Reader’s Links for February 16th, 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

54 Replies to “Reader’s Links for February 16th, 2025”

  4. World’s ‘first openly gay imam’ shot dead in South Africa
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05l33j7rq7o

    Muhsin Hendricks, world’s ‘first openly gay imam’, shot dead in South Africa
    Police say motive for killing of Hendricks, who ran a mosque for LGBTQ+ Muslims near Cape Town, is unknown
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/16/muhsin-hendricks-worlds-first-openly-gay-imam-shot-dead-in-south-africa

    ILGA World mourns Muhsin Hendricks, activist and first openly gay Imam
    https://ilga.org/news/ilga-world-mourns-muhsin-hendricks-imam-killed/

  5. Islamic Knife Attack in Austria: 23-Year-Old Syrian Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ Stabs 5, Kills 14-Year-Old, Laughs at Police, Gives ISIS Salute
    https://rairfoundation.com/islamic-knife-attack-austria-23-year-old-syrian/
    Villach, Austria – A picturesque Alpine town has been turned into the latest backdrop for the horrors of mass Islamic immigration. A 14-year-old boy is dead, four others are injured, and an entire nation is reeling from yet another brutal act of violence that could have been prevented.
    The culprit? A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, Ahmad G., who went on a stabbing spree in Villach’s city center on Saturday afternoon. The perpetrator is a Syrian with a residence permit.
    [..]

    Suspect in fatal stabbing in Austria had an ‘Islamic terror motive,’ officials say
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/austrian-official-says-the-suspect-in-the-fatal-stabbing-attack-had-an-islamic-terror-motive/ar-AA1z95Rv
    Austrian authorities said the stabbing of six people that left a 14-year-old boy dead was carried out by a man with possible connections to the Islamic State group who appeared to have acted alone.
    [..]

    According to the austrian press agency (APA), one of the victims was an Iraqi man. Also, contrary to some reports, the attacker was not staying in a refugee shelter – he had already been granted asylum status. Article (in German):
    https://apa.at/news/attentat-in-villach-laut-ermittler-islamistischer-anschlag/
    Bei den Opfern handelt es sich um vier Österreicher – dazu zählt auch der getötete 14-Jährige – und einen irakischen Staatsbürger. Beim sechsten Opfer war die Staatsbürgerschaft noch unbekannt.
    [..]
    Entsprechende Behauptungen in Onlineartikeln seien falsch – laut Polizeiauskunft ist der Mann asylberechtigt

  6. Mother and child die from injuries after Munich car attack
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrl51mz7k8o
    A mother, 37, and her two-year-old daughter have died from injuries they sustained in Thursday’s car attack in the German city of Munich, police say.
    At least 37 people were injured when a car was driven into a crowd of people at a trade union rally.
    The driver was a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, police said, identified in local media as Farhad N.
    He was arrested at the scene and prosecutors say he has admitted to carrying out the attack. He appeared to have a religious motivation, officials said.
    The mother and child were among those taken to hospital with serious injuries following the attack.
    [..]
    The car ramming has brought security issues back into focus the week before federal elections are held in Germany.
    A series of attacks have been carried out in Munich by immigrants, with two of the alleged attackers coming from Afghanistan.
    The attack also occurred on the eve of the Munich Security Conference, which began on Friday.
    [..]
    Campaigning around Germany’s election on 23 February has for weeks been embroiled in a fevered debate about migration. It was called due to the collapse of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government last year.
    A number of violent incidents linked to migrants over the past year have led to increased support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

    • I am ashamed of anyone who boos an anthem of a sports team. WARNING, WARNING, WARNING, World Economic Forum Justine and Carnage are stoking the division again. Expect statements about “fringe minority” who have made statements about the booing. Carnage WILL be the nail in Canada’s coffin. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING

      Make sure you listen closely to the WEF, global clown talking about the Emergency Act, Lockdowns. Carnage has been the advisor to the Liberal party for how long?

      Liberal Party, NDP, have put us in the mess we are today. WARNING! We have always been friends with Americans, Carnage should go back to England.

        • He speaks out of both sides of his mouth:
          Reduce carbon, I can save the world.

          How many years have we been told protecting the Amazon forests is essential to saving the world?

          The UN Special Envoy on the Climate worked for a company he says until recently, that destroyed 9,000 hectares of forest in the Cerrado region of Brazil, releasing 600,000 tones of CO2.

          They have since sold the land, however, Veronica Oakeshott, forest campaign lead at Global Witness, said
          “We believe that rather than simply selling off the farms that they deforested, Brookfield should have reforested the land.” Profit

          Why did the WEF, Climate clown allow his to happen? Profit.

          The Liberal Party of Canada should end up with no party status.

      • Canada and the US were melting pots but the time it takes for the new immigrants to melt into the base culture varies based on the number of new immigrants and how many of them want to melt into the base culture. Starting in the 1970s the time started increasing because of the lefts attempts to destroy both of our nations.

        As Vlad points out on a regular bases the big advantage that the US has is the written Constitution that the legislature can’t modify by passing a new law. This is an advantage that more nations need to recognize and adopt, I know that it will be difficult for most of the established nations to write and adopt a Constitution that the legislature can’t change but it needs to be done. Another thing that needs to be done is for the schools to start teaching what the Constitution says and how it can be modified. Since the left got the US to stop teaching civics in the 1960s and 1970s most people have forgotten what the Constitution really says. Our naturalized citizens know more about it then the native born.

          • You got that right, the left knew that if they didn’t destroy the culture based on the Judo-Christian religion they wouldn’t have a chance at taking over the nation. I grew up in the old moral America and watched the left slowly destroy almost all that made us the greatest nation that ever existed. They thought they had everything settled when Donald Trump came down the escalator and kicked all of their plans into the trash.

            In many ways it was necessary for him to have the 2020 election stolen from him so he could learn how the DC sewer worked and build a team to destroy the corruption. He was chosen by the Lord to save the US and take us back to the moral country we use to be. This fight won’t be over after his second term and he knows that and is working to select and train the people that are going to keep the fight going and lead the US back to what was intended. The war will be long and bloody with portions of semi peace while both sides rest and rearm, new technologies will become common items during this fight and as always the new weapons will dictate what the new tactics are.

            Remember that, the weapons used dictate what the tactics will be, the bloodiest wars are the ones where the people giving the orders refuse to accept the fact that the new weapons need new tactics. The rifled musket of the Civil War fired at the range that smooth bore muskets were fired from was the main reason for the large number of causalities in that war.

            The British, French and German Generals refusal to adapt to the repeating rifles and machine guns of WWI caused the death of almost an entire generation of men in that war.

            WWII saw the introduction of combined arms and lightning war but the refusal of Hitler to accept the new way of fighting lead to the massive death on the Eastern Front.

            In Nam we had military leaders who were open to the change in tactics but for the early part we had political leaders (Kennedy and LBJ) who refused to let the military fight the war.

            In Ukraine we have the Ukrainians who as far as I can see have learned nothing from history and Putin who seems to be using the war to remove large numbers of non Russian men from the gene pool. After the coming peace talks he and the US will be the only nations with blooded troops (your husband can explain why this is a big advantage) this fact will force most of Europe and the Stans to build and rebuild their military for the coming chaos. Just as he can explain why once professional soldiers set down at the table war quits being a game for street thugs wearing uniforms or otherwise acting like they are soldiers.

