Reader’s Links for July 1, 2022

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

55 Replies to “Reader’s Links for July 1, 2022”

  1. . Paul Craig Roberts says American leaders want war with Russia. Russia is trying to avoid war, but the provocations from the U.S. and NATO keep coming. At some point, Dr. Roberts says Russia will be backed into a corner, and it won’t take long for the battle to go nuclear. This is a special interview inside the Weekly News Wrap-Up that explains how we got here and where we are going in terms of war with Russia. Dr. Roberts says it’s no longer a question of if, but when, it all hits the fan.

    You cannot hide the unexplained deaths and emergency sickness. It is now happening every week. 32-year-old SNL comedian Nick Nemeroff died in his sleep this week, but before he did, he was on video complaining about being deathly sick after the two CV19 shots he already got. He pledged that he would not get the booster, and he never did–because he died a few days later. Meanwhile, Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker was rushed to the hospital with some strange emergency, and the drummer for Five Seconds of Summer passed out on stage for no apparent reason. Once again, the question is, “Were they vaxed?” This trend is going to continue for some time to come no matter if you are famous or not.

    A new poll for the Democrats is coming in awful. An AP poll reveals 8 out of 10 Democrats say the country is “headed in the wrong direction.” That’s 8 out of 10 DEMOCRATS. Let that sink in. Couple that with another story from the AP that reports

    https://usawatchdog.com/paul-craig-roberts-nuke-war-coming-mysterious-deaths-dont-stop-dems-cant-win/

  2. Will the Antifa 11 Face Justice in San Diego?
    “Antifa is known to use force, fear, and violence.”

    While Jan 6 dominates the media from cable news to the press headlines, far from Washington D.C. the violence of Jan 9 recently led to the first conspiracy indictment of Antifa rioters.

    The violent clashes at a Pro-Trump rally in San Diego on Jan 9, 2021 were more of what Americans had been forced to accept as the new normal over the last six years.

    Just more of those “mostly peaceful protests”.

    The fighting near Crystal Pier at Pacific Beach saw police officers being hit with rocks and glass bottles. Store windows were broken and five police officers suffered injuries in the violence.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/07/will-antifa-11-face-justice-san-diego-daniel-greenfield/

  3. Biden’s Pandemic Prophecy
    “Another pandemic,” now in the works, is all about money and power.

    Fri Jul 1, 2022Lloyd Billingsley7 comments

    Joe Biden admits taking direction from his handlers and the Delaware Democrat is on record that White House advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci is the real president. When Biden announced on June 21 that “there’s going to be another pandemic,” Americans may be certain that the ventriloquist is Dr. Fauci, known for timely pandemic predictions.

    “We will definitely get surprised in the next few years,” Dr. Fauci said in January of 2017. “There is no doubt,” Fauci said, that the next administration, that of Donald Trump, would face a surprise infectious disease outbreak.

    Dr. Fauci failed to outline any replicated

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/07/bidens-pandemic-prophecy-lloyd-billingsley/

  4. https://thecountersignal.com/governments-commit-to-who-pandemic-treaty/

    Multiple governments commit to signing WHO pandemic treaty

    ….What is the global pandemic treaty, and why is it so worrisome?

    As previously reported by The Counter Signal, the WHO began drafting its treaty in December 2021 during a special session entitled “The World Together.”

    The treaty is to be upheld by the WHO’s constitution, which under Article 19 “[provides] the World Health Assembly with the authority to adopt conventions or agreements on any matter within WHO’s competence.” [Emphasis added]

    This authority was initially designed to pertain only to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control but is being expanded to include dictating Member States’ future pandemic responses.

    “When there is a health crisis or a pandemic like we’ve just been through, the World Health Organization will be able to dictate terms,” author Nick Corbishley said during an interview with The Epoch Times.

    “They will be able to tell countries, more or less, how to respond.”

    (As pointed out by MP Leslyn Lewis, the treaty would also allow the WHO to determine what a pandemic is and when one is occurring, even over something non-viral like an obesity crisis. This would effectively give the organization the authority to take control of member states’ healthcare systems whenever they feel necessary.

    “Of even more concern, if this treaty is enshrined, the WHO would be in full control over what gets called a pandemic,” Lewis wrote in a statement.

    “They could dictate how our doctors can respond, which drugs can and can’t be used, or which vaccines are approved. We would end up with a one-size-fits-all approach for the entire world… A one-size-fits-all response to a health crisis doesn’t even work across Canada, let alone the entire globe.”)

    https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health

    Climate change – the biggest health threat facing humanity

    Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, and health professionals worldwide are already responding to the health harms caused by this unfolding crisis.

    Climate change is already impacting health in a myriad of ways, including by leading to death and illness from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, storms and floods, the disruption of food systems, increases in zoonoses and food-, water- and vector-borne diseases, and mental health issues.
    https://www.who.int › health-topics
    Climate change – WHO | World Health Organization

    https://www.catholicherald.com/article/columns/climate-healing-by-doing-less-one-day-a-week/
    4/19/22

    There is a giant step the people of God can take next weekend to benefit the Earth’s climate. It’s simple, easy, everyone is capable of doing it and, best of all, it involves doing less not more. I’m not a climate scientist but I know this: if 70 million U.S. Catholics embraced Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’ ” (On care of creation) and honored the Lord’s Day by following the third commandment, we’d see a dramatic drop in greenhouse gases.

