Reader’s Links on February 10th, 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

98 Replies to “Reader’s Links on February 10th, 2021”

  1. Republicans Just Introduced The “OMAR Act” – It Would Stop Federal Officials From Shelling Out Money To Spouses
    Ben Dutka
    3-4 minutes

    Republicans Just Introduced The “OMAR Act” – It Would Stop Federal Officials From Shelling Out Money To Spouses

    Usually, if something is named after you, it’s quite the honor. But it’s unlikely Rep. Ilhan Omar will appreciate her latest “honor.”

    House Republicans just introduced new legislation and though Omar isn’t specifically mentioned, it’s obvious she inspired the bill.

    It’s called the “OMAR Act.”

    For months, right-wing politicians and lawmakers have been concerned about Omar allegedly funneling money to her husband’s business.

    https://thepatriotjournal.com/republicans-omar-act-officials-spouses/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pjnewsletter

  2. Former White House interpreter says Biden administration canceled, humiliated her after she was outed as a Trump supporter
    Sarah Taylor
    7-8 minutes

    Heather Mewshaw, a former White House sign language interpreter who served in both the Trump and Biden administrations, says the Biden administration humiliated and canceled her after reports emerged that she is a Trump supporter who formerly translated speeches for conservative social media groups.
    What are the details?

    Mewshaw, a 41-year-old married mom of four from Glen Burnie, Maryland, says she hasn’t been offered a return engagement at the White House after Time published an “exposé” on her personal politics titled “Joe Biden’s Sign Language Interpreter Has Ties to Far Right,” according to a Monday report from the New York Post.

    Mewshaw said that she has been the subject of harassment and threats following the release of the Time report, prompting her to fear for her own and her family’s safety.

    The Post reported that the harassment is because she provided “American Sign Language translation for the Hands of Liberty Facebook group and its defunct predecessor, Right Side ASL.”

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/former-white-house-interpreter-canceled?utm_source=theblaze-dailyAM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__AM%202021-02-10&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20AM

  3. Rep. Bob Wittman on Lloyd Austin: ‘What Is the Definition of Extremism?’
    4-5 minutes

    Last week, Austin issued a military-wide order for commanders to spend the next 60 days discussing “extremism” with military personnel.

    “I’m very concerned about Lloyd Austin,” Pollak stated on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday. “He got a waiver from Congress just like James Mattis did. … Lloyd Austin said some really astonishing things in his confirmation hearing. He talked about enemies within the military, and now we’re going pause military operations over the next 60 days to make sure that there are no extremists, and by this, they mean extremists on the right within the military.”

    Pollak continued, “The military is the most diverse institution in America, so I don’t know why they think they’re going find a bunch of white supremacists in the military. I think it’s kind of a Democratic prejudice against the armed forces and law enforcement in general.”

    “I’m very concerned about Lloyd Austin,” Pollak added, “I don’t think he’s doing a good job. I think he’s doing a terrible job. I wish I shared your confidence, but to come in and say your first act is going to be this political purge of the military — I understand getting rid of people like Major [Nidal] Hassan, Islamic extremists, and if you’ve got information on white supremacists in the military, get them out — but we’re going to pause our military readiness of our entire force to ferret out people who might have had some reservations about the November 3rd election? I think this is crazy.”

    https://libertysword.com/rep-bob-wittman-on-lloyd-austin-what-is-the-definition-of-extremism

  4. Senator Marco Rubio Introduces Bill To Suspend Gun Rights of Anyone Who Has Been “Investigated” For Domestic Terrorism
    4-5 minutes

    According to National Justice

    Republican lawmaker Marco Rubio has reintroduced legislation that seeks to suspend the Second Amendment rights of any person who has been investigated for “terrorism” related offenses within 10 years of attempting a gun purchase.

    The Senate bill, named the Terror Intelligence Improvement Act, was reentered last week in hopes of exploiting the hysteria surrounding the January 6th Capitol protests. The law intends to violate the civil liberties of American citizens who are not charged or convicted of a crime if somebody is deemed politically dangerous.

    If passed, the law will grant the FBI and DNI the authority to draw up lists of US citizens arbitrarily labeled “domestic terrorists” and flag them during background checks. Those placed on the new watch list could be registered based solely on suspicion, even if an investigation fails to find evidence of criminal or “terrorist” wrongdoing. Federal courts that have examined the FBI’s various “terrorist watch lists” uncovered that the Bureau regularly places law-abiding citizens on them because they don’t like who they are or their political views.

    https://www.tacticalshit.com/senator-marco-rubio-introduces-bill-to-suspend-gun-rights-of-anyone-who-has-been-investigated-for-domestic-terrorism/?utm_source=TSM-News&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:18149893&utm_campaign=TS%202/10%20%23GunGrab

  5. Former CIA Officer Says He Left Democratic Party Because of Impeachment
    By Jack Phillips
    February 10, 2021 Updated: February 10, 2021
    biggersmaller Print

    A former CIA officer wrote that he left the Democratic Party due to the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump, saying that it only serves to exacerbate the political divide.

