Reader’s Links for June 21, 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

92 Replies to “Reader’s Links for June 21, 2021”

  1. I drank water out of “yabby” holes(small prawn sized crustaceans) and out of small stagnant rock pools, using a rubber tube. WRT the pools, you place the end of the tube at the middle depth so as to dodge the scum on the surface and the invertebrate carcases on the bottom, that is , after throwing out the small bird carcases. That is what you do when you have no easy water. I crack up at “bottled water” aficionados as they have no idea just how lucky they are to have clean running water coming out of a tap, nor do they realize how easily it could all fail.

    https://wheelgunr.blogspot.com/

    The Water Supply and the House of Cards That Is Modern Life

    My series of Infrastructure posts usually deal with bridges and dams. But the total support of modern life is more complex than that.

    You walk into a room and flip a switch; you expect the lights to come on. 999 times out of 1000, they do. That one time they don’t because of a storm, or some other reason, you are upset. You turn a valve and expect to get water for cooking or cleaning.

    If you couldn’t turn on the tap, and get safe drinking water, would you know what to do? If you couldn’t get any water out of the tap, what would you do? Longview chlorine plant downtime causes shortage of chemical used to treat water supplies across West Coast.

    Seems there is a shortage of chlorine, which is used to treat drinking water before it arrives at your home.

    Two problems at two completely unrelated locations have conspired to put drinking water supplies at risk.

    First, chronologically, there was a fire at a plant in Louisiana.

    The shortage is so acute because an August 2020 fire destroyed BioLab in Lake Charles, La., rendering that chlorine plant inoperable as well. That facility was responsible for a significant portion of chlorine tablets produced for the U.S. market, Oregon DEM said.
    Then the local supplier had a piece of equipment fail due to an electrical problem.

    Earlier in June, a piece of equipment experienced a failure with an electrical transformer. The failed piece of equipment is in the process of being repaired at an off-site location due to the nature of the damage, the Oregon Department of Emergency Management said. Officials expect the plant to be offline until the end of June at a minimum.
    The problem is impacting at least parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Northern California. The cities of Kalama and Rainier have asked people to conserve water both indoors and outdoors, though most of area is apparently just asking people to cut back on outdoor water use. (Sprinklers, pools, car washing, etc.)

    There is this idea that became taken for granted all through our economy in the 1970s or 1980s. Just in time manufacturing. Let the person up the line from you hold your raw materials/component parts inventory. But there is a downside to this, because the system that you rely on is not as robust as it needs to be. In systems we used to think about mean-time-to-failure/mean-time-to-repair, but no one does systems design anymore. In this case no one in Oregon, Washington, Idaho or Northern California thought about how much of an emergency supply of chlorine should they have on-hand? Maybe chlorine has a shelf-life. Maybe they were just looking for a way to cut back on the water treatment costs because it doesn’t generate the kind of news politicians want. It does become news when something goes wrong, just not the kind of news the politicians want.

    So if you couldn’t get water from the tap

  2. A video on Erdogan’s plans for a $20 billion canal linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It has strategic implications:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bO5UpxdvN4

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_Canal
    Some analysts have speculated the main reason for the construction of the canal was to bypass the Montreux Convention, which limits the number and tonnage of war ships from non-Black Sea powers that could enter the sea via the Bosporus, as well as prohibiting tolls made by traffic passing through it.[2] In January 2018, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m announced that Istanbul Canal would not be subject to the Montreux Convention.

  3. BRITAIN – MHRA chief executive Dr June Raine said: ‘Alongside the independent experts of the Commission on Human Medicines and members of its Medicines for Women’s Health Expert Advisory Group, we have reviewed reports of menstrual disorders and unexpected vaginal bleeding, suspected as adverse reactions to vaccination.

    ‘The current evidence does not suggest an increased risk, following vaccination, with the UK’s three Covid vaccines.

    ‘The number of reports is low in relation to the number of women who have had the vaccine to date and the background rate of menstrual disorders generally.

    ‘We continue to closely monitor these reports for potential signals.’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9708213/Nearly-4-000-women-report-period-problems-getting-Covid-vaccine.html

  4. A new ‘domestic terrorism strategy’ brings back an old information playbook – Liberty Unyielding
    J.E. Dyer
    21-27 minutes

    A new ‘domestic terrorism strategy’ brings back an old information playbook

    Big Blue Bird is watching you. ‘1984’ trailer, YouTube; bird images Pixabay, LU Staff

    It seems to be the nature of modern communication. The advance over the modern communication of 100 years ago – which in terms of all previous human history was a breakpoint of modernism – is real and evident.

    And it’s this. Instead of hearing new, radical themes blasted at the public over megaphones and radio waves, and being caught by surprise, we are seeing them become radical in living color, before our eyes, through a panoply of media. No surprise is possible, because many of us have seen the themes coming for years, and all of us have to one extent or another watched them develop.

