Reader’s Links January 26, 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

84 Replies to “Reader’s Links January 26, 2021”

  1. Indian Muslim comic in jail for weeks for jokes he did not tell
    Munawar Faruqui held for 25 days in a Madhya Pradesh jail despite police admitting he was charged for jokes he was ‘going to’ crack.
    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/26/indian-muslim-comic-in-jail-for-weeks-for-jokes-he-didnt-tell
    An Indian Muslim stand-up comic has spent 25 days in a Madhya Pradesh jail for jokes he did not tell an audience, but on suspicions he was “going to”.
    Mumbai-based Munawar Faruqui, 28, is facing legal action in two states. In Madhya Pradesh, he was arrested while performing by Indore police for allegedly insulting Hindu deities during rehearsals. In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, he is sought by the police in another case of allegedly insulting Hindu deities as well as Home Minister Amit Shah.
    On Monday, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court reserved its order on Faruqui’s bail application. The court was hearing the comedian’s bail application after two pleas were rejected by a lower court earlier this month.
    Both states are governed by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of which Shah is a member and which also controls the federal government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
    On the night of January 1, Faruqui was heckled by Hindu vigilantes and forced to stop his performance at Indore’s Monroe cafe after members of a little-known Hindu group, called Hind Rakshak Sangathan, alleged he had insulted Hindu gods.
    Faruqui along with four others – Nalin Yadav, Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas and Edwin Anthony – were roughed up and handed over to the police.
    Sadakat Khan, a friend of Faruqui who was not mentioned as one of the accused, was arrested the next day on charges of being a co-organiser of the comedy event.
    After their bail applications were rejected twice by a lower court, Faruqui’s lawyer moved to the high court, where the hearing listed for January 15 had to be adjourned because the Indore police failed to submit the case diary.
    The police were dragging their feet, Anshuman Srivastava, Faruqui’s lawyer, told Al Jazeera.
    Indore police initially claimed that “objectionable comments” were made against Hindu deities at the comedy event. The city’s Superintendent of Police Vijay Khatri issued a statement, claiming they had “enough evidence” against Faruqui and others arrested.
    Last week, however, Khatri told Article 14, an Indian news website, that Faruqui had not made the jokes in a performance but was “going to”.
    Indore police have not responded to Al Jazeera’s phone calls and emails seeking their response to allegations that Faruqui was arrested for a crime he “intended to commit”.
    Faruqui’s lawyer Srivastava told Al Jazeera that the police have failed to produce any evidence in court that shows the comedian violated laws by “deliberately intending to outrage religious feelings”.
    “A hypothetical allegation has been levelled by the complainant and merely on the basis of presumption the police has registered an offence,” said Srivastava, accusing the police of registering the complaint because of “political pressure”.
    The complainant, Eklavya Singh Gaur, is the son of a BJP legislator and former minister in the Madhya Pradesh government. Gaur is also the convenor of the Hindu vigilante group that heckled and interrupted the event.
    [..]

  2. This bill if passed would all but guarantee Dems a win in all future elections – Liberty Unyielding
    Howard Portnoy
    3-4 minutes

    This bill if passed would all but guarantee Dems a win in all future elections

    As things currently stand in Congress, Democrats are going to have an exceedingly hard time making many of the items on their wish list — such as ending the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court — a reality. The margins are simply too small for that, and if this Congress and president follow the precedent set by the last two administrations, the Senate and House will both likely flip to Republican control in 2022.

    But one piece of legislation that was recently revived in the House could prove to be a game-changer. The bill, H.R. 1, aka, the “For the People Act,” passed the House once before, in 2018, but died in the Senate. The 2021 version, introduced by Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes, pledges “to expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes.”

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/01/26/this-bill-if-passed-would-all-but-guarantee-dems-a-win-in-all-future-elections/

  3. Biden Puts Anti-Israel BDS Activist in Charge of NSC Intel – Frontpagemag
    Daniel Greenfield
    8-10 minutes

    From calling for the destruction of Israel to the National Security Council.

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

    “Why Is Georgetown Providing a Platform for This Dangerous Group?” an op-ed in the Washington Post had asked.

    The group was the Palestine Solidarity Movement, a BDS anti-Israel hate group whose conferences had a history of antisemitism, supporting Hamas and the murder of Jews.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/01/biden-puts-anti-israel-bds-activist-charge-nsc-daniel-greenfield/

  4. Fourteenth Amendment Follies – Frontpagemag
    Matthew Vadum
    10-13 minutes

    Desperate Democrats want to get medieval on Trump.

    Democrats are so scared one of their all-time favorite boogeymen, former President Donald Trump, will run and humiliate them again they are considering banishing him from electoral politics forever through an obscure constitutional provision created in the aftermath of the Civil War to deal with Confederate leaders and soldiers.

    Disqualifying opposing candidates, in case you forgot, is part of the old Barack Obama playbook from his Illinois Senate days, and, call me crazy, but Donald Trump is no Jefferson Davis.

