Reader’s Links for January 25th, 2023

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

82 Replies to “Reader’s Links for January 25th, 2023”

    • global news – “Game changer”: Germany officially approves sending Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine

    • ‘Really came down to the Americans’: With US providing Ukraine M1 Abrams tanks, ‘Germans went along’

    • DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – Olaf Scholz elaborates on the decision and answers questions in the parliament

      The confirmation comes after intense discussion and coordination with Germany’s allies.

      The US also appears ready to supply Abrams tanks to Kiev
      .
      The Leopard is seen as a gamechanger on the battlefield.

      • zero hedge – German Foreign Minister Just Said The Quiet Part Out Loud On Ukraine

        German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock bluntly stated in fresh remarks that Western allies are fighting a war against Russia. The remarks came during a debate at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday amid discussions over sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

        While Baerbock’s words were largely ignored in mainstream media, a number of pundits on social media noted with alarm that the German foreign minister just essentially declared war on Russia.

        Ironically other German officials have long sought to emphasize their country is not a party to the conflict, fearing uncontrollable escalation.

        Contradicting this official stance, Baerbock said the quiet part out loud, and introduced the comments with: “And therefore I’ve said already in the last days – yes, we have to do more to defend Ukraine. Yes, we have to do more also on tanks.”

        And that’s when she asserted: “But the most important and the crucial part is that we do it together and that we do not do the blame game in Europe, because we are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.”

        Interestingly, both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his former defense minister who recently resigned, Christine Lambrecht, have been seen as weak on arming Ukraine – repeatedly declaring an unwillingness to get pulled deeper into the proxy war aspect to the conflict. But now it seems the more hawkish Baerbock is willing to at this point be much more open with the reality of what’s happening.

        Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova seized on the comments, saying this is yet more proof that the Western allies were planning a war on Russia all along…

        “If we add this to Merkel’s revelations that they were strengthening Ukraine and did not count on the Minsk agreements, then we are talking about a war against Russia that was planned in advance. Don’t say later that we didn’t warn you,” Zakharova said.

        One thing is for sure, things are moving fast…

        https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/german-foreign-minister-just-said-quiet-part-out-loud-ukraine

    • Evelyn Farkas responded to a question from reporters about when to expect the fall of so-called authoritarian regimes in Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

      “I would like to see [a change of power] in Russia. “Things have to get a lot worse there economically, and there have to be a lot more body bags…military casualties…before we see regime change in Moscow,” Evelyn replied.

      ———————————————————

      twitter @dancohen3000

      Former Pentagon official @EvelynNFarkas:

      “Many more body bags” needed to achieve regime change in Russia

      + 46 sec video

      https://twitter.com/dancohen3000/status/1617594765955956738

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

      JAN 23 2023 – Former Pentagon official: “Many more body bags” needed to achieve regime change in Russia

      While Evelyn Farkas agitates for U.S. weapons shipments that she says will ensure a Ukrainian victory, she admits that Russian defeat is not “on the precipice.”

      During an appearance at a January 11 Council on Foreign Relations event called ‘What to Worry About in 2023’, Executive Director of the McCain Institute Evelyn Farkas was asked by Fox News Chief National Security correspondent Jennifer Griffin which countries might be overthrown in 2023.

      GRIFFIN: Hmm. Evelyn, are you seeing any places that you think regimes are faltering? We have a lot of authoritarian leaders out there, if you look from—you’re looking at a regime in Iran that is looking a little unstable, Putin. Are you seeing any signs of cracks in terms of stability there? Could that be a surprise—you know, a 2023 surprise, North Korea? Any places that you’re looking at in terms of a potential regime change that could destabilize a region or the world?

      FARKAS: Well, obviously a good one would be Russia, but I don’t think they’re on the precipice there. I think things have to get worse economically and there have to be many more body bags and, frankly, military losses before there’s a change in the government in Moscow.

      Farkas is a former high-ranking Pentagon official, having overseen the Russia-Ukraine portfolio from 2012 to 2015.

      Like many of Washington’s most fervent anti-Russia hawks, her outlook is informed by old world Hungarian nationalism imbued by her parents, who left Hungary after the Soviet Union thwarted the 1956 counter-revolution.

      Beginning her career at the CFR, she rose through the ranks of the NGO/military industrial-complex. She was a professor at Marine Corps University, Staff Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was in Bosnia as a Human Rights Officer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, led the post-9/11 Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, was a senior NATO advisor, and a Special Advisor to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

      In 2012 , Farkas was appointed by President Obama as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Under her guidance, the U.S. sent hundreds of military trainers and $244 million in military aid as the Ukrainian coup regime launched its brutal war on the people of Donbas and integrated neo-Nazi militias like the Azov Battalion. She played key roles in Montenegro’s accession to NATO and expanded ties with Georgia.

      She resigned in 2015 as part of a neoconservative exodus in protest of Obama’s refusal to send lethal weapons to Ukraine and directly intervene in Syria following a chemical weapons attack staged by the opposition.

      Since leaving the Defense Department in 2015, she has rotated through Washington, DC think tanks like the Atlantic Council and German Marshall Fund, was a National Security Analyst for NBC/MSNBC, and has written numerous op-eds in legacy media outlets.

      Farkas was an advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 failed presidential run, and Wikileaks’ publication of the Podesta emails show she offered to be a campaign surrogate.

      Had Clinton won, Farkas likely would have been Pentagon under secretary for policy. Instead, she became one of the first figures to promote the Trump-Russia hoax and call for Trump to be investigated, speculating that Trump was involved in “hanky-panky that opens the president up to blackmail,” never mentioning her ties to the Clinton campaign. She later admitted under oath that she had no evidence of any collusion.

      more :

      https://uncaptured.substack.com/p/former-pentagon-official-many-more

    • In fact, the tanks are on the ground.[*]
      Funny how that works.

      Either they announce “they’re coming!” after the fact, or “they’re coming!” and they’ll never be sent.
      The check is in the mail.

      The whole brouhaha is a PR stunt. It’s all very weird for this armchair general, but that’s apparently routine.
      Russians say "sofa-general".
      _______
      [*]Not that there are very many, nor will they change the dynamics on the ground.

      Don’t worry about delays to train the UAF. Nato “volunteers” operate these toys. Just like we pick the targets, do the geolocation, and probably push the buttons.

      Why am I in this hand-basket? It's getting hot in here!

      • That is what is going to happen. We will pick targets that won’t hurt Russia but will keep the war going.

        Just what we promised Putin when we started the war.

  1. 11:00

    The one-eyed man’s jersey sells out:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy6WW3ZhQPc

    9:28
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1IkjIDTlU

    7:00
    I like this guy’s take best.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtdPz4S7yTU

    This Canadian sports broadcaster is one of the best arguments yet for showing virtue signaling is a moral misdemeanor with capital consequences. Once the likes of him begin to get “cancelled” we’ll know we’re on the right track. His horse is so high it’s a wonder he can breath the air up there.

  2. Here’s a happy twist to the sad, current mantra “Died Suddenly.” How about: “Suddenly Discovered Still Living!”

    8 min:

  3. 9:54

    Best vid of all showing patriots protesting Deer Leader’s arrival in Hamilton Ontario. Makes me wonder if there will be a meaningful gathering on Parliament Hill this weekend commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Freedom Convoy. How wonderful it would be if thousands descended to remind the politicians how tired 35 million people are of sharing one asshole.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP7CUbv79UI

    No where to run:

    • Scientists Warn Eggs Are Causing Thousands of People to ‘Suddenly’ Form Blood Clots

      Scientists are now warning the public that consuming eggs could cause blood clots, strokes and heart attacks.

      According to a new study, a nutrient found in eggs increases the risk of blood clotting. Express.co.uk reports: The study conducted by Cleveland Clinic, suggested that choline could make the blood more prone to clotting. Choline is sometimes sold in over-the-counter dietary supplements. It is deemed an essential nutrient that is widely recommended for optimal health.

      According to Medical News Today, it supports various bodily functions, including cellular growth and metabolism. The body makes some choline, but the majority comes from dietary sources.

      Researchers found that consuming the nutrient in high concentrations could lead to cause clotting, however. They suggested that bacteria in the intestines could interact with choline to produce a compound that encourages blood platelets to clump together, thereby forming a blood clot.