    Oddly enough, as we watch the pageant of 21st-century propaganda play itself out before us, I’m ambivalent about its power to break and enslave us. It’s so nakedly visible what’s going on. We’re being afforded so much opportunity to recognize and reject it: to face it down and force it to collapse and flee into the woods, as predatory communism ultimately did in the Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union from 1989 to 1992.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/06/21/a-new-domestic-terrorism-strategy-brings-back-an-old-information-playbook/

    • ugh
      Canada = biggest land-based aircraft carrier in the world. Positioned to attack the USA.

      Huawei in Poland: Mechanism through which the Chinese military spies on Europe.

      Huawei in Canada: Mechanism through which the Chinese military spies on US. For this key position they send their best, the daughter of Huawei’s CEO.

      Will the B-team extradict her to stand trial here?

      • Will the B-team extradict her to stand trial here?

        Of course they won’t, they may ask for ransom for her but they have no intention of extraditing and trying her.

  5. National Petition to College & University Presidents

    I am fed up by the fact that students’ free speech rights are being ignored in the classroom- especially students who don’t agree with their far-left professors.

    If students continue to be threatened with failing assignments, losing scholarships, being disciplined by a “bias response team,” being targeted on social media, and more — they will never speak out against the status quo.

    I demand that you STOP creating a generation of weak leaders, which will have catastrophic consequences for our nation!

    https://secure.giveworks.net/speechfirst/weak_or_tyrannical/TRR20346

  6. PAKISTAN – Mufti Azizur Rehman confesses to sexually assaulting student, says he is ashamed of his actions

    A day after his arrest from Mianwali, former JUI-F leader and cleric Mufti Azizur Rehman confessed to sexually assaulting a student during interrogation, police said on Monday.

    Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) investigations Shariq Jamal Khan, while speaking to Dawn.com, said the cleric had confessed that the incident’s video, which went viral on social media a few days ago, had featured him and was secretly filmed by the student who was being sexually abused.

    “I made the student a target of my lust with the lure of passing him [in his exams],” he admitted to the police. The cleric added that he was afraid and worried once the video went viral on social media and his sons had attempted to threaten the student and stop him from mentioning the incident to anyone.

    “I released the video statement because I did not want to leave the madrassah. The madrassah administration had already told me to leave,” the DIG quoted him as saying. Rehman admitted that he had been hiding in Mianwali and was arrested by the police after being traced through his cellphone.

    “I am very ashamed at what I did,” he said during the interrogation.

    The DIG said that all medical and forensic evidence was being collected in the case and “we will try to present a strong challan to secure a punishment.” He added that the cleric’s sons were also accused of making death threats.

    The DIG also said that any other affected citizen could reach out and contact the police, adding that there was substantial evidence to prosecute in the case. He said that a life sentence or a prison term of up to 10 years was possible in the case.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan himself had taken notice of the case, said the DIG, and was in contact with police officials prior to the cleric’s arrest. “[The] Punjab IG (inspector general of police) informed him about the arrest.”

    Remand
    On Monday, the cleric was presented in a local court in Lahore by the North Cantonment police which requested Rehman’s physical remand for interrogating him.

    A judicial magistrate presided over the hearing and remanded him in police custody for four days. Orders were also given to collect DNA and medical samples.

    Rehman was brought to Lahore from Mianwali where he was arrested by a team of the Crime Investigation Agency during a raid. The arrest had come a day after a spokesperson for the Lahore police said that Rehman had “escaped” and that officials were working on tracing the suspect.

    Last week, police had registered a case against Rehman after a harrowing video clip of him allegedly sexually assaulting one of his students was widely shared on social media.

    The North Cantonment police had registered a case against Mufti Rehman for sexually assaulting the student and his three sons for attacking the complainant with the intention to exact revenge. The case was lodged against them with non-compoundable and non-bailable offences and with punishment of imprisonment of up to seven years.

    https://www.dawn.com/news/1630677/mufti-azizur-rehman-confesses-to-sexually-assaulting-student-says-he-is-ashamed-of-his-actions

    • DAILY MAIL – Pakistani cleric who led anti-blasphemy rallies condemning French cartoons of Prophet Mohammed is arrested for ‘sexually assaulting male student’

      Aziz-ur-Rehman allegedly forced himself on a student at a seminary in Lahore
      Footage of the apparent attack has gone viral causing outrage in Pakistan
      The cleric denied the abuse and said he was drugged before the video
      The alleged victim said he has been abused for years and has gone into hiding

      A prominent Muslim cleric who led anti-blasphemy rallies in Pakistan has appeared in court after being charged with sexually abusing a male student at a religious school.

      Charges were filed against Aziz-ur-Rehman after footage purporting to show him forcing himself on the student went viral on social media.

      The case has caused a stir in Pakistan, a mainly Muslim country, and outrage on social media, with many calling for a strict punishment for the cleric.

      It has even led to protests against the government for the lack of protection for students at religious schools.

      Rehman denied the accusation of sexual abuse in a video statement, saying that he was drugged before the filming of the alleged abuse.

