Reader’s Links for November 25, 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

53 Replies to “Reader’s Links for November 25, 2021”

  1. Maybe, as bad as the spiked injections are, they render our bodies even more toxic to the extraterrestrial aliens who are planning to invade, and eat us. Finally, something makes sense.

    That the likes of Biden, Trump, Orban, Trudeau, Netanyahu, Merkel and all other disparate politicos sing from the same hymn book, in this regard, makes so many political differences now seem so superficial. Mass illegal migrations? Who cares? National sovereignty? No big deal! Inflation? We’ll get to it. That Regional Manager Vicky Orban equalled the injections directly to life, just the other day, is extraordinary when the death rate of Covid-19 is the same as the regular flu. Have you ever seen anything else have such a unifying effect?

    There are indications emerging as to who the aliens want to eat first.

    Australia’s intelligence agencies caught on fast, compelling Andrews to move quickly. It’s about saving lives, don’tcha know. It’s about ruining the aliens’ dinner. They must like blood, which is why the cows appear deflated. I, too, sometimes appear deflated, but for different reasons. The cows seem to have been literally sucked dry. I, too, occasionally suck. This may be one of those occasions.

    Next come the Austrians. I honestly cannot imagine eating an Austrian, even if you drowned them in tabasco sauce. Every Austrian I’ve ever met looked ridiculous in his leather shorts. Every Austrian wears stupid leather shorts at least in private. Freaks. In fact I’m kind of glad they’re on the menu sooner rather than later. Austrians are a pain in the ass. Little Napoleons all.

    Of course the way Israel flew out of the gate they knew the score. They weren’t going to end up as some Alpha-Centauri monkey’s exotic daiquiri.

    I think the African tragedy is epic. Low vaxx rate, low Covid rate–no meat no fish as they say in Belarus. We haven’t seen many public protests coming out of Africa but I think this will change with the invasion. Africans will demand to be eaten just like the rest of us. Raciss alien bastards.

    There is plenty to unpack here, obviously, so I won’t bore you for long, which I could, but won’t, but could. I mean talk about Open Borders. Ok, open the Balkans and the U.S. border and let the sun shine in, I get it. But the whole friggin’ planet? Aliens running around everywhere looking for another sucker to stick his straws into? Not nice!

    At the end of the day it will be obvious who is to blame for all of this. Elites who took placebo to save themselves from the vaxx, and who wear polyester shirts, but were NOT eaten by aliens are just really bad people with really bad taste.

    When the real culprits are found out it will seem glaringly obvious. They will be people who were slightly different from the start, and were even suspected of having alien blood for a long, long time.

    My money is on redheads. Finally, some sense of it all.

  2. Montreal jihadi who burned his Canadian passport is allegedly being held captive by al-Qaida affiliate in Syria
    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/montreal-jihadi-who-burned-his-canadian-passport-is-allegedly-being-held-captive-by-al-qaida-affiliate-in-syria/ar-AAR7xIM
    A Canadian man who fought for the Islamic State — and starred in two of the terror group’s propaganda videos before quitting and disappearing — has been held captive by a militant group in Syria for more than a year, according to a local report.
    A man using the battle name Safwan Al-Kanadi but identified as Sami Elabi from Montreal, twice grabbed headlines in recent years, once when he burned and shot his Canadian passport on camera and the other when he said he quit the group, complaining, “There are no limits to the stupidity of the Islamic State.”
    Last Thursday, an online report said Safwan Al-Kanadi, a nickname that takes on the designation “the Canadian,” has been held without charge since October 2020 by Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, an al-Qaida affiliate in Syria known as HTS.
    “Safwan came to Syria some years ago to help the Syrian people and he fought on the frontlines for quite some time. He was very severely injured at one point where he needed months of medical care in order to regain his health and his strength,” says the video report by OGN on YouTube.
    “Safwan was arrested last year in October,” said Bilal Abdul Kareen in his report from Syria, tracked by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a Washington-based non-profit.
    Until now, Kareen said in his report, “no one knows if he is dead or alive.”
    “There’s been nothing official that has been put forward regarding Safwan, and if there has been no official charge, of course there’s been no official trial.”
    The information on Elabi’s detention could not be confirmed. Global Affairs Canada could not provide information or comment on the case prior to deadline.
    Elabi, born in Montreal in 1988 to a Quebec woman and a Syrian man, left Canada to fight in the Syrian civil war in 2013.
    He allegedly first fought with the al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra before joining its jihadi rivals, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, better known as ISIL or ISIS.
    In a notorious 2014 video, he holds up his Canadian passport to the camera before dousing it with a flammable liquid, setting it on fire and then propping it on a ledge and shooting it with an assault rifle.
    In another video, he is seen helping to blow up a building, in what looks like a planned demolition rather than an attack. He beams joy and excitement.
    He documented some of his journey on social media for a while, with his initial enthusiasm turning to disenchantment. In 2016 he claimed he abandoned ISIL and encouraged people to keep up the fight but with other groups or independently, according to reports.
    His posts were later deleted. He has since faded from view.
    In the OGN report, Kareen challenges HTS to provide information about Safwan Al-Kanadi and other detainees, to put them on trial or release them — “and to not torture them or pressure them into making false confessions.”
    “If they’re guilty, then there should be no problem to put them in front of a judge or a panel of judges which can judge their situation in front of people and the evidence can be examined.”
    Kareem, who appears on camera reporting in English, is a U.S. citizen who was himself once detained by HTS, held for six months and released in February, MEMRI said, describing him as a “Syria-based American jihadi reporter.”
    Kareem did not respond to a request for comment or more information prior to publication deadline.
    “OGN regularly reports on individuals reportedly detained by HTS, alleging the militant group tortures detainees to extract forced confessions,” says a MEMRI briefing. HTS has not publicly addressed the allegations.
    OGN recently highlighted other alleged captives of HTS, including French and Indian foreign fighters, suggesting HTS is colluding with Western security forces to keep foreign fighters from leaving Syria.