      The team observed by interacting with gut bacteria, choline produced a substance called TMAO. The substance, which stands for trimethylamine N-oxide, is produced when the gut bacteria break down a number of dietary nutrients. For their interventional study, the researchers provided oral choline supplements to healthy vegetarians and omnivores.

      Both groups showed a 10-fold increase in plasma levels of TMAO after choline supplementation. They also observed an increase in platelet responsiveness, a risk factor for thrombotic events.

      According to the study’s lead author, the substance has been linked to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attack and stroke in previous studies. High levels of the substance in the blood has been associated to an increased risk of cardiovascular illness.

      While the risk of blood clotting increased in humans, this could be minimised by consuming low-dose aspirin, said the researchers. While the drug was successful in lowering the risk of clumping, however, it did not eliminate the risk completely. It is worth noting that concentrations of choline found in food are generally safe, but consuming supplements with choline could pose health risks.

      The study researchers doctor Stanley L. Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said: “Unless prescribed by your doctor, avoid supplements with choline.” Other dietary habits that may increase the risk of blood clotting include dehydration, as this causes thickening of the blood. When the body is deprived of fluids, the blood vessels can narrow as well, another known risk factor for clotting.

      https://www.planet-today.com/2023/01/scientists-warn-eggs-are-causing.html
      ==============================================
      EXPRESS UK – Blood clots: Compound found in eggs linked to an enhanced risk of blood clotting

      BLOOD clotting is a normal response to injury. Sometimes, however, it can lead to cramps, pain and swelling, and if it enters the circulatory system, it can be fatal. In a small study, one popular breakfast food has been linked to the condition.

      Blood clots typically form in the veins of the legs, arms, groin. It is when they break off and travel to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, that they pose a risk. Typically risk factors for blood clotting include surgery, cancer, and pregnancy. The findings from one small study, however, imply that a nutrient found in eggs and meat may also increase the risk of blood clotting.

      The study conducted by Cleveland Clinic, suggested that choline could make the blood more prone to clotting.

      Choline is sometimes sold in over-the-counter dietary supplements.

      It is deemed an essential nutrient that is widely recommended for optimal health.

      According to Medical News Today, it supports various bodily functions, including cellular growth and metabolism.

      The body makes some choline, but the majority comes from dietary sources.

      Researchers found that consuming the nutrient in high concentrations could lead to cause clotting, however.

      They suggested that bacteria in the intestines could interact with choline to produce a compound that encourages blood platelets to clump together, thereby forming a blood clot.

      The team observed by interacting with gut bacteria, choline produced a substance called TMAO.

      The substance, which stands for trimethylamine N-oxide, is produced when the gut bacteria break down a number of dietary nutrients.

      For their interventional study, the researchers provided oral choline supplements to healthy vegetarians and omnivores.

      Both groups showed a 10-fold increase in plasma levels of TMAO after choline supplementation.

      They also observed an increase in platelet responsiveness, a risk factor for thrombotic events.

      According to the study’s lead author, the substance has been linked to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attack and stroke in previous studies.

      High levels of the substance in the blood has been associated to an increased risk of cardiovascular illness.

      While the risk of blood clotting increased in humans, this could be minimised by consuming low-dose aspirin, said the researchers.

      While the drug was successful in lowering the risk of clumping, however, it did not eliminate the risk completely.

      It is worth noting that concentrations of choline found in food are generally safe, but consuming supplements with choline could pose health risks.

      The study researchers doctor Stanley L. Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said: “Unless prescribed by your doctor, avoid supplements with choline.”

      Other dietary habits that may increase the risk of blood clotting include dehydration, as this causes thickening of the blood.

      When the body is deprived of fluids, the blood vessels can narrow as well, another known risk factor for clotting.

      + COMMENTS

      https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1554078/blood-clot-risks-eggs-meats-choline

    • They knew: why didn’t the unvaccinated do more to warn us?

      The unvaccinated knew what we didn’t.

      Some of them said too little. Most said nothing at all.

      A lot of blood is now on their hands.

      As the world struggles to come to terms with the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, one question that continues to surface is why the unvaccinated didn’t do more to warn us about the potential dangers of being injected.

      While well intending citizens lined up, did the right thing, and received their COVID19 vaccinations — now seeming to do more harm than good — their unvaccinated friends stood by and let them do it. Some of them said too little. Some said nothing at all.

      Even though they knew what we didn’t.
      Our blood is now on their hands.

      more:

      https://iqfy.com/unvaccinated-silence/

      =================================
      American Medical Association – ‘Kraken’ variant & vaccine stroke risk: Everything you need to know with Sandra Fryhofer, MD

      The latest on Pfizer’s COVID vaccine and stroke risk.

      00:00 #AMA Update for Jan. 19, 2023
      00:52 Is there a link between COVID-19 vaccines and strokes?
      02:44 Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD)
      03:31 Vaccine safety monitoring: VAERS, VA, CMS databases
      03:47 No safety signal in #Pfizer global safety database
      04:22 Have CDC guidelines changed?
      04:45 Vaccine safety statistics and signals
      05:35 VBRPAC meeting 2023
      06:09 Which COVID vaccine is the safest?
      06:50 Moderna vaccine: no safety signals
      07:32 XBB 1.5 variant
      08:56 Which bivalent booster is better?
      09:53 Kraken COVID variant
      10:35 #COVID vaccine safety signal only for Pfizer #booster

    • global news – JAN 24 2023 – WHO head ‘very concerned’ about COVID deaths as emergency declaration call looms

      As the World Health Organization prepares to decide whether COVID-19 remains a global emergency, the UN agency’s director-general says key pandemic indicators are going in the wrong direction, including a rising number of deaths.

      Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he is “very concerned” about the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and the impact it continues to have in many countries.

      “In the past eight weeks, more than 170,000 people have died of COVID-19. That’s just reported, as the actual number of deaths is much higher,” he said.

      “While I will not preempt the advice of the emergency committee, I remain very concerned by the situation in many countries and the rising number of deaths.”

      WHO data shows that in the 28 days between Dec. 19, 2022, and Jan. 15, the number of COVID deaths worldwide increased by 20 per cent compared with the previous 28 days. Over 662 million confirmed cases and over 6.7 million deaths have been reported globally.

      In Canada, the death toll from COVID-19 surpassed a grim milestone of 50,000, the country’s public health agency confirmed Monday.

      Tedros warned the figures do not tell the whole story, as WHO has seen a “dramatic” decline in surveillance and genetic sequencing of the virus, which leaves health experts in the dark when it comes to efforts to track existing variants and detect new ones.

      The UN agency has been raising concern about this drop in monitoring of the virus for a number of months, saying in December this could open the door to a new variant of concern.

      As a result, it has added caveats to its weekly epidemiological reports on global COVID-19 circulation and case numbers, noting that any trends “should be interpreted with due consideration of the limitations of the COVID-19 surveillance systems.”

      The WHO Emergency Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss whether the current pandemic situation still constitutes a global emergency, almost exactly three years from the day WHO first declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern — the agency’s highest level of alert. The WHO would start calling the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

      While the world is in better shape than it was three years ago, the global response to the outbreak is “once again under strain,” Tedros said.

      “Too few people, especially older people and health workers, are adequately vaccinated. Too many people are behind on their boosters. For too many people, antivirals remain expensive and out of reach, and too many people don’t receive the right care,” he said.

      Health systems around the world continue to struggle with the burden of the virus on top of caring for patients with other illnesses, including surges of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) happening simultaneously in many countries, he added.

      During his remarks Tuesday, Tedros also raised concern about the “torrent of pseudoscience and misinformation” that has been circulating about COVID and the tools to fight it, such as vaccines.

      He says this is “undermining trust in safe and effective tools for COVID-19.”

      “My message is clear — do not underestimate this virus,” he said.

      “It has and will continue to surprise us, and it will continue to kill unless we do more to get health tools to people that need them and to comprehensively tackle misinformation.”

      Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, noted that individuals or media raising questions and looking to fact-check health and safety information about what is known to date about the virus and vaccines is not an example of mis- or disinformation.

      Robust dialogue about options and how governments and health agencies make decisions about the virus and its treatments are important and deserve transparency and public debate, Ryan said.

      “Misinformation and disinformation are different … where information is used as a weapon to manipulate how people make conclusions,” he said.

