Reader’s Links for December 15, 2021

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

38 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 15, 2021”

  1. reuters – U.S. House approves proposed State Dept anti-Islamophobia office

    WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to approve a Democratic proposal for a U.S. State Department office to address anti-Muslim bias, after a Republican congresswoman used an Islamophobic slur against a Democratic colleague.

    The House backed the bill in a party-line vote of 219-212.

    The bill, authored by Representative Ilhan Omar, would create a special envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia and include state-sponsored anti-Muslim violence in the department’s annual human rights reports.

    “We are in the midst of a staggering rise of anti-Muslim violence and discrimination around the world,” Omar said on the House floor. “Islamophobia is global in scope and we must lead the global effort to address it.”

    The House vote comes a few weeks after video emerged showing first-term Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert calling Omar, a Muslim second-term congresswoman who was born in Somalia, a member of a “jihad squad.”

    That comment led to calls by Democrats for a vote to strip Boebert of her committee assignments, as well as criticism by fellow Republican Representative Nancy Mace.

    Republicans have decried the bill, calling it rushed and partisan.

    Debate on the bill stalled for about an hour after Republican congressman Scott Perry accused Omar of being anti-Semitic and affiliated with terrorist organizations. The House chair ruled Perry’s words on the House floor impugned Omar’s reputation and were inappropriate.

    Aides for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer did not respond to requests for comment about the bill. Its fate in that chamber is unclear.

    https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democratic-proposal-state-dept-anti-islamophobia-office-get-house-committee-vote-2021-12-14/

    H.R.5665 – Combating International Islamophobia Act

    https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5665/text

  2. Decaying oil tanker off Yemen could disrupt clean water supply for 9 million people
    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/12/middleeast/yemen-oil-tanker-spill-report-intl/index.html
    The “increasingly likely” possibility of a massive oil spill from a decaying tanker stranded in the Red Sea could disrupt supplies of clean water to the equivalent of more than 9 million people, according to a new study.

    The FSO Safer tanker — which contains 1.1?million barrels of oil, or more than four times the amount spilled in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez 2 — has been “deserted” off Yemen’s coast since 2015 and continues to deteriorate.
    A breach in the vessel, which is single hulled, would cause the contents to spill directly into the sea, said the report, which was published in the journal Nature Sustainability on Monday.
    The report includes modeling which predicts that a spill from the ship could have wider-ranging environmental, economic and humanitarian consequences than previously imagined.
    “The anticipated spill could disrupt clean-water supply equivalent to the daily use of 9.0-9.9?million people,” the study found. Up to 8.4?million people could also be cut off from their food supplies, it added, with Yemen’s fisheries particularly under threat.
    Fisheries are currently responsible for providing subsistence for 1.7?million people in the country, which is in its seventh year of conflict and is on brink of famine.
    Within one week, the spill would threaten 66.5-85.2% of Yemen’s Red Sea fisheries, according to the report. By week three, 93-100% of Yemen’s Red Sea fisheries would be under threat. A spill “would devastate an industry already struggling to subsist,” read the report.
    Yemen is also “particularly vulnerable” due to its reliance on major ports near the tanker, such as Hodeidah and Salif, through which 68% of humanitarian aid enters the country. Over half of the country’s population depends on humanitarian aid delivered at ports, according to the report.
    Air pollution from the spill would also increase the risk of hospitalization, it added. The average risk of cardiovascular and respiratory hospitalizations would range from 6.7% for a slow-release winter spill to 42.0% for a fast-release summer spill.
    [..]
    The FSO Safer has been designated out-of-class since 2016 and has not been maintained since the start of Yemen’s conflict. In May 2020, water entered the engine room through a seawater-pipe leak, with the vessel’s fire extinguishing system now “non-operational,” the report said.
    “The spill and its potentially disastrous impacts remain entirely preventable through offloading the oil. Our results stress the need for urgent action to avert this looming disaster,” researchers added.
    Yemen has been embroiled in a yearslong civil war that has pitted the Iran-backed Houthi rebels against a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
    The rebels, who control the area where the ship is located, have previously blocked UN inspectors from assessing the vessel, despite asking the world body for assistance. The Houthis have however repeatedly blamed the Saudi-led coalition fighting them for preventing UN inspectors access to the tanker.
    In November 2020, an agreement was reached with Houthi forces on the scope of work need to make the vessel secure, according to Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP). But in June, she warned that despite the agreement reached, the planned assessment mission had not been deployed yet “due to “political and logistical obstacles.”

