Reader’s Links for May 2, 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

74 Replies to “Reader’s Links for May 2, 2021”

    • Thank you for this Martin, too late to watch it tonight but I will tomorrow, the Church is beautiful and the singing.

  1. This is a comment I copied from Fox News. I’ve seen it before and people keep re-uploading it. I swear this is the most insightful intelligent true opinion I’ve ever heard on the matter of black/white relations. I think he’s nailed it right on the head, by Jove…

    “Growing up I lived through true systemic racism. Trust me when I tell you, it is real. The problem is, it is not coming from white people.

    American black culture was born out of rebellion and resistance towards an unfair system at that time. Yet, it has failed to change with the changes in society. It’s not a culture that can mix with other cultures because it is, by design, rebellious and resistant.

    Everything from language to appearance is almost the direct opposite of “white culture” for lack of a better term.

    Asking white people to accept or adapt to the American black culture is not practical or even possible because it is in direct conflict and geared to rebel against white people.

    This really isn’t hard to understand. In American black culture, white people are the enemy from the start. That has to change before anything else can.

    Naturally, a culture that is inherently rebellious is not sustainable, even for its own people. Once the rest of society distances itself from the culture, the same rebellious qualities will turn inward toward each other because that is all you know.

    They are right about a systemic problem, but they are looking to make changes in the wrong place.”

    This is so logical. A caused B which caused C which caused D. It makes perfect sense for the blacks to develop a bristling defensive angry culture against an unfair hateful majority… It’s exactly what I’d do…

    Like, I never thought it was anything but atrocious to have “whites only” drinking fountains and “whites only” schools, and neither did anybody I’ve ever known so I don’t appreciate being lumped in with the KKK and the Aryan Brotherhood when I don’t even know anybody like that. I din do nuthin’. Nobody had to “fight for their freedom” against me…

    • Resentment creates a Culture of Pride.

      Anti-Father.

      To fit themselves in they say, “we are just like you”.

      Spectrums mean never having to change.
      Inter-faith, never having to wake up.
      Class, never worrying where your next meal comes from.

      Black Lives Matter. Submist to hate and that individual is lost. Now loving death more than they love life.

      All they need is a carrot and stick, personalized into a Saviour and Satan – from their knowledge in scripture of Good and Evil.
      https://infogalactic.com/info/Yakub_(Nation_of_Islam)

      The willing slaves who conform to masters.

      • “According to The Autobiography of Malcolm X, all the races other than the black race were by-products of Yakub’s (spelled Yacub in the biography) work, as the “red, yellow and brown” races were created during the “bleaching” process;[3] however, the “black race” included Asian peoples, considered to be shared ancestors of the Moors. “Whites” were defined as Europeans. Elijah Muhammad also asserted that some of the new white race “tried to graft themselves back into the black nation, but they had nothing to go by.” As a result, they became gorillas. “A few were lucky enough to make a start, and got as far as what you call the gorilla. In fact, all of the monkey family are from this 2,000 year history of the white race in Europe.”[2]

        According to NOI doctrine, Yakub’s progeny were destined to rule for 6,000 years before the original black peoples of the world regained dominance, a process that had begun in 1914.”

        The Pure Bloods, true religion, Safe World, and Gender-Fluids…

        Collectively serving the Lords and Masters who terrorize in Heaven and Earth in return for submission and peace.

        Teaching hatred and unforgiveness.

        Accusing others of what they do.

        “Then Jesus said to him, [b]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ””
        https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%204:1-11&version=NKJV

        Live truthfully to your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. If they are wrong, they are forgiven. If you are wrong, you are forgiven.

        The Golden Rule never was a Rule. It was a Golden Attitude. A completeness of mind and not ritualistic giving like a machine of prayer.

        That each moment, would be met perfectly, and every child grow with unconditional love.

    • “…catalogued it as the Long March 5B rocket body. Now designated 2021-035B,…”

      That didn’t take long.

  2. ((Richard: This article shows how much John Kerry (and probably the vast majority of the Biden/Obama people) believes in Green Energy and electric cars. They know the electric grid won’t support charging a large number of electric cars. They also know the internal political fight in the US will prevent the building of the large number of power plants the transition from fossil fuels would require. Thus they buy stock in the fossil fuel companies and get rich)

    John Kerry invested in environmentally unsound oil and gas stocks before joining Biden WH – Liberty Unyielding
    Daily Caller News Foundation
    3-4 minutes

    John Kerry invested in environmentally unsound oil and gas stocks before joining Biden WH

    Image via Twitter

    By Thomas Catenacci

    Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry owned shares of multiple oil and gas corporations prior to joining the White House, ethics filings show.