    “For years, Democrats like me have watched with increasing alarm as our own political leaders and activists … have used an endless stream of hateful, violent and ultimately un-American rhetoric that has resulted in billions of dollars in economic damage and given birth to a violent national movement,” wrote Bryan Dean Wright, the former intelligence officer, for the Daily Caller.

    Wright said the “modern Left” is infused with “systemic hatred” that has “inflamed profound political divisions and the predictable outcomes that come with them, most especially violence and destruction.”

    “The most egregious example came in the summer of 2020, with Leftist race riots that cost upwards of $2 billion in damages,” he said, adding that Democratic leaders didn’t offer condemnations when “fires raged,” property was vandalized, and lives were destroyed.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/former-cia-officer-says-he-left-democratic-party-because-of-impeachment_3692718.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-02-10-3

  6. White House: No New ‘Proactive Step’ on TikTok Deal Under Biden
    By Reuters
    February 10, 2021 Updated: February 10, 2021
    biggersmaller Print

    WASHINGTON—The White House said on Wednesday it has an ongoing review of the risks TikTok may present to U.S. data but stressed it has taken no new “proactive step” related to a pending plan for the Chinese-owned company’s American operations to be acquired by U.S. investors.

    The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Wednesday that the U.S. plan had been shelved indefinitely.

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters “it is not accurate to suggest that there is a new proactive step by the Biden White House” related to TikTok, a popular social media video service.

    Psaki added “there is a rigorous CFIUS process that is ongoing” referring to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals by foreign acquirers for potential national security risks. She offered no timetable for its completion.

    She said there is a comprehensive ongoing administration review of the “risks to U.S. data … including from TikTok, and will address them in a decisive and effective fashion.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/white-house-no-new-proactive-step-on-tiktok-deal-under-biden_3692587.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-02-10-3

  7. China Is Creating a New Master Race
    Gordon G. Chang
    7-8 minutes

    China’s regime does not have ethics or decency, is not bound by law, and does not have a sense of restraint. However, with its rapid weaponization of biotechnology, it does have the technology to start a whole new species of genetically enhanced, goose-stepping humans. Pictured: Soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army march on October 1, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

    Bing Su, a Chinese geneticist at the state-run Kunming Institute of Zoology, recently inserted the human MCPH1 gene, which develops the brain, into a monkey. The insertion could make that animal’s intelligence more human than that of lower primates. Su’s next experiment is inserting into monkeys the SRGAP2C gene, related to human intelligence, and the FOXP2 gene, connected to language skills.

    Has nobody in China seen Planet of the Apes?

    Or maybe they have. “Biotechnology development in China is heading in a truly macabre direction,” writes Brandon Weichert of The Weichert Report in an article posted on the American Greatness website.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17048/china-gene-editing

  8. “Victor Davis Hanson Discusses Impeachment and Leftist Goals During Biden Administration” by Sundance – February 10, 2021

    Excerpt:

    In this episode of American Thought Leaders, Jan Jekielek sat down with classicist and historian Victor Davis Hanson to discuss the rise of critical social justice and woke ideology, growing limits on freedom of speech, and his take on the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

    “It’s like a public-shaming like the Communist Party used to make people wear dunce caps,” Hanson says.
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2021/02/10/victor-davis-hanson-discusses-impeachment-and-leftist-goals-during-biden-administration/

    Victor Davis Hanson on Impeachment and the ‘Cancer’ of Woke Ideology | American Thought Leaders – February 9, 2021

  9. Iran Produces Uranium Metal, IAEA Says, in Latest Breach of Deal
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2797551/iran-produces-uranium-metal-iaea-says-latest-breach-deal

    “Iran has carried out its plan to produce uranium metal, the UN atomic watchdog confirmed on Wednesday, despite Western powers having warned Iran that would breach their 2015 nuclear deal as uranium metal can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.

    Iran began breaching its nuclear deal with major powers step by step in 2019 in response to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal the previous year and Washington’s reimposition of sanctions on Tehran.

    Iran has in recent months accelerated those breaches of the deal’s restrictions on its atomic activities, potentially complicating efforts to bring the United States back into the deal under President Joe Biden.

    A law passed in response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist in November, which Tehran blames on its foe Israel, called for steps including opening a uranium metal plant. Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency in December it planned to produce uranium metal fuel for a research reactor.

    “Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi today informed IAEA Member States about recent developments regarding Iran’s R&D activities on uranium metal production as part of its stated aim to produce fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor,” the IAEA said in a statement.

