Reader’s Links for January 14, 2025

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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. The Substack is a different project in a sense. It is older videos that in the light of subsequent events, look different or of increased importance, Check it out now and again if you like.

About Eeyore

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

23 Replies to “Reader’s Links for January 14, 2025”

  1. Vlad, this is Seneca III. I have been unable to contact Ned for over a week now and GoV is frozen on 1/5/2025. Do you have any idea as to why as I am beginning to fear for the worst.
    Regards, Tony/

    • Have you checked for power outages at his location? Some power outages can last up to 2 or more weeks.

    • Seneca III –
      Just a couple days ago I was re-reading your two-part “The Fourth Dimension of Warfare”.

      That was some 15 years ago!
      Your essays bring tears to my eyes.

      I remember being confused at first, having studied nuts-&-bolts of 4GW with Prof. van Creveld. Then I began to understand the dimensions aspect you explore. A unique and valuable contribution.

  4. This one is hard to watch, but watch I did. I would first like to say Canada needs a million-man march on Ottawa to keep Trudeau in power until the federal election.

    In this video two elite, wealthy communists flirt over Maoist dialectical lines of effort. Canadian climate change policies are intersected with toxic American populism to deflect from the Liberal Party of Canada’s stunning failure at governing over the last ten years. Here, The King of the Shithouse falsely presents himself as an outsider from the private sector, greased hard by real market experience, eager to take over the reigns of power. As always, both elitists feign common-man ranking. The King (of the shithouse) conveniently forgets to reveal his ardent belief in The Century Initiative. Because his dance partner does not push, the King also spares us the Keynesian bafflegab of which he is so capable. It is a comedy show, after all. Keep it light. Keep it sheepie.

      • Canadians have suffered greatly under this disgraceful group of Liberals / NDP since the beginning of Covid. The Liberal / NDP government pushed the Emergency Act on us through multiple lies. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians supported the Trucker’s convoy against vaccine mandates.

        What did this tyrannical group do to its own citizens? Sent in different groups of so called police units to beat Canadian citizens, Freeland went on TV to announce what this group of politicians (bastards) was going to teach peoplekind a lesson in obedience.

        The clown Prime Minister went viral with his name calling of all citizens who did not submit to his vaccines, stirred up hate by messaging anyone who did not agree with HIS vaccine mandates were not deserving of any sort of life — no riding a bus, a plane, a train, those who refuse to comply could not even leave the country. He whipped up so much division, destroyed so many peoplekind lives — doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, any citizen who refused his vaccines.

        Life in Canada has reached a low, low standard with all the name calling, the appointment of an Islamophobia czar, the influx of hate spewing deranged people on our streets, the drug pushers, the criminal gangs, DEI, we are all just bad Canadians. We have so many politicians in our government from other countries telling us what is wrong with our culture, our religion, the way we live from day to day.

        We have people on our streets chanting “Death to Canada”. And now Canadians will be subjected to the arrogant Mark Carney / Global Climate Clown, oh please, please say it isn’t so.

  5. The Hamas-Israeli capitulation releases prisoners on both sides, but only one set wants to murder its neighbors. I relectantly resign myself to a world in which such treaties can only encourage globalization of violent struggle. I hope to enjoy the illusion of safety until I can no longer deny reality.

  9. JUST IN: Trump Announces Formation of External Revenue Service to Collect Tariffs and Potentially Abolish Income Taxes Collected by IRS
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/just-trump-announces-formation-external-revenue-service-collect/
    Jan. 14, 2025 12:20 pm
    Photo courtesy of India Today

    President Trump announced in a statement Tuesday that he will create an External Revenue Service to counter the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) taxation of American citizens.

    This new agency will ” collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources,” said Trump.

    Trump says his inauguration, “January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service.”

    Trump made the announcement on Truth Social Tuesday, saying:

    For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the World, while taxing ourselves. It is time for that to change. I am today announcing that I will create the EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources. We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share. January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

    Trump has proposed tariffs on foreign imports to replace revenue from and the burden imposed on Americans by income taxes.

    It is unclear what he plans to do with the IRS upon taking office next Monday.

    However, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency co-head Elon Musk has said that he will turn the tables on the organization and audit the Internal Revenue Service.

    Biden Aggressively Expanded The IRS – Elon Musk Now Plans to Put It Under Audit

    The Biden administration has overseen an aggressive expansion of the agency and its harassment of working Americans.

    This will be a great change from the previous status quo.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/just-trump-announces-formation-external-revenue-service-collect/

    • Trump says he’ll create ‘External Revenue Service’ to collect tariffs, foreign revenue
      Published Tue, Jan 14 202512:47 PM EST

      President-elect Donald Trump promised to create an “External Revenue Service” to collect “Tariffs, Duties and all Revenue from Foreign sources.”
      Trump did not give any more details about the proposed government entity.
      U.S. Customs and Border Protection currently is responsible for collecting tariffs.