    John Kerry previously invested in Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, Duke Energy, Cimarex, Dominion Energy, Xcel Energy, Exelon Corporation, Valero Energy Corporation and WEC Energy Group, according to Office of Government Ethics filings obtained by Axios. Kerry sold off his entire stock portfolio, which was worth between $4.2 and $15 million, prior to joining President Joe Biden’s administration.

    The Texas-based Valero Energy Corporation was recently ranked the fifth-worst emitter of greenhouse gasses despite having just 14 facilities, the San Antonio Current reported in December. The company was ordered to pay $2.85 million in a civil penalty in October for Clean Air Act violations, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. (RELATED: GOP Senator Demands Watchdog Investigate Energy Secretary’s Involvement With Electric Car Company)

    Trending: Manchin signals ‘No’ on D.C. statehood bill

    Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, a billion-dollar fracking and natural gas company, has been cited for environmental damages. In 2014, a Pennsylvania court granted the company’s request to place a restraining order against an anti-fracking activist, The Guardian reported.

    Kerry has railed against fossil fuel companies since Biden appointed him to spearhead the federal government’s climate change response. He has even warned oil and gas companies not to be on “the wrong side of this battle,” urging them to divest from current projects and invest in clean energy, CNN reported.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/05/01/john-kerry-invested-in-environmentally-unsound-oil-and-gas-stocks-before-joining-biden-wh/

  3. China-loving South Korean President forced to scrap the China town project

  4. Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran are coming together to oust USA from the Middle East

  5. #Gravitas #VaccinePatents #COVID
    Gravitas: Can India override vaccine patents?

  6. Chinese regime more assertive along Indian border; Indian variant of CCP-virus found in China

  7. Myanmar Coup: Protesters hold flash marches in Yangon for democracy | Latest World English News

    • Singapore, Malaysia to allow limited cross border travel on compassionate grounds from May 17

      Singapore, Malaysia to allow limited cross border travel on compassionate grounds from May 17

  8. 9+
    Back off, Vlad! UK to stage mega-drills as TEN nations team up in defiance of Putin’s plot

  9. 9+
    Gen. Keane reacts to North Korea warning Biden against ‘hostile policy’

  10. Ingresan en prisión los tres detenidos en Granada por alentar a cometer acciones terroristas contra ciudadanos e intereses franceses

    Tras la reedición de las caricaturas del profeta Mahoma, por el diario francés Charlie Hebdo, los detenidos colgaron en sus perfiles sociales numerosos vídeos amenazando de muerte y justificando la comisión de acciones violentas para vengar dicha publicación

    La gravedad de las amenazas vertidas, unidas a la capacidad de persuasión en sus seguidores, representaba un riesgo evidente para la seguridad colectiva, no sólo en España sino también en Francia

    29/04/21

    Agentes de la Policía Nacional han detenido en la ciudad de Granada a tres personas por su presunta participación en delitos de autocapacitación, amenazas y enaltecimiento terrorista. Los arrestados, que estarían muy radicalizados, instrumentalizaban sus perfiles en redes sociales para, entre otras cosas, alentar a la realización de acciones terroristas y violentas contra personas e instituciones francesas.

    La operación se ha llevado a cabo, de forma conjunta, por agentes de la Comisaría General de Información y de las Brigadas Provinciales de Información de San Sebastián y Granada, coordinados por la Fiscalía de la Audiencia Nacional y bajo la supervisión del Juzgado Central de Instrucción número Cinco. Además, ha contado con el apoyo de la Agencia Policial EUROPOL.

    La investigación comenzó cuando el pasado mes de octubre, coincidiendo con la reedición, por el diario francés Charlie Hebdo, de las caricaturas del profeta Mahoma, los agentes detectaron diversos vídeos en redes sociales donde varios individuos hacían apología expresa del terrorismo yihadista y vertían amenazas extremadamente graves y violentas contra personas e intereses franceses, principalmente.

    Tras la oportuna investigación, los especialistas identificaron a los administradores y participantes en estas publicaciones y detectaron que a través de sus perfiles acometían una intensa actividad en Internet, gestionando diferentes cuentas con casi 19.000 seguidores.