    Wednesday’s report, seen by Reuters, and a previous one said that Iran planned to carry out research on uranium metal using natural uranium before moving on to uranium metal enriched to 20%, the level it is enriching uranium to now, short of the 90% that is weapons grade.

    “The Agency on 8 February verified 3.6 gram of uranium metal at Iran’s Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant (FPFP) in Esfahan,” the IAEA statement added.

    France, Britain and Germany, all parties to the deal, last month said they were “deeply concerned” and that Iran’s uranium metal production had no civilian credibility but potentially serious military implications.

    The 2015 deal’s central aim was to extend the time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb to at least a year from roughly 2-3 months. Iran, however, denies ever pursuing nuclear weapons and says it only wants to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

    US intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons program that it halted in 2003.”

  10. Ten years on: Bahrain ‘crushed’ all dreams of reform, Amnesty says
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/2/11/ten-years-on-bahrain-crushed-all-dreams-of-reform

    “Systemic injustice and political repression has intensified in Bahrain ten years after the country’s popular uprising was crushed by authorities, Amnesty said.

    Dissidents, human rights defenders, clerics and independent civil society have been effectively shut down since 2011 when mass protests called for reform, democracy and the fall of the monarchy, the leading rights organisation said in a new report.

    Even Al-Wefaq, the largest legal opposition party in the country at the time, was dismantled and outlawed, with its founder Ali Salman and leading members thrown behind bars.

    The second major opposition party, the non-sectarian Wa’ad, was also banned, and its former head Ebrahim Sharif served five years in prison for his role in supporting the protests in 2011.

    “Since 2011, the only structural changes Bahrain has seen have been for the worse, as opposition parties have been outlawed, the only independent news outlet has been shut down, and new laws have further closed the space for political participation,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

    “The protest leaders of 2011 continue to languish in grim prison conditions, and human rights including the right to freedom of expression are routinely trampled on,” Maalouf added.

    A decade ago, mass demonstrations erupted in the tiny Gulf kingdom over mounting discontent, institutional sectarianism and state authoritarianism.

    After launching a brutal and deadly crackdown on peaceful protests, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa commissioned an independent panel to address international concern over the suppression of protests.

    However, ten years later, the kingdom has yet to act on recommendations by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry [BICI].

    Among the recommendations from the November 2011 BICI report was a prompt investigation of all allegations of maltreatment by independent forensic experts, with the burden of proof on the state to show its compliance with law; removal of the national security intelligence agency from the process of domestic law enforcement; relaxation of censorship; and allowing the political opposition access to the state-controlled media.

    “Yet ten years later, none of these recommendations have been implemented by the Bahraini authorities, in violation of their obligations under international human rights law,” Amnesty’s report noted.

    The popular uprising, which centred around the iconic Pearl Roundabout in Manama’s financial district, saw hundreds of thousands of protesters set up camp for several weeks in a bid to call for change.

    The 14 February movement was inspired by similar uprisings that swept across most of the region in 2011. But while calls for change in other nations, including Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, seemed to make progress at the time, the movement in Bahrain remained somewhat stagnant.

    Bahraini authorities swiftly responded with a brutal crackdown and called in a Saudi-led intervention force from the neighbouring Gulf states to help squash ambitions by pro-democracy protesters.

    According to the BICI report, at least 19 individuals were killed by the authorities, eight of them due to excessive use of force by security forces, and five others due to torture. However, some opposition figures point to a much higher death toll.

    “The Bahraini state has crushed the hopes and expectations raised by the mass protests of 10 years ago, reacting with a brutal crackdown over the subsequent decade that has been facilitated by the shameful silence of Bahrain’s Western allies, especially the UK and the US.”

    Meanwhile, thousands of protest leaders and opposition figures were detained, some of which are still locked up in Bahraini prisons today.

    Even the the iconic Pearl Roundabout, which came to be a unifying symbol of the hopes of national renewal in February 2011, was bulldozed and paved over following the quashing of the uprising.

    “The fate of Pearl Roundabout symbolises the Bahraini government’s attempt to suppress and erase even the memory of the protests. What was once a site of peaceful assembly, hope and progress is now just concrete and asphalt,” said Maalouf.

    “We urge the authorities to reverse the terrible course of the past 10 years by adopting the full and effective implementation of all the recommendations in the BICI report, and for the immediate and unconditional release of those imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their human rights, and for all the charges against them to be immediately dropped.””

  11. Islamabad turns into ‘war zone’ as govt employees clash with police
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2283385/islamabad-turns-into-war-zone-as-govt-employees-clash-with-police

    “The federal capital turned into a war zone on Wednesday as the government employees, protesting for a pay rise, clashed with police while attempting to enter the restricted Red Zone.

