Reader’s links on February 15, 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

116 Replies to “Reader’s links on February 15, 2021”

  1. This is a case before the Supreme Court of BC. Three Churches wishing to remain open for services and being threatened with an injunction by the Health Officer. The interview with a lawyer from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, defending the Churches, starts around 6.44 minutes. According to Global News on Friday the judge has said he will announce his decision on Wednesday 17th. I think this case will be of interest to more than the three Churches involved:

    • One of the things not mentioned in the article is how Warren Buffet who owns a lot of stock in the railroad that will be transporting the crude oil is a big donor to the Democrats. By killing the Keystone Pipeline Biden has ensured Buffet many millions of dollars in profit that is going to come out of the pockets of the people driving cars. Of buying anything that is delivered by truck or train, when fuel costs raise selling prices raise.

  2. The Second American National Anthem

    “If you know the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” you’re most likely Black—and you also know it is often referred to as the Black National Anthem. If you’re White, you likely know none of the above.”
    https://frontporchne.com/article/lift-every-voice-sing-second-national-anthem/

    “Lift every voice and sing
    Till earth and heaven ring
    Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
    let our rejoicing rise,
    high as the list’ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea
    sing a song full of faith that the dark past has tought us,
    sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
    facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
    let us march on till victory is won.

    Stony the road we trod,
    bitter the chast’ning rod,
    felt in the day that hope unborn had died;
    yet with a steady beat,
    have not our weary feet,
    come to the place on witch our fathers sighed?
    we have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
    we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
    out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
    where the white gleam of our star is cast.

    God of our weary years,
    God of our silent tears,
    thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
    thou who has by thy might,
    led us into the light,
    keep us forever in the path, we pray
    lest our feet stray frm the places, our God, where we met thee,
    least our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee,
    shadowed beneath the hand,
    may we forever stand,
    tru to our God,
    Tru to our native land.”

    COPYRIGHT:
    Writer(s): J. Rosamond Johnson”

    Hate is a wallowy place. Pride and Victim. The Voice of failure, imagining you are someone you are not, while calling the liberated, racial slurs.
    Knowing about God. Never knowing god.

    “tru to our God,
    Tru to our native land,”

    The grasping tightly onto the Heaven and Earth given to them as pottage. And makes Jesus the biggest racist.
    https://www.biblehub.com/matthew/24-35.htm

    • “John Rosamond Johnson (August 11, 1873 – November 11, 1954, usually referred to as J. Rosamond Johnson)[1] was an American composer and singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he had much of his career in New York City. Johnson is noted as the composer of the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. It was first performed live by 500 Black American students from the segregated Stanton School (elementary/middle/junior high-level), Jacksonville, Florida, in 1900.[2] The song was published by Joseph W. Stern & Co., Manhattan, New York (later the Edward B. Marks Music Company”

      Originally a hymn. A song for Christian Perserverence lost in a sea of emotional-attachment, drink and fornication, for The Promised Land next door for all those who endured in the hope of St Paul to receive a blessing and avoid a cursing.

      Now, it is a Black Anthem. “Blacks can’t be racists.”: The Salvation of St Paul. And people still telling you what you can’t do.

  3. Mazin Abdul-Adhim’s Facebook Page
    CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: 100 Years Without Khilafah

    “NATIONS WILL SUMMON ONE ANOTHER TO ATTACK YOU FROM EVERY PLACE LIKE A PACK CALLS ITS PREY.”

    “One years without our Protection, without our unity, without the guidance of our Creator, without our Khilafah.”

    “Please know that the purpose of this campaign is not just to remember this tragic event, but it is a call to action. A call to the Islamic Ummah to rise up and take a hold of its affairs. To free itself from the shackles of the colonizer and their agents and fulfil the obligation of Allah.
    We ask Allah ( SWT) that he rewards us for our efforts and makes us successful in this life and the hereafter.”

    • Mazin Abdul-Adhim is the so-called Islamic scholar, the leader of the terror group, Hibz ut-Tharir, living in London, Ontario and promoting hate.

      Iqra Khalid is the Muslim member of parliament who introduced M-103, the hate speech motion that all the Liberals, except CYA Justine who was absent on the day of the vote, and all the NDP supported. She is now calling for more censorship because of the amount of hate being allowed. Sedition, what the hell is sedition, the government of Canada and all the politicians should put an end to all the Imams in Canada spewing hate.

      Sharee’ah law is not compatible with Western democracy.

      STOP THE ISLAMIC HATE SPEECH.

      • “STOP THE ISLAMIC HATE SPEECH.”

        Why? Who is the decider?
        Kool Aid for the Believer
        Hatred for dhim-hider
        And for the wounds of truth,
        Their cider.

        • Mazin Abdul-Adhim, Canadian leader of Hibz:
          “If the Ummah understands what is required of us as Muslims, what does a caliphate look like? What a system of Islam looks like and how to re-establish caliphate, according to methods (Muhammad) the Ummah will rise up and know exactly what we have to do.”

          vs

          Old Canadian woman:

          If Canadian Patriots understand what is required of us, as citizens, what does defending your country against tyranny look like and how do we protect our freedom, our religious right, our democracy, Canadians will rise up and do exactly what we have to do. Remove Justine Trudeau from office.

          • Without the trinity of Judicial, Legistive and Executive branches, then power become absolute and corrupt.
            This is why every islamic and Communist State is run by their Military.

            The truth becomes a lie of omission in islam and a lie of inclusion in Socialism.

    • Psych exam is the killer as bias totally controls the results of such an exam and the days when you could unerringly trust a doctor are long gone.

      • All of it is a killer, it is a direct assault on the Second Amendment, if they can destroy the Second Amendment through activist Congress Critter and Judges they have successfully destroyed the Constitution. Despite what the Gun Control people want you to believe if the Founding Fathers had seen the modern military rifles they would have required every male to won one and a basic load of ammo.