  3. Czech Government Declares New State of Emergency

    The Czech government has declared the new state of emergency from Nov. 26 for 30 days until December 26, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said today. The reason for the state of emergency is the worsening SARS-CoV-2 epidemic.

    The government has been considering a ban on large public events and limiting the opening hours of restaurants and bars rather than a full lockdown.

    “We will take further measures to limit contacts,” added Babis. Even before the cabinet meeting, the Minister of Health Adam Vojtech discussed his proposals with the Anticovid team of the future government.

    “The governors do not have to agree with the state of emergency. But we will try to persuade them,” said Dan Köppl, a spokesman for the Minister of Health.

    Negotiations with the Anticovid team showed that the ministry will propose not only a state of emergency but also the restriction of mass events over a thousand people, the closure of pubs, restaurants, the closure of nightclubs and bars at 10 p.m, the abolition of Christmas markets.

    “We are taking all measures to avoid a lockdown that, according to the Ministry of Health and other experts, will not solve anything,” Babis said in an interview with Czech Television.

    General information

    The state of emergency is declared under Constitutional Act No. 110/1998 Coll., on the Security of the Czech Republic.

    The Government of the Czech Republic is responsible to declare the state of emergency by its resolution. The Government shall immediately notify the Chamber of Deputies of the declaration of the state emergency, which may revoke the declaration.

    The duration of the state of emergency shall not exceed 30 days. It may be extended only with the prior consent of the Chamber of Deputies.

    During the state of emergency, according to Crisis Act No. 240/2000 Coll., certain rights and freedoms may be limited for necessary time and to necessary extend.

    Citizens of the Czech Republic may be affected by the emergency measures imposed, for example in the obligation to tolerate the prohibition of entry, stay and movement in selected premises or risk areas due to restrictions limiting the spread of the disease.

    https://praguemorning.cz/czech-government-declares-new-state-of-emergency/

  4. Al-Shabab blast by school in Somali capital kills at least 8
    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/al-shabab-blast-by-school-in-somali-capital-kills-at-least-8/ar-AAR6NKq
    A large explosion outside a school in Somalia’s capital on Thursday killed at least eight people, including students, witnesses said. The extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.
    The al-Qaida-linked group controls large parts of rural Somalia and continues to frustrate efforts at rebuilding the Horn of Africa nation after three decades of conflict.
    The blast sent a plume of smoke above a busy part of Mogadishu during the morning rush hour. The blast shredded part of the school, with emergency workers looking through the collapsed roof beams and wooden benches.
    Police spokesman Abdifatah Adam Hassan said eight people were killed and 17 others wounded.
    “This is a tragedy,” said Abdulkadir Adan of the Amin ambulance service, which rushed people to a hospital.
    The casualties were fewer than might have occurred since Thursday is part of the weekend in Somalia, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation.
    Al-Shabab in a statement carried by its Andalus radio said it targeted Western officials being escorted by the African Union peacekeeping convoy. But a witness, Hassan Ali, told the AP that a private security company was escorting the officials and said he saw four of the security personnel wounded.
    The attack occurred as Somalia faces major questions about its political and security future. The AU peacekeeping force was meant to withdraw from the country, but its mission could be extended amid concerns that Somali forces are not ready to assume responsibility for security. The U.S. early this year said its troop withdrawal from Somalia was complete.
    A long-delayed presidential vote was meant to take place in February but now looks set to be held next year.

    • DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – COVID-19 pandemic: Should vaccination be compulsory?

