Reader’s Links for October 26, 2022

Here is a link to the VladTepesBlog social media Mastodon Pod. Please feel free to check it out and sign up for an account if you are sufficiently annoyed with Twitter and Facebook to try something new.

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

44 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 26, 2022”

  1. The Medical Elite, Scott Gottlieb, and the Censorship Regime in America, with Robert F.

    Kennedy, Jr.

    ( 9 min 21 )

    Megyn Kelly is joined by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author of “A Letter to Liberals,” to talk about

    how the scientific political orthodoxy operates, Pfizer’s involvement in the Trump

    administration, Alex Berenson and tech censorship, RFK’s disbanded “vaccine safety”

    commission, Scott Gottlieb and our supposed medical elite, and more.

    • How Many Lives Were Saved, and Lost, Due to the COVID Vaccines, with Robert F. Kennedy,

      Jr.

      ( 13 min )

      Megyn Kelly is joined by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author of “A Letter to Liberals,” to talk about the

      truth about how many lives COVID vaccines saved and lost, the lack of important data needed

      to understand the rise in deaths post-COVID, government incompetence, lack of studies on

      important COVID issues, the outlier case of Sweden, “antibody-dependent enhancement,” and

      more.

    • How Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Deals with Backlash From His Own Family Over His Views

      ( 8 min 22 )

      Megyn Kelly is joined by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author of “A Letter to Liberals,” to talk about

      how he feels about public backlash he’s received from his own family and friends over his

      views, why he stays fighting for his beliefs, and more.

    • The Need for Debate and Discussion in America, with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

      ( 10 min )

      Megyn Kelly is joined by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author of “A Letter to Liberals,” to discuss

      pandemic orthodoxy, the need for discussion and debate, the elimination of freedoms and

      rights due to government actions during the COVID pandemic, and more.

    • Fauci’s Comments About “Antibody-Dependent Enhancement,” and His Legacy, with Robert

      F. Kennedy, Jr.

      ( 6 min 10 )

      Megyn Kelly is joined by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author of “A Letter to Liberals,” to talk about

      what Dr. Fauci said about vaccines that could have an adverse effect before the COVID vaccines

      were available, what “antibody-dependent enhancement” actually is, Dr. Fauci’s legacy as he

      nears retirement, and more.

    • JAMA Network -Original Investigation
      October 18, 2022

      Association of mRNA Vaccination With Clinical and Virologic Features of COVID-19 Among US Essential and Frontline Workers

      Key Points
      Question Among a cohort of US frontline and essential workers infected with the original strain or the Delta or Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2, is there a difference in COVID-19 symptoms or viral RNA load among those receiving mRNA vaccines compared with being unvaccinated?

      —————————————

      […]Among those with Omicron infection, the risk of symptomatic infection did not differ significantly for the 2-dose vaccination status vs unvaccinated status and was SIGNIFICANTLY higher for the 3-dose recipients vs those who were unvaccinated

      […]particularly difficult to interpret UNEXPECTED findings, such as A HIGHER PERCENTAGE of individuals with symptomatic disease AMONG THOSE VACCINATED with the third vaccine dose 14 to 149 days before Omicron infection COMPARED WITH THOSE WHO WERE UNVACCINATED.

      https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2797418

    • ‘We were lied to by everyone:’ Ben Shapiro walks back support for Covid vaccine

      “We were lied to by everyone.

      We were lied to by the scientists.

      We were lied to by Pfizer.

      We were lied to by the government.

      We were lied to by the Biden administration … I don’t like being lied to.”

      Ben Shapiro, who has been an outspoken advocate for the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines, said during his show on Tuesday that he, like many others around the world, had been lied to regarding the efficacy of the vaccines, specifically with regard to their ability to prevent transmission of the novel coronavirus.

      On Tuesday’s episode of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” he said, “It is now perfectly clear that we were lied to. And we were lied to at a very high level and from very, very early on by both the vaccine companies, in terms of the ability of the vaccine to prevent transmission, and … by our politicians who apparently knew better.”

      Shapiro’s stated during the episode that part of what changed his stance was after Pfizer executive Janine Small said in an Oct. 10 hearing before members of the EU that the company didn’t know if the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine it had developed would prevent transmission, yet the vaccine was marketed that it would.