        Concerning the destruction of the Constitution, after close a Century of working to get control control accepted the left has started attacking our Free Speech Right, our Freedom of Religion Right and our Right of peaceful assembly. They are working on destroying the no double jeopardy and no being forced to testify against your self.

        The two impeachments of President Trump has destroyed the Constitutional obligation of high crimes and misdemeanors to be the reason for Impeachment. We are now in the era of impeaching people (and unpersoning them) because of policy differences.

        The above actions haven’t destroyed the Constitution and the Rule of Law but they are in insensitive care. If the Dems manage to pack the Court and make DC and Puerto Rico States with 4 more Senators they will have succeeded in making us a one party nation. This will be the death knell of the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Once that happens we will see political police on the streets enforcing the genocide against Conservatives and anyone else who is opposing the Radical Left. Brad Johnson and others think we can manage to take control of Congress in 2022 and that will give us the power to vote Biden out and a Conservative in to the Presidency in 2024. I know we have to try to use peaceful means to solve this Constitutional Crisis but I have my doubts that we can solve it peacefully. You have written about Madame being ready to come out and be set up in the Town Squares, I am afraid that this time we won’t be able to dodge the Terror that follows so many revolutions.

  4. The Guardian Reports:

    Mencap, a charity in the UK that works with people with learning disability, have faced shocking discrimination and obstacles to accessing healthcare with inappropriate Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ( DNACPR) notices on their files and cuts made to their social care support, Edel Harris, Medcap’s Chief Executive said.

    Sound familiar?

  5. They tried to end his political career. They failed. Now Trump 2024 is sure-shot possibility

  6. Macron’s new Anti-religious bill sparks fresh protests in France | World News | English News | WION

    • France: Muslims rally against “Islamophobic” bill in Paris

      The demonstration gathered several human rights activists and associations, such as the Meo High School (MHS) in Paris, the French Muslim Democrats Union (UDMF) among others, calling on citizens to join the mobilisation.

      “The goal today is also to remind France of its duties, to recall that it claims freedom, equality, fraternity, certain values that we have never personally ever encountered,” said Elias d’Imzalene, who co-wrote an open letter against the bill. “All these academics signed to say ‘France is Islamophobic and this Islamophobia is from the state.'”

      The draft bill, officially named ‘Respect for the Principles of the Republic’, has been the subject of fierce debate in civil society and among politicians. This bill gives the government the power to dissolve or ban associations as it sees fit.

      The new measures refer to what is known as ‘laicite,’ France’s form of secularity, prohibiting religious symbols such as the Muslim headscarf in some contexts, including schools and civil service.

      The bill also introduces stricter financial control over foreign money sent to religious organisations.

      It comes as authorities have been cracking down on Muslim associations and institutions that they consider ‘radical,’ in the wake of the murder of Samuel Paty, a school teacher who showed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in class.

  7. YouTube Home
    9+
    EU gets involved in China’s ban on BBC World News channel over ‘serious violation’.
    11,

    • Yes his indoctrination Q/A did not cover that question. A perfect example of the inability to compute/think on one’s feet that the indoctrinated braindead Left constantly demonstrate. Only thing missing was the personal attack.

  8. Democrats self-described impeachment ‘victory’ actually a ‘dismal failure’
    65,882 views
    •Feb 14, 2021

    • Caroline Glick:
      Navigating Israel’s ship of state through the Biden storm

      Right now, it seems that neither Israel nor the US’s Arab allies in the Persian Gulf can partner with the Biden administration to promote Washington’s regional policies.

      [RE: The “Quad”, Iran, Israel]

      “Recognizing the Biden administration’s keenness to realign the US towards Iran, India has announced its plans to restore and expand its trade and defense ties with Iran. Israel should work to curb India’s enthusiasm. India, along with Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have all expanded their trade and defense ties with Israel over the past decade.

      And Israel must seek to develop and expand these ties still further while working with these governments to block rather than enable Iran’s nuclear and conventional empowerment.

      https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/navigating-israels-ship-of-state-through-the-biden-storm/

      • @CarolineGlick

        @DanielBShapiro says it’s racist to oppose appointments of BDS goons and terror supporters who oppose Israel’s existence. @tcwittes says criticizing Bitar for advocating #bds same as opposing
        @aipac donor Neuberger.

        Think about this. Young US Jews are systematically harassed, attacked and ostracized on campuses by BDS goons. And
        @DanielBShapiro
        says it’s RACIST for Jews to oppose Biden’s placement of these BDS thugs in posts where they can turn their hatred into official US policy!

        https://twitter.com/CarolineGlick/status/1361179519697248257

  9. Gaddafi-Era Official Says 2011 Coup in Libya Plotted by West to Seize Resources (sputniknews, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202102151082082970-gaddafi-era-official-says-2011-coup-in-libya-plotted-by-west-to-seize-resources/

    “The intervention of a NATO-led coalition and demonstrations across Libya in 2011 was prepared by Western nations in a bid to take control of the country’s resources, Moussa Ibrahim, a former government spokesman of the Muammar Gaddafi era, said in an interview with Sputnik.

    “It was a planned effort by Western countries to destroy Libya in an attempt to gain control over its oil and take advantage of its strategic position by promoting their agents at the head of the country,” Ibrahim said.

    One of the reasons behind the NATO’s intervention in Libya was also a desire to thwart a path chosen by Gaddafi to liberate Africa from Western hegemony, according to the politician.

    The ex-Libyan leader was planning to establish a central African bank that would have freed the regional countries from the global financial system. The country’s authorities were preparing to adopt a uniform gold currency for the continent — Afro, which was conceived as a substitute for the dollar, Ibrahim noted.

    “These actions caused fears in the West. They demanded Libya to stop this program. Muammar Gaddafi rejected these threats,” Ibrahim said.

