Reader’s Links for January 19, 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

90 Replies to “Reader’s Links for January 19, 2021”

  1. CNN Pushes to Close Down Newsmax TV
    By Eric Mack |
    4-5 minutes

    CNN is making no mistake about it: It wants to censor and close Newsmax from broadcasting as a cable news channel.

    Apparently jolted by the fact Newsmax has skyrocketed to become the 4th highest-rated cable news channel in the country, the liberal CNN is decrying what it calls Newsmax’s “election denialism” and is seeking to have it “deplatformed” from cable and satellite systems across the nation.

    Oliver Darcy, CNN’s leftwing media critic, has been demanding cable operators drop Newsmax, which is currently carried by every major system in the nation. Newsmax is also streamed free by most OTT platforms and devices.

    https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/cnn-cancel-culture-big-tech-censorship/2021/01/17/id/1006021/

  2. Mike Huckabee says Kamala Harris also should be impeached given standard used against Trump

    ‘If we’re gonna play this game, everybody should have a turn’

    Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) says given the reasoning behind the House of Representatives’ second impeachment of President Donald Trump, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris should face the same punishment.

    POLL: Should the Right embrace Conservatism or Populism to win future elections?

    What are the details?

    “If we’re going to impeach Donald Trump for what he said, then we’d better impeach Kamala Harris for saying the things she did last summer about the rioters and the looters,” Huckabee told Fox Business over the weekend, pointing out that Harris even established “a monetary fund to get them out of jail on bail so they could get back to the riots.”

    “If we’re gonna play this game, everybody should have a turn,” he added.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/mike-huckabee-says-kamala-harris-should-also-be-impeached-given-standard-used-against-trump?utm_source=theblaze-dailyAM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__AM%202021-01-19&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20AM

  3. Schweizer: Mitch McConnell, Wife Elaine Chao Financially Tied to the Chinese Government
    Trent Baker
    2-3 minutes

    Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer on Sunday detailed how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his wife Elaine Chao are financially tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

    Schweizer said on Fox News Channel’s “The Next Revolution” that McConnell’s “position on China has softened over the years,” which he argued is due to the growing relationship between the Chinese government and the Chao’s company.

    Schweizer: Mitch McConnell, Wife Elaine Chao Financially Tied to the Chinese Government
    Trent Baker
    2-3 minutes

    Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer on Sunday detailed how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his wife Elaine Chao are financially tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

    Schweizer said on Fox News Channel’s “The Next Revolution” that McConnell’s “position on China has softened over the years,” which he argued is due to the growing relationship between the Chinese government and the Chao’s company.

  4. ‘I did nothing wrong’: Mom punched at DC rally is now out of a job, and fearful she can’t get one

    She went viral after her teenage daughter outed and shamed her on social media

    Trump supporter Therese Duke was left bruised and bleeding after being punched in the face at a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5. Since then, footage of the ordeal went viral — partially thanks to her own daughter outing her on social media — and now the Massachusetts mom is out of job.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/i-did-nothing-wrong-mom-punched-at-dc-rally-is-now-out-of-a-job-and-fearful-she-cant-get-one?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-01-19&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM

  5. Clinton, Pelosi float conspiracy theory that Trump and Putin worked together to plan the Capitol riot

    ‘All roads lead to Putin’

    Shiver

    Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi are floating an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that President Trump worked with Russian President Vladimir Putin to coordinate the riot at the U.S. Capitol and are calling for commission to unearth the facts.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/clinton-pelosi-capitol-conspiracy-putin?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-01-19&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM

  6. On day one, Biden plans to reinstate rule allowing transgender students to use bathroom, locker room of choice

    Trump revoked the guidance in 2017

    On day one of his presidency, President-elect Joe Biden plans to reinstate Obama-era Title IX regulations ensuring that transgender students are allowed to use the bathroom or locker room that aligns with their gender identity.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/biden-reinstate-transgender-bathroom-rule?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-01-19&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM

  7. In parting shot, Trump administration declares China’s repression of Uighurs ‘genocide’
    https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/in-parting-shot-trump-administration-declares-chinas-repression-of-uighurs-genocide

    “The Trump administration has determined that China has committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by repressing Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang region, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday (Jan 19), delivering an embarrassing blow to Beijing a day before US president-elect Joe Biden is set to take office.

    Pompeo said he made the move – which is certain to strain further already frayed ties between the world’s top economies – “after careful examination of the available facts,” accusing the Chinese Communist Party of crimes against humanity against the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities since at least March 2017.