            Ukraine has also introduced new weapons and the intelligent leaders and their Generals will study what happened in Ukraine and try to adapt to the new weapons. The drones are going to really complicate matters and ideas from various SF authors who were vets will have to be looked into. The use of the scooters both electric and petroleum powered will also have to be taken into consideration. I expect that this will revive the idea of the Dragoons, they were Cavalry that rode to the fight then dismounted and fought on foot. But they might be used as Cavalry mouths during charges. The large 8 rotor motorcycles have potential to be an effective new weapon if they are powered by internal combustion engines instead of electric engines. (War is a carnivore people who refuse to accept this fact will lose their wars).

            I know I got off the subject of the degraded population but most of the people in fly over country, at least those in the burbs and small towns, are still fairly close to the moral people that the founding fathers were. We will do our best to ensure that the New America is close to the Old America and that it will remain so for many centuries. Rome lasted 1,000 years we need to shoot for at least twice that.

            • I’ve read every bit of the available correspondence between Abigail and John Adams, both Sr. and Jr. Plus the later set of exchanges between J.Sr. and T. Jefferson.

              The latter was as much of a scoundrel as Ben Franklin, flawed characters like King David and King Solomon. But G-d held them close, and they completed their mission.

              Still, He did not spare those who defiled His house. Twice. Now Israel feels like the valley of the shadow. But faith gives strength to those who mourn. They pick each other up and keep going. The cruelty around here is more dispiriting than the immediate reality of war.

              I pray that His judgement be tempered with mercy. PT seems like an unlikely vessel, but I agree that he’s inspired to complete his mission. We might just squeak through the trauma we’re about to endure.

  9. “That’s a Felony!” Border Czar Tom Homan Talks to Maria Bartiromo on AOC’s Efforts to Impede Law Enforcement (VIDEO)
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/border-czar-tom-homan-talks-maria-bartiromo-ice/
    Feb. 16, 2025 3:40 pm
    Border Czar Tom Homan talks with Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” 2/16/25

    Border Czar Tom Homan talked with Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” about ICE arrests and the effects of sanctuary cities on their operations.

    “How significant is that pushback and is it stopping you from doing your job?” Bartiromo asked.

    “Absolutely not gonna stop us. I mean it makes our job more difficult. It makes the job more dangerous,” Homan responded.

    “Sanctuary city makes it difficult. What is most concerning though, it makes it more dangerous. When we can arrest a bad guy in a county jail. If one officer arrests one guy in the safety and security of county jail or state prison. But when these sanctuary cities release a public safety threat back into the public, which on its face is just ridiculous, it is more dangerous for the ICE officers to make that arrest,” Homan said.

    “We want to work with sanctuary cities and get into the jail. Give us access to the guy that you locked in a jail cell. That’s who we want to talk to,” Homan continued.

    Bartiromo also discussed with Border Czar Homan about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) efforts to help illegal aliens evade ICE through webinars.

    “You’ve got Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doing webinars to explain to illegal immigrants how to evade ICE arrests,” Bartiromo said.

    “What she needs to do is read the statutes enacted by Congress. Title 8, United States code 1324,” Homan responded.

    “When you harbor and conceal and impede law enforcement, that’s a felony,” Homan said.

    “What she is really doing, you and I and the rest of the country know, she is trying to teach them how to evade law enforcement,” Homan continued.

    Homan had explained that the people that AOC was helping are convicted criminals and have orders to be removed from the United States.

    “These people been ordered removed. The people we are looking for now have final orders. They are criminals. They are in the country illegally. A judge has ordered them removed. They have become a fugitive and these are the folks she is helping?” Homan continued.

    Homan also said that he reached out to the DOJ for a legal opinion on impeding law enforcement.

    “I simply asked DOJ give me a legal opinion because every Department of Justice will interpret things differently. What is the legal opinion on impediment? And we will see what happens.” Homan said.

    Watch:

    Today on @SundayFutures with @MariaBartiromo, Border Czar Tom Homan @RealTomHoman spoke about New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hosting a webinar that advised migrants how to handle encounters with ICE.@FoxNews pic.twitter.com/u57LVmbhQ2

    — SundayMorningFutures (@SundayFutures) February 16, 2025

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/border-czar-tom-homan-talks-maria-bartiromo-ice/

  10. Zelenskyy Rejects Trump’s Demand for $500 Billion in Rare Earth Minerals from Ukraine in Exchange for Continued Military Aid
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/zelenskyy-rejects-trumps-demand-500-billion-rare-earth/
    Feb. 16, 2025 3:20 pm

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shot down President Donald Trump’s request for $500 billion in rare earth minerals in exchange for continued military aid.

    The rare earth minerals, which are becoming increasingly sought after, are crucial to many types of technology including cell phones, electric vehicles, and hard drives.

    “I want to have our money secured because we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier during an interview last week. “They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday.”

    BREAKING: President Trump says Ukraine has agreed to repay the aid by giving the United States $500 billion in rare earth minerals.

    “They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas. I want to have our money secured because we’re spending… pic.twitter.com/JUIcAa8AsS

    — George (@BehizyTweets) February 11, 2025

    Counter to what Zelenskyy has now stated, Trump said that Ukraine had “essentially agreed” to the deal.

    “We are going to have all this money in there, and I say: ‘I want it back.’ And I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earth,” Trump said in the interview. “And they have essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don’t feel stupid.”

    According to a report from the Washington Post, citing seven unnamed sources, “Ukrainian officials are working on a counterproposal that would still offer Washington more access to the country’s natural resources but would bolster U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine.”

    Zelenskyy told the press on Saturday that he has not agreed to the deal because it is “not ready yet.”

    “We can consider how to distribute profits when security guarantees are clear. So far, I have not seen that in the document,” the Ukranian president told reporters.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/zelenskyy-rejects-trumps-demand-500-billion-rare-earth/

      • Yes they are, as are several other Oligarchs.

        Everyone is talking about how Putin and NATO are in trouble but I don’t hear anyone talking about how China is running out of money supporting Putin. How they are sending Uyghur and other ethnic minorities to fight and die in Ukraine.

        About how North Korea is weakening itself by sending soldiers to fight and die in Ukraine.

        I have see several people on VTB talk about how most of the people dying for Russia/Putin aren’t Russian but other ethnic people living in Russia.

        By continuing to fight the war Putin is weakening all of his enemies including those who are nominally his allies. Pay close attention to what he dies after the peace treaty is in effect, I am willing to bet he will be stronger and all of his enemies except the US will be weaker. Yucki you said it was possible that Putin would ally with the US to take down the CCP, is that what his end goal in Ukraine is?

        • I don’t think Putin is a long term planner. Or no where near as much as people imagine.

          He’s a master at a form of martial arts that uses the enemies’ momentum against them. Rolling with the punches, keeping all options open. Takes every opportunity and keeps risks minimal.

          Russia and China are NOT natural allies. Putin’s making nice with them is not at all popular. Any successor will be much tougher and more aggressive than he is.

          Unlike others in Nato, we’re not burdened with ancient imperial enmities. But our DoS has been infiltrated by those Imperial voices at least from the Clinton Rhodes Scholar era. The Nulands, Vindmans, others are working out personal vendettas.

          China is an ally of no one. And forget Iran and Turkey.

        • Russia doesn’t have many allies: India is family. (The love affair between India and Israel has become so intense, it’s embarrassing.)

          The largest Russian-speaking population in their Diaspora is in Israel. It has a huge media presence there. Beating Iran out of Syria would not have happened without Putin’s tacit approval. There were many kindnesses to Bibi during 0’s administration. Russians haven’t become philo-Semites; Lavrov and Shoigu certainly are not, but that’s Putin’s thing.
          ……….

          Chief Rabbi of Russia: Putin is involved in the efforts to release the hostages

          Rabbi Berel Lazar reveals the depth of the Russian involvement in the hostage crisis and describes the extensive diplomatic efforts led by President Putin.
          https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/404034
          …….