    Since the overthrow and assassination of Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been split between two rival governments. The administrations known as the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) have been in control the country’s west and east, respectively.

    Earlier in February, the Swiss-hosted Libya Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) elected an interim caretaker unity authority to take charge until a national general election scheduled for 24 December. The LPDF picked Mohammad Younes Menfi, a former GNA ambassador in Greece, as the new head of the Presidency Council, while Mossa Al-Koni, a representative of Libya’s south, and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi, a representative of the west, became his deputies. Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah was elected prime minister.

    Libyans may want to see Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif Islam said.

    The deposed leader’s former spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, said that Gaddafi supporters are still banned from getting involved in politics even though they represent Libya’s largest tribes and major cities. Saif Islam Gaddafi, he went on, could unite all these people. According to the ex-official, Saif is in Libya and is “seriously working on a national reconciliation project.”

    “He wishes to become a symbol of national reconciliation for the Libyan tribes and political Libyan organizations. Dr. [Saif Islam Gaddafi] has not announced that he will run in the elections, but many Libyans may demand that he stand as a candidate,” Ibrahim said.
    He noted that it may be possible only in the transparent election.

    “Western agents in Libya fear Dr. Saif Islam’s influence and his immense popularity. They are trying to rig the political process in every possible way to not allow patriots like Dr. Saif to come to the fore,” Ibrahim stated.

    After years of a divide and duopoly, Libya is on track to hold elections on 24 December. An interim unity government has taken charge until then.

    On this day ten years ago, rallies, inspired by the uprisings in fellow Arab countries, began throughout Libya demanding the resignation of then-leader Gaddafi, who governed the North African nation for more than 40 years. Since the onset of the mass protests, the Jamahiriya authorities were aware of a conspiracy against Libya and spoke about it “to friends in the Arab region and Africa,” according to Ibrahim.”

  10. ‘You may be a trillion-dollar company but…’: Supreme Court of India to WhatsApp | English News

  11. BREAKING!! Philippines says its navy will shoot back! after China told to shoot at any vessel in SCS

  12. Greta Toolkit Plot| Activist Disha Ravi Named As Key Conspirator, Delhi Cops Reveal Khalistani Link

  13. Greta Toolkit Probe| Here’s All You Need To Know On The Disha-Greta Chats, Khalistani Angle & More

    • I am going to have to go back and check out the other reports that I ignored to see how bad this strike and the Separatist movement they are connected with are. As a base rule of thumb the separatists movements were started by the KGB and they are probably being funded by the CCP these days. Putin may be funding some of them but give Russias economic troubles he may not be funding them.

      • China and China’s Western vassals.
        They’ve learned Russian tactics too well.

        “Khalistan” has always been a Sikh hotspot – like Catalunya for Spain. Incitement by enemies of India is easy-peasy.

  14. Myanmar: Army orders arrest of coup opponents | Military announces legal manoeuvres| WION World News

  15. Anti-Coup Protests took a Creative route in Myanmar | Break Dancers in Myanmar | Latest English News

      • Probably not, unlike the Main Stream Media in all nations I am not going to dismiss out of hand the idea that there was massive vote fraud in the election. I’m not saying there was but I would like to see more evidence that there was or wasn’t.

        Then there was the statement in one of the videos where they were saying that the General in Charge knew that no matter what China was going to take control of Burma and that he would be able to get a better deal for his people. That is another one I am not willing to dismiss out of hand. This may be what happened.

        Or it could be a combination of the two theories.

  16. Myanmar army suspends laws limiting forces, hunts protest backers | Myanmar protest | English News

  17. London bloodbath: 16-year-old boy stabbed in front of horrified onlookers at Brixton park (express, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1397793/London-news-brixton-stabbing-brockwell-park-south-London-crime-latest

    “A 16-year-old boy was stabbed in front of horrified onlookers at a park in South London this afternoon.

    Emergency services were called to Brockwell Park, Brixton, just before 2pm today. A teenage boy was found with a stab wound to the leg and rushed to hospital, the Met Police confirmed. People visiting the park on Valentine’s Day were said to beb horrified at the attack taking place in broad daylight, according to reports.

    The teenager’s injruies are not yet known.

    A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 1:48pm today (14 February) to reports of a stabbing in Brockwell Park, Brixton.

    “We sent two ambulance crews, a medic in a car, an incident response officer.

    “We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance…”

  18. London bloodbath: Horror as man, 18, fighting for life after crossbow attack at station (express, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1398123/London-news-latest-crossbow-attack-abbey-wood-station-police-appeal-witness-arrest-suspect

    “AN 18-year-old man is fighting for his life after he is believed to have been shot by a crossbow at a London train station, police said.

    Officers were called to Abbey Wood station in south east London shortly after 10pm on Sunday night. British Transport Police found the teenager seriously injured on a bench and was later taken to hospital for his injuries, where his condition is described as life-threatening. Detective Superintendent Sam Blackburn has confirmed an investigation is underway and described the incident as a “shocking act of violence”.

    Detective Superintendent Blackburn has urged anyone with any information to come forward.

    The force is keen to speak to anyone who may have witnessed “anything suspicious” along Abbey Road and Wilton Road between 9.45pm and 10.20pm on Sunday evening.

    No arrests have been made…”

  19. twitter –

    NEW – Bill Gates on the global green reset:

    “It’ll be the most amazing thing mankind has ever done,” says Bill Gates about getting to zero carbon emissions. “It’s an all-out effort, you know, like a world war, but it’s us against greenhouse gases.”

    https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1361112446367334400

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

    Bill Gates says he pays $7 million a year to offset his carbon footprint.

    https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1361112251613200389

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

    New China TV – GLOBALink – China makes fight against climate change more affordable for world: Bill Gates

    Bill Gates says China’s contributions make the fight against ClimateChange? more affordable for the world in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

    He calls on China and the U.S. to work together to combat climate change and promote innovation.