      To call it a matter of life and death is not hyperbole.

      With a fourth wave of COVID-19 rolling across Europe, physicians here in Germany are warning of disastrous trade-offs as intensive care units reach capacity and patients are transferred abroad for treatment.

      Hospitals are seeing younger and sicker patients than in prior waves, especially amongst the unvaccinated.

      In Germany some 15 million people still lack immunity because they haven’t had the jab.
      Calls for mandatory vaccination are growing louder – neighboring countries like Austria are leading the way.

      Other countries are reimposing lockdowns. Not without resistance, as evidenced by recent protests. Today we’re asking: COVID-19 pandemic: Should vaccination be compulsory?

      Our guests: Alexander Kekulé (virologist), Susanne Schreiber (German Ethics Council), Kai Kupferschmidt (molecular biologist and science journalist)

    • Mass vaccination clinic gave over 100 kids double doses of Pfizer vaccine, MercyOne says

      The Des Moines hospital says 107 kids under the age of 12 received an incorrect dosage during the Nov. 20 clinic.

    • 100+ kids given double dose of vaccine at metro clinic

      MercyOne says side effects will be mild at worst for the kids.

    • europravda – France pushes booster vaccines and makes masks mandatory

      From 15 January, booster vaccines will be required for health passes to be valid.

    • HAARETZ – Booster shots crushed Israel’s delta wave. Can they save Europe? Israel’s top health expert explains

      (53 min)

    • The White House – Ciara and Her Family Visit the White House to Discuss Kids’ Vaccines with the First Lady

    • Los Angeles opens memorial for those lost to COVID

      Officials are encouraging residents to visit and pay their respects as part of a three-day citywide memorial to the dead that will also include encouraging residents to light a candle in their window Friday evening to pay homage to their memory.

      Several other iconic locations in Los Angeles, including City Hall and the Grand Park Fountain, will be lit up blue to honor the pandemic’s victims during the memorial.

      Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, which organized the memorial, is urging anyone over the age of 18 to get a booster shot BEFORE A POSSIBLE winter surge as the temperatures drop causes more people to spend time indoors.

    • reuters -Portugal reimposes COVID-19 restrictions as cases rise

      LISBON, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Portugal, one of the world’s most vaccinated nations, has reimposed some restrictions to stop a surge in COVID-19 cases, ordering all passengers flying into the country, even those fully inoculated, to show a negative test on arrival.

      “It doesn’t matter how successful the vaccination was, we must be aware we are entering a phase of greater risk,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa told a news conference on Thursday. “We have seen significant growth (in cases) in the EU and Portugal is not an island.”

      Costa has also announced those fully vaccinated must also present a negative coronavirus test to enter nightclubs, bars, large events and care homes, and reimposed mandatory mask-wearing in indoor spaces.

      https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/portugal-reimposes-covid-19-restrictions-cases-rise-2021-11-25/

    • ctv – This new COVID-19 variant only has 10 cases, but here’s why a U.K. researcher is concerned

      TORONTO — A scientist in the United Kingdom is taking note of a COVID-19 variant originating from Botswana with an astonishing number of mutations, though there have only been 10 confirmed cases to date.

      The B.1.1.529 variant was first discovered in the southern African country and has since been discovered in South Africa and in a traveller in Hong Kong who had been to South Africa.

      Although there have only been 10 confirmed cases through sequencing — three in Botswana, six in South Africa and one in Hong Kong — Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London said its potential is worth noting due to its 32 spike mutations.

      “Export to Asia implies this might be more widespread than sequences alone would imply,” Peacock wrote on a website for genome sharing. “Also the extremely long branch length and incredibly high amount of spike mutations suggest this could be of real concern.”

      Mutations in the spike protein, or spike mutations, can change the way a virus infects cells and spreads. These mutations can also make it harder to for the body’s immune system to attack it.

      The World Health Organization currently lists B.1.1.529 as a “variant under monitoring,” which is below the agency’s classification of “variants of interest” and “variants of concern.”

      In a Twitter thread about the variant, Peacock called the spike mutation profile “awful,” but emphasized the low case numbers make it only something to keep an eye on for now.

      “Worth emphasising this is at super low numbers right now in a region of Africa that is fairly well sampled, however it very, very much should be monitored due to that horrific spike profile,” he said.

