Reader’s Links for March 9, 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

65 Replies to “Reader’s Links for March 9, 2023”

  1. First this, which is not truthful in that it DOES NOT primarily affect only non-Canadian residents:

    https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/excise-taxes-duties-and-levies/underused-housing-tax.html

    Then this:

    https://canadafreepress.com/article/trudeau-gives-federal-employees-a-75k-benefit-for-sex-changes

    So in truly Dystopian fashion this government manages to make yet another assault on private property ownership, increase taxes substantially, and adds insult to injury by financing fruits and vegetables.

    Time for a road trip, Betty?

  2. 2 min CBC airs Deer Retard caught in the headlights because it can no longer ignore CCP bribes and interference:

  3. Here We Go: Great Britain Government Requires Home-Grown Chickens to be Registered to Tackle Bird Flu
    By Jim Hoft Mar. 9, 2023 8:15 am19 Comments
    TruthGettr

    People in Great Britain who keep chickens in their yards are forced to register them with the government under a new proposed law to stop the spread of bird flu.

    As part of the ongoing efforts to combat avian influenza, the government of England, Wales, and Scotland introduced a proposal on Wednesday that would make it mandatory for all poultry keepers to formally register their birds.

    The new rules would apply to all bird keepers, no matter how many birds they own. Currently, only people who keep 50 birds or more are required by law to do so.

    Under the rule, people who keep birds as pets or for food production (i.e., eggs) will be forced to register as well. Failure to do so is a violation of the law. They would also be required to update their information every year.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/here-we-go-great-britain-government-requires-home-grown-chickens-to-be-registered-in-a-bid-to-curb-bird-flu/

  4. Missouri and Louisiana File MASSIVE Summary of Evidence Discovered in Suit Against the Biden Administration with Gateway Pundit as Plaintiff – Detailing Government-Wide Conspiracy to Stifle Free Speech
    By Jim Hoft Mar. 9, 2023 8:00 am67 Comments

    The Gateway Pundit previously reported in May that Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, along with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, filed a lawsuit (Missouri v. Biden) against the Biden Administration, including Biden himself, Anthony Fauci, the Department of Homeland Security, and nearly a dozen federal agencies and Secretaries.

    The suit alleges a massive coordinated effort by the Deep State (permanent administrative state) to work with Big Tech to censor and manipulate Americans – from average citizens to news outlets – on issues including the Hunter Biden Laptop from Hell, 2020 Election Integrity, COVID-19 origin and extent skepticism, COVID-19 vaccine skepticism, among other issues.

    Here’s a copy of the First Amended Complaint.

    In June, The Gateway Pundit began assisting Missouri AG Schmitt’s team and providing critical evidence of Facebook and Twitter censorship of the Gateway Pundit on all of these issues.

    The case reached a CRUCIAL turning point in July when AG Schmitt and his team won a huge victory.

    They persuaded the federal judge to grant them limited discovery (investigatory powers) BEFORE the Court.

    The Gateway Pundit wrote about the development here.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/massive-trove-of-documents-filed-in-missouri-louisiana-suit-against-biden-administration/

  5. Biden’s DOD Is Out of Compliance with Law Requiring Monitoring of Money and Weapons Going to Ukraine – Billions Not in Compliance
    By Joe Hoft Mar. 9, 2023 8:45 am0 Comments
    TruthGettr

    The DOD Inspector General will not say that the billions going to Ukraine is in compliance with US law.

    Why should America be concerned about sending billions to Ukraine? The quick answer is that the Bidens made millions in Ukraine while Joe Biden was Obama’s VP. Ukraine and the Bidens cannot be trusted.

    Many Americans feel this way, including freshman Senator from Ohio, JD Vance.

    Rep. Matt Gaetz reported on his recent interview with Biden DOD IG Robert Storch. This is the person who is responsible for ensuring that the government is in compliance with its laws. He’s like the chief internal auditor for the DOD.

    Gaetz shared:

    During today’s House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing on “Oversight of U.S. Military Support to Ukraine,” U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-01) grilled Department of Defense Inspector General Robert Storch on whether the Biden Administration is conducting rigorous oversight and ensuring military equipment is delivered to the correct recipients in Ukraine. Since the onset of the war a year ago, the United States has been the top contributor of military equipment and aid to Ukraine, sending over $113 Billion of taxpayer money to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    In response to Rep. Gaetz’s line of questioning, Inspector

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/bidens-dod-is-out-of-compliance-with-law-requiring-monitoring-of-money-and-goods-going-to-ukraine-billions-not-in-compliance/

  6. europravda – The EU tells Twitter to hire more human content moderators amid concerns of rise of illegal content

  7. CBC – Tucker Carlson criticized for cherry-picking images during Jan. 6 riots

    Fox News host Tucker Carlson is facing new criticism, even from Republicans, for downplaying the Capitol Hill riots and cherry-picking visuals for the broadcast.

    At the same time, text messages revealed in court documents show that Carlson said he hates former U.S. president Donald Trump ‘passionately.’

    • ‘It’s Disgusting!’: Hakeem Jeffries Laces Into Tucker Carlson For ‘Lies And Conspiracy Theories’

  8. Elon Musk Mocks Chuck Schumer After He Lashes Out Over Jan 6th Footage: “Do You Want Us To Remove This Video?”
    By ProTrumpNews Staff Mar. 9, 2023 9:30 am136 Comments

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is not happy that the Establishment’s January 6th narrative is falling apart.

    He had a complete meltdown on the floor of the Senate and even called on Fox News to stop Tucker from releasing January 6th tapes.

    The next day he lashed out at Speaker McCarthy for giving the footage to Tucker Carlson.

    Read: Dr. Peter McCullough On “The Holy Grail Of COVID-19 Vaccine Detoxification”

    He accused McCarthy of enabling the spread of “Donald Trump’s Big Lie.”

    Elon Musk was having none of it.

    He mocked Schumer, asking if he wanted Twitter to remove a video of January 6th.

    The video mocks the idea that January 6th was an insurrection — a voiceover actor acts like a tour guide announcer in the Capitol:

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/elon-musk-mocks-chuck-schumer-after-he-lashes-out-over-jan-6th-footage-do-you-want-us-to-remove-this-video/

  9. Leftist-RINO Third Party Group “No Labels” Qualifies For 2024 Ballot In Arizona
    By Jordan Conradson Mar. 9, 2023 9:15 am48 Comments

    Leftist-RINO third party group “No Labels” will reportedly be on the ballot in Arizona’s 2024 election after turning in the minimum number of signatures required to qualify.

    The Gateway Pundit previously reported that the no-morals No Labels Party completely stole their logo design from a New York graphic artist.

    The No-Labels party has also gained ballot access in Colorado and is pushing for ballot access in enough states to run presidential candidates.