    • 60 minutes – Bill Gates: How the world can avoid a climate disaster

      “Without innovation, we will not solve climate change. We won’t even come close,” Gates says. Anderson Cooper reports for 60 Minutes.

      …. agreeing with the overwhelming majority of scientists who warn of a looming climate disaster.

      The good news is Gates believes it’s possible to prevent a catastrophic rise in temperatures.

      The bad news? He says in the next 30 years we need scientific breakthroughs, technological innovations and global cooperation on a scale the world has never seen.

      ———————-
      Anderson Cooper: You’re talking about changing everything in the economy, I mean, every aspect of it–

      Bill Gates: In the phy– yeah, the physical–

      Anderson Cooper: So–

      Bill Gates: –economy–

      ————————————-

      Anderson Cooper: When you talk about migration, you’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people trying to move from North Africa to Europe every year?

      Bill Gates: Exactly. The Syrian War was a 20th of what climate migration will look like. So, the deaths per year are way, ten times greater than– than what we’ve experienced in the pandemic.

      ——————————————————

      + 13 min video

      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-gates-climate-change-disaster-60-minutes-2021-02-14/

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

    • DAILY MAIL – Ending the Covid-19 pandemic is ‘very very easy’ when compared to the challenges involved in tackling climate change, Bill Gates claims

      Bill Gates has released a new book called How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

      In the book he proposes a combination of measures to tackle the climate crisis

      These include market forces, green technology and government regulations

      Gates says fossil fuels should include the cost of environmental damage

      He says ‘consuming less’ isn’t a viable solution but it is possible to reduce poverty and maintain lifestyles while also decarbonising the global economy

      ——————————————

      Ending the coronavirus pandemic is ‘very, very easy’ when compared to the challenges involved in tackling the climate change crisis, warns Bill Gates.

      The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft has a new book out called How to Avoid a Climate Disaster where he sets out the ‘urgency of addressing climate change’.

      In his book Gates says he is an ‘imperfect messenger’ due to his wealth, houses and travel, admitting he even took a private jet to the 2015 Paris climate summit.

      During promotion for the book Gates told BBC News that solving climate change would be ‘the most amazing thing humanity has ever done’.

      He said that compared to the sacrifices and efforts required to properly forestall a major life ending climate crisis, ending Covid-19 was ‘very, very easy’.

      ‘The pandemic will come to an end because these amazing vaccines were invented in a year and we’re trying to scale them up and adapt to the variance,’ he said.

      Solving climate change will require a major global transition to renewable power and changes to our way of life, says Gates, adding there is ‘no precedent for this’.

      The billionaire was inspired to write his new book while determining the best way to bring electricity to the remotest parts of the world without building coal plants.

      He said the challenge facing the world is to reduce greenhouse gases – from the 51 billion added to the atmosphere annually now, to zero by 2050.

      Not everyone believes Gates is the right person to speak on this issue.

      Rolf Skar at Greenpeace USA told Wired that while the book is focused on avoiding a climate disaster, the author isn’t doing enough to change his personal habits.

      ‘His investment in private jets and Microsoft’s AI contracts with Exxon, Chevron and BP to extract more fossil fuels are adding to the crisis. Billionaires like Mr Gates need to lead by example or they won’t be taken seriously.’

      Gates believes a combination of new technology, regulation and market forces is the solution, rather than asking people to change their way of life.

      ‘India is going to build housing for their people, provide lighting at night, air condition to make conditions liveable,’ he told BBC News, adding that global demand will not reduce even if it does reduce in some countries.

      A focus on new technology can help reach that target, Gates told the BBC, adding that renewable sources like wind and solar can help decarbonise electricity.

      However, electricity accounts for 30 per cent of total emissions, with the remaining 70 per cent through transport, steel, cement, fertiliser production and more.

      Decarbonising the rest of the economy will be a ‘major transition’ that will require new technologies and techniques – as there currently is no way to do it effectively.

      Gates says the government needs to lead efforts to create a new global innovation effort on a scale the ‘world has never seen before’.

      This includes new regulations that price fossil fuels based on the cost of the damage they do to the environment, not just the cost of production and generation.

      Currently users don’t usually pay for any environmental damage caused by pollutants in fossil fuels – from petrol or heating – but Gates says that should change, to the point where we are paying for the pain caused by emitting carbon dioxide.

      ‘We need to have price signals to tell the private sector that we want green products,’ Gates said in a promotional interview with BBC News.

      His ‘green premium’ plan would allow for a wholesale transformation while maintaining lifestyles in high income countries and lift billions out of poverty.

      The solution presented by Gates in his book is to price the ‘externalities’ of carbon production including its negative impact on the environment.

      He says doing so would better reflect the ‘true cost’ of fossil fuels and make greener alternatives more financially viable in comparison.

      Currently many green alternatives cost more than carbon producing versions of the same technology and in some nations this deters transition, especially in fast-growing parts of Asia, Africa and South America.

      There needs to be huge investment by governments in research and development and support through regulation to allow the market for new technologies to thrive, said Gates, adding that will also bring down the price of green solutions.

      Gates says it will be ‘impossible’ to avoid disaster from climate change without governments globally working to reduce emissions and backing green technology.

      He said there needs to be a ‘constant 30-year push’ from government and business to address the problem as business can’t change infrastructure unless market signals are ‘constant and very clear’.

      Gates says that ‘consuming less’ isn’t the solution to solving the climate crisis.

      Political action and a change to carbon neutral solutions is more important than just asking people to ‘use less’, he said, adding governments should ‘do the right thing’.

      He has faith in the ability of the market to solve part of the rising climate crisis, especially if consumers do their part in demanding green alternatives.

      ‘If you buy an electric car, a hamburger made of a meat substitute, an electric heat pump for your home you are helping increase the production of these products and therefore helping drive prices down,’ he told BBC News.