      “It’s possible this is just an odd cluster that isn’t very transmissible. I hope that’s the case,” he wrote in another tweet.
      =====================================
      twitter @PeacockFlu

      Worth emphasising this is at super low numbers right now in a region of Africa that is fairly well sampled, however it very very much should be monitored due to that horrific spike profile (would take a guess that this would be worse antigenically than nearly anything else about)

      A final observation – this variant contains not one, but two furin cleavage site mutations – P681H (seen in Alpha, Mu, some Gamma, B.1.1.318) combined with N679K (seen in C.1.2 amongst others) – this is the first time I’ve seen two of these mutations in a single variant…

      https://twitter.com/PeacockFlu/status/1463189908017799173
      =============================================

      https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/this-new-covid-19-variant-only-has-10-cases-but-here-s-why-a-u-k-researcher-is-concerned-1.5680114

      ===============================
      the guardian – South Africa to be put on England’s travel red list over new Covid variant

      Variant causing concern because of ‘extremely high’ number of mutations feared present across South Africa

      South Africa will be placed under England’s red list travel restrictions after scientists raised the alarm over what is thought to be the worst Covid-19 variant yet identified.

      Hundreds of people who have recently returned from South Africa, where the B.1.1.529 variant was detected, are expected to be tracked down and offered tests in an effort to avoid the introduction of the new variant, which it is feared to be more transmissible and has the potential to evade immunity.

      Whitehall sources said the variant posed “a potentially significant threat to the vaccine programme which we have to protect at all costs”.

      […]the spike protein looks different from the version that vaccines were designed to target. The latest data, presented by South African scientists on Thursday, revealed that the variant also appears to be more transmissible and is already present in provinces throughout the country.

      […]

      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/25/scientists-call-for-travel-code-red-over-covid-variant-found-in-southern-africa

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

      SKY NEWS – COVID variant is ‘worst we’ve seen’

      UK experts have warned that a variant of COVID found in South Africa is LIKELY to evade the immune response generated by prior infection and vaccination.

      The government is now understood to be considering travel restrictions between the UK and South Africa.

    • Six countries added to red list as UK sounds alarm over new Covid variant

      A travel ban is to be imposed on six African nations due to rising concerns over a new variant of the virus which causes Covid-19 which officials have dubbed “the worst one we’ve seen so far”.

      UK officials sounded the alarm on Thursday night over the B.1.1.529 variant, which has the potential to evade immunity built up by vaccination or prior infection.

      Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the new variant identified in South Africa “may be more transmissible” than the Delta strain and “the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective”.

      He said that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.

      While no cases have been found in Britain, officials raised concern over a rapid rise in cases in South Africa.

      Anyone who has arrived from the country in the last 10 days will be invited to come forward and take a test by the UK Health Security Agency.

      At the moment, around 500 and 700 people are travelling to the UK from South Africa each day, but it is expected this figure could increase as the festive period begins.

      Mr Javid said: “The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

      “Now to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the UK at this point in time.

      “But we’ve always been clear that we will take action to protect the progress that we have made.

      “So what we will be doing is from midday tomorrow we will be suspending all flights from six, southern African countries and we will add in those countries to the travel red list. Those countries are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from 4am on Sunday to quarantine in hotels.

      “If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. If anyone has arrived from any of those countries over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR tests.”

      The variant has not yet been given the title “variant of concern” in the UK, but one senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: “This is the worst variant we have seen so far.”

      Only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

      The variant has over 30 mutations – around twice as many as the Delta variant – which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

      Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue.

      A number of scientists have expressed serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

      One senior scientist said: “One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.”

      Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are meeting with South African officials on Friday to assess the evolving situation in the country.

      The variant could eventually be given the moniker “Nu” – with the most concerning variants given named after the Greek alphabet.

      https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/six-countries-added-red-list-211007625.html

      =========================
      Deutsche Pravda – New COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa

      Scientists in South Africa are warning of a new strain of COVID-19. The variant – which is yet to be named – appears to have a high number of mutations.

      That is of concern, because there’s a possibility it could be able to evade our immune response and be even more transmissible.

      South Africa has called for an emergency meeting of the World Health Organization to discuss this new variant.

    • global news – COVID-19 vaccines for kids: What hesitant Canadian parents should know

      COVID-19 vaccinations are beginning to roll out across Canada for children aged five to 11, and experts say this could be a big help in the country’s pandemic fight.

      But while Health Canada recommends the vaccine, some parents still have concerns.

      Respirologist Dr. Samir Gupta answers questions that hesitant parents might have about the shot.


    • city news – The Ontarians most likely to get COVID even if they’re fully vaccinated

      The most detailed report yet on breakthrough cases has some doctors calling on the province to expand eligibility for third doses to protect the most vulnerable.

      Cynthia Mulligan breaks down who the numbers suggest is most at risk.