      “That’s what we’re fighting here. We’re not fighting dialogue.”

      https://globalnews.ca/news/9432745/covid-deaths-who-emergency-declaration/

      =========================
      CEOs of some of the largest health companies discuss Covid-19

      ….how to recover from the pandemic in a way that ensures that the Covid-19 disruptions of the last three years are not repeated.

      ( 27 min )

    • JAN 23 2023 – Preparing for Global Challenges: In Conversation with Bill Gates

      In a special in-person conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove, Mr Gates will talk about global health, pandemic preparedness, food security and climate change.

      Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Breakthrough Energy.

      He co-founded Microsoft in 1975, growing the company into a global leader in business and personal software.

      In 2008, Gates shifted focus to the Gates Foundation’s work on increasing opportunities for the world’s most disadvantaged people.

      Through the Foundation, he has spent more than 20 years working on global health and development issues including pandemic prevention; disease eradication; maternal, newborn and child health; agricultural development; and water, sanitation and hygiene.

      In 2010, he co-founded the Giving Pledge to encourage the wealthiest families and individuals to publicly commit more than half their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organisations during their lifetime or in their will.

      ( 60 min )

    • PROJECT VERITAS

      Pfizer Exposed For Exploring “Mutating” COVID-19 Virus For New Vaccines Via ‘Directed Evolution’

    • PROJECT VERITAS

      James O’Keefe Confronts NYT Journalist™ Adam Goldman About Emails Obtained by Judicial Watch


  4. Speaker McCarthy Appoints Members to Select Subcommittees

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Speaker McCarthy announced the members who will serve on the Select Subcommittees on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and the Coronavirus Pandemic.

    “The government has a responsibility to serve the American people, not go after them. Unfortunately, throughout Democrats’ one-party rule in Washington we saw a dangerous pattern of the government being used to target political opponents while they neglected their most basic responsibilities. The 118th Congress marks a new beginning for this institution. Republicans’ governing agenda will be based on transparency, accountability, and solutions. The Members selected to serve on these subcommittees will work to stop the weaponization of the federal government and will also finally get answers to the Covid origins and the federal government’s gain of function research that contributed to the pandemic,” said Speaker McCarthy.

    Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government

    Chairman Jim Jordan (OH-04)
    Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-48)
    Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-04)
    Rep. Chris Stewart (UT-02)
    Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21)
    Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04)
    Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21)
    Rep. Kelly Armstrong (ND-AL)
    Rep. Greg Steube (FL-17)
    Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-08)
    Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03)
    Rep. Harriet Hageman (WY-AL)

    Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic

    Chairman Brad Wenstrup (OH-02)
    Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11)
    Rep. Mariannette Miller Meeks (IA-01)
    Rep. Debbie Lesko (AZ-08)
    Rep. Michael Cloud (TX-27)
    Rep. John Joyce (PA-13)
    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14)
    Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13)
    Rep. Rich McCormick (GA-06)

    https://www.speaker.gov/speaker-mccarthy-appoints-members-to-select-subcommittees/

  5. reuters Explainer: Why is Turkey blocking Swedish and Finnish NATO membership?

    STOCKHOLM, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Swedish and Finnish hopes of quickly joining NATO have run into an obstacle in the form of objections by Turkey, which holds veto powers over accession to the military alliance.

    The three nations reached an agreement on how to proceed in Madrid last June, but Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said Sweden, in particular, is not keeping its side of the bargain.

    This week, Erdogan postponed accession talks indefinitely.

    Of NATO’s 30 members, only the parliaments of Turkey and Hungary have not yet ratified entry for Sweden and Finland, which are worried about their security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    WHY DOES TURKEY OBJECT TO SWEDISH AND FINNISH MEMBERSHIP?
    Turkey says Sweden, in particular, harbours what Ankara says are militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

    The PKK is designated a terrorist group in Turkey, Sweden, the United States and Europe.

    Turkey wants Stockholm and Helsinki to take a tougher line against the PKK and another group it blames for a 2016 coup attempt.

    In Madrid, Finland and Sweden agreed to work harder to fight terrorism, including intensifying work on the extradition and deportation of suspected militants.

    But Sweden’s courts have blocked some expulsions.

    Tensions between Sweden and Turkey have also been heightened by protests in Stockholm which Ankara says are hate crimes, but are covered by Swedish free-speech laws.

    “Sweden has addressed many of Turkey’s concerns and will continue to implement this trilateral memorandum … but it is clear right now that’s not enough,” said Paul Levin, director at the Institute for Turkish Studies at Stockholm University.

    DOES TURKEY HAVE ANY OTHER GOALS IN BLOCKING ACCESSION?
    Elections take place in Turkey in May. Some commentators see Erdogan’s stance on NATO as an attempt to divert voters’ attention from a cost-of-living crisis and to project an image as an international statesman.

    Other commentators say he may want to use NATO ratification as part of a deal with the United States. Ties with Washington are strained by Turkey’s conflict with Syrian Kurdish militants who have U.S. support in the fight against Islamic State.

    Turkey also wants to buy F-16 fighter jets from the United States, but faces objections from some members of Congress.

    WHY DO SWEDEN AND FINLAND WANT TO JOIN NATO?
    Sweden and Finland have long pursued policies of formal military non-alignment but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted a rethink.

    Finland has a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia, and the Swedish island of Gotland lies just 300 km (186 miles) from the home of Russia’s Baltic Fleet in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

    Bout countries see NATO, with its collective defence clause, as the best way to ensure their security.

    WHY DOES NATO WANT SWEDEN AND FINLAND?
    Both have relatively strong militaries. Finland has the capacity to mobilise 285,000 personnel and 650 tanks. Sweden has a strong air force and a submarine fleet tailored to Baltic Sea conditions. Strategically, the two countries plug a hole in NATO’s frontline against Russia while enabling the alliance to project power into the Baltic area.

    COULD FINLAND JOIN WITHOUT SWEDEN?
    Technically, yes, but defending Finland without strategic land access via Sweden would be difficult for NATO.

    Sweden and Finland want to proceed together, but with Turkey’s ire directed mainly at Sweden, Finland could eventually lose patience with the process. Finland’s foreign minister and Sweden’s prime minister have said joint membership is the priority and that Finland would consider a different path only if Sweden’s membership were permanently blocked by Turkey.

    COULD NATO EXPEL TURKEY, ALLOWING SWEDEN AND FINLAND TO JOIN?
    There is no formal mechanism for the suspension or expulsion of members in NATO’s founding document and Turkey is considered a vital strategic ally.

    WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
    Analysts expect the accession process to remain stalled until at least Turkey’s elections are out of the way.

    Even then, progress could be slow. Full implementation of the Madrid agreement could take years, and Sweden has said some of Turkey’s other demands are impossible to meet.

    Turkey’s national security concerns will not be easily assuaged, and Sweden and Finland’s ability to influence developments is marginal.

    But Sweden, Finland and NATO want to avoid a long drawn-out process.

    “Turkey’s actions now benefit Putin and … that should be problematic for the alliance as a whole,” Levin said.

    https://www.reuters.com/world/why-is-turkey-blocking-swedish-finnish-nato-membership-2023-01-25/

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

    europravda – Finland’s president suggests pause on trilateral talks with Turkey over NATO bid with Sweden

    The hold-up follows Ankara announcing it would not back Sweden’s NATO bid following an anti-Turkey protest in Stockholm.

    Finland, it seems, is reassessing its options but still insist joining with Sweden is the number one option.

    • Just a thought: Did Sweden have second thoughts? Enabling a koran-burning guaranteed a Filthy Turk tantrum. I don’t Finland was ever serious.

  6. US to pay Lebanon army, police salaries for six months

    The United States announced Wednesday $72 million in aid to crisis-hit Lebanon to cover security personnel salaries for six months, in a joint programme with the United Nations.

    Lebanon’s economy has been in free fall for three years, resulting in slashed military budget and eating away at the value of soldiers’ salaries.

    Washington, which has long been the biggest donor to Lebanon’s army, has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to facilitate the delivery of the first US aid of its kind.

    The programme “will provide $72 million in temporary financial support for Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces personnel”, the UN agency and US embassy in Beirut said in a joint statement.

    UNDP will disburse it through a local service provider, it added.

    “These payments will provide every soldier and police officer eligible to receive assistance under US law with $100 per month for a period of six months,” the statement said.