    War Room host Steve Bannon slammed the Rupert Murdoch-backed group for trying to deny President Trump a win in 2024.

    Still, Democrats are reportedly worried that this party could steal votes from Democrats and strengthen Republican candidates.

    Some speculate that the group will get behind former Democrat Kyrsten Sinema for reelection to the Senate in a competitive three-way race. No Labels would likely take more votes away from Democrats than Republicans in Arizona.

    Fox 10 reports:

    PHOENIX (AP) – No Labels, which has pledged to create a pathway for an alternative candidate to run against the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees in 2024, will get a spot on the ballot in Arizona.

    The presidential battleground state joins Colorado in recognizing No Labels as a political party. The group’s push for ballot access has angered Democrats and anti-Donald Trump Republicans, who worry a No Labels candidate couldn’t win but would tip the scales in favor of Trump or a Trump-like Republican

    No Labels says it is seeking ballot access in many states and will run a bipartisan “unity ticket” for president “if the two parties select unreasonably divisive presidential nominees.”

    Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, notified the group on Tuesday that it turned in enough valid signatures to qualify as a political party under Arizona law. He said in a statement he’d work with county election officials to implement the change.

    Even a small number of voters backing the No Labels candidate could be significant. President Joe Biden won three states by less than 1 percentage point in 2020.

    The center-left group Third Way said in a memo, first reported by Politico, that Biden won voters who didn’t like either major party candidate by 15 points over Trump; Democrat Hillary Clinton lost those voters by 17 points in the 2016 race that Trump won. No Labels says it would draw equally from both major parties.

    No Labels has emerged during a period of partisan polarization, with a rising bloc of independent voters dissatisfied with both major parties.

    While No Labels has focused its attention on the 2024 presidential election, it will have a guaranteed line on the ballot for every state and federal race in Arizona. That has prompted speculation that the group could provide a vehicle to support Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year and faces a tough reelection fight if she decides to run for a second term in a three-way race.

    A spokeswoman for Sinema declined to comment.

    No Labels becomes Arizona’s fourth recognized party, joining the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties. The state stopped recognizing the Green Party after the 2018 election, when it failed to get at least 5% of the vote in the election for governor and didn’t collect enough signatures to maintain its status.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/ready-leftist-rino-third-party-group-no-labels-qualifies-for-2024-ballot-in-arizona/

    (Richard: My first thought is that this would take more votes from the Dems then from the Republicans.

    My second thought is that this would help the Dems steal the election.)

  10. LIVE-STREAM VIDEO: House Hearing on Weaponization of Federal Government
    By Jim Hoft Mar. 9, 2023 10:34 am

    The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is holding a meeting today on Capitol Hill.

    On Thursday the committee focused on the weaponization of the government as identified in the Twitter Files releases.

    Witnesses include two liberal reporters who were involved in the Twitter Files releases:

    Matt Taibbi, Journalist – testimony
    Michael Shellenberger, Author, Co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute and the California Peace Coalition

    Democrats are losing their minds.

    The Democrat Party is pushing BS on Russia hacking the DNC server – that was previously proven speculative at best.

    And the Ranking Member Democrat Rep. Plaskett asked reporter Matt Tiabbi for his sources proving once again the Democrat Party has no regard for the Constitution or laws of this country.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/live-stream-video-house-hearing-on-weaponization-of-federal-government/

  11. Ukraine war live updates: Russia unleashes massive drone and missile strike on Ukraine; huge nuclear power plant loses power
    Holly Ellyatt
    This is CNBC’s live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine. See below for the latest updates.

    Russia unleashed a wave of Russian drone and missile strikes overnight, hitting Kyiv and other major cities in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. Air raid alerts sounded across much of the country in the early hours.

    The head of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russia had fired 81 missiles at Ukrainian territory on Thursday morning, including six “kinzhal” hypersonic missiles, which its air force cannot intercept.

    The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said the capital experienced a number of explosions that had damaged energy infrastructure and injured several civilians. In his most recent post on Telegram, Klitschko said that because of emergency power outages after the missile attack, 40% of the capital’s consumers are now without heating.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/09/ukraine-war-live-updates-latest-news-on-russia-and-the-war-in-ukraine.html

  12. FEB 09 2023 – Anti_ Spiegel

    Was ich schon 2022 von einem Whistleblower über die Nord-Stream-Sprengung erfahren habe

    + google translate :

    What I learned from a whistleblower about the Nord Stream blast back in 2022

    In October 2022, I received a message from a whistleblower who claimed to have information about the Nord Stream blast. His narration exactly confirms Seymour Hersh’s account of the pipeline blast.

    In my article translating Seymour Hersh’s report detailing how the Biden administration planned and carried out the blasting of the Nord Stream pipelines as early as 2021, I mentioned that a few months ago, someone contacted me, who claimed to have been a soldier in the maneuver BALTOPS 22 and who claims to have seen how extremely arrogantly behaved special divers from the USA on the warship on which he had served, exactly at the site of the later detonation the attachment of “practiced” mines.

    Unfortunately, he couldn’t provide any evidence for his story and wanted to remain anonymous, which is why I didn’t report on it, because he couldn’t provide anything reliable to confirm his story. Of course, I don’t write an article based on a story from someone who doesn’t reveal their identity and can’t provide supporting evidence for their story. However, after Hersh was published on February 8th, I am certain that the whistleblower who contacted me at the time was telling the truth because his story fits exactly with what Hersh published.

    Therefore I will tell here what I found out in October 2022 and I will also completely translate and publish the email from the whistleblower, the text of which I received on October 4, 2022. The email was originally in English and came from an anonymous Proton address.

    As I found out from the whistleblower
    In early October 2022, I was contacted by my colleague and friend John Marc Dugan, an American living in Moscow. He had received an email from an anonymous whistleblower.

    At the time we discussed for a long time what we could do with it, but since the whistleblower couldn’t provide any evidence for his story and we couldn’t verify the pictures he sent, after all everything is possible with Photoshop, I wasn’t prepared to publish anything about it. As far as I know, John didn’t report about it in his videos either.

    Which parts of the Hersh story the whistleblower’s email confirms
    With what I know today from Seymour Hersh’s article, I believe the whistleblower’s story is authentic because it fits exactly what Hersh writes. At the time, the whistleblower reported on non-military-looking US special divers who were helicoptered onto the warship on which the whistleblower was serving during maneuver BALTOPS 22.

    This confirms Hersh’s story that the specialty divers are from the Panama City Navy diving school in Florida and were not soldiers but are believed to be US intelligence. Even more: Hersh does not go into the details of the operation in the Baltic Sea itself, but the whistleblower does. And he mentioned that the US special divers had MK29 diving systems, which he says are classified.