  5. Woman back in Canada with young daughter after years in Syrian prison camps
    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/woman-back-in-canada-with-young-daughter-after-years-in-syrian-prison-camps/ar-AAR3yiz
    The woman’s lawyer, Paul Champ, says she arrived in Canada late Monday and was reunited with her five-year-old daughter and other family members.
    The child, who was born in Syria, came to Canada earlier this year to live with her aunt.
    The woman’s months-long struggle to make it home highlights the plight of several Canadians among the estimated thousands of foreign nationals held in Syrian camps by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the strife-torn region from the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
    The Canadian Press is not identifying the woman, her daughter or their current location out of concern for their safety.
    During the summer, the woman believed she was close to getting a travel document from Canadian authorities but when the process stalled she took her case to Federal Court.
    “It was shameful that my client had to sue the Canadian government to force them to give her an emergency passport,” Champ said Tuesday.
    “We still have no explanation why Canada left her stranded in Irbil, Iraq, a few blocks from the Canadian consulate that could have issued her an emergency passport at any time.”
    The RCMP sent officers to Irbil to interview the woman in late October. The Mounties met the woman upon her arrival in Canada this week and have applied for a peace bond, which requires a person to abide by certain conditions, Champ said.
    “I presume the RCMP sees a peace bond application as prudent in the circumstances given the nature of her travel, but I anticipate it won’t be maintained for long. There is no evidence she is a threat to anyone and there are no charges against her,” he said.
    “What’s most important right now is that my client is safe with family, seeing her mother after almost eight years and her daughter after eight months.”
    The woman was elated to see her young child, Champ said.
    “It was a surprise for the little girl when her mother walked in the room. They hugged tightly and the girl kept stroking her mother’s face and hair and laughing. I don’t think she could believe it.”
    The woman was born in Somalia, arrived in Canada with her family in 1993 and became a citizen in 2004. She grew up in Toronto and later moved to Vancouver.
    In 2014, she left Canada for Turkey, soon travelling to Syria.
    “Shortly thereafter, I realized that I had been manipulated into going to that country,” she said in an affidavit filed in Federal Court.
    “While in Syria, there were several times that I tried to leave, but I was not allowed to do so. I was moved around numerous times. I was not allowed to speak to my family or friends. My phone was taken away. I was completely isolated from the outside world.”
    She eventually made contact with Peter Galbraith, a retired American diplomat who was helping women and children get out of the camps.
    Galbraith, in his own affidavit filed with the court, told of how he arranged first for the daughter’s release into the custody of the woman’s sister. A few months later, fearing for the woman’s safety, he persuaded officials to release her as well, and they headed straight to Irbil.
    The woman provided extensive information to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation about ISIL suspects and kidnapped American children, Galbraith said.

  6. TURKEY – PLUMMETING currency sparks MASS violent rally in Istanbul

    Riot police put down hundreds of protesters decrying record fall of the lira

  7. VOA – COVID Vaccine Company BioNTech Founders Aim to Tackle Cancer

    Their goal was to find a cure for cancer, but the whole world recognized them for developing the first vaccine against the coronavirus.

    The founders of the German company BioNTech, Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, now turn their attention back to cancer.

