligence about China’s election interference was suppressed by management at the CIA, which pressured analysts to withdraw their support for the view.

    Citing a report by the Intelligence Community Analytic Ombudsman Barry Zulauf, the director of national intelligence said some analysts were reluctant to describe China’s actions as election interference because they disagreed with the policies of President Donald Trump.

    The Washington Examiner published Ratcliffe’s letter and the ombudsman report on Jan. 17, ten days after publishing an original report on the documents. The ODNI did not respond to requests from The Epoch Times to authenticate the documents.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/china-sought-to-influence-2020-us-election-director-of-national-intelligence-assesses_3659981.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-01-17-3

  6. Zarif Accuses Major European Powers of Failing to Preserve Nuclear Deal
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2747566/zarif-accuses-major-european-powers-failing-preserve-nuclear-deal

    “Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized on Sunday France, Germany and Britain – which remain in the 2015 nuclear deal with China and Russia – for failing to enforce the agreement since 2018, when US President Donald Trump abandoned it and restored harsh economic sanctions on Iran.

    “E3 leaders — who rely on (the) signature of OFAC functionaries to carry out their obligations under JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) — have done ZILCH to maintain JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action),” Zarif tweeted…”

  7. Turkey Accused of Extraditing Uighur Muslims to China in Exchange for COVID-19 Vaccines
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2747226/turkey-accused-extraditing-uighur-muslims-china-exchange-covid-19-vaccines

    “Turkey has been accused of agreeing to hand over Uighur Muslims to China in exchange for access to its COVID-19 vaccines.

    The allegations stem from the timing of two events in December: the long-delayed arrival of Turkey’s order of vaccines from the Chinese firm Sinovac and Beijing’s abrupt move to ratify a 2017 extradition deal with Ankara, The Business Insider reported.

    Turkey had planned to start vaccinating people with the Sinovac shot on December 11, according to Al-Monitor. But the first shipment did not arrive until December 30.

    The vaccine delay prompted opposition politicians in Turkey to raise concerns that China pressured the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to ratify the extradition deal if it wanted to access the vaccines.

    China announced that it had ratified the extradition treaty on December 27. The deal means that Turkey must extradite anyone with criminal charges to China if asked, and vice versa.

    Turkey has not ratified the deal, though the country’s parliament is expected to discuss it when it reconvenes on January 26, The Nikkei reported.

    ‘Is the Chinese vaccine being held for the return of Uighur Turks?’

    The Chinese ratification of the extradition treaty has prompted concern that Turkey would expel its Uighur population to China, where they face intense surveillance and mass detention.

    In recent years, China has charged Uighurs with arbitrary crimes, such as growing a beard and receiving calls from other countries. Members of the Uighur diaspora previously told Insider they were too afraid to contact their relatives in Xinjiang for fear of Chinese retribution against their family.

    Over the last few years, thousands of Uighurs have fled China for Turkey, whose language and culture are similar to those of the Uighur community. According to The Guardian and Voice of America, Turkey is home to some 50,000 Uighurs, the largest Uighur diasporic group in the world.

    At the time of China’s ratification, Dilxat Raxit, a spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress, told AFP: “This extradition treaty will cause worry among Uighurs who have fled China and do not yet have Turkish citizenship.”

    Many Uighurs who had fled China to Turkey do not have Turkish citizenship, meaning Ankara cannot protect them.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu responded to the claims by saying that China had asked for Turkey to extradite Uighur Muslims to China, but that Turkey had declined.

    “China had such demands but we have not taken such steps,” Çavu?o?lu said, according to The Nikkei.

    Çavu?o?lu also denied that the government had agreed to ratify the 2017 agreement in exchange for vaccines.

    Turkey’s changing position on Uighurs

    Since 2016, China has arbitrarily detained at least 1 million Uighurs in scores of camps across Xinjiang, claiming they are a terror threat.

    Despite Turkey’s place as a safe haven for Uighurs, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appeared to cozy up to China in recent years, putting those Uighurs’ fate in flux.

    Between 2009 and 2015, Erdogan had openly welcomed Uighurs to his country, but much has changed since.

    For example, in July 2019, Turkey did not sign a UN Human Rights Council letter that slammed China’s “mass arbitrary detentions and related violations” of Uighurs.

    The same month, Erdogan told President Xi Jinping that Uighurs in Xinjiang were “happy,” according to Chinese state media. Ankara later said that Erdogan had been misunderstood, a claim China denied.

    Ahmet Davutoglu, a former ally of Erdogan and opposition leader, said in December 2019 that there was “a special, unquestioning favoritism toward China in recent times,” Al Monitor reported.

