Reader’s Links for February 12th, 2024

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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.

For those interested, please check out https://vladtepesblog.substack.com/ as an another avenue of expression.

About Eeyore

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

29 Replies to “Reader’s Links for February 12th, 2024”

  4. Russian-Ukraine war: 7 killed after Russian drone strike hits petrol station in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
    WION – February 10, 2024

  5. Russian-Ukraine war: 7 killed after Russian drone strike hits petrol station in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
    WION – February 10, 2024

    • ‘How can you do this every day?’: inside the IDF unit delivering humanitarian lifeline to Gaza

      The Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration handles the delicate task of aiding Gaza’s civilians amid war despite losing friends who were killed or abducted when their base came under attack on October 7

      It was a late night hour last November. Another installment of hostage release was supposed to be completed by now, but it hadn’t even started. Meanwhile, the families of the hostages that are on the list to be released are anxious and terribly worried, looking forward to their release in anticipation, and an entire country is glued to the TV screens.

      “Technical delay”, they say in Israel; “psychological terror employed by Hamas,” the experts add. The tension is at its peak: is the release deal in danger?

      https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/hjhomqsjt

    • John Spencer, chairman of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point:

      Insights into the Complex IDF Operations in Gaza – from Ynet Military Correspondent Yoav Zitun

      {Snips}
      Smaller unit raids are more effective in their lethality than larger ground maneuvers. Many more terrorists are eliminated in less time and with fewer forces.

      Engineering forces developed a method for quickly uncovering and destroying launchers hidden in plantations.

      During a recent raid on the area between Shati and Shifa, the fighters covered the 13 km. journey to their destination in the heart of Gaza in two hours, compared to about a week the first time…

      Hamas loots dozens of food and fuel trucks every day for the benefit of its operatives. “Truck drivers tell us they are begging Hamas to at least leave the truck to them…”

      https://twitter.com/SpencerGuard/status/1756743586517836136

  10. Guam’s Security Under Threat: Illegal Chinese Migrant Surge and Beijing’s Military Provocations Prompt Urgent Calls for Increased Island Defense
    by Antonio Graceffo Feb. 12, 2024 9:00 am0 Comments

    Chinese illegal migrants flood Guam amidst Beijing’s escalating efforts to challenge US military presence, prompting urgent calls from the island’s congressional representative for heightened island protection.

    For most Americans, the island of Guam might evoke fleeting thoughts of beaches and military bases. However, this U.S. territory far exceeds its postcard image. With a population of 168,000 American citizens, Guam holds a pivotal role in the Indo-Pacific, serving as a crucial strategic center for the U.S. military.

    Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has intensified its pressure on the island, both militarily and through espionage. As an unincorporated U.S. Territory, Guam holds only non-voting representation in Congress. Now, Guam Representative James Moylan sounds the alarm, highlighting the recent surge of illegal Chinese migrants as just one facet of Beijing’s escalating threat against the island.

    The island of Guam hosts two major U.S. military installations: Naval Base Guam (NBG) and Andersen Air Force Base (AAFB). NBG stands as the largest U.S. Navy base in the Pacific Ocean, encompassing key facilities such as Apra Harbor and ship repair yards, along with various tenant commands. With an estimated 9,670 active-duty military personnel, NBG plays a vital role in maritime operations.

    Andersen Air Force Base (AAFB) serves as a crucial strategic airbase, supporting the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Featuring one of the longest runways in the Western Pacific, AAFB accommodates fighter squadrons, bombers, and support aircraft. AAFB hosts around 8,000 active-duty military personnel.

    Beyond its regional security role, Guam has been instrumental in supporting U.S. military operations from the Korean War through to more recent conflicts like Afghanistan and the Middle East.

    Beijing’s discontent with the U.S. military presence in the expansive Indo-Pacific, a region it seeks to dominate, is evident. In recent times, Chinese hackers targeted U.S. military installations in Guam.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/02/guam-battleground-beijings-espionage-military-illegal-migration/

  11. Jeffrey Epstein’s Brother Claims Never-Before-Seen Evidence Suggests the Convicted Sex Offender May Have Been Murdered (VIDEO)
    by Jim H?ft Feb. 12, 2024 8:15 am112 Comments

    In a recent interview with journalist Megyn Kelly, Mark Epstein, the brother of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, raised questions about the official narrative that Jeffrey’s death was a suicide.

    Mark Epstein discussed never-before-seen evidence and inconsistencies surrounding the circumstances of his brother’s death, suggesting that it may have been a homicide.

    Mark Epstein began by recounting how he initially believed his brother’s death to be a suicide when he first heard the news on television. However, his perspective changed after the autopsy was performed.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/02/jeffrey-epsteins-brother-claims-never-before-seen-evidence/

  12. Warning Sounded: ‘Biden has Opened the Floodgates of Hell’
    by Guest Contributor Feb. 11, 2024 9:00 pm613 Comments

    Blood now soaks the soil of 3 continents. Aggressors are now on killing sprees’

    Back before World War II there were multiple small, regional conflicts that had developed.

