Reader’s Links for May 9th, 2023

Here is a link to the VladTepesBlog social media Mastodon Pod. Please feel free to check it out and sign up for an account if you are sufficiently annoyed with Twitter and Facebook to try something new.

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.

About Eeyore

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

69 Replies to “Reader’s Links for May 9th, 2023”

  1. Iran has executed two men who were convicted of “burning the Quran” and “insulting the Prophet of Islam”, the country’s judiciary says.

    Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli-Zare ran dozens of social media accounts “dedicated to atheism and desecration of the sanctities”, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.

    Mr Mehdad’s lawyer had insisted that he was innocent and his sentence unjust.

    A rights group called their executions “a cruel act by a medieval regime”.

    There has been a surge in executions in the Islamic Republic amid continuing anti-government unrest, but those for blasphemy convictions are rare.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65523996

  2. Biden Energy Department Starts Crackdown On Dishwashers

    Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced new efficiency regulations for dishwashers, beverage vending machines, and electric motors on Friday, the latest of several actions from the Biden administration to decrease power usage and combat climate change.

    An announcement contended that the restrictions would decrease expenses for American consumers due to lowered energy consumption. Granholm said the administration is “using all of the tools at our disposal to save Americans money while promoting innovations that will reduce carbon pollution and combat the climate crisis.”

    New dishwashers imported into the United States beginning in 2027 would have to consume 27% less power and use 34% less water, while more compact models would need to implement a 22% power reduction and an 11% water use reduction, according to an analysis of the proposal released by Bloomberg Law. Energy Department officials estimate that consumers would have to spend $15 more for a new dishwasher but would witness three times as much in energy savings over the appliance’s lifetime.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-energy-department-starts-crackdown-on-dishwashers

  3. Australia PM says ‘frustrated’ over continued detention of Julian Assange
    Reuters
    SYDNEY, May 5 (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday he was frustrated for not yet finding a diplomatic fix over the continued detention of Julian Assange and that he remained concerned about the mental health of the WikiLeaks’ founder.

    “I know it’s frustrating, I share the frustration,” Albanese told ABC television from London where Assange is being held pending a U.S. extradition case.

    “I can’t do more than make very clear what my position is and the U.S. administration is certainly very aware of what the Australian government’s position is. There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration.”

    https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-pm-says-frustrated-over-continued-detention-julian-assange-2023-05-05/

  4. JUST IN: FBI Agents Break Rank, Slam Agency For Efforts To Shield Biden: ‘Entrenched With Partisan Politics’
    By Mark SteffenMay 8, 2023Updated:May 8, 2023
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    A coalition of former senior FBI agents have spoken out about what they claim is a “politicization” of the country’s top domestic security agency based on recent statements and positions that favor incumbent President Joe Biden.

    Speaking with the Daily Caller, the agents — each of whom served for more than 20 years — cited several instances of favoritism for Biden:

    https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/fbi-agents-break-rank-claiming-politicization-in-recent-moves-to-defend-biden-mstef/

  5. Lesbian groups are being banned from female-only spaces in bid to include men who identify as women, report claims
    Sanchez Manning for Mail Online

    An article about our report Lesbians without liberty.
    • Gay women said to be meeting in secret to stop events being ‘invaded by men’
    • Research featured women’s testimonies in survey about single-sex spaces

    https://sex-matters.org/posts/relationships/lesbian-groups-are-being-banned-from-female-only-spaces-in-bid-to-include-men-who-identify-as-women-report-claims/

    • Sorry, gays have been demoted on the victim hierarchy scale. Trans-gendered will also fall, perhaps to transhumans. Or lab-cultured meat.

    • Tends to trend with congenital cleft-palate syndrome and gap-toothed underbite. (See old videos of supporters of Anjem Choudary.)

  6. A group of 44 congressional Democrats on Monday sent a letter to the White House calling for the Biden administration to crack down on permitting for liquified natural gas (LNG) projects, in the interest of combatting climate change and promoting “environmental justice.”

    The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) last year reversed Trump-era rules that barred the government from blocking projects based on their “indirect” climate impact, according to The Washington Post. The Democratic lawmakers in their letter called for the administration to scrutinize permits for LNG projects, arguing that current Trump-era rules failed to consider the emissions impact of methane gas and the harms that existing infrastructure caused to minority communities

    https://newrightnetwork.com/2023/05/dozens-of-dem-lawmakers-pressure-white-house-to-crack-down-on-natural-gas.html

  7. YOU ARE UNDER OATH’ Watch Biden Witness CAUGHT RED-HANDED By Rand Paul After REFUSING To Answer

  8. 3:31 Canada FINALLY kicks Red Chinese Communist Spy out of country YEARS after knowing full well that the country is absolutely infested by more of the same. And this only after intense political pressure from the opposition. Dear Leader now shakes in his boots over what personal, compromising info the CCP will be leaked in retaliation:

  9. Border Patrol Agents Irate After Biden Regime Tips Off Dangerous Illegals on What Entry Points to Avoid as 700,000 to One Million Illegals Gather to Storm the US Border
    By Jim Hoft May. 9, 2023 7:45 am168 Comments

    In late April, Republican Congressman Andy Biggs, told Steve Bannon and The War Room he just got off a conference call with certain executives in big border counties in Arizona. The county leaders told him they had just had a briefing by Border Patrol who said along the Southern border of the United States and there’s 700,000 to a million illegal aliens prepared, when Title 42 comes off, to storm the border.