    Yes, this would disrupt the economy. So, do we disrupt the economy or destroy our common home? And, yes, we need to look at all human activities that cause damage but let’s start by honoring the Sabbath, creating a powerful, inspiring, beginning.

    Embracing the Sabbath would help create a real time of rest from this weary world, a time for inward journeying, enabling us to more easily break into music and become joyful.

    Something is very wrong and there isn’t much one person can do to reduce the threat, but if 70 million Catholics heard Pope Francis’ words in “Laudato Si’ ” and honored the Sabbath, we might all break into music and bring joy to our Mother Earth. And all it requires is that we do less — but do it together one day each week.

    “Sunday is our MARK of authority…the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.” Catholic Record of London, Ontario, September 1, 1923

    Cardinal James Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (Ayers Publishing, 1978): 108:

    But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.

    The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957): 50:

    Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
    A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
    Q. Why Do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
    A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.

    Chancellor Albert Smith for Cardinal of Baltimore Archdiocese, letter dated February 10, 1920:
    If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath day by God is Saturday. In keeping the Sunday, they are following a law of the Catholic Church.

    Stephen Keenan, Catholic—Doctrinal Catechism 3rd Edition: 174:
    Question: Have you any other way of proving the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

    Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the 1st day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the 7th day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority

    Our Sunday Visitor (February 5, 1950):
    Practically everything Protestants regard as essential or important they have received from the Catholic Church… The Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible and observing the Sunday, in keeping Christmas and Easter, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope

    Louis Gaston Segur, Plain Talk about the Protestantism of To-Day (London: Thomas Richardson and Son, 1874): 213:
    Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is a homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the (Catholic) Church.

    The Catholic Mirror (September 23, 1893):
    The Catholic Church, for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday…

    The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first. Hence their appellation, “Seventh-day Adventists.”

    Catholic Priest T. Enright, CSSR, Kansas City, MO:
    It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the 1st day of the week. And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Laodicea, AD 364, anathematized those who kept the Sabbath and urged all persons to labor on the 7th day under penalty of anathema.

    Catholic Priest T. Enright, CSSR, lecture at Hartford, KS, Feb 18, 1884:
    I have repeatedly offered $1000 to any one who can furnish any proof from the Bible that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep…The Bible says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” but the Catholic Church says, “No, keep the first day of the week,” and the whole world bows in obedience.

    Cardinal John Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (London: Basil Montague Pickering, 1878): 373:
    The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons…are all of pagan origin and sanctified by their adoption into the Church.

    Catholic Record (September 1, 1923):
    The [catholic] Church is above the Bible, and this transference of the Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.

    Pope Leo XIII, Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae (The Reunion of Christendom), June 20, 1894: ?
    We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.

    Our Sunday Visitor (April 18, 1915): 3:
    The letters inscribed in the Pope’s miter are these: VICARIUS FILII DEI, which is the Latin for, “Vicar of the Son of God.”

    Letter from C.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons on October 28, 1895:

    Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act…And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.

    American Catholic Quarterly Review (January 1883):
    Sunday…is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.

    Catholic American Sentinel (June 1893):
    Sunday…It is a law of the Catholic Church alone…

    S.C. Mosna, Storia della Domenica (1969): 366-367:
    Not the Creator of the Universe in Genesis 2:1-3, but the Catholic Church “can claim the honor of having granted man a pause to his work every seven days.”

    “The Question Box,” The Catholic Universe Bulletin (August 14, 1942): 4:
    The (Catholic) Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter, the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant.

    Arthur Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity (New York: Putnam’s Sons, 1928): 145:
    The Church made a sacred day of Sunday…largely because it was the weekly festival of the sun; for it was a definite Christian policy to take over the pagan festivals endeared to the people by tradition, and to give them a Christian significance.

    John A. O’Brien, The Faith of Millions: the Credentials of the Catholic Religion Revised Edition (Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 1974): 400-401:
    But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn’t it curious that non-Catholics, who claim to take their religion directly from the Bible and not from the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course, it is inconsistent; but this change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. They have continued the custom even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon and explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away—like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a lock of her hair.

    This change from Saturday to Sunday Sabbath was prophesied about in Daniel 7. The great reformer Philipp Melanchton knew this truth five centuries ago. He wrote this:

    He changeth the tymes and lawes that any of the sixe worke dayes commanded of God will make them unholy and idle dayes when he lyste, or of their owne holy dayes abolished make worke dayes agen, or when they changed ye Saterday into Sondaye…They have changed God’s lawes and turned them into their owne tradicions to be kept above God’s precepts.ii

    • REBEL NEWS – SHOCKING: Altercation occurs between individuals and police near War Memorial

    • global news – Ottawa police make arrests as city gears up for Canada Day weekend

      Four people were arrested on Thursday after a procession was led into the city of Ottawa by former army reservist James Topp.

      He had been charged in February after speaking out against vaccine mandates.

      Some time after Topp delivered remarks, police said they responded to a situation in the area and arrested the four people over incidents they said included assaulting officers.

      Kyle Benning has more details

    • CBC – How are Ottawa police preparing for Canada Day?

      Former Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau says it’s clear that the force is preparing for potential demonstrations in advance of July 1 and seeking to ensure the city doesn’t see a repeat of the Freedom Convoy protest earlier this year.