          WION @WIONews
          President Trump and I are fully cooperating with a common strategy, though we can’t always share details with the public, including when the ‘gates of hell’ will open if all our hostages aren’t released: Israel’s Netanyahu says at joint presser with US state secretary Marco Rubio.

          https://x.com/WIONews/status/1891109020964122946

    • The property isn’t Z’s to sell.
      Those resources were sold off to international corporate entities long ago. Neither we nor Europe can recover our blood money. PT is just playing around, making the internal divisions more obvious.

      The debt crisis threatens The Stakeholders of The Free World, The Guardians of The Global Order. [All terms I’ve come to hate with a purple passion.]

      Certain Eurorats (together with their tentacles elsewhere) seem to be working on a force majeure bailout. Now it’s easy to see how they’ve been greasing the skids for the kinetic phase of WW3. Since they have no one and nothing to fight a conventional war, they will be resorting to nukes in no time flat.

      Maybe a mini false flag – say, blow up the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, located in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya. That would contaminate the most valuable region, but hey, Putler wouldn’t get the goods.

      – – And those in the know figure they can wait it out in their well-appointed bunkers in parts unknown.

      Today a mystery drone hit the dead zone at Chernobyl, just over the Belarus border. It didn’t do much damage, but it could’ve.

      The Baltic Chihuahuas are rabid, the stage is set. PrezZ plans a Samson Option, for sure.

  11. A Weaponized FBI: It’s Real, Whistleblowers Testify, Boasting Scars to Prove It
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/weaponized-fbi-its-real-whistleblowers-testify-boasting-scars/
    Feb. 16, 2025 11:20 am
    Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, Wikimedia Commons

    By Ben Weingarten

    Democrats have cast the Trump administration’s ouster of eight senior FBI leaders as a “purge” and act of “retribution” from a weaponized Justice Department, some likening it to President Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre.”

    But former colleagues of the terminated “G-men” say this narrative is backward. FBI officials, past and present, have marshaled significant evidence via whistleblower complaints and testimony indicating that several terminated leaders routinely used their offices for partisan purposes.

    These include allegations that at least two of the fired officials, Jeffrey Veltri and Dena Perkins, manipulated the security clearance review process to personally and professionally punish conservatives, COVID-19 vaccine skeptics, and Jan. 6 whistleblowers who reported suspected bureau malfeasance, and retaliated against those who came to the whistleblowers’ defense.

    A third, Timothy Dunham, is also alleged to have improperly suspended security clearances.

    Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) read numerous accounts of alleged misconduct perpetrated by these and other officials into the record this morning as the committee considered the nomination of Kash Patel for FBI Director.

    One subordinate of the three terminated individuals, a former supervisory special agent in the Security Division, “SecD,” from which Veltri and Perkins hailed, and whom Dunham oversaw, told the committee:

    I witnessed abuses committed against multiple employees by FBI senior leaders, particularly by Jeff Veltri and Dena Perkins. I also saw SecD retaliate against five of its own employees for protesting these unlawful practices. Because I spoke out against these abuses, Perkins and Timothy Dunham suspended my security clearance, costing me my job and continuing employment, totaling approximately $700,000 in lost wages and retirement benefits.

    Another former FBI official, Marcus Allen, told the committee that Veltri and Perkins “caused the suspension of my security clearance because I questioned whether the FBI Director was truthful to Congress and whether the FBI was obeying the law and Constitution in the January 6, 2021 investigations.” What followed left “financial and emotional damage to me and my family will never be completely restored.”

    A third, Special Agent Garret O’Boyle, who has been indefinitely suspended without pay for well over two years in alleged retaliation for whistleblowing, told the committee that Veltri, Perkins, Dunham, “and other leadership up to Christopher Wray, are responsible for what happened to me and my family.”

    “Ensuring that they no longer work at the FBI is not retribution; it’s responsible leadership.”

    Patel has been nominated to replace Wray, who came under fire from Republicans who believed the bureau targeted Trump supporters, parents, pro-life activists, and others. The Republican allegations informed President Trump’s first-day executive order, “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” and his Jan. 31 directive terminating eight high-level figures – including those overseeing branches from counterterrorism to criminal investigations and the heads of the bureau’s Miami and Washington field offices. The memo also called for a review of the work of all FBI personnel pertaining to Jan. 6, numbering 5,000 in all, for misconduct.

    While no findings have been issued regarding that larger probe, the Jan. 31 memo, drafted by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Emil Bove, suggests a legitimate rationale for terminating the FBI leaders. It notes that the bureau and they themselves were complicit in malfeasance pertaining to the Jan. 6 investigation, the weaponization of security clearances, and resisting Justice Department directives. Consequently, Bove wrote, the DOJ did not trust them “to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.”

    The Justice Department did not respond to RealClearInvestigations’ inquiries in connection with this story, and RCI was unable to reach Veltri, Perkins, Dunham, or the five other terminated officials.

    Democrats have assailed the firings. A letter signed by all 10 Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats stated, “Our alarm has only grown in the past two weeks as this purge of experienced career prosecutors and agents has expanded … We can only assume these decisions are intended to prevent the Department from investigating national security and public corruption, while also serving as political retribution against the President’s perceived enemies and stoking fear among the dedicated and talented workforce in our nation’s premier law enforcement agency.”

    Sen. Mark Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, added: “These are people who have served our country, protected Americans and put criminals behind bars. Now they have been pushed out simply for doing their jobs.”

    A central complaint of the whistleblowers is that, consistent with the Bove memo, FBI officials weaponized security clearances. Specifically, they allege that the bureau’s Security Division has baselessly suspended and/or revoked security clearances in retaliation against those who have made protected disclosures. As maintaining a security clearance is an essential condition of employment, the suspension of one’s clearance typically triggers an indefinite employment suspension without pay. The suspended are also barred from seeking outside employment or accepting gifts. The associated probes can last months and even years, with the targeted waiting first for their cases to be fully investigated and adjudicated, and then sometimes waiting still longer during an appeals process.

    The process can be so onerous that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has noted that it can be leveraged to encourage disfavored employees to resign rather than fight a lengthy and costly battle.

    While the FBI has denied claims that the Security Division has abused this power in recent years, Horowitz detailed misconduct in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last September. His team had seen evidence indicating that the division had used the investigation and adjudication process to punish whistleblowers.

    Trending: CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Promotes Luigi Mangione’s Defense Fund — Then a Troubling Detail Emerges

    https://youtu.be/tF6XZJ-i4Ww

    One whose case Horowitz highlighted involved Marcus Allen, a decorated Marine Corps veteran and award-winning FBI Staff Operations Specialist. Veltri and Perkins allegedly played an integral role in targeting him.

    Allen’s duties included supporting the Charlotte, N.C. field office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in ongoing investigations and intelligence requests pertaining to Jan. 6. This included gathering and sharing relevant open-source information. In September 2021, Allen reported to his supervisors that various news outlets, including RealClearInvestigations, RealClearPolitics, and the New York Times, had reported that confidential FBI informants were present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and a “significant counter-story” had formed.

    Allen told his colleagues, “There is a good possibility the DC elements of our organization are not being forthright about the events of the day or the influence of government assets.” Minutes later, he forwarded his colleagues an email with a link to a video contrasting the Times’ report with then-FBI Director Wray’s testimony in March 2021 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggesting Wray may not have provided the whole truth about the FBI’s links to Jan. 6.
    Suspended Without Pay 27 Months

    This would set off a chain of events that would leave Allen suspended and without pay for 27 months – forced, along with his wife, to take early withdrawals from their retirement accounts to make ends meet.