      U.S. President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
      U.S. President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. Jan. 7, 2025.
      Carlos Barria | Reuters

      President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he will create an “External Revenue Service” to collect “Tariffs, Duties and all Revenue from Foreign sources.”

      Trump did not give any further details about the proposed government entity.

      Currently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for collecting tariffs.

      “For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

      “Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the World, while taxing ourselves,” Trump wrote.

      “It is time for that to change. I am today announcing that I will create the EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources,” he wrote.

      “We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share.”

      Trump wrote that next Monday, “January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service.”

      Trump will be sworn in for his second non-consecutive term in the White House that day.

      CNN last week reported that Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency in order to clear the way for him to implement tariffs he wants to impose. He has said he will increase tariffs on imports from China by 10%, and impose 25% fees on products from Canada and Mexico.

      Asked for additional details of the plan for the new agency, Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung told CNBC in an email, “I’d refer you to President Trump’s post on Truth Social.”

      https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/14/trump-external-revenue-service-tariffs-.html

  10. Sen. Eric Schmitt Launches Bold Anti-Swamp Offensive: ‘The Eraser Act’ and ‘Separation of Powers Restoration Act’ Aim to Restore Accountability in Washington
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/sen-eric-schmitt-launches-bold-anti-swamp-offensive/
    Jan. 14, 2025 9:45 am
    Sen. Eric Schmitt introduces the “Eraser Act” and the “Separation of Powers Restoration Act” on the Senate floor.

    Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has declared war on Washington’s entrenched bureaucracy with the introduction of two transformative pieces of legislation: the Eraser Act and the Separation of Powers Restoration Act.

    These bills, Schmitt says, are the opening salvo in a broader campaign to rein in the administrative state and return power to the American people.

    Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has taken a decisive step toward what he calls a long-overdue effort to dismantle the “administrative state” with the introduction of two powerful legislative proposals aimed at reining in federal agencies and restoring accountability in Washington.

    With the Eraser Act and the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, Schmitt hopes to curb what he sees as the overreach of unelected bureaucrats and return power to the American people.

    Speaking on the Senate floor, Schmitt detailed the twin bills as critical tools to strip away layers of regulation that have stifled innovation and burdened Americans.

    The announcement comes as conservative lawmakers gear up for Trump’s second administration, setting the stage for sweeping reforms that align with Trump’s agenda of “draining the swamp.”

    “President Trump will soon occupy the White House. DOGE will soon get to work, and we can finally have some real momentum to dismantle the administrative state once and for all, returning power back to the people,” Schmitt reported.

    “To ensure that President Trump and DOGE hit the ground running, yesterday I introduced two bills that are a critical one-two punch in dismantling the administrative state.”

    The first piece of legislation, the Eraser Act, seeks to impose strict limits on the rule-making authority of federal agencies.

    Under the act, no agency would be allowed to issue a new rule unless it simultaneously repeals at least three existing rules.

    For major rules with significant economic impacts, the agency would also need to demonstrate that the cost of the new rule is equal to or less than the combined cost of the repealed rules.

    “This would make agencies think twice before promulgating new regulations,” said Schmitt.

    “Because these agencies are addicted to the power that comes from regulating Americans, it could have the added benefit of stripping many regulations from the books altogether and freeing Americans from the bonds of over-regulation.”

    Building on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act aims to dismantle the decades-old doctrine of Chevron deference.

    Under Schmitt’s proposal, courts would adopt a de novo standard of review.

    “Under a de novo standard of review, courts will weigh the merits of the arguments without deference to either side, placing American citizens and businesses—whether caught on the wrong side of regulatory enforcement action or challenging the validity of a regulation in the first place—on equal footing in court with the agency. This is a critical effort that will strip power away from unelected bureaucrats and put it back in the hands of Americans,” Schmitt said.

    The bill represents a significant shift in administrative law, empowering the judiciary to act as a check on federal agencies and ensuring that statutes are interpreted as Congress intended.
    WATCH:

    BREAKING: Senator Eric Schmitt has filed legislation to begin dismantling the swamp.

    “The first bill is called the Eraser Act, which prohibits any agency from issuing a rule unless the same agency has repealed at least three rules…”

    “The second bill is called the Separation… pic.twitter.com/CX2of0v9Hm

    — George (@BehizyTweets) January 13, 2025

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/sen-eric-schmitt-launches-bold-anti-swamp-offensive/

  11. How California eco-bureaucrats halted a Pacific Palisades fire safety project to save an endangered shrub
    By Alex Oliveira
    Published Jan. 14, 2025, 7:30 a.m. ET

    California’s eco-bureaucrats halted a wildfire prevention project near the Pacific Palisades to protect an endangered shrub.