  5. CBC – Canadians urged to get COVID-19 booster doses

    Canadian health officials are urging people to be sure to get their third or fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, especially with an expected case surge in the summer or fall.

    • Vaccine adverse reactions events system, VARES Report up to June 24 reporting at approximately 1%

      Adverse Reactions ONLY 1,307,928 up 6,666 from week before
      Deaths ONLY 29,162 up 131 from week before
      Serious injuries ONLY 241,226. Up 1004 from week before

      6 months – 4
      Adverse reactions 1791
      Serious injuries 64
      Deaths 3

      5-11 Serious injuries 11,638
      Serious Injuries 300
      Deaths 7
      – – Including VARES # 2327226 an eight year old girl from Texas
      The VARES Report stated: She developed inflamed lymph nodes ( lymphadenitis), rash all over her body, ongoing fever for more than 3 weeks.

      She was diagnosed with MIS-C, her heart, intestines, lungs, skin and liver were inflamed.

      She was hospitalized and treated with immunoglobulin, steroids, anticoagulants, fever-reducing medications, etc..

      By the second treatment, her belly started getting distended, her lungs filled up with liquids. She was transferred to ICU and her heart stopped beating right there.

      12 – 17
      Adverse Reactions 32,472
      Deaths 44
      Serious reactions 1,838

      Congratulations to all the healthcare “Professionals”, doctors, politicians and media for aiding and abetting in this mass murder. May every last one of you, including all the collaborators who complied and made this tragedy possible, may you ALL rot in hell.

  6. CNN: “What do you say to those families that say, ‘listen, we can’t afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years?’”

    BIDEN ADVISOR BRIAN DEESE: “This is about the future of the Liberal World Order and we have to stand firm.”

  7. europravda – Lessons from COVID: EU’s vaccine passport proves digital health’s potential

    Following the success of its vaccine passport, the Digital COVID Certificate, the EU is investing more into digital health with the European Health Data Space.

    EU Commissioner Stella Kyriakides speaks to Smart Health about how it will change our lives.

  8. global news Canadian talks fighting in Ukraine as those at home celebrate Canada Day

    As Canadians celebrate Canada Day, there are some who have gone abroad to serve on the front lines of Ukraine.

    One Calgary man who previously served with the Canadian military is among them.

    “I felt that I needed to do whatever I could do to help with the fight,” Matthew McGill said.

    As Sean O’Shea reports, he is sharing a message to Canadians to be grateful on Canada Day as he continues to fight in Ukraine.

  9. Overhead view of James Topp’s Final march to The National War Memorial on Laurier Bridge Ottawa

  10. EXCLUSIVE Interview With Indicted January 6th PROUD BOY That Released Zoom Call EXONERATING Them From SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY!! TELL-ALL VIDEO

    Indicted Air Force Veteran and Proud Boy AJ Fischer spoke to the Gateway Pundit via video conference regarding the video he released to us that provides proof that the leaders of the Proud Boy drinking fraternity did not commit seditious conspiracy or plan on going inside the Capitol on the day of January 6th, 2021.

    Rather, the “seditious conspiracy” planning meeting the Biden Regime alluded to in multiple indictments and court filings was more like a disorganized Livestream frat meeting of locker room chatter, planning for self defense against violent Antifa attacks and discussion on how to stay out of trouble and sober the day of the January 6th rally.

    Please see our exclusive interview with AJ

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/07/exclusive-interview-indicted-january-6th-proud-boy-released-zoom-call-exonerating-seditious-conspiracy-tell-video/

  11. reuters – EXCLUSIVE Canada sees Repsol LNG as fastest way to boost gas supply to Europe

    OTTAWA, June 30 (Reuters) – Canada’s East Coast has only enough natural gas supply to accommodate one new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, and the project that would boost shipments to Europe the fastest is Repsol’s (REP.MC), Canada’s environment minister told Reuters.

    In May, Canada said it was in talks with Spanish company Repsol’s LNG facility in New Brunswick and Pieridae Energy (PEA.TO), which has proposed building an LNG facility in Nova Scotia, about increasing exports to Europe.

    “The amount of gas that is available would be available only for one facility at this point,” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in an interview late on Wednesday, adding the idea of constructing new gas pipelines in Canada was not “very realistic”.

    “Repsol is probably the fastest project that could be deployed because it requires minimal permitting – there’s already an existing facility, (and a) gas line is right there,” Guilbeault said.

    The vast majority of Canada’s natural gas is produced in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

    Europe is seeking to diversify its energy supplies as it pivots away from Russian oil and gas after the invasion of Ukraine. Canada’s foreign minister said on Wednesday talks had taken place with its European allies, including Spain and Germany, about increasing its East Coast exports.

    Canada, the world’s sixth-largest natural gas producer according to 2020 figures, does not currently have any functioning LNG facilities, though one is under construction on the West Coast.

    Canada is seeking to increase oil and gas exports by 300,000 barrels per day by the end of this year to help improve global energy security, but in the short term can do no more, Guilbeault said. read more

    Making the current Repsol LNG import facility in Saint John, New Brunswick, also an export facility may help lift supply in the medium term, as long as the facility respects Canada’s requirements for steady reductions of carbon and methane emissions, he said.