    Title 42 ends on Wednesday, May 10. US border states are preparing for a massive invasion into the United States. This is Joe Biden’s plan.

    Now border patrol agents are irate after the Biden regime tipped off dangerous illegal invaders what entry points to avoid

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/border-patrol-agents-irate-after-biden-regime-tips-off-dangerous-illegals-on-what-entry-points-to-avoid-as-700000-to-one-million-illegals-gather-to-storm-the-us-border/

  10. BBC – GB News broke rules over Covid jab claims – Ofcom

    A GB News programme which broadcast claims that the Covid-19 vaccination programme amounted to “mass murder” has been found to have broken Ofcom rules.

    The claims were made in an interview with Naomi Wolf on a show hosted by Mark Steyn last October.

    Ofcom launched an investigation after receiving 422 complaints about the comments.

    It found that the broadcaster did not do enough to protect viewers from potentially harmful content.

    The ruling follows a similar breach in April last year. Ofcom has asked GB News to attend a meeting on the matter.

    GB News has been approached for comment.

    Ms Wolf, a journalist and author, was interviewed about the roll-out of the Covid vaccine during Mr Steyn’s hour-long programme on the news channel.

    She claimed the vaccination programme amounted to “mass murder” and was comparable to the actions of “doctors in pre-Nazi Germany”.

    Ofcom said her claims “amounted to the promotion of a serious, unchallenged conspiracy theory which was presented with authority”.

    It was “particularly concerned” by her “serious and alarming claim” that “mass murder” was taking place – something she repeated three times.

    “These claims had the potential to impact on viewers’ decisions about their health and were therefore potentially harmful,” the Ofcom report said.

    “[GB News] should have ensured that Naomi Wolf’s potentially harmful comments were challenged or otherwise contextualised to provide adequate protection for the audience, which they were not.”

    The programme was found to have brokenrule 2.1 of Ofcom’s broadcasting code.

    Mr Steyn left GB News earlier this year, claiming the channel wanted to make him personally liable for Ofcom fines.

    In March the regulator found that an earlier Mark Steyn show, which aired on April 21 2022, broke broadcasting rules and was “potentially harmful and materially misleading”.

    It used an “incorrect claim” that UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data provided evidence of a “definitive causal link” between a third Covid-19 vaccine and higher rates of infection, death and people being admitted to hospital.

    A GB News programme hosted by two Conservative MPs is also at the centre of an Ofcom investigation, amid claims it broke impartiality rules.

    Ofcom has the power to fine a broadcaster or to suspend or revoke a licence if they consider a broadcaster has “seriously, deliberately, repeatedly or recklessly” breached one of its requirements.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65532879

    • CBC – Liberal policy resolution targeting disinformation raises censorship concerns

      A policy resolution passed at the Liberal National Convention was intended to target disinformation, but critics warn it could give the government control over Canadian media outlets.

      The Liberal government says it would never limit freedom of the press and would not implement the policy.

    • Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law

      The COVID Origins Debate: What Is at Stake for U.S. National Security?

      According to World Health Organization estimates, COVID-19 has killed nearly seven million people worldwide and over one million people in the United States alone. In May of 2021, President Biden ordered a 90-day intelligence review to determine the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. While numerous possible origins were considered, according to declassified public statements issued by the Intelligence Community (IC) Working Group in August of 2021, “the IC remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19” and “all agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident.”

      The first hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, held in March of 2023, addressed these hypotheses and underscored the lack of conclusive evidence favoring any one origins theory. While many in the scientific community favor a zoonotic origin, other scientists as well as national security officials believe it came from a laboratory leak. The Department of Energy now joins the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) in concluding that the virus likely spread from a laboratory-related incident, but with “low confidence” as opposed to the FBI’s “moderate confidence.”

      Notably, four other agencies favor a natural origin, also with low confidence.

      It is possible that the world will never definitively determine how COVID-19 originated. Yet the origins debate has raised many questions of critical importance for U.S. and global national security policy, some of which are under active review by the Biden administration. These questions include what constitutes “gain-of-function” research? What are the costs and benefits of conducting “gain-of-function” research domestically and in partnership with laboratories elsewhere, including in China? As tensions between the United States and China rise, and as the Chinese government resists demands for information that could help settle the puzzle of COVID origins, are there any forms of biological research that the United States should underwrite or conduct with non-democratic nations? If so, what sorts and under what conditions?

      The Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, in partnership with the Annenberg Public Policy Center, will hold a public panel in which scientists, national security professionals, and journalists address the COVID origins debate as well as the broader national security stakes and bioethical implications of gain-of-function research conducted domestically and between the U.S. and Chinese scientific communities. Should the U.S. government fund sensitive biological research like the kind taking place at the Wuhan Institute of Virology? How should the U.S. research enterprise mitigate safety and security risks associated with robust scientific collaboration between actors and institutions in the United States and China? How can the United States better guarantee the safety of this research?

      PANELISTS
      Katherine Eban, an investigative journalist, is a Vanity Fair contributing editor and Andrew Carnegie fellow.

      Dr. Gigi Kwik Gronvall is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

      Jamie Metzl is Founder and Chair of the global social movement, OneShared.World, a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council, a faculty member of Singularity University and NextMed Health, and the author of five books.

