Reader’s Links for October 16th, 2023

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Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

For those interested, please check out https://vladtepesblog.substack.com/ as an another avenue of expression.

About Eeyore

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

44 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 16th, 2023”

  1. This morning I will coin a new term: “Money Ghost”. I met one, or two yesterday.

    I went to a flea market south of the city. I struck up a conversation with two men running a booth selling vegetables. In short, they explained how they were working towards being as invisible as possible to government. They dealt only in cash and barter, showing no income. They were strong advocates of the trucker’s freedom protest. Most people in Dystopia don’t realize just how pervasive that movement has become. It is quiet but very much alive. One of these men had been de-banked. When I mentioned to him I had read over one-million people in the U.K. have been de-banked, he shot back with “278”–the number in Canada. Maybe the originators of modern de-banking have become shy, for the time being, to continue with it. I don’t know if this number is correct. Regardless, I’m sure the de-bankers will be back.

    So money ghosts are people who reject government interference in favour of setting up parallel societies, just as survivors of the Soviet era have instructed should be done.

    Here is a good, clear explanation of the economic mess created by central planning, Keynesianism, and bad actors who have stolen from our future to live well today:

    https://economicprism.com/how-the-dianne-feinstein-effect-wrecked-the-future/

  6. Exclusive: How Andriy Derkach’s Activities Uncovered Joe Biden’s Connection to a Corrupt Scheme of Reverse Gas Supplies in Ukraine
    By Guest Contributor Oct. 16, 2023 8:00 am50 Comments

    Ukrainian politician Andriy Derkach, Rudy Giuliani, and Joe and Hunter Biden.
    Guest post by Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos

    Despite active opposition from Democrats, the scandal surrounding corruption schemes involving the Biden family is growing ever larger. With Biden Sr.’s easy hand, key authorities – the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS and U.S. diplomatic missions abroad – have been involved in the scandal, hiding evidence and slowing down any investigations into the current president and his son over the past five years.

    At the center of an investigation by Republicans on two House committees that could end with Biden’s impeachment is the current U.S. President Joseph Biden (the former Vice President under Barack Obama), members of his family (especially son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden) and his inner circle, in particular, Amos Hochstein, Antony Blinken, Marie Jovanovitch, George Kent and John Kerry. And the country where international corruption in Biden’s performance flourished to the greatest extent can deservedly be Ukraine, which was in Joe Biden’s area of responsibility under President Barack Obama.

    One of the episodes concerning Biden’s possible money-making schemes in Ukraine is Ukraine’s conversion to reverse supplies of natural gas. The evidence in this scheme was made public by perhaps Biden’s main opponent outside the United States, Ukrainian politician Andriy Derkach, who also introduced the world to such crimes as the Bidens’ shady earnings and influence peddling to protect the interests of Burisma Holdings, the plundering of international technical assistance by grant organizations in Ukraine with the tacit approval of the U.S. Democratic top brass and its leader, NABU’s interference in the 2016 presidential election on Hillary Clinton’s side, and the accountability of law enforcement agencies in Ukraine to officers of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

    Let’s tell the story of the reversal in more detail. During the period of complication in relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation after the annexation of Crimea and fighting in the east of Ukraine (in the so-called LPR and DPR), it was international organizations and the United States that determined the vector of development of the Ukrainian energy sector – to “energy independence” from Russia and integration into the European energy system. This transition implied the purchase of energy carriers at European spot prices and regulation of the domestic market in terms of pricing. These changes led to an active increase in gas, electricity and heating tariffs for industry and households, which has not stopped until now.

    The two key players in this industry were and still are the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities, which influenced only the pricing of domestic market tariffs, and PJV Naftogaz of Ukraine, the state monopoly and Ukraine’s largest and most profitable company. For the management of PJV Naftogaz of Ukraine, in addition to its immediate head Andriy Kobolev (many media outlets wrote about his close ties to the United States and even his American citizenship), the Supervisory Board of the company included Amos Hochstein, an adviser to U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden on energy issues. Hochstein held this position until 2021, and is now appointed as Biden’s White House advisor.

    It is Amos Hochstein that the media call the architect of the corrupt scheme that involved the so-called reverse of European gas to Ukraine. And it was to control its implementation by Kobolev that Amos Hochstein was appointed to the Supervisory Board of Naftohaz of Ukraine.

    The Amos Hochstein-Andriy Kobolev nexus ensured the “reverse gas supply scheme” during 2015-2020. As part of this scheme, Ukraine, having officially refused to purchase Russian gas, imitated the search for new supplier countries. The population read news about the transition to “reverse supplies” of gas from Europe, but in reality Ukraine bought the same Russian gas, although it paid for it to new companies and with due regard for the financial interests of all those involved.

    To physically organize corruption on the reverse route, several proxy firms were created. An example is the company “ERU Trading”, which in 2015 alone purchased more than 420 million m3 of “European” gas from the Slovakian division of ENGIE and resold it to Ukrainian industrial enterprises. The funds received as a result of such a scheme were withdrawn to offshore companies.