    Eventually they merged.

    And that is exactly what is developing now, according to an expert on international events, and Joe Biden is allowing it.

    “Biden has opened the floodgates of Hell. Although nothing is inevitable, we are fast approaching the point where, as a practical matter, he will not be able to stop China and Russia, directly and through proxies, from merging existing conflicts and turning them into the next global war,” charged Gordon Chang, an expert on China, in a column at The Gatestone Institute.

    He pointed out that, “Biden’s foreign policy has collapsed. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan effectively admitted that to CNN’s Dana Bash on February 4.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/02/warning-sounded-biden-has-opened-floodgates-hell/

    • Butterfly Hypothesis –
      When the balance is so precarious, a butterfly’s flutter triggers a world war.

  13. Exclusive: How Biden botched the border

    Aboard Air Force One en route to tour the southern border in January 2023, President Biden sat at the head of his conference table and exploded with fury.

    The president lit into his team, which included then-Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and other immigration officials. He demanded obscure immigration data points — and vented when his staff didn’t have them handy.

    Why it matters: The previously unreported meeting, recounted to Axios by three people familiar with the events, is emblematic of the Biden administration’s struggle with the border crisis during the past three years — infighting, blame-shifting and indecision.

    Biden’s fury subsided, and aides scrambled for the information he wanted. People in the meeting later told others in frustration that his winding process and irritability were making it more difficult to reach decisions about the border.
    The White House counters that the meeting was “productive.” Spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios that “multiple firsthand participants of the meeting refute this description of the tone and outcome” of a conversation on “the specifics of this complex issue.”
    The rolling chaos along the border has grown to the point that Biden now is embracing immigration policies he ran against in 2020 — such as restricting asylum laws and suggesting he’ll “shut down” the border — as the crisis threatens his re-election.

    Reality check: Much of the current crisis is rooted in factors Biden’s team has had little control over — including unprecedented global calamities that have pushed millions of migrants to the U.S., decades of congressional inaction, and the state of key agencies after the Trump administration.

    Many current and former Biden officials say they believe they’ve done their best considering the circumstances. But others told Axios they think the administration has fallen far short on matters within its control.

    Zoom in: The crisis grew slowly. Many administration leaders treated the issue like a hot potato because it was politically thankless, several sources in and out of government told Axios.

    The idea that no one wanted to “own it” came up repeatedly in interviews about the border crisis. But the problem required a robust and coordinated response at several levels of the federal government.
    As the humanitarian conditions at the border have deteriorated and the politics surrounding immigration have become a thorn for Biden, he becomes scratchier when the issue comes up, according to current and former aides.
    “There are definite incentives … to not be the person who owns the scary issue with no solutions,” a former government official close to the issue told Axios.

    https://www.axios.com/2024/02/12/how-biden-botched-border

  15. Could Trump Win By Simple Attrition Rather than Vindication?

    Below is my Fox.com column on the shift of fortunes for former president Donald Trump in the last week. Trump does not appear to be necessarily moving ahead legally but he is still prevailing politically in a curious war of attrition.

    Here is the column:

    While Woody Allen once said that “80 percent of success is showing up,” former president Donald Trump proved this week that the same could be said about “just sticking around.” Trump had one of the best weeks as cases and critics seemed to implode from the disqualification effort in Washington to the scandal in Georgia. Yet, Trump is not out of the woods and is facing significant threats in what is becoming a war of attrition.

    In Washington, the Supreme Court gave a chilly reception to the disqualification effort that bordered on the glacial. While law professors like Harvard’s Laurence Tribe insisted that the basis for barring Trump from office under the 14th Amendment was “unassailable,” the justices seemed utterly unconvinced and there is the possibility that the entire effort could now be defeated unanimously. Even liberal justice Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson called the effort anti-democratic.

    In Georgia, the case against Trump is floundering as allegations mount against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her intimate relationship with her subordinate special prosecutor Nathan J. Wade. This week, a court filing alleged that Willis and Wade filed false claims in court on when their relationship began. The two prosecutors have insisted that they only became intimate after Willis hired Wade. Wade’s former lawyer has reportedly come forward to contest that claim.

    That allegation, if true, could make the continuation of Willis and Wade in the case untenable. Various defendants being prosecuted in Georgia are accused of false statements and filings in court. Of course, the removal of Willis and Wade will not necessarily end the case, but it will present logistical and optical problems for the office.

    https://jonathanturley.org/2024/02/11/could-trump-win-by-simple-attrition-rather-than-vindication/

  16. Idaho Bill Bans Public Contracts For Companies That Discriminate Against Gun Industry
    By
    Mark Chesnut –
    February 12, 2024 8

    A measure recently introduced in the Idaho legislature seeks to keep companies that discriminate against firearms-related businesses or groups from receiving contracts from the state government.

