Reader’s Links for February 22, 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

123 Replies to “Reader’s Links for February 22, 2021”

  1. UK counter-terror chief urges rights groups to reconsider boycott of Prevent review
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/rights-group-boycott-threatens-prevent-review-says-uk-top-counterterrorism-officer

    “The UK’s top counter-terrorism police officer has said a boycott of the government’s long-delayed review of the Prevent programme by a coalition of rights groups risks damaging its best chance at reducing extremism.

    Neil Basu, the Metropolitan police’s assistant commissioner for counterterrorism, told The Guardian on Monday that Prevent “is the most important pillar of our counter-terrorism strategy, and counter-terrorism police have long been advocates of an independent review”.

    “We will, of course, work with the government’s chosen reviewer because we believe the process will give our Prevent practitioners the opportunity to share their many years of expertise and insight, with the hope of bringing lasting improvement to this vital strategy,” he said.

    Last month, the government chose its former head of the Charity Commission, William Shawcross, to lead its independent review of Prevent after its first choice, Lord Carlile, was forced to step down in December 2019 following a legal challenge over his past advocacy for the programme.

    Shawcross’ appointment was met with harsh criticism from more than a dozen rights groups and Muslim organisations who called for a boycott of the review. Prevent has long been dogged by complaints that it is discriminatory against Muslims.

    The organisations, including Amnesty International, Liberty, the Open Society Justice Initiative and Cage, said Shawcross “patently expressed Islamophobic views”, citing a 2012 speech where he said: “Europe and Islam is one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future.”….”

  2. Iran rejects Turkey’s military presence in Syria and Iraq
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210222-iran-rejects-turkeys-military-presence-in-syria-and-iraq/

    “Iran’s Foreign Minister has condemned the Turkish army’s presence in Syria and Iraq. “We reject the Turkish military presence in Syria and Iraq, and we consider Ankara’s policies towards Damascus and Baghdad to be wrong,” Mohammed Javad Zarif told Press TV yesterday.

    Turkey and Iran have different regional policies, especially in Syria. Ankara backs some elements of the opposition, while Tehran backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and has its own military presence in the country.

    Zarif, however, emphasised Iran’s claim that its only goal in Syria is to combat terrorism, a label that it attaches to all opposition groups…”

  3. ‘EU failed to do its share for 4M refugees in Turkey’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210222-eu-failed-to-do-its-share-for-4m-refugees-in-turkey/

    “Turkey’s president on Monday criticised the EU’s double standard of supporting Greece on the migrant issue but not sharing responsibility for 4 million refugees hosted by Turkey, Anadolu Agency reported.

    Speaking at a migration conference at a university in the Aegean Izmir province, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “While the EU gives Greece €3 billion [$3.65 billion] for 100,000 refugees, it did not shoulder its responsibility for 4 million refugees in Turkey.”

    He added that refugees along the Turkish-Greek border have been openly persecuted by Greek security forces, resulting in shameful scenes.

    “Humanity has failed [migrants] not only in the Mediterranean, but also in the Aegean and Meric River,” he said, citing the river along the Turkish-Greek border, stressing that in 2020 alone, the Greek Coast Guard committed 9,000 cases of illegal pushback of asylum seekers in the Aegean.

    The world also has no idea where and who kidnapped tens of thousands of Syrian children seeking refuge in Europe who disappeared, he added.

    Erdogan said that approximately 85% of the world’s refugee population is not hosted by wealthy states, but by countries which are less developed.

    “According to figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, only 39,500 out of 1.4 million refugees waiting to be placed in third countries in the world in 2020 were resettled in 25 Western countries,” he said.

    For over 500 years Turkish people have welcomed refugees, taking in migrants from various cultures and religions, he said, adding: “We did not turn down anyone who came to our borders over their ethnic identity, religion, culture, disposition, or sect.”

    Criticising US support for the group YPG, he said: “They do not care about refugees but still stand with terrorism and terrorists.”

    Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist organisation.

    Turkey hosts nearly 4 million refugees, more than any other country in the world. It has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

    Under a March 2016 deal, the EU allocated €6 billion to support Syrian migrants in Turkey, but Turkey has complained that the funds were allocated belatedly and incompletely.”