    According to what can be found on the net, the MK29 are actually secret, in any case you cannot order them, there are only reports about them. Most importantly, according to a 2018 U.S. Department of Defense report, they were developed by the very U.S. Navy diving school in Panama City, Florida that Hersh mentions. The fact that the whistleblower mentioned the MK29 system, which has a direct connection to the Navy diving school whose specialist divers Hersh says planted the bombs on the pipelines, back in early October 2022 is further confirmation of Hersh’s story for me.

    In this video, the US Navy proudly displays the MK29 and explains its benefits on long deep dives.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCbPlSGrXZ8

    According to the whistleblower, the special divers were supposed to do exercises with sea mines, but according to the whistleblower they did not have the necessary equipment with them. Instead, they carried state-of-the-art deep-diving gear (including the MK29) that they don’t even need for a sea mine exercise, which floats at such shallow depths that conventional scuba gear is sufficient. According to the whistleblower, the special divers were also active in the wrong place during the exercise and were under water much longer than is possible with the equipment he is familiar with.

    Hersh writes in his article that the special divers attached the explosive devices to the pipelines under the guise of an exercise with sea mines. The exercise with sea mines was therefore included in the BALTOPS 22 maneuver as a camouflage for laying the bombs on the pipelines. Here, too, the email written by the whistleblower corresponds to the article now published by Hersh.

    The whistleblower’s email

    I am now showing the text of the email that the whistleblower sent to John and which John forwarded to me immediately afterwards on October 4th. I translated them from English.

    Start of translation:

    Dear Mr. Dugan!

    I am writing this letter in the hope that you will pass it on. I cannot share the information myself as it would harm my career and life. I am sending you this photo as proof that I was there and a copy of my ID. You may give this to another journalist you trust, but do not give it away from your possession. It is important that you do not share it with anyone and that you never use this email account again. You can quote the letter verbatim as it is written:

    I had a leading administrative role in the BALTOPS 22 military exercise in June near the island of Bornholm, Denmark. I can’t give you my exact title as it could reveal my identity. There were some unusual details surrounding a group of US Marines from Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) who had traveled from Stockholm. What seemed odd at the time looks downright nefarious in hindsight.

    Let me explain. Forgive me in advance if I have misunderstood the terminology, as my country’s military may use different terms. I can’t give specifics about my job, but I do work coordinating dive teams and underwater operations with various NATO-allied forces.

    On June 15, the day of the exercise, I was involved in coordinating certain aspects of the exercise. I have to be vague here. A US military helicopter arrived with a group of men believed to be US Navy mine hunters.

    They disembarked, unloaded their gear, and met both the US Navy Vice Admiral and a group of plainclothes American men, who arrived a few hours later. We all assumed they were some sort of intelligence operative.

    After a short conversation, which I couldn’t hear because of the helicopter noise, they went to their briefing.

    I found it quite odd that they were from the US Navy. My first thought was that they looked like a group of terrorists and not someone from the US Navy. The other groups that we had from many branches of the military had some kind of standards. Haircuts, for example. Not only did these men have wild hair that would have gone against military norms in any civilized nation, but they also had facial hair. Like I said, they looked more like Middle Eastern terrorists. Neither of these men wore an identification tag around their neck.

    Another thing I found strange was that they claimed to be looking for underwater mines, but they didn’t have the equipment for such exercises. Their gear consisted of the Navy’s latest underwater diving gear and some small hard cases we call pelicans.

    Their task was to take an inflatable boat to a certain location, look for anti-ship mines there and return with their findings. They usually carry a long metal detection kit with them on such ventures, but that was absent from their kit.

    One detail that struck me as very odd here was that other minesweeper teams wore conventional SCUBA gear with tanks and the like, while this group wore state-of-the-art helium respirators and wetsuits. While I’ve never seen one up close, I’m pretty sure they were the MK29 systems, designed for deep diving and classified to this day. My country’s military wouldn’t even be able to afford the helium for it, let alone the suits themselves. Detecting mines just a few meters below the surface would certainly not require these suits.

    They went out to sea in their boat. Not to the area where the simulated mines were placed, but to a completely different location. My colleague, who was monitoring the teams’ various locations, made a casual joke about how the US Navy was lost and two thousand meters from where it was intended.

    They got out of their boat, wearing their breathing apparatus, and disappeared underwater for over six hours. As far as I know, there is no self-contained underwater gear that can keep a diver under water for six hours. With the latest military systems, a maximum of three or four hours is possible if the diver is not overexerting himself. After a few hours we became concerned and contacted the US 6th Fleet coordinator who assured us that everything was fine, that they were in contact, that we were ignoring the matter and not making any reports should.

    After the exercise ended and they returned, almost all of the pelicans were missing. They didn’t stay for any pleasantries. They chatted briefly with the US civilians, boarded a waiting helicopter, and took off. The civilians they spoke to also left, albeit in a different helicopter. Their mission was later described as “successfully completed”, although they were nowhere near the goal.

    In retrospect, I have the following suspicions. The divers met with a small, waiting submersible that took them to the pipeline area. The explosives required for such an operation would not have fit in their kit, so I suspect they carried surveying and tracking equipment with which they could mark where the explosives needed to be placed. After examining the pipeline and marking the correct coordinates, they had time to check this data with demolitions technicians, return to the site at a later date, and place the required explosive charges, which were then detonated with a timer or remotely.

    end of translation

    It should be noted that the whistleblower was probably wrong on one point in his conclusion, since the divers may have planted the explosives immediately, according to the Hersh report. Perhaps the submersible suspected by the whistleblower carried it, which is entirely possible.

    The USA has the necessary, so-called “unmanned maritime systems” and they are regularly tested during maneuvers, such as this maneuver from September 2022 off the coast of Portugal shows.

    https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_207293.htm

    https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2023/was-ein-whistleblower-mir-schon-im-2022-ueber-die-nord-stream-sprengung-mitgeteilt-hat/

    global news –NATO chief says it’s still unclear who carried out Nord Stream pipeline attacks

    Speaking in Stockholm, Sweden on Wednesday, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said it remains unclear who was responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, as national investigations into the sabotage are yet to be concluded.

    “What we do know is that there was an attack against the Nord Stream pipelines, an act of sabotage, but we have not been able to determine who was behind (it),” Stoltenberg said before a meeting with European Union defence ministers.

    “There are ongoing national investigations and I think it’s right to wait until those are finalized before we say anything more about who was behind (it).”

    Stoltenberg also said it could not be ruled out that the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut could fall in the coming days.

    In Stockholm, EU defence ministers were meeting to discuss further arms supplies to Kyiv. Shipments of battle tanks and artillery are already in the pipeline but it could take months before they can be put into action on the frontlines.