    “So it’s a project that could be deployed rather rapidly, but we’re still talking about some years” before it could export LNG to Europe, Guilbeault said, referring to the Repsol project.

    When asked about the minister’s comments, Repsol said in a statement it “will look at any/all business that enhances or creates value at the Saint John LNG, including the potential to add liquefaction capabilities to the existing facility.”

    While Canada has said it is keen to help its European allies, the government is also seeking to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, and it has regularly missed its reduction goals in the past.

    Approving new fossil fuel projects at this stage would appear to run against its climate goals.

    Guilbeault said he had conversations with German officials about increasing gas flows, adding they want the new LNG facility to be converted to exporting hydrogen instead of gas long before 2050.

    The Germans are “very keen on finding ways to convert these LNG facilities to hydrogen as soon as the technology is available,” he said.

    https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-canada-sees-repsol-lng-fastest-way-boost-gas-supply-europe-2022-06-30/

  12. QAkron, Ohio Prepares for Riots After Police Reportedly Shot Fleeing Black Man 60 Times; 4th of July Festival Canceled

    Heavy duty trucks were parked in front of police headquarters in Akron Friday morning as the northeast Ohio city is on edge after reports a Black man fleeing a traffic stop Monday was shot and killed by eight police officers who reportedly fired ninety rounds–hitting the man, 25-year-old Jayland Walker, sixty times. Akron announced Thursday the city’s four-day Rib, White and Blue Festival was being canceled, however there are still fireworks displays planned for Monday.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/07/akron-ohio-prepares-riots-police-reportedly-shot-fleeing-black-man-60-times-4th-july-festival-canceled/

    • The man is suppose to have shot at the police but that isn’t going to stop the riots.

  13. Report: Eco-Terrorists Deflate Tires on Dozens of SUVs in New York City
    By Kristinn Taylor
    Published July 1, 2022 at 12:51pm
    36 Comments

    British eco-terrorist group claimed this week that followers in America deflated tires on forty SUVs in New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood. The group posted online bragging about their attacks on private automobile ownership. The group, which does not spare electric or hybrid SUVS, threatened to target vehicles in cities across the U.S.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/07/report-eco-terrorists-deflate-tires-dozens-suvs-new-york-city/

  14. QMidterm blues: Greens about to abandon Beltway Democrats?
    ED MORRISSEY Jul 01, 2022 12:01 PM ET

    Talk about votes of no confidence, although this feet-voting goes beyond Joe Biden. After nearly eighteen months of waiting on their Green New Deal, hardline environmentalists and their progressive allies have despaired of seeing their agenda advanced. It’s so bad, in fact, that Politico reports that they’ve rediscovered federalism.

    https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2022/07/01/midterm-blues-greens-about-to-abandon-beltway-democrats-n480139

  15. F*ck You, Barrett!” – Far-Left Pro-Abortion Activists Protest in Front of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Home (VIDEO)

    Far-left pro-abortion activists protested in front of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s home Thursday evening nearly a week after the High Court overturned Roe v Wade.

    Nearly two dozen protesters marched in front of the Supreme Court justice’s home chanting, “F*ck you Barrett!”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/07/fck-barrett-far-left-pro-abortion-activists-protest-front-supreme-court-justice-amy-coney-barretts-home-video/

  16. DAILY MAIL – Bill Gates buys 17th century palazzo near Rome’s storied Spanish Steps for $170 million to convert into the city’s first six-star hotel – in partnership with Saudi prince who is ALSO backing Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover

    Four Seasons, which Bill Gates controls, is buying the Palazzo Marini in Rome

    The sprawling 17th-century complex will be converted to a six-star hotel

    Since 2007, Gates has owned Four Seasons with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal

    Alwaleed is Saudi Arabia’s self-styled Warren Buffett, worth some $17 billion

    The Saudi investor is also backing Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10959309/Bill-Gates-buys-17th-century-palazzo-Rome-170-million.html

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

    Bill Gates, Spurned by Venice, Seeks to Conquer Rome

    ROME—Money may not buy happiness, but it does by property, and Bill Gates, who was recently rebuffed in his bid to buy the historic Danieli hotel in Venice has now settled on one of the best addresses in Rome to build the city’s first six-star hotel, according to purchase records filed with Rome’s City Hall.

    The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts group that Gates controls through Cascade Investment LLC, along with billionaire Saudi investor Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, have put down a $21 million down payment of the $170 million price tag on the Palazzo Marini. This is a 17th-century palazzo comprising four separate blocks that takes up the entire side of Piazza San Silvestro in central Rome. It is just a few blocks from the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Via Condotti, the home of Made in Italy luxury designer stores including Gucci, Tods Shoes and Prada. The hotel will also serve as a wakeup call to the area’s staple historic-center celebrity haunts like the Hassler and Hotel de Russie, which have to do little to keep a certain level of clientele coming back given the lack of competition. New luxury digs will surely liven up the high-end tourism market.

    The palazzo is a genuine fixer-upper. A few years ago, the street-level floor was converted into a pop-up Ikea shop selling mostly cheap kitchenware to urban dwellers who can’t get to the bigger stores in the suburbs. Its upper floors host the canteen for the lawmakers of Italy’s lower house of parliament, which is across a few cobbled streets. The contract has been the subject of heated debate over rental charges, which leaders of Italy’s Radical and Communist parties insist are more than 12 times the going rate for the area.

