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.
Attackers in France tried to set fire to the home of a suburban Paris mayor,s home overnight and fired rockets at his fleeing wife and children.
The incident has caused widespread shock and is being treated as attempted murder.
May Vincent Jeanbrun was at his office at the time. The attackers used a car to ram the gates of their home, st the car on fire so the blaze would spread to the house.
The mayor’s wife, Melanie Novak, broke her leg while trying to flee with her 2 children 5 and 7. One of the children was injured.
Mayor Jeanbrun had urged the French government earlier to impose a state of emergency, but Macron has declined.
France Has Fallen: Migrant Mob Torch Mayor’s Home, Wife and Kids Injured Escaping
By Richard Abelson Jul. 2, 2023 8:00 am1501 Comments
Migrant riots continued in France for the 5th day as a violent mob attacked the home of the mayor of a Paris suburb, forcing his wife and children to flee in terror. The wife and one child were injured in what mayor called an “assassination attempt”
A violent mob attacked the home of Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun in Paris suburb L’Hay?-les-Roses, a bedroom community of 31.000, as Jeanbrun posted at 6:46 am local time today, Valeurs Actuelles reports.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/france-has-fallen-migrant-mob-torch-mayors-home/
=======================
It Begins: France to Shut Down Internet in “Certain” Neighborhoods to Prevent Use of Social Media to Organize Violence
By Jim Hoft Jul. 2, 2023 1:20 pm173 Comments
The Minister of the Interior in France announced on Sunday the country will restrict internet access in “certain” neighborhoods as the violence continues across the country.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the restrictions are meant to prevent the use of social media and other platforms to organize violent activities.
Via Midnight Rider and Zoomer Waffen.
France is planning a shutdown of the nation’s internet in an attempt to stop the world from seeing what invaders are doing to the nation.
In just the span of a few days, France has devolved into a middle eastern nation engulfed in war and its despot limiting news from reaching the outside world.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/it-begins-france-shut-down-internet-certain-neighborhoods/
=========================
France Has Fallen: 17-year-old “Victim” was Gangbanger with 15-Count Rap Sheet and History of Running Police Stops
By Richard Abelson Jul. 2, 2023 7:15 am414 Comments
Rioting continued in France Saturday night, after 17-year-old Algerian Nahel M. was killed after a high-speed chase in Paris suburb Nanterre Tuesday. While Mainstream Media fan the flames of hate and violence by blaming the police and portraying Nahel as an innocent victim, the 17-year old hoodlum had a long police record and appeared in a cop-hating gangsta rap video just last month.
At 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 27, two motorcycle officers saw Nahel M. in a high-powered, bright yellow Mercedes A-Class AMG with Polish license plates, racing through Nanterre, and gave chase. The 17-year old led them on a pursuit over sidewalks, through red lights and down bus lanes until finally forced to stop by traffic at 8:16 am.
The two officers dismounted and confronted the homicidal maniac at gunpoint, demanding he cut the engine. Instead, Nahel M floored it, striking the officer in front of his windshield and possibly triggering the
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/france-has-fallen-17-year-old-victim-was/
Pete Buttigieg Attacks Christian Web Designer at Center of Supreme Court Ruling (VIDEO)
By Cristina Laila Jul. 2, 2023 2:20 pm1 Comment
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attacked the Christian web designer at the center of the Supreme Court ruling.
The US Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of a Colorado-based Christian web designer who doesn’t want to make LGBTQ wedding sites.
Lorie Smith is a graphic design artist who wanted to start creating wedding websites, but she was afraid she would be forced to make sites for same-sex couples because of Colorado’s CADA law.
The high court ruled 6-3 in favor of Lorie Smith and agreed that forcing her to create wedding sites for same-sex couples would violate her First Amendment rights.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/pete-buttigieg-attacks-christian-web-designer-center-supreme/
Biden Vows to Rein In ‘Privilege’ in Colleges, But Here’s What He Did for His Granddaughter
By Richard Moorhead, The Western Journal Jul. 2, 2023 1:40 pm75 Comments
Special treatment for me, but not for thee?