    In particular, it was Andriy Derkach who showed during the press conference in Kyiv that only on two episodes from July 2016 to July 2017, 348 and 274 million hryvnias were withdrawn to the account of ERU Management Services LLC, i.e. in total – more than 620 million hryvnias. According to calculations made public in Ukraine, Kobolev’s team managed to withdraw $50 from the Ukrainian budget for each 1,000 m3 of gas on such supplies, which totaled $1.5 billion.

    At the same time, Ukraine has never denied that the scheme was organized thanks to the participation of Amos Hochstein and the patronage of Joe Biden. “The reverse from Slovakia in 2014 was made by Joe Biden,” the authoritative Ukrainian weekly Liga quoted the trader as saying.

    Today, the media are increasingly talking about the synchronization of law enforcement actions in Ukraine and the United States, further attempts to hide or destroy everything related to the cases of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Burisma, USAID grantees, and the fact that the authorities are trying to get possible witnesses to Biden’s international corruption in Ukraine out of harm’s way. In the last six months alone, three cases involving key witnesses to Biden’s corruption schemes have been closed in Ukraine (in the Burisma case), and a fourth case – against Andriy Kobolev, the head of Naftogaz of Ukraine, who is the executor of Amos Hochstein’s billion-dollar scheme to “reverse European gas” to Ukraine – is close to being completely dismantled.

    In the past, the US Democratic top brass traditionally defended itself against Derkach’s accusations, calling them “disinformation and Russian propaganda.” But what to do now that his evidence is being corroborated in official investigative documents in the U.S. itself? Perhaps it’s time to invite him to the US presidential impeachment hearings and get all the first-hand information about Biden’s possible crimes?

    The full version of the material dedicated to the investigations of Andriy Derkach and Joe Biden’s corruption crimes in Ukraine can be found here.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/exclusive-how-andriy-derkachs-activities-uncovered-joe-bidens/

  7. China says Israel’s actions in Gaza are ‘beyond self defense’ as U.S. races to avert wider conflict
    PUBLISHED SUN, OCT 15 2023 10:35 PM EDT

    China urged Israel to stop its collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, as the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raced through the Middle East over the weekend in an attempt to stave off a wider war in the region.

    It’s been more than a week after the Hamas militant group staged its worst assault on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, killing at least 1,400 mostly civilians in the Jewish state.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/16/china-says-israels-actions-in-gaza-have-gone-beyond-self-defense.html

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

    Chinese, Saudi Arabian FMs hold phone talks on Palestinian-Israeli conflict
    Source: XinhuaEditor: huaxia2023-10-15 13:03:45

    BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday held a phone conversation with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

    Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that all parties should refrain from any actions that escalate the situation and should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

    China opposes and condemns all acts that harm civilians because they violate the basic human conscience and the basic norms of international relations, Wang said.

    Israel’s actions have gone beyond self-defense and it should heed the call of the international community and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to stop its collective punishment of the people in Gaza, he said.

    China is in intensive communication with all parties to push for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting, he said, adding that the pressing task is to ensure the safety of civilians, open humanitarian corridors for aid as soon as possible, and protect the basic needs of the people in Gaza.

    Noting that China believes that the historical injustices against Palestine have lasted for more than half a century and cannot go on, he said that all countries that love peace and uphold justice should speak up and clearly call for early implementation of the two-state solution.

    China stands ready to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to continue supporting the Palestinians’ just cause of restoring their national rights and bring the Palestinian question back to the right track of the two-state solution so that it can be resolved comprehensively, justly and permanently, said Wang.

    For his part, Faisal said that Saudi Arabia, deeply concerned about the current development of the Palestinian-Israeli situation, condemns all attacks on civilians and opposes Israel’s forced relocation of people in Gaza outside the area.

    It is imperative that humanitarian supplies reach the people in Gaza as soon as possible, Faisal said, expressing the hope that the international community will work together to prevent the conflict from spreading to other countries.

    Saudi Arabia believes that without the implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, there can be no just and permanent solutions to the Palestinian question, he said.

    Noting that China plays an important and fundamental role in promoting world peace and stability, Faisal said that Saudi Arabia stands ready to work with China to urge all parties to observe the international humanitarian law, protect civilians from harm, and implement relevant Security Council resolutions on the Palestinian question. ?

    https://english.news.cn/20231015/fbceeb84a1e5401283c127ac9425dd50/c.html

    • I always found the desperation for a hudna with S.A. distasteful. And never could get as excited over the Abraham Accords as everybody else. The UAE and Bahrain were already doing plenty of business and sharing intelligence with Israel.

      As far as China brokering reconciliation between S.A. and the Twisted Ragheads… Well, it certainly seems to have inflated China’s pride. More fuel for the Wolf Warriors.

      At least Putin appreciates fake diplomacy for what it is, he’s always at it. As “mediator” he smiles just like a shark

  9. BREAKING: Border Patrol Reports Recent Apprehensions of ‘Special Interest’ Iranians at Open US Southern Border – Raises Red Flags of Significant Terror Threat
    By Jim Hoft Oct. 16, 2023 9:10 am129 Comments

    US Customs and Border Patrol reported that four Iranians were apprehended at the open US southern border in the last month.