    • the gateway pundit – Big Media Joins Forces to Give the US, Germany and the West a Way Out of Ukraine

      Reports yesterday that a group of Ukrainians were responsible for the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline provide the West a way out of the conflict in Ukraine. Is this why it was created and reported?

      Yesterday, TGP reported on the story that came out the day before that blamed Ukraine for the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline into Europe. The New York Times and other publications all came out with the preposterous story on Tuesday.

      Today, it looks like the reports were created to provide a way out of the Ukraine War with Russia.

      One series of tweets lays this out and it makes sense.

      Last week the leader of Germany went to the White House. They have an incentive to use the bogus narrative that Ukraine blew up Nord Stream 2 because it allows them to walk away from the Ukraine War. Only a few days after Scholtz’s visit, the story was released.

      ————————

      German media picked it up.

      Now the German defense minister is threatening to withdraw support for Kiev.

      We now know what’s the plan.

      German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says claims that pro-Ukrainian group behind Nord Stream SABOTAGE may have consequences for Western support to Ukraine.

      ———————————–

      Olaf Scholtz went to the US to tell Biden: Either YOU blame Ukraine so we can pull our support for Ukraine—or WE blame YOU and pull out of NATO.

      ————————————-
      more :

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/big-media-joins-forces-to-give-the-us-germany-and-the-west-a-way-out-of-ukraine/

  13. Here We Go… Scientists in Japan Create Mice By Using Two Fathers
    By Anthony Scott Mar. 9, 2023 10:48 am81 Comments
    TruthGettrGab

    Katsuhiko Hayashi who led the research created eggs from the cells of male mice and proceeded to put those eggs inside surrogate mice which resulted in offspring.

    The Guardian reported the new research will be used to treat infertility and also one day possibly allow same-sex couples to have a biological child together.

    Hayashi the scientist behind the experiment would go on record saying “in terms of technology, it will be possible [in humans] even in 10 years

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/scientists-in-japan-create-mice-by-using-two-fathers/

    • mark steyn –“Potential harm” versus real harm

      Ofcom found Mark Steyn caused “potential harm” for going up against the official vaccine narrative.

      Broadcasting executive Mark Sharman says the mainstream media have been promoting real harm.

  14. REBEL NEWS – Excess mortality rates go unexplained in Nova Scotia

    ‘Unexpectedly high numbers of people are dying in an untimely fashion,’ infectious diseases researcher Tara Moriarty told CBC.

    Recently released, although long overdue, data from Statistics Canada shows a marked increase in deaths from the expected number, known as excess mortality.

    Statistics Canada’s excess mortality tracker was updated with data for Nova Scotia and a handful of other provinces for September and October 2022.

    https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1310078401

    During those two months, data indicates 304 more deaths than expected in NS.

    However, though unable to explain the high number of extra deaths, Moriarty told CBC she is sure what didn’t cause them, telling CBC that “without an explanation, purveyors of COVID-19 misinformation will argue that COVID-19 vaccines are to blame.”

    Moriarty suspects opioids as a cause of the extra deaths.

    The province claimed just 63 cases of opioid poisoning in 2022.

    =================================
    JUNE 2021 – Combatting Misinformation about COVID-19 Vaccines with Tara Moriarty

    • DEC 2022 – the Atlantic – How Many Republicans Died Because the GOP Turned Against Vaccines?

      Party leaders are unquestionably complicit in the premature deaths of their own supporters.

      No country has a perfect COVID-vaccination rate, even this far into the pandemic, but America’s record is particularly dismal. About a third of Americans—more than a hundred million people—have yet to get their initial shots. You can find anti-vaxxers in every corner of the country. But by far the single group of adults most likely to be unvaccinated is Republicans: 37 percent of Republicans are still unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, compared with 9 percent of Democrats. Fourteen of the 15 states with the lowest vaccination rates voted for Donald Trump in 2020. (The other is Georgia.)

      We know that unvaccinated Americans are more likely to be Republican, that Republicans in positions of power led the movement against COVID vaccination, and that hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated Americans have died preventable deaths from the disease. The Republican Party is unquestionably complicit in the premature deaths of many of its own supporters, a phenomenon that may be without precedent in the history of both American democracy and virology.

      Obviously, nothing about being a Republican makes someone inherently anti-vaccine. Many Republicans—in fact, most of them—have gotten their first two shots. But the wildly disproportionate presence of Republicans among the unvaccinated reveals an ugly and counterintuitive aspect of the GOP campaign against vaccination: At every turn, top figures in the party have directly endangered their own constituents. Trump disparaged vaccines while president, even after orchestrating Operation Warp Speed. Other politicians, such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, made all COVID-vaccine mandates illegal in their state. More recently, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for a grand jury to investigate the safety of COVID vaccines. The right-wing media have leaned even harder into vaccine skepticism. On his prime-time Fox News show, Tucker Carlson has regularly questioned the safety of vaccines, inviting guests who have called for the shots to be “withdrawn from the market.”

      Breaking down the cost of vaccine hesitancy would be simple if we could draw a causal relationship between Republican leaders’ anti-vaccine messaging and the adoption of those ideas by Americans, and then from those ideas to deaths due to non-vaccination. Unfortunately, we don’t have the data to do so. Individual vaccine skepticism cannot be traced back to a single source, and even if it could, we don’t know exactly who is unvaccinated and what their political affiliations are.

      What we do have is a patchwork of estimations and correlations that, taken together, paint a blurry but nevertheless grim picture of how Republican leaders spread the vaccine hesitancy that has killed so many people. We know that as of April 2022, about 318,000 people had died from COVID because they were unvaccinated, according to research from Brown University. And the close association between Republican vaccine hesitancy and higher death rates has been documented. One study estimated that by the fall of 2021, vaccine uptake accounted for 10 percent of the total difference between Republican and Democratic deaths. But that estimate has changed—and even likely grown—over time.

      Partisanship affected outcomes in the pandemic even before we had vaccines. A recent study found that from October 2020 to February 2021, the death rate in Republican-leaning counties was up to three times higher than that of Democratic-leaning counties, likely because of differences in masking and social distancing. Even when vaccines came around, these differences continued, Mauricio Santillana, an epidemiology expert at Northeastern University and a co-author of the study, told me. Follow-up research published in The Lancet Regional Health—Americas in October looked at deaths from April 2021 to March 2022 and found a 26 percent higher death rate in areas where voters leaned Republican. “There are subsequent and very serious [partisan] patterns with the Delta and Omicron waves, some of which can be explained by vaccination,” Bill Hanage, a co-author of the paper and an epidemiologist at Harvard, told me in an email.