      Dr. Sergei Pond is Professor of Biology at the Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine of Temple University.

      Dr. Susan Weiss is Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Microbiology, and Co-director of the Penn Center for Research on Coronaviruses and Other Emerging Pathogens at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

      M?ODERATOR
      Claire Finkelstein is the Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty Director of Penn’s Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law.

    • english el pais – Le Pen’s far-right launches campaign against Swiss artist’s ‘pedo-pornographic’ Ukraine war work

      The National Rally is spearheading a movement against Miriam Cahn, whose painting ‘Fuck Abstraction’ has already resulted in a court case as critics claim it depicts a minor engaged in a sex act

      The painting is entitled Fuck Abstraction. It depicts a corpulent man forcing a handcuffed victim to perform fellatio on him, next to another kneeling silhouette whom he holds by the head. The work has been on display since February as part of a retrospective dedicated to Swiss artist Miriam Cahn at the Palais de Tokyo, perhaps the most prestigious contemporary art center in Paris. Few had noticed the canvas, surrounded as it was by other disturbing prints of the most atrocious war crimes.

      That is until Marine Le Pen’s political far-right wing was made aware of the work and demanded its immediate removal from the public museum.

      Cahn’s critics consider the victim in the painting to be a minor. The artist says this is not the case, describing her undeniable difference in complexion as poetic license to distinguish the victim from her tormenter. These two viewpoints have led to the biggest cultural controversy of the year in Paris with the case being taken to court. After Le Pen’s party, National Rally (RN), called for the work to be taken down, six child protection organizations brought the Swiss artist before the Paris Administrative Court. They demanded that the painting be censored and that the exhibition be closed to under-18s.
      However, on Tuesday the court ruled in favor of the artist, finding the complaint to be unfounded. In its ruling, the court said the work alludes to “the use of sexuality as a weapon of war” and that it cannot be interpreted “beyond the context of Cahn’s work.” The Swiss artist has been documenting and denouncing battlefield horrors for 40 years.

      The Palais de Tokyo applauded the court’s decision and denounced “the instrumentalization of the work of art and the contempt for the role of museums” shown by the extreme right. Still, the museum elected to provide a team of guides to explain Cahn’s intentions to visitors. At the artist’s request, an explanatory text has also been installed next to the work, which makes it clear the painting alludes to the war in Ukraine and the massacre at Bucha.

      “They are not children. The painting is about how sexuality is used as a weapon of war, as a crime against humanity. The contrast between the two bodies shows the bodily power of the oppressor,” Cahn stated. Among her other works are paintings denouncing atrocities committed during the Balkan war and in the Persian Gulf. Nearly 45,000 people have already visited the exhibition, which brings together 200 of Cahn’s works and runs until May 14. However, this is unlikely to be the end of the story. One of the associations that filed the initial complaint, Jurists for Childhood, which branded the work as “pedo-pornographic,” has said it will appeal the court’s decision at the Council of State, France’s highest judicial-administrative body.

      The RN campaign has been led by Caroline Parmentier, one of the most recognizable deputies in Le Pen’s grouping. It was launched in mid-March via her social networks, after she visited the Palais de Tokyo to see the painting with her own eyes. “Nothing justifies this exhibition, not even the denunciation of war. This work is an incitement and a wink to predators and child molesters,” Parmentier said in a video recorded inside the museum.
      =============================
      twitter @Parmentier_RN

      Au Palais de Tokyo je dénonce ce tableau de Miriam Cahn qui présente aux yeux de tous une scène de pédocriminalité.

      Au nom de la protection de l’enfance, en tant que membre de la Délégation aux droits des enfants, je demande à la ministre de la Culture qu’il soit décroché.

      + 44 sec video

      https://twitter.com/Parmentier_RN/status/1636681204089995266
      ============================

      Days later, she confronted Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak during a plenary session at the National Assembly, during which Le Pen nodded and clapped alongside her deputy. “The artist’s intention is diametrically opposed to your interpretation. Art can offend, provoke discomfort or disgust, but freedom of expression is guaranteed by law,” Malak retorted.

      This is not the first time the French far right has used culture as a battleground. Last year, the RN attempted to prevent an exhibition by cartoonist Bastien Vivès, who had been invited to the Angoulême Festival, the most important event in the comic books calendar. A child protection organization denounced Vivès, author of acclaimed books such as A Taste of Chlorine and A Sister, but also of three other volumes featuring uncomfortable drawings depicting sexual content involving minors, for “dissemination of pedo-pornographic images.” Parmentier, who has made the fight for the defense of “common values” her specialty, was also behind that campaign.

      In reality, these cultural wars have been a favored tool of the French extreme right for decades. The strategy is always the same: denounce the elitism of contemporary art circles in order to reclaim historical heritage and promote the lifelong beauty of classical art. This allows the RN to mobilize their electorate through the defense of traditionalism, seduce the religious wing of the more moderate right and, above all, to generate headlines.