      The editor emeritus of the Daily Wire also slammed the Biden administration for having that knowledge at the beginning of his term in office yet continued to parrot the narrative that the vaccine would stop transmission of the virus.

      Shapiro cited an article published in the Washington Post which suggested that the Biden administration knew by the summer of 2021 that the vaccines “did a far worse job of blocking infection than originally expected, as potency waned … Still, the political imperative remained.”

      This from the outlet which previously called the now debunked claim the “most pernicious anti-vaccine talking point,” and used the false narrative to attack Republicans such as Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis who claimed early on that the vaccines “are not preventing infection.”

      Former White House COVID response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx admitted in July that she had known that the Covid-19 vaccines “were not going to protect against infection,” and added, “we overplayed the vaccines.”

      Shapiro stressed that the false narratives could undermine Americans’ faith in medical institutions and their government saying that when “it turns out these things are lies … people’s distrust in the institution is going to skyrocket.”

      During the episode, Shapiro noted that the push for Americans to get vaccinated was based on the claim that there was “robust data on the lowering of the risk of death, particularly if you were old and vulnerable, from baseline COVID,” and that the case was “fairly strong” given the large amount of Americans who are obese and a large amount of elderly in the population.

      Additionally, Shapiro said that the government and medical experts made the case, “largely on the basis of Pfizer claims and Moderna claims,” that taking the vaccines would lower transmission rates which would, in turn, slow the spread of the disease and bring an end to the pandemic.

      Shapiro also cited how the media used big pharma’s claims “because that was the available data.” He cited the data as the reason he chose to get double vaccinated, as well as advocated for others to do the same through his show and social media. Shapiro said that if he had the correct information today he was unsure if he would have gotten vaccinated given that he is not in an at-risk category for the virus.

      From the initial rollout of the vaccine, Shapiro has been a staunch opponent of vaccine mandates and reiterated it during the episode. He has also said that parents’ reluctance to have their children vaccinated against COVID was “entirely justified,” given that “COVID risks to children are extraordinarily low.”

      Shapiro added, “We were lied to by everyone. We were lied to by the scientists. We were lied to by Pfizer. We were lied to by the government. We were lied to by the Biden administration … I don’t like being lied to.”

      He concluded by demanding that “everybody who’s involved in this sort of stuff” be thrown out of office and that those in the private sector who were complicit “need to be fired.”

      Shapiro, who is a graduate of Harvard law, added that “there may need to be actual criminal prosecutions if you are disseminating false health information to people on the basis of zero evidence.”

      Shapiro’s comments also come after the New York Supreme Court ordered that New York City reinstate all public employees that had been fired due to the city’s vaccine mandate with backpay, with the court order stating, “being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid-19. As of the day of this Decision, CDC guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation are the same for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.”

      https://thepostmillennial.com/we-were-lied-to-by-everyone-ben-shapiro-walks-back-support-for-covid-vaccine

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

      TRIPLEDEMIC – Why Vaccines Will Make An ‘Enormous Difference’ In This Fall’s Surge

      White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha talks about the resurgence of respiratory illnesses impacting millions of Americans this fall. He recommends getting a flu shot as well as the updated COVID booster, saying, “If you’re relying on your old vaccine from 9 months ago or an infection from a year ago, that’s probably not going to be enough.”

    • 4:36 PTrump got a $1M contribution from Pfizer to appoint Scott Gottlieb and Alex Azar.

      PTrump’s appointments were his Achilles heel.

      Blaming the system – the [enemy] Senate confirmation process – is insufficient to explain all those chosen at personal discretion. Praised for using private spy services in business dealings, it’s curious why he failed to perform due diligence on his presidential privy council.

      From beginning to end: infiltration at top levels of the 2016 campaign staff, straight through to the flawed team running “Stop the Steal”. Given his acknowledged naivety about the depth and malevolence of the Swamp, selections based on personal chemistry signal arrogance that must be checked in the future.