    US ambassador Dorothy Shea said this was “the first time the United States has ever provided such financial support to security forces in Lebanon,” according to the statement.

    An average monthly salary for a low-ranking Lebanese soldier is now worth roughly $50, down from about $800 before the 2019 economic crisis.

    Energy-rich Qatar announced last year $60 million in aid for Lebanon’s cash-strapped armed forces, with a security source telling AFP at the time it would cover soldiers’ wages.

    Since 2019, the local currency lost 95 percent of its market value, forcing hundreds of members security forces personnel to defect while many have sought side jobs.

    At one point in 2020, Lebanon’s army said it had scrapped meat from the meals offered to on-duty soldiers due to rising food prices.

    And in June 2021, it said it would sell tourists helicopter rides in a bid to boost its coffers.

    https://insiderpaper.com/us-to-pay-lebanon-army-police-salaries-for-six-months/

  7. twitter @disclosetv

    JUST IN – German government officials met several times, including secretly, with U.S. big tech corporations to discuss how to crack down on the dissemination of information it deemed “false and dangerous.”

    MORE – Article 5 of the German constitution prohibits any form of censorship: “Everyone has the right to express and disseminate his or her opinion freely in speech, writing, and pictures and to inform himself or herself without hindrance from generally accessible sources.”

    MORE – Vice President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), demands clarification. “Citizens must expect that the previous federal government under Merkel did not violate Article 5,” Kubicki told BILD.

    https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1618194942807134210

    ==============================
    BILD – ENTHÜLLT! GEHEIM-GIPFEL MIT FACEBOOK UND GOOGLE

    Ließ die Regierung unliebsame Corona-Meinungen löschen?

    […]

    https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/enthuellt-geheim-gipfel-mit-facebook-und-google-liess-die-regierung-unliebsame-c-82666226.bild.html

    • Man held for knife attack on German train; 2 dead, 7 injured

      BERLIN (AP) — A knife-wielding man described as a stateless Palestinian fatally stabbed two passengers and injured seven others on a train in northern Germany Wednesday before being grabbed by members of the public and arrested by police, officials said. The motive of the attack was not immediately known.

      Germany’s Federal Police force said the suspect used a knife to attack several passengers shortly before a regional train traveling from Kiel to Hamburg arrived at the Brokstedt station.

      Police spokesman Juergen Henningsen from the nearby city of Flensburg said two of the stabbed people died after the attack. Three were severely injured and four others suffered minor injuries. No details were given about the identity of the victims.

      The attacker was also injured and taken to the hospital, police said.

      German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser expressed shock about the brutal attack.

      “The knife attack in a regional train is shocking news. All our thoughts are with the victims of this terrible act and their families,” she said.

      “The background to the crime is now being investigated at full speed,” Faeser added. “I would like to sincerely thank the police and rescue workers who responded.”

      Authorities said they were first alerted to the incident shortly before 3 p.m. when several passengers on the train made emergency calls to police. Police said the train was stopped and the attacker was detained outside the train after several witnesses held him until officers arrived to detain him.

      The interior minister of Schleswig-Holstein state, Sabine Suetterlin-Waack, condemned the attack.

      “It is terrible,” Suetterlin-Waack told German public broadcaster NDR. “We are shocked and horrified that something like this has happened.”

      She later told dpa that the attacker was a stateless 33-year-old Palestinian man.

      Regional police and the federal police were on the scene and the prosecutor’s office was investigating the attack, NDR reported.

      The train station in Brokstedt was closed for several hours and train traffic was delayed across northern Germany.

      Train operator Deutsche Bahn expressed its condolences on Wednesday evening saying that “our deepest sympathy goes to the relatives of the victims. We wish those injured a speedy and complete recovery.”

      https://apnews.com/article/law-enforcement-germany-ebb7d311c3fe5c387a81df6e3054e785

    • reuters SPAIN – At least one dead, several injured in machete attack at southern Spain churches

      Spanish authorities said they were investigating what they called a possible “terrorist” incident after a machete-wielding man attacked several people at two churches in the southern port city of Algeciras, killing at least one person.

      The man attacked clergymen at two different churches – San Isidro and Nuestra Senora de La Palma, around 300 metres (1,000 feet) apart – just after 8pm on Wednesday evening in downtown Algeciras, a spokesperson for the city said. A source at Madrid’s High Court said the incident was being investigated as terrorism.

      Police said the attacker had been arrested, and a police source shared footage showing two officers escorting a man in a hooded sports top in handcuffs through a police station. Police have not released details of his name or nationality. Local media, including El Pais newspaper, said he was a 25-year-old Moroccan.

      The man who was killed was Diego Valencia, a sacristan at the Nuestra Senora de La Palma church, while the titular priest of the parish church of San Isidro, Antonio Rodriguez, was among the injured and is in serious condition, the Algeciras city spokesperson said.

      An unknown number of others were also injured. El Mundo newspaper reported that four people were hurt in the attack.

      Police said the suspect first entered the San Isidro church and attacked Rodriguez. A statement by the Algeciras Salesians said Rodriguez, 74, had been celebrating Eucharist when he was attacked.

      The assailant then went into the Nuestra Senora de La Palma church where he damaged property before attacking Valencia, who fled the church but was chased by the suspect, who inflicted further, fatal injuries on him outside, police said in a statement.

      The parish priest at Nuestra Senora de La Palma, Juan Jose Marina, told broadcaster SER the suspect went straight for Valencia after the mass had finished, suggesting he might have believed Valencia was the priest.

      “Possibly, this death was meant for me and it found him instead,” said a tearful Marina.

      Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences to the victims of the “terrible attack” on his Twitter account, while the secretary general of Spain’s Episcopal Conference, Francisco Garcia, spoke of his “great pain” on hearing the news.

      “These are sad times of suffering, we are united by the pain of the victims’ families and for the Cadiz Diocese,” he said on Twitter.

      Jose Ignacio Landaluce, the mayor of Algeciras, has declared a day of mourning in the city for Thursday and a rally outside Nuestra Senora de La Palma church at midday.

      Earlier on Wednesday, two people were killed and several others injured when a 33-year-old stateless Palestinian man attacked them with a knife on a regional train travelling between Kiel and Hamburg in northern Germany, authorities said.

      https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/least-1-dead-4-injured-by-man-wielding-samurai-sword-southern-spain-church-el-2023-01-25/

  8. Tractor Supply Chicken Feed Reportedly Causing Egglaying to Stop, Board has Ties to WEF, Jeffrey Epstein
    By Ben Wetmore
    Published January 25, 2023 at 10:00am
    284 Comments

    Online claims have emerged, corroborated by others, that the popular “Producer’s Pride” chicken feed sold by the Tractor Supply chain has been recently altered and that its new formulation is causing chickens to stop laying eggs. Some suggest a deliberate reduction in the amount of protein in the feed may be causing the reduction in egg production

    Hens do lay fewer eggs in the winter time due to reduced sunlight. Farmers have often used a light to expose hens to longer light so as to produce more egg-laying. Yet farmer sources report that they are seeing a much-greater-than-normal reduction in egg production, to the point where many report that hens are laying zero eggs instead of merely a reduced laying frequency. There is no word on whether this is a temporary or a permanent change among Tractor Supply feed.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/tractor-supply-chicken-feed-reportedly-causing-egglaying-stop-board-ties-wef-jeffrey-epstein/

  9. Dr. Naomi Wolf on COVID Vaccine: “A Bioweapon – Manufactured in Concert with the CCP – In a Slow Way to Debilitate If Not Kill Off the Population of North America and Western Europe” (VIDEO)
    By Jim Hoft
    Published January 25, 2023 at 8:45am
    271 Comments

    Dr. Naomi Wolf and The Daily Clout recently released “War Room/Daily Clout Pfizer Documents Analysis Reports – Find Out What Pfizer, FDA Tried to Conceal”.

    This volume includes 50 reports written by highly-credentialed War Room/DailyClout Pfizer Documents Analysis Project volunteers who studied the Pfizer documents released under court order by the US FDA.

    On Tuesday Dr. Namomi Wolf joined Steve Bannon to discuss this new publication that is available at Daily Clout.