  3. AP – Mandatory jabs to police, military staff in Italy

    Police officers queued up for coronavirus vaccinations in Rome on Friday as a new government decree in Italy made vaccinations mandatory for law enforcement, military and all school employees, among others.

    Previously, vaccines were only required for health care workers and anyone who worked in care homes for the elderly.

    The government issued the decree on November 24, and starting Dec.15 the obligation will go into effect for public employees

    At a police barracks on the outskirts of Rome, dozens of State Police officers were being vaccinated on Friday where an indoor gym had been transformed into a vaccination centre by the Police Forces’ Health office.

    Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said such measures were necessary to prevent the “slow but steady” increase in infections from growing while preserving the gains Italy has made in rebooting the European Union’s third-largest economy, which shrank 8.9% last year.

    The aim of the new measures is to prevent lockdowns — an 8 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew and closure of bars and restaurants at 6 p.m. — from returning across the board.

    Unlike other countries, Italy never relaxed many of its restrictions even as cases tanked with the vaccine: indoor mask mandates remain in place and Italy last month became the first country in the West to require a health pass to access the workplace.

  4. Really?
    “George Washington wanted ‘sever penalties’ for anti-vaxxers”
    FOX 13 Tampa Bay – September 13, 2021

  5. Someone emailed me this but it belongs in the reader’s links and its important:

    Good Afternoon,

    Are you covering the story of Pfizer’s trial data being forcefully released by FOIA? They want to take up to 2076 and beyond to share all the information to us, yet ask that we participate in the trial and that governments and employers even mandate it, yet information is withheld. We must ask why? The first release of trial data is being looked at and every Canadian should have access to hearing about this and the known potential adverse effects that have not been revealed.

    We should all be very alarmed that there is no informed consent, which is the very basis of our medical system. You can click the link below to read one take on this story. To not report on this is negligent and can cause serious harm to our citizens.

    The media is not here to spread opinion or a government narrative, but truth, data and relevant unbiased news. Is that what you report on? Honestly? Vaccine injured people in our communities are being ignored and not given a platform to share the risks of these shots. If we bury our head in the sand, the problem will not go away but will become bigger. Media has a duty to accurately represent all sides.. the censorship and silencing has to stop. Where there is risk there must be choice and if our government doesn’t recognize this then the media should.

    This is a plea to ask questions, demand answers, look elsewhere in the world as to what is working, share injured stories, follow the money of who and what is behind many of these corporations and agencies that have conflicts of interests…. the truth prevails, be one that is here to discover the truth, no matter what it is. We need answers and traditionally you could count on journalists to ask the questions.

    Thank you,

    Marina Carroll

    “The crack in Pfizer and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) iron dome-style data safeguarding, arrived in the form of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) release with the request filed on August 27, 2021, to access all the Pfizer documentation that the FDA had relied on to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use authorization. An agency that has received a FOIA request is required to ‘determine within 20 business days after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with such request,’ as set out by the 1967 FOIA law. It took the FDA though three months to release the first 91 redacted pages, on November 20.

    The FOIA request was issued by a group of over 30 scientists and academics who filed a civil action lawsuit against the agency because they failed to fully comply with the request, since less than 1% of the documentation was released and with the FDA taking the position that all the data would be shared by 2076…..

    …..The FDA and Pfizer have appeared to conceal the full extent of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine side effects from the public. If this assumption is in fact true, then the ‘Gold Standard’ regulatory agency and the prestigious multinational pharmaceutical company have thrown the entire concept of informed consent out the window.

    It’s also a travesty that months later, the FDA dragged its feet and released this important safety document based on adverse event case reports under FOIA law. Case reports play an important role in pharmacovigilance. The recognition of the link between thalidomide given to mothers and malformations in their babies was triggered by a case report.

    Perhaps even more devastating—and a mockery of the whole point of advanced regulatory systems meant to ensure public safety–would be if the FDA wins the ongoing dispute to delay information release, then the public must wait another 75 years to access all the data, which by then will be far too late.”

    https://trialsitenews.com/fdas-forced-hand-drops-pfizers-bombshell-safety-document/

  6. zero hedge –Twitter To Punish Users Who Correctly Claim That Vaccinated Individuals Can Still Spread COVID-19

    Twitter, which dubs itself the arbiter of medical misinformation through its constellation of conflicted ‘fact-checkers,’ will start imposing penalties on users who claim that vaccinated people can spread Covid-19…

    …a claim made by none other than the US CDC Director, the NIH, Facui, and countless other officials.

    more :

    https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/twitter-punish-users-who-claim-vaccinated-individuals-can-still-spread-covid-19

    ================================
    the gateway pundit – Twitter Rolls Out Massive Update to Its “Covid Misinformation Policy” – Will Now CENSOR Factual Statements and BAN Users Who Claim The Vaccinated Can Spread the Virus

    […]As part of the changes to its policy, Twitter will also start giving out strikes and removing the tweets of users that cite publicly available studies and statistical findings to “make claims contrary to health authorities” if the all-knowing Twitter fact-checkers arbitrarily determine that the claims are misinformation.