      In 2014, an inflatable work by American artist Paul McCarthy, which depicted a Christmas tree in the form of a giant sex toy, sparked protests from the ultra-conservative Printemps Français collective, which was formed during mass demonstrations against same-sex marriage in France. In 2011, the traditionalist Catholic association Civitas staged protests over two plays by Romeo Castellucci and Andres Serrano, terming them blasphemous. In the 1980s, the National Front, which rebranded itself as the RN in 2018, was outraged by the decorative columns that Daniel Buren installed in the Palais Royal in Paris. For the far right, contemporary art is part of the “unbearable reality of a society in full decadence,” as Le Pen once opined.
      ==========================
      twitter @Parmentier_RN

      Alors que l’Assemblée devrait être unanime pour que l’on décroche le tableau pédopornographique du musée de Tokyo, la ministre de la Culture, nous sert une infecte bouillie nauséabonde pour justifier l’injustifiable

      + 4 min 19 video

      https://twitter.com/Parmentier_RN/status/1638216804865548289
      ============================

      https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-03-30/le-pens-far-right-launches-campaign-against-swiss-artists-pedo-pornographic-ukraine-war-work.html

    • redacted – Holy SH*T! Tucker Carlson launches new show on Twitter

      Will this hurt the mainstream media?

      His vacated time slot on Fox has yet to recover.

    • Speech by the President of Russia at the military parade

      President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Citizens of Russia,

      Dear veterans,

      Comrade soldiers and sailors, sergeants and warrant officers, midshipmen and sergeant majors,

      Comrade officers, generals and admirals,

      Soldiers and commanders participating in the special military operation,

      Happy Victory Day!

      Happy holiday that commemorates the honour of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who glorified and immortalised their names by defending our Fatherland. They saved the humankind from Nazism through immeasurable courage and immense sacrifice.

      Today, our civilisation is at a crucial turning point. A real war is being waged against our country again but we have countered international terrorism and will defend the people of Donbass and safeguard our security.

      For us, for Russia, there are no unfriendly or hostile nations either in the west or in the east. Just like the vast majority of people on the planet, we want to see a peaceful, free and stable future.

      We believe that any ideology of superiority is abhorrent, criminal and deadly by its nature. However, the Western globalist elites keep speaking about their exceptionalism, pit nations against each other and split societies, provoke bloody conflicts and coups, sow hatred, Russophobia, aggressive nationalism, destroy family and traditional values which make us human. They do all that so as to keep dictating and imposing their will, their rights and rules on peoples, which in reality is a system of plundering, violence and suppression.

      They seem to have forgotten what the Nazis’ insane claims of global dominance led to. They forgot who destroyed that monstrous, total evil, who stood up for their native land and did not spare their lives to liberate the peoples of Europe.

      We see how in certain countries they ruthlessly and cold-bloodedly destroy memorials to Soviet soldiers, demolish monuments to great commanders, create a real cult of the Nazis and their proxies, erase and demonise the memory of true heroes. Such profanation of the feat and sacrifices of the victorious generation is also a crime, an outright revanchism on the part of those who were cynically and blatantly preparing a new march on Russia and who brought together neo-Nazi scum from around the world for this.

      Their goal – and there is nothing new about it – is to break apart and destroy our country, to make null and void the outcomes of World War II, to completely break down the system of global security and international law, to choke off any sovereign centres of development.

      Boundless ambition, arrogance and impunity inevitably lead to tragedies. This is the reason for the catastrophe the Ukrainian people are going through. They have become hostage to the coup d’état and the resulting criminal regime of its Western masters, collateral damage in the implementation of their cruel and self-serving plans.

      The memory of defenders of the Fatherland is sacred for us in Russia, and we cherish it in our hearts. We give credit to members of the Resistance who bravely fought Nazism as well as the troops of the allied armies of the United States, Great Britain and other countries. We remember and honour the feat of Chinese soldiers in the fight against Japanese militarism.

      I strongly believe that the experience of solidarity and partnership during the years of fighting a common threat is our invaluable heritage and a secure foothold now when the unstoppable movement is gaining momentum towards a more just multipolar world, a world based on the principles of trust and indivisible security, of equal opportunities for a genuine and free development of all nations and peoples.

      It is crucial that leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States have gathered here in Moscow today. I see it as appreciation of the feat of our ancestors: they fought and won together since all the peoples of the USSR contributed to our common Victory.

      We will always remember that. We bow our heads in cherished memory of those who lost their lives during the war, the memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, husbands, wives, sisters and friends.

      I declare a minute of silence.

      (A minute of silence.)

      Citizens of Russia,

      The battles that were decisive for our Motherland always became patriotic, national and sacred. We are faithful to our ancestors’ legacy and have a deep and clear awareness of what it means to be up to the mark of their military, labour and moral achievements.

      We take pride in the participants in the special military operation, all those fighting on the frontlines, those who deliver supplies to the front and save the wounded under fire. Your combat activities now are of paramount importance. The country’s security depends on you today as does the future of our statehood and our people. You commendably perform your combat duty fighting for Russia. Your families, children and friends stand behind you. They are waiting for you. I am sure you can feel their unfailing love.

      The entire country has united to support our heroes. Everyone is ready to help, everyone prays for you.

      Comrades, friends, dear veterans,

      Today, every family in our country honours Great Patriotic War participants, remembers their family members and their heroes, and lays flowers to military memorials.

      We are standing on Red Square, a place which remembers retainers of Yury Dolgoruky and Dmitry Donskoy, the people’s militia of Minin and Pozharsky, soldiers of Peter the Great and Kutuzov, the military parades of 1941 and 1945.