    Charlotte field office personnel forwarded Allen’s emails to the FBI’s Office of General Counsel, which passed them to Veltri – then-head of the Security Division section responsible for all personnel investigations.

    Rather than first passing concerns to the division’s referral evaluation unit, as is customary, Veltri instigated an immediate investigation on the grounds of Allen’s potential lack of allegiance to the U.S. A successor would call this an “abortion of the process.”

    Days later, Veltri received an email from the Charlotte field office, which expressed “added concerns” regarding Allen. Delivered on behalf of that office’s head, then-Special Agent in Charge Robert Wells, one of the eight FBI officials the Trump administration would terminate, it noted that Allen was one of two employees not to attest to his COVID-19 vaccination status, even though President Biden had made vaccination mandatory for all federal employees.

    Veltri’s then-Assistant Section Chief Perkins used the email as justification to instruct the FBI’s Insider Threat Office to open an assessment into Allen.

    That office would review Allen’s communications and conclude he harbored “hostile views towards the FBI and current administration.” To justify this characterization, it stated that Allen had sent “links from questionable sources,” including RealClearPolitics. It surmised Allen was trafficking in “extremist propaganda” and that he “may pose an insider threat to the FBI.”

    Yet a subsequent probe of Allen’s communications by the FBI would find “no information validating” the basis for an investigation into Allen. Interviews with four Charlotte field office officials indicated they lacked evidence that he was disloyal, sympathized with Jan. 6 rioters, or was otherwise ill-equipped to handle his duties.

    Despite the misgivings of the investigator and his supervisors on the case, IG Horowitz found that security division management – which included Veltri and Perkins – insisted that Allen’s security clearance be suspended pending investigation.

    A January 2022 memorandum did just that, claiming on the basis of his emails and refusal to comply with the vaccine mandate that Allen “promoted unreliable information which indicates support for the events of January 6th” and “espoused conspiratorial views.”

    According to the D.C.-based watchdog group that helped represent Allen, Empower Oversight, the agent was in limbo for 27 months while his case was investigated, adjudicated, and appealed.

    When interviewed by the security division in connection with his case – some four months after his clearance and pay had been suspended – Allen, a self-described “faithful Catholic,” indicated that “the Holy Spirit compelled him” to make the disclosure that would land him in hot water.

    Veltri would allegedly deride Allen for that remark, suggesting, according to another division official represented by Empower Oversight, that he “was delusional for referring to his religious belief … for disclosing wrongdoing.”

    Even though, as his counsel has detailed, all line-level employees who reviewed the Allen case believed he should retain his clearance, the bureau revoked his clearance under pressure from management, purportedly including Veltri.

    Three individuals within the division responsible for processing Allen’s case would be reassigned in retaliation for disclosing misconduct in the division’s targeting of him.

    It was not until May 2024 – after Horowitz’s office had initiated a reprisal investigation – that Allen reached a settlement with the Justice Department, agreeing to resign in exchange for full back pay and reinstatement of his security clearance.

    Horowitz’s office would issue a May 2024 memorandum providing employees claiming reprisal additional means to defend themselves against indefinite unpaid suspension in light of Allen’s tribulations.
    The Case of Garret O’Boyle

    In emotional testimony before Congress last fall, Allen lamented that Special Agent Garret O’Boyle was being subjected to a similarly tortuous process.

    O’Boyle, a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, alleges that he was targeted by Perkins on baseless grounds – and has been suspended without pay for nearly two-and-a-half years.

    Empower Oversight, which also serves as his counsel alongside several Security Division whistleblowers, has detailed that in late 2021 and early 2022, O’Boyle began making a series of protected disclosures, first internally regarding FBI COVID-19 policies that he believed were unconstitutional and unlawful, and then to Congress concerning the politicization of the FBI.

    Among the congressional disclosures was his view that the bureau may have opened a politically motivated criminal investigation into conservative muckraker Project Veritas – about which the Justice Department had made false claims in court.

    In May 2022, Project Veritas published an interview with a masked FBI official making similar claims.

    After applying for and being accepted to a new assignment with a start date of September 2022, in August, O’Boyle sold his Kansas home and prepared to move to Virginia with his three children and his wife, who was eight months pregnant. On the first day, upon arriving at his new post, O’Boyle was accused of leaking information to the press and had his security clearance suspended. He and his family were effectively rendered homeless, since he had not closed on his new home, and was left without an income.

    The Security Division investigator on O’Boyle’s case had previously told the then-Acting Section Chief Perkins that there was no evidence O’Boyle had leaked anything to the media. Rather, he had disclosed to his superiors that he believed O’Boyle may have made protected disclosures to Congress. Yet, as Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt told the House Judiciary Committee last fall, Perkins “responded that she had already briefed the FBI’s 7th floor that SA O’Boyle was a media leaker, and did not want to correct this misunderstanding.”

    Evidence suggests that Veltri and Perkins discussed O’Boyle’s transfer in advance of his move, with whistleblowers inferring that a scheme was hatched to ensnare him.

    Shortly after the suspension, Veltri would be made head of the FBI’s Miami field office, its fifth-largest. He would lead the investigation into the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. At the time, earlier reports resurfaced that Veltri had demonstrated an anti-Trump bias, claims the FBI batted down.

    The bureau revoked O’Boyle’s security clearance in July 2024 after it became aware he had made protected disclosures to the DOJ inspector general and in advance of coming hearings where O’Boyle’s plight was likely to be exposed.

    That month, O’Boyle’s legal team, which also includes the American Center for Law & Justice and Binnall Law Group, filed a “request for reconsideration” of the revocation. That entitles O’Boyle to review the evidence used to justify the revocation. O’Boyle’s team did not receive such information until six months later, on Jan. 30, 2025. The receipt of that information triggers a 30-day period with which to prepare and submit his appeal.

    “The crazy Kafkaesque system puts deadlines on the employee, but the FBI has an infinity whenever it wants – zero deadlines on its responses,” Jason Foster, Empower Oversight’s Founder and Chairman, told RCI.

    Perkins reportedly pushed an unnamed adjudicator who had recommended ending O’Boyle’s suspension out of his job .

    According to this adjudicator’s disclosure to Congress, “Perkins has moved several other employees who report to her for recommending decisions contrary to her interests [and] bases many of her decisions on favoritism.”

    She “is considered corrupt and dishonest by FBI employees,” he said.

    These claims dovetail with those of a former supervisory special agent at the Security Division — the supervisor whose testimony Chairman Grassley read into the record this morning. The agent, a Democrat, is also represented by Empower Oversight.

    In a July 2024 letter summarizing some of the unnamed whistleblower’s claims, Leavitt said his client had observed that:

    The outcomes of clearance investigations and adjudications were often pre-determined by the Division’s acting Deputy Assistant Director [Veltri] and the acting Section Chief [Perkins] responsible for security clearance investigations and adjudications, who often overruled line staff and even dictated the wording of documents in the clearance process.

    In a related letter to Horowitz and the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the FBI official of nearly 20 years disclosed, through Empower, that during his time as a Security Division investigator under the leadership of Veltri and Perkins, it was common for investigators to ask “whether employees under investigation had vocalized support for former President Donald Trump or whether they had vocalized objection to the COVID-19 vaccine.”

    Veltri and Perkins allegedly would “ask in staff meetings whether employees whose clearances were under investigation had received the vaccine.”

    The supervisory special agent asserted that the duo’s perspective “was that if an FBI employee fit a certain profile as a political conservative, they were viewed as security concerns and unworthy to work at the FBI.”

    In April 2022, investigators overseen by Veltri and Perkins issued a questionnaire reflecting this view in connecting with a probe of a 12-year FBI veteran whose security clearance had been suspended one month prior.