      He said this was part of a plot to throw him out of the seminary, the Jamia Manzoor-ul-Islamia.

      Police said it would be a ‘test case’ after detaining Rehman and his two sons who have been accused of trying to intimidate the alleged victim.

      The court ordered police to obtain medical and DNA tests on the cleric, a police spokesman told Reuters.

      Inam Ghani, inspector general of Punjab police, said, The Telegraph reported: ‘We want our kids protected from these child molesters and to keep our society safe.’

      Rehman, who is in his 60s and is a member and former leader of prominent religious political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), has worked as a custodian of the Lahore seminary for several years.

      He has been a regular at anti-blasphemy rallies held in recent months to denounce publication of cartoons in France depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

      The seminary said the cleric has been expelled from his position, and Wafaq-ul-Madaris, the body that oversees the religious schools system, said it has stripped him off his title, mufti, which means a religious scholar.

      A police spokesperson said police could not locate the cleric when they visited the seminary after the student filed the sexual abuse complaint.

      The student, who police said appeared to be in his early 20s, said in his complaint that he has given several video and audio recordings to help police investigate, adding he had gone into hiding because he had received death threats.

      The police said the student had told them that the cleric had been abusing him for several years.

      He started filming the abuse after he got sick of it, and sent the video clips of the abuse to the head of the Wafaq-ul-Madaris, the student claims.

      He said: ‘I was admitted into the madrassa in 2013 and had been attending it since. Mufti Aziz promised passing me in exams in exchange for keeping immoral relations with me.’

      In another video posted on social media, the alleged victim said: ‘My attacker’s son’s have threatened to kill me for exposing him.’

      It was not clear how the video clips began circulating on social media.

      Over 2.2 million children attend religious seminaries in Pakistan.

      Sexual abuse cases are often hushed up, although some parents have recently been coming forward to file complaints.

      Previous high-profile sexual assaults have prompted calls for harsher sentences or even death penalties for the perpetrators.

      A nongovernment organization called Sahil that works to stop child abuse reported 2,960 cases of child sex abuse in 2020 throughout the country, not just in seminaries.

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9707951/Pakistani-cleric-led-anti-blasphemy-rallies-arrested-sexually-assaulting-male-student.html

    • Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra –
      al-Qaeda flavored jihadis of the ethnically cleansed Idlib region of Syria. Where al-Baghdadi was taken out.

      https://www.moonofalabama.org/images6/idlebmap20180830.jpg

      They’re the filthy Turk’s cat’s paw. They’re entirely dependent on his munificence. And the MB-aligned corporate media that runs interference for him. (Think White Helmets.)

      What’s this “humanitarian corridor” business?
      ==> Why would “Biden” negotiate with Putin on behalf of the filthy Turk? For his head-choppers occupying Syria?

      • At a rough guess and it is a guess, it has something to do with Obama’s idea of how the Middle East should look.

  7. UK GOVERNMENT – Press release

    Leading social media platforms unite to support COVID-19 vaccine drive

    Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok and YouTube have partnered with the government to encourage users to get the vaccine.

    – Collaboration comes as all adults aged 18 and over invited to get a jab
    – Filters and a range of stickers will be available on Snapchat from today
    – Other platforms will host live question and answers with medical experts providing vaccine advice

    Leading social media platforms popular with young people including Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube, are supporting the vaccination programme by encouraging their users to get coronavirus (COVID-19) jabs.

    The partnerships come as all adults aged 18 and over are invited to receive a vaccine in England as the vaccination programme continues at unprecedented pace and scale.

    Snapchat users can use NHS stickers, a filter, and later this month, an augmented reality lens that all read: ‘I’ve had my vaccine’ for UK users to share on their accounts.

    The platform is also hosting a series of question and answers with medical experts on the Prime Minister’s snapchat account. The most recent took place on Saturday 19 June with Dr Kiren Collison, the interim Deputy Medical Director for Primary Care for NHS England, who answered questions from the public about the vaccine.

    Snapchat has also expanded its: ‘Here For You’ feature which provides in-app resources to people looking for more information around health, mental health and wellbeing. When someone searches for ‘COVID-19’, ‘vaccine’, ‘NHS’ and ‘vaccination’, they will have access to expert NHS resources on the vaccine to make sure they are well informed, build confidence and tackle misinformation.

    The activity supports the NHS ‘every vaccination gives us hope’ campaign encouraging younger people to get their vaccine and join the millions of people who have already received their jabs.

    The government met its target of offering a vaccine to the most vulnerable by 15 April and is on track to offer a first dose to all adults by 19 July, 2 weeks earlier than planned. NHS England has extended the offer of a vaccine to all adults.

    Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

    With the offer of the vaccine now extended to all adults in England, we are leaving no stone unturned to boost uptake and encourage everyone to get the jab when eligible.

    I am delighted that Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok and YouTube – some of the most influential social media platforms – are coming together to support the biggest and most successful vaccine effort in NHS history.