    Senate Bill 1291 was introduced in the state Senate earlier this week. The measure would prohibit public contracts with individuals or companies that are boycotting those that engage in or support the manufacture, distribution, sale or use of firearms, and would also require companies that contract with the state to disclose if their policies discriminate against the firearms industry.

    Interestingly, the measure also includes the same protections for a few other industries that often find themselves in the crosshairs of so-called “progressives.”

    https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/idaho-bill-bans-public-contracts-for-companies-that-discriminate-against-gun-industry/

  17. BREAKING: Joel Osteen church shooter identified as Genesse Moreno, also went by Jeffrey: local media

    Moreno was shot and killed by off duty officers, and the weapon was emblazoned with the slogan “Free Palestine.”

    The individual who walked into Joel Osteen’s Lakewood, Texas church on Sunday, pulled out a gun and opened fire, has been identified as Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36. Moreno had a 5-year-old child, wearing a trenchcoat and opened fire when enterring the church.

    Local news reports that multiple sources have said that Genesse Ivonne Moreno is suspected of being the “armed woman” who was killed at the church Sunday.
    Reports indicated that the shooter was female, but it has since been revealed that Moreno was male. Moreno was shot and killed by two off-duty officers. Moreno’s weapon was emblazoned with the slogan “Free Palestine.”

    Jeremy Rogalski of KHOU-TV further reported that Moreno “had prior arrests for assault, forgery, marijuana possession, theft, evading, and unlawful carrying weapon.”

    https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-joel-osteen-church-shooter-identified-as-genesse-moreno-also-went-by-jeffrey-local-media?cfp

  18. Whistleblowers prepared to testify against Georgia DA Fani Willis: Lawmakers | Morning in America

  19. Service Members Were Coerced and Injured, and as a Result, They’ve Lost Nearly All Trust in Leadership Over the COVID-19 Shot
    by J.M. Phelps Feb. 12, 2024 1:20 pm59 Comments

    Through part of an anonymous questionnaire distributed by the author, over 200 men and women currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces shared their experiences concerning the now-rescinded COVID-19 military vaccine mandate.

    Major Trey Dawson (a pseudonym), who has served in the U.S. military for over 15 years and is currently assigned to an Army aviation brigade, was one of the survey’s 229 participants. When the COVID-19 shot rolled out, he was pressured to take the jab. According to the survey, almost 73 percent of the participants said they were also coerced into receiving the shot.

    “You need to get vaccinated. This is non-negotiable for leaders because we set the example, and you’re a bad leader if you don’t get vaccinated.” These statements embodied the sentiment of Maj. Dawson’s brigade commander and brigade sergeant major.

    According to the survey, only two of the 30 individuals who admitted taking the shot wanted to be vaccinated. Maj. Dawson was one of the 30 who felt obligated to get the injection even though he has been opposed to vaccines for years. “Even my kids are not vaccinated,” he shared.

    “I expected the anti-vax movement to get crushed, and I felt like my livelihood was at stake, so that led me to get the vaccine,” Maj. Dawson explained. “And while I thought that would be the end of my troubles over the shot, as an executive officer, it becomes my job to hunt people down to tell them to get vaccinated,” he said. “I had to find opportunities to voice my concern to them privately.”

    Approximately 95 percent of the survey’s participants faced reprisal for not receiving the COVID-19 injection, including verbal threats of punitive legal action, loss of promotion, and exclusion from career-enhancing schools.

    Unwanted Injury

    Maj. Dawson received the COVID-19 injection at an off-post pharmacy in May 2021. There was “absolutely no discussion” about the risks associated with the vaccine, and the package insert accompanying the shot was blank, he said. Only seven of the survey’s 229 participants were informed by qualified medical personnel of known risks, like myocarditis and more, associated with the injection.

    Maj. Dawson was told “all the usual lies like it’s safe and effective,” and that by taking the jab, he could stop the spread of the virus and protect “vulnerable family members.”

    After the injection, “I’ve had unexplained chest pain and other issues,” he said. “I’m still waiting to be officially diagnosed with something, as I’ve been bounced around hematology [for clotting], rheumatology, cardiology, and pulmonology,” without a single mention that the COVID-19 injection could be causing my problems.

    Ninety-three percent of the survey’s 229 participants said they know service members who were injured by the COVID-19 injection. Twenty of the 30 participants who admitted being “vaccinated” also revealed they were injured by the shot.

    Oath and Law Abandoned

    The mandate to get the injection was unlawful because the military failed to provide FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines, as listed in the Pentagon’s 2021 vaccine mandate. Rather, only shots issued under emergency use authorization (EUA) were offered to service members. And for this reason, thousands objected.