  4. French women in Syria camps go on hunger strike to demand repatriation: report
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/2/22/french-women-in-syria-camps-launch-hunger-strike-report

    “French women who joined the Islamic State and are currently held in Syrian detention camps began a hunger strike on Saturday in an attempt to secure their repatriation and trial in French courts, according to The New York Times.

    In a series of voice recordings obtained by the Times, the women – who chose to remain anonymous due to threats – said they had decided to stop eating until they meet the “right people to get answers about our future”.

    French lawyers representing the women confirmed their hunger strikes on Sunday.

    The ten striking are among dozens of French women and about 200 children detained by Kurdish forces at squalid camps in northeastern Syria.

    Over 60,000 relatives of IS fighters live in the Al-Hol and Roj camps, after the extremist group lost its final foothold in Syria in 2019.

    France and other Western countries, whose citizens are detained there, have resisted calls from families and rights groups to repatriate them…”

  5. UN urges rescue of Rohingya refugees adrift at sea
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/2/22/un-urges-rescue-of-rohingya-refugees-adrift-at-sea

    “The UN refugee agency has called for the immediate rescue of a group of Rohingya refugees stranded at sea without food or water.

    The boat departed southern Bangladesh about 10 days ago but experienced engine failure, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Monday.

    The group of Rohingya refugees had left from Cox’s Bazaar, the coastal Bangladeshi district home to around a million Rohingya living in dire conditions, the UNHCR said.
    Relatively affluent, Muslim-majority Malaysia is the main destination for Rohingya fleeing misery in Bangladeshi refugee camps…”

  6. Crucial steps taken to stop anti-Pakistan propaganda on social media: DG ISPR
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2285521/crucial-steps-taken-to-stop-anti-pakistan-propaganda-on-social-media-dg-ispr-1

    “The military has said that steps have been taken to stem the tide of toxic propaganda against Pakistan on social media. “We have taken crucial steps to stop the propaganda against the country on the social media,” the chief military spokesperson, Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, told a media briefing on Monday.

    The news briefing – which coincided with the fourth anniversary of Operation Radd-ul-Fasad – was arranged to update the media on the achievements made by the security forces during the four-year-long offensive. “We have eliminated such anti-Pakistan propaganda by a large extent,” he added.

    Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, or ‘Elimination of Discord’ in English, was launched on February 22, 2017, to capitalise on the gains of Operation Zarb-e-Azb and, according to the military, it was aimed at indiscriminately eliminating the “residual/latent threat of terrorism”, by going after the sleeper cells of terrorists and their sympathisers in the country’s urban centres.

    “The Pegham Pakistan initiative helped defeat the terrorists’ narrative and hate speech,” Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, DG ISPR, said. “I felicitate Ulema for their role in making it a success.”

    He said the strategic intent of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad was to ensure a peaceful and stable Pakistan. “The armed forces and the masses have been successfully facing national security challenges and will continue to tackle them as a nation in the days to come,” he added.

    Elaborating further on the operation, he said the grand strategy of Pakistan’s war against terrorism was based on the “clear, hold, build and transfer” doctrine. He added that various areas were cleared of terrorists after major operations in the clear and hold phase, with Radd-ul-Fasad being the start of the build and transfer phase. “During this, it was our responsibility to make hard-earned gains irreversible.”

    The military spokesperson said the operation was initiated against terrorist elements at a time when the terrorists were seeking refuge in the urban and other areas of Pakistan after the military dismantled their infrastructure in the erstwhile tribal areas.

    Terrorists and their facilitators were engaged in the failed attempts to target the cities, tehsils, schools, place of worships, trading centres, women, and children.

    “Radd-ul-Fasad was launched with a two-pronged strategy involving the counter-terrorism and counter-extremism domain.”

    Maj Gen Iftikhar noted that an ideology could only be countered by a superior ideology in the counter-extremism domain.

    “The execution of the National Action Plan, bringing the tribal areas and seminaries into the national mainstream, police reforms, and controlling extremist elements were part of it. There was a grand strategy behind the operation.”

    After clearing the areas using kinetic operations, he added, socio-economic uplift is the key to peace.

    As we move ahead, we are going to overcome the remaining security threats with better use of techniques and technology, he said.