    It’s just the latest clash between fire safety and conservation in California that is coming under scrutiny following the devastating outbreak of the Palisades Fire — the most devastating blaze in Los Angeles history, which has consumed the very same area.

    In 2019, the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began replacing nearly 100-year-old power line poles cutting through Topanga State Park, when the project was halted within days by conservationists outraged that federally endangered Braunton’s milkvetch plants had been trampled during the process.

    The goal of the project was to improve fire safety for the Pacific Palisades area by replacing the wooden poles with steel, widening fire-access lanes in the area, and installing wind- and fire-resistant power lines — all after the area was identified as having an “elevated fire risk,” according to the LA Times.

    “This project will help ensure power reliability and safety, while helping reduce wildfire threats,” the LADWP said at the time. “These wooden poles were installed between 1933 and 1955 and are now past their useful service life.”

    But, after an amateur botanist hiking through the park during the work saw the harm done to some of the park’s Braunton’s milkvetch — a flowering shrub with only a few thousand specimens remaining in the wild — and complained, the project was completely halted, Courthouse News Service reported.

    Instead of fire-hardening the park, the city — which the state said had undertaken the work without proper permitting — ended up paying $2 million in fines and was ordered by the California Coastal Commission to reverse the whole project and replant the rare herb.

    That work saved about 200 Braunton’s milkvetch plants — almost all of which have now likely been torched in the wildfires that consumed Topanga Canyon, along with nearly 24,000 acres (37 square miles) of some of LA’s most sought-after real estate.

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    At least eight people have died and 5,000 homes have been destroyed by the fire, which was still just 14% contained as of Monday.

    It was not clear whether the steel poles were ever installed.

    The good news for the milkvetch, however, is that they usually need wildfire to sprout — meaning dormant seeds now have a massive new habitat for a new crop of the rare shrub.

    In the week of chaos that has claimed at least 24 lives, California and LA leadership have faced scrutiny over their approach to wildfire safety vs. conservation — most notably from President-elect Donald Trump, who accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of prioritizing the wellbeing of “worthless fish” over Californians’ safety.

    “He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt … but didn’t care about the people of California,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, accusing Newsom of blocking his 2020 federal order to divert water runoff from Northern California to southern reservoirs.

    That order was halted days after Trump issued it, with Newsom responding to criticism from conservationists who argued it would harm the endangered minnow-like fish and other native fish.

    Delta smelt, once an important part of the local California ecosystem, are now effectively extinct — meaning they still exist, but their numbers are so few that they no longer have any impact on their environment.

    In the years since Newsom sued to block Trump’s order, the two politicians have bickered back and forth over California water access, with Trump vowing to block wildfire aid to the state as recently as September if the governor doesn’t give in.

    Newsom, in response, called Trump’s accusations “pure fiction.”

    “The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need,” a spokesperson previously told The Post.

    But California’s water supplies have been scrutinized amid the fires — especially after some fire hydrants in the city ran dry as firefighters battled the flames, and the pressure for what water they had was often low.

    Most notably, the county-run Santa Ynez Reservoir — which is right in the heart of Pacific Palisades, and can hold 117 million gallons — was empty when the fires broke out last week, and has been out of commission since around February 2024.

    Newsom, however, told NBC News the state’s reservoirs in Southern California were all “completely full” when the fires started.

    Last week the governor announced a probe into why the reservoir was empty.

    Exactly what sparked the fires remains under investigation, but they are believed to have begun not far from Topanga State Park on a trail in the neighboring Temescal Gateway Park.

    Neither the LADWP nor the California Coastal Commission responded to requests for comment.

    https://nypost.com/2025/01/14/us-news/california-bureaucrats-halted-pacific-palisades-fire-safety-project-to-save-endangered-shrub/

  12. Colorado apartment complex where armed gang members were seen on video will be closed
    COLLEEN SLEVIN
    Updated Mon, January 13, 2025 at 8:15 PM CST·3 min read

    AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado apartment complex where armed members of a Venezuelan gang were caught on video entering a unit last summer is expected to close in about a month under an emergency court order, city officials said Monday.

    The city of Aurora had pursued a lawsuit to declare all but one building at the complex a criminal nuisance. Officials last week asked a judge to close the property in the meantime, arguing the situation reached a “breaking point” following the violent kidnapping and assault of two residents last month.

    The city’s request was granted Friday ahead of a court hearing Monday.

    Lawyers for the property owner, CBZ Management, dispute the city’s allegations and have asked for a trial to decide the lawsuit. However, the process to close the building will still continue as the lawsuit plays out in court, Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte said at a news conference following the hearing.

    A lawyer representing the property owner, Stan Garnett, said he was not authorized to comment on the order.