President Joe Biden last week blasted the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday ruling against affirmative action programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, a decision that could remake higher education policies across the country.
In a speech following the court’s decision, Biden also pledged to crack down on elite universities’ practice of “legacy admissions,” in which relatives of previous graduates are given preferential treatment in admissions.
“Practices like legacy admissions and other systems expand privilege instead of opportunity,” Biden said.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/biden-vows-rein-privilege-colleges-granddaughter/
Residents Push Back Against SMART City Technology in San Diego
By Guest Contributor Jul. 2, 2023 1:00 pm151 Comments
Are you aware that many cities, even some smaller to medium-sized ones, are installing cameras, speakers and license-plate readers on street-light poles and other barely noticed but ubiquitous locations?
The outfitting of America’s cities with 5G technology, which took place largely with federal funding appropriated under the Trump administration, set the stage for our cities to be converted into “smart cities.” That’s a cleverly deceptive term for “surveillance cities,” in which no human activity takes place outside the watchful eye of Big Brother. Because these cameras, speakers, facial-recognition scanners, etc., are all connected and available for monitoring online, some have referred to 5G smart-grid technology as the “Internet of Eyes.”
Fox 5 San Diego reports that the debate over “smart surveillance streetlights” and license-plate readers in San Diego is heating up again. Residents there aren’t buying the
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/residents-push-back-against-smart-city-technology-san/
Rioters assault home of French mayor, injure his wife
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/rioters-ram-raid-home-french-mayor-wife-injured-2023-07-02/
Rioters ram-raided the home of a Paris suburb mayor, set the car alight and launched fireworks at his wife and young children as they fled during a fifth night of nationwide unrest over Tuesday’s police shooting of a teen of North African descent.
Vincent Jeanbrun, 39, the centre-right mayor of the southern suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses, was at the town hall when his house was attacked with his wife Melanie and children asleep inside.
The aggressors drove their vehicle at the suburban house but were halted by a low wall ringing the property’s outdoor terrace, the local public prosecutor said. They then torched their vehicle.
As Jeanbrun’s wife and children, aged 5 and 7, took flight through the back yard, they were targeted with fireworks. Jeanbrun told Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne his wife had had surgery to a broken leg and faced a three-month rehabilitation.
“While attempting to shield them and fleeing the attackers, my wife and one of my children were hurt,” the mayor said.
The local prosecutor told reporters that an investigation into attempted murder had been opened. No suspects have been arrested.
Jeanbrun’s town hall has been the target of attack for several nights since Tuesday’s shooting and has been protected with barbed wire and barricades.
On a walkabout hours after the incident, Jeanbrun met local well-wishers and passed by the town’s covered market which has been wrecked during the unrest.
“Stay strong, Mr. Mayor. We’re with you,” one man told the visibly emotional mayor.
“I didn’t think we’d ever live through something like this,” the mayor told another bystander who wished his wife well.
“It’s pretty disgusting,” she replied.
Photo Reveals Tucker’s First Interview Guest Since Exiting Fox News? The Left Will Hate This
By Warner Todd Huston, The Western Journal Jul. 2, 2023 12:45 pm112 Comments
As Tucker Carlson continues to craft his future after being unceremoniously dumped by Fox News, he may have picked quite a controversial figure for his first interview — and it is one sure to give the left heartburn.
The speculation over who Tucker has interviewed and could feature on an upcoming Twitter release has increased after a picture was posted by the suspected interviewee himself on Saturday: social media personality Andrew Tate.
Andrew Tate, of course, became a TikTok sensation for his comments on many different issues including dating, work, and success for men and for refusing to bow to the woke, pajama-boy left.
WARNING: The following hyperlinks contain language some readers may find offensive.
His remarks are often criticized for being extreme and misogynistic, such as when he said most men prefer younger women because they’re easier to “imprint,” as well as saying that women who have put themselves in a dangerous situation need to “take some degree of personal responsibility” for being raped.
His comments have led him to be banned off and on by a variety of social media outlets.
