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February 2022

France and its Specter by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18246/france-specter-islam

In any case, Islam, though it has contributed to numerous civilizations, isn’t itself a civilization but a religion. It is the French who, in their universities and such places as the Louvre Museum, bring dozens of different civilizations, cultures and arts under the “Islamic” label. That, in turn, legitimizes those, like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Khomeinists, Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda and ISIS among others, who reduce Islam to a political ideology or even a slogan under which they pursue their quest for power.

Over the past three decades, the French state has granted official recognition to over 3,000 mosques and Islamic associations, enabling them to benefit from tax exemptions and other pecuniary advantages worth billions of euros.

France does have an “Islamic problem”. But it is of its own making….

“A specter is haunting France, the specter of Islam!”

This is the message that, with variations of intonation and nuance, comes from almost all of the dozen or so declared candidates in France’s forthcoming presidential election.

Justin Trudeau and the Alchemy of Irony Canada’s prime minister won a skirmish but lost his credibility, which means that he has also lost legitimacy and will lose the war. By Roger Kimball

https://amgreatness.com/2022/02/19/justin-trudeau-and-the-alchemy-of-irony/

As the philosopher Bertie Wooster was wont to observe, “it’s always just when a fellow is feeling particularly braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with a bit of lead piping.” Authorities are divided on whether Bertie was correct in attributing the observation to Shakespeare. Perhaps it has its origin in the reflections of some other sage. But regarding the pertinence of the phenomenon to the conduct of human affairs there seems to be general agreement. The Greek tragedians analyzed it as a cosmic interplay of ὕβρις and ἄτη, arrogance followed by infatuation and ruin. I am not sure whether little Justin Trudeau, prime minister pro tem of Canada, has given much thought to the operation of this awful (in the old sense) dialectic, but I suspect that he is about to make its close and palpable acquaintance.

Trudeau—or, as the great Sarah Hoyt denominates him, “Trudescu” or “Castreau”—initially responded to Canada’s “Revolt of the Masses,” a.k.a. the truckers’ Freedom Convoy, by skedaddling out of town and cowering in some presumably secure and definitely unidentified place. 

A couple of days later, Trudeau popped his head up over the top of the fox hole and nothing happened. So he climbed out, shook his soft and tiny fists, and plumped his hairdo. “I’m in charge here,” he shouted, and the truckers nodded and kept dancing and singing their songs about peace, love, and freedom. They also kept blocking little Justin’s roadways. This made him very angry. He couldn’t drop those thousands of truckers and their many supporters, children, and pets, into a tank full of piranhas, as he remembered someone he admired once doing. So he invoked the Emergencies Act, a law framed in the 1980s to provide the government of Canada with extraordinary powers to deal with extraordinary situations: wars, invasions, massive terrorist attacks, that sort of thing. 

The discredited doctor hailed by the anti-vaccine movement Riveting biography of Andrew Wakefield is a cautionary lesson in the legacy of hubris. Saad Omer

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02989-9

The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Andrew Wakefield’s War on Vaccines Brian Deer Scribe UK (2020)

Since Edward Jenner’s first scientific description of vaccination in 1798 — using cowpox pus to protect against smallpox — there has been push back. Throughout the nineteenth century, in the United States and the United Kingdom, there were cycles of increased smallpox vaccination, rising opposition, drops in immunization coverage, outbreaks, better appreciation of vaccination, more of it, and more protests. This stand-off eased around the start of the twentieth century when, with sanitation and medical care improving, public health placed less emphasis on compulsory vaccination. Probably the last time the world waited with bated breath for a vaccine — against polio in the 1950s — it was welcomed with open arms.

The modern wave of vaccine scepticism has its origins in the 1970s. That was when concerns (later determined to be unfounded) about the safety of a whole-cell vaccine against pertussis, or whooping cough, came to the fore in many high-income countries. In the 1980s and 1990s, a few organized groups opposed to vaccines emerged in many countries, including the United Kingdom.

It was in this context that, in 1998, Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues published a now-infamous and retracted paper in The Lancet, following which, in 2010, Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register for misconduct by the country’s General Medical Council. The fraudulent work on 12 children promoted a non-existent connection between autism and the MMR vaccine, used against measles, mumps and rubella. It propelled Wakefield to notoriety and turbocharged the anti-vaccine movement. He remains a headliner on the international vaccine-sceptic circuit as diseases once vanquished return because of falling rates of immunization. Many large epidemiological studies have found no difference in risk of developmental delays between children who receive the MMR vaccine and those who don’t1.