  8. Canada could ‘lead the world’ by bringing Jihadi Jack here to face justice, father says
    ‘We can’t just leave a festering wound over in the Middle East. It’s going to come back and bite us again,’ John Letts told the National Post
    https://nationalpost.com/news/canada-could-lead-the-world-by-bringing-jihadi-jack-here-to-face-justice-father-says
    Canada could prove itself an enlightened world leader if it brought Jack Letts here from Syria after British authorities stripped the alleged ISIL member of his citizenship, his father told the National Post Monday.
    Ontario–born John Letts said he wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau two weeks ago to argue that Canada should accept his son, a former joint citizen who is now solely Canadian because of the U.K.’s recent action.
    Letts — dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by British media — could be prosecuted and jailed in Canada if there’s evidence of wrongdoing, and would make for a powerful voice against radicalization, said the father.
    “We can lead the world and show that there is a way through this mess,” said John Letts in an interview from his home in Oxford. “By taking our people back, we can be an example of how to deal with this … We can’t just leave a festering wound over in the Middle East. It’s going to come back and bite us again.”
    And he stressed the family would never sue the Canadian government, rejecting comparisons to the case of Omar Khadr, who was awarded $10 million by Ottawa after he sued over torture while an al-Qaeda detainee.
    Meanwhile, in a British TV interview from prison aired Monday, Jack Letts said he feels like he is Canadian and hopes the country will take him in, but is not optimistic. “I don’t think anyone is going to help me,” he told ITV.
    Liberal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale chastised Britain on Sunday for trying to “off-load” its responsibilities by taking away Letts’ citizenship, while the opposition Conservatives have said there’s no way he should ever be allowed into Canada.
    Asked about the affair Monday, Trudeau did not expressly rule out bringing Letts here, but said travelling for the purposes of terrorism is a crime Canada would always prosecute.
    John McKay, the Liberal chair of the Commons national security committee, was quoted by Britain’s Telegraph as suggesting Canada could not charge Letts because the legislation says someone has to leave from this country to be prosecuted for an overseas terrorist act.
    Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Monday a government led by him would not “lift a finger” to get Letts here.
    Canadian officials also said Sunday it was too dangerous for Canadian officials to visit Jack in northern Syria where he is being held by Kurdish forces. Letts dismissed that assertion, noting that numerous journalists and other nations’ representatives have travelled there recently.
    “It’s not that unsafe,” said Letts. “We know that’s an excuse.”
    How countries deal with the estimated 2,000 former ISIL foreign fighters held by the Kurds has varied.
    While European countries have often balked at bringing theirs back, the U.S. has repatriated several, with a number already put on trial and sentenced. And President Donald Trump has urged other countries to admit their foreign fighters, who are a significant burden for Rojava, the semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave in Syria.
    Letts said the British Foreign Office told him and wife Sally Lane on July 11 that their son would have his citizenship taken away. The couple — who have now separated — held off making the move public, but it was reported on the weekend by Britain’s Mail On Sunday newspaper.
    Jack Letts, who grew up in Oxford but was a joint citizen like the rest of his family, travelled to the Middle East in 2014 after converting to Islam. He lived in ISIL-controlled Iraq, married a woman there, then ended up in Raqqa, Syria, the de-facto capital of the short-lived ISIL caliphate.
    His parents say he grew to vehemently oppose the Islamic State and eventually escaped Raqqa, only to be captured by the Kurdish forces.
    He came to the British authorities’ attention after a post on Facebook about a photo of a school friend with his army unit, the caption saying he would like to conduct a “martyrdom operation” against the soldiers.
    His parents say Jack had given others his Facebook password and believe his account was hacked. In a BBC-TV interview earlier this year, Letts said he was at one time “an enemy of Britain” and would have taken part in a suicide car bombing, but now believes such behaviour is forbidden by Islam.
    “It was probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” he told ITV about moving to ISIL territory. “I never killed anyone though, I’ve never taken anyone a slave, I’ve never even hurt anyone in ISIS. I only fought the Syrian regime which killed more than a million Syrians.”
    John Letts rejected the suggestion that his son is any less a Canadian citizen because he spent most of his life in Britain.
    Jack has often visited Canada, most of his extended family live here, and he was actually baptized in a Catholic Church near Chatham, Ont., where Letts grew up, the father said. He said he even had his two sons memorize the name of every Indigenous tribe in Canada, and taught them songs by folk singer Stan Rogers.
    “They have no idea how hard I’ve worked to make my boys Canadian, even though they’re in Britain,” said Letts.
    The parents’ ordeal has included a brush with the law of their own. A jury convicted them under the U.K.’s terror-financing law in June for sending $386 to a friend of Jack’s in Lebanon.

  9. ‘I’ve always felt I am Canadian:’ Jihadi Jack hopes to take refuge in Canada
    Jack Letts, an accused terrorist, reasons that if he is really a Canadian citizen, the country ought to bring him in
    https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ive-always-felt-i-am-canadian-jihadi-jack-hopes-to-take-refuge-in-canada
    The Muslim convert nicknamed Jihadi Jack has appealed to Canada to take him after being stripped of his British citizenship — as it emerged that he will escape prosecution there.
    Reacting to the decision to revoke his citizenship, Jack Letts, 23, who left Britain to join ISIL in 2014 and is being held by the Kurds in northern Syria, said, “I was expecting something like this, to be honest.”
    “I’ve been here for two and a half years and the British Government has not helped me at all. These things have very little meaning to me, to be honest. I don’t think British citizenship is a big deal.”
    Letts, who has previously admitted he was an enemy of Britain and said he would have loved to become an Isil martyr, has dual nationality through his Canadian father, John, 58, and has held a Canadian passport.
    He told ITV News: “I’ve always felt I am Canadian, my Dad is Canadian, and I never grew up being accepted as a British person anyway.”
    “But, in the same way Britain hasn’t helped me… Canada has done nothing. I always thought Canada was a better country, I had this illusion.
    “I hope Canada does take me from here. I could go there, to prison of course. If I’m really a Canadian citizen, why haven’t they taken me by now?”
    The decision to revoke Letts’s citizenship has placed him at the centre of a diplomatic row. Canada accuses Britain of “offloading” its responsibilities.
    John McKay, chairman of Canada’s committee on public safety and national security, said yesterday that if Letts came to Canada, he would escape prosecution for joining Isil through a loophole in Canadian law.
    “We are between a rock and a hard place. Our legislation works on the assumption — actually stated in legislation — that you have to leave from Canada in order to be prosecuted for a terrorist offence. We are unable to initiate any prosecution,” he said.
    He described Britain’s decision to revoke Letts’ citizenship as “gutless”.
    “This young man, however misguided he is, is entirely a British subject,” McKay said.
    “He is raised in Britain, he was educated in Britain. Everything about him is British.
    “The only formal connection he has with Canada is through his father. Frankly, I don’t think it’s the way two allies should be treating each other.”
    A spokesman for Ralph Goodale, the Canadian public safety minister said Canada was “disappointed that the UK has taken this unilateral action to offload its responsibilities.”
    Although he said Canada was aware of some of its citizens who were being held in northern Syria, the spokesman added, “there is no legal obligation to facilitate their return. We will not expose consular officials to undue risk in this dangerous part of the world.”
    It is expected Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, will raise Letts’s case with Boris Johnson at the G7 summit in Biarritz this weekend.
    In his interview, Letts maintained he had never killed or enslaved anyone. “I only ever fought the Syrian regime which killed one million people.
    “I’m not a murderer. I’ve never tortured anyone. I’m just a person who made a stupid mistake.”
    He added that he had given up hope of seeing his father and mother Sally, who were given suspended jail sentences in June for funding his activities, face to face. “Speaking to them on the phone would be great,” he said. “I have absolutely no rights. I can’t even speak to my mum so how can I speak to a lawyer?”