    Dr. Naomi Wolf did not hold back when she described the seriousness of these dangerous poison shots that are causing horrible internal damage and killing so far tens of thousands of Westerners.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/dr-naomi-wolf-covid-vaccine-bioweapon-manufactured-concert-ccp-slow-way-debilitate-not-kill-off-population-north-america-western-europe-video/

  10. Gatestone Institute has an excellent article today about the World Economic Forum.

    Censorship, Mass Surveillance and Bugs: The World Economic Forum vs. The Free World.

    One paragraph made me think of Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, a TRUSTEE of the WEF, and other Canadian politicians and so called prominent Canadians, i.e. Mark Carney who were in attendance.

    “In a more just era, anybody attending the WEF’s gatherings would be arrested for conspiracy to commit racketeering and fraud. Instead because the “masters of our future” have invested heavily in the elections of the West’s most prominent leaders, presidents, prime ministers, legislators, and even military staffs are only too happy to champion their cause.”

    What irony, the woman who targeted the Patriots, the truckers in Canada, had their bank accounts frozen, credit cards cancelled, their insurance cancelled, and did everything with her power to break their spirit was in attendance, in her official position as trustee of the WEF in Davos.

  11. John Kirby Fields Questions on Biden Classified Documents Scandal After Karine Jean-Pierre Fails to do Her Job (VIDEO)
    By Cristina Laila
    Published January 25, 2023 at 2:12pm
    260 Comments

    John Kirby to the rescue.

    Joe Biden’s affirmative action hire Karine Jean-Pierre has dodged questions on Biden’s classified documents scandal and stonewalled reporters for nearly two weeks.

    So John Kirby (former Pentagon spox) had to come into the press briefing room to do Karine Jean-Pierre’s job for her.

    John Kirby actually answered some questions

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/john-kirby-fields-questions-biden-classified-documents-scandal-karine-jean-pierre-fails-job-video/

  12. German FM Says the Quiet Part: “We Are Fighting a War with Russia”
    By Richard Abelson
    Published January 25, 2023 at 1:27pm
    532 Comments

    Coming on the heels of Germany’s announcement to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has declared “we are fighting a war with Russia” at a meeting of the European Council.

    “We have to do more also on tanks,” Baerbock said. “But the most important, crucial part is that we do it together, and we do not do the blame game in Europe, because we are fighting a war against Russia, and not against each other.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/german-fm-says-quiet-part-fighting-war-russia/

  13. HE’S SHOT: Biden Forgets the Name of His Secretary of Defense During Remarks on Sending Ukraine M1 Abrams Tanks… Almost Calls Him “Speaker” (VIDEO)
    By Cristina Laila
    Published January 25, 2023 at 11:55am
    519 Comments

    Joe Biden is completely shot.

    Biden on Wednesday delivered remarks on his Regime’s plan to send Ukraine more military aid.

    The Biden regime agreed to send 31 Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine to fight the Russian military.

    This means the US will be forced to send men and women to operate the tanks and perform maintenance. It is the Biden regime’s attempt to escalate the war in Ukraine despite Russia’s threats of nuclear war.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/shot-biden-forgets-name-secretary-defense-remarks-ukraine-almost-calls-speaker-video/

  14. Now Sheboygan, Wisconsin Parents Uncover Cartoon Porn in Their School Library
    By Joe Hoft
    Published January 25, 2023 at 3:15pm

    This filth has been showing up in schools across the nation. Now parents in Sheboygan, Wisconsin have found it in their school libraries.

    The parents in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin school district were shocked when they discovered that the child porn being pushed across the country under the Biden Administration was found in their school library as well.

    The parents in this Midwestern city along the shore of Lake Michigan were stunned when they discovered that there was child porn in their school library.

    Parents discussed this discovery on social media and encouraged fellow parents to attend the School Board meeting.

    This is the same material that is being pushed across the country by deviants in the Biden Administration. This stuff is sick.

    The School Board Meeting took place last night and the local TV channel was there. Because of the parents reaction, the school reportedly removed a couple of books from their library.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/now-sheboygan-wisconsin-parents-uncover-cartoon-porn-school-library/

  15. Josh Hawley Introduces PELOSI Act To Ban Congressional Members And Their Spouses From Trading Stocks
    By Cullen Linebarger
    Published January 25, 2023 at 3:37pm
    Comment

    An anti-corruption bill trolling Nancy Pelosi is certainly an honor she has earned. Pelosi, after all, was the most corrupt Speaker in American history.

    Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Tuesday introduced the PELOSI Act, which bans one of Capitol Hill’s most notorious activities, congressional members and their spouses trading and holding stocks. Nancy’s husband Paul Pelosi not only bought $5 million worth of computer chip stocks before a vote on semiconductor legislation in June, but he also purchased over $1 million in Alphabet stock (Google’s parent company) immediately before Democrats introduced a bill banning Congressional stocks in September.

    Pelosi laughably denied last summer her husband ever made a stock purchase based on information he received from her. But as The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Pelosi was ranked the top trader in Congress in 2020 and in the top five in 2021.

    Here is the full story from Breitbart:

    Pelosi was also among a group of Republicans and Democrats who beat the market in 2021 with hundreds of millions of dollars in stock trades. Others who faired the best include Reps. Austin Scott (R-GA), Brian Mast (R-FL), French Hill (R-AR), John Curtis (R-UT), and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX).

    Hawley, who introduced similar legislation last year, said the practice must end.

    “For too long, politicians in Washington have taken advantage of the economic system they write the rules for, turning profits for themselves at the expense of the American people,” Hawley said in a statement.

    As members of Congress, both Senators and Representatives are tasked with providing oversight of the same companies they invest in, yet they continually buy and sell stocks, outperforming the market time and again,” he continued.

    Hawley’s PELOSI Act would ban members of Congress and their spouses from holding, acquiring, or selling stocks while in office. The legislation gives members and their spouses six months after taking office to divest stocks they hold or put them in a blind trust.

    If members of Congress or their spouses are found to be in violation of the legislation’s rules, they would have to forfeit any profits to the United States Treasury. Violators would also be prohibited from deducting those losses on their income taxes.

    The legislation gives the House and Senate ethics committees full power to fine members of Congress for such violations and would be required to publicize them to the American people. In accordance with the bill, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would be required to audit members of Congress to ensure they are complying with the rules.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/josh-hawley-introduces-pelosi-act-ban-congressional-members-spouses-trading-stocks/

  16. ‘We’re Not Going Away’: Eric Swalwell Vows McCarthy Will ‘Regret’ Kicking Him Off Intel Committee
    Harold Hutchison
    on January 25, 2023
    Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California vowed Wednesday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would “regret” kicking him off the House Intelligence Committee.

    McCarthy removed Swalwell and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California from the House Intelligence Committee Jan. 24, citing Swalwell’s reported relationship with a Chinese spy and allegations that Schiff lied on multiple issues, including claiming that a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden was Russian disinformation and his defense of the now-discredited Steele dossier.

    “We will not be quiet. We’re not going away. I think he’ll regret giving all three of us more time on our hands,” Swalwell said during a press conference. “But at the end of the day, our mission now is to restore the credibility and integrity of this institution, of which the speaker has so gravely, so gravely smashed and destroyed

    https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2023/01/25/were-not-going-away-eric-swalwell-vows-mccarthy-will-regret-kicking-him-off-intel-committee/

  17. Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Mailing Ricin to President of the United States in 2020
    Defendant Also Mailed Threatening Ricin Letters to Texas Law Enforcement Officials
    A dual citizen of Canada and France pleaded guilty today to sending a threatening letter containing homemade ricin to then-President Donald J. Trump at the White House in September 2020, and eight similar letters, each containing ricin, to Texas State law enforcement officials.

    According to court documents, Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 55, admitted in the plea agreements that she made ricin at her residence in Quebec, Canada, in September 2020. Ricin is a deadly poison made from castor beans. Ferrier placed the ricin in envelopes containing letters she wrote to then-President Trump at the White House and to eight Texas State law enforcement officials.