Tate grew in popularity by loudly and directly refuting the left’s attempt to make young men feel ashamed of their masculinity and celebrating a life of hyper-masculinity and luxury. You may remember how this “toxic masculinity” nonsense rose to such a din that leftist corporations even jumped on the bandwagon and began pushing ads for their products by scolding men for being men.
Is this an interview you want to watch?
Yes No
Enter your email
In 2019, for instance the Gillette razor company put out several ads pushing the left’s anti-male agenda, one being an attack on men by excoriating the saying “boys will be boys.”
Sportswear giant Nike pulled something similar not long after Gillette’s ad with its 2021 “Play New” series, The Drum reported.
While there was some pushback — such as the ad put out by Egard Watches refuting the whole concept of “toxic masculinity” — most in the media celebrated the anti-male agenda.
This attack on men left a huge opening for someone like Tate to swoop in and begin offering pushback against the left’s hate for men. He is, of course, the anti-woke personality, pushing men to be as masculine as possible and blasting the West and Christianity for losing their faith and falling back from their beliefs in the face of left-wing criticism.
His patriarchal position has made him a target, naturally, and the entirety of the press ramped up to “get” him from the beginning.
Whatever the propriety of his pronunciations and posturing, he has also now become a target of the law and is currently under house arrest in Romania, accused of serious charges of the sexual exploitation and trafficking of young women. Andrew was arrested last December along with his brother, Tristan, and two associates
According to the BBC, “The indictment deposited with the Bucharest court says that the four defendants formed an organized criminal group in 2021 to commit human trafficking in Romania, but also in other countries including the U.S. and the U.K.”
The men are charged with forcing seven women into servitude as sex slaves and porn actresses and keeping them prisoner in Ilfov County, Romania.
For their part, the Tates’ media representatives issued a statement saying, “While this news is undoubtedly predictable, we embrace the opportunity it presents to demonstrate their innocence and vindicate their reputation,” according to the BBC.
That leads us to the supposed interview with Tucker Carlson, who has interviewed Tate before.
If true, it seems sure that Tucker has picked the one person for his first interview that will rile up the media. Tucker, though, has given no hint of just when this interview could be released, but he has thus far been posting new videos on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, maybe it’ll be a July 4th surprise?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/photo-reveals-tuckers-first-interview-guest-since-exiting/
Joe Biden Disowns His Beautiful 4-Year-Old Granddaughter: White House Aides Told Joe Biden Has Six, Not Seven, Grandchildren
By Cristina Laila Jul. 2, 2023 12:30 pm244 Comments
Joe Biden has completely disowned his 4-year-old granddaughter, Navy Joan Roberts, and the media still portrays him as a devoted father and grandfather.
Joe and Jill Biden are monsters.
The Bidens have not only publicly snubbed their granddaughter, but White House aides are also privately being told Biden has six, not seven, grandchildren.
Hunter Biden has a 4-year-old daughter, Navy Joan, with former DC stripper Lunden Roberts.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/joe-biden-disowns-his-granddaughter-white-house-aides/
Doctors Group Files Federal Lawsuit Against HHS and FDA Over Unlawful Attempt to Ban Ivermectin for COVID Treatment
By Jim Hoft Jul. 2, 2023 11:50 am228 Comments
Source: FDA/Twitter
A group of doctors has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agencies’ unlawful attempts to block the use of ivermectin in treating COVID-19, The Texan reported.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Southern District of Texas in Galveston, argues that the FDA has overstepped its authority and unjustifiably interfered with their medical practice.
The plaintiffs, Drs. Mary Talley Bowden, Paul E. Marik, and Robert L. Apter, are contesting the FDA’s portrayal of ivermectin as dangerous for human consumption. They note that the FDA has approved ivermectin for human use since 1996 for a variety of diseases. However, they allege that with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA began releasing documents and social media posts discouraging the use of the anti-viral drug for COVID-19 treatment.
“We’re suing the FDA for lying to the public about ivermectin,” said Dr. Bowden.
Claims were made that the initial article misrepresented the law by stating the FDA’s official stance against ivermectin use without mentioning that doctors were allowed to administer the medicine.