    “You will see more positive developments in the near future. So far, more than 0.3 million intelligence-based operations (IBOs) have been conducted across the country,” the DG said.”

    Maj Gen Iftikhar further said that “the country has been yielding the dividends and positive outcomes of Operation Radd-ul-Fasad”.

    He highlighted that following the operation, more than 5,000 people inclined towards extremism have been reintegrated into the national mainstream.

    “The areas where there was only unrest are now witnessing economic activities flourish.”

    The purpose of the operation was to neutralise terrorists who had attempted to bring the country to a standstill, reiterated Maj Gen Babar.

    “As many as 1,684 cross border incidents occurred during the operation, while Operation Khyber 4 was also conducted during the period. The armed forces also had 450 personnel martyred during the operation.”

    “Two personnel of the forces embraced martyrdom while 199 sustained injuries while dismantling landmines during Raddul Fasaad,” said the military spokesperson elaborating on de-mining efforts in the tribal districts after the completion of combat operations in the region.

    When asked about recent violent incidents in Waziristan, the military spokesperson said not every incident should be viewed as a form of terrorism. “There are law and order incidents too. They won’t fall to zero.”

    “They are tribal districts and will take time to normalize, we need to have patience. We shouldn’t be incident-specific.”

    He added that a batch of 3,000 personnel have passed out and another 4,000 are in police training.

    Operations against terrorists

    “Some 75,000 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were carried out in which the CTD, ISI, FC, and police, participated,” the DG said.

    “Over 80,000 IBOs were conducted in Balochistan, 150,000 in Sindh, and 52,000 in K-P during the past four years.”

    He added that urban terrorism was controlled and terrorism networks were eradicated. Attacks on a hotel in Gwadar, Balochistan, agriculture university Peshawar, the Chinese consulate, and the Karachi Stock Exchange were some of the terror attempts foiled.

    The DG added that as a result of the successful operation in Karachi, normalcy returned to the city. “The city was at the sixth place in the international crime index, and now, it is at the 106th slot,” he maintained.

    Responding to a question, the military spokesperson maintained rumours on social media regarding the appointment of the next DG ISI are “baseless”.

    “Moreover, the sixth population census was successfully organised following a betterment in the overall security situation.”

    During the census, seven personnel of the armed forces embraced martyrdom, he added.”

  7. Anti-terror op launched against PKK in southeast Turkey
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/anti-terror-op-launched-against-pkk-in-southeast-turkey-162587

    “Turkey launched an operation early on Feb. 22 against the PKK terrorist organization in southeastern Mardin province.

    The city governorate announced that the anti-terror operation will take place in a total of 18 neighborhoods in the towns of Maz?da??, Derik and K?z?ltepe.

    The operation aims to ensure the safety of residents’ lives and property, “neutralize” terrorist PKK members including the organization’s ringleaders and destroy shelters and storage facilities used by the terror group as well as arrest wanted people in the region.

    Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

    A curfew has been imposed on the 18 neighborhoods as of 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) and residents are advised to comply with the lockdown for safety reasons until further notice.

    In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.”

  8. Migrants: Asso30 with 232 on board,1 dead in Porto Empedocle
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2021/02/22/migrants-asso30-with-232-on-board1-dead-in-porto-empedocle_dba8dc93-e828-4372-a99b-7db03715f00c.html

    “Asso 30, the private ship that works for ENI platforms, has docked in Porto Empedocle, in the province of Agrigento. It has 232 migrants on board rescued in the Strait of Sicily and the body of a victim.

    The group will be tested for Covid and identified. The migrants will then be transferred to the quarantine ship “Allegra” to monitor their health as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.

    The quarantine ship “Allegra” will then leave Porto Empedocle and reach the “Adriatica” vessel off the coast. This other quarantine sip is expected to host 150 migrants from the hotspot of Lampedusa. The group was scheduled to leave on Monday morning for Porto Empedocle. The “Adriatica” ship, which is completely empty and can host about 400 people, was docked until Sunday morning off Lampedusa. The prefecture of Agrigento – which systematically coordinates the transfer of migrants present in hosting facilities – wanted migrants who have already been identified and tested for Covid to board directly in Lampedusa.

    The weather’s condition however did not allow the ship to dock.