    Dirigidos a los más jóvenes

    Conscientes de su influencia en el público más joven, creaban contenido específico y adaptado a ellos, con el objetivo de ganarse la confianza de los más vulnerables y captarlos.

    Además de difundir material multimedia con proclamas de líderes yihadistas, los detenidos publicaban vídeos, protagonizados por ellos mismos, ensalzando la yihad violenta y alentando la comisión de acciones violentas, fundamentalmente contra Francia, sus ciudadanos y el Presidente del país galo, entre otros.

    La gravedad de las amenazas vertidas unidas a su capacidad para difundirlas públicamente en redes sociales, donde contaban con un gran número de seguidores, determinaron su inmediata detención.

    Durante la operación, realizada durante la madrugada del martes, se han practicado dos registros, incautándose numeroso material, medios electrónicos, terminales telefónicos y documentación de gran interés, y que están siendo analizados por los investigadores.

    En la mañana del día de hoy, se ha puesto a los tres arrestados a disposición judicial, decretando el titular del Juzgado Central de Instrucción número cinco el ingreso en prisión de todos ellos.

    https://www.policia.es/_es/comunicacion_prensa_detalle.php?ID=8762#

    • 20 de abril de 2021. Actuación contra una importante organización criminal dedicada a favorecer la inmigración irregular entre Argelia y España, además de traficar con pastillas de éxtasis. Vídeo de Guardia Civil publicado en el periódico http://www.cartagenadeley.com

  11. the guardian – Decline in US Covid vaccinations presents new problem: how to shrink operations

    With less than one-third of Americans fully vaccinated, health authorities switch from mass vaccination clinics to outreach campaigns

    […]“Reaching the final percentage of herd immunity,” believed to be at least 70% of all adults, “is going to be dependent on outreach and addressing any vaccine hesitancy,” said Brogna.

    […]However, he said, “we’ve reached a point, and it’s been very interesting how quick that happened, that the mass-clinic model is not reaching the segment of the population we’re trying to reach,” said Edwards.

    The phenomenon is repeated across the country. Local authorities in Los Angeles, California; Colorado; Florida; Nevada and Texas are poised to close mass vaccination sites by the end of May.

    […]The reasons for the slowdown are nuanced, most experts said.

    Vaccine hesitancy, especially among conservatives and racial minorities, is playing a role. But so too are difficulties with scheduling and transportation, as working-aged adults have fallen far behind older adults in terms of vaccination rates.

    One of the most notable trends in the immunization campaign is the relatively low rates of vaccination among adults aged 18-49. In this age group, 9-12% of people are fully vaccinated, compared with more than 27% among people aged 50-64.

    “I had a patient the other day where I was trying to go through the process of online scheduling with him and we just kept hitting a wall,”

    […]working-aged adults 20-49 were the most likely to transmit the disease to more than one person.

    “Thus, working adults who need to support themselves and their families have fueled the resurging epidemics in the United States,” an international group of researchers concluded. The same age group appears to be driving cases now in states such as California and Utah.

    […]“Reaching those young Republicans and conservative groups becomes a priority, because it’s the difference between normalcy or something less,” said Dr Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher and the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College in Houston, Texas. Lack of vaccine uptake, he said, “is not going to be homogeneously distributed. That means Covid-19 becomes a red state disease”.

    The politicization of the pandemic and dismissal of science on the right, especially by Donald Trump, has led many influential conservative pundits to question Covid-19 public health measures – from Fox News’s Tucker Carlson to the influential podcaster Joe Rogan.

    “We’ve got to rip the anti-science out of the Republican party,” said Hotez. “We have to help our conservative brothers and sisters.”

    […]Nevertheless, demand has also stalled at Brogna’s clinics, and public health authorities there are still trying to figure out why.

    “We’re surveying our own patients,” said Brogna. “We’re reaching out and looking at patients who have not been vaccinated to say, ‘Gee we’ve contacted you three times and noticed you haven’t scheduled a Covid vaccine. Can we talk about it?’” she said.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/02/us-covid-vaccinations-clinics-outreach-campaigns-vaccine-hesitancy

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

    CNN – 100 million fully vaccinated people are helping the US reopen. But many millions more are needed

    […]More than 243 million vaccine doses have been administered in the US, according to data published Saturday from the CDC. That’s about 3.3 million more doses reported administered since Friday, meaning the current seven-day average of vaccinations is at about 2.5 million doses administered per day.