U.S. law is cited in the complaint, including the provision that the FDA “may not interfere with the authority of a health care provider to prescribe or administer any legally marked device to a patient for any condition or disease within a legitimate health care practitioner-patient relationship.”
The Gateway Pundit reported that during a hearing last year, the agency’s lawyers argued that the FDA was only giving advice and it was not mandatory when it told people to “stop” taking Ivermectin for COVID-19.
“The cited statements were not directives,” said Isaac Belfer, one of the lawyers. “They were not mandatory. They were recommendations. They said what parties should do. They said, for example, why you should not take ivermectin to treat COVID-19. They did not say you may not do it, you must not do it. They did not say it’s prohibited or it’s unlawful. They also did not say that doctors may not prescribe ivermectin.”
“They use informal language, that is true… It’s conversational but not mandatory,” he continued.
However, the statement from the lawyer contradicted to FDA’s social media post, stating, “Hold your horses, y’all. Ivermectin may be trending, but it still isn’t authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.”
In 2021, The Gateway Pundit reported that Houston Methodist health officials began investigating and suspended Dr. Mary Talley Bowden for spreading “dangerous misinformation” about Covid-19 and promoting the efficacy of ivermectin, prompting the physician to resign from the hospital.
The hospital excoriated Bowden for “using her social media accounts to express her personal opinions about the COVID-19 vaccine and treatments,” NBC News reports. The suspension barred the physician from admitting or treating patients at the hospital.
Bowden repeatedly warned that it is “wrong” to mandate the experimental mRNA vaccines and continuously touted Ivermectin as a safe and effective treatment amid threats from public health officials against prescribing the drug.
In her resignation letter, Bowden doubled down on the efficacy of ivermectin.
The Nobel prize-winning, anti-parasitic drug, which has been deployed against some of the world’s most devastating tropical diseases, is far safer than the potentially lethal, experimental Covid vaccines, the Texas doctor argued.
“I have worked hard to provide early treatment for victims of COVID-19. My efforts have been successful. I have treated more than 200 COVID-19 patients, including many with co-morbidities, and none of these patients have required hospitalization. This is a testament to the success of my treatment methods,” she wrote. “Throughout this pandemic, there has been no FDA-approved treatment for COVID. Therefore I have done my best to care for patients and save lives in the absence of a clear scientific consensus.”
“Early treatment must still be part of any strategy for patient care. That is why physicians and hospitals should pay more attention to medications such as Ivermectin, which significant research and my clinical experience indicate is effective,” she continued. “I have decided to part ways with Houston Methodist because of the accusation that I have been spreading “dangerous information.” This is false and defamatory. I do not spread misinformation, and my opinions are supported by science. There is substantial evidence for the efficacy of ivermectin in treating COVID-19, and no evidence for serious or fatal side effects associated with the doses used to treat COVID-19.”
A Gateway Pundit reader has received a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a shipment containing Ivermectin that she bought from a foreign country is being held by the post office.
You can read more here. Below is the copy of the letter from the FDA:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/group-doctors-file-federal-lawsuit-against-hhs-fda/
Atlantic Writer Jemele Hill Goes on Twitter Tirade, Suggests Asian Activist ‘Carried the Water for White Supremacy’
By Margaret Flavin Jul. 2, 2023 11:30 am298 Comments
Atlantic writer, and canned ESPN pundit Jemele Hill, went on a tirade against an Asian activist celebrating last week’s Supreme Court decision on Affirmative Action.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Harvard and UNC race-based affirmative action programs are unconstitutional. Schools nationwide will no longer be able to discriminate against students on the basis of race.
Yiatin Chu, President of Asian Wave Alliance celebrated the decision on Twitter.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/atlantic-writer-jemele-hill-goes-twitter-tirade-suggests/
30 people shot in mass shooting at south Baltimore block party, 2 dead
Multiple calls lead to mass shooting at party overnight in Brooklyn neighborhood
BALTIMORE —
Two people are dead after as many as 30 people were shot in a mass shooting overnight in Brooklyn while investigators search for the shooters, Baltimore police said.
Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Rich Worley said during a news conference shortly after 5 a.m. that officers received multiple calls just after 12:30 a.m. for a mass shooting in the 800 block of Gretna Court, where there was a block party underway.
Advertisement
Residents told 11 News there was a large gathering in the neighborhood before they heard what sounded like fireworks, which they later learned were gunshots. Worley said the event was not permitted and police were unaware of it taking place until some time Saturday.
Worley said officers found an 18-year-old woman dead at the scene. Nine others were taken to
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/mass-shooting-gretna-court-south-baltimore/44407826#
French hooligans defend shops from “looters”:
https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100065505_facf47b5
“French Riots Spread To Belgium, Switzerland, Reports Of Rioters Targeting Christians, Conservatives” by Sandy Malone – 3 hours ago
https://policetribune.com/french-riots-spread-to-belgium-switzerland-reports-of-rioters-targeting-christians-conservatives/
You Can’t Make This Up: U.S. Army Celebrates Trans Major Rachel Jones’ Journey from Depression to Authenticity in Celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride (VIDEO)
By Jim Hoft Jul. 2, 2023 4:40 pm8 Comments
The U.S. Army has chosen to spotlight the personal journey of Maj. Rachel Jones, a transgender ‘woman’ and head of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command’s Cyber Division.
According to a recent Army publication, it was Jones’ transition from male to female that brought her back from the brink of severe depression and suicidal tendencies. Amidst international tensions and potential conflicts, it seems the U.S. Army has found the time to delve into the realm of personal storytelling and LGBTQ+ advocacy.
Last month, in observance of Pride Month, they’ve chosen to parade Maj. Jones’ tale as a testament to their inclusivity and, seemingly, as proof of their commitment to personnel welfare.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/you-cant-make-this-up-u-s-army/
Hunter Biden Photographed Himself Driving at 175mph and Smoking Crack with Prostitutes en Route to Vegas
By Jim Hoft Jul. 2, 2023 4:20 pm98 Comments
Hunter Biden is under scrutiny again following the release of several compromising images allegedly obtained from the infamous laptop, Daily Mail reported Sunday.
On June 12, 2018, the 53-year-old was purportedly filmed smoking what looks like a crack pipe as he drove through a residential neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia. The images were uploaded by Marco Polo, a nonprofit organization headed by former Donald Trump aide Garrett Ziegler.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/hunter-biden-photographed-himself-driving-175mph-smoking-crack/
ABC’s Jon Karl Stuns Democrat Rep, Asks About IRS Whistleblower Claims Merrick Garland Interfered in Hunter Biden Probe (VIDEO)
By Cristina Laila Jul. 2, 2023 4:00 pm39 Comments
ABC’s Jon Karl on Sunday actually kind of did his job and asked Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna about the IRS whistleblower report revealing Merrick Garland likely lied under oath about not interfering in the Hunter Biden investigation.
“Republicans in the House have released testimony of this IRS whistleblower suggesting he’s got evidence that…decisions are being made by the US Attorney in Delaware and not by the Attorney General is not true and ultimately it was the Attorney General – main Justice deciding this, are you concerned about what’s coming out of this case?” Jon Karl asked Ro Khanna on ABC’s “This Week.”
Ro Khanna distorted the facts.
Of course.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/abcs-jon-karl-asks-democrat-rep-about-irs/
(Richard: It sounds like one person was responsible for all three bombings.
Was it someone with a grudge or someone making a political statement.)
Bombings in DC Target Three Businesses Overnight
By Kristinn Taylor Jul. 2, 2023 3:20 pm192 Comments
Three businesses in Northeast Washington, D.C. were bombed early Sunday morning according to D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. Within the space of fifteen minutes from about 4:30 a.m. to 4:45 a.m., a Truist Bank ATM and a Nike store were hit with explosive devices, while a Safeway was firebombed with a Molotov Cocktail. No injuries were reported as the establishments were closed. Police report each attack resulted in unspecified damages to the businesses.
A combined $20,000 reward is being offered by D.C. police and the ATF for information on the bombings.