      Today we have here participants in the special military operation – regular servicemen and those who joined the army ranks during the partial mobilisation, troops of the Lugansk and Donetsk corps, many volunteer units, personnel of the National Guard, Interior Ministry, Federal Security Service, Emergencies Ministry and other security agencies and services.

      My greetings to all of you, friends. My greetings to everyone who is fighting for Russia in the battlefield, who is now in the line of duty.

      Our heroic ancestors proved during the Great Patriotic War that nothing can beat our strong, powerful and reliable unity. There is nothing stronger than our love for the Motherland.

      For Russia! For our glorious Armed Forces! For Victory!

      Hooray!
      http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71104
      ===================================
      Putin’s speech (ENG Subs)

      ( 10 min )

    • US to provide Ukraine $1.2 billion in long-term security aid

      The U.S. will provide $1.2 billion more in long-term military aid to Ukraine to further bolster its air defenses as Russia continues to pound Ukraine with drones, rockets and surface-to-air missiles, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

      The aid package will be provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Unlike U.S. equipment, weapons and ammunition sent from Pentagon stocks that can be delivered to Ukraine quickly, this money is to be spent over the coming months or even years to ensure Ukraine’s future security needs.

      The Pentagon said it will fund air-defense munitions and drones for air defense, and provide equipment to help modify Western air-defense launchers, missiles and radars so they can be used with Ukraine’s systems. It will also buy artillery rounds, howitzer ammunition, satellite imagery assistance and funding for ongoing maintenance and spare parts for a variety of systems. U.S. officials said the weapons include HAWK air-defense systems. They spoke on condition of anonymity because that has not yet been formally announced.

      The Pentagon said the aid will build the capacity of Ukraine’s military “to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term.”

      Including this package, the U.S. has provided Ukraine nearly $37 billion in military aid since Russia invaded in February 2022.

      The latest aid comes as Ukraine prepares to launch a spring offensive against Russian forces, with air defense a persistent issue.

      Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 35 Iranian-made drones over Kyiv in Russia’s latest nighttime assault, officials said Monday. Wreckage from a drone struck a two-story apartment building in Kyiv’s western Svyatoshynskyi district, while other debris struck a car parked nearby, setting it on fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post.

      Russian shelling of 127 targets across northern, southern and eastern parts of Ukraine killed three civilians, the Ukrainian defense ministry said.

      Facing economic sanctions and limits on its supply chains due to its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has routinely turned to Iran’s Shahed drones to bolster its firepower. And U.S. aid packages — including more immediate military weapons and support — have included systems to shoot down and otherwise defeat the drones.

      https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-weapons-funding-security-war-russia-d27594b9b26beff6bcee4b7a2ec8424b

  11. President Trump Breaks Silence on Bud Light Boycott with Three Word Response to Anheuser-Busch
    By Cullen Linebarger May. 9, 2023 8:51 am308 Comments

    President Donald Trump broke his silence Sunday regarding the Bud Light boycott that has swept across America. His frank remarks on the matter will have every patriotic American nodding along in agreement.

    Trump noted the crisis Bud Light is facing in a Truth Social post promoting conservative radio host Wayne Allen Root’s new book “The Great Patriot Buy-cott Book: The Great Conservative Companies to Buy From & Invest In.”

    It’s time to beat the Radical Left at their own game.

    Money does talk—Anheuser-Busch now understands that.

    Spoken like a true businessman who understands you never insult your base.

    Real Clear Politics reported last month that the incredibly successful boycott may prove a dividing line in the GOP presidential primaries.

    Several candidates tell RealClearPolitics they back the boycott. Nikki Haley, for instance, said the Bud Light campaign “makes a mockery of women.” Others in the GOP wish the controversy would just go away already.

    Sales of Bud Light have cratered all across America after their woke executives decided to shove fake woman Dylan Mulvaney in everyone’s face. One report has the number at a staggering 26%, though even that is almost certainly an understatement.

    The Gateway Pundit reported the crisis has become so severe that Costco is practically giving Bud Light away.

    Instead of apologizing for insulting their customers, executives such Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris think throwing money at the problem will cause former patrons to eventually forget and come back.

    Anheuser-Busch would be wise to to call an audible and apologize. Part of the reason Trump became a billionaire and president is because he understands you never insult your base.

    If not, perhaps they will simply shut up regarding politics from now on and try to sell whatever remaining beer they have left.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/president-trump-breaks-silence-on-bud-light-boycott-with-three-word-response-to-anheuser-busch/

  12. T-Mobile is Latest Retailer to Close Flagship Store in Downtown San Francisco
    By Mike LaChance May. 9, 2023 9:15 am115 Comments

    Another major retailer is closing its doors in San Francisco, citing a drop in foot traffic and the rise in crime.

    T-Mobile is the latest company to decide that it’s not worth it to keep their store open in the crime-ridden city.

    This follows the closure of other stores such as Whole Foods and Office Depot.

    T-Mobile Becomes Latest Retailer to Close Flagship Store in San Francisco

    The telecommunications giant T-Mobile has closed its flagship store located in the San Francisco’s downtown area amid declining foot traffic and increased criminal activity.

    The company reportedly closed the store, which spanned two stories and 17,000 square feet and was located in the upscale department store and shopping hub of Union Square, around a month ago.

    In a statement provided to SFGATE via email, a company spokesperson did not give specific details about the decision, instead citing a change in “retailer strategy.”

    “We recently reshaped our retail strategy,” said the spokesperson. “Employees have been offered roles within the company.”