America’s cognitive dissonance continues to deepen By Terry Paulding

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/02/americas_cognitive_dissonance_continues_to_deepen.html

Our schizophrenic national divide is reaching a point at which the fabric of society is being shredded. The willful adherence to false “facts,” by both media and government actors is impossible to miss. Yet those in power plow forward with evil intention, knowing that the bulk of society will pay no attention; they’re asleep, they don’t care, and the label “misinformation” is enough to quell curiosity.

Compare George Floyd to any victim of black-on-black crime, for an easy example. Floyd was an addict, a bad actor with a criminal record and evil intentions, and had overdosed. The media turned him into a hero, and then everyone stood by, eyes averted, as his death was manipulated to cause riots. Yet the same media never report on continual violence in all our cities where, often, innocent children are the unwitting victims. Such violence is not “useful” in forwarding an agenda.

People must willfully ignore being manipulated. Those of us who notice are shouting into the wind but nobody hears us. The frustration level can become intolerable.

It’s the same with every aspect of society. With COVID, we’ve done just about everything wrong, leaving people both invested and terrified. How could they not live in fear, if they’ve become aware of the ill effects of their vaccine shots? They must close their eyes and ears.

Religious Intolerance and COVID Vax Mandates By Eileen F. Toplansky

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/02/religious_intolerance_and_covid_vax_mandates.html

In our current age of woke domination and historical ignorance, the words of Joseph Noyes speak to us through the centuries.

By the “middle of the 18th century, Yale College was beginning to show the effects of the religious toleration that was gaining ground everywhere in the colonies.  When President Thomas Clap, in an effort to create a sectarian institution, tried to expel the Reverend Joseph Noyes from the Yale corporation, he was met by opposition both from Noyes himself and from another spokesman of an opposing Congregationalist faction.  Noyes, whom Clap suspected of having fallen from the faith, was asked to submit to an examination by other members of the corporation.”  Noyes absolutely refused this request.[1] 

On September 14, 1757, Noyes asserted that

[t]he law or resolve upon which my examination is founded is arbitrary; for a man to be subjected to an examination, on suspicion only, is contrary to all reason.

Said law or resolve is manifestly unjust, as it subjects a man, though innocent, to suffer in his character and influence, and leaves him without remedy.

Said law or resolve is singular and unprecedented, there having never been hereto any law or rule of the like nature in this Corporation, or any other Christian community, except the Courts of Inquisition and Star Chamber [emphasis mine].

Said law or resolve is inconsistent with the ecclesiastical constitution of this colony.  I am accountable to the consociation to which I belong, touching my principles, and not to this board.

THE HALLMARKS OF TYRANNY LAURED LEVY PART ONE

https://whiterosemagazine.com/hallmarks-of-tyranny/

Part 1 : Division

IF “Never Again” means “Never Again,” it’s necessary to spot the signs that might indicate democracy is threatened. Totalitarian regimes arise with certain dynamics, and if we do not understand these signals, how do we protect hard won freedoms? And when trigger warnings appear that might be red flags for a direction of travel that is dangerous, we must take a closer look. How else to prevent repeating atrocities of the past?

Throughout the ages, a well-used technique of the tyrant has been that of divide and rule. Here, I am talking about social division that is deliberately sowed by those in power.

An aspect of this division is to create a “superior” group which looks down on the other group as lesser beings who are deemed a threat to the them, the “unworthy”.

Tyrants can divide the population on the basis of many things, including class, gender, or race. As outliers and a minority, Jews have been targeted multiple times by governments looking for a scapegoat. The most well-known example today is the targeting of Jews by Hitler and the Third Reich and its catastrophic consequences.

This is not an examination of antisemitism. This is a look at tyranny and at the authoritarian measures regarding COVID-19 being employed by governments around the world. Are these measures about keeping the public safe or are they a signifier of tyranny?

HALLMARKS OF TYRANNY (2) LAURE LEVY

https://whiterosemagazine.com/hallmarks-of-tyranny-2/

Part 2: Brainwashing

The ultimate goal of totalitarianism, Arendt says, is to dominate people from within. To keep them in a constant state of anxiety, with a moving narrative.

A section of the UK population, and in other liberal democracies, experience other citizens as unreachable when trying to open a discussion about Covid-19 policy. They get blanked, or attacked, for even posing questions. For sharing information on immunity, I have been called an anti-vaxxer, a conspiracy theorist and a Trump supporter!

What has happened to people’s critical thinking? Why is it, since March 2020, in order to belong to society, you now have to hold specific beliefs:

Lockdowns control the behavior of viruses 
Cloth masks stop viral transmission
Immunity only comes via a vaccine. Naturally acquired immunity no longer exists.
The rights of the individual are subordinate to the greater good. 
Anyone not in step with the above is a bad person, a danger to society, an ‘anti-vaxxer’. 

