Reader’s Links for February 8th, 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

14 Replies to “Reader’s Links for February 8th, 2025”

  1. For those who believe fentanyl should be legalized in the name of “free choice”, a jurisdiction does exist where opioid use has been decriminalized, normalized, and is supported and even promoted by health authorities. This jurisdiction is British Columbia, where the leading cause of death of 10-year olds is drug overdose. In fact, fully one-third of drug overdose deaths in all of Canada occurs in B.C..

    I would argue choice is less free when it comes to addiction, especially when the choice is made by a 10-year old child.

    British Columbia has been ruled by socialists for three terms. That government, combined with the Trudeau regime, will be responsible for the fast return of Trump tariffs at the end of this month.

    https://youtu.be/VQoBu6kpYns?si=G1nwfrr1tWvqWe1k

    • There are no great analogues for people taking it as legit medication. Some oh-so-clever commenter will dispute the findings of a mere patient – and the tertiary medical center in charge of my treatment plan.

      If it’s banned because it’s conflated with the poison known by the same name, you are condemning a small number of us to a future too bleak to endure.

      Criminals, junkies, and political operatives will determine my future – for the greater good of humanity? Like banning oxycontin accomplished so much? The only drug that relieved my mother’s pain without causing cognitive impairment. The pain is what killed her.

      In this time and place we’ve got those who promote euthanasia according to cost/benefit accounting. Useless eaters are subject to the death penalty – for the greater good.

      • You know I’m not talking about properly prescribed opioids. I was thankful for it the last time I had a bad tooth. I took maybe four pills then stopped. Then I had certain people asking for the rest of the bottle. I’ve been hanging on to it in case of emergency ever since. There’s nothing like it if used properly.

  4. Congress must prevent a mass-amnesty for COVID fraud

    by Stewart Whitson, opinion contributor 02/08/25 10:00 AM ET

    You were the victim of a crime over the past five years. We all were. And today, the person who committed that crime is about to get away with it.

    That’s because this March, the five-year statute of limitations on COVID-era fraud prosecution is set to expire. Criminals are about to walk away with hundreds of billions of dollars, and Congress has just weeks to make a simple fix to demand accountability.

    Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) has introduced legislation to extend the statute of limitations on these crimes from five years to 10. This same extension was already passed in 2022 for fraud in two other COVID programs, and allowing this reform to cover unemployment fraud already has the support of prosecutors and senior Republicans.

    But if Congress fails to act, criminals will walk away with as much as $135 billion in government checks the recipients aren’t eligible for. That’s more than the entire budgets of 48 states, and twice the annual spending of the State Department. It’s more money than Bank of America, Target or AT&T make in a year.

    State unemployment programs have long been a target of criminals, identity thieves and organized crime, due to antiquated systems, poor monitoring and, in many states, a lack of the most basic cross-checks and verification.

    In the teeth of the pandemic, my organization published a report exposing some of the worst unemployment fraud schemes. This includes using identity theft (or even just using the governor’s name) to apply for unemployment, or applying in multiple states at the same time, or applying while incarcerated or employed elsewhere. Many states took action to fix the flaws in their programs, but a staggering amount of fraud has gone unpunished. More still needs to be done.

    And for COVID-specific unemployment fraud, the five-year statute of limitations is just weeks away.

    For many, the memories of frustration, uncertainty and job losses during COVID are all too vivid. In April 2020, 23 million Americans suddenly found themselves out of work, a fourfold increase from that February. Criminals knew that this swarm of unemployment applications would make fraud more difficult to detect, and the system would prioritize economic relief in the hands of impacted Americans over fraud detection and prosecution.

    And they were right. In the first three months of COVID, the volume of unemployment claims rose a stunning 15 times higher compared to the same time period in 2019. State agencies responsible for unemployment programs “did not have the capacity or sufficient internal control environment to process claims timely without bypassing safeguards in place to prevent fraud,” according to dozens of after-the-fact audits and a report from the federal Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

    While some people panicked, criminals cashed in.

    Of the total $135 billion, only $6.8 billion in improper unemployment payments have been recovered — just 5 percent. For every dollar of fraud committed during COVID, about a nickel has been recovered through enforcement.

    Across all COVID-era programs, an Associated Press report found that as much as $400 billion may have been lost to waste and fraud; some of the stories now coming to light are truly jaw-dropping.

    Criminals defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program for millions at a time, spent on luxury cars, watches and even a rare Pokémon card. Some even posted pictures online with stacks of ill-gotten cash. Soon, the statutes of limitation for these crimes will expire, and along with it, the opportunity to bring these culprits to justice.

    Yes, statutes of limitation exist for a reason. Memories fade, prosecutors’ priorities change, and for some crimes, a sense of closure is helpful to move on.

    But over the last four years, the Department of Justice has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to prosecuting this kind of fraud, focusing its attention instead on targeting the left’s political enemies, including President Trump, parents attending school board meetings, and Catholics doing nothing more than practicing their faith.

    But the American people have now elected Trump based on his promise for a return to affordability, common sense and law and order — a new golden age for America.

    Already, the president has created new cost-cutting initiatives, including the Department of Government Efficiency, spearheaded by Elon Musk, which is being replicated in Congress and in the states. And he has also nominated new, principled leaders to oversee agencies including the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who have the knowledge, skill and courage to restore law and order.