The Truist Bank in D.C. before the bombing, image via Mapquest.
A resident heard one of the explosions and posted a photo of the police response, “Loud explosion noise heard at 4:30am here at Rhode Island Row/Ave Metro Stop. Truist bank glass is shattered and a fireman says there was an “incident at the bank” MPD is now blocking off the street”
Photos show shattered glass where the bank was bombed.
Statement by police:
Suspects and Vehicle Sought in Destruction of Property Offenses in the District
Sunday, July 2, 2023
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division and Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division seek the public’s assistance in identifying suspects and a vehicle in reference to Destruction of Property offenses that occurred on Sunday, July 2, 2023, in the District.
At approximately 4:30 am, the suspect detonated an explosive device on the sidewalk outside of the ATM at the Truist Bank located in the 2300 block of Washington Place, Northeast then fled the scene in a vehicle. The explosive device caused damage to the location. CCN: 23-106-401
At approximately 4:36 am, the suspect detonated an explosive device on the sidewalk in front of the doors at the Nike Store located in the 700 block of H Street, Northeast, then fled the scene in a vehicle. The explosive device caused damage to the location. CCN: 23-106-429
At approximately 4:45 am, the suspect threw a Molotov cocktail style object at the Safeway store located in the 300 block of 40th Street, Northeast then fled the scene in a vehicle. The Molotov cocktail caused damage to the location. CCN: 23-106-412
In each of these offenses, it appears the suspect targeted commercial establishments and it does not appear the suspect was targeting any members of the public. The establishments were closed at the time of the offenses. There were no reported injuries as a result of these offenses.
Anyone who may have any information about these incidents, to include video or photos from any of the offense location are encouraged to call MPD at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the Department’s TEXT TIP LINE at 50411.
The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $10,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for these offenses. In partnership with MPD, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington Field Division, are offering an additional $10,000 bringing the total possible reward amount in this case up to $20,000.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/bombings-dc-target-three-businesses-overnight/
Controversial Companies BlackRock and JPMorgan to Collaborate with Ukrainian Government Establish Reconstruction Bank for Massive Private Investment
By Jim Hoft Jul. 2, 2023 2:40 pm174 Comments
In a move that has garnered both praise and criticism, financial giants BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase have announced they are helping the Ukrainian government in establishing a reconstruction bank, the Ukraine Development Fund. The fund’s aim is to attract private investment on a large scale for post-war rebuilding projects, Financial Times reported.
BlackRock’s vice-chair, Philipp Hildebrand, announced their intention to “mobilize capital at scale” and use it to attract between five and ten times as much private investment. The investment will be prioritized in infrastructure, climate, and agriculture.
“So many of today’s long-term challenges are best addressed through blended finance and this is one. You need these vehicles to mobilize capital at scale,” said Hildebrand.
The World Bank estimated in March that Ukraine would need $411 billion to rebuild after the war.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/controversial-companies-blackrock-jpmorgan-collaborate-ukrainian-government-establish/
We’re not on the right side of history here.
So exceptionally bad, we’re incurring a giant karmic debt…
Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez call for changes to the Supreme Court
The calls come after the Supreme Court handed down a slate of decisions decried by many Democrats.
House progressives are calling for changes to the Supreme Court following a slate of decisions affecting affirmative action, student debt cancellation and LGBTQ protections.
“The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and, frankly, dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/02/pressley-aoc-changes-supreme-court-00104537
AOC’s Warning to Chief Justice Roberts Amid Calls for Ethics Reform
BY FATMA KHALED ON 7/02/23 AT 1:23 PM EDT
epresentative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, suggested on Sunday that Congress should consider investigations looking into conflicts of interest within the U.S. Supreme Court and possibly issuing a subpoena for Chief Justice John Roberts if he doesn’t voluntarily come to those potential congressional hearings
https://www.newsweek.com/aocs-warning-chief-justice-roberts-amid-calls-ethics-reform-1810375
American Thinker
July 2, 2023
Trump’s Greatest Triumph: A Court That Follows the Constitution
By Clarice Feldman
The Supreme Court handed down three major decisions this week, limiting an executive order that fabricated presidential authorization to forgive billions of dollars in school loans; denying governmental authority to compel people to create works that violate their free speech and freedom of religion; and prohibiting schools from considering the race of applicants in admissions in public and private institutions.