    The “Suprema” vessel meanwhile remains in front of Lampedusa, ready for the boarding of some 300 migrants coming from the hotspot as soon as the conditions of the sea will allow it to dock in cala Pisana. The facility of the largest Pelagian island, where 1,100 people were registered on Saturday, hosted on Monday morning over 900. (ANSAmed)”

  9. Reaction to Biden claiming black people have trouble with the internet
    Kuzo Kevin – February 20, 2021

  10. Mining company in Canada goes full-blown systemic racism and anti-White Privilege.

    – Tectonic Speaks Out Against Racism and Commits to Taking Action –

    Tectonic therefore commits to confronting discrimination head-on and is starting with immediate actions, such as:

    We are implementing two scholarships for black and indigenous students in partnership with Doyon, Limited, Alaska’s largest private landholder and one of the largest Native Regional Corporations.

    Mandating our entire team to undertake professional development specific to Cultural Competency and Anti-Racism Awareness and Responder Training. To that effect, Tectonic management and the Board of Directors recently completed a two-day anti-racism workshop hosted by the Magassa Intercultural Capacity Building Specialists.

    A full audit of all internal policies, controls, guidelines, and practices is underway.

    Developing an interactive workshop on anti-racism and intercultural competency, which we plan to bring forward to the entire mineral exploration and mining industry.

    MORE: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tectonic-speaks-against-racism-commits-133000177.html

  11. channel 4 – Why do people believe Covid conspiracy theories?

    As the Covid vaccine is steadily rolled out around the world, there’s also a surge in disinformation, conspiracy theories and fake news.

    Governments and the World Health Organisation are making a huge effort to tackle it – and putting pressure on social media platforms to take down false content more quickly.

    We’ve been to meet anti-lockdown protestors in Birmingham – who claim the virus is some kind of hoax.

  12. Biden repeals Trump executive order that promoted industry-led apprenticeship programs
    Trump order sought to bring “relevant skills and high-paying jobs” to workers via apprentice programs.

    1:05 / 1:16
    By Daniel Payne
    Updated: February 20, 2021 – 4:03pm

    Joe Biden repealed a Trump-era executive order this week that sought to reduce federal oversight of apprenticeship programs and allow more industry groups to develop the programs themselves.

    President Trump signed an order in 2017 that sought to “expand apprenticeships in America.” The expansion of those programs, Trump claimed, would “[help] more Americans to obtain relevant skills and high-paying jobs,” with the president arguing that “federally funded education and workforce development programs are not effectively serving American workers.”

    Trump’s order directed the Secretary of Labor to “consider proposing regulations … that promote the development of apprenticeship programs by third parties,” which “may include trade and industry groups, companies, non-profit organizations, unions, and joint labor-management organizations.”

    Biden this week issued a repeal of that order, directing federal agencies to “rescind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies, or portions thereof, implementing or enforcing” Trump’s order.

    “In addition,” Biden wrote, “any personnel positions, committees, task forces, or other entities established pursuant to [Trump’s order] shall be abolished, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”

    Babs – This is all so sad that I have had a hard time contributing to this site. It is safe to say that my feelings about the reversal of many Trump initiatives has depressed me beyond words. Why?
    Why are initiatives that clearly helped American workers being reversed? Why are peace initiatives in the Middle East not only not applauded but actively worked against? If you believe in the Wuhan thing and the draconian regulations that have followed then why are illegals being allowed to flood the country once again?
    Why are Americans forced to shelter in place while tens of thousands of non covid tested illegals are set free in our country?
    In Canada it seems even worse.
    So, to all the regulars at VTB I want to tell you that I can’t stand it any more. I have to take a break and forget about the misogamy of Islam and the putrification of our Western ruling class. My husband and I are at a significant turning point in our lives and I need to spend positive energy on our transition.
    I have two very smart sons that seem to think that collectivism is the answer to society’s problems. Our world views have become increasingly disparate and I am not sure how that happened. But, I assure you that they are steadfast in their beliefs. I dread the day they realize their error; I will most probably be dead by then.
    So to VTB regulars, I salute you but I have to forge a happy life for myself and my husband for the ten to fifteen years we have left.
    I will continue to read this site off and on and post relevant articles but, my heart isn’t in it anymore. I have to move on.