    The palazzo, which was started but not finished by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1650, was previously home to half a dozen noble princesses before Pope Innocent XII took it over, placing the Pontifical Tribunal there. It has, over the centuries, been renovated and rebuilt countless times.

    Views from the rooftop would—assuming it would be converted into a bar—afford a panoramic view of the city skyline, including St. Peter‘s, the Spanish Steps, and the lush Villa Borghese gardens nearby.

    The area, which has the city’s fair share of mid-range hotels, recently welcomed a massive Apple showroom—the first of its kind in central Rome, which will be visible from nearly all of the rooms of the Microsoft founder’s future hotel.

    Before the Four Seasons deal, the palazzo was dumped in a fire sale to a fund managed by Idea Fimit in a $800 million package of properties unloaded by real estate developer Sergio Scarpellini after he was arrested in 2016 for allegedly bribing then mayor Virginia Raggi. His case remains in the labyrinth of Italy’s beleaguered justice system, but he holds many shares in the fund and will be handsomely rewarded by the sale. The property was an object of interest for a number of developers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which stalled Rome’s tourist sector and led to the closure of more than 410 hotels in the city. Gates and his firm were said to be interested in it then, and made good on the deal last week by signing the official intent to buy, filing papers at City Hall.

    The purchase papers, which are on the public record but only accessible in person, list a $120 million renovation budget which is expected to flip the massive building into a 100-room luxury hotel. The treeless and largely barren piazza it shares is home to Rome’s oldest post office and a number of coffee bars. The square is now also listed for an upcoming renovation likely promised by the city as an incentive. At the moment the piazza is an e-scooter parking lot and a major bus stop for the city’s public transit system.

    The project is listed as Palazzo Marini 3 and Palazzo Marini 4, which a developer with knowledge of the plans told The Daily Beast likely includes a space for a conference center and other amenities. A recent bid tender suggests that plans may be in the works for a massive spa and gym, of which there are very few in the center of Rome.

    Gates’ hotel firm has also been working to secure property close to the Vatican in the Palazzo Rovere on the storied via della Conciliazione that leads from the Tiber River to St. Peter’s Square, but the Vatican scoffed at having a luxury hotel so close to its homeless facilities. It is unclear if Gates or Four Seasons is still working on a deal for that property. The company has hotels in Milan, Florence, Taormina in Sicily and now, it seems, Rome. They are also opening a luxury seaside hotel in the southern region of Puglia and are rumored to still be working on acquiring or at least running the Hotel Danieli in Venice.

    https://www.yahoo.com/now/bill-gates-spurned-venice-seeks-081754676.html

    ROME -Piazza San Silvestro –

    Palazzo Marini ===> from 0:29 to 0:34

  17. America’s Involvement in Ukraine Increasingly Looks Like War
    Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million in weapons aid for Ukraine following last week’s news that CIA personnel are directing intelligence in Kyiv.

    President Joe Biden announced yesterday that the United States would send another $800 million in weapons aid to Ukraine, adding to the multibillion-dollar raft of assistance already sent to the country as it beats back the Russian invasion. The conflict recently entered its fourth month, and though U.S. government officials have been steadfast in asserting that America “will not be directly engaged” in the fight, that claim stands on shaky ground.

    Last week, The New York Times cast a light on just how deeply entrenched the U.S. has become in the conflict in Ukraine, describing “a stealthy network of commandos and spies rushing to provide weapons, intelligence and training.” Though the Biden administration has repeatedly stressed that it won’t deploy American troops to Ukraine, the Times reports that “some C.I.A. personnel have continued to operate in the country secretly, mostly in the capital, Kyiv, directing much of the vast amounts of intelligence the United States is sharing with Ukrainian forces.”

    Much of what the Biden administration has done to help Ukraine has fallen short of formal involvement in the war, but just barely. American soldiers won’t enter the fight, but American spies will. American officials have warned of the escalatory effects of enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukrainian territory, but American weapons are being funneled to Ukraine with regularity. The U.S. hasn’t officially declared war against Russia, but it’s helped kill Russian generals and sink the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

    These moves have largely been unilateral, secretive, or both, leaving Americans unaware of just how implicated the U.S. is in the conflict. Government officials themselves lack insight into the effects of American assistance, telling The Wall Street Journal that they have “little direct knowledge” of where equipment goes once it reaches the Ukrainian government. And lawmakers have helped enable this lack of transparency by rubber-stamping massive aid packages, eschewing discussions of financial oversight, and failing to effectively challenge the president on the aims of American assistance.

    As Biden announced the latest aid package, he swore that the U.S. would “support Ukraine as long as it takes.” It might be a noble statement, but for a president who has rallied against “forever wars,” it neglects several key realities. American involvement could very well become protracted if leaders don’t establish a clear off-ramp. The sunk-cost fallacy being what it is, politicians may find ways to maintain involvement in the future as a way to justify the hefty financial investments they’ve already made in the fight. This approach runs the risk of simply helping the war lumber on rather than incentivizing the involved parties to engage in peace talks.

    “At the very least, what the United States is doing in Ukraine is not not war,” Bonnie Kristian, a fellow at Defense Priorities, wrote in The New York Times. “If we have so far avoided calling it war and can continue to do so, maybe that’s only because we’ve become so uncertain of the meaning of the word.”