      But to understand why Republicans have died at higher rates, you can’t look at vaccine status alone. Congressional districts controlled by a trifecta of Republican leaders—state governor, Senate, and House—had an 11 percent higher death rate, according to the Lancet study. A likely explanation, the authors write, could be that in the post-vaccine era, those leaders chose policies and conveyed public-health messages that made their constituents more likely to die. Although we still can’t say these decisions led to higher death rates, the association alone is jarring.

      One of the most compelling studies comes from researchers at Yale, who published their findings as a working paper in November. They link political party and excess-death rate—the percent increase in deaths above pre-COVID levels—among those registered as either Democrats or Republicans, providing a more granular view. They chose to analyze data from Florida and Ohio from before and after vaccines were available. Looking at the period before the vaccines, researchers found a 1.6-percentage-point difference in excess-death rate among Republicans and Democrats, with a higher rate among Republicans. But after vaccines became available, that gap widened dramatically to 10.4 percentage points, again with a higher Republican excess-death rate. “When we compare individuals who are of the same age, who live in the same county in the same month of the pandemic, there are differences correlated with your political-party affiliation that emerge after vaccines are available,” Jacob Wallace, an assistant professor of public health at Yale who co-authored the paper, told me. “That’s a statement we can confidently make based on the study and we couldn’t before.”

      Even with this new research, it is difficult to determine just how many people died as a result of their political views. In the “excess death” study, researchers dealt only with rates of excess death, not actual death-toll numbers. Overall, excess deaths represent a small share of deaths. “On the scale of national registration for both parties,” Wallace said, “we’re talking about relatively small numbers and differences in deaths” when you look at excess-death rates alone.

      The absolute number of Republican deaths is less important than the fact that they happened needlessly. Vaccines could have saved lives. And yet, the party that describes itself as pro-life campaigned against them. Democrats are not without fault, though. The Biden administration’s COVID blunders are no doubt to blame for some of the nation’s deaths. But on the whole, Democratic leaders have mostly not promoted ideas or enforced policies around COVID that actively chip away at life expectancy. It is a tragedy that the Republican push against basic lifesaving science has cut lives short and continues to do so. The partisan divide in COVID deaths, Hanage said, is just “another example of how the partisan politics of the U.S. has poisoned the well of public health.”

      What’s most concerning about all of this is that partisan disparities in death rates were also apparent before COVID. People living in Republican jurisdictions have been at a health disadvantage for more than 20 years. From 2001 to 2019, the death rate in Democratic counties decreased by 22 percent, according to a recent study; in Republican counties, it declined by only 11 percent. In the same time period, the political gap in death rates increased sixfold.

      Health outcomes have been diverging at the state level since the ’90s, Steven Woolf, an epidemiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, told me. Woolf’s work suggests that over the decades, state policy decisions on health issues such as Medicaid, gun legislation, tobacco taxes, and, indeed, vaccines have likely had a stronger impact on state health trajectories than other factors. COVID’s high Republican death rates are not an isolated phenomenon but a continuation of this trend. As Republican-led states pushed back on lockdowns, the impact on population death rates was observed within weeks, Woolf said.

      If the issue is indeed systemic, that doesn’t bode well for the future. Other factors could explain the higher death rate in Republican-leaning places—more poverty, less education, worse socioeconomic conditions—though Woolf said he isn’t convinced that those factors aren’t related to bad state health policy too. In any case, the long-term decline of health in red states indicates that there is an ongoing problem at a high level in Republican-led places, and that something has gone awry. “If you happen to live in certain states, your chances for living a long life are going to be much higher than if you’re an American living in a different state,” Woolf said.

      Unfortunately, this trend shows no signs of breaking. The anti-science messaging that fuels such a divide is popular with Republican leaders because it plays so well with their constituents. Far-right crowds cheer for missed vaccine targets and jokes about executing scientific leaders. In an environment where partisanship trumps all—including trying to save people’s lives—such messaging is both politically effective and morally abhorrent. The data, however imperfect, demand a reckoning with the consequences of such a strategy not only during the pandemic but over the past few decades, and in the years to come. But to acknowledge how many Republicans didn’t have to die would mean giving credence to scientific and medical expertise. So long as America remains locked in a poisonous partisan battle in which science is wrongly dismissed as being associated with the left, the death toll will only rise.

      https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/12/covid-deaths-anti-vaccine-republican-voters/672575/

    • Jim Jordan And Stacey Plaskett Have Dramatic Clash Over Her Questioning Of Taibbi, Shellenberger

      ( 6 min 39 )

    • Jim Jordan Defends Matt Taibbi After Crooked Gerry Connolly Questioning

      ( 11 min )

    • Dan Goldman Grills Twitter Files Journalists, Matt Gaetz Blasts Suppression Of Hunter Biden Story

      ( 18 min )

    • Jim Jordan Drops Hammer On FBI Over Hunter Biden Laptop Twitter Suppression

      ( 5 min 43 )

    • Stefanik Asks Wray: ‘Do You Believe The Hunter Biden Laptop Story Is Disinformation?’

    • All Hell Breaks Loose After Sylvia Garcia Demands Matt Taibbi Tell Her About His Sourcing

    • ‘Something Jumped Out At Me’: Jim Jordan Probes FBI’s Alleged Suppression Of Hunter Biden’s Laptop

    • Kat Cammack Calls Out ‘Blacklists’ Of People Who Disagreed With Fauci On COVID-19

      At today’s House Weaponization of the Federal Government Committee hearing, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) spoke about the blacklisting of doctors who disagreed with Dr. Anthony Fauci’s COVID-19 policies.

  15. Tucker Carlson on Jan. 6 video: ‘I knowDECEPTION when I see it’
    Glenn Beck – March 8, 2023

  16. Children who were injured by Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccines – Hallucinations, self-harm, suicide attempts, permanent disability
    Dr. William Makis MD – March 9, 2023

    Excerpt:

    “Safe and Effective”? Every parent who is fighting to protect their children from Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccines should have cases like this saved in their records and ready to give to their lawyers, to health authorities, or to the Courts.
    https://makismd.substack.com/p/children-who-were-injured-by-pfizer

  17. Special Counsel Jack Smith Targets Trump Lawyer, Will Ask Obama Judge to Reject Trump’s Privilege Claims in Classified Documents Case
    By Cristina Laila Mar. 9, 2023 2:30 pm0 Comments

    Special Counsel Jack Smith is targeting Trump’s lawyer in arguments Thursday before a federal judge in the investigation into classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago.

    Jack Smith is expected to ask Chief Judge Beryl Howell of DC, an Obama appointee, to reject Trump’s claims of attorney-client privilege.

    The Special Counsel is seeking more testimony from Trump’s former lawyer Eric Corcoran because they don’t have a case.