    We’re accelerating our vaccine programme on the road to recovery and I urge everyone to come forward for the offer, roll up their sleeves and join the millions that already have the fullest possible protection from 2 doses.

    Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said:

    Our vaccine rollout has been a great success story and is now available to all adults.

    We have worked closely with social media platforms throughout the pandemic to promote life saving vaccine information, and this new initiative with popular platforms will help drive take-up even higher.

    We are also tackling misinformation online through our new Online Safety Bill to make sure people are not bombarded by harmful content.

    The community network platform Reddit has hosted 2 live ‘ask me anything’ sessions on its coronavirus forum, featuring experts such as Dr Amalina Bakri answering questions from Downing Street. Reddit will continue to host question and answers over the coming weeks to help people access factual and reliable information from a range of experts.

    TikTok’s support for the vaccine rollout includes adding the NHS ‘I’ve had my COVID vaccine’ stickers to its library for users to share, and working with Team Halo – a group of scientists using the platform to provide the latest information on vaccines with entertaining and shareable videos.

    Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said:

    I’m thrilled that some of the leading social media platforms are joining forces to boost vaccine uptake among younger people. This is another incredible asset to our vaccination programme, which is already saving lives.

    The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic and we have made incredible progress so far with more than 4 in 5 adults receiving at least one dose and all adults being invited.

    I encourage everyone to get the jab – it could stop you becoming seriously ill and protect your loved ones.

    Ed Couchman, UK Regional General Manager at Snapchat, said:

    With Snapchat playing a key part of the lives of young people around the world, we’re thrilled to collaborate with the government to make sure they have accurate and trusted resources to stay safe, healthy and informed.

    As well as creative tools, it’s great to be expanding our in-app health and wellbeing support portal with NHS resources about the vaccine and to host question and answer sessions with key government officials from the Prime Minister’s official Snap Star account.

    As we enter this next phase of the COVID-19 recovery in the UK, we continue to explore new ways we can collaborate with trusted partners and organisations to help support the health and wellbeing of our Snapchat community.

    In collaboration with the NHS, YouTube has rolled out a video campaign with the tagline: ‘Let’s Not Go Back’ to remind its core 18 to 34-year-old audience of the importance of being vaccinated through messaging that speaks to their personal experiences from a year in lockdown.

    The campaign is running on YouTube, and on national billboards and bus stop advertising, and on social media. Collectively, these information panels have served over 400 billion impressions worldwide.

    Ben McOwen Wilson, UK Managing Director at YouTube, said:

    We are delighted to have been able to support the NHS with our ‘Let’s Not Go Back’ campaign to encourage young people to get vaccinated. From billboards to bus stops, online and off, we reached young people wherever they are to raise awareness of the key role they have to play.

    It has been fantastic to witness the public response to our national initiative and to have seen the rates at which young people have stepped up. We will continue to work to combat the pandemic by using YouTube’s extensive reach among young people to help in this critical national effort.

    Dr. Jessica Ashooh, Director of Policy for Reddit said:

    Building bridges between policymakers, industry experts, and online communities is central to how we elevate authoritative vaccine information on Reddit.

    Our partnership with 10 Downing Street has enabled us to promote quality COVID-19 resources for Redditors in the United Kingdom.

    Last year Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden and Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock agreed new measures with social media platforms to limit the spread of false vaccine information and help people find the information they need about any COVID-19 vaccine.

    At a virtual roundtable, Facebook, Twitter and Google committed to the principle that no company should profit from or promote false information about COVID-19 vaccines, to respond to flagged content more swiftly, and to work with authorities to promote scientifically accurate messages.

    The government has also developed a toolkit with content designed to be shared via WhatsApp and Facebook community groups, as well as Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, to tackle false information about the vaccine.

    Earlier this year we announced that Facebook and Instagram are backing a new nationwide social media campaign launched by the government and the NHS for people to show their support for the vaccine roll out. The initiative allows users to update their profiles with a range of specially-designed profile frames and graphics. People can use these to show ‘I’ve had my vaccine’ or make a pledge that ‘I will get my vaccine’.

    The government met its target of offering a vaccine to the most vulnerable by 15 April and is on track to offer a first dose to all adults by 19 July, 2 weeks earlier than planned. NHS England has extended the offer of a vaccine to all adults.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/leading-social-media-platforms-unite-to-support-covid-19-vaccine-drive

  8. U.S. expected to miss July 4 COVID-19 vaccination target as pre-pandemic life returns

    Life is largely returning to normal in the U.S., but the country is projected to miss its goal of having 70 per cent of its population with one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by July 4 and experts are worried about the delta variant.

    • CBC – COVID-19: Is it OK to mix Pfizer and Moderna vaccines?

      Dr. Peter Jüni, a member of Ontario’s COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Table, answers questions about COVID-19 vaccines including whether people should be concerned about mixing Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

    • CBC – Ottawa set to ease some travel restrictions for fully vaccinated Canadians

      The federal government plans to announce changes to some travel restrictions for fully vaccinated Canadians, including the likely end of mandatory quarantine hotels, as the pressure increases to relax measures at the U.S. border.