    […]Although the vaccination milestone means that nearly 40% of adults have been inoculated, the US still has a ways to go to reach herd immunity — which would be when 70-85% of the population is vaccinated, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci. And health officials say that the only way to keep bringing down the death rate is to increase vaccination efforts.

    […]But adolescents are also missing out on routine vaccines, according to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky,

    […]And with the need for routine immunizations for kids returning to school,

    […]”To achieve high vaccination coverage rates and reduce Covid-19 transmission, we need rapid and extensive vaccination of children under the age of 18,” she said.

    […]Pfizer has submitted for an amendment to its vaccine’s emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration to extend authorization to people ages 12 to 15, while Moderna says it expects its vaccine to be authorized for people 12 and older this summer.

    Pfizer and Moderna are also studying their vaccines in children as young as 6 months.

    […]But CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen fears the US will fall short of reaching herd immunity if people who are “on the fence” about getting vaccinated see things returning to normal and become complacent.

    Maybe we have variants coming in from other countries,” she told CNN …. “And we could start this whole process all over again,” she said, stressing the importance of incentives for vaccinated individuals.

    Most J&J vaccine side effects are not serious

    […]only 3% of reported reactions after receiving the vaccine are classified as serious.

    […]The data included 88 deaths reported after vaccination. Among those deaths, three occurred in patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and CDC researchers wrote that, after preliminary reviews, “no other deaths appear to have an association with vaccination.”

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/01/health/us-coronavirus-saturday/index.html

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

    abc news – The risks unvaccinated Americans are weighing

    Why some Americans don’t want the vaccine, and what would change their minds.

    […] with 100 million vaccinated adults, deaths have already fallen 90% among those over 40, and that success could reach other age groups if vaccination is widespread. Health experts predict at least 70% of the country will have to be vaccinated to reach “herd immunity.”

    Still, many Americans who are still wary of the vaccines say the ultimate persuader will be time.

    […]”The point that we’re hitting is that for some people it will just take a little bit longer to make up their minds,” said Stefanie Friedhoff, a professor and senior director at the Brown University School of Public Health.

    […]Miller said she then explains that short-term side effects only last about three days and in comparison to getting the virus — which could be deadly — the benefits outweigh the risks.

    […]As for long-term effects, both Friedhoff and Miller said they tell people that the technology used to create the vaccines has been in the making for decades, and that the trials were able to move faster than usual because so many people participated. Tens of thousands of people were in the trials for Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, while nearly 100 million people have since been fully vaccinated in the U.S, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine database.

    […]For Miller, instead of telling young patients the vaccine will give them protection against a virus that they’re not afraid of, she tells them “hey, this is your ticket out,” she said.

    “And then, I can win a few of them over,” Miller said.

    She’s already seen a few young patients come in for a vaccine because it’s required for their summer plans.

    Dr. Christopher Morse, a professor of crisis communication at Bryant University in Rhode Island, said this is a winning strategy for college-aged adults.

    “The typical kind of guilt, you know, ‘it’s your duty to do this or if you don’t do this, bad things will happen’ that we’ve kind of been using so far, it doesn’t work on that group,” Morse said. “They completely just ignore it and turn off.”

    “They’re more motivated by, ‘Remember this? We can get back to that if more people get vaccinated,'” Morse said.

    abcnews(dot)go(dot)com/Politics/risks-unvaccinated-americans-weighing/story?id=77319410

    ====================================
    yahoo news – It’s time to start shunning the ‘vaccine hesitant.’ They’re blocking COVID herd immunity.

    […]Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, suggested in December that if 75% to 85% of the population got vaccinated, we could reach herd immunity by June. And with herd immunity, we’d return to a measure of “normalcy,” meaning indoor dining, movie theaters and hugs.

    But herd immunity is slipping away because a quarter of Americans are refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group recently said: “There is no eradication at this point, it’s off the table. …We as a society have rejected” herd immunity. Hmm, no! “We” have not rejected anything. A quarter of the country is ruining it for all of us.

    It’s not just wacky former rockers who have put herd immunity out of reach. It is white evangelicals (45% say they won’t get vaccinated). And it is Republicans (almost 50% are refusing the vaccine). In Texas, 59% of white Republicans have said “no” to the vaccine. You can slap the euphemism “vaccine hesitancy” on the problem, but in the end the G.O.P., and the children of G.O.D., are perpetuating a virus that is sickening and killing people in droves.