    Kristian correctly points out that “the line between what is war and what is not war has perilously blurred,” as technological advances and executive war making have made it easier for presidents “to commit what might otherwise be seen as acts of war.” Sporadic drone strikes against terror groups throughout the Middle East, “training” missions in hostile nations that go unauthorized by Congress, weapons and logistical support to Saudi Arabia as it wages a devastating war in Yemen—government officials often paint these as acts short of war, which distorts our understanding of the gravity of conflict.

    At some point, Russia may come to view the U.S. as a co-belligerent. American politicians can’t be certain of what Russian President Vladimir Putin sees as the uncrossable line. That’s why it’s so critical for lawmakers and their constituents to know the particulars of U.S. involvement in Ukraine and debate them robustly. Otherwise, America will trend ever closer toward war—even if politicians hesitate to call it that.

    https://reason.com/2022/07/01/americas-involvement-in-ukraine-increasingly-looks-like-war/

  18. Writing from my Jerusalem home, I am monitoring events in the US, the land of my birth, with sadness: the current situation is marked by a disintegration of traditional values.

    Here I focus on issues regarding abortion and the Supreme Court ruling. Even prior to that ruling, something was seriously amiss, as a preliminary draft of the ruling was leaked. Yet such leaks are not supposed to happen.

    The intent, of course, was to generate furor so that the Court might collectively change its mind. But that is not proper procedure within the Court. It rulings are not like legislative votes in Congress: members of Congress answer to their constituencies. The Supreme Court, however, entertains petitions emanating from lower courts. It hears oral arguments for a given case. Amicus curiae (friend of the Court) briefs may be filed, when permission is granted; they must contain relevant information, such as the perspective of an expert.

    There are no opinion polls commissioned by the Court, and there is no time during which an average citizen can knock on the door and say, “Excuse me, but you need to consider what I want.” Cases are decided in a Justices’ Conference, during which only the Justices themselves are privy to the discussion. The Justices’ decisions are founded upon the information they have secured and their own considerable knowledge regarding US law and the Constitution.

    The attempt to subvert this procedure – a formally spelled out procedure of long-standing – by leaking information in order to generate public opinion against the Court is a mark of outrageous disrespect for the Court, and a challenge to the process of law and order in the land.

    Following the leak, mobs gathered outside the homes of some of the Justices, seeking to intimidate them into changing their votes. Then, on June 8, a heavily armed man was caught near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh; the man told police he intended to break into Kavanaugh’s home and kill him.

    This should have shocked the nation into calling for a process of collective soul-searching. But it didn’t. Oh, there were laments, and the expected op-eds. But many were simply oblivious to the implications of what was transpiring, and some were without shame. There were actually demonstrations outside Kavanaugh’s home after the news of the intended assassination had broken – even though, in fact, these demonstrations are against the law (a law that is not enforced).

    In May, activists had posted a map of justices’ homes. When former White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about this, she responded, “I think the president’s view is that there’s a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document.” Precisely what was implicitly condoned with that statement?

    If we go back two years, we are reminded of the words of Democratic NY Senator Chuck Schumer, then Senate Minority Leader, directed at two justices of the Supreme Court, with regard to an earlier abortion issue: “I want to tell you, Gorsuch; I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Schumer later regretted these comments, but is it possible for him to re-call the message he delivered?

    In the end, the Court rendered its decision undeterred by the threats. The left reacted with hysteria; there have been riots and acts of violence, including something called “Night of Rage” in Washington DC.

    None of this is surprising. This is how large numbers of leftist Americans express their dissatisfaction with a given situation today. But there is a basic fact staring the leftist protestors in the face: the Court

    did NOT say that abortion was illegal. The decision was with regard to the Constitution: There is no “right to abortion” in the Constitution. The Constitution does not mention abortion, nor can abortion rights be subsumed under privacy rights. The Roe v. Wade decision of 50 years ago, said this Court, erroneously ruled on abortion when it lacked the jurisdiction to do so: decisions on abortion REST WITH THE STATES. The Court was returning this power to the states, where it belongs.

    Had the protesters an iota of a democratic sense, a sense that embraced the need for law and order, they would have approached the matter very differently. They would have begun to organize immediately within their respective states. They would have lobbied their legislatures, done op-eds, offered education in line with their position. All without threats or violence. That is what SHOULD be, so different from what is. This is what America could be, but is not.

    In many states the laws on permitting abortion will be generous: even in states where there will be restrictions, it is not likely that abortion will be forbidden outright, especially not in the first trimester. And so the hysteria is clearly over the top.

    And here I express my deepest concern:

    There are those in the pro-abortion camp who see the right of women to abortions as an absolute. The ultimate value is a woman’s “right” to do what she chooses with “her” body. But when we speak of abortion we are also speaking about another being, who is existentially threatened. Somehow in the equation of the leftist pro-abortionists this fact is obscured or considered of no import. A fetus? It is a thing, not a being. In line with this thinking, restrictions have been erased, exacerbating the situation. Originally even Roe v. Wade did not permit abortions in the third trimester, when the fetus is potentially viable. A subsequent Court ruling permitted abortion to the moment of birth. And there are some states today where that is permitted.