    • CBC – Canada hits COVID-19 vaccination target as push for 2nd doses ramps up

      Canada has reached the target officials had marked for a safe reopening — 75 per cent of the eligible population with at least one dose and 20 per cent fully vaccinated — but experts say the delta variant means the country isn’t in the clear yet.

      • In Quebec, Premier Legault seems to be in favor of a C-19 Vaccination Lottery. The links are somewhere in the news, not going there.

    • CBC – Provinces pivoting vaccine rollout over Pfizer shipment delay

      A delay of up to three days in COVID-19 vaccine delivery from Pfizer means that some provinces are postponing second-dose appointments for that vaccine.

    • sky news australia – NSW COVID-19 strategy ‘eliminated virus every time’: Infectious diseases expert

      Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon says New South Wales is the “only state” still following the original “suppress and contain” plan to handle the coronavirus – and it has “minimised” the costs in the process.

      “Well I think New South Wales is the only state still following what was the original game plan, which was to suppress to really low levels, contain this,” he told Sky News.

      “The reality is New South Wales, by having that strategy, has eliminated every time there’s a virus or a new virus that’s going, and it has eliminated (it) over a period of two to three weeks.

      “So, so far this strategy has worked but it has minimised the social and other costs; economic costs, to the society as a whole.”

    • sky news australia – People should have ‘great confidence’ in second dose of AstraZeneca if they have had first

      Director of Infectious Diseases Dr Paul Griffin says people should “have great confidence” receiving their second dose of AstraZeneca if they have had their first.

      He said he is aware the recommendation “caused some concern” when it was announced.

      “This blood clotting syndrome … whilst rare, overall is exceptionally rare after the second dose.

      “We need to get as many people vaccinated as possible so we can get back to having some of those freedoms that having enough of the population protected should earn us.”

    • sky news australia – Sydney COVID cluster grows by two

      New South Wales has recorded two new COVID-19 cases which means Sydney’s Bondi cluster has grown to double digits.

      A man and a woman in their 50’s from Sydney’s South have been linked to previous cases and are already in isolation.

      It comes as mask rules now include indoor public settings for some government areas, in extension to those already in place for public transport for Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Wollongong area.

    • al jazeera -COVID vaccines increasingly tested on children

      The COVID-19 vaccine is now being tested on more young children in clinical trials.

      Pfizer is set to announce trials on children aged six months to five years.

      Moderna has already been testing in that age group since earlier this year.

      But as Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro reports – many parents still say they will not allow their children to get jabs.

    • BBC – Covid vaccine: We need answers on autumn booster plan, say health leaders

    • yahoo – By next summer we’ll have enough vaccines to vaccinate the world: Eli Lilly CEO

      Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks joins ‘Influencers with Andy Serwer’ to discuss global vaccine distribution.

    • Montreal Gazette – Proof of vaccination and negative COVID tests: Legault on Quebec’s criteria for reopening US border

    • Deutsche Pravda – How will COVID-19 shape our economic future?

      There’s so much that we needed to learn about the coronavirus, that we needed to adapt to during the pandemic – and still, the cost of it has been overwhelming.

      The IMF estimates the global cost of the virus at 28 trillion US dollars in lost output between 2020 and 2025.

      Still, there may be some things that changed for the better.

      Economists hope the environment, local industry and even our social lives could eventually benefit from the experience.

      In the beginning of it all, DW’s Ben Fajzullin talked to five top economists about their predictions for the business world and our working lives. A year on, he spoke to them again in the hopes of garnering a little more perspective.

    • Good Morning America – Encouraging news about pill to treat early COVID-19 illness

      Dr. Jen Ashton reports on the latest research and development of an antiviral medication that could help combat early COVID-19 infections.

    • Fauci: US to spend $3.2B for COVID antiviral pills

      $3.2 billion to advance development of antiviral pills for COVID-19.

    • BBC- Giant Buddhist statue gets Covid face mask in Japan

      A 57m (187ft) Buddhist statue dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, Kannon, in central Japan has been draped with a giant face covering.

      Temple managers in Aizuwakamatsu plan to keep the figure masked until the Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control.

    • Australian NSW Health Minister: “We’ve Got To Accept That This Is The NEW WORLD ORDER”

    • sky news australia – The unvaccinated will need to ‘deal with consequences’

      Those who are vaccinated will eventually be granted more privileges than those who are not, says Infectious Diseases Physician Professor Peter Collignon.

      He said “as time goes on” and more Australians get vaccinated, the rules for those people should change.

      “Once you’re vaccinated, if you’re overseas I would think home quarantine would be an option for you,” Professor Collignon told Sky News.

      He said while he does not think vaccines should be mandatory, if people choose not to receive it there might be a price to pay.