    A big part of the problem stems from the cultish relationship many evangelicals and Republicans have with former President Donald Trump.

    […] But the time for analyzing why these human petri dishes have chosen to ignore the medical science that could save them, and us, is over. We need a different strategy. I propose shunning.

    Biden’s wildly successful vaccine rollout means that soon everyone who wants a vaccine will have one. When that happens, restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, barbers, airlines and Ubers should require proof of vaccination before providing their services.

    And it shouldn’t stop there. Businesses should make vaccination a requirement for employment. A COVID outbreak can shut down a business and be financially devastating. And failure to enforce basic health and safety measures is not fair to employees who have to work in offices, factories, and stores where close contact is required. Things should get personal, too: People should require friends to be vaccinated to attend the barbeques and birthday parties they host. Friends don’t let friends spread COVID.

    https://news.yahoo.com/time-start-shunning-vaccine-hesitant-080043779.html

    ==========================
    abc news – This is a pretty dangerous time to be unvaccinated’: Dr. Ashish Jha

    • nbc news – Georgia Covid Vaccine Demand Winds Down As Hesitancy Causes Challenge For Health Officials

      Vaccine hesitancy in Georgia has caused the state’s vaccination demand to wind down as hesitancy among white evangelicals poses a challenge for state health officials.

    • global news – Canadian officials hesitant to develop vaccine passport system

    • global news – Canadians protest COVID-19 restrictions amid record-breaking hospitalizations

      …as young patients plead for people to take the virus seriously, some Canadians are protesting restrictions.

    • global news – Tens of thousands of COVID-19 vaccine appointments going unfilled in US

    • ctv news – Trudeau comments on the ‘irony’ of anti-lockdown protests

    • sky news Australia – Swimming Australia to defer vaccine dose for athletes over jab side effects

      Swimming Australia is expected to stop athletes from receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine until after Olympic trials in June.

      The Australian Olympic Committee will begin the first round of vaccinations on May 10 and the second close to May 31.

      Swimming trials begin in Adelaide on June 12 which is just over a week later.

      The sporting body wants to ensure athletes are not hampered by jab side effects in the lead up to Tokyo.

    • Buffalo News – Watch Now: Health Commissioner Dr. Burstein on teen vaccine

      Dr. Gale Burstein, the Erie County Health Commissioner, talks about the county’s effort to get the Covid-19 vaccine to everyone ages 16 and up during a luau-themed teen vaccine clinic at SUNY ECC South Campus.

      • Beware of that individual. The FDA did approve the mRNA jabs for Emergency Use Only.

        I do agree with her about the situation in India in that it isn’t as catastrophic as media portrays it to be. And looking at the photos we’ve been seeing, they are not dated or timed. That, in itself, is a problem.

        On Trudeau requiring vaccine passports, that applies to international travel, for now.

    • CBC – Doctors call for nationwide COVID-19 circuit breaker

      Dr. Anand Kumar, a critical care physician at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, talks to CBC’s chief political correspondent, Rosemary Barton, about an open letter he signed with other health experts calling for stronger national policies to overpower COVID-19.

    • International travel awaits if ‘dry run’ between Ireland and Britain is successful

      Ireland’s common travel area with the UK could be used as a “dry run” for the EU’s digital green certificate as foreign travel resumes into the summer.

  12. the epoch times – Firm Overseeing Arizona Election Audit Says Court Released Security Plan to Public

    The Florida-based firm that’s overseeing the 2020 election audit in Arizona’s largest county on April 30 claimed that a court released its security plan to the public, despite knowing it was meant to be shielded from public view.

    Cyber Ninjas submitted a slew of documents to the Maricopa County Superior Court in response to a recent ruling by Judge Daniel Martin, who rejected an attempt to file the documents under seal because of their sensitive nature and ordered them filed by noon local time on April 29.

    But even the plaintiffs in the case, the Arizona Democratic Party, agreed that one exhibit, which gave an overview of the security for the audit, should be withheld from the public.

    The seven-page plan appeared on the website of the court on April 29; it was available for anyone to view and download. The Epoch Times obtained the plan while it was publicly accessible.

    According to a request for an emergency hearing, the court was aware the filing was meant to be shielded but still published it online for anyone to see.

    At 11:02 a.m., about an hour before the deadline, lawyers for Cyber Ninjas informed Martin’s judicial assistant that the exhibit shouldn’t be publicly released. They offered to send over a stipulated motion saying as much.