    The only thing standing in the way of bringing unemployment fraudsters to justice is the five-year statute of limitations. Fortunately, there is an easy fix.

    https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/5130998-covid-era-fraud-statute-of-limitations/amp/https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/5130998-covid-era-fraud-statute-of-limitations/amp/

  5. Nuclear Herbs
    @NuclearHerbs
    This should get spicy.

    “Commissioner Weintraub’s term expired April 30, 2007: the year Madeleine McCann disappeared, Bob Barker hosted his final episode of The Price is Right, and Facebook and Twitter (now X) went global.

    But Weintraub never left the FEC. Over 22 years after being appointed and 17 years after her term expired, Ellen Weintraub still serves as an FEC Commissioner. By statute, FEC commissioners are supposed to be limited to one six-year term. They are permitted to stay in office as “acting” commissioners until their successor is appointed.”

    So it’s illegal to fire someone 17 years after their term expired?

    It’s illegal for the Chief Executive of the US to fire executive branch employees?

    I hope to God that this gets to SCOTUS in short order, so we can finally get rid of “independent” executive branch agencies that answer to no one in the executive branch.

    https://x.com/NuclearHerbs/status/1887676526503829984

  7. Trump Reveals the Next Eight People He is Revoking National Security Clearances From After Stripping Biden’s – Also Identifies The Top Target on His List
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/trump-reveals-next-eight-people-he-will-be/
    Feb. 8, 2025 4:40 pm
    Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

    President Trump is not done laying down the law on corrupt officials who sought not only destroy his political career and but also lock him in prison for life.

    As The Gateway Pundit’s Kristinn Taylor reported, Trump announced Friday evening he has revoked Joe Biden’s national security clearance and is stopping his courtesy presidential daily intelligence briefings.

    The president cited Biden’s precedent of doing the same to him in 2021, as well as the report by Special Counsel Robert Hur on Biden’s “poor memory” in his investigation about Biden stealing and mishandling classified documents as reasons for his action.

    Trump has now told the New York Post in an exclusive interview on Saturday that he is stripping the security clearances of eight additional enemies of his while putting one man at the top of his list.

    He explained to Post reporter Miranda Devine that his new “top target” is former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who orchestrated the despicable “Dirty 51” letter from former Deep State officials just days before the 2020 election.

    “Bad guy. Take away his passes,” he said.

    The Post also revealed two other officials on Trump’s naughty list are Marxist Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and corrupt New York Attorney General Letitia James, two of the individuals most responsible for trying to lock him away for good with corrupt lawfare.

    Trump’s other five targets are as follows:

    • Biden’s former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan

    • Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who coordinated the DOJ’s crooked response to J6 protests.

    • Andrew Weissmann, the lead prosecutor in Deep State Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russiagate ‘investigation’ of Trump.

    • Lawyer Mark Zaid, who represented Eric Ciaramella, the CIA analyst identified as the snitch in Trump’s political impeachment in 2019 over a perfectly fine phone regarding with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding Biden Crime Family corruption.

    • Norm Eisen, who served as special counsel to the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee during the 2019 impeachment.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/trump-reveals-next-eight-people-he-will-be/

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

    BREAKING: President Trump Bars Alvin Bragg and Letitia James From Entering Federal Buildings
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/new-president-trump-bars-alvin-bragg-letitia-james/
    Feb. 8, 2025 6:20 pm
    Letitia James, Alvin Bragg/ Wikimedia Commons

    President Trump is on a roll.

    On Saturday, President Trump stripped the security clearances of at least 8 corrupt ‘antagonists’ who worked for Biden or targeted him for ruin over the last several years:

    Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken
    Former NatSec Advisor Jake Sullivan
    New York Attorney General Letitia James
    Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg
    Biden’s Deputy AG Lisa Monaco
    Corrupt prosecutor Andrew Weissmann
    Deep State lawyer Mark Zaid
    Norm Eisen – the man behind all the lawfare against Trump

    President Trump told New York Post reporter Miranda Devine that Alvin Bragg and Letitia James are barred from entering federal buildings.

    This means they would not be able to enter the US Attorney’s Office, federal courthouses, the New York FBI Field Office, federal correctional facilities and prisons.

    “This is to take away every right they have [revoking security clearances] including they can’t go into [federal] buildings,” Trump told Miranda Devine.

    “New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg join the new group of eight Democrat foes Trump plans to punish by revoking any access to classified information and barring their entry to federal facilities,” The New York Post reported.

    “The president said they all will be given “exactly the same” punishment as Biden and the Dirty 51 as part of his administration’s vow to hold government officials accountable for actions he regards as election interference or the mishandling of classified information.” The New York Post reported.

    Both Letitia James and Alvin Bragg targeted Trump with Soviet-style, politically charged cases.

    By barring Bragg and James from entering federal buildings, it could really torpedo their ability to work with the US Attorney’s offices in the SDNY and EDNY.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/new-president-trump-bars-alvin-bragg-letitia-james/

  8. Trump and Gaza: The Proclamation

    Interest, established.

    This article is obviously a follow-up to the press conference held by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday, 4 January 2025, in which Trump made a series of remarkable statements about the situation in Gaza and the role he envisions in it for the United States.

    The treatment won’t be about predicting the future of negotiations, because that’s not the point to take away from Tuesday’s statements. It would also be an unnecessarily hazardous move. To quote from something I wrote on Tuesday, “There are no ‘experts’ on what’s happening right now.” Trying to speak as one is unwise.

    As supporting documentation, here is a video of the presser containing the passage on Gaza and Trump’s proposal to move “all the Palestinians” out of it and have the U.S. “take it over.” (The Gaza section starts at the 5:30 mark.)

    https://theoptimisticconservative.wordpress.com/2025/02/06/trump-and-gaza-the-proclamation/#more-10037