      Gates hasn’t stopped living the billionaire lifestyle, he still travels by private jet and has nice houses – but he says he has changed ‘how’ he does it.

      His jets are now powered by biofuels made from plant products rather than fossil fuels which ‘costs three times as much’ but acts against his offset spending.

      ‘I don’t think getting rid of flying would make sense,’ he said in the BBC interview. ‘That type of brute force technique won’t get us there.’

      The billionaire believes that instead the answer is to develop new fuels that are zero emissions – moving to green hydrogen or electricity to power a plane.

      He supports the idea of a green recovery from Covid-19 – with stimulus packages focused on solving the issues of climate change.

      Climate change and tackling the issue is a ‘huge priority’ for the world and Gates says leaders should feed on the ‘moral conviction’ young people have for the issue.

      Adding: ‘Now we have to take that energy and make sure it’s directed at the policies that will make a difference.’

      He told Bloomberg that there are stark choices for the world and that achieving the goal of reducing emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 it would be significant.

      He said ‘It makes the Covid-19 vaccine look like nothing because of the number of people and activities and interventions required to transform the entire physical economy to reduce emissions as we need.’

      Gates says the current generation of young people care a lot about the issue and failing to achieve the goal of 50 per cent reduction would leave them very cynical.

      Achieving the goal would be something equivalent to ending World War II or stopping Nazism, Gates added in his Bloomberg interview.

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9261551/Bill-Gates-Ending-Covid-19-pandemic-easy-compared-climate-change.html

  20. “Xiplomacy”: Biden Eases Up on the CCP & A Lack of Facts Surrounding the Deadly Attack on Jan 6th

  21. Dylan Johnson: The Democrats’ mandate to all conservatives & Trump supporters: Shut Up & Unify

    • Most elderly and/or nursing home patients are Vit D deficient. Personal observation, but 10 seconds thought shows that this was to be expected.

  22. Turkey accuses US of backing PKK after Turks killed in Iraq (abcnews, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-accuses-us-backing-pkk-turks-killed-iraq-75903109

    “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid into the United States, accusing it of supporting Kurdish militants on Monday, days after Turkish troops found the bodies of 13 Turkish soldiers, police and civilians abducted by Kurdish insurgents in a cave complex in northern Iraq.

    Addressing his ruling party’s supporters in the Black Sea city of Rize, Erdogan also took aim at a U.S. State Department statement which deplored the deaths of the hostages, but added that the United States would condemn the deaths “in the strongest possible terms” if it is confirmed that they died at the hands of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

    “Did you not say you don’t support the PKK, the YPG or the PYD? You are with them and behind them pure and simple,” Erdogan said, referring to Syrian Kurdish groups linked to the PKK, which Turkey considers to be terrorists but which were allied with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State.

    “If we are together in NATO, and if we are to continue our (alliance) in NATO, you have to be sincere toward us,” Erdogan said. “You must not take the side of the terrorists. You have to be on our side.”

    On Monday, Turkey summoned U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield to the Foreign Ministry and conveyed Ankara’s reaction to the U.S. statement “in the strongest way possible,” ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said.

    The victims were discovered in a cave complex in the Gara region, near the Turkish border, during an operation against the PKK, launched on Feb. 10, that had aimed to free the hostages.

    Twelve of the victims were shot in the head and one died of a shoulder bullet wound, the country’s defense minister said Sunday. The 13 were kidnapped inside Turkey in the last five or six years.

    Erdogan said 51 PKK militants were killed during the offensive and vowed to press ahead with cross-border offensives against the PKK in Iraq, and against the Syria-based militants.

    “Neither Qandil, nor Sinjar, nor Syria — as of now no place where the terrorists are located is safe for them,” Erdogan said, in reference to areas in northern Iraq where the PKK maintains bases. “We have the power, capability and determination to come down hard on the terrorists everywhere.”

    Turkish authorities meanwhile, detained more than 700 people with alleged links to the PKK, including local leaders of the main pro-Kurdish political party — the third largest party in Turkey’s parliament, the Interior Ministry announced. The suspects were detained in operations in 40 provinces, following the execution of the hostages.

    Erdogan’s government, which accuses the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, of having links to the PKK, has been cracking down on the movement over the past five years, by sacking elected mayors from office and jailing thousands of members, including its former chairman, Selahattin Demirtas.

    In a statement carried by the PKK-linked Firat news agency, the PKK said “prisoners of war” consisting of members of the Turkish security forces and intelligence agency were killed as a result of Turkish air strikes.

    Three Turkish troops also died during the operation to free the hostages and three others were wounded, the defense ministry has said.

    Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, began an insurgency in Turkey’s majority Kurdish southeast region in 1984.”

  23. Bangladesh sends more Rohingya refugees to new island (abcnews, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bangladesh-sends-rohingya-refugees-island-75901554

    “Bangladesh authorities sent a fourth group of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to a newly developed island in the Bay of Bengal on Monday despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process.

    The roughly 2,000 Rohingya who had been living in the sprawling refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar were sent to Bhasan Char, an island specifically developed to accommodate 100,000 of the 1 million Rohingya who have fled from neighboring Myanmar, M. Mozammel Haque, a commander of the Bangladesh navy, told reporters.

    With Monday’s group, more than 7,000 refugees have moved to the island since the process started in December.

    The government has said the arrangement is good for the refugees and the island is designed to offer better living conditions. While human rights groups have criticized the moves and some are being forced to go against their will, the government has insisted that refugees moving to the island have done so voluntarily.

    More than 1 million Rohingya have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in overcrowded, squalid refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district.

    Bangladesh has said that ultimately it is up to Myanmar to take the refugees back and has called on the international community to put pressure on Myanmar’s government to ensure their safe return.

    The latest relocation follows a Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar that put the military firmly back in control. The refugees living in Bangladeshi camps say they are now even more fearful to go back to Myanmar.