    “While I’m able to stay in [the military], there are others who were separated or forced to leave for not taking the vaccine,” Maj. Dawson said. By 2023, while thousands were separated from the military, others choose to resign or retire on their own. Almost 90 percent of the survey’s participants said they know someone who was separated or forced to leave military service because of the COVID-19 military vaccine mandate.

    “Imagine the amount of money lost when someone like an Apache pilot resigned or got forced out over the vaccine—and then, in the end, the mandate gets lifted,” Maj. Dawson noted. Millions of dollars have been “wasted” on training pilots, he said.

    The entire experience to follow the military’s vaccine mandate has left him feeling “outraged and disgusted,” Maj. Dawson said. “I don’t want to serve. I don’t want to come to work. I don’t want to support an organization that is so morally bankrupt. I look at my chain of command with disgust.”

    “When you look at how we withdrew from Afghanistan, how we’re draining our resources in Ukraine, and we treated the people who were vaccine-hesitant, I’m to the point where I don’t even want to be promoted,” he said. “I literally don’t want to join the ranks of those who selfishly serve this country at the expense of the American people.”

    According to Maj. Dawson, “They have put their own selfish objectives ahead of the health of their soldiers and the security of the country.” More importantly, he said, “They have failed to abide by their oaths and should not be allowed to continue to perform their jobs.” Like Maj. Dawson, nearly 99 percent of the survey’s 229 participants said they do not trust senior leaders of the Department of Defense to follow their oaths to the Constitution and obey all laws. Over 85 percent expressed the same about their immediate supervisors.

    Maj. Dawson emphasized that his views do not reflect those of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Army.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/02/service-members-were-coerced-injured-as-result-theyve/

  20. Culture Wars Can’t Take Root In 3D-Printed Gun Culture
    By
    Jennifer Sensiba –
    February 12, 2024 8

    A recent post by Navi of Boomhandia (a well-known name in the 3D-printed gun community) about the politics and culture of 3D-printed guns really impressed me, and I think it bears sharing and discussing further here. It came after a dustup where some said that LGBT (especially the T) enthusiasts were too loud about 3D-printed guns, and thus were discouraging people from getting into it.

    Instead of taking a side, Navi took the high road, and explained that one of the key benefits to a truly open and free gun community is that nobody can dominate it, chase people off, or gatekeep one way or the other. Here’s a key quote for people who don’t like to click links:

    “This pure marketplace of ideas wasn’t created by accident, even if it’s wildly more successful than Stark or I ever imagined – back when we first contemplated what a “the community” would actually look like, when we first thought about how to build such a thing.

    And even as we imagined it, fostered it, an watched it run wild, if Stark was still with us, even with him and I working together, even if we both wanted to, we couldn’t change the simple fact: the guns will still be there. That is what “the community” means, this is what it stands for.”

    He says over and over that “the guns will still be there”, which is true. No matter how awful any particular faction of developers, printers, promoters, enthusiasts, or detractors might get, the designs are still readily available and anybody can work on them.

    There’s no Fudd in an orange cap telling people that they can’t have an AR-15. There’s no old man who runs the only range in town who says bigoted things to run people of any skin color, religion or sexuality off, because it’s literally impossible for that to happen on the internet. If one group of developers don’t like you, another group will. Or, you can start your own group.

    There are people on all sides who want to cancel, discredit or destroy people they disagree with, but nobody can reach through the anonymous internet and do that. Even governments, with all of their power and weaponry, haven’t been able to stop the signal.

    It all starts to look at lot like this scene from Lord of the Rings:

    The people who think they can wield power over others and control the means of self defense are finding that they can’t play dirty tricks and dominate people like they used to.

    Even better, the skill needed continues to drop while the quality of what you can get through technologies like 3D printing continues to improve. So, not only is gun control dying, but freedom for everybody is winning along with it. That’s going to make narcissistic people of all kinds very angry, but they can’t do anything to stop it.

    In many ways, what Jeff Cooper said of the rifle is only being taken to the next level:

    “Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud, and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons.

    The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized.

    The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”

    Between this and other technologies like private internet communications, cryptocurrencies, and other things we haven’t though of yet, authoritarians and narcissists of all kinds are going to have a rough time during the remainder of the 21st century.

    https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/culture-wars-cant-take-root-in-3d-printed-gun-culture/

  21. War Day 719: What Was Trump Saying? And What Has Tucker Missed About Kyiv?
    Joe Lindsley | Journalist – February 12, 2024

  22. Rock Rachon: Putin plays Tucker Carlson like a fiddle
    Joe Lindsley | Journalist – February 12, 2024

    • @ 1:05:25… Getting Control of the Right
      Russia propaganda now is focused against the right. Because the right is the great danger….
      Interview with Jeff Nyquist – December 15, 2023