How on earth did so many people accept government Covid policy, when never before in history have healthy people been locked down en masse. Surely, it is legitimate to question this, and examine evidence to support such a radical departure from the normal practice of isolating the sick, whilst protecting the vulnerable.

However, nearly two years down the line, questioning the government narrative is still met with derision, aggression and often name calling from a significant percentage of the population.

Science and democracy traditionally move forward, through civilized debate of opposing views. Not so since March 2020. It is not just members of the public who are pounced on and ostracized for having the audacity to ask questions.

Many eminent scientists have also been ridiculed and censored from the public arena for advocating different measures, such as the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration (1). Evidence has just been released to show that, in their case, the smear campaign came from the top, from Fauci, the Director of NIH, and the man in charge of America’s response to Covid-19 (2).

THE DANGER TO DEMOCRACY COMES FROM THE LEFT: PATRICK GARRY

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/02/16/the-danger-to-democracy-comes-from-the-left/

Voter identification and election integrity laws, according to Democrats like Kamala Harris, pose the gravest danger to American democracy.  Not only are Democrats wrong on this assertion, but they ignore the ways in which they acutely threaten the health of democracy in the United States.

Contemporary Americans face security and identification requirements in practically everything they do.  Nearly every Internet transaction or website entry requires identification measures.  Every hospital demands identification.  Every bank transaction.  Every fitness club.  Every library.  To say that the act of voting, unlike the act of walking on a treadmill, should require no identification or security measures is ludicrous. 

Moreover, if indeed, as Democrats claim, the mandate of producing some evidence of identification is so oppressive and unjust, then all requirements of identification everywhere should be prohibited.  Driving licenses should be eliminated; anyone should be able to drive a vehicle, since self-transportation is essential for many aspects of modern life.

If voting – the most important citizen act in a democracy – cannot be predicated on some form of voter identification, then indeed no other act or transaction involving government should require identification.

Katie Pavlich: It was always spying

https://thehill.com/opinion/opinion/594442-pavlich-it-was-always-spying

On April 10, 2019, former Attorney General Bill Barr testified in front of a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee at the height of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. At the center of Mueller’s probe were accusations, first made by the Clinton campaign, of Russian collusion.

During a back-and-forth with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) Barr used the term “spying” to describe tactics used by the intelligence community and the FBI to surveil Trump campaign officials. He explained why the Department of Justice was taking a closer look at the practice.

“For the same reason we’re worried about foreign influence in elections we want to make sure that during elections, I think spying on a political campaign, is a big deal. It’s a big deal,” Barr testified. “Spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated. I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated but I need to explore that. I think it’s my obligation. Congress is usually very concerned about intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane and I want to make sure that happened. We have a lot of rules about that.”

As senators attempted to process the statement, with many in disbelief, it was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. Barr’s remarks set off a firestorm of controversy among Democrats and their allies in the media. Television network hosts quickly assembled former Obama administration officials and political pundits to condemn Barr’s use of the term.

Videos Appear to Show Mounted Police in Ottawa Trampling Protesters By Nate Hochman

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/videos-appear-to-show-mounted-police-in-ottawa-trampling-protesters/#slide-1

Ottawa – Canadian law enforcement is reaching the final stages of its push to clear out anti-Covid-mandate protesters from Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, advancing toward the main stage — the heart of the trucker convoy — this morning. The full-scale press against the convoy began on Friday morning, with large numbers of militarized police units in full riot gear surrounding the protest and methodically pushing inwards, dismantling encampments and making arrests as they went.

Yesterday’s push was met with minimal violence from protesters inside the convoy. While truckers and their allies lined up and linked arms in an effort to stop the encroachments, law enforcement made relatively easy work of overpowering the physical resistance, and there were no visible attacks on police outside of some shoving during struggles at the front line. (Although today, the Ottawa police reported that “one protester launched a gas canister and was arrested” this morning).

But police in Ottawa were seen at times engaging in aggressive crowd-dispersal tactics, and have drawn criticism from some corners for their use of horses, batons, and pepper spray in yesterday’s sweep of the protest encampments. Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington called the tactics “grotesque,” pointing to a number of instances of police aggression caught on film throughout the day. “Trudeau must be asked to answer why [it was] necessary to make the front of the parliament [look] like a civil war Friday,” Warmington wrote. “It is true the protesters were a nuisance, but it wasn’t them who were violent.”