    Once a vast flagship store for Apple, the building at 1 Stockton was sold to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation in 2013 for $50 million. Apple has since relocated to its current location on Post Street. According to records, the building was sold to the corporation following Apple’s relocation.

    The closure is merely the latest indication of companies’ desperation to flee San Francisco, which has become notorious for its shocking levels of crime and homelessness, high taxes, and committment to ultra-left-wing ideology.

    This is like a domino effect. How many more stores will close?

    Do people in the city realize the long-term ramifications of this?

    Every store that closes is lost revenue.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/t-mobile-is-latest-retailer-to-close-flagship-store-in-downtown-san-francisco/

  13. All Hell Breaks Loose In Nuclear-Armed Pakistan After Imran Khan’s Arrest
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    TUESDAY, MAY 09, 2023 – 10:25 AM
    All hell is breaking loose in Pakistan, amid fears there could be a slide into widescale civil unrest or even full-blown civil war, after on Tuesday the former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested and taken into police custody while he was entering the Islamabad High Court for a hearing in a case.

    The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been pursued in court filings by Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency, but the dramatic move to actually detain Khan is a huge and unprecedented escalation, threatening to unleash mayhem in the streets of the nuclear-armed country.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/all-hell-breaks-loose-nuclear-armed-pakistan-after-imran-khans-arrest

  14. Italy’s Meloni To Pull Trigger On Belt & Road Exit In Major Blow To China
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    TUESDAY, MAY 09, 2023 – 09:45 AM
    The government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is readying plans to pull the trigger on a formal exit from China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), estimated at having funded $900 billion in infrastructure projects globally.

    The past weeks have seen increasing reports that Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party has been spearheading a move away from the BRI, though some within the broader center-right coalition unity government have been on the fence. Bloomberg now reports Tuesday that “Italy has signaled to the US that it intends to pull out of a controversial investment pact with China before the end of the year.”

    “Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reassured US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a meeting in Rome last week that while a final decision hasn’t been taken, her government is favoring an exit from its role in China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative, according to people present at the talks,” Bloomberg continues. Neither the Italian nor US administrations have yet to give public comment or confirmation to the report.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/italys-meloni-pull-trigger-belt-road-exit-major-blow-china

  15. The Fed Is Overindebted, Isn’t It?

    Behind closed doors, the report is already making the rounds in expert circles: if you follow the rules of sound commercial accounting, the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) has lost its equity and is, as common language would have it, bankrupt. What happened?

    During spring 2020 (i.e., in a period of extremely low interest rates), the Fed purchased large amounts of government bonds and mortgage bonds to support the economy and financial markets during the covid crisis.

    The Fed paid for the purchases by issuing vast amounts of new central bank money. This has created an enormous “money surplus” in the US interbank market, where banks lend money to one another. It is exactly in this market where the interest rates for all other credit markets are determined.

    However, the excess money supply now exerts strong downward pressure on the interbank interest rates. Since this is not desirable from a monetary policy point of view—after all, the Fed is raising the key interest rate with the intention of making interbank credit more expensive, slowing down economic growth, and lowering inflation—the Fed’s Open Market Committee has decided to pay interest on the excess balances that the banks hold at the Fed.

    This interest rate is currently 5.15 percent. This is close to the Fed’s official key interest rate, which is currently between 5.00 and 5.25 percent. In doing so, the Fed has set an interest rate limit in the interbank money market: no bank can lend its excess money supply for less than 5.15 percent if it gets this rate from the Fed.

    https://mises.org/wire/fed-overindebted-isnt-it

  16. Title 42 expires on May 11, 2023. —-Be prepared.

    Two weeks to flatten the curve, stay home, stay safe…….

    Heads up
    Germany, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Annual Zoe Report, July12, 2017.
    Doctors warned of inherently dangerous decisions by Federal institutions to conceal the unpleasant realities. The government may be downplaying the threats in an effort to avoid fuelling the anti-immigration sentiments.

    Large jump in diseases doctors have not seen in decades:

    Adenoviral conjunctivitis, botulism, dengue fever, chicken pox, cholera, crytosporidiosis, echinococcosis, enterohemorrhagic E. coli, giardiasis, haemophilus influenza, hantavirus, hepatitis, hemorrhagic fever, HIV/AIDS, leprosy, louse-borne relapsing fever, malaria, measles, mumps, shigellosis, whooping cough, tape worm, toxoplasmosis, scabies, TB pathogens that are multi-drug resistant, rubella, syphilis, typhoid, meningoencephalitis, hepatitis B jumping 300% in 3 years, tularaemia, the report suggests this may be the tip of the iceberg. German authorities have lost track of 100s of migrants who may be infected.

  17. Mark Levin Calls for Joe Biden’s Removal Under the 25th Amendment in His Most Epic Takedown (VIDEO)
    By Jim Hoft May. 9, 2023 12:25 pm232 Comments

    On his show “Life, Liberty & Levin” on Fox News, Mark Levin blasted Joe Biden and called to be removed from office under the 25th amendment.

    The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution deals with presidential succession and disability.

    Donald Trump Jr. once said, “If the 25th amendment wasn’t designed specifically for Joe Biden what the hell was it for? I mean seriously… how much more of this sh*t do we have to take?”

    Everything the Biden regime touches turns to dust, from foreign embarrassments to domestic issues.