      PT’s personality cult explains away everything, generates passivity that’s not constructive. He was “neutralizing foes” by bringing enemies under the tent. So we got a cabinet populated by the likes of Mitch McConnell’s wife (CHY-na), arch-Rinos like Betsy DeVos, John Kelly’s girlfriend (Secretary of Homeland Security, responsible for 2018 election integrity).

      Then there was Anthony Fauci, et al.

      RFK Jr. suggests something darker.
      I don’t trust anybody from that family, but PT’s decision-making process for all appointments requires closer scrutiny.

      Personnel is policy.

    • CBC – Human health ‘at the mercy of fossil fuels,’ Lancet report finds

      A report in The Lancet authored by more than 100 experts at 51 institutions around the world finds that climate change is having broad effects on human health and health-care systems.

    • Study confirms AstraZeneca jab’s higher risk of very rare clot

      AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine has been linked to a 30-percent higher risk of getting a very rare blood clotting condition compared to the Pfizer jab, a large international study said Thursday.

      Several countries have already altered their advice after previous research indicated that — in a tiny number of cases — thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) can be a possible side effect of Covid vaccines that use an adenovirus vector, or “engineered” virus, such as those from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

      Thrombocytopenia produces potentially life-threatening blood clots with low levels of blood platelets — the small cell fragments in our blood that prevent bleeding.

      The new study, published in the journal BMJ, was the first to compare thrombocytopenia rates between adenovirus and mRNA vaccines — such as Pfizer — across multiple countries.

      The international research team analysed health data from more than 10 million adults in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States who received at least one vaccine dose between December 2020 and mid-2021.

      In Germany and the UK, they matched the data of 1.3 million people who had a first dose of AstraZeneca to 2.1 million who took Pfizer.

      There were a total of 862 “thrombocytopenia events” recorded in the 28 days after a first dose of AstraZeneca, compared to 520 for Pfizer, the study said.

      That meant AstraZeneca’s vaccine had a 30-per cent higher risk of thrombocytopenia than Pfizer.

      However when it came to a second dose, there was no additional risk between any of the vaccines.

      The study was observational, meaning it could not show cause and effect. But the researchers said that additional analysis found the results to be consistent.

      While very rare, these risks “should be considered when planning further immunisation campaigns and future vaccine development,” the study said.

      ‘Safe and effective’

      Sarah Pitt, a microbiologist at the UK’s Brighton University who was not involved in the research, said the “well-designed” study “adds to the data showing that all vaccines are safe and effective”.

      The “extremely rare” cases of thrombocytopenia occurred after just 0.04 per cent of vaccine doses in Germany and the UK, she told AFP.

      Most countries had already been avoiding using adenovirus Covid vaccines for the older and young age groups who are more at risk, she added.

      European countries have largely pivoted towards mRNA vaccines. AstraZeneca’s jab was never authorised in the US, which limited the use of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) Covid-19 jab to certain individuals earlier this year

      However both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines play a pivotal role in Covax global vaccine distribution scheme, which provides doses to lower-income countries.

      https://insiderpaper.com/study-confirms-astrazeneca-jabs-higher-risk-of-very-rare-clot/

    • If You Liked Big Brother, Meet Google’s Big MUM

      […]Google first unleashed MUM to fight what it considered COVID “misinformation” by making sure that everyone saw “high quality and timely information from trusted health authorities like the World Health Organization”.

      By reducing the number of sources to only those that agree with its agenda, Google is able to deliver fast results while getting rid of different points of view.

      […]In 2022, Google’s search is hopelessly broken because the company no longer has any interest in providing the search service that made it a monopoly, giving a ranked list of diverse results, but wants everyone to speak into their phones and receive a single answer. The consensus.

      […]As the midterm elections approach, YouTube spokeswoman Ivy Choi, promised that the video site’s recommendations are “continuously and prominently surfacing midterms-related content from authoritative news sources and limiting the spread of harmful midterms-related misinformation.”

      The technical term for this is mass propaganda. That’s what Big Tech does.

      […]MUM is yet another tool for enforcing a totalitarian conformity on the diversity of the internet.

      Google doesn’t want you to think differently or to think for yourself. What it wants users to do is to shut up and listen to Big MUM.