    And in early 2020, Erdogan’s party blocked a move by its opposition to set up a parliamentary committee to investigate human-rights abuses in Xinjiang. However, some Uighurs believe that opposition to Turkey’s extradition deal will be enough to derail the ratification.

    “The Chinese Communist Party will take all the actions it can to force the Turkish government but we don’t think [the treaty] will pass. The Turkish people and NGOs will stand up against it,” Kamer Arti?, a Uighur activist living in Turkey, told The Guardian.”

  8. Egypt seizes assets of Morsi, 88 Muslim Brotherhood members
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-seizes-assets-morsi-88-muslim-brotherhood-members

    “An Egyptian court on Sunday ordered the seizure of assets of former president Mohamed Morsi and 88 other members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, a judicial source said.

    “The Court for Urgent Matters… ordered the seizure of the assets of 89 leaders and members of the Brotherhood, and their transfer to the treasury,” the source told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

    Morsi died in June 2019 while on trial, after six years in prison. The seizure applies to assets inherited by his family.

    The move also targets the Brotherhood’s supreme guide Mohamed Badie, his deputy Khairat al-Shater, and former legislator Mohamed Beltagy, all imprisoned.

    The source did not specify the value of the assets.

    The seizure is one of several initiated by a commission charged with implementing a 2018 law on the “organisation and management of the assets of terrorists and terrorist groups”.

    Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was ousted by the army after a year in power, on the back of mass protests against his presidency in 2013.

    President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a retired general who led the military at the time of Morsi’s removal, has since overseen a crackdown on dissent.

    Egypt has jailed thousands of members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood – blacklisted as a “terrorist” organisation in 2013 – and executed dozens, while others have fled the country.”

  9. Iraq grants $20bn projects to Chinese companies
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210117-iraq-grants-20bn-projects-to-chinese-companies/

    “Iraq has given construction projects worth $20 billion in the southern province of al-Muthanna to a consortium of Chinese companies, an Iraqi official said on Sunday, Anadolu Agency reports.

    “The projects include the construction of a power station and a factory for floors and porcelain with a production capacity of 32,000 m2 per day, and a factory for ceramic walls and façades with a capacity of 36,000 m2 per day,” Adel Al-Yasiri, the head of the al-Muthanna Investment Authority, said in a statement.

    He added that an initial approval has been granted to establish the projects.

    “The first phase of the projects amounts to $2 billion where two sites have been prepared near the Samawah refinery for the companies to complete the remaining procedures,” he said.

    Other projects include the construction of a sanitary ware factory with a capacity of 360 m3 per day, a ceramic factory for accessories with a capacity of 108,000 m2 per month, and a factory for papers and 125 million cardboards per month.”

  10. France Cracks Down on ‘Islamist Separatism,’ Shuts Down 9 Mosques
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/01/332223/france-cracks-down-on-islamist-separatism-shuts-down-9-mosques/

    “French authorities have shut down 9 mosques since the month of December. “Among the 18 places of worship that were particularly monitored at my request, 9 were closed down,” the French minister of interior Gerard Darmanin tweeted on January 15. “The crackdown on Muslim places of worship is in line with the state’s “determined action against Islamist separatism.”

    Since December 2020, the French government has launched a massive and unprecedented surveillance operation targeting Muslim mosques, schools, and civil society organizations. The security measures intended to fight what Darmanin calls “religious extremism.”

    Darmin announced on December 2 that 76 mosques were under investigation for being a threat to national security and for suspicions of “Islamist separatism.”

    France has also clamped down on a number of Muslim civil society organizations. Darmanin’s campaign intends to close a number of associations that he deems to be “enemies of the republic.”

    In November of last year, the French minister of interior dissolved Barakacity, a Muslim humanitarian association that provided social aid in France and around the world. Shortly after, Darmanin continued his crackdown by closing down the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF).

    Founded in 2003, CCIF is a renowned organization that was active in providing legal aid to victims of islamophobia and systemic racism. The organization was a consultative member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Darmanin accused the collective of “spreading Islamic propaganda” and being complicit in “radicalism.”

    The French government’s repressive measures have raised alarming concerns on Islamophobia in France. “Shutting down an organization that raises legitimate concerns about anti-Muslim prejudice is blaming the messenger rather than addressing existing discrimination,” said Kartik Raj, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.

    For Raj, the French government’s heavy-handed security operations risk further stigmatizing France’s Muslim communities. Nils Muižnieks, Europe Director at Amnesty International said the dissolution sends a worrying signal to anti-racist and anti-discriminatory organizations and risks citizens freedoms.

    French journalist and activist Siham Assebague tweeted the dissolution of the CCIF and Barakacity showed it is “the political expression of Muslims that they want to muzzle, their criticism of the French state, and their autonomous organization.””