  10. https://www.rt.com/news/541149-euthanasia-germany-vaccinated-only/

    Anyone wishing to be euthanized now has to first present proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid, as per the new guidelines issued by Germany’s euthanasia association.

    A statement put out by the Hamburg-based group on Friday reads “assisted suicide and the preliminary examination of a patient’s ability to make decisions freely implies physical closeness between people. However, that is precisely the precondition for the spread of Covid.”

    In February 2020, Germany’s top court overturned a ban on providing euthanasia as unconstitutional….

    Amid the surge in cases, the German states of Saxony and Bavaria have both cancelled all Christmas markets.

  11. NYT – Turkey Without Covid

    A guide to using rapid tests.

    If the U.S. government had done a better job making rapid Covid-19 tests available, the advice for how to use them this holiday weekend would be easy: Take one at the start of every day when you planned to spend time with people outside your household.

    That approach is possible in other countries. In Britain, pharmacies offer free packs of seven tests that people can take at home. In Germany, rapid tests are also widely available and mostly free. In this country, the situation is different, largely because the F.D.A. has been slow to approve the tests.

    The Biden administration has not been as aggressive in fixing the situation as it could have been, but it has made progress. A couple of months ago, tests were often impossible to find. Now, they are sporadically available at many stores. Friends and family around the country have told me this week that they have usually been able to find a test after looking in enough places.

    The tests are not free, however. They typically cost about $25 for a pack of two. The combination of their cost and irregular availability means that Americans interested in rapid tests often must make choices about when to use them.

    Today’s newsletter offers a guide for doing so, especially as a way to protect older people — who remain the most vulnerable to serious Covid illness — during Thanksgiving weekend.

    “Rapid tests can help reduce worries about gathering with loved ones for the holidays,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told me. Nuzzo’s immediate family plans to take tests on Thanksgiving, before going over to their hosts for the meal. So do I.

    Why?

    The Covid tests that you take in a doctor’s office or testing center are usually PCR tests, which are designed to identify whether you have any amount of the Covid virus. They can sometimes come back positive even if you had the virus weeks earlier and have not been infectious for a long time.

    The rapid tests — also known as antigen tests — are designed to tell whether you are infectious. That’s why they are such a powerful public-health tool. They can prevent somebody with the virus from spreading it to others.

    “For too long, people thought of testing as an extra and not the core, and it needs to be thought of as the core,” Mara Aspinall, a professor at Arizona State University and former biotechnology executive, told Kaiser Health News.

    Which ones?

    The most widely available antigen test seems to be BinaxNOW, from Abbott. You should also feel comfortable using QuickVue, Ellume and Flowflex, among others. If you search for one of these tests online and a website points you to a different brand, do some research. Others can be very expensive.

    Both CVS and Walgreens have search engines that let you find tests for sale near you. I recommend calling the store to confirm it still has them in stock — and then immediately going to buy it. A store may limit you to buying one test pack at a time.

    How?

    Some people find the tests easy to conduct. Others have told me that the process is tricky — more so, for example, than taking a home pregnancy test. Either way, set aside time to read the directions and watch the how-to video.

    “It is critically important that you carefully read any instructions for the type of test you are taking, and follow them to the letter,” Dr. Karl Laskowski, who helps oversee Covid testing at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told Julia Taliesin of Boston.com.

    You will usually get a result within 15 minutes. Keep in mind that both false negatives and false positives are possible. Antigen tests typically identify 98 percent of infectious cases, according to Dr. Michael Mina, a Harvard University epidemiologist.