    The court, approximately 30 minutes later, asked for the motion. Lawyers drafted the motion and sent it to all parties involved. The court at 12:58 p.m. asked about the motion, and lawyers promptly informed the assistant that all parties had been provided with the proposed motion and they were waiting for approval. At 3:32 p.m., Cyber Ninjas filed the stipulation. Three minutes later, the judicial assistant responded, “Thank you.”

    Additionally, the court’s clerk said in an entry from 3:20 p.m. that it received the stipulation and that the exhibit would be sealed.

    But the security plans, known as Exhibit D9, were still released to the public.

    “Although the Court had knowledge since 11:02 am that the Parties agreed that Exhibit D9 should be sealed and not made available to the public, the Court released Exhibit D9 to the public via Maricopa County’s Clerk of the Superior Court website,” Cyber Ninjas lawyers wrote in the request for a hearing.

    The exhibit began to appear on the internet after 6 p.m. and later that evening, a local media outlet published an article describing details of the exhibit.

    The request was for an emergency status conference regarding what happened.

    The court and Cyber Ninjas didn’t immediately respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.

    Martin was appointed by a Democratic governor. He took over the case, an attempt to block the audit by Arizona Democrats, after another judge had recused himself. On April 28, Martin rebuffed a bid to immediately halt the audit.

    The audit started on April 23 and is scheduled to continue until May 14. Workers are reviewing ballots cast and machines used in Maricopa County in the 2020 presidential election.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/company-in-charge-of-arizona-election-audit-accuses-court-of-releasing-security-plan-to-public_3798427.html

  13. Bernard Henri-Levy:
    The Metaphysics of the Sarah Halimi Affair

    Sarah Halimi’s peers and any woman living in a dangerous neighborhood in Paris or anywhere else, can draw the following conclusion: Today’s version of French law no longer protects them and, if they have just been murdered, will not honor their memory or their dignity.

    And, beyond the law, language: Words, those that stand for crime and pain, those that we trust to distinguish reason from unreason, the words designed to denote what is true, just, and good, and, in so doing, attempt to reassure us (if only just a little) about our place in this world, these words appear to have lost their meaning.

    When words no longer have meaning, the ground gives way beneath us.

    And when the ground gives way—this ground, in particular—it is as if the world around us had left its orbit and was crumbling….

    For the time being, one thing is certain.

    The judges are wrong to take offense at the offense taken to their judgment or, in this case, to their failure to judge.

    For this affair has been a sinister revelation for us all.

    We are witnessing the collapse not just of the prosaic meaning of “law and order,” but the collapse of the spirit of a nation’s laws and its language, the way we order the relation between ourselves and that which gives our lives purpose, meaning, and strength.

    And this problem, this abyss, this malaise at the heart of the republic’s democratic civilization, is something that we, the French people, must ponder and repair together.

    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/metaphysics-sarah-halimi-affair-bernard-henri-levy

    • Comprehensive account of this case.
      France has the third largest population of Jews in the world. This is a very big deal.

      A Guide to L’Affaire Halimi

      The murder of Sarah Halimi and the absolving of her killer are being presented as a test case for the integrity of French justice, much like the Dreyfus case more than a century ago—one difference being that key figures on both sides of the case are Jewish

      https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-laffaire-sarah-halimi-france-marc-weitzmann

      • From the link above:

        In short, it may not be Traoré’s consciousness that was abolished, but his sense of self, which seems to have been overwhelmed by a syncretic belief in witchcraft made of animist magic, voodoo, unspecified superstition, and Islamic exorcism.

        And somewhere deep in the tissue of this baroque inner world laid the true demon: antisemitic hatred. But then, how exactly should Traoré’s state at the time of the murder be characterized?

        Interestingly enough, the question has been haunting France since the rise of a violent antisemitism in the early 2000s, when it became clear that, in most cases, the aggressors of French Jews were not Islamist militants at all, but regular people, mostly Muslims, suddenly overcome by an outburst of uncontrolled, unexplained rage against either a Jewish neighbor or some stranger walking the street with a Jewish identifier on his person. Traoré seems like an extreme example of that phenomenon, whose first manifestations in France anticipated the terror wave by 15 years, and for which no satisfying explanation has ever been provided….