    The island surfaced only 20 years ago and was not previously inhabited. It was regularly submerged by monsoon rains but now has flood protection embankments, houses, hospitals and mosques built at a cost of more than $112 million by the Bangladesh navy.

    International aid agencies have opposed the relocation since it was first proposed in 2015, expressing fear that a big storm could overwhelm the island and endanger thousands of lives. But the government said the new development schemes in the island have made the island safe for living.”

  24. Pakistan army: Militant raid on security post kills soldier (abcnews, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-army-militant-raid-security-post-kills-soldier-75901017

    “Armed militants attacked a Pakistani security checkpoint on a highway in a remote area of southwestern Baluchistan province, killing a soldier before fleeing, the military said Monday.

    The overnight attack on the Frontier Corps troops took place in the province’s Kech district, the military said in a statement. Troops have cordoned off the area and are pursuing “fleeing terrorists,” it said. There were no further details.

    No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault but previous such attacks have been claimed by separatist groups in Baluchistan, where Islamic militants also have a presence. Baluchistan has been battling an insurgency for more than a decade by separatists demanding complete autonomy or a larger share of the province’s gas and mineral resources.”

  25. France, West African leaders discuss fighting extremism (abcnews, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/france-west-african-leaders-discuss-fighting-extremism-75905750

    “French and West African heads of state began a two-day summit Monday on the fight against Islamic extremists in Africa’s Sahel region, as France considered a gradual reduction of its troops in the area.

    The leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania are participating in the meetings in N’Djamena, Chad. French President Emmanuel Macron joined from Paris via videoconference.

    Macron may announce a reduction of French troops in Africa’s Sahel region that he presented last month as a possible “adjustment” following successes by French forces last year. France is also counting on an expected greater involvement of other European countries.

    The deployment of about 5,100 troops in five West African countries represents France’s largest military operation abroad — including 600 additional troops sent last year to step up counterterrorism efforts.

    A regional five-country force was also launched in 2017 with support from the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union.

    Yet extremist groups linked to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State have kept carrying out attacks across the region, taking control of territory in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

    Mali also suffered a coup in August that overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar. After a similar coup in 2012, Islamic extremists grabbed control of major towns in the north of the country, which prompted the French-led military intervention the next year.

    A French top official, speaking anonymously under the presidency’s customary practices, said military operations will focus this year on targeting key figures in a group affiliated with al-Qaida and stepping up pressure on other jihadist groups.

    The official added that talks were also meant to discuss political changes needed to provide greater stability, fight corruption and boost development in the region.”

  26. France fights hold of Islamist radicals with dragnets, laws (abcnews, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dragnet-planned-law-boost-french-fight-islamist-radicals-75900251

    “More than three dozen French police officers descended on a small private school in Paris, blocked the 92 students inside their classrooms, took photos everywhere even inside the refrigerator, and grilled the school director.

    “It was like they were moving in on a drug deal,” Hanane Loukili, the director and co-founder of the MHS middle and high school said, recalling the Nov. 17 scene.

    Loukili didn’t know it then, but a team from the Cell to Fight Radical Islam and Community Withdrawal, or CLIR, had arrived for an inspection. The dragnet sweeps schools, shops, clubs or mosques to rout out “radicalization.” Within a week, a shaken Loukili informed students their school was shutting down.

    Loukili insists she is no radical, but such operations illustrate the extent of French efforts to fight extremism as lawmakers prepare to vote Tuesday on a bill aimed at snuffing it out.

    The MHS school had an unusual profile. It was secular and co-educational but allowed female Muslim students to wear headscarves in class — which is forbidden in French public schools — and to pray during breaks. Unlike private Muslim schools in France, where headscarves are also allowed, MHS did not offer religion courses.

    Loukili and others at the school claim it was a perfect target in what some say is an uncomfortable climate for France’s Muslims.

    Scrubbing France clean of radicals and their breeding grounds is a priority for President Emmanuel Macron in a nation bloodied by terror attacks, including the beheading of a teacher outside his school in a Paris suburb in October, followed by a deadly attack inside the basilica in Nice.

    The proposed legislation is intended to re-anchor secularism in a changing France, where Muslims are increasingly visible and Islam — the nation’s No. 2 religion — is gaining a stronger voice.

    The legislation, expected to pass Tuesday’s vote in the lower house of parliament, will also expand the crackdown.

    Along with the bill, contested by some Muslims, politicians and others, such strong-arm inspections risk accentuating the climate of suspicion many Muslims feel in a country where the vast majority of Muslims don’t hold extremist views.

    Loukili, herself a Muslim, is well aware of major fire hazard problems her school faced but fervently denied in an Associated Press interview any links to radicalism by her or staff at the school, which opened in 2015.

    Only on Dec. 9, did Loukili learn her situation was graver than she thought. A statement from the Police Prefecture and prosecutors office suggested the closure was part of a growing push to “fight all forms of separatism” — the word coined by Macron for extremists who undermine the nation’s values.

    Dragnet raids like those unleashed against Loukili’s school have been unearthing soft spots on a local level to nip Islamist radicalization in the bud. They now reach across the country, with police accompanied by education or other specialists, depending on the target.

    In December alone, teams carried out 476 raids and closed 36 establishments, according to Interior Ministry figures. Since November 2019, 3,881 establishments have been inspected and 126 closed, mostly small businesses but also two schools.

    One was an underground school with no windows or educational program, along with sports clubs that included preaching and obligatory prayer. Five were closed.

    The proposed law and the Cell to Fight Radical Islam program, led by prefects in each region, are just part of a many-layered operation to rout out what authorities call “enemies of the Republic.” Mayors of towns considered most impacted by the extremist threat have been asked to sign a charter agreeing to cooperate in the hunt for radicals, the AP has learned.