There are two very good summaries of these three cases, here on AT by Andrea Widburg and in Real Clear Politics by Professor Charles Lipson. Dissents by justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, were so badly written and reasoned that some wag said he was inspired to tweet, ”Having read the dissents, I’m even more against affirmative action in judicial selection.”*
For most of us these were welcome outcomes, and while Senators Charles Grassley and Mitch McConnell played an important role in keeping Merrick Garland off the court and allowing President Trump to get three justices confirmed, the main honor goes to him.
As Mike David reminds us:
Trump’s flawless Gorsuch nomination and confirmation united weak and wobbly Senate Republicans to run over the Democrats’ filibuster and lower the vote threshold from 60 to 51.
This comforted Kennedy enough to retire, so Trump could replace Kennedy with his protégé — and still keep weak and wobbly Senate Republicans onboard.
(There’s no chance another Alito or Thomas could have been confirmed in 2018, with Collins, Murkowski, Flake, and others being so weak and wobbly.)
If Kavanaugh’s nomination failed, Republicans would’ve lost the Senate in 2018 and the Court after 2020.
Trump never blinked, even when almost every Senate Republican did.
Instead, we pulled the rabbit out of the hat.
And knocked out 4 Senate Democrat incumbents and picked up 2 seats (when Republicans lost the House).
This paved the way for Trump’s replacement of Ginsburg with Barrett.
First constitutionalist Supreme Court majority in 90 years.
I can think of no other Republican — besides Trump — who had the political skills, force of personality, and backbone to pull this off.
When anyone claims any other Republican president could do this or do this better, they clearly do not understand how the process actually works. And they would have clearly failed.
No rational person could find fault with the Court’s ruling on loan forgiveness. As the Court noted, even Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the president lacked authority to do this. It seems quite obvious that Biden chose to do so anyway for political advantage, inducing those looking for a way out of their obligations to vote for his party, knowing that it would be some time before the matter could wind its way through the courts and be undone. Speaking of the Heroes legislation which was the purported authority for Biden’s action, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The Secretary’s plan has ‘modified’ the cited provisions only in the same sense that ‘the French Revolution ‘modified’ the status of the French nobility’ — it has abolished them and supplanted them with a new regime entirely.” The Babylon Bee had fun at the expense of the Administration’s failed sleight of hand. The very notion that people who did not go to college or did go and paid off their loans should pay higher taxes to forgive loans even of couples earning up to $250,000 a year rankles almost everyone.
Nor, outside of Colorado and the Tenth Circuit, could you find many people who think you can, consistent with the Constitution, compel someone to produce a work which promoted something which violated their beliefs. It would be hard to imagine anyone suing or prosecuting Moslem bakers or website developers, for example, who refused to bake a cake or produce a website attacking Mohammed. We’ve had it with persecuting Christians and Jews for their beliefs.\
The decisions which drew the most heat were in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, which banned race-based academic admissions. Justice Sotomayor was so moved as to directly urge colleges to use race in admissions in whichever way they can: “We shall overcome,” she said in her dissent. The University of North Carolina pledged to follow the Court ruling; Harvard was moderately defiant. Picking up on the means to continue to weigh race that Roberts left them, indicating they’d find a way to consider race, stating: “The court ruled that colleges and universities may consider in admissions decisions ‘an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.’ We will certainly comply with the court’s decision.”
As Professor Lipson (cited above) describes the history of affirmative action and the court, this decision was long in the making and more than warranted not only by the Constitution but as well by changing circumstances. It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that legal discrimination was outlawed and universities wanted to help African American students get a leg up even when they did not meet the normal admission standards. They began with admission quotas, which were ruled illegal, and then moved to affirmative-action policies. He contends the court permitted this as a pragmatic step, believing that it was necessary to help overcome these student’s “historical burdens.” But the courts wanted to permit only “modest advantages” and many judges and Americans expected these advantages — which clearly were unconstitutional — would fade in time.