    If you get a positive result, take it seriously, and quarantine yourself until you know more. Ideally, you would try to confirm the result with a PCR test or a second rapid test — from a different brand, my colleague Tara Parker-Pope says. If the second is negative and you are vaccinated, you can probably trust the negative.

    When?

    Because most Americans have limited access to rapid tests, they need to triage their use. The two most important times to take a test are either after you may have been exposed to the virus or before you are spending time with medically vulnerable people, like those in their 70s or older.

    “I try to tell people it’s a snapshot good for one day only,” Tara told me. “And that you need to keep testing if you think you were exposed to Covid or if you have been traveling through airports or on trains.”

    If you are attending multiple gatherings this weekend and do not have enough tests, focus your testing on the days when you are seeing anybody vulnerable. For most people, THE VACCINES HAVE TURNED COVID INTO A MANAGEABLE DISEASE — one that is highly unlikely to lead to severe illness and not so different from other respiratory illnesses. But for many older people, Covid remains a meaningful threat.

    Many Americans continue to exaggerate the threat that Covid presents to children and understate its threat to elderly people. They deserve our focus.

    Who?

    Not everybody in your household has the same chance of Covid exposure. With a limited number of tests available, it can make sense to focus on people who have the highest likelihood of having been infected — and, by extension, infecting others.

    Nuzzo suggests prioritizing two groups for rapid testing: people who are not fully vaccinated, like children; and those who have spent more time in settings where they might have been exposed.

    Even with the limitations of rapid testing in the U.S., the tests can play an important role in slowing the spread of the virus. And the situation does seem to be improving. The F.D.A. approved three more tests this week, and the Biden administration continues to spend more to expand their availability.

    By Christmas and New Year, tests should be easier to find than they are this week.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/24/briefing/thanksgiving-covid-rapid-test.html?referringSource=articleShare

  12. UK School Asks Pupils to Wear ‘Yellow Badge’ to Show They Are Mask-Exempt

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/11/25/uk-school-asks-pupils-wear-yellow-badge-show-mask-exempt/

    A parenting campaign group has criticised the “deeply inappropriate” request from a school for pupils to wear a “yellow badge” to show they are exempt from wearing a mask, with many making a comparison to the yellow stars forced upon Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Europe.

    Allison Pearson from The Telegraph had circulated last week excerpts of an email from the headmaster of Farringtons School in Chiselhurst, Kent, advising parents that children who are exempt from wearing a mask in school should wear a “yellow badge” to identify themselves. The email prompted the journalist to ask “does the school have teachers who know their history?” as well as dozens of responses to the tweet with members of the public seeing the comparison to the forcing of Jewish people wearing stars in Nazi-occupied Europe so they could be identified and singled out for discrimination.

  13. Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News [14 Nov 2021]

    Russia has confirmed 9 070 674 cases of coronavirus and 255 386 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia’s total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 723 000.

    – Russia on Saturday [13 Nov 2021] confirmed 38 823 COVID-19 infections and 1219 deaths.

    – Russia will introduce health passes for access to public places, restaurants and intercity trains and planes in a radical move designed to boost Russia’s sluggish vaccination campaign.

    – Russia is now the world leader in coronavirus deaths for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
    Speculation: China's at it again.
    – The developer of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V has said Moscow should make jabs mandatory as inoculation rates remain low despite record deaths and campaigning by authorities.

    – St. Petersburg on Tuesday [9 Nov 2021] mandated vaccination against COVID-19 for all residents over 60 years old as well as people with certain chronic illnesses.

    https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/11/13/coronavirus-in-russia-the-latest-news-nov-13-a69117

    ………….
    Difficult Situation

    The coronavirus situation in Russia is quite difficult, with incidence rate being on the rise in 61 regions, Russian Deputy PM Tatiana Golikova said on Friday [12 Nov 2021].

    “The coronavirus situation in Russia is rather difficult. Last week, we had non-working days. In several regions, non-working days were declared earlier to curb the spread of the disease and break infection chains. The measure has yielded certain results, the incidence rates have slowed down, but … we continue to observe growth in 61 regions,” she said.

    According to Golikova, the average incidence rate is 191 cases per 100 000 people, and 254 cases among the elderly.

    Earlier, the government submitted to the State Duma, or low parliament house, bills on the use of QR codes on transport and in public places. The measure is supposed to be in force until [1 Jun 2022] and will not apply to pharmacies, food stores and trading outlets selling articles of daily necessity.

    https://tass.com/society/1360843
    ……
    Sputnik V doesn’t work.
    =>But – glass half-full – it’s NOT mRNA, NOT new C-19 technology. It’s based on Russia’s decades-long quest for the golden ring: cure or prevention for the common cold.

    Excellent long-term safety profile, tested on HUGE population (prision volunteers).

    However, it doesn’t work.