      MORE:

      https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/if-you-liked-big-brother-meet-googles-big-mum

      https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19027/google-mum

  2. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on COVID Orthodoxy, Fauci’s Legacy, and War in Ukraine

    (1 h 54 min )

    Megyn Kelly is joined by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author of “A Letter to Liberals,” to discuss COVID

    pandemic orthodoxy, the need for discussion and debate, the elimination of freedoms due to

    the COVID pandemic, Dr. Fauci demanding blind faith in authority, the important issue of

    whether the COVID vaccines prevent transmission, myocarditis risk from COVID and from

    vaccines, rise in “unexplained” deaths in a post-COVID vaccine world, the truth about how

    many lives COVID vaccines saved and lost, the lack of important data needed to understand the

    rise in deaths post-COVID, what Fauci said about vaccines that could have an adverse effect

    before the COVID vaccines were available, the absurdity of the new booster which was only

    tested on eight mice and no humans, Pfizer’s involvement in the Trump administration, Alex

    Berenson and tech censorship, RFK’s disbanded “vaccine safety” commission, Scott Gottlieb and

    our supposed medical elite, American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations, problems with

    the VAERS system, personal backlash from family and friends, his views of Donald Trump then

    and now, Herschel Walker and our politics today, the war in Ukraine, American imperialism,

    RFK’s personal connection to the war as his son Conor was fighting in the country, and more.

  3. Funny how the hyped Russophobia has worked. Rightly or wrongly, the Poles have absolutely lost their shit over it. One would think the EU would be in solidarity with the Poles, supportive for the cause and all that rot. But no, the Poles have made a strategic error in thinking such solidarity exists. Is it possible they over-committed themselves to the war? Will the EU’s withholding a pile of money from Poland compel it to leave the union altogether? To where? What markets? Between a Russian rock and an EU hard place?
    .
    Poland has not courted other markets as has Hungary. Yes, geography plays a role in the perpetual Hungarian balancing act, but technology has diminished some of geography’s impact on finding markets. The world is a much smaller place.

    The result is an opportunity for the EU to finally, finally put an end to this insufferable voting alliance between the Visegrad 4. Particularly, the veto mechanism deployed by Poland and Hungary that has thwarted EU agendas many times may be done.

    https://rmx.news/poland/the-eu-is-driving-polexit/

  4. .
    I respect the judgement of Robert Spencer very much when it comes to Islam and to all these assorted Jewhaters.

    My initial misgivings about Rishi Sunak being a Goldman Sachs boy worried me since, for me, that was code for being a Globalist à la Macron, Ardern, Castro’s bastard, Scholz etc.

    But if he really holds fast to his attitude about Israel, islamic terrorism and Jew Hatred, that would prove to me that he has at least courage and vision. And with that there is hope that the light at the end of the tunnel might not be the headlight of an oncoming nightmare.

    .
    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2022/10/rishi-sunak-a-hindu-come-to-judgment
    Rishi Sunak, A Hindu Come to Judgment

    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2022/10/rishi-sunak-a-hindu-come-to-judgment#comments

    • I wish.
      But he’s saturated with WEF cooties, he’s got that radioactive glow.
      I hope my gut impression is wrong.

  5. Dutch Schools Offer Children Worms And Insects As ‘Sustainable’ Meat Replacement

    n an apparent effort to condition children for a future where they will own nothing, live in pods, eat bugs, and of course, be happy, hundreds of state-funded primary schools across the Netherlands—under the pretext of ‘saving the planet’—are offering young students an assortment of worms and insects.

    A video, originally recorded by Dutch media outlet RTV Oost, which shows a smiling ‘insect ambassador’ and a politician handing out mealworms, lupine worms, and other insects to pre-teen students at a school in the city of Zwolle, has been circulating across various social media platforms.

    • And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.

      Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

      Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.