      “By the same token people who decide not to get vaccinated or delay it, they may have to deal with some of the consequences of that.”

    • sky news australia – Officials continue to investigate Qld COVID transmission

      Investigations are continuing into how a woman caught coronavirus in Brisbane with experts arguing the transmission probably occurred via a quarantine worker at the hotel where she was isolating.

      The woman has the Alpha variant of the virus and genomic sequencing has confirmed she has the same strain as another person staying at the same hotel.

      However, authorities are puzzled because the woman was on a different flight into Australia and was staying on a different floor of the hotel to the other positive case.

      + comments on the YT page

    • global news – Mixing COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is safe and effective, experts stress

      Some Canadians slated for a second dose of the Pfizer COVID19 vaccine, in the coming week, will instead be offered Moderna.

      The news comes after the federal government announced it was facing a shipment delay.

      On Monday, some Ontarians were turned away from their Pfizer vaccine appointments because of the lack of supply despite national and provincial guidance to mix mRNA vaccine doses.

  9. Georgia Judge Doesn’t Immediately Rule on Motions to Dismiss in Ballot Case
    By Zachary Stieber
    June 21, 2021 Updated: June 21, 2021
    biggersmaller Print

    A judge in Georgia on Monday heard motions to dismiss in a high-profile election case but declined to immediately decide on them.

    “I think it’s important that I take a little bit of time to review it and think about it,” Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero said during a hearing.

    Amero noted that there has been a flurry of filings in the case, which asserts there were fraudulent ballots counted during the 2020 election in Fulton County.

    The judge did not indicate when his decision will be announced.

    The petition was originally filed in December 2020. Petitioners cited poll observers talking about what they believed were fake ballots being processed during ballot counting at State Farm Arena and other venues. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office is probing what took place at the arena before, during, and after the election.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/georgia-judge-doesnt-immediately-rule-on-motions-to-dismiss-in-ballot-case_3867580.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-06-21-2&mktids=3f8dab599769859b1a5017ddcc80f5b7&est=HYq4dccFj4Kd5mnti9ko5h6aLJl4zdKaEfB7%2FDf9E5FfQLJarBZZfopVTKE%3D

  10. Nebraska Sending State Troopers to US-Mexico Border Over Immigration Crisis: Governor
    By Jack Phillips
    June 21, 2021 Updated: June 21, 2021
    biggersmaller Print

    Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that the state will send troopers to the U.S.-Mexico border to aid law enforcement after the governors of Arizona and Texas sent a request to other states for help amid a surge of people crossing the border illegally.

    Ricketts, a Republican, appears to be the second governor after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he would deploy troopers and other law enforcement officials from his state to the border.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/nebraska-sending-state-troopers-to-us-mexico-border-over-immigration-crisis-governor_3867558.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-06-21-2&mktids=3f8dab599769859b1a5017ddcc80f5b7&est=%2F%2BYjviflaB7GSh8SEpprGOFlo4b5uPwdQ0%2FmWKlMQa6cp3FyuTqbUoW1tOQ%3D

  11. Big Tech Only Has Itself to Blame for Republican Rethinking of Antitrust
    Josh Hammer
    6-7 minutes

    There are few, if any, political issues that now generate the breadth and intensity of bipartisan backlash as does the rise of Big Tech.

    During Donald Trump’s presidency, the major parties largely diverged on their specific grievances against the woke Silicon Valley monopolists who serve as gatekeepers for America’s 21st-century public square. Republicans, by and large, focused on censorship of conservative online speech. Democrats, by contrast, tended to focus on economic concentration; the five American corporations with the largest market caps, for example, are tech behemoths Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google Alphabet and Facebook. This divergence has stymied efforts to rein in the Big Tech oligarchy on issues such as Section 230, the 1990s-era provision permitting platforms to engage in publisher-like content-moderation decisions without being legally treated as publishers.

    https://www.gopusa.com/big-tech-only-has-itself-to-blame-for-republican-rethinking-of-antitrust-2/

  12. The Small Secessions of the New Civil War – Frontpagemag
    Daniel Greenfield
    9-11 minutes

    Neighborhoods secede from cities, cities from counties, and counties from states.

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

    That a battle over Atlanta would play nearly as pivotal a role in the country’s second civil war as it did in the first might have surprised few historians. What might have surprised them is that the battle would involve civic meetings rather than bullets. There are plenty of bullets in Buckhead, a part of Atlanta coping with runaway crime under the pro-crime rule of Mayor Keisha Bottoms, and those bullets have inspired local residents to secede and form their own police force.

    Buckhead is not the first part of Atlanta to try and secede. Sandy Springs had already successfully seceded from Atlanta and a number of cities in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, have tried to break away to form Milton County. These efforts to escape the blight and corruption of Atlanta aren’t new, but Buckhead’s fight to escape Atlanta’s pro-crime government has captured the imagination of millions of Americans from one coast of the country to the other.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/06/small-secessions-new-civil-war-daniel-greenfield/

    • Daniel Greenfield seems to think that the Second Civil War will remain a legal fight, the First Civil War and the Revolution started through legal maneuvering and law suits. They both turned violent, odds are this one will also.