    Below are some of the biggest failures of the Biden regime, via Federalist and Heritage Foundation:

    Immigration Crisis
    Ballooning Debt
    Inflation
    Woke Administrative State
    Holding Kids Hostage to Trans Radicalism
    Supporting Child Castration and Sterilization
    Tapping into Emergency Petroleum Reserves
    Botching the Afghanistan Withdrawal
    Letting Babies Go Hungry
    Forcing the Covid Jab
    Scheming to Enact Abortion Radicalism
    Specter of Scandal

    “Joe Biden stands for freedom. Actually, Joe Biden stands for Totalitarianism,” said Mark Levin in his epic takedown.

    “There’s not a damn thing he’s done as President to promote freedom. In fact, I can’t think of anything that man did as Vice President or in the Senate for 412 years to promote freedom. As a matter of fact, Joe Biden is the last of the segregationists, the old segregationists. He likes to pretend he was part of the civil rights movement. He was part of the anti-civil rights movement.”

    “Soon as he stepped foot in the US Senate, he befriended the most racist segregationists in the US Senate, and they took him under his wing… Joe Biden was a full-throated segregationist and racist, and so he’s always remaking himself into something that he’s not of course.”

    “We have a 25th amendment there. We shouldn’t have to wait to figure out how to trigger the 25th Amendment to figure out if Joe Biden’s capable of being President of the United States. That man has his finger right next to the nuclear button. We have a right to know as the American people. I thought he believed in freedom. Now let’s look at his freedom agenda and policies. Disinformation board, Twitter, FBI, DHS, censorship, replacing equality with equity. Very Marxist of him. Serial noncompliance with the Constitution. He rules by executive orders.”

    Watch Mark Levin’s epic rant below:

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/mark-levin-calls-for-joe-bidens-removal-under-the-25th-amendment-in-his-most-epic-takedown-video/

  18. “F*ck You Americans!” – Illegal Aliens Swear at and Insult News Reporters in a Heated Exchange in El Paso, Texas (VIDEO)
    By Jim Hoft May. 9, 2023 1:06 pm249 Comments

    Reporters covering the crisis at the southern border in El Paso, Texas, were met with insults and threats from illegal immigrants.

    An immigrant approached the reporters, clearly displeased, and demanded that they leave his people alone. The immigrant began cursing at Americans and law enforcement after claiming he was given two tickets for helping his countrymen.

    “Turn around and leave my people alone,” said the angry immigrant. “I got another f*cking ticket for helping my people out. Another f*cking ticket, bro. I got two of them this week. First one for giving out water, and for the third one for giving out f*cking food [for] helping of my people. Sh*t. F*ck you guys American. F*ck El Paso. F*ck El Paso PD. F*ck the fed, [and] f*ck the Border Patrol.”

    Reporter: You start destroying equipment out here? Come up, and start yelling at a camera like a fool and you want to know why people are upset?

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/fck-you-americans-illegal-aliens-trash-talk-news-reporters-in-heated-exchange-in-el-pasotx-video/

  19. HE’S BACK: Tucker Carlson Announces New Show On Twitter – Accuses Fox News of Fraud, Breach of Contract
    By Anthony Scott May. 9, 2023 4:21 pm497 Comments

    In a surprise video uploaded to Twitter on Tuesday, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson announced he will be doing his new show on Twitter.

    Tucker accused Fox News of fraud and breach of contract, according to Axios.

    Tucker Carlson, two weeks after being ousted by Fox News, accused the network Tuesday of fraud and breach of contract — and made a host of document demands that could precede legal action.

    The aggressive letter from his lawyers to Fox positions Carlson to argue that the noncompete provision in his contract is no longer valid — freeing him to launch his own competing show or media enterprise.

    On Tuesday, Carlson announced he would be bringing his show to Twitter,.
    “Starting soon we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter,” he said in the video. “We bring some other things too, which we’ll tell you about. But for now we’re just grateful to be here. Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others.”
    The intrigue: The Twitter move would seem to technically violate Carlson’s contract with Fox, but his lawyers’ letter effectively holds that Fox breached the contract first.

    Sources told Axios that Carlson’s lawyers sent their letter before he took to Twitter to announce his new show.

    Tucker in the video stated “starting soon we will be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six years and a half years to Twitter.”

    Besides announcing his return Tucker stated “at the most basic level the news you consume is a lie. A lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind.”

    Tucker would go on to say Twitter is the last remaining place in the world where free speech is allowed.

    WATCH:

    Tucker also noted in his announcement that the “gatekeepers are still in charge” of the corporate media and he’s sick of it which is why he will be taking his show to Twitter.

    Previously Axios reported both Musk and Carlson had a conversation about working together.

    As of now it’s not clear if he will host his show exclusively on Twitter or if he will have a partnership with another news network or platform such as Rumble too.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/hes-back-tucker-carlson-announces-new-show-on-twitter-accuses-fox-news-of-fraud-breach-of-contract/

  20. THE NUMBERS ARE IN: Bud Light Hit with Devastating News on April Sales – Trump-Friendly Beer Company Sees Massive Surge
    By Cullen Linebarger May. 9, 2023 6:10 pm76 Comments

    The Bud Light boycott is having epic results. Not only are sales cratering, but a Trump-friendly beer company is benefitting at their expense.