    A federal judge is set to hear arguments Thursday over special counsel Jack Smith’s push to extract more grand-jury testimony from a lawyer for Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the escalating investigation into the handling of classified documents at the former president’s South Florida estate.

    In a closed-door court proceeding, Mr. Smith’s team is expected to urge Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the District Court for the District of Columbia to reject attorney-client privilege claims that Evan Corcoran, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, raised on behalf of the former president during a January grand-jury appearance. Following that appearance, prosecutors asked Judge Howell to invoke the so-called crime-fraud exception to bypass the privilege claims and compel Mr. Corcoran to provide more testimony, the people said.

    That exception applies in instances where there is reason to believe that legal advice has been used in furtherance of a crime. The move to invoke it suggests that Mr. Smith’s team suspects Mr. Trump or his allies used Mr. Corcoran’s services in such a way.

    Special Counsel Jack Smith has issued a flurry of subpoenas as he ramps up his harassment campaign against Trump and his inner circle.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/special-counsel-jack-smith-targets-trump-lawyer-will-ask-obama-judge-to-reject-trumps-privilege-claims-in-classified-documents-case/

  18. DEVELOPING: Chinese Military Rocket Disintegrates Over Texas
    By Cristina Laila Mar. 9, 2023 2:15 pm52 Comments
    TruthGettrGab

    A Chinese military rocket disintegrated over Texas on Wednesday, USNI News reported.

    The rocket, which was launched from China, delivered military surveillance satellites to space in June and made its way back to earth on Wednesday over the United States.

    WATCH:

    The 8,000 pound rocket made its way back to earth on Wednesday over Texas.

    The debris field could be miles wide and several hundred feet long, USNI News reported.

    USNI News reported:

    The second stage of a Chinese rocket that delivered a trio of military surveillance satellites to space in June disintegrated over Texas on Wednesday, USNI News has learned.

    The four-ton component of a Chang Zheng 2D ‘Long March’ rocket punched through the atmosphere on Wednesday over Texas at 17,000 miles per hour and disintegrated, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Thursday.

    U.S. military officials have yet to find any debris from the rocket stage, however, USNI News understands the debris field could be miles wide and several hundred miles long.

    According to North American Aerospace Defense Command satellite tracking data, the stage was a piece of space junk in low Earth orbit before it made its unscheduled descent.

    Based on the NORAD tracking data, the stage belonged to a mission that delivered three military electronic signals surveillance satellites that were meant to collect signals data from the South China Sea, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told USNI New on Thursday.

    The rocket took off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on June 23 in central China.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/developing-chinese-military-rocket-disintegrates-over-texas/

  19. Hamburg shooting: seven reported killed in attack at church in Germany – live updates
    Perpetrator believed to be among the dead, police say, after seven reported killed and dozens injured in shooting at Jehovah’s Witness centre

    Gunman believed to be among dead – police
    Here is more on the gunman from AFP.

    The gunman in a shooting in a Hamburg church is believed to be among several dead found in the building, police said Thursday.

    “We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” a police spokesperson at the scene said, adding that investigators instead have “indications that a perpetrator may have been in the building and may be even among the dead.”

    The Hamburg police say that the gunman is believed to be among those killed tonight.

    BNO news is quoting a police spokesperson, Holger Vehren, who said there are no known fugitives and suggested the shooter was believed to be among those killed.

    “The officers themselves also heard a shot coming from the upper floors of the building. They went upstairs and also found a body there,” Vehren said.

    https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2Flive%2F2023%2Fmar%2F10%2Fhamburg-shooting-attack-church-deaths-germany

  20. bbc – Several killed in shooting in Germany church in Hamburg

    Several people have been killed in a shooting in a church in Hamburg, Germany, local media say.

    According to Hamburg police, the shooting took place on Deelböge street in the Gros Borstel district. Local media identified the location as a Jehovah’s Witness centre.

    They said a gunman was believed to be dead. It is not clear if the attacker was one of the six reported fatalities.

    “We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” police said.

    Investigators had “indications that a perpetrator may have been in the building and may be even among the dead”, a spokesman at the scene said.

    “The officers themselves also heard a shot coming from the upper floors of the building. They went upstairs and also found a body there,” the spokesman added.

    An alert was sent on the federal warning app, NINAwarn, at around 21:00 (20:00 GMT) telling locals that “one or more unknown perpetrators shot at people in a church”.

    Residents nearby were told not to leave their homes amid the ongoing police operation.

    Footage showed police escorting people out of the centre, some to ambulances.

    Earlier, police said “there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime” and they appealed to the public not to share assumptions or to spread rumours.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64910415
    —————————————–
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHeSWJbSSfQ
    ——————————————–

  21. Former J6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson Claims He Didn’t Have Access to January 6 Footage
    By Cristina Laila Mar. 9, 2023 6:35 pm0 Comments

    Former January 6 Chairman Bennie Thompson claimed he never had access to January 6 footage after Fox News host Tucker Carlson released never-before-seen footage.

    Bennie Thompson told CNN that he is not aware of any January 6 Committee members having access to the J6 footage.

    “I’m actually not aware of any member of the committee who had access. We had a team of employees who kind of went through the video,” Bennie Thompson told CNN.

    Via CNN: “Bennie Thompson, former chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said lawmakers were never given that type of access to the footage last Congress. “It’s strictly a new policy that the new speaker has put in place,” he told CNN.”

    CNN reporter Alayna Treene continued, “Thompson said he doesn’t think any of the Jan. 6 members themselves ever had access to the footage — they let only staff view it. “I’m actually not aware of any member of the committee who had access. We had a team of employees who kind of went through the video.””

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/former-j6-committee-chairman-bennie-thompson-claims-he-didnt-have-access-to-january-6-footage/

  22. Confirmed: Department of Defense Paid Far-Left Newsguard $749,387 to Continue to Censor The Gateway Pundit and Conservative Media
    By Jim Hoft Mar. 9, 2023 6:12 pm27 Comments

    Newsguard claims to be a non-partisan fact-checking organization.
    But a quick glance at its operations and related social media accounts shows an unhinged group of committed Trump-haters.

    Newsguard is a media “fact-checking” company that was started in 2018. They claim to rate websites for reliability. Basically, they’re in the business of deciding who is fake news and who is not. And they HATE pro-Trump publishers and citizen journalists. The company is supported by Trump-haters, elites and media giants.

    There is ample proof the activists behind Newsguard are unhinged leftists and anti-Trumpers.

    Our friends at the conservative website 100percentfedup previously shared information with The Gateway Pundit that exposes the Newsguard liberal activists.

    As we reported earlier — ALL of the top activists at the Newsguard organization are virulent Trump-haters.

    And their mission is to DESTROY pro-Trump and conservative websites.