    Under penalty of potential disciplinary action, investigators asked co-workers of the suspended employee whether he had vocalized “support for President Trump,” “objection to COVID-19 vaccination,” or “intent to attend 01/06/2021” – a reference to the Capitol riot.

    The suspension came some 15 months after the agent had self-reported, following the events of Jan. 6, that while on personal leave, he had peacefully observed activities among crowds near the Capitol. After making disclosures to Congress regarding alleged politicization and security clearance process abuses in his case and others, he would have his security clearance revoked. After appealing, with the process dragging on, the agent retired.

    As for the longtime supervisory special agent who had reported on Veltri and Perkins’ misconduct, he too had his security clearance suspended. Foster told RCI that the individual who signed off on the agent’s suspension was Timothy Dunham.

    Another unnamed Empower client, Foster told RCI, claims that Dunham threatened to suspend the individual’s security clearance as a means of retaliation and delayed reinstating the security clearance of another employee for over a year.

    Dunham served as the executive assistant director of the FBI’s human resources branch – under which the Security Division sits – from the summer of 2023 until his termination, pursuant to the Bove memorandum.

    These terminations may be only the beginning of efforts to remedy alleged malfeasance pertaining to whistleblowers. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in establishing the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group shortly after her confirmation, indicated that one of its focuses will be examining “the retaliatory targeting, and in some instances criminal prosecution, of legitimate whistleblowers.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/weaponized-fbi-its-real-whistleblowers-testify-boasting-scars/

  12. Hungarian Leader Orbán Reveals How Soros and US Taxpayers Are Funding Organizations Around the World to Promote Radical Liberal Ideology
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/hungarian-leader-orban-reveals-how-soros-us-taxpayers/
    Feb. 16, 2025 11:00 am
    “Don’t let him have the last laugh!” – Hungarian ad campaign against Soros 2017

    Tucker Carlson interviewed Hungarian President Victor Orbán this weekend in the Middle East.

    During their conversation, Victor Orbán explained how the liberal globalist elites are using US taxpayers’ money to spread their ideology around the world. This includes the financing of more than 60 NGOs, paid politicians, and media outlets in Hungary.

    HUNGARY’S PM: THE LEFT IMPOSED THEIR IDEOLOGY ON THE WORLD WITH U.S. TAXPAYER MONEY

    Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán:

    “The fact is that the liberal elite of the West use the taxpayer money of United States citizens to spread their ideology around the world and finance… pic.twitter.com/mYlpYbKOpr

    — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 15, 2025

    The Gateway Pundit has reported on these dirty Soros-funded NGOs for years now. At the time, we did not know that it was US taxpayers’ dollars that were funding these far-left organizations.

    Collin McMahon reported on this back in 2022.

    An intelligence report prepared by Hungarian secret services, and published Nov. 23, revealed $ 7.5 million in illegal foreign funding behind the campaign of Hungary’s “United Opposition”, which tried in vain to defeat popular conservative Prime Minister Victor Orbán.

    As Gateway Pundit reported, Biden, Berlin and Brussels worked together with the “United Opposition”, which included the neo-Nazi Jobbik party, to try and oust the Christian conservative Victor Orbán, to no avail. Orbán was reelected in April with his fourth two-thirds majority (67,84%) – 135 out of 199 seats in Parliament. Orbán called it “a victory so great that you can see it from the moon.”

    “We are thankful for the hundreds of millions [of Hungarian forints] of support coming from the United States,” said former PM candidate Péter Márki-Zay back in June, publicly admitting to receiving HUF 1.8 billion ($4.5 million) in support from the US-based “Action for Democracy” organization.

    But the now-declassified intelligence findings have uncovered an additional HUF 1.2 billion ($3 million) in foreign funding. The more than HUF 3 billion (US $ 7.5 million) received by the Socialist-far-right coalition is nearly four times as much as Hungary’s state budget for campaign expenses.

    In Hungary, as in the United States, it is illegal for political parties to accept financial contributions from foreign organizations and non-citizens. Anonymous donations are also prohibited.

    Although Action for Democracy was only founded on February 24, 2022, the first transfer – a whopping US $684,672 – was funneled to Oraculum 2020 Kft., a firm closely associated with disgraced socialist Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition, on March 1.

    Action for Democracy is not listed as a recipient of funds on the Open Society website. However, the foundation’s members include veteran Soros stalwarts such as British historian Timothy Garton Ash, American historian Anne Applebaum, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley K. Clark and American political scientist Francis Fukuyama. Action for Democracy Executive Director David Koranyi is a fellow of the Atlantic Council and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, among other Soros-funded NGOs.

    “The Hungarian left has been bought with US dollars.”

    István Hollik, the Communications Director of the ruling Fidesz party, said that Action for Democracy “has thousands of ties” to George Soros. Hollik accused opposition candidate Márki-Zay of lying to his voters and asked: “What did George Soros want in exchange for his millions?”

    Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs called the election interference “Hungary’s biggest campaign-financing scandal” and the “biggest national security scandal since the fall of communism.”

    “Something that until now we’d only assumed to be true – that there was an attempt from abroad to interfere in the Hungarian election – is now being proved true with concrete evidence,” Kovacs told the Gateway Pundit. “The Hungarian left has been bought with US dollars.”

    Kovacs called the election meddling “pretty much illegal in any country”: “If I remember well, foreign interference in national elections has been kind of a thing in elections in US and elsewhere. Let’s see who picks up this story.”

    We’re not just talking about what we’re going to do, but we’re actually doing it – @BalazsOrban_HU in the latest episode of #TheBoldTruthAboutHungary pic.twitter.com/n8VExEA6cD

    — Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) November 25, 2022

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/hungarian-leader-orban-reveals-how-soros-us-taxpayers/

    • This explains perfectly PT’s attitude towards Brussels, Vance ‘s speech in Munich, and his omitting Brussels from the Uke war settlement talks.

  13. Trump’s U.S. Department of Education Orders All 50 States to Eliminate DEI Programs Within 14 Days… or Lose Federal Funding
    thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/trumps-u-s-department-education-orders-all-50/
    Feb. 16, 2025 9:15 am
    AI-Generated Image via Grok 2

    The U.S. Department of Education under President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to all federally funded educational institutions: eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within 14 days, or face the complete withdrawal of federal funding.

    The directive, outlined in a letter from the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), comes in response to “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences” that have turned America’s schools into indoctrination camps.

    The letter explicitly warns schools, universities, and state education agencies that their reliance on DEI initiatives—which serve as racial discrimination—violates federal civil rights law.

    According to the document, which cites the Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Department of Education has found that DEI programs not only promote racial division but also directly contradict federal anti-discrimination laws.

    The letter condemns DEI efforts as a systematic attempt to impose race-conscious policies in admissions, hiring, scholarships, and even classroom instruction.

    The letter reads in part:

    Relying on non-racial information as a proxy for race, and making decisions based on that information, violates the law. That is true whether the proxies are used to grant preferences on an individual basis or a systematic one.

    It would, for instance, be unlawful for an educational institution to eliminate standardized testing to achieve a desired racial balance or to increase racial diversity. Other programs discriminate in less direct, but equally insidious, ways.

    DEI programs, for example, frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not.

    Such programs stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes. Consequently, they deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of a school.

    The Department will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions.

    The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.

    All students are entitled to a school environment free from discrimination. The Department is committed to ensuring those principles are a reality.

    Under this order, educational institutions receiving federal aid must immediately:

    Dismantle DEI offices and programming that promote race-based policies.
    End race-based hiring and admissions practices that disadvantage certain groups.
    Cease funding or collaborating with third-party organizations that push DEI initiatives.
    Halt racially segregated graduations, scholarships, and other programs under the guise of inclusion.