      Locusts are ok, I guess. Probably some crickets, a couple other exceptions.

      u g h

  6. Wealthy Chinese Activate Financial “Escape Plans” Terrified Of Xi’s Coming Reign Of Terror, And Why This Is Good News For Bitcoin
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    TUESDAY, OCT 25, 2022 – 09:25 PM
    Back in September 2015, more than seven years ago, when bitcoin was trading around $225, and just after China had stunned markets with its (relatively modest) yuan devaluation, we made a modest prediction:

    In summary: while China is doing everything in its power to not give the impression that it is panicking, the truth is that it is one viral capital outflow report away from an outright scramble to enforce the most draconian capital controls in its history, which – as every Cypriot and Greek knows by now – is a self-defeating exercise and assures an ever accelerating decline in the currency, which authorities are trying to both keep stable while also devaluing at a pace of their choosing. Said pace never quite works out.

    So what happens then: well, China’s propensity for gold is well-known. We would not be surprised to see a surge of gold imports into China, only instead of going to the traditional Commodity Financing Deals we have written extensively about before, where gold is merely a commodity used to fund domestic carry trades, it ends up in

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/wealthy-chinese-execute-fire-escape-plans-after-xi-secures-third-term

    (Richard: The Chinese economy is in bad shape, Capital flight and Xi’s return to Maoism is going to make to insure that it doesn’t recover for a long time.)

  7. Fiber-optic Submarine Cable near Faroe and Shetland Islands Damaged; Mediterranean Cables also Cut

    Damage to subsea communication cables near the Faroe and Shetlands Islands left much of the islands without internet access. Subsea fiber-optics cables in the south of France were also cut in what authorities call acts of sabotage.

    PUBLISHED AT: OCT 24 2022 – 08:23
    UPDATED AT: OCT 24 2022 – 08:23
    TEXT MALTE HUMPERT
    A month after the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline were sabotaged in a series of explosions, critical European subsea infrastructure continues to be damaged.

    Last week the SHEFA-2 undersea cable linking the Faroe Islands to mainland Scotland via the Shetland and Orkney Islands was damaged in two separate incidents leaving much of the islands without internet connection.

    In the south of France three key subsea cables connecting the city of Marseille to Lyon, Milan, and Barcelona were purposely cut, the cable’s operator reported, impacting internet connectivity worldwide.

    While French authorities suspect an act of sabotage,

    https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/fiber-optic-submarine-cable-near-faroe-and-shetland-islands-damaged-mediterranean-cables-also-cut

    • As you suggested yesterday, we might be seeing more tit for tat.
      Things do tend to come in cycles. Just random: burning churches, food-processing facilities destroyed, refinery mishaps…

      • Yeah we might see more, a lot more. The only good thing about this type of war is the way it forces all nations to disperse the production facilities so the enemy can’t knock out production of one item or service by sabotaging one plant.

  8. US Col. Richard Black: “It’s Not Russia that is Planning an October Surprise with a Dirty Bomb”

    • NYT – Three Inquiries, but No Answers to Who Blew Holes in Nord Stream Pipelines

      Denmark, Germany and Sweden are all investigating the ruptured pipeline sites, but they remain tight-lipped over who might have caused the damage and why.

      After midnight on a Monday in late September, seismographs in Sweden suddenly picked up a violent disturbance that jolted the floor of the Baltic Sea south of the rocky island of Bornholm, a onetime Viking outpost that is a part of Denmark.

      Hours later — at 7 p.m. local time — it happened again: a series of underwater explosions farther off the island’s northeastern coast.

      The next morning, photographs showed enormous blooms of methane bubbling on the ocean surface above both explosion sites, confirming reports of a severe loss of pressure in Nord Stream 1 and 2, the natural gas lines linking Russia and Germany.

      Now, a month after subsea explosions ripped holes in the Nord Stream pipelines, in busy international waters, the leakage has stopped, the first underwater images of the twisted metal and severed openings have been published and three countries have investigations underway.

      But beyond acknowledging that explosives were used in acts of deliberate sabotage, investigators have disclosed few details of their findings. Amid rampant speculation about who carried out the explosions — was it the Russians trying to rattle the West, the Americans trying to sever a Russian economic artery or possibly the Ukrainians trying to take revenge on Russia? — what is known remains as cloudy as the images from the floor of the Baltic Sea.

      Denmark, Germany and Sweden have launched separate investigations into the leaks — Denmark and Sweden because the explosions occurred in waters that were within their so-called exclusive economic zones, and Germany because that is where the pipelines terminate.