    Breitbart.com reported on this organization and their goal to demonetize opposing voices online.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/confirmed-department-of-defense-paid-far-left-newsguard-749387-to-censor-the-gateway-pundit-and-conservative-media/

  23. Democrats Berate and Attack Journalists Behind Release of Twitter Files
    By Joe Hoft Mar. 9, 2023 6:03 pm75 Comments

    The Democrats are livid that Elon Musk allowed journalists to come into Twitter after he purchased the company and release damning information that the government, corrupt politicians like Adam Schiff, corrupt NGOs, Big Media and Big Tech colluded to censor, shadow-ban, and purge conservative messages surrounding the truth in topics like COVID, the Russia collusion sham, the 2020 Election steal and Jan 6.

    The Democrats are raging mad at Elon Musk for uncovering that the Democrats and their corrupt allies committed multiple crimes to censor the free speech of Americans.

    Today, in front of the House Judiciary subcommittee, the Democrats went off on the witnesses before the committee.

    House Democrats referred to Matt Taibbi and Michael Shallenberger as ‘so called journalists’ and Elon Musk’s personal ‘scribes’.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/democrats-berate-and-attack-journalists-behind-release-of-twitter-files/

  24. DEVELOPING: Manhattan Prosecutors Signal Criminal Charges For Trump Likely in Stormy Daniels Hush Payment Case
    By Cristina Laila Mar. 9, 2023 5:32 pm359 Comments

    As previously reported, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office revived its criminal investigation into Trump’s ‘hush payments’ to porn star Stephanie Clifford, AKA, Stormy Daniels.

    Trump has been accused of paying Daniels ‘hush payments’ in a scheme to silence her and stop the story about their alleged affair from being published in the National Enquirer.

    Trump has denied the affair.

    House Democrats previously launched the inquiry into the hush payments ahead of the 2020 election cycle as a way to bog down Trump and slow down his 2020 re-election campaign.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/developing-manhattan-prosecutors-signal-criminal-charges-for-trump-likely-in-stormy-daniels-hush-payment-case/

  25. House Republicans Launch Investigation Into January 6 Committee
    By Cristina Laila Mar. 9, 2023 5:06 pm219 Comments

    House Republicans launched an investigation into the January 6 Committee.

    Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday night released never-before-seen January 6 footage showing police escorting peaceful protestors through the Capitol.

    The newly released videos destroyed the sham January 6 Committee’s narrative.

    Congressman Barry Loudermilk, Chairman of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight is spearheading the investigation into the January 6 panel.

    Barry Loudermilk was a victim of the January 6 panel’s lies.

    Recall, members of the J6 panel falsely claimed Rep. Loudermilk gave Trump supporters a ‘reconnaissance tour’ on January 5.

    Capitol Hill Police later released a letter exonerating Rep. Barry Loudermilk from accusations that he led a tour of the Capitol the day before a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building.

    Barry Loudermilk received death threats because of Bennie Thompson’s lies.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/house-republicans-launch-investigation-into-january-6-committee/

  26. House Passes Bill to Prohibit Federal Officials From Pressuring Social Media Platforms to Censor Content
    By Cassandra MacDonald Mar. 9, 2023 4:30 pm152 Comments

    The House passed a bill on Thursday to prohibit federal officials from pressuring social media platforms to censor content.
    The Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act states that it is intended to “prohibit Federal employees from advocating for censorship of viewpoints in their official capacity, and for other purposes.”The bill passed by a vote of 219-206.

    “It is the policy of the Congress that employees acting in their official capacity should neither take action within their authority or influence to promote the censorship of any speech, nor advocate that a third party, including a private entity, censor such speech,” the text of the bill reads.

    The bill’s lead sponsor was Rep. James Comer, who said in a statement that “the Biden Administration has eroded Americans’ First Amendment rights by bullying social media companies to censor certain views and news on their platforms. The Oversight Committee is taking action to protect Americans’ constitutional right to free speech from government censorship.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/house-passes-bill-to-prohibit-federal-officials-from-pressuring-social-media-platforms-to-censor-content/

    • The Left is already ignoring the First Amendment so what makes Congress think they will obey a new law.

  27. NYT – Saudi Arabia Offers Its Price to Normalize Relations With Israel

    The Saudi crown prince is seeking a civilian nuclear program and security assurances from President Biden, a steep price for an agreement long sought by Israel.

    WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia is seeking security guarantees from the United States, help with developing a civilian nuclear program and fewer restrictions on U.S. arms sales as its price for normalizing relations with Israel, people familiar with the exchanges say.

    If sealed, the deal could set up a major political realignment of the Middle East.

    Riyadh’s ambitious request offers President Biden the chance to broker a dramatic agreement that would reshape Israel’s relationship with the most powerful Arab state. It could also fulfill his pledge to build on the Trump-era Abraham Accords, which brokered similar diplomatic deals between Israel and other Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

    A normalization deal would also fulfill one of the most cherished goals of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, capping what he considers a legacy of increasing Israel’s security against its archenemy, Iran. The deal would strengthen regional alliances, analysts say, while downgrading the relative importance of the Palestinian issue.

    Officials and experts in the United States and the Middle East were divided on how seriously to take the proposal, given the frosty relations between Mr. Biden and Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.

    Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has been rising under the country’s new right-wing government in recent weeks. The Saudi government has issued repeated public condemnations of Israeli actions, dimming the near-term prospect of a deal. Analysts say a major escalation such as a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, would render an agreement impossible.

    Saudi officials have said they cannot forge normal relations with Israel — a step that would include formal diplomatic interactions and likely also trade and travel agreements — before a Palestinian state is established. But some people familiar with the discussions said they believe the Saudis, who have been building closer unofficial ties to Israel, would settle for less than that. The discussions were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

    “It’s interesting for a number of reasons,” said Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel in the Clinton administration.

    Mr. Netanyahu “wants it badly, and he can only get it with Biden’s help,” Mr. Indyk said. “That creates a situation where Biden has leverage over Netanyahu to persuade him that nothing good can happen with Saudi Arabia if he allows the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to explode.”

    He added that Mr. Biden would also see full normalization between the countries as being in the United States’ interest, particularly as a means of countering Iranian influence. Biden officials have long said it is their goal to build on the Trump-era accords.

    Still, Riyadh’s requests present several obstacles. U.S. officials have long been wary of Saudi efforts to establish a civilian nuclear program. They fear it could be a first step toward a nuclear weapon, which Riyadh may seek as insurance against a potentially nuclear-armed Iran. It is unclear what the terms of a security agreement might be, but they are likely to be well short of a mutual defense guarantee like the one that binds NATO nations, people familiar with the discussions said.

    Even if Mr. Biden were willing to meet Prince Mohammed’s terms, he would likely encounter firm resistance in Congress, where many Democrats have recently pressed to downgrade relations with the Saudi kingdom.