    Ferrier was detained in the State of Texas for around 10 weeks in the spring of 2019, and she believed that the law enforcement officials were connected to her period of detention. In early September 2020, Ferrier used the Twitter social media service to propose that someone should “please shoot [T]rump in the face.” The letters in the envelopes contained threatening language, and the letter addressed to then-President Trump instructed him to “[g]ive up and remove [his] application for this election.” Ferrier mailed each of the threatening ricin letters from Canada to the United States. Ferrier then drove a car from Canada to the Peace Bridge Border Crossing in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 20, 2020, where border patrol officials found her in possession of a loaded firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and other weapons.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/foreign-national-pleads-guilty-mailing-ricin-president-united-states-2020

  18. University Bars Gun Rights Advocates from Showing Images of Guns on Campus
    Creighton University is under fire this week after it told students that they could not continue to use posters or handouts that featured guns. In an email (below), Sarah Giacomini, assistant director for programming and student

    organizations, declared that “we will not allow any images of guns to be used.” Given students who want to advocate for Second Amendment rights, the ban is akin to telling pro-choice students that they cannot show pictures of morning-after pills or telling pot legalization advocates that cannot show pictures of joints. Creighton is insisting that you can advocate for gun rights so long as you do not actually show an image of a gun.Conservative sites such as College Fix have pushed the school for an explanation with no success.

    https://jonathanturley.org/2023/01/25/creighton-university-bars-gun-rights-advocates-from-showing-images-of-guns-on-campus/

  19. Who’s More Irrational—The Religious or the Irreligious?
    The secular, having no religion within which to innocuously express the nonrational, often end up doing so elsewhere in life.

    By Dennis Prager

    January 24, 2023
    There are very few things conservatives, liberals and leftists agree on. But if they are irreligious, they all agree that religious Americans are more irrational than irreligious Americans.

    It is a secular axiom that secularism and secular people are rooted in reason, whereas religion and the religious are rooted in irrationality.

    This is what almost every college professor believes

    This is what almost every college professor believes and what almost every student in America is taught. Among the intelligentsia, it is an unquestioned fact. It helps explain why, after their first or second year at college, many children return to their religious homes alienated from, and frequently contemptuous of, the religion of their parents—and often of the parents themselves.

    At the time in their lives when most people are the most easily indoctrinated—approximately ages 18 to 22—young Americans hear only one message: If you want to be a rational person, you must abandon religion and embrace secularism. Most young Americans are never exposed to a countervailing view at any time in their college life. (That’s why you should expose your college-aged child, grandchild, niece or nephew to this column.)

    Yet, this alleged axiom is not only completely false, it’s backwards. The truth is that today the secular have a virtual monopoly on irrational beliefs.

    One proof is that colleges have become the most irrational institutions in the country. Not coincidentally, they are also the most secular institutions in our society. In fact, the former is a result of the latter.

    One could provide examples in every area of life. Here are a few.

    Only secular people believe “men give birth.”

    Only secular people believe that males—providing, of course, that they say they are females—should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

    Only secular people believe that a young girl who says she is a boy or a young boy who says he is a girl should be given puberty-blocking hormones.

    Only secular people believe that girls who say they are boys should have their healthy breasts surgically cut off.

    Only secular people believe it is good to have men in drag dance (often provocatively) in front of 5-year-olds.

    Only secular people agree with Disney dropping use of the words “boys and girls” at Disneyland and Disneyworld.

    Only secular people believe that “to be colorblind is to be racist.” That is what is taught at nearly all secular (and religious-in-name-only) colleges in America today.

    Only secular people believe fewer police, fewer prosecutions and lower prison sentences (or no prison time at all) lead to less crime.

    Far more secular Americans than religious Americans believed that the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins needed to change their names because “Indians” and “Redskins” were racist—despite the fact that most Native Americans didn’t even think so.

    Who was more likely to support keeping children out of schools for two years; forcibly masking 2-year-olds on airplanes; and firing unvaccinated police officers, airplane pilots, and members of the military—secular or religious Americans?

    How many Western supporters of Joseph Stalin—the tyrant who murdered about 30 million people—were irreligious, and how many were religious?

    Stanford University, a thoroughly secular institution, just released an “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative.” It informs all Stanford faculty and students of “harmful” words they should avoid and the words that should replace them.

    Some examples:

    Stanford asks its students and faculty not to call themselves “American.” Rather, they should call themselves a “U.S. citizen.” Why? Because citizens of other countries in North America and South America might be offended.

    Is that rational?

    Stanford asks its faculty and students not to use the term “blind study.” Why? Because it “unintentionally perpetuates that disability is somehow abnormal or negative, furthering an ableist culture.” Instead, Stanford faculty and students should say, “masked study.”

    Two questions: Is Stanford’s claim that being blind is not a disability rational or irrational? And what percentage of those who make this claim are secular?

    The list of irrational (and immoral) things secular people believe—and religious people do not believe—is very long. As a quote attributed to G.K. Chesterton puts it: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.”

    Yet, many people believe that the religious, not the secular, are the irrational people in our time. That, ironically, is just another irrational belief held by the secular. And, of course, it is self-serving—just as is the belief that more people have been killed by religious people (meaning, essentially, Christians) than by secular people. Yet, that, too, is irrational—and false. In the last century alone, 100 million people were murdered by secular—and anti-religious—regimes.

    Yes, religious people have some irrational, or at least nonrational, beliefs.

    But two points need to be made in this regard:

    One is that the religious beliefs that most people call “irrational” are not irrational; they are unprovable. For example, the beliefs that there is a transcendent Creator and that this Creator is the source of our rights are not irrational; they are unprovable. Atheism—the belief that everything came from nothing—is considerably more irrational than theism.

    The other point is that humans are programmed to believe in the nonrational. Love is often non-rational—love of our children, romantic love, love of music and art, love of a pet; our willingness to engage in self-sacrifice for another is often non-rational—from the sacrifices children make for parents and parents for children to the sacrifices made by non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust.

    What good religion does is provide its adherents with a morally, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually deep way to express the nonrational. Therefore, they can remain rational everywhere outside of religion. The secular, having no religion within which to innocuously express the nonrational, often end up doing so elsewhere in life.

    So only the religious believe “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,” but they do not believe men give birth. Meanwhile the irreligious don’t believe “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,” but only they believe men give birth.

    https://amgreatness.com/2023/01/24/whos-more-irrational-the-religious-or-the-irreligious/

  20. The National Archives Lied – Claimed as Recently as September that It Had All Obama Records Ignoring Records Biden Stole
    By Joe Hoft
    Published January 25, 2023 at 4:00pm
    40 Comments

    Add the corrupt gang running the National Archives to the list of Deep State gangsters who will lie to the American people while not doing their jobs and protecting national records.

    Once again President Trump shines the light on another government agency that is run by corrupt actors.

    Advertisement – story continues

    In 2022, we first approached the topic of Presidential records when President Trump’s home was raided in an unnecessary, unprecedented, and unlawful action by the corrupt FBI. We soon found out that the President had the ultimate right to take whatever records he wished upon leaving the White House. This was well defined in the Presidential Records Act. He did nothing wrong.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/national-archives-lied-claimed-recently-september-obama-records-ignoring-records-biden-stole/

  21. Glenn’s Substack
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    Gun Wars: An Interview with Larry Correia
    His new book, “In Defense of the Second Amendment,” comes out on Tuesday.

    Larry Correia is a bestselling author of thriller SF/fantasy fiction. He’s also a gun enthusiast. Now he’s written a nonfiction work on gun rights and the Second Amendment. I read an advance copy and found myself flying through the pages – it’s super-interesting and engaging, even to someone like me who’s been a shooter and gun-rights supporter and part of this world for many years. The book is In Defense of the Second Amendment, and it comes out on Tuesday.

    I thought it would be nice to ask him some questions, which are featured below. As usual, the article is free to everyone, but comments are limited to paid subscribers.

    So fiction pays a lot better than nonfiction – as a nonfiction author, believe me, I know – but you took time from writing bestselling fiction to produce a book on gun rights. Why? And why now?

    This is a subject that I’ve been passionate about my whole life. I’ve joked that I’m getting paid for this book, but I would have written it for free. I’m a firm believer in the Second Amendment and I’m hoping that this book helps move the needle on the debate. It is aimed at two audiences. For people who already like guns, the truth is on our side, and I want to help them articulate better arguments and arm them with facts. Then I want to help those who are on the fence, who’ve bought into the media narratives, to try and get them to understand why we have our rights and why they are so important.

    I love your terms about the “vulture press” and “vulture pundits.” Tell folks here what you mean by that.