    This is, undeniably, infanticide: the killing – in horrendous fashion – of a viable fetus that could live outside the womb. I have even read reports (admittedly rare) of doctors who say that if the abortion process does not kill the fetus, and it emerges still alive, it does not have to be sustained – it is permissible to allow it to expire. It is the stuff of nightmares, of a nation whose moral sense has gone badly askew – that this would ever be permitted. Women’s “rights” have been expanded to override concerns for the life even of a viable fetus. And these expanded women’s “rights” are deemed so important that violence in their name is justified.

    How excellent it would be, were there moderation on the issue – instead of a Left that pushes the envelope in a most self-absorbed fashion.

    Yes, the argument could be made that abortion should be permitted — in the early weeks — if there is a threat to the physical or mental health of the mother; if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or the mother is underage. Yes, there are a number of reasons that could be used to justify an abortion in certain situations (and I note that Jewish law recognizes these reasons).

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/07/americas-challenge-traditional-values-erode-arlene-kushner/

  19. India’s supreme court blames politician Nupur Sharma’s remarks on prophet muhammad for the murder of a tailor in Udaipur. Looks like appeasement:

    Jul 01, 2022, Nupur Sharma post: What Supreme Court said on Kanhaiya Lal murder, Nupur Sharma’s Prophet Muhammad remark
    https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-nupur-sharma-post-what-supreme-court-said-on-kanhaiya-lal-murder-nupur-sharma-s-prophet-muhammad-remark-2964990
    The Supreme Court of India slammed Nupur Sharma for the remarks she made against Prophet Muhammad, which had sparked violent protests across the country. The court, hearing a plea seeking transfer of all FIRs against her to Delhi, lambasted the suspended BJP leader, blaming her for the murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal. The court said the remarks made by her during a television debate smacked of arrogance and were very disturbing. The court said Sharma was responsible for the environment in the country and that she had become a security threat to the nation. The court also said that her “loose tongue” set the country on fire. The vacation bench of Justices Surva Kant and JB Pardiwala made the unusually strongly worded remarks. “These remarks are very disturbing and smack of arrogance. What is her business to make such remarks? These remarks led to unfortunate incidents in the country,” the bench said.[..]

  20. WqSwarming Terror

    Zachary Kallenborn, Gary Ackerman, and Philipp C. Bleek
    On 25 April 2022, the White House released a new National Action Plan for countering domestic-unmanned aircraft systems.[1] As the White House implements the plan, and works with Congress to secure new authorities like the new bipartisan Drone Act of 2022, policy-makers need to consider how drone terrorist threats scale and evolve over time.[2]

    https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/swarming-terror

    Richard: Several years ago someone posted a video of a man mounting a .22 pistol on a quadcopter and using it to destroy some targets. Given the current state of anti-drone tech that would be a very iffy way to assissinate someone but using drones to spread bio weapons is a viable option.

  21. More on the murder of an indian tailor:

    Udaipur murder case: Kanhaiya Lal had been threatened multiple times over his social media posts in support of BJP leader Nupur Sharma, who was suspended by the ruling party earlier this month after her comments on Prophet Muhammad.
    https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/udaipur-murder-case-how-tailor-kanhaiya-lal-was-killed-in-his-shop-3109111
    Kanhaiya Lal had been threatened multiple times over his social media posts in support of BJP leader Nupur Sharma, who was suspended by the ruling party earlier this month after her comments on Prophet Muhammad triggered anger among Gulf nations and protests in the country.
    [..]
    The man struck him with a cleaver as the other man filmed the murder on his mobile phone. The killers tried to behead him but couldn’t, the police said. The neck was slit but the head was not severed.
    The two men fled and later posted the barbaric video on social media. In another video, the attackers, identified as Gos Mohammad and Riyaz, gloated about the murder and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Udaipur Killing: Two Men Arrested For Conspiring Murder Of Tailor Kanhaiya Lal
    Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was murdered on Tuesday in Rajasthan’s Udaipur by two men, who filmed the crime and shared the video online.
    https://www.outlookindia.com/national/udaipur-killing-two-men-arrested-for-conspiring-murder-of-tailor-kanhaiya-lal-news-206164
    Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was killed on Tuesday in Udaipur by two cleaver-wielding men —Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad— who made a video of the killing and shared it online.
    [..]
    In a video released after the killing, they confessed to it and said it was in response to disrespect shown to Prophet Muhammed. They further said, “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda.” It roughly translates to “there is only one punishment to disrespecting the Prophet, beheading”.
    [..]
    It has been reported that the bike used by the two main accused to escape after their crime had the registration number “2611” in a possible reference to 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
    [..]
    Riaz Akhtari had paid Rs 1,000 to obtain the number of his choice for the motorcycle which he had bought in March 2013, officials said.
    [..]
    The community members met the district collector and handed over a memorandum pressing for enhanced security for tyre trader Nitin Jain and his family, who live in Sector 11.
    Riaz Akhtari had mentioned in a video that some people living in Sector 11 should also be beheaded. After the video surfaced online following Kanhaiya Lal’s murder, Jain said a police complaint had also been filed against him by a Muslim man several days back as he too had shared a social media post in support of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary Nupur Sharma.