    Because leftist depravity is bottomless, it should come as no surprise that Democrats are fine with going full-on banana republic to “save” the country from the potential reemergence of a truly great, legitimate president who, unlike the phony who has (temporarily) succeeded him, loves America, and who spent his four years in office expertly outfoxing Democrats to the benefit of the American people.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/01/fourteenth-amendment-follies-matthew-vadum/

  5. Tulsi Gabbard labels Adam Schiff, John Brennan as ‘domestic enemies’ of the US
    Chris Pandolfo
    4 minutes

    Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard issued a dire warning to the American people on Tuesday, expressing concern that “domestic enemies” of the United States, in the national security community and Big Tech industry, are plotting to create a “police state” in America.

    Gabbard, who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District from 2013 to 2021, posted a video to social media in which she spoke out against efforts to expand the federal government’s national security powers after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. In the video, she called out former CIA Director John Brennan and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), two leading proponents of expanding national security powers, labeling them “domestic enemies” of the country.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/tulsi-gabbard-adam-schiff-john-brennan-domestic-enemies?utm_source=theblaze-breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210126Trending-Tulsi&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Breaking%20News

  6. Antifa death threats convince conservative journalist Andy Ngo to flee the United States
    Dave Urbanski
    3-4 minutes

    Conservative journalist Andy Ngo has fled the United States amid a constant barrage of Antifa death threats.
    What are the details?

    In an interview with Sky News about his upcoming new book, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy,” Ngo explained to his hosts that “for an number of months now there’s just been increasing threats of violence against me, promises by Antifa extremists to kill me.”

    Ngo — who’s now in London — noted that “all those threats were reported to authorities, and even when I provided names of some of the suspects, nothing was done. So, it’s pained me a lot to temporarily [have] to leave the country and home that settled my parents, who came there as political refugees.”

    Andy Ngo: Antifa has forced me to flee my home youtu.be

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/antifa-death-threats-andy-ngo-flee-united-states?utm_source=theblaze-breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210126Trending-Tulsi&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Breaking%20News

  7. (Richard: 5 Republican Senators just threw away their political careers.)

    45 Republican Senators Vote Against Trump Impeachment Trial, Say It’s Unconstitutional
    The 55–45 decision suggests that Trump will not be convicted in an impeachment trial
    By Jack Phillips
    January 26, 2021 Updated: January 26, 2021
    biggersmaller Print

    Forty-five Republican senators voted against holding an impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump over his remarks at the U.S. Capitol, saying it would be unconstitutional to impeach a former president.

    All but five GOP senators sided with an effort proposed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), sending a signal that there are not enough votes to convict Trump. Convicting a president during a Senate impeachment trial requires a two-thirds majority.

    Republican Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Pat Toomey (Pa.) voted with Democrats to reject Paul’s order, suggesting the five senators will vote to convict Trump. Romney was the only Republican senator to vote to convict Trump during his first impeachment trial in early 2020.

    The Senate ultimately voted 55–45 to table Paul’s point of order, meaning that the impeachment trial will go forward. The House voted to impeach Trump earlier this month on the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection,” with Democrats claiming he incited violence at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. Trump called on the protesters not to engage in violent acts and later told them to “go home in peace.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/only-5-gop-senators-vote-saying-trump-impeachment-trial-is-constitutional_3672649.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-01-26-3

  8. Media trust hits new low
    Felix Salmon
    Felix Salmon, author of Capital
    Photo illustration of a woman looking suspiciously out blinds made out of newspaper

    Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Star Tribune via Getty Images

    Trust in traditional media has declined to an all-time low, and many news professionals are determined to do something about it.

    Why it matters: Faith in society’s central institutions, especially in government and the media, is the glue that holds society together. That glue was visibly dissolving a decade ago, and has now, for many millions of Americans, disappeared entirely.

    By the numbers: For the first time ever, fewer than half of all Americans have trust in traditional media, according to data from Edelman’s annual trust barometer shared exclusively with Axios. Trust in social media has hit an all-time low of 27%.

    56% of Americans agree with the statement that “Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”
    58% think that “most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public.”
    When Edelman re-polled Americans after the election, the figures had deteriorated even further, with 57% of Democrats trusting the media and only 18% of Republicans.

  9. 100 jihadists killed in joint French-Malian offensive in central Mali, says army
    https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210127-100-jihadists-killed-in-joint-french-malian-offensive-in-central-mali-says-army

    “A hundred jihadists were killed this month in a joint Franco-Malian offensive in the West African country’s lawless centre, the Malian army said Tuesday.

    “One hundred terrorists were neutralised, about 20 captured and several motorbikes and war equipment were seized” during the operation with France’s Barkhane force, which aims to eradicate jihadists in the Sahel region, the Malian army said on its website.

    Mali has been struggling with a jihadist insurgency that broke out in the north of the country in 2012 before spreading to the centre and then to Burkina Faso and Niger, often inflaming ethnic rivalries.