    They get that name because there is this awful contingent in media who waits, perched, until whenever there is any sort of tragic or horrific event, they swoop in to feed. They delight in suffering and bloodshed. The more the better. They wait for when emotions are hot and people aren’t thinking to push for the dumbest, most illogical power grabs, because they know that’s the only time a sufficient mass of people are going to be illogical enough to fall for their scams. I’ve got a whole chapter going over how they operate, their usual tricks and scams, and the best ways to deal with them.

    I forget who originally said it, but after a shooting, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it. I feel like that approach used to be more effective than it is now. But they’re also selective about what shootings count. When gang members shoot black people in poor neighborhoods, there’s no outrage, and if you point it out, you’re somehow racist.

    Absolutely. They live and die by their narrative. Anything that doesn’t fit the narrative gets ignored or swept under the rug. I go into America’s crime stats. They love to portray America as a nation with this crazy violent crime problem. Not really. America is a fairly peaceful nation with a handful of zip codes where it is murder city. Then the gun grabbers attack everybody who criticizes their insane ideas as racist, while their policies inordinately harm the demographics they are supposedly championing. It is a sick con game.

    One of the things you often hear is that you don’t need an AR-15 to hunt deer. So why do you need an AR-15?

    Joe Biden loves to say the deer don’t wear kevlar, man, right before he jokes about killing us with fighter jets. Only the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting. It isn’t about “sporting purposes”. It is about our right to defend ourselves from threats, up to and including tyrannical governments. The AR-15 is just the most popular rifle in America right now, and if it wasn’t the AR, the gun grabbers would hate that other thing instead. I’ve got a chapter where I get into the history and logistics of what the Second Amendment is really about, and how it is the big red button on the Constitution that we really don’t want to push.

    You’ve been a strong proponent of arming teachers. Why is that?

    To clarify, I don’t think this should be mandatory. I think it should be voluntary. Basically if a teacher already has a concealed weapons permit, and they are capable, intelligent, and trained, why wouldn’t you want them armed? They are simply another layer of defense in case something horrible happens. They aren’t cops. They’re speed bumps. We’ve seen over and over that what stops a mass killer is a violent response. That violent response can either be immediate, or it can be when the police arrive. That could be minutes, or as we’ve seen recently, hours. Either way until that violent response happens the killer is going to keep killing. Armed school employees are just another layer of defense.

    Inevitably when they hear this suggestion anti-gun people always freak out about how armed teachers will lead to murder and chaos, so on and so forth, except my state has allowed CCW in schools for well over a decade and none of their hysterical predictions have come true.

    Will “red flag” laws inevitably be abused? Or can we trust the government to be fair?

    Fair is the last thing anybody would accuse our government of being. Abuse is absolutely inevitable. Imagine giving the worst people you know the ability to send a SWAT team to your house in the middle of the night.

    We have already seen abuse of this system happen and I go through some cases in the book. People who get red flagged by someone with an axe to grind, even if they did nothing wrong, now have to spend a lot of time and money fighting to get their rights back.

    I also get into how this system falls apart logically. States already have legal methods to commit someone who is deemed a danger to themselves and others, only they rarely do that because it is a difficult process. So instead they think that if we just red flag dangerous individuals and take their guns, now they’re going to be nice? Oh of course not. If they were dangerous before, they remain dangerous, they just need to procure new guns (and the vast majority of guns used in crimes are stolen or bought off of someone who stole them) or build a bomb, or drive their car through a parade. I’m sure getting red flagged isn’t going to improve their disposition.

    I’m a competent but not brilliant shooter – at one competition I shot, a judge said I was “pretty good, for a law professor,” which seems about right, and I have an armory that would appall most academics but that counts as “a nice start” by East Tennessee standards – but I’m constantly amazed at how little journalists who report on gun issues know about guns. I’m not Larry Correia or Tamara Keel, but I know the basics and it’s not even my job. What accounts for their staggering ignorance?

    It is willful ignorance. They are stupid on purpose. By not knowing how things work, they can propose the silliest things and still pat themselves on the back for “doing something.” Gun laws don’t care about history, reality, or even basic physics. Usually the stuff they propose will actually be backwards and make the problem they supposedly want to fix worse. That’s a feature to them, not a bug. Because as long as the problem keeps getting worse they can keep voting themselves more power and authority.

    For years the advice to gun owners was to keep their heads down as antigun forces went after them. Do you think that has changed?

    I think it is in the process of changing. Some parts of the gun culture are sick and tired of the Perhaps If We Are Nice They Will Go Away defense. This is the portion that has been fighting and making gains for gun rights around the country. These are the organizations that are actively looking for lawsuits to file. These are the people who open their mouths and take newbies to the range. Thankfully the old fuddy, self-righteous, guns for me but not for thee contingent are dying off.

    What should gun-rights activists be working on?

    I have a list of suggestions in the book for various laws we can push for at the local, state, and federal level, but far more importantly than the legislative battle is the cultural one. We need to be reaching out to our friends, families, neighbors, and community, spreading the word. Take people shooting. Help get them trained. Gun ownership exploded in 2020. Sales were off the charts. People saw cities on fire and the cops saying don’t bother calling 911 because we can’t come, you’re on your own, good luck, so they bought record numbers of guns. And it wasn’t my people standing in long lines to pay scalpers prices. We’ve already got ours. It was new people, first time buyers, and when you look at the demographics, not at all how the gun banners would present it as something for old white guys.

    The best thing all of us can do is keep fighting this culture war, and if you aren’t, I hope this book can help you get started.

    https://instapundit.substack.com/p/gun-wars-an-interview-with-larry

  22. NEW: “Readers Added Context They Thought People Might Want To Know” – Twitter Continues To Censor Kari Lake’s Arizona Election Lawsuit And The Gateway Pundit Reporting – Is Maricopa County Involved?
    By Jordan Conradson
    Published January 25, 2023 at 5:35pm
    66 Comments

    Twitter has added a new feature to their app, allowing readers to add “context they thought people might want to know” and moderating tweets through fake fact-checking.

    This is apparent from a recent Kari Lake Tweet, declaring that Lake and Abe Hamadeh won their elections. “The Red Wave happened. The corrupt AZ Swamp ran corrupt elections stealing our state government and trampling on our sacred vote.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/new-readers-added-context-thought-people-might-want-know-twitter-continues-censor-kari-lakes-arizona-election-lawsuit-gateway-pundit-reporting-maricopa-county-involved/

  23. House Oversight Chairman James Comer Launches Investigation Into Hunter Biden’s Art-Selling Scheme
    By Cristina Laila
    Published January 25, 2023 at 4:20pm
    137 Comments

    House Oversight Chairman James Comer on Wednesday announced an investigation into Hunter Biden’s art-selling scheme.

    Rep. Comer sent a letter to Hunter Biden’s art dealer, Georges Berges, seeking information on anonymous purchasers of Hunter Biden’s garbage artwork

    “The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating President Joe Biden and his family’s foreign and domestic influence peddling schemes,” wrote Chairman Comer. “For over a decade, the Biden family has profited from Joe Biden’s positions as a public official. Your arrangement with Hunter Biden raises serious ethics concerns and calls into question whether the Biden family is again selling access and influence. Despite being a novice artist, Hunter Biden received exorbitant amounts of money selling his artwork, the buyers’ identities remain unknown, and you appear to be the sole record keeper of these lucrative transactions

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/house-oversight-chairman-james-comer-launches-investigation-hunter-bidens-art-selling-scheme/

  24. DEVELOPING: Paul Pelosi Attack Police Bodycam Footage to be Released
    By Cristina Laila
    Published January 25, 2023 at 6:05pm
    153 Comments

    Incoming…

    A San Francisco judge on Wednesday granted a motion to release SFPD body cam footage of the Paul Pelosi attack and other evidence sought by a coalition of news organizations

    The coalition includes the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Press Democrat, CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, NBC, and KQED.

    It is unclear when the video will be publicly released.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/developing-paul-pelosi-attack-police-bodycam-footage-released/

  25. BREAKING: Project Veritas: Pfizer Exploring “Mutating” Covid-19 Virus Via ‘Directed Evolution’ To Continue Profiting From Vaccines (VIDEO)
    By Cristina Laila
    Published January 25, 2023 at 6:50pm
    68 Comments

    Project Veritas on Wednesday night released explosive video of Jordon Trishton Walker, Pfizer Director of Research and Development, Strategic Operations, admitting the pharma giant is exploring ‘mutating’ Covid-19 via ‘directed evolution’ so the company can continue to profit off of vaccines.