    Failure to comply, the Department warns, will result in swift consequences—including the potential revocation of federal funding.

    Students should be assessed according to merit, accomplishment, and character — not prejudged by the color of their skin.https://t.co/9FBUaiqys2 pic.twitter.com/G1XP2rPi6c

    — U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) February 15, 2025

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/trumps-u-s-department-education-orders-all-50/

    • Not gonna happen in [Ha]massachusetts. Burn the textbooks and rehabilitate the teachers. Then maybe – just maybe – we’ll have a decent batch of high school graduates. Ten years or so.

      • It took the left over 100 years to create this mess, it will take several decades to undo the damage.

  14. Shark bites off tourist’s hands as she tries to take selfie on Caribbean beach
    David Millward
    Fri, February 14, 2025 at 2:53 PM CST
    2 min read

    A shark bit the hands off a woman along the shore of a Caribbean beach while she was trying to take a picture with it.

    The 55-year-old woman, who is understood to be Canadian, had only strayed a few yards into the water when she was attacked last Friday.

    According to the local authorities she “attempted to engage” with the shark when the 6ft-long predatory fish struck off Thompson Cove Beach in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/shark-bites-off-tourist-hands-205333844.html

  15. Trump Might Have a Case on Birthright Citizenship
    Feb. 15, 2025
    A close-up of President Trump signing an executive order.
    Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
    Listen to this article · 9:11 min Learn more

    By Randy E. Barnett and Ilan Wurman
    Mr. Barnett is a law professor at Georgetown University. Mr. Wurman is a law professor at the University of Minnesota.
    On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order that purports to end birthright citizenship for certain children. It does so despite Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, which declares, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
    The central question raised by Mr. Trump’s order is what it means to be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. The answer most legal observers give is that it includes virtually anyone born on American soil, including those whom the order is meant to exclude, namely children born to parents in the country illegally or temporarily. Indeed, on Monday, the American Bar Association described the order as an attack on a “constitutionally protected” right. Federal judges in four states have enjoined the order, with one claiming that it “conflicts with the plain language of the 14th Amendment.”
    Not necessarily.
    The Supreme Court has held, in the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, that children born here to permanent residents are citizens. But it has never squarely held that children born to those illegally present are citizens. When the court addresses that question — which it almost certainly must — it should consider the 14th Amendment’s original purpose and the common-law principle of “jus soli,” or birthright citizenship, which informed the original public meaning of the text. Both relate to the idea of social compact and contradict today’s general assumption that the common-law principle depends solely upon place of birth.
    The 14th Amendment’s Roots
    At the time of its adoption, the publicly known purpose of the 14th Amendment was to extend the benefits of the social compact — including, specifically, the privileges and immunities of citizenship — to African Americans newly freed after the Civil War. (Due in large part to a series of egregious Supreme Court rulings gutting the original letter and spirit of the amendment, that promise of equal citizenship was largely denied for decades.)
    Abraham Lincoln’s administration, rejecting the reasoning of Dred Scott v. Sandford, had already acknowledged that free African Americans were citizens. As Edward Bates, Lincoln’s first attorney general, wrote in 1862, in an official opinion, “The Constitution uses the word ‘citizen’ only to express the political quality of the individual in his relations to the nation; to declare that he is a member of the body politic, and bound to it by the reciprocal obligation of allegiance on the one side and protection on the other.”
    Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.
    The equal protection clause, also found in Section 1 of the amendment, provides that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This clause was based on the same allegiance-for-protection theory enunciated by Bates.
    According to this view, individuals give up their personal executive power to enforce their inalienable natural rights and agree instead to obey the laws of civil society — to pledge, if you will, allegiance — in exchange for civil society’s protection of those rights. As William Blackstone, an English authority widely read and respected by the founders, wrote, “Allegiance is a debt due from the subject, upon an implied contract with the prince, that so long as the one affords protection, so long the other will demean himself faithfully.”
    Both the Lincoln administration and the Congress that proposed the 14th Amendment held this allegiance-for-protection view, with this difference: In England, the allegiance expected of a subject was obedience to the sovereign monarch in return for his protection. In the American Republic, where the people are sovereign, the allegiance expected of a citizen was obedience to the laws.
    Who Bears Allegiance?
    It is widely agreed that “subject to the jurisdiction” excluded the children of diplomats, Native Americans subject and with allegiance to tribal authority (this changed with the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924) and members of invading armies. The common-law principle of jus soli also excluded these groups. The crucial question is, why?
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    Many scholars take the view that “subject to the jurisdiction” meant simply subject to the power of the U.S. government, its army, its courts and its laws. This view, however, cannot explain several anomalies, including the status of children born to citizens residing within enemy-occupied territory, who appear to have been considered citizens if their parents remained loyal (the Supreme Court outlined this scenario in the 1830 case Inglis v. Trustees of Sailor’s Snug Harbor). And it cannot explain the status of children born to foreigners on foreign public vessels in U.S. waters, who were not considered citizens.
    According to the allegiance-for-protection theory articulated in the Bates opinion, none of the excluded groups was “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States because none of the members of these groups had entered into the social compact with the people of the United States and none gave allegiance to the United States.
    That still leaves this question: Can a person within the territorial boundaries of a state enter into the social compact and give allegiance without being a citizen?
    Yes. Calvin’s Case was a 1608 judicial decision about who were birthright subjects of the English monarch, written by Edward Coke, one of the judges in the case and a legal thinker revered by the framers of the Constitution. It explained that foreigners who came in “amity” — friendship — gave a “local” allegiance to the sovereign and an “obedience” to the laws while residing in his realm such that they were entitled to the protection and benefit of those laws. Their children were therefore born under the protection of the sovereign and had to, in their own turn, give allegiance to the sovereign. They were natural-born subjects even though their parents were not citizens. The decision makes clear that both the parents’ allegiance and the child’s birthplace were relevant.
    In Wong Kim Ark, the leading case on birthright citizenship, the Supreme Court explained that “jurisdiction” referred to being born “within the allegiance” of the sovereign. The court held that a child born of parents with a “permanent domicile and residence in the United States” was a birthright citizen. Wong Kim Ark’s parents, as persons who came in amity, had entered into the social compact and were entitled to all the benefits of that compact, including not only the protection of the laws but also the benefits of citizenship for their children. Under the common law, the court observed, “such allegiance and protection were mutual.”
    This is also why, as prominent editions of Blackstone’s commentaries explained, invading armies were excluded. “It is not cœlum nec solum” — it is neither the climate nor the soil — that makes a natural-born subject, “but their being born within the allegiance and under the protection of the king.”
    Have Unlawful Entrants Given Allegiance?
    Which brings us to the children of people who are present in the United States illegally. Has a citizen of another country who violated the laws of this country to gain entry and unlawfully remain here pledged obedience to the laws in exchange for the protection and benefit of those laws?
    Clearly, the parents are not enemies in the sense of an invading army, but they did not come in amity. They gave no obedience or allegiance to the country when they entered — one cannot give allegiance and promise to be bound by the laws through an act of defiance of those laws. Such persons can even be summarily removed from the country without judicial procedures of the sort that would protect citizens. If the allegiance-for-protection view informed the original meaning of the text, then they and their children are therefore not under the protection or “subject to the jurisdiction” of the nation in the relevant sense.
    The executive order’s exclusion of children born to mothers who are “lawful but temporary” residents is a more complicated question not addressed here. And whether Congress ought to grant naturalized citizenship to children born to those illegally present in the United States is a policy issue distinct from whether the 14th Amendment has already done so. The Supreme Court has, in a footnote, presumed that the 14th Amendment’s jurisdictional phrase applied equally to people who are here illegally, but the issue was neither briefed nor argued in that case; nor was it material to its outcome.
    When they finally consider this question, the justices will find that the case for Mr. Trump’s order is stronger than his critics realize.

    https://archive.is/oELZQ#selection-4563.0-4610.0

    • If the 14th Amendment means what the Dems say the Indian Citizens Act granting citizenship to the American Indians would have been unnecessary.