    “I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state,” Pompeo said in a statement.

    China has been widely condemned for its Xinjiang complexes, which it describes as “vocational training centres” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills and which others have called concentration camps. It denies accusations of abuse…”

    • Trump has done all he can to force Biden to resist China and their aggression, I pray it will be enough but doubt that it will. Biden knows that he is just holding a place for Kamala and will do a lot that will make people mad. Once Biden resigns and Kamala she won’t change his policies but he will be the one taking the blame.

  8. US soldier arrested for attempting to help militant group Islamic State kill US troops
    https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/us-soldier-arrested-for-attempting-to-assist-isis

    “A US Army soldier was arrested on Tuesday (Jan 19) for allegedly trying to help Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters attack American troops and targets in New York, including the 9/11 Memorial.

    Cole James Bridges – who is 20 and from the state of Ohio – faces federal terrorism charges, United States prosecutors said in a statement.

    Bridges – a private based at Fort Stewart, Georgia – began researching extremist ideology and expressing support for the Islamic State on social media shortly after joining the army in September 2019, prosecutors say.

    In October 2020, they claim that he started communicating online with an undercover FBI agent posing as an IS supporter who claimed to be in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East.

    “During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the US military and his desire to aid ISIS,” said the statement issued by the Southern District of New York.

    “Bridges then provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City, such as the 9/11 Memorial.”

    He is accused of later providing information about how to attack US forces in the Middle East, including by providing “specific military maneuvers.”

    This month, Bridges sent the agent a video of himself in body armour standing in front of an ISIS flag, the prosecutors added.

    “Bridges betrayed our country and his unit when he plotted with someone he believed was an ISIS sympathizer to help ISIS attack and kill US soldiers in the Middle East,” said William Sweeney, an official at the FBI’s New York office.

    Bridges has been charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation and attempting to murder US military service members.

    The two counts carry up to 20 years in prison each.”

  9. Iran to Blacklist Trump
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2021/01/19/2435913/iran-to-blacklist-trump

    “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran plans to blacklist a couple of high-rankning American officials, including outgoing US President Donald Trump.

    Tasnim has learnt that the Iranian Foreign Ministry will release a list of high-ranking American officials on Tuesday who will be subject to the Iranian sanctions.

    In addition to Trump, some nine other top US officials would be reportedly blacklisted by Iran.

    In remarks earlier this month, Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raeisi reminded Trump that he cannot escape punishment for ordering the assassination of top Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani in a case of state-sponsored terrorism.

    The top judge said Trump will have to get his comeuppance whether or not he is the US president.”

  10. German Police Bust Gang Suspected of Smuggling Syrians
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2751906/german-police-bust-gang-suspected-smuggling-syrians

    “German police arrested 19 people believed to be Syrian, Lebanese, and Libyan on suspicion of smuggling migrants into Germany, mostly from Syria.

    Prosecutors in the southern state of Bavaria said the suspects, aged between 21 and 44, were a professional gang who brought migrants to Germany in vans using the so-called Balkan route from Turkey and Greece to Austria.

    The suspected smugglers, who face charges of human trafficking, had since at least April 2019 brought to Germany about 140 migrants in exchange for large sums of money, the prosecutors said.

    Germany is home to more than 800,000 Syrians who fled the civil war in their country. Their numbers peaked in 2015, when a record of one million people entered Germany seeking asylum.

    Thousands of Syrian live in refugee camps in Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon, where many dream of a new life in Europe, making those who have money easy prey for smugglers.

    Federal police discovered the gang in August 2019 when smugglers driving migrants in vans were arrested on a highway in the south on the border with Austria.

    Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and Belgium as well as Europol were involved in an investigation that led to the arrest of the gang’s chief in Austria in December. Germany is seeking his extradition.

    More than 400 police officers and investigators took part in Tuesday’s raids in the German states of Berlin, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia.”

  11. Saudi Arabia: Dozens of employees held in multi-million-riyal graft case
    https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/saudi-arabia-dozens-of-employees-held-in-multi-million-riyal-graft-case-1.76586270

    “A Saudi anti-graft watchdog has disclosed that dozens of government employees had been found involved in a big graft case, the latest unveiled in a crackdown in the country.

    The case implicates 24 civil servants at the Health Ministry, 15 others at the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection, and 14 at the Ministry of Municipal and Village Affairs, as well as two university teaching staff members and 16 employees at a medical waste-handling company, the Saudi Control and Anti-Corruption Commission said.