    “One of the things we’re exploring is like, why don’t we just mutate it [COVID] ourselves so we could create — preemptively develop new vaccines, right? So, we have to do that. If we’re gonna do that though, there’s a risk of like, as you could imagine — no one wants to be having a pharma company mutating f**king viruses,” Walker told the undercover Project Veritas journalist

    Don’t tell anyone. Promise you won’t tell anyone. The way it [the experiment] would work is that we put the virus in monkeys, and we successively cause them to keep infecting each other, and we collect serial samples from them,” he said.

    Via Project Veritas:

    TRENDING

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/breaking-project-veritas-pfizer-exposed-exploring-mutating-covid-19-virus-via-directed-evolution-continue-profiting-vaccines-video/

  26. Chinese National Sentenced to Eight Years for Acting as an Unregistered Agent of China, Enlisting in US Army
    By Cassandra MacDonald
    Published January 25, 2023 at 6:20pm
    70 Comments

    Chinese national has been sentenced to eight years in prison for acting illegally within the United States as an agent of the People’s Republic of China.
    Ji Chaoqun, 31, enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program in 2016
    jury in the Northern District of Illinois convicted Chaoqun last year on one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, specifically the People’s Republic of China, without first notifying the Attorney General; one count of acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China without first notifying the Attorney General; and one count of making a material false statement to the U.S. Army. U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman imposed the sentence.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/chinese-national-sentenced-eight-years-acting-unregistered-agent-china-enlisting-us-army/

  27. Despite Pushback from Kern County, California Board of Supervisors, Citizens Demand Their Concerns with Election Integrity Be Heard at Tuesday Night Meeting
    By Joe Hoft
    Published January 25, 2023 at 7:10pm
    Comment

    Last night California’s Kern County Board of Supervisors held a meeting, but they neglected to add to the agenda the topic of Dominion Voting Systems and its impact on voter integrity.

    In another county in California last night, Shasta County, the Board of Supervisors there voted not to renew the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems.

    This was a big win for those in Shasta county concerned with election integrity because, after two years of investigation, discussion, and debate, most individuals who understand voter integrity believe that US elections should be more like they were in the past and the way that EU countries vote today.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/despite-pushback-citizens-kern-county-california-let-board-know-concerns-election-integrity-board-supervisors-meeting/

  28. 20 Red States Sue Biden Admin Over Migrant Parole Program
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    WEDNESDAY, JAN 25, 2023 – 07:00 PM
    Two weeks after the state of Texas filed a lawsuit to stop the Biden administration from ignoring a federal immigration law that prevents illegal immigrants from residing in the US if they’re likely to rely on taxpayer-funded programs, a group of 20 Republican-led states, spearheaded once again by Texas AG Ken Paxton – have sued the administration again.

    This time, the 20 states and America First Legal, have claimed in the suit that the Department of Homeland Security effectively created a visa program without congressional approval by “announcing that it will permit up to 360,000 aliens annually from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to be ‘paroled’ into the United States for two years or longer and with eligibility for employment authorization.”

    The lawsuit claims that DHS exceeded congressional limits on parole authority – and that the agency can only issue parole on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, the agency did not have the authority to authorize the program, and ignored the mandatory notice-and-comment rulemaking requirement detailed in the Administrative Procedure Act, Just the News reports.

    Since President Joe Biden took office, more than 4 million illegal migrants have entered the United States, with a record 2.4 million doing so in fiscal year 2022 alone. The crisis shows no sign of abating, with roughly 216,000 migrants crossing the border in December 2022, an 11% increase over the November totals.

    That surge was largely driven by an influx of Cuban and Nicaraguan migrants, which the Biden administration took to indicate that its parole program for Venezuelans was succeeding, given the decline of migrants from that country. Migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti would benefit from the expanded parole process. -JTN

    When the program was originally announced, President Biden claimed that the aim was to limit the number of uninvited arrivals on the southern border because migrants would be encouraged to obtain pre-approval for entry while still in their home country.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/20-red-states-sue-biden-admin-over-migrant-parole-program

  29. “Pfizer Exposed For Exploring “Mutating” COVID-19 Virus For New Vaccines Via ‘Direct Evolution'” Project Veritas – 1 hour ago

  30. Demonic Looking Statue Placed On NYC Courthouse
    By Anthony Scott
    Published January 25, 2023 at 10:00pm
    41 Comments

    A new demonic-looking statue has been placed on top of a Manhattan Courthouse.

    The golden statue, named “NOW” ,stands at about 8ft and depicts a woman with horns wearing a lace collar.

    It was resurrected on top of the First Judicial Department of the State Supreme Court in an attempt to honor the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/demonic-looking-statue-placed-nyc-courthouse/

  31. VIDEO – “Nearly 300,000 Ballots In 2022 Would FAIL Signature Verification” – Shelby Busch Discusses Over 1,800 BLANK Ballot Envelopes, Dead Voters, Incorrect Signatures In Maricopa County On Bannon’s War Room
    By Jordan Conradson
    Published January 25, 2023 at 10:15pm
    4 Comments
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    We The People AZ Alliance co-founder Shelby Busch joined Steve Bannon’s War Room on Wednesday to discuss the bombshell findings from the group’s Monday presentation on 2022 Election failures in Maricopa County

    The newly formed Arizona Senate Elections Committee, chaired by State Senator Wendy Rogers, heard this presentation on Monday. Watch the full ‘Election Mechanics’ presentation here.

    The Gateway Pundit reported on some of the shocking findings in the investigation, including Election Day tabulators reportedly rejecting nearly 1/4 million vote attempts on election day. As revealed in the presentation, “tabulators failed at 235 times the Election Assistance Commission’s regulated failure rates.”

    This massive error is over 14x the margin of victory in Kari Lake’s race!

    After determining that OVER 420,000 ballot affidavits “failed signature verification” in the 2020 Election, based on their review of roughly 25% of 1.9 million envelopes, Busch and her team extrapolated this data. They concluded that there were “a total of 290,644 failed signatures in the 2022 Election.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/video-nearly-300000-ballots-2022-fail-signature-verification-shelby-busch-discusses-1800-blank-ballot-envelopes-dead-voters-incorrect-signatures-maricopa-county-bannon/

  32. VIDEO – “Nearly 300,000 Ballots In 2022 Would FAIL Signature Verification” – Shelby Busch Discusses Over 1,800 BLANK Ballot Envelopes, Dead Voters, Incorrect Signatures In Maricopa County On Bannon’s War Room
    By Jordan Conradson
    Published January 25, 2023 at 10:15pm
    4 Comments

    We The People AZ Alliance co-founder Shelby Busch joined Steve Bannon’s War Room on Wednesday to discuss the bombshell findings from the group’s Monday presentation on 2022 Election failures in Maricopa County

    The newly formed Arizona Senate Elections Committee, chaired by State Senator Wendy Rogers, heard this presentation on Monday. Watch the full ‘Election Mechanics’ presentation here.

    The Gateway Pundit reported on some of the shocking findings in the investigation, including Election Day tabulators reportedly rejecting nearly 1/4 million vote attempts on election day. As revealed in the presentation, “tabulators failed at 235 times the Election Assistance Commission’s regulated failure rates.”

    This massive error is over 14x the margin of victory in Kari Lake’s race!

    After determining that OVER 420,000 ballot affidavits “failed signature verification” in the 2020 Election, based on their review of roughly 25% of 1.9 million envelopes, Busch and her team extrapolated this data. They concluded that there were “a total of 290,644 failed signatures in the 2022 Election.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/video-nearly-300000-ballots-2022-fail-signature-verification-shelby-busch-discusses-1800-blank-ballot-envelopes-dead-voters-incorrect-signatures-maricopa-county-bannon/

  33. Revealed: Paul Pelosi Dumped 30,000 Shares of Google Stock One Month Before DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit Filed This Week
    By Jim Hoft
    Published January 25, 2023 at 9:05pm
    123 Comments

    Pelosi Crime Family Update:

    Paul Pelosi dumped 20,000 shares of Google stock in December – a month before the Department of Justice and Merrick Garland filed their antitrust lawsuit was filed this week.

    Advertisement – story continues

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/revealed-paul-pelosi-dumped-30000-shares-google-stock-one-month-doj-antitrust-lawsuit-filed-week/