        It is telling that when it looked for a helping hand in its search for justice, the Halimi family, which hails from North Africa and is observant, didn’t reach out to the usual left-wing star lawyers of the secular French Ashkenazi Jewish establishment, who have for years made news fighting racism and antisemitism in France. Instead, the Halimis called on Goldnadel, a fierce adversary of the “assimilated” Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France (CRIF), and an implicit ally of Marine Le Pen….

  14. Netherlands: Hundreds march in protest as govt suspends further easing of COVID restrictions

    Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday in protest against the government’s decision to suspend further easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

    The country lifted a night-time curfew and allowed bars and restaurants to open outdoors for limited numbers of visitors last week.

    While venues such as gyms and museums had hoped to open on May 11, the government announcement postponed the re-opening by at least a week.

    The decision was made in the light of growing infection rates and hospital admissions, with the healthcare system’s intensive care wards facing increasing pressure.


  15. MONTREAL, yesterday, May 01 – The Pro-Freedom March, aka anti-lockdown and anti-mask.

    Montreal’s TVA Nouvelles estimated the crowd at 30,000, and so did the organizer of the event. All was peaceful. The Olympic Stadium had to shut down its vaccination clinic for the day and relocate it elsewhere.

    Quebec’s PM Legault is downplaying the number of people who showed up and he clearly is uncomfortable. He said it’s only a few tens of thousands out of a population of 8 million or so who disagree with his (draconian) measures.

    Once again, Legault insists that people must wear the mask to protect other people and he wants the Police to be more severe about the mask issue.

    The march: https://youtu.be/NZCUl75WGx8

  16. University of Minnesota student leader caught on video telling peers to place fake police calls to make life hell for cops
    Paul Sacca
    4-6 minutes

    A member of the University of Minnesota’s student government was caught on video imploring her peers to make the lives of police officers “hell” by placing bogus calls for help.

    Lauren Meyers is the chief financial officer of the Minnesota Student Association and the co-chair of the Office for Student Affairs Mental Health committee. During a video conference with fellow members of the MSA, Meyers instructed her fellow student government members to use several tactics to “annoy the s*** out of” campus law enforcement.

    During the video call, another student asked Meyers, “When you say disrupt UMPD, what exactly do you mean by that?”

    Meyers replied, “Make their lives hell. Annoy the s*** out of them. Like, use up their resources, make their officers show up to something.”

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/university-minnesota-student-police-video?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-05-02&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM

    twitter video at site

  17. John Kerry reveals earned millions of dollars selling shares in energy companies and finance firms
    James Gordon
    6-8 minutes

    John Kerry sold off hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of shares in oil and gas firms after he was made Joe Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate – and weeks after warning that mankind has just nine years to save the planet.

    Kerry revealed in official disclosures that he has received millions of dollars from salary, consulting fees and from liquidating stock that he held since President Biden took office.

    Documents that cover most of 2020 which run up to January 2021 reveal how Kerry, 77, also held hundreds of thousands of dollars of investments in energy-related companies that could well be affected by policies that he will help develop as Joe Biden’s new climate envoy.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9533533/John-Kerry-reveals-earned-millions-dollars-selling-shares-energy-companies-finance-firms.html

    (I wonder if he did sell the stocks, and if yes before or after the uproar?)

  18. Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Understanding the Houthi Threat to Israel

    On March 7, 2021, Houthi rebels – also known as Ansar Allah – fired a salvo of missiles at Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Ras Tanura and Dhahran. Despite uncertainty regarding the motives behind the attack or its success, the very next day Iran’s IRGC sought to threaten Israel by forging an implicit link between the Houthi strike and the possibility of an attack on Eilat.

    This incident is only the latest evidence of Iran’s perception of the Houthis as a bargaining chip in its struggle against Israel, relating to the rebel group almost as if they are a missile unit in the IRGC Air Force. Yet although the Houthi threat to Israel has made headlines on numerous occasions in recent years, it remains poorly understood.

    This paper examines the Houthis’ strategic approach to Israel as well as the group’s operational capabilities and practices, provides an assessment of the Houthi threat to Israel, and concludes with five key insights for Israeli decision makers.

    https://www.inss.org.il/publication/the-houthi-threat-to-israel/?offset=2&posts=3117

    • Thank goodness there are plenty of capable Yemeni-Israelis. They’ll sort out these feral pets of the Twisted-Ragheads.

      Egyptians shudder remembering their experience there. Like Vietnam for Americans, Afghanistan for Russians. (We can relate, Afghan-wise.)