      In a letter to the U.N. Security Council from Sept. 29, three days after the incidents, Denmark and Sweden said they believed that “several hundred kilograms” of explosives had been used to damage the pipes, each of which measures more than three-and-a-half feet in diameter and is made from steel encased in weighted concrete.

      All three countries are refusing to release any more information. The acute geopolitical tensions surrounding the blasts — coming amid the fierce fighting in Ukraine and an economic war between Moscow and the West — have heightened the caution.

      “There is a lot of secrecy still going on,” said Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen, a commander in the Danish Navy and a military analyst at the Center for Military Studies at the University of Copenhagen. “The reason is simply because they have to be absolutely sure. When they have results, they have to be based on quite hard-core facts and not just speculation.”

      Commander Kristoffersen said he believed it was unlikely that any of the investigators would make an announcement “until they have this smoking-gun evidence.”

      Tentative or uncoordinated findings, he added, “could lead to reactions which would not be helpful at this point of time.”

      The German government stressed that the complexity of the forensic examination of the damage sites “will almost certainly not allow any short-term, reliable statements to be made about the authorship,” or who carried out the attacks.

      The pipelines are owned by Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned natural gas monopoly. (Minority stakes in Nord Stream 1 are held by four other energy companies: Wintershall Dea and E.On, both based in Germany, Gasunie in the Netherlands and Engie in France.)

      Russian officials have complained that they have been blocked from investigating the explosion sites. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, accused the Europeans of conducting the investigation “secretively,” without Moscow’s involvement. “According to statements we are hearing from Germany, from France and from Denmark, this investigation was set up inherently to put the blame on Russia,” Reuters quoted Mr. Peskov as saying.

      The twin 760-mile-long pipelines, stretching from the northwest coast of Russia to Lubmin, in northeastern Germany, have always been the focus of international tension. The original Nord Stream, completed in 2011 at a cost of more than $12 billion, was criticized as an expensive way for Gazprom to ship gas to Germany while avoiding paying transit fees in Ukraine.

      Years later, the idea of Nord Stream 2, a sibling pipeline that would double the original’s capacity, was condemned by many Central and Eastern European countries, as well as by the United States, which warned that it would permit Moscow to tighten Germany’s reliance on Russian gas. Although the $11 billion pipeline was completed last year, German authorities shelved it just before Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

      Although the newer pipeline has never been used, and the original one has not delivered gas since July because of what Gazprom calls technical issues, both were filled with highly pressurized methane to help the pipes withstand water pressure on the floor of the sea. Both Nord Streams are composed of two strands of pipe running along the seafloor. The explosions caused leaks along both strands of Nord Stream 1, but in only one strand of Nord Stream 2. Its other strand remains intact.

      Murky images published last week by the Swedish tabloid Expressen pointed to the force of the explosion that hit Nord Stream 1, seeming to show that several segments of pipe were severed from the main pipeline.

      Trond Larsen, a submersible drone operator whose images were commissioned by the Swedish newspaper, pointed out that, when the pipes burst, the highly pressurized gas — up to nearly 3,200 pounds per square inch — disturbed the seabed, appearing to bury parts of the damaged pipe.

      “I believe we saw the part of the pipe going west still buried in the seafloor, the end of the pipe going east lifted up from the seafloor,” Mr. Larsen said in a telephone interview. He said there was very little debris in the area, perhaps because the rush of gas had pushed it all away, or it had already been removed by the Swedish investigators.

      Last week, German investigators also sent a vessel equipped with underwater drones and a diving robot to comb the seafloor in the same area for more evidence of the explosion.

      Danish authorities have not yet lifted their restrictions in their economic waters above the explosion site, which were sealed off to shipping traffic as a safety precaution.

      The explosions took place in a busy maritime corridor that is frequented by fishing boats, merchant traffic and military vessels from the nations that border the Baltic Sea as well as NATO partners, including the United States.

      Since the blasts, patrols have increased in the Baltic and the North Sea, which is home to a vast network of cables and pipelines connecting Norway — Europe’s most important energy exporter since Russia invaded Ukraine — to Britain and the European mainland. Security is also high along a recently opened pipeline, Baltic Pipe, which carries Norwegian gas to Poland, crossing the Nord Stream arteries on the seabed not far from the explosion sites.