  13. ‘Blue’ Southeast PA Counties Had Head Start on Election Grants – Frontpagemag
    Todd Shepherd
    7-8 minutes

    All counties are equal, but some counties are more equal than others.

    Reprinted From Broad and Liberty.

    Last August, the Pennsylvania Department of State communicated directly with Democrat-leaning counties in the Southeast regarding multimillion dollar grants for the 2020 election. These communications happened as other counties in the state remained ignorant of, or were not not invited to participate in, the application process until the following month.

    According to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), the grants were intended to help smooth over increased costs counties were facing mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the need for extra sanitation supplies, extra manpower, and new equipment to deal with the higher volume of mail-in ballots. And CTCL has insisted in a statement that they and their grant process are non-partisan.

    Emails obtained via Right-to-Know (RTK) Law requests and an analysis of county grant applications show, however, that some counties that tend to skew ‘blue’ had a head start in obtaining funds.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/06/blue-southeast-pa-counties-had-head-start-election-todd-shepherd/

  14. WATCH: New Documentary Details Government Crackdown On Canadian Christians, Likens To Communist China

    The legal organization that has been advocating in court on behalf of jailed pastors and harassed churches in Canada released a documentary earlier this month detailing how the federal and provincial governments are increasingly resembling communist China.

    “The Government War on Worship,” which was released by the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and can be viewed below or on their website, begins by highlighting how Christians are brutally persecuted in China despite the guarantee of religious freedom in the Chinese Constitution.

    The film then pivots to draw parallels between China’s tactics and how churches in Canada have been treated since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged from the communist state.

    Video at site

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-new-documentary-details-government-crackdown-on-canadian-christians-likens-to-communist-china?itm_source=parsely-api?utm_source=cnemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=062121-news&utm_campaign=position6

  15. Texas deputy’s wife, 4-year-old shot during violent home invasion
    News
    Sarah Taylor
    June 21, 2021
    Image source: KTVT-TV video screenshot
    Like Blaze News? Get the news that matters most delivered directly to your inbox.

    A suspect reportedly broke into a Texas deputy’s home Sunday night and shot the officer’s wife and 4-year-old stepdaughter.

    Fearless with Jason Whitlock

    The family has not been publicly identified at the time of this reporting, according to the New York Daily News.
    What are the details?

    During a weekend news conference, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said the deputy, who was off-duty at the time, was at home in the early hours of Sunday morning when a suspect armed with a shotgun and assault rifle broke into the family home.

    The suspect, who also remains unnamed at the time of this reporting, purportedly began firing, and struck the deputy’s wife in the leg and 4-year-old in the arm.

    The deputy returned fire and phoned authorities for backup. When backup arrived at the scene, they reportedly discovered a blood trail leaving the family’s home.

    Finner added that it remains not clear whether the deputy was targeted. He added that the family is expected to recover.

    “We don’t know anything, what’s the motive of this, if it was targeted or what, all we know is he forced entry,” Finner said. “At some point, the deputy exchanged gunfire with him. He feels that he struck the subject. There is a separate blood trail.”

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/texas-deputys-wife-4-year-old-shot-during-home-invasion?utm_source=theblaze-breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210621Trending-MeghanMcCainAbortionMurder&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Breaking%20News

    (Richard: It was a targeted attack, you don’t take a shotgun and semi-auto rifle to a home invasion unless the purpose of the invasion is to shoot someone. What I want to know is was the attack done by someone with a personal grudge to settle or was it political in nature?)

  16. HORRIFIC VIDEO: Puerto Rican Couple Yanked From Their Car and Shot By Mob of Black Men in Chicago
    Cassandra Fairbanks
    2 minutes
    A man was killed, and a woman was critically injured in a shooting Saturday night in Humboldt Park.

    There has been crickets in the media about this possible hate crime.

    The shooting took place as people were leaving Chicago’s 43rd Annual Puerto Rican People’s Day Parade, which people from all over the country and Puerto Rico travel to the city to attend.

    The victims had a large Puerto Rican flag waving from their car when they were approached by a mob of black men and pulled from the vehicle and shot.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/06/horrific-video-puerto-rican-couple-yanked-car-shot-mob-black-men-chicago/

  17. Anti lockdown protesters clash with cops in central London on intended ‘Freedom Day’

    – JUNE 21 2021 – Anti-lockdown protesters have clashed with police in London on the day coronavirus restrictions were originally intended to end.

    June 21 was set out as the point people would be able to meet in large groups again, among other changes.

    However, the prime minister pushed the date back to July 19 citing concerns over the new and more infectious Delta variant, first identified in India.

  18. Chuck SCHUMER:“Just a note: How despicable a man is Donald Trump?!

    He lost an election legitimately.

    He can’t face that, that it was his failure.