    While CBZ Management has previously said it was unable to provide maintenance to the complex because a notorious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, took over the buildings, the city has said the company created the problem by abandoning the running of them, which created a vacuum that let crime flourish.

    Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain backed the closure, saying in a court filing that the complex had become a hub for crime because of a “criminal element that has exerted control and fear” over residents.

    After the hearing, Chamberlain said he believed that members of Tren de Aragua were part of the problem there, noting that federal authorities say seven of the suspects in the kidnapping and assault are members of the gang. However, Chamberlain said gang members had not taken over the complex and emphasized that the main problem was the lack of management and oversight by the property’s owners.

    The city said it is working with the surrounding county and others to provide relocation assistance to residents in 52 affected apartments.

    The footage of the armed men at the complex from August drew the attention of President-elect Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. During a rally in Aurora in September, Trump announced a plan called “Operation Aurora” to target migrant gangs.

    Four of the six men shown in the August video have since been arrested, according to Aurora police.

    There was speculation at the time the video circulated that it showed members of a gang.

    Authorities did not confirm a connection until December when Immigration and Customs Enforcement said two suspects from the video who were arrested in New York were members of Tren de Aragua.

    According to Colorado court documents, the rifle seen in the video was used in a fatal shooting about 10 minutes later outside the apartment complex. It was found disassembled in an oven in one of the apartments, according to an arrest warrant.

    The city did not seek the closure of a sixth building at the complex because a different branch of CMZ owns it. That building is being managed by a court-appointed official at the request of the mortgage lender who is making improvements to the building, according to the city.

    https://news.yahoo.com/news/colorado-apartment-complex-where-armed-211836448.html

  13. Burlison Reintroduces Bill to Repeal the NFA
    Ammoland Inc. Posted on January 14, 2025 by John Crump
    SIG MPX SBR Primary Arms SLx 3x MicroPrism NFA
    SIG MPX SBR Primary Arms SLx 3x MicroPrism

    Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) has introduced a new bill to repeal the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).

    The NFA was passed in 1934 to regulate certain firearms. These firearms include machine guns, suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBR), short-barreled shotguns (SBS), and any other weapons (AOW). The regulation requires registration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and paying for a tax stamp. These tax stamps cost $200, except for the transfer of an AOW. The AOW fee is $5.

    The NFA’s original intent was to regulate handguns heavily. Because Congress thought people would use an SBR or SBS as a loophole to get around the proposed regulations, they added those items to the NFA. The proposed handgun provisions were removed during the debates and negotiations in Congress, but the restrictions on rifles and shotguns were left in the bill. In 1986, the Hughes Amendment to the Gun Owners Protection Act (GOPA) closed the Machine Gun registry for any new machine guns for private transfers.

    Many gun owners hoped the courts would abolish the NFA. In 1943, the Supreme Court said in Murdock vs. Pennsylvania that a government could not directly tax a right. Many believe the $200 tax on NFA items directly taxes the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. The courts have hesitated to rule the NFA unconstitutional, and there is no sign that the court’s reluctance will change anything soon.
    The bill’s goal is admirable, but it is not perfect. Some states have laws banning NFA items automatically if the NFA is repealed. One of these is Florida. Florida makes all short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and machine guns illegal unless owned under provisions of federal law. Removing the NFA without addressing those state laws could cost Americans their rights.

    790.221?Possession of short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, or machine gun; penalty.—
    (1)?It is unlawful for any person to own or to have in his or her care, custody, possession, or control any short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, or machine gun which is, or may readily be made, operable; but this section shall not apply to antique firearms.
    (2)?A person who violates this section commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
    (3)?Firearms in violation hereof which are lawfully owned and possessed under provisions of federal law are excepted.

    The bill does not have a great chance of passing. The Republicans have control of the House of Representatives but need almost all Republicans to vote to advance the bill. No Democrats are expected to back the repeal of the NFA, and some Republicans are hostile to the bill. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) has backed gun control in the House and has been endorsed by Giffords and Everytown for Gun Safety. He is expected to oppose the bill.

    If the bill somehow makes it through the House, it will hit a roadblock in the Senate. Republicans have the majority in the Senate, but they do not have a super majority, and Democrats could use the filibuster to block the bill’s passage. It is unlikely any Democrats would cross the aisle to vote to repeal the NFA.
    Although this bill appears doomed, gun owners should rejoice that pro-gun bills are being introduced in this session of Congress. In addition to this bill, we have seen other bills that would abolish the ATF, deregulate suppressors, and create national reciprocity for concealed carry. For the past four years, gun owners have had to play defense. Now, pro-gun politicians are on the offense.

    https://www.ammoland.com/2025/01/rep-burlison-introduces-new-bill-to-repeal-the-nfa/