    Translation: only approved science that fits the narrative is allowed.

    more :

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/twitter-rolls-massive-update-covid-misinformation-policy-will-now-censor-factual-statements-ban-users-claim-vaccinated-can-spread-virus/

    ====================================
    twitter @breaking911

    DR. FAUCI: “Our booster vaccine regimens work against Omicron.

    At this point, there is no need for a variant-specific booster.

    And so the message remains clear: If you are unvaccinated, get vaccinated…if you are fully vaccinated, get your booster shot.”

    + video

    https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1471275706936176646

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

    europravda -Omicron: Vaccines ‘alone’ will not prevent impact of new COVID variant, says ECDC

    “Vaccination alone will not allow us to prevent the impact of the Omicron variant, because there will be no time to address the vaccination gaps that still exist,” said Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

    • ctv news – ‘I understand this sucks’: PM Trudeau addresses new restrictions ahead of holidays

    • reuters – New wave of COVID-19 brings global disruption

      …Major North American sports leagues scrambled to control outbreaks as COVID-19 cases climb and the threat from the Omicron variant grows.

    • global news – Public health experts urge caution amid Omicron spread

      Medical experts warn having two doses of COVID-19 vaccine will not protect you against the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

      Jamie Mauracher reports on the evolving advice about getting a booster shot and how people are being told to avoid large gatherings during this holiday season.

      Meanwhile, with cases of the more contagious variant spiking in the United Kingdom, concerns are rising that hospitals will be overwhelmed again.

      Crystal Goomansingh looks at how the country trying to respond to what’s being called “the most significant threat since COVID began.”

  7. NYC – Multiple arrests at an Anti-Mandate Cheesecake Factory sit in protest

    Multiple Anti-Mandate activists were arrested Tuesday (12-14-21) during a sit in protest at a Cheesecake factory in Queens, New York.

    Protesters went in, sat down but were refused service due to not having documentation of their Covid-19 vaccination status.

    They were told to leave, and Police were called.

    Five activists were ultimately arrested. Protesters then moved their demonstration to the 110th precinct where their friends were being held until they were released seven hours later at about 4:30am.

  8. twitter breaking911

    Cornell University goes remote after reporting over 900 COVID cases this week, VP for University Relations Joel Malina says “virtually every” case has been found in fully-vaccinated students, many of whom received the booster shot – CNN

    https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1471176910831230977

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

    Cornell partially shuts down its campus due to more than 900 COVID-19 cases in possible omicron outbreak

    […]The university’s online COVID dashboard counted 469 active student cases as of Tuesday afternoon.

    It was updated later in the day to count 903 students testing positive between December 7-13, with school officials telling CNN that a “very high percentage” of them are omicron variant cases in fully vaccinated people.

    Some 97% of Cornell’s population is fully vaccinated.

    more:

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/cornell-partially-shuts-down-its-campus-due-to-nearly-500-covid-19-cases-in-possible-omicron-outbreak-11639514565

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

    cnn – Cornell University reports more than 900 Covid-19 cases this week. Many are Omicron variant cases in fully vaccinated students

    […]Cornell’s overall vaccination rate among students is 97%.

    […]The school has a mandatory vaccination policy for students, with exemptions for religious or medical issues. All unvaccinated students and many vaccinated students are required to take part in surveillance testing. Mask wearing indoors is compulsory.

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/14/us/cornell-university-covid-cases/index.html

    =============================
    Covid Shuts Down Cornell University During Finals Week. School on Alert Level Red.

  9. GERMANY – Police carry out raids in Dresden over anti-vaxxers’ alleged plans to murder Saxony premier

    German police carried out raids on several locations in Dresden and nearby Heidenau after they had uncovered a suspected plot by anti-vaccination activists to assassinate Saxony Minister-President Michael Kretschmer over COVID curbs.

    The police searches targeted members of the group Dresden Offlinevernetzung, or Dresden offline networking, after an investigation released by the public broadcaster ZDF revealed that the group’s members allegedly discussed killing Kretschmer and other representatives of the Saxony state government on the messaging platform Telegram.

    The suspects were believed to be in possession of crossbows among other weapons, according to police.