  16. Scientists Develop New Alloy That Breaks the Rules of Thermal Expansion
    By Vienna University of TechnologyFebruary 15, 20255 Comments4 Mins Read
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    Metal Hot and Cold
    Most metals expand when heated, but materials like Invar resist this due to changes in magnetic order. Researchers at TU Wien and UST Beijing used simulations to understand this effect, leading to the development of a pyrochlore magnet with even better thermal stability over a wide temperature range. Credit: TU Wien

    Scientists have developed a new alloy composed of multiple metals that exhibits nearly zero thermal expansion across an exceptionally wide temperature range.

    Most metals expand as their temperature rises. The Eiffel Tower, for example, stands about 10 to 15 centimeters taller in summer than in winter due to thermal expansion. However, this effect is highly undesirable for many technical applications. As a result, researchers have long sought materials that maintain a constant length regardless of temperature. One such material is Invar, an iron-nickel alloy known for its extremely low thermal expansion. The physical explanation for this property, however, remained unclear until recently.

    Now, a collaboration between theoretical researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and experimentalists at the University of Science and Technology Beijing has led to a significant breakthrough. Using complex computer simulations, they have unraveled the invar effect in detail and developed a so-called pyrochlore magnet—an alloy with even better thermal expansion properties than Invar. Over an exceptionally wide temperature range of more than 400 Kelvins, its length changes by only about one ten-thousandth of one percent per Kelvin.
    Thermal expansion and its antagonist

    “The higher the temperature in a material, the more the atoms tend to move – and when the atoms move more, they need more space. The average distance between them increases,” explains Dr Sergii Khmelevskyi from the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC) Research Centre at TU Wien. “This effect is the basis of thermal expansion and cannot be prevented. But it is possible to produce materials in which it is almost exactly balanced out by another, compensating effect.”

    Segii Khmelevskyi and his team developed complex computer simulations that can be used to analyze the behavior of the magnetic materials at finite temperatures on the atomic level. “This enabled us to better understand the reason why invar hardly expands at all,” says Khmelevskyi. “The effect is due to certain electrons changing their state as the temperature rises. The magnetic order in the material decreases, causing the material to contract. This effect almost exactly cancels the usual thermal expansion.”

    It had already been known that the magnetic order in the material is responsible for the invar effect. But only with the computer simulations from Vienna, it became possible to understand the details of this process so precisely that predictions for other materials could be made. “For the first time, a theory is available that can make concrete predictions for the development of new materials with vanishing thermal expansion,” says Sergii Khmelevskyi.
    The pyrochlore magnet with Kagome planes

    In order to test these predictions in practice, Sergii Khmelevskyi worked together with the experimental team of Prof. Xianran Xing and Ass. Prof. Yili Cao from the Institute of the Solid State Chemistry of the University of Science and Technology Beijing. The result of this cooperation has now been presented: The so-called pyrochlore magnet.

    In contrast to previous invar alloys, which only consist of two different metals, the pyrochlore magnet has four components: Zirconium, niobium, iron, and cobalt. “It is a material with an extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion over an unprecedentedly wide temperature range,” says Yili Cao.

    This remarkable temperature behavior has to do with the fact that the pyrochlore magnet does not have a perfect lattice structure that always repeats itself in exactly the same way. The composition of the material is not the same at every point, it is heterogeneous. Some areas contain a little more cobalt, some a little less. Both subsystems react differently to temperature changes. This allows the details of the material composition to be balanced point by point in such a way that the overall temperature expansion is almost exactly zero.

    The material could be of particular interest in applications with extreme temperature fluctuations or precise measuring techniques, such as in aviation, aerospace, or high-precision electronic components.

    https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-develop-new-alloy-that-breaks-the-rules-of-thermal-expansion/

  17. Mollie
    @MZHemingway
    Feb 15 • 17 tweets • 5 min read •
    Read on X
    NeverTrumpers are praising Danielle Sassoon for resigning from the DOJ’s Southern District New York rather than comply with the new DOJ policy against weaponized investigations and prosecutions. Usually they emphasize her affiliations … a few quick thoughts…
    1) if you do not want to comply with a policy, the right thing to do is resign. I don’t know why she said nothing as DOJ did Russiagate, false FISA warrants, cartoonish overprosecution of J6ers, Mar-a-Lago raid, refusing to enforce border laws, etc. but
    nevertheless, if she wanted to continue what had been deemed a political prosecution, she can resign. ANYWAY, I keep seeing people posting an image of her being affiliated with the Federalist Society, a group for conservative and libertarian lawyers. She *might* be a member but
    Technically the listing just notes she spoke, along with the judge she clerked for (the great Harvie Wilkinson) at a FedSoc event, and it notes: Image
    An affiliation that might be more meaningful is that she was hired into SDNY by Preet Bharara, according to the NYT. Bharara is, of course, one of the top proponents of the Democrat lawfare against Trump and other Republicans. Image
    As you see people praising DOJ folks who oppose clear direction to end political prosecutions, consider whether those doing the praising ever called for DOJ officials to quit during the previous eight years of terror, and consider whether they should be listened to as a result
    And do yourself a favor and read Emil Bove’s letter about why DOJ views the prosecution of the Democrat mayor of NYC as having the marks of a politicized prosecution.
    Bove letter
    Bove letter to Sassoon
    https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25527022-bove-letter/
    This thread resulted in me getting a lot of communications from attorneys who have been wondering why she and especially why her letter, which they say is riddled with problems, have been praised by any conservatives at all. More to come.
    From sources:
    1) Resigning is one thing but the performative virtue signaling in a disingenuous letter that falsely claims there were no reasons to dismiss is another.
    2) Her political posture comes out by ignoring how Adams probe accelerated after he publicly criticized Biden, was led by former US Atty gunning for political appointment in Harris admin, and timing of indictment having serious electoral implications, etc.
    3) contrary to some claims, it’s not “conservative” to prioritize bureaucrats’ personal policy preferences ahead of elected officials’
    4) Not enough being said about public corruption prosecutions at DOJ and how overly aggressive they are and frequently overturned by Supreme Court and inferior courts.
    5) Sassoon is very ambitious and wanted to protect her position — some cite her curious choice to lambast Biden for his pardons in the WSJ on Feb. 2 — while still an employee of DOJ …
    but the best thing is the thing that follows …
    In his response to Sassoon, Bove makes mincemeat of her “dubious” mention of her clerkship with Scalia. He quotes Scalia to show her blindness to DOJ weaponization and lawfare… and then Image
    Bove also goes to town on Sassoon for her invocation of former Attorney General Robert Jackson … Image
    Bove kindly did NOT embarrass Sassoon for her inappropriate citation of a 2003 opinion from American legal scholar and retired federal Judge Richard Posner … first let’s look at her citation. The yellow one is her write-up of Posner: Image
    Sassoon is asking the Court to take over the executive branch’s role in prosecutorial decisions and she’s using these cites to support her viewpoint. FWIW, the Nederlandsche cite is interesting to see since it is commonly used by advocates of Democrat lawfare…
    The Posner cite, however, says the exact opposite of what she claims in the letter her supporters are praising as brilliant and brave and the best thing they’ve ever seen. How embarrassing! Image
    Sassoon cited a case that specifically undermined the main point of her letter. She probably could have found a bunch of left-wing Second Circuihttps://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1890864082468679982.html#google_vignettet opinions that supported her, but her oh-so-cute political decision of wanting to cite Posner failed.