    Calls To Pakistan, Terror Links: Who Killed Udaipur Tailor Kanhaiya Lal? Here’s What We Know
    According to reports, Kanhaiya Lal had been targeted by extremists after he shared social media posts in support of Nupur Sharma. Police have now found links between the accused and Pakistan-based terror outfits.
    https://www.outlookindia.com/national/calls-to-pakistan-terror-links-who-killed-udaipur-tailor-kanhaiya-lal-here-s-what-we-know-news-205604?utm_source=related_story
    [..]
    The two accused have been identified as Mohammad Riyaz Ansari and Gulam Ghaus Mohammed. The duo have been found to have had links with Pakistan-based terror groups. In a press conference on Wednesday, Rajasthan DGP informed that one of the accused had links with Dawat-e-Islami.
    According to reports, one of the accused, Mohammad Riyas Ansari, was in contact with Pakistan-based terror groups. Gulam Gaus had visited Karachi in 2014. Gaus Mohammad reportedly visited Karachi in 2014. NDTV reported that the duo had been watching ISIS videos and had made several phone calls to Pakistani numbers ahead of Kanhaiya Lal’s killing.
    [..]
    According to Kanhaiya Lal’s family, he had been targeted for sharing a social media post that supported Nupur Sharma. Riyaz had made a video on June 17 in which he had warned of an “act” that will make his video viral.
    [..]
    The police nabbed the two accused within hours after a second video of the duo gloating over the killing and threatening to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi surfaced.

    Udaipur murder: Who was Kanhaiya Lal? Why was Kanhaiya Lal killed?
    https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-udaipur-murder-who-was-kanhaiya-lal-why-was-kanhaiya-lal-killed-2964294
    [..]
    On June 15, Lal, out on bail, had told the police he was receiving threat calls. According to the news agency PTI, the local police mediated between the two parties and settled the matter. An assistant sub inspector has been suspended for negligence.
    [..]
    Akhtari made indirect references to Nupur Sharma as well.
    In another video, Akhtari had asked members of the minority community to continue mounting similar attacks.
    Akhtari reportedly works at a local mosque and the other runs a grocery shop.
    [..]
    BJP state chief Satish Poonia blamed the Congress’s ‘appeasement policy’ for the murder.
    “The situation in Rajasthan is such that Hindus are being attacked and murdered at many places. It is because of the politics of appeasement of CM Ashok Gehlot,” Poonia claimed.

  22. Photos of the killers in the Udaipur Murder Case:

    https://www.bulletinzone.com/tailor-kanhaiya-lal/
    The gruesome attack on a tailor by two men who belong to different communities and belief systems shocked the people from Udaipur Rajasthan. But that’s not all. It shocked and disgusted the people more than that two people who attacked and brutally defile his body after his death, posted the recording on the internet to innocent people to watch a snuff movie without their consent.
    The video was posted on Tuesday and in the video, both culprits said that they were avenging an insult to Islam after the victim had allegedly made social media posts in support of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and justified their unforgettable and punishable act in the eyes of law.
    After that attack and seeing the violence with their own eyes, the outrage was triggered among the people. Various stray incidents of violence have occurred randomly in various places. After watching and informing that the authority implied prohibitory orders for a month to reduce the future violent attack.
    According to reports, The two who had part taken in the public carnage have been arrested.
    Rajasthan DGP ML Lather informed the public that one of the two accused in the case had gone to Karachi in Pakistan in 2014 and had links with Dawat-e-Islami. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is set to visit Udaipur today to meet the family of the victim.
    According to reports, Noida Police arrested a young man for making a post on social media allegedly in support of the murder of a tailor in Udaipur. An FIR has been lodged under sections of incitement and disturbing communal harmony.
    Government authorities constantly trying to remove the content from the internet with the help of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology so that it can not create any herm in the future. They are tracing every source and link related to that video.

    Also see
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kanhaiya_Lal

    A similar case from a few years back, the assassination of indian politician Kamlesh Tiwari:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamlesh_Tiwari#Murder
    On 18 October 2019, Tiwari was murdered by Farid-ud-din Shaikh and Ashfak Shaikh,[30] in his office-cum-residence at Lucknow. The assailants came dressed in saffron kurtas to give him a sweets box with an address of a sweet shop in Surat city in Gujarat.[31][32][14] Tiwari’s aide Saurashtrajeet Singh was sent to bring cigarettes for them and when he returned he found Tiwari lying with his throat slit. According to police officials, the assailants kept a revolver and knife inside the sweets box. During the attack, one assailant slit his throat while another fired at him.[32] He was declared dead during treatment at a hospital’s trauma centre.[19]
    According to the post-mortem report, he was stabbed 15 times.

    • Maps:
      • Physical https://www.ezilon.com/maps/europe/ukraine-physical-maps.html

      • Roads https://www.ezilon.com/maps/europe/ukraine-road-maps.html
      ………………
      Check out yesterday’s program too. It’s short, about 17 min. First time Dimi told a little joke!

      The day before yesterday he had made a statement that was a tiny bit political – the site tries to stick to battle front analysis, the audience is international.

      All Dimi said was that he didn’t see Finland and Sweden joining Nato as a big-deal game-changer. Comments went berserk. Then yesterday morning Putin said just about the same thing – Dimi’s words almost verbatim.

      So – this is as close as you’ll get to what’s happening on the ground. It’s no cake-walk for either side. It’s grueling fighting, not a computer wargame.