    The Cell to Fight Radical Islam would also get a boost from the planned law, which would provide new legal tools to shut down facilities.

    “Today, we’re obliged to use administrative motives to close establishments that don’t respect the law,” said an official close to Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa, who oversees the Cell to Fight Radical Islam program and is also a sponsor of the proposed law, along with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

    The official, not authorized to speak publicly, could not address the case of the MHS school. Police also would not comment.

    The school’s problems began more than a year ago with safety concerns linked mainly to its large building. Loukili, its director and a math teacher, was ordered to close the school, stop teaching and not run any future educational establishment. She returns to court March 17.

    “I think they (accuse) us of separatism because they needed to make an example,” Loukili said.

    “I was afraid … we didn’t understand,” said Omar, a 17-year-old MHS student who was in class when the police arrived. “They were taking pictures” and some officers insulted the teenagers, he said.

    Omar was among those who took part in a Paris protest Sunday against the draft law.

    A mother who had to scramble to find new schools for her children after the school closed said her son is fine but her 15-year-old daughter, who wears a headscarf, had to switch to a Muslim school where the head coverings are allowed but where boys and girls are separated inside classrooms and at lunch.

    Her daughter, unhappy in the strict climate, “comes home with her stomach in knots,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Rafika, to protect her daughter.

    Jean-Riad Kechaou, a history teacher in the working class Paris suburb of Chelles, sees anger in his Muslim adolescent students.

    “It comes from this permanent stigmatization of their religion,” he said. “In the head of an adolescent of 12, 13, 14, 15 years old, everything gets mixed up and what comes out is his religion has been completely dirtied and fingers are pointed at him.””

  27. Germany: 5 Tajiks charged with membership in IS group (abcnews, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-tajiks-charged-membership-group-75901252

    “German prosecutors said Monday they have charged five Tajik men with being members of the Islamic State group, accusing them of participating in a cell of the extremist organization in Germany.

    Federal prosecutors filed the indictment at the Duesseldorf state court, where an alleged associate of the five was convicted last month of membership in IS for co-founding the German cell and supporting two planned attacks. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

    The suspects now charged were identified only as Farhodshoh K., Muhammadali G., Azizjon B., Sunatullokh K. and Komron B., in keeping with German privacy rules.

    Prosecutors say that Azizjon B. administered propaganda channels and helped collect money for a Russian- and Tajik-language IS online network. They say he also personally recruited IS members, leading to the founding of a cell in western Germany in early 2019 that aimed to carry out attacks in Germany.

    The rest of the accused — along with Ravsan B., the man convicted last month — are alleged to have belonged to that cell.

    Prosecutors say that they trained their military skills in paintball games, and that participants in those included “other people from the Islamist scene” who were in contact with the gunman who killed four people in an attack in Vienna in November. They also allegedly acquired components for an “unconventional” bomb.

    Farhodshoh K. and Ravsan B. are accused of traveling to Albania in 2019 to carry out a contract killing that was intended to finance IS to the tune of $40,000. That killing was called off because doubts arose over the intended victim’s identity.

    The indictment alleges that Ravsan B. then gave Sunatullokh K. the semi-automatic pistol intended for that killing to shoot a man in Germany who had made critical comments about Islam — an attack that was foiled by authorities.

    It says that the cell then changed its strategy, concentrating on radicalizing and recruiting young Muslims in Germany and raising money for IS.”

  28. If the GOP wins the House in 2022, do they have a case for an impeachment of their own? – Liberty Unyielding
    Jeff Dunetz
    3-4 minutes

    If the GOP wins the House in 2022, do they have a case for an impeachment of their own?

    NBC News video

    On Saturday, the Democrats lost their second farcical attempt to impeach Donald Trump, though they came closer. If they chose to try to impeach the former president again — and at this point there’s nothing stopping them — maybe the third time will be a charm.

    But the real impeachment question that looms large is whether the GOP will seek revenge when the opportunity next arises. That opportunity could come as soon as 2022, when they are likely to retake the House. So will they take it?

    On Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham hinted that it’s a real possibility. Graham was a guest on “Fox News Sunday,” where he argued that then-candidate the vice president’s support for a fund that bailed out protesters during the “summer of love” could leave her liable for impeachment on the same grounds the Democrats cited in their effort to oust Donald Trump.

    “If you use this model,” Graham told host Chris Wallace, “I don’t know how Kamala Harris doesn’t get impeached if the Republicans take over the House. Because she actually bailed out rioters and one of the rioters went back to the streets and broke somebody’s head open. So we’ve opened Pandora’s Box here and I’m sad for the country.”?

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/02/15/if-the-gop-wins-the-house-in-2022-do-they-have-a-case-for-an-impeachment-of-their-own/

    • I understand what the man is saying and to an extent agree with him but I also know that if we don’t make the Democrats pay for their attempted coup (that is what it was a soft coup) and their Fascist actions in demonizing all Trump supporters they (the Democrats) will commit more illegal actions in the future. We either fight now or we lose the Republic.

      I am not sure that the 2022 election will be honest enough tor the Republicans to retake the House and Senate. I know that unless the various State Legislatures and some State Judges find a lot of courage to fight for the rule of law the 2024 election will make the 2020 election look honest.

  29. Top UK Defence Research Lab Gave Grants to Chinese Military-Tied Academics: Report (breitbart, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/02/15/top-uk-military-research-laboratory-handed-out-grants-to-chinese-military-tied-academics-report/

    “Academics with ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s military have reportedly secured research funding from Britain’s leading national security laboratory.

    The Ministry of Defence’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), one of the UK’s most secretive military research facilities, has been found to have shelled out “substantial sums” of money to Chinese-tied researchers.

    Projects at the University of Bristol, Imperial College London, and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh have received financial support from the Ministry of Defence facility in Porton Down, The Times reported on Monday.