    According to Express News, Islamabad Police blocked the Srinagar Highway — one of the main arteries of the city — with containers in order to limit the movement of the protestors. However, the move caused a massive traffic jam as many were trying to get back to home from work.

    A heavy contingent of police tear-gassed hundreds of government employees as they attempted to approach the Parliament House to stage a sit-in. Dozens of protestors, along with their leaders, were also arrested.

    The protesters could also be seen pelting the police officials with stones in return.

    Following the ruckus, a group of protesting employees apparently belonging to the Cabinet Division intercepted the Minister of Information Senator Shibli Faraz’s vehicle as it was entering the office of the Ministry of Information, and demanded the immediate release of all the arrested leaders.

    Earlier, employees of the Federal Directorate of Education had reportedly blocked the main Srinagar Highway, resulting in gridlock on both the tracks of the highway as well as affecting the traffic in the rest of the city.

    The strike brought government affairs in ministries, departments, and divisions to a standstill.

    During a media briefing earlier today, a three-member government committee headed by Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak said that the matter will be sorted out amicably and with mutual understanding.

    Khattak stated that the committee was holding talks with the employees and had agreed on a number of steps including increasing their salaries.

    He said the government was prepared to extend relief to the employees in the form of a special allowance till the next budget is presented, explaining that the recommendations of the pay and pension commission would be incorporated in the next budget.

    The minister stated that the employees had earlier settled for an increase in salaries of employees of grades 1 to 16. However, yesterday, the employees demanded an increase in salaries for all grades, he added.

    Background

    The government approved a 24% increase in salaries for grades 1 to 16, in principle. However federal employees are demanding a 40% rise in salaries, and demanding an increase in the salaries of provincial employees as well.

    Employees belonging to many government ministries including the Secretariat, Cabinet Division and Kohsar Complex have all refused to go to the office, resulting in the closure of government offices.

    Maryam condemns police violence

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, while referring to the incumbent ruler, said that the one who staged a 126-day sit-in in Islamabad couldn’t stand the legitimate protest of government employees.

    “Fake rulers should inflict as much harm as they can themselves withstand,” Maryam said, adding that resorting to violence and firing tear gas shells on protesting employees are the incumbent regime’s cruel tactics.

    “The sacrifices being rendered by the employees actually signal an end to the oppressive, anti-public, vote-thief and commission-fed government,” she remarked.

    Maryam noted that thrashing employees who are only putting forth their rightful demand, including that of a pay raise, is a sign of cruel leaders.

    “The whole nation has now seen the fascist and dictatorial face of the claimant of Western democracy,” the PML-N leader lamented.

    She said the government was suppressing the masses who have been under the debt of inflation for the past three years. “It is the first government that, despite causing inflation to rise fourfold, did not raise salaries of government employees by even a single rupee,” she maintained.

    Maryam vowed to raise her voice for the employees and highlight the ill-treatment meted out to them at the parliament and all other forums. She demanded the government to immediately release all the arrested employees.”

  12. France: Muslim groups pressured to sign bill
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/france-muslim-groups-pressured-to-sign-bill/2140707

    “Turkish-Muslim groups in France are under pressure for refusing to sign the “charter of principles” of Islam pushed by President Emmanuel Macron, several representatives said Wednesday.

    Chairman of the Confederation Islamique Milli Gorus France (CIMG), Fatih Sarikir, told Anadolu Agency that the group is determined not to sign the bill unless certain changes are made.

    Sarikir said that his group expected the government to include the heads of all mosques and associations in the process.

    He said despite their suggestions and criticisms about the bill, its name was changed to the “charter of principles for Islam of France.”

    “It is declared as ‘Islam of France’ so the content is arranged accordingly. Now the target is not only the imams but also the Muslims,” he said. “We will maintain our constructive behavior. We don’t have any problem with the laws of France. Our only concern is that Muslims can practice their religion.”

    Sarikir added that the group faces “psychological pressure” for not signing the bill.

    The head of the Coordination Committee of Turkish Muslims in France (CCMTF), Ibrahim Alci, also said the group is under pressure from all sides.

    Alci acknowledged that the establishment of a national imam council that will appoint imams in France according to religious knowledge, teaching skills and human qualities is an important step, but he said several articles in the bill are controversial and against the interests of Muslims.

    “Six hundred to 700 mosques and associations are behind us. There are nearly 2,500 mosques in France,” he said.

    Alci criticized the bill’s description as “Islam of France,” and stressed that Islam is a “universal religion.”

    He said he had met with France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin where he conveyed his views.

    Alci said he was sorry for the negative coverage of Muslims in the media just for not signing the bill. “They see us as Islamists and terrorists,” he said.

    No Muslim will sign the charter if it’s against Muslims, said Alci. “Eighty percent of Muslims are against this bill.””