      This month, Mr. Putin told an energy conference in Russia that delivering natural gas to Europe through the remaining strand of Nord Stream 2 would be a matter of “just turning on the tap.” His statement echoed those he made last October, as he urged Germans to approve the pipeline.

      Days later, Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s chairman, in comments made to Russia’s Channel One television station, floated the idea that it would possibly be faster to rebuild the pipeline than to repair it. At the same time, he acknowledged that any such move would require interest from Germany, as well as resolving regulatory, legal and sanctions issues.

      After years of ignoring the protests from their neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe — some of whom share borders with Russia and have a long history of dealing with Moscow — Germany’s leaders have recognized the mistake of letting their country’s powerful economy become overly dependent on Russian gas.

      Investments are now focused instead on securing and connecting floating terminals for shipments of liquefied natural gas from the United States and elsewhere. One of the new terminals is to be built off the coast of Lubmin, allowing the onshore pipelines that were previously used to receive Russian gas through Nord Stream to carry L.N.G.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/25/world/europe/nord-stream-pipeline-explosions.html

      • enormous blooms of methane

        Decades – centuries? – more methane released than all livestock emissions from all over the world.

        Why isn’t THAT a bigger story?

    • Wait! So THEY know who blew up Nord Stream Pipeline and won’t tell us? | Redacted w Clayton Morris

      Russia has ramped up strikes inside of Ukraine as Ukraine has turned to ISIS and Al-Qaeda fighters to beef up its forces.

      Meanwhile, three European countries are separately investigating the Nord Stream Pipeline attacks but no one will say what they’ve found.

      Russia says that they are being kept out of the loop purposely in order to shift blame.

  9. Associated Press – US vows full military defense of allies against North Korea

    TOKYO (AP) — The United States will make full use of its military capabilities, “including nuclear, conventional and missile defense,” to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday as she warned North Korea against escalating its provocations.

    Sherman said North Korea’s repeated firings of ballistic missiles and artillery in recent weeks were provocative military actions. North Korea has described them as practice runs for the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

    “This is deeply irresponsible, dangerous, and destabilizing,” Sherman said in talks in Tokyo with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyundong. The two officials met ahead of a three-way meeting with their Japanese counterpart on Wednesday.

    It would be the second in-person meeting of the three officials since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May, signaling an improvement in difficult ties between Japan and South Korea. A year ago, Japanese and South Korean vice ministers declined to participate in a joint news conference after three-way talks in Washington, leaving Sherman to make a solo media appearance.

    Sherman said North Korea needs to understand that the U.S. commitment to the security of South Korea and Japan is “ironclad.”

    “And we will use the full range of U.S. defense capabilities to defend our allies, including nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities,” she said.

    Cho, during his talks with Sherman, raised concern that a new North Korean nuclear weapons policy adopted in September increases the possibility of its arbitrary use of nuclear weapons.

    “This is creating serious tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Cho said.

    Sherman met earlier Tuesday with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and reaffirmed the further strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance and other shared goals, including the complete denuclearization of North Korea and their joint response to China’s increasingly assertive actions in the region.

    Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada recently said North Korea is believed to have achieved a miniaturization of nuclear warheads while significantly advancing its missile capabilities by diversifying its launch technologies, making interceptions more difficult.

    Japanese officials have also warned of a possible nuclear test by North Korea in the near future.

    The Japanese and South Korean officials met together later Tuesday and discussed ways to improve their countries’ ties, which were badly strained over disagreements stemming from Japanese wartime actions, including abuse of Korean forced laborers and coercing girls and young women to work in brothels for Japanese soldiers.

    https://apnews.com/article/technology-japan-united-states-tokyo-south-korea-7397d3c81ecc6ceff76a4f0ffe25ec24

  10. Druthers News October 2022 Absurdity Observer

    The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada is hiring “climate police”and building a new Climate Enforcement facility in Winnipeg. The facility will be home to an armoury, interrogation rooms, biological labs, media relations offices, controlled quiet rooms, and intelligence facilities. The ministry is currently looking to recruit a battalion of Climate “Pollution” Officers, a unit within the coldly named “Environmental Enforcement Directorate.” The Impact Assessment Act, which was quietly passed in the final days of Trudeau’s majority government, grants sweeping power to Ministerial Climate Police, including the power to enter premises without a warrant to “verify compliance or prevent non-compliance with ( the act).”