    The report claimed that three academics at Bristol University’s Composites Institute have lectured at Zhejiang University in China and even went on to open a laboratory there. The professors are said to be experts in crafting novel materials for the use in extreme conditions such as jet engines, satellites, nuclear power stations, and other “stealth structures”.

    The government-backed Australian defence and strategic policy think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) classified Zhejiang University in 2019 as “high risk” for its “moderately high number of defence laboratories, relationship with defence industry, and links to economic and cyber espionage”.

    Imperial College London and Heriot-Watt University’s links to the Chinese military were both laid out in a report this month from the think tank Civitas, entitled Arming China? The Chinese Military Complex and Its Potential Exploitation of Scientific Research at UK Universities.

    Imperial College London — which signed a £5 million deal with CCP-linked tech giant Huawei last year— was found to have at least “four research centres sponsored by major Chinese weapons suppliers”, including the development of China’s next-generation stealth fighters.

    Heriot-Watt University was also mentioned in the report for receiving money from UK defence groups to partner with the Chinese to develop radar jamming technology.

    The university was found to have worked on another project with one of China’s top defence research universities, Harbin Engineering University, to create a password-breaking tool, which could potentially lead to “serious leaks of sensitive information”.

    Imperial College claimed that the details in the Civitas report “completely mischaracterise the true nature of our sponsorship arrangements”. Heriot-Watt claimed that any research carried out by staff complies with national security and intellectual property laws.

    Universities in Britain have seen increased scrutiny for pairing with the Beijing dictatorship, with MI6 reportedly investigating “some of the most prestigious universities in the country” for possibly violating national security laws by working with Chinese weapons developers.

    Some 200 British academics are also reportedly under investigation for allegedly sharing military technology with the communist regime.

    The author of the Civitas report, Radomir Tylecote, said: “British taxpayers are paying for research that might unintentionally help China’s military soon attain a potentially dominant position,” adding: “This is strategically incoherent – especially when UK spending on research for its own military needs is so anaemic.””

  30. One Migrant Dead and 22 Missing in Shipwreck off Lampedusa (breitbart, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2021/02/15/one-migrant-dead-and-22-missing-in-shipwreck-off-lampedusa/

    “A boat carrying 48 African migrants sank this weekend off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, leaving one dead and 22 still missing.

    During rescue operations, later interrupted due to bad weather, the Tunisian Navy was able to save 25 of the migrants — including six Tunisian women — and also recovered the body of one migrant who had drowned.

    The vessel carrying the migrants departed from the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax during the night between Friday and Saturday.

    In a statement, the Tunisian Navy announced that it had saved 25 of the shipwrecked in rescue operations about 60 miles northwest of Lampedusa and had taken them back to Tunis.

    Just hours earlier, 110 migrants were rescued in the same waters by the Open Arms NGO, following a report sent to Alarm Phone.

    The migrants, crammed aboard a rubber dinghy, called Alarm Phone, a migrant alert service, asking for help as the sea grew rough.

    For its part, Alarm Phone announced on Twitter: “The weather is getting worse, they tell us that there are high waves and a storm in progress. The authorities are informed. Help is needed immediately! Don’t let them drown!”

    Several hours later, a vessel of the Spanish NGO Open Arms arrived and brought aboard the more than 100 migrants.

    According to reports, the migrants were then transported to Porto Empedocle in Sicily.

    Shortly thereafter, the leader of Italy’s Lega party, Matteo Salvini, once again expressed his concern over growing numbers of illegal immigrants reaching Italy’s shores.

    “Five million legal immigrants in Italy, they are my brothers and sisters,” Salvini wrote on Twitter. “On the other hand, landings and illegal immigration generate problems. I believe that with Draghi we will be in harmony, the borders of Italy are the borders of Europe.”

    Salvini has been a harsh critic of NGOs operating in the Mediterranean Sea, accusing them of providing a free “taxi service” to migrants wishing to reach Italy, and of being complicit in the trafficking of persons.”

  31. Afghan Migrant Arrested After Acid Attack on Swiss Beauty Contest Model (breitbart, Feb 15, 2021)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/02/15/afghan-migrant-arrested-after-acid-attack-on-swiss-beauty-contest-model/

    “A 19-year-old Afghan migrant has been arrested in Switzerland after allegedly spraying a 24-year-old Swiss woman with acid in an underground car park.

    The attack took place in the underground car park attached to the apartment building where the victim lives in the town of Neuchâtel at around 7:53 am on Thursday morning.

    The victim, Elise T., was first found by a neighbour directly after the attack after screaming for help and the neighbour attempted to tend to the acid burns with water until an ambulance was able to arrive on the scene and take the 24-year-old to a hospital in the city of Lausanne, Swiss tabloid Blick reports. The paper cites neighbours who described the photographer’s model as a “lovely girl, very pretty”, who had recently entered into beauty contests.

    Just three hours after the attack, police were able to arrest a suspect in the case, takin a 19-year-old Afghan refugee into custody.

    Georges-André Lozouet, spokesman for the cantonal police in Neuchâtel, stated that police were not certain of the motive for the acid attack and stated, “Whether the suspect and the victim know each other and how they relate to each other, I cannot say at this time.”

    A prosecutor has opened criminal proceedings against the 19-year-old Afghan and police have reached out to the public for any information and any witnesses who may have seen the attack take place.

    The case comes just months after residents of Neuchâtel called on police to act against criminal migrants in the area, stating that they would sort the matter out themselves if no action occurred…”

  32. A fun read, morale booster Monday!

    The end of the affair

    America’s worst governor probably never thought he would miss America’s most obnoxious president.

    But that is the situation that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo likely finds himself in now that Donald Trump is no longer around to take all the heat for mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, now that the man who commanded nearly every minute of the media’s attention has shuffled off to Florida following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, Cuomo is at long last experiencing widespread criticism and scrutiny in the press for his grossly incompetent handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Empire State.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/end-of-the-affair