    “Our relationship with Saudi Arabia has to be a direct bilateral relationship,” said Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “It should not run through Israel.”

    “The Saudis have been consistently behaving badly, over and over,” he added. Mr. Murphy has pressed for limits on the sale of U.S. arms that the kingdom might use in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition’s intervention has caused civilian casualties and exacerbated a humanitarian crisis.

    “If we’re going to enter into a relationship with the Saudis where we’re doing more significant arms sales, it should be in exchange for better behavior toward the United States, not just better behavior toward Israel,” he added.

    As a 2020 presidential candidate, Mr. Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia an international “pariah” for its conduct in the war in Yemen, and to “pay the price” for the 2018 murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Early in his tenure, Mr. Biden released a classified intelligence report finding that the killing of Mr. Khashoggi was “approved” by Prince Mohammed. Since then, Saudi Arabia has angered Biden officials with cuts to oil production, which they say cost American consumers and generated profits for a Russian war machine heavily financed by oil.

    A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment directly on diplomatic discussions but said the Biden administration supports closer ties between Israel and its Middle East neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.

    The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Though Mr. Netanyahu has said often, most recently in an interview Thursday in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, that he aimed to strike a diplomatic deal with Saudi Arabia. “I certainly believe that the peace agreement between us and the Saudis will lead to an agreement with the Palestinians,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

    The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to questions about the discussions. One Saudi official said that the checklist should be taken seriously but that Saudi Arabia still predicates normalization on the creation of a Palestinian state.

    Two people familiar with the matter said the U.S. negotiations are being led by Brett McGurk, the National Security Council’s coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, and Amos Hochstein, Mr. Biden’s top aide for global energy issues. One said that Prince Mohammed has played a direct role in the negotiations but that the more active interlocutor lately has been the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud.

    After making their wishes known to U.S. and Israeli officials, senior Saudis began communicating them late last year to policy experts in the United States, including members of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israel think tank, who visited Riyadh in October.

    Senior Saudi leaders “bitterly noted what they believe was U.S. indifference to Saudi security concerns,” Robert Satloff, the executive director of the institute and a member of the visiting group, wrote with a colleague in a subsequent report.

    But one “very senior Saudi official” surprised his visitors by sharing his conditions for normalization, they wrote.

    The remarks were particularly unexpected given that they came at a low point for U.S.-Saudi relations, after an unusually public spat between Washington and Riyadh over a Saudi decision to recommend a cut in oil production by OPEC+ nations. President Biden had visited Riyadh just a few months earlier, bumping fists with Prince Mohammed, and believed that the Saudis would maintain higher oil production targets. Biden administration officials said they were surprised and angered by the production cut and vowed to re-evaluate America’s relationship with Riyadh.

    Given the difficult relationship, the Saudi offer could be interpreted as a “rhetorical move,” said Abdulaziz Alghashian, a Saudi researcher who studies his country’s policy toward Israel. The goal might be to put Mr. Biden in the awkward position of refusing to deliver an agreement that Israel badly wants, an outcome that could disappoint Jewish American groups with political clout.

    Mr. Alghashian said it was unlikely that Saudi officials would actually facilitate a major foreign policy victory for Mr. Biden while he was still president, given their grievances with his administration.

    “The Saudi ruling elite do not want Biden to be the American president to take credit for Saudi-Israeli normalization, but they don’t mind Biden taking the blame for its absence,” he said.

    Still, the fact that discussions are happening at all highlights the way Prince Mohammed, whose country is home to the two holiest sites in Islam, has emerged as more of a pragmatist than an ideologue, willing to break with traditions to pursue what he considers his country’s interests.

    “We do not view Israel as an enemy, but rather as a potential ally,” Prince Mohammed said in an interview with The Atlantic, according to a transcript published by the Saudi Press Agency. The Saudi kingdom gave Israeli airlines greater access to Saudi airspace in July, in a move that analysts said signaled Saudi willingness to engage with Israel.

    But spiraling violence in Israel along with new settlement activity in the West Bank and ambitions in Mr. Netanyahu’s government to exert more control over Palestinian areas have complicated that goal.

    Last month, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi foreign minister, called the situation in Israel “a very dangerous moment” and said that any peace with the country must “include the Palestinians, because without addressing the issue of a Palestinian state, we will not have a true and real peace in the region.”

    Analysts say the Saudi government has some ability to override public opinion on the subject, but only to a point. In a November poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 76 percent of Saudis said they had negative views of the Abraham Accords.

    With more than 20 million citizens, Saudi officials have less room to counter public opinion than their counterparts in smaller states like Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

    Saudi leaders have little to gain from doing the same, particularly when they can get what they want from Israel — from shared intelligence to state-of-the-art spyware — under the table, analysts say.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/us/politics/saudi-arabia-israel-united-states.html

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

    Netanyahu chooses to stay in Rome after Tel Aviv attack

    The prime minister said returning to support his constituents after the attack would be a “surrender to terrorism.”

    An official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that there is no change in the Prime Minister’s schedule following the attack in Tel Aviv.

    “The Prime Minister will meet tomorrow at noon with the Prime Minister of Italy for an important political meeting, so there is no change in the schedule and there will be no surrender to terrorism.”

    Netanyahu’s goals in Italy: more important than terror against Israel?

    The Prime Minister’s Office later updated that, “Netanyahu completed a security situation assessment, where decisions were made regarding several operations, primarily the reinforcement of forces in the field,” and again clarified that “due to the importance of the political meeting scheduled by the Italian government, the schedule will continue as scheduled.”

    Getting there is half the battle

    Israel’s national airline El Al pilots left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, high and dry after no one volunteered to fly Israel’s first couple out to Rome for a state visit to Italy scheduled later this week, El Al Airlines said on Sunday.

    The deadline of a tender issued by Israel’s national airline, as is required when the prime minister is set to depart on a commercial airline, expired at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday and was met with indifference by El Al pilots and flight attendants, who refused to take up the opportunity.

    Later on Sunday evening, El Al announced that it had finally found a crew to fly the Netanyahu couple out to Italy.

    Thousands of protestors against the government’s proposed judicial reforms are planning to slow traffic at Ben-Gurion International Airport beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday in order to delay Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expected flight to Rome.

    Protest organizers said that they would “drive within the airport slowly but legally.”

    “The defendant [Netanyahu] and the convicted [Sara Netanyahu], who are trying to create a dictatorship are flying abroad once again, at our expense. Stop the overhaul, or we will stop the country!” the organizers said.

    Haaretz reported earlier on Wednesday that the prime minister’s office requested that Netanyahu and his accompanying entourage travel from Jerusalem to the airport via helicopter so as to avoid the attempt to block his flight.

    https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-733927