    The World Economic Forum promotes brain implants to children. in a blog post to their website, The World Economic Forum (WEF) called on governments, health officials, and “humans” around the globe to consider their arguments for implanting chips in children’s brains, stating that they form part of a natural evolution that wearables once underwent.

  11. Ottawa police had tow trucks ready to remove semis before Emergencies Act: officer
    OTTAWA — A senior Ottawa officer told the Emergencies Act inquiry Tuesday that police had tow trucks at the ready before the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act and would have moved on protesters with or without the new powers. Supt.

    https://kitchener.citynews.ca/national-news/ottawa-police-had-tow-trucks-ready-to-remove-semis-before-emergencies-act-officer-6002915

  12. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is deliberately hiding the efforts of the Biden administration to affect the outcome of midterm elections in Democrats’ favor by using taxpayers’ money.

    In March 2021, Biden signed an executive order which forced federal agencies to engage in get out the vote drives. However, the DOJ is not releasing public documents about its actions to enforce Biden’s executive order, despite court orders.

    https://www.rightwingheadlines.com/doj-helping-biden-to-influence-midterm-elections/

  13. 1.4k
    Isaac Schorr
    Tue, October 25, 2022 at 1:46 PM·1 min read

    The New York State supreme court has ordered New York City to rehire and pay back wages to government employees who were fired for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

    David Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, issued an order in October 2021 requiring all city employees to be inoculated against the virus. Later, Chokshi issued a similar order for private-sector employees; Mayor Eric Adams signed a supplementary executive order to that latter mandate carving out exemptions for athletes, musicians, and other performers.

    The court deemed both Chokshi’s and Adams’s orders “arbitrary and capricious,” while also finding that Chokshi’s violated the New York State constitution.

    “The Health Commissioner cannot create a new condition of employment for city employees, . . . cannot prohibit an employee from reporting to work . . . [and] cannot terminate employees. The Mayor cannot exempt certain employees from these orders,” reads the opinion, which was authored by Judge Ralph J. Porzio. Porzio noted that vaccination against Covid-19 does not prevent transmission of the disease, but noted that the decision “is not a commentary on the efficacy of vaccination.”

    “If it was about safety and public health, no one would be exempt. It is time for the City of New York to do what is right and what is just,” concluded Porzio.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/york-supreme-court-orders-nyc-174624343.html

  14. Two weeks or so, positions firming up on the frontlines in Ukraine. Optimistic signs, according to Dima, that the Russian forces are recovering some of the key positions lost over the past few weeks. That’ll relieve pressure on the civilian population in Luhansk and Donetsk, the people who’ve suffered most.

    The Ukrainians are massing forces to the south and southeast, where the winter war will resume toward the Sea of Azov (think Crimea) and Kherson-Mykolaiv (think Odessa).

  15. zero hedge – Gunmen Storm Iranian Pilgrimage Site In Major Attack: 15 Dead & 40 Wounded

    A popular religious destination in south-central Iran has been hit with a major terrorist attack on Wednesday at a moment tensions in the Islamic Republic are already boiling after over a month of anti-government protests.

    “At least 15 people have been killed and 40 others injured in an attack on a Shia religious shrine in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, according to the country’s state media, IRNA,” Al Jazeera writes.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/gunmen-storm-iranian-pilgrimage-site-major-attack-15-dead-40-injured
    ======================================
    ISIS Claims Responsibility For Attack On Iran Mosque

    Iran shrine terror attack: An IS fighter opened fire on worshippers at the Shah Cheragh shrine in the city of Shiraz, “killing at least 20 Shiites and wounded dozens of others”, the radical Sunni Muslim jihadist group said in statement.

    https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/isis-claims-responsibility-for-attack-on-iran-mosque-3464934