He imagines that the universities will do whatever they can to evade the new ruling. As others also have noted, many of them have eliminated standardized admission tests — because when they use them, the extent of the discrimination is more easily apparent; indeed, “they provide damning statistical evidence the schools’ admission policies still discriminate illegally.” Countermeasures to maintain statistical evidence of compliance are available, of course; governments (most easily state legislatures in red states) could predicate receipt of state funds on standardized test scores by applicants. Schools can still choose how much weight to give them, but there will at least by an objective way to monitor admissions decisions.
Melissa Korn at the Wall Street Journal has thoroughly researched efforts to maintain racially diverse campuses in schools banned from considering race, and the history of such efforts indicates no reason to be optimistic about any alternatives succeeding in maintaining the level of minority applicants affirmative action policies did. When California banned race-based admissions at the University of California, despite “a bevy of recruiting and admissions initiatives” the share of Black and Hispanic students dropped substantially. And, no, race and socioeconomic status are not co-extensive, so looking at household income won’t achieve that goal. “There are more low-income white households than there are low-income Black and Hispanic households combined.”
”Socioeconomic status turns out to be a weak proxy for race. In the U.S. the median income for non-Hispanic white households — $78,000 — was about one-third higher than it was for Hispanic households in 2021, and the gap was even larger in Black families. Yet there were more than three times as many white households earning under $50,000 in 2021 as there were black or Hispanic households with similar earnings, census data show.”
Some states have tried to simply admit the top graduates from every high school, but that isn’t sure fire either. It works only “if the schools are dominated” by Black or Hispanic students, “diverse high schools don’t move the needle much.”
And then there are financial constraints. Only richer schools can afford extensive financial-aid budgets, and, then there’s school size. The most highly sought schools tend to be small.
Can schools get around all this and increase minority enrollment by favoring “first-generation college students who grew up speaking Spanish in one-parent households or setting different income thresholds for certain groups of students.” Probably not, according to law professor Gail Heriot, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Despite having spent hundreds of millions expanding the “pipeline of minority students” the University of California has not been able to increase Black and Hispanic Admissions. ”Black students were 5% of the 2021 high school graduating class, 2% of the first year students at Berkeley and 2.4% of the first year students systemwide [throughout the University’s 10 campuses].” Florida, too, eliminated race-based affirmative action, guaranteeing admission to its university system to the top 20% of public high school graduates, but has only been moderately successful in boosting minority enrollment, In 2022 the flagship University of Florida only 5.5% of its students were Black, “far below the share” of the state’s Black high school graduates. Texas and Michigan which also banned race-based admissions have had similar results.
Maybe it’s time to give up the notion that universities exist to refashion society, and consider that all the money and effort that goes into maintaining schools of higher education is better spent on educating those people with the aptitude and interest in mastering higher-level education whatever their race or ethnicity. Just a thought.
Correction: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly identified Ilya Somin as the author of the tweet.
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Farticles%2F2023%2F07%2Ftrumps_greatest_triumph_a_court_that_follow_the_constitution.html
“France Burns While Media Demand We Pretend Not to See the Origin of the “Crisis”…” by Sundance – July 2, 2023
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/07/02/france-burns-while-media-demand-we-pretend-not-to-see-the-origin-of-the-crisis/
Jacques Baud: The Wagner Mutiny
https://www.thepostil.com/the-wagner-mutiny/
Good, balanced look at the Prigozhin Circus and the very telling Western response. No conspiracy-mongering, this is solid.
Now, all these pro-Russia analysts try to throw shade on Prig and Wagner. To dismantle the Cult of Personality that TPTB allowed to develop. This author spares us the CIA/MI6 red herrings.
Thing is, the real RF military is losing in days – hours! – what Wagner achieved in long, bloody months. It’s really depressing.
We’ll see whether or not Putin has coopted the best military journalists. So far, no. We’re watching updates every 12 hours; back-&-forth, every bloody meter.
Fog of war is not wholesome. We miss Wagner!