    France, Mali’s former colonial ruler, first intervened in the country in 2013 to help drive back jihadist forces advancing on Bamako.

    It now has 5,100 troops deployed across Africa’s arid Sahel region, as part of its Barkhane operation.

    Earlier this month the French military said it had killed 15 jihadists near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso, where an al-Qaeda-linked group is active.”

  10. Tajik IS cell member in Germany jailed for 7 years
    https://www.dw.com/en/tajik-is-cell-member-in-germany-jailed-for-7-years/a-56352673

    “A German court on Tuesday sentenced a man to seven years in prison over plans to to shoot dead a critic of Islam as part of an “Islamic State” (IS) terror cell.

    Summing up the four-month trial, a Düsseldorf court spokesman said the 31-year-old man living in Wuppertal had formed an IS cell with other Tajiks also living in Germany’s western Ruhr District.

    The accused, known as Ravsan B., had later handed a functioning semi-automatic pistol over to another cell member for use in a planned attack that was foiled through police investigations, said the spokesman. His full name was not published because of German privacy laws.

    The court also found that he with others — motivated by jihadi radicalism — had planned a contract murder in Albania in 2019 to earn funds for the IS movement.

    That attack, however, was not carried out because at the last moment doubts emerged about the identity of the intended victim, described last year by German federal prosecutors as an Albanian businessman.

    Four suspected members of the cell were arrested in April 2020.

    Wuppertal was where authorities intervened in 2014 when Salafists patrolled streets in orange vests emblazoned with the words “Sharia police.”

    IS cell member apologizes
    Prior to Tuesday’s sentencing, the accused apologized, saying he was “terribly sorry for everything.”

    Federal prosecutors had wanted him jailed for 8 1/2 years on the main charges of being a member of a terrorist organization and preparing a grave act of violence endangering the state.

    The court also found that Ravsan B. had participated in a transfer of money to Syria.

    His defense lawyers did not plead on the length of jailing, but had tried to cast doubt on several key points of the prosecutors’ submissions.

    The verdict is still subject to appeal, should prosecutors or the defense decide to take the case further to Germany’s top BGH criminal court in Karlsruhe.”

  11. France Dismantles Network Hiring Moroccan Seasonal Workers Irregularly
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/01/333322/france-dismantles-network-hiring-moroccan-seasonal-workers-irregularly/

    “French police dismantled on January 19 a network that illegally hired Moroccan seasonal workers in Tarn-et-Garonne, in southwestern France.

    France 3 reported that the “large network” used to employ Moroccans, dispatching them at farms throughout France illegally.

    The network included five French-Moroccan suspects, who will face charges for employing 250 people from Morocco.

    The network generated a turnover of €1.6 million during its two years of activity.

    Police seized €23,000 in cash, while €30,000 were in bank accounts.

    French authorities also seized vehicles.

    The suspects were supplying farms with workforce in the agricultural sector, without legally declaring the activities.

    The farmers work in fields to collect fruits. The suspects used to employ the farmers under different identities on several farms across France.

    “They smuggled dozens of people into France and used others who were already there but in an irregular situation,” the news outlet said.

    The network created several companies in different forms to attract attention.

    The arrests followed several months of investigation that was opened in June.

    France and Morocco work in different fields, including agriculture.

    Seasonal farmers frequently go to France under a work contract to participate in clementine harvest.

    In October 2020, Didier Ledshi , the director of France’s Immigration and integration Office (OFII), said that voer 900 Moroccan agricultural workers were due to participate in clementine harvest in France.

    Despite the COVID-19 crisis and the closure of borders, OFII said that it made negotiations with Moroccan authorities to allow Moroccan seasonal workers to participate in the harvest campaign.

    Farmers who partake in OFII’s program are granted three or four-month contracts.

    In addition to France, Spain also receives thousands of Moroccans seasonal workers.”

  12. Somalia: Army operation kills 7 al-Shabaab militants
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-army-operation-kills-7-al-shabaab-militants/2123602

    “Somali security forces on Tuesday killed seven al-Shabaab militants and wounded several others in the country’s southwestern Bay region, officials said.

    The forces targeted al-Shabaab positions in the town of Seydhelow and its surrounding areas and liberated the town, according to Amiin Mohamed Daruur, Bay region police commissioner.

    “The operation was carried out by our forces in Seydhelow where at least seven al-Shabaab terrorists were killed. The area is now under the control of the government forces,” Daruur told Somali National News Agency (SONNA).

    Ali Isack Hassan, a military official in Baidoa, the administrative capital of the Bay region, told Anadolu Agency by phone that no soldier was killed or wounded during the military operation.

    He said the operation against al-Shabaab will continue until the group is kicked out of the region.

    Seydhelow is a strategic town located 205 kilometers (127 miles) southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

    The Horn of Africa country is battling al-Shabaab militants who have intensified attacks on security forces.”

  13. First they decided to accuse someone of a crime without presenting evidence, but I was not a President, so I did not object …
    Thank you, Sen Paul for objecting.