    The suspects had received bribes of millions of Saudi riyals, in addition to travel tickets, hotel reservations, cars and employment of first-degree relatives at the company in return for not applying legal rules and overlooking the firm’s irregularities, the commission added, according to the Saudi news agency SPA.

    Another case disclosed by the watchdog involved an ex-judge at an appeals court who had allegedly received a luxury car when he was at work in return for revoking three verdicts earlier passed against a defendant and releasing him. The ex-judge was also found to have paid in cash part of a building price without being able to prove the source of the money.

    In a third case, a bank employee had been arrested for taking a total of SR 129,800 from citizens in exchange for processing financing applications using illegal documents.

    The commission has recently investigated tens of suspected corruption cases and illegal transactions in different fields.

    In recent years, Saudi Arabia has stepped up a clampdown on white-collar corruption, nabbing dozens of state employees and entrepreneurs.”

  12. Turkey neutralizes 3 YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-neutralizes-3-ypg-pkk-terrorists-in-northern-syria/2115660

    “Turkish security forces neutralized three YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria, near the Turkish border, the National Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday.

    Commandos neutralized the militants as part of continuing efforts to prevent terrorist infiltration into the Operation Peace Spring area, the ministry said on Twitter.

    “Another attempt to infiltrate the Operation Peace Spring area was successfully prevented,” it said.

    Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

    Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and to enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

    In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.”

  13. ‘Oppose facial covering ban,’ Swiss gov’t urges voters
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/oppose-facial-covering-ban-swiss-govt-urges-voters/2115608

    “The Swiss electorate will vote March 7 on a popular initiative which supports “a ban on full facial coverings,” but the nation’s Federal Council and parliament said Tuesday they are recommending voters to reject the initiative.

    The Federal Council, a coalition Cabinet of the main parties in Switzerland, noted in a statement along with parliamentarians that very few people in the country wear full facial coverings.

    “A nationwide ban would undermine the sovereignty of the cantons, damage tourism, and be unhelpful for certain groups of women,” said the council in a statement on its website.

    Switzerland’s system of direct democracy allows for any proposal to change the constitution after facing a popular vote if supporters raise more than 100,000 signatures.

    It was shown in 2009 when voters in the Alpine nation supported a ban on the construction of new minarets.

    The Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) said it is launching a crowdfunding campaign to counter the proposed national niqab ban.

    The Federal Council and parliament said they favor an “indirect counter-proposal” which would require people to show their face to the authorities if required for identification purposes.

    The popular initiative to ban full facial coverings demands that no one in the country can cover up their face entirely.

    The rule would apply in all public places, including the streets and restaurants.

    Exceptions would only be permitted in places of worship and at other sacred sites for health and safety reasons, such as weather and local Swiss custom.

    There would be no further exceptions, for example, for tourists.

    The initiative was put forward by a group that includes members of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which opposes new immigration and supported the 2009 move to ban minarets, approved by almost 60% of voters.

    “The Federal Council considers the initiative to be unnecessary since there are very few women in Switzerland who cover their face completely.”

    The Islamic council said: “Whether, on a political, media or social level, Islamophobia as an expression of rejection, hostility or even hatred towards Muslims is on the rise in Europe.

    “This general attitude is increasingly reflected in systemic discrimination which manifests in certain legislation of Islamophobic character.”

    The ICCS noted that the Council of Europe had accused the Austrian government of fueling Islamophobic resentment with its rhetoric, and France’s crackdown on its Muslim citizens attracted international attention.

    “Although it was the constitutional minaret ban back in 2009 which shed light on the dissemination of anti-Muslim hostility in Switzerland, there are several right-wing parties that have beforehand attempted to pass general prohibitions of niqab/burqa in public spaces since 2006,” added the ICCS.”

  14. Muslim scholars condemn Greek archbishop’s remarks
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/muslim-scholars-condemn-greek-archbishops-remarks/2115647

    “A group of global Muslim scholars on Tuesday condemned recent Islamophobic remarks by the archbishop of Greece.

    The remarks “do not serve humanity,” said the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) in a statement, adding that they stem “from hidden grudges and a policy of double standards.”

    “The archbishop of Greece is in complete ignorance of Islam,” it said.

    With the Constitution of Medina in the year 622, Islam is the first religion that laid the foundations for Muslims and members of other faiths to live together, the group stressed.

    The group called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to do its part to defend the religion of Islam and urged Muslim countries to condemn such provocative statements.

    In a televised speech on Saturday, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and Greece said Islam is not a religion but a political party and its followers are people of war.”