    Click through to see the embeds

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1890864082468679982.html#google_vignette

  18. Analysis-As Trump shakes Justice Department, deeply conservative prosecutors head for exits
    Jack Queen, Mike Spector, Luc Cohen and Sarah N. Lynch
    Sat, February 15, 2025 at 5:05 AM CST
    5 min read
    The seal of the United States Department of Justice is seen on the building exterior of the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, New York City

    By Jack Queen, Mike Spector, Luc Cohen and Sarah N. Lynch

    NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s drive to shake up the U.S. government drove out a rising star in conservative legal circles: A career federal prosecutor who once clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

    Danielle Sassoon, tapped to lead the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office on Trump’s second day in office, quit on Thursday rather than go along with a Justice Department order to drop a criminal corruption case against Democratic New York Mayor Eric Adams.

    The department ordered the case dropped, citing the city’s approaching November mayoral election and saying that prosecuting Adams could interfere with his ability to assist with a crackdown on immigration, a top Trump priority. Trump has said he did not personally order the charges against Adams dropped.

    The resignation illustrated the tensions between the traditional U.S. conservative Republican legal movement and Trump’s desire to exert far more direct control of the federal government, challenging standards of prosecutorial independence that have stood for a half century.

    Beyond shaking up the criminal justice system that Trump believes was turned against him during his years out of power, he has vowed to shutter Cabinet departments, succeeded in installing a defense secretary through the narrowest possible Senate margin and challenged constitutional rights that have stood for more than 150 years.

    Trump’s sweeping assertions of executive power during his first weeks back in office appear headed for showdowns at the U.S. Supreme Court where conservatives hold a majority, but it remains an open question whether or how much the justices might act to check his authority.

    Sassoon, 38, a member of the deeply conservative Federalist Society who was installed as acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan on January 21, was one of at least a half-dozen Justice Department employees to resign over the Adams order.

    Another who stepped down, according to a source familiar with the matter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten, also had a conservative legal pedigree, having clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, prior to his elevation to the high court during Trump’s first term.

    Ilya Somin, a libertarian legal scholar who is also a member of the Federalist Society, said Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove’s directive to drop the Adams case was reflective of a shift in the nature of U.S. conservatism over the past decade that has shown less regard for the Constitution.

    “There are disagreements between those who care about rule of law values, and those who are willing to subordinate themselves to other considerations,” said Somin, a law professor at George Mason University. “This sets a dangerous precedent.”
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    Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, in her first day in office said that Justice Department lawyers who refuse to advance the administration’s legal arguments could be fired.

    Bove, Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer who once served in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, wrote that Sassoon and the other prosecutors had violated their oaths of office in failing to follow instructions.

    “In no valid sense do you uphold the Constitution by disobeying direct orders implementing the policy of a duly elected President,” Bove wrote.

    REJECTING ‘POLITICALLY ADVANTAGEOUS’ MOVES

    Sassoon wrote in a letter to Bondi that her responsibility as a prosecutor was to enforce the law impartially.

    “That includes prosecuting a validly returned indictment regardless whether its dismissal would be politically advantageous, to the defendant or to those who appointed me,” Sassoon wrote.

    Scotten, who also resigned, did not respond to a request for comment.

    The resignations evoked comparisons to the “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973, when senior Justice Department officials resigned after refusing President Richard Nixon’s order to fire the special counsel investigating the 1972 break-in by Republican operatives at the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington.

    Randy Barnett, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said Bove’s concern that the corruption case was hindering Adams’ ability to address public safety was adequately explained.

    Sassoon “was refusing to execute a lawful command by her superior in the DOJ as required by DOJ procedures. This is what happens when you do that,” Barnett said. “It’s perfectly reasonable for Main Justice to take control of their subordinates.”

    Adams, a Democrat who has pleaded not guilty to charges he accepted bribes from Turkish officials, has leaned toward Trump in recent months.

    In her letter to Bondi, Sassoon criticized Bove for suggesting the indictment be dismissed while leaving open the possibility of reviving it later. She said that amounted to an implicit threat of future prosecution if Adams did not help Trump on immigration enforcement.

    Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Adams, has denied any “quid pro quo.”

    In accepting Sassoon’s resignation, Bove wrote that he was taking the extraordinary step of referring her, Scotten and another prosecutor on the case for investigations into possible misconduct.

    ‘UNDER THE THUMB’

    The Justice Department under Trump has also suggested it would seek to criminally prosecute city and state officials who try to interfere with the administration’s immigration crackdown.

    Paul Tuchmann, a former federal prosecutor who handled public corruption cases, said Bove’s referrals for investigation sent a signal that everyone at the Justice Department is “under the thumb” of Bove.

    “If you do anything that’s not exactly what he wants, you’re going to be punished regardless of whether or not what he wants is appropriate or ethical,” said Tuchmann, now a partner at law firm Wiggin and Dana.

    The fallout from the Adams case is far from over.

    In his letter to Sassoon, Bove wrote that the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., was taking over the case from the Southern District of New York, long known for its autonomy. During Trump’s first term, the office brought criminal cases against people in Trump’s orbit.

    For now, Sassoon’s former deputy, Matthew Podolsky, has taken over her former role. Further interventions by Trump appointees could spark more resignations at the office, legal experts said.

    “This is a moment of truth for career prosecutors inside SDNY,” said former federal prosecutor Michael Weinstein. “I’m not so sure we’ve seen the end of resignations or protests just yet.”

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/analysis-trump-shakes-justice-department-110506034.html

  20. Chris Martenson tries to explain the U.S. fiscal situation. I respect this guy. He’s smart and tries his best to give it straight and simple. The bottom line is that the U.S. is overwhelmed by debt and financial obligations. Something big is coming.

    In my opinion PT knows this is his last kick at the can. He’ll be what, 82 or 83 when his term is over? He has committed himself to doing the right thing. I truly believe this.

    So he is a kamikaze. He fully understands the dangers to his life, and chooses to push on. I believe he considers himself to be a great man of history, and so will ultimately manifest his solutions to this, the greatest threat to America.

    He must. Slay. The. Debt. He has installed Bessent–some kind of financial genius–to help. The solution seems, in part, to relate to gold. Since I cannot see utility in devaluing gold, or keeping it valued at the $45 bucks on the books it is now, it may be fair to expect some sort of revaluation as has happened before. But I’m guessing. What I don’t have to guess at is that gold is flowing into the U.S. at a rate never before seen in recent history, and that an audit of the Fed and Treasury both are on the table. Basel 3 looms.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_III

    https://youtu.be/EW136HxNzbQ?si=yedZc50Efqa-6d8W

      • It eliminates all debt to the opponents or from the opponents, the entire world is racing towards a major economic crisis and a major war or one or more series’s of small wars that mimic a major war. To a large extent this is part of the left’s plan to take over the world, but President Trump has stepped up and kicked the latter out from under the US left and thrown all of their plans in the trash. No one knows what this will do to their plans in the other nations but it sure isn’t helping them.

        • One of the most blatant villains is that sleazy Von der Leyen. So polished, so slick, she’ll roll into war mode without batting an eyelash. Much of Europe’s covid pandemic debt can be traced back to decisions she made behind closed doors.

  21. BUSTED! The real reason Trudeau isn’t FIXING the fentanyl crisis | Redacted w Clayton Morris
    Redacted News – February 16, 2025