    The Gateway Pundit previously reported the crisis for Bud Light has become so severe that Costco is practically giving the product away.

    Instead of apologizing for insulting their customers, executives such Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris think throwing money at the problem will cause former patrons to eventually forget and come back.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/the-numbers-are-in-bud-light-hit-with-devastating-news-on-april-sales-trump-friendly-beer-company-sees-massive-surge/

  21. Elon Musk Warns Users That Zuckerberg’s “WhatsApp” Cannot Be Trusted, Here’s What He Said About The Messaging Platform…
    By Patty McMurray May. 9, 2023 5:50 pm86 Comments

    Elon Musk posted a warning on Twitter regarding WhatsApp after a Twitter user posted that the site was violating their privacy by accessing their phone’s microphone.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/elon-musk-warns-users-that-zuckerbergs-whatsapp-cannot-be-trusted-heres-what-he-said-about-the-messaging-platform/

  22. Tim Pool On Why He Would Vote for Donald J. Trump Over Ron DeSantis for President in 2024 [VIDEO]
    By Patty McMurray May. 9, 2023 4:40 pm78 Comments

    100 Percent Fed Up reports – On Saturday, popular podcast host Tim Pool appeared on the PBD Podcast, where he revealed why he would vote for former President Donald Trump instead of potential challenger Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

    During the podcast, Pool praised DeSantis as the “best governor this country has.”

    However, Pool then said that he would vote for Trump over DeSantis in the primaries because he believes that Trump would dismantle federal agencies and purge the bureaucratic class, something that would be good for the United States.

    “What do I like about Trump? The reason I’d vote for him not because I think he’s the greatest leader we’ve ever had, I think his foreign policy has been absolutely fantastic considering presidents we’ve had in the past,” said Pool.

    “Donald Trump’s gonna fire everybody. He wants revenge,” he continued. “And I think if the one thing I can get out of the next presidency is the purging of the bureaucratic class, this country will be better off for it.”

    “I don’t know if Ron DeSantis would do that. I think he’s a negotiator. I think he’s gonna go in and say, how can we make this clean, and it’s gonna be like Trump’s first term all over again. they’re gonna attack him; they’re gonna smear him; they’re gonna lie; they’re gonna get their key-positioned people to sludge everything up.

    “I think at this point with Donald Trump; he’s unleashed, he’s so angry, he’s been slighted, he’s been lied about, they’ve impeached him, they’re… prosecuting him in New York, they’re trying to get him in D.C., they’re trying to get him in Georgia. Now they’re accusing him of a 30-year-old rape case. I mean, these people are relentless, and almost every single time, these stories turn out to be fake or, even worse, it’s them.”

    “I think Trump gets elected, he walks in and says ‘I don’t care how, I don’t care why, we are going to terminate these people. We’re going to send them out with nice little boxes full of their belongings, and we’re going to figure out how to do it.’”

    “That’s the number one thing this country needs right now,” Pool concluded. “I don’t think DeSantis does it.”

    WATCH:

    Here’s the interview in its entirety:

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/tim-pool-on-why-he-would-vote-for-donald-j-trump-over-ron-desantis-for-president-in-2024-video/

  23. Socialism, Minority Groups, and Personal Liberties
    my body my choice sign
    TAGS Media and CultureProgressivismProperty RightsSocialism

    05/09/2023Benjamin Seevers
    Socialists have managed to acquire the loyalty of a coalition of disparate groups by championing the principle of personal liberty. Especially in the United States, many women, disabled, gay people, transgender people, racial and ethnic minorities, and immigrants are among the proud supporters of the socialist cause, foolishly believing that capitalism or the free market is antithetical to their livelihood or lifestyles.

    They could not be more wrong. Unfortunately, under socialism, people are not self-owners; they belong to the state.

    The state owns everyone’s bodies under socialism. No example is more extreme than the gulags of the Soviet Union, where the state sent millions to forced-labor camps in which about 1.6 million died. The individual was merely a producer good in the state’s grand schemes. In current and former socialist countries, the minority groups that support socialism experienced this as well.

    For example, in Dr. Paul Kengor’s book, Takedown, he retells the Bolsheviks’ history concerning the most cherished of modern women’s rights: abortion, or the right to choose. The Bolsheviks did legalize abortion once taking power (at that point, it helped wither away the family), but Joseph Stalin, under the fear of depopulation, outlawed abortion in 1936.

    This ban continued until Stalin died and Nikita Khruschev’s more progressive administration revoked it in 1955. On the flip side, Fidel Castro’s socialist regime forced abortions as a means for cutting back on risky pregnancies. Additionally, through China’s one-child policy, many of the state’s abortions are compelled in what Kengor describes as “one of the most severe infringements on family life ever inflicted by a government on its people.”

    Despite the right to choose being supported by feminists of socialist countries, it is among many of the rights that go by the wayside. Any instance of women being granted the right to choose merely means that the natural rate of abortion was aligned with the goals of the state, or the rates were tolerable.

    Convenience, not principle, becomes the criterion for rights. Births become a statistic to the socialist tsar. Whenever births exceed what the directors believe to be the optimal level of births, abortion is allowed or even forced; if births are below what is desired, then abortion is prohibited. There is no room for the rational calculation of individuals in family planning. The socialist woman is not ultimately the owner of her body—the state is, and it

    https://mises.org/wire/socialism-minority-groups-and-personal-liberties