  15. EU working on mechanism for vaccines in Balkans and Africa
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2021/01/19/eu-working-on-mechanism-for-vaccines-in-balkans-and-africa_b83750d7-d9f9-4601-b679-a422a499667b.html

    “The EU is working on a mechanism to share vaccines with neighbouring and low-income countries in the western Balkans and Africa, EU commissioner Stella Kyriakides said Tuesday during a plenary session at the European Parliament.

    “We are working with member states to propose a European mechanism to share vaccines beyond our borders,” she said, stressing that the mechanism would get vaccines to poorer countries “before COVAX is fully operational”, referring to the global scheme co-led by the World Health Organisation set up last summer to ensure a fair distribution of COVID-19 shots across the world.

    Kyriakides said the EU vaccine-sharing scheme should prioritise health workers and most vulnerable people in the Western Balkans, North Africa and poorer Sub-Saharan African countries.

    She added that the EU could play a geopolitical role in the fight against the virus.”

  16. Migrant situation on Canary Islands dire, says commissioner
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2021/01/19/migrant-situation-on-canary-islands-dire-says-commissioner_f559f52a-9c28-4d61-bdb6-17b3346021c9.html

    “European Commissioner Ylva Johansson said Tuesday that the situation as concerns migrants on the Canary Islands was very serious.

    She was speaking before the European Parliament during a debate on the humanitarian situation of migrants and refugees on the external borders of the EU.

    The commissioner added that last year there was a 1,000% increase in undocumented entrances and that this was the reason why the European Commission had provided further financing through its agencies and also through Frontex, which is present on the Canary Islands to support the Spanish authorities.

    She added that it is important to look closely at the issue of migrant routes and that through the Canary Islands is one of the most dangerous ones to Europe. She noted that the number of victims along the route is unknown and that ”we must work with our external partners to protect human lives” and work against traffickers.

    Johansson stressed that not all those that want to go to the EU have the right to remain there and that only those with the right to international protection and asylum would be allowed to.

    However, she stressed, ”we are speaking about human beings, we are speaking about people” and thus there is a duty to treat them as such.”

  17. Germany: 35% of all government positions in Berlin should go to migrants and those with ‘foreign roots’
    https://rmx.news/article/article/germany-35-of-all-government-positions-in-berlin-should-go-to-migrants-and-those-with-foreign-roots

    “The demand for introducing quotas for migrants in public service has sparked a dispute in the Berlin Senate, with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and its Governing Mayor Michael Müller calling the proposal by Integration Senator Elke Breitenbach of the Left Party (Die Linke) a “gross foul,” Tagesspiegel has reported.

    With the new proposal, Breitenbach appears to be trying to make a name for herself with big demands, Junge Freiheit reports.

    According to Breitenbach, in the future, Berlin should have quotas for people with foreign roots in the state administration as well as state companies, foundations, public prosecutor offices, and courts. The quota should correspond with the current 35-percent share of migrants in the population. Breitenbach says that the regulation is part of a new version of the Participation and Integration Act.

    “We claim that all people in this city have the same opportunities. We do not accept structural discrimination,” the left-wing politician justified the initiative, adding that Berlin’s diversity must be reflected in the administration.

    “Fixed rules and clear funding are necessary within quotas so that more people with a migration history are employed in the administration,” she said.

    A corresponding law should be passed before the state elections in autum, which would make Berlin the first federal state with such a regulation.

    Shortly after Breitenbach presented her proposal, the SPD domestic policy spokesman Frank Zimmermann criticized the integration senator. According to Zimmermann, it was “pretty bold” to announce that the coalition plans a 35-percent quota for migrants as SPD has not agreed to any such decision.

    According to Tagesspiegel, SPD also stated that the update of the Participation and Integration Act was “much further” down the line and that it was agreed that the final version would not contain quotas, but only a “target”.

    The Greens (Die Grünen), on the other hand, praised the leftist idea, with the party’s top candidate for the state election, Bettina Jarasch, calling the approach regarding job interviews correct.

    “Anyone who rejects soft targets like the ones in this draft needs to modernize their image of society as it is not up to date,” she said.

    However, AfD, CDU, and FDP criticized the planned quota, describing it as unconstitutional. The labor law expert and constitutional lawyer Arnd Diringer emphasized that according to Article 33, paragraph 2 of the German Constitution, such a quota would be “grossly unconstitutional.” The article clearly reads that “based on the aptitude, ability and professional performance, every German has equal access to every public office.””

  18. I thought a seminal poem from a heralded leftist wordsmith to be the most appropriate example of the appropriation of language by the left.