    And he creates a lie, a big lie, and wins so many people over to that lie with the help of news media…”

  19. Reminder: Hunter Biden implored his father to run for the Presidency. It was his only way to avoid criminal charges.

    Joe Biden’s nominee for a top Justice Department position worked alongside Hunter Biden at a prominent law firm that represented Ukrainian energy giant Burisma Holdings, emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop show.

    https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/doj-nominee-worked-with-hunter-biden-at-big-law-firm-tied-to-ukrainian-energy-giant/

  20. 117 Hospital Staffers Sue Over Forced Vaccinations

    TODD: [01:00:48] All right, welcome back to the Todd Starnes radio show, we are broadcasting live from the National Religious Broadcasters Convention meeting at the Gaylord Texan in beautiful Dallas, Texas. There’s a big story that has been making headlines out of Texas, specifically Houston and the Methodist Hospital there, Houston Methodist Hospital, a group of 117 staffers, unvaccinated staffers have filed a lawsuit. Because they don’t want to be forced to get the vaccine, they say they don’t want the China virus vaccine, they say it’s illegal for their bosses to require them to get a shot. Well, the lead person on that lawsuit is a nurse there at Houston Methodist Hospital, and she is on the Liberty University newsmaker line right now. Jennifer Bridges. Jennifer, good to have you with us today.

    BRIDGES: [01:01:44] Thank you so much for having me.

    TODD: [01:01:48] I have to tell you, it is shocking that the hospital would require you to do something like this. What was your reaction when you first heard that you were going to have to get that vaccine.

    BRIDGES: [01:02:02] I was shocked myself just a little bit with thousands of others at first because we just had no idea that they were going to do this so soon. We we had no idea that this was going to happen, but we thought they would at least wait until it was FDA approved. But then when they threw that, it’s so suddenly everybody just got filled with anxiety. And it was just like, you know, it’s too soon. You can’t do this. Like, we don’t even have proper research or anything yet.

    More: https://www.toddstarnes.com/coronavirus/117-hospital-staffers-sue-over-forced-vaccinations/

  21. Sixty six thousand plus people have signed a petition for Jeff Bezos not to return to earth after his “spaceflight”.

    Going down to 35 F degrees tonight on this cold, windy, rainy first of summer.

  22. How do Jews and Israel fit into a postmodern world?

    In a postmodern world where right and wrong are no longer clear and where bad and good are relative, how does a society with traditional values teach its children without ignoring what’s going on all around everyone

  23. IDF successfully tests ‘ground-breaking’ anti-drone laser system

    Israel MoD successfully completed its first-ever series of interception tests employing an airborne, high-power laser system.

    …The laser system will add a new layer of protection at greater ranges and in facing a variety of threats – securing the State of Israel while saving the costs of interception.…

    The device was installed on an aircraft and tested in a series of wide-ranging scenarios. It successfully intercepted and destroyed all of the UAVs that were launched during the trial. The ability to intercept and destroy airborne threats is groundbreaking and offers a strategic advantage to the air defense capabilities of the State of Israel. This game-changing exercise was conducted in a testing field in the center of Israel, in close cooperation with the IAF and the “Yanat” unit….

    This method of airborne interception has many advantages, including the low cost of interception, ability to effectively intercept long-range threats at high altitudes regardless of weather conditions, and the capacity to defend vast areas. The new technology will complement Israel’s multi-tier missile defense array, which include the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow missile interceptor systems. This system will increase the effectiveness of Israel’s air defenses against existing and future threats in the region.

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/308469

    • This laser system is a HUGE breakthrough, a long time coming, and none too soon!

      During initial development of Israel’s missile defense system, the “laser cannon” approach lost out to the interceptor missiles that eventually became Iron Dome. That story is fascinating:
      2018
      Inside The Iron Dome
      “Chanoch Levin spearheaded the development of Israel’s famed defensive shield against short-range rockets. For the first time, he shares some of the previously undisclosed details of how a concept more likely to be found in a science fiction thriller became a reality.”

      https://www.momentmag.com/inside-the-iron-dome/

  24. Despite successful vaccine rollout, coronavirus is still here

    Israeli news media’s reporting on renewed coronavirus outbreaks in recent days seems eerily familiar to the early days of the pandemic.

    Once again, news organizations speak of cities impacted by rising infection rates as government ministries shift the blame from one another and hundreds of Israelis are ordered to self-isolate.

    The pandemic rages on and gives way to the emergence of new variants that seem to be gaining ground around the world.

    Israel is not immune to the effects of the Delta variant, which is far more contagious than the UK one and will likely spread much faster now that social distancing measures have been lifted….
    https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rJyLrJAsu
    ….
    Israel mulls reinstating some coronavirus curbs amid Indian strain fears

    Health Ministry also recommends all teens aged 12-15 get vaccinated after mass outbreaks at schools, said to have been sparked by the so-called Delta variant; Ynet learns more than 10,000 people returned from high-risk countries over past month
    https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/rk6iSj6o00