    The Iranians were considered “special interest aliens.”

    Via FOX News reporter Griff Jenkins:

    More from Griff: “A single male from Iran was apprehended at the border on Sunday. Three other men from Egypt and Lebanon were captured at the border last week.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/breaking-border-patrol-reports-recent-apprehensions-special-interest/

    • A real bad egg. 2015:
      What Stinks about Varoufakis and the Whole Greek Mess?

      Something stinks very bad about Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and the entire Greek mess that has been playing out since the election victory of the nominally pro-Greek Syriza Party in January. I am coming to the reluctant conclusion that far from being the champion of the hapless Greek people, Varoufakis is part of a far larger and very dirty game.

      https://archive.ph/yfyFk#selection-1527.0-1527.360

  12. Israel is just the beginning

    Let’s start with “who are the heroes?” Israel – how is it related to us? No way. It so happened that although there are many former compatriots there, the relations are below average. But: they didn’t sell or donate the “Iron Dome” to Ukraine – and that’s the point. Although the songs of the “ladies” in the IDF uniform about “Chervona Kalina” were strange. The anthem of the UPA, the executioners from which slaughtered Jews in Volyn in 1943, performed by seemingly Israeli women (albeit with Ukrainian roots) – well, this is a so-so show.

    In general, I would like our readers from there, Voyaka, Aaron and others to live in accordance with the canons until they are 120 years old and die differently than some of their fellow citizens have recently. I really want that.

    As for these “poor oppressed Palestinians”… I’ve listened to this eternal fairy tale since school, yes. You know, when I saw a video shot by one animal about how other animals kept their feet on Shani Luk, whom they had killed, and other animals spat on what used to be a girl, I somehow had no other thoughts. Animals.

    The ugliest thing here is that 30-year-old German citizen Luk actively participated in the work of a Canadian organization that… was engaged in “the integration and adaptation of foreign specialists in Canada.” I don’t know how she managed it there, but the religious brothers of these specialists grabbed her in a music festival camp, broke her legs, killed her and then drove her around Gaza so that everyone (all on video) could spit on her corpse.

  13. Sovereignty
    In a democracy, man is the sovereign legislator—laws are based on the will of the people.

    Islam
    Allah is the Sovereign legislator, laws are legislated on the texts of the Qur’an, the Sunnah. People have no right to make Halal into Haram, or Haram into Halal, no matter how many people vote for it. The right to legislate belongs exclusively to Allah.

    The ideology of Islamists is against he Canadian Constitution, the Criminal Code of Canada, and the Charter of Rights and FREEDOMS.

    The Government of Canada, under Justine Trudeau is appeasing other Religious groups and turning its back on Christianity.

    In January of 2023, Justine Trudeau stated he was quite pleased with the appointment of Amira Elghawaby, a Muslim woman, as Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia. Her office was given a 5.6 million dollar budget. She receives a salary of $191,000 as Inclusion Advisor.

    Elghawaby previously worked for The National Council of Canadian Muslims and the CBC. She has made comments about Canadian History Christian Storytelling.

    Justine referred to her as a crucial point to fight Islamophobia and intolerance. “Diversity is one of Canada’s greatest strengths.”

    Justine awarded the Muslim Associations 23 million to help quell Islamophobia.
    Muslim “scholars” in Canada have stated clearly Islam and democracy are contradictory and ABSOLUTELY incompatible, because Islam FORBIDS mankind to legislate laws period

    We are sliding, appeasing, and not protecting OUR rights. Diversity will be our demise.

  14. ‘The Konceptsia’

    Intelligence failures are never about the details. In Israel’s case, the operational and conceptual failures that led to Saturday’s massacre are even more disturbing.

    Israel’s military operational failures were every bit as shocking [as in the Yom Kippur War], and perhaps even more consequential than its “intelligence failure.”

    Israeli fighter jets based two minutes flying time from the ruptured Gaza fence took six hours to appear overhead. Israeli soldiers were shot and abducted in their beds on army bases.

    A large, well-advertised public gathering of thousands of young Israelis, held right on the Gaza border – an event which may have in fact been the trigger for the attack – had no apparent security.

    Which brings us to our first point: Intelligence and military organizations function within the overall perspectives of the larger society to which their members belong; they help shape those perspectives, but they are also its captives.

    They look at the world through the same glasses – rose-tinted or otherwise – that the rest of us do. The view through those glasses is also inevitably expressed in strategic concepts—what Israelis in 1973 referred to as the “Konceptsia.…”

    When the dominant Konceptsia is set in stone, or becomes a self-reinforcing loop, even “obvious facts” will not make it to the operational level. While the details of who noticed or failed to notice what in any particular instance may seem scandalous or unforgivably stupid in retrospect, their role in the disasters that ultimately happened is likely to have been small.

    “Surprise attacks” are therefore more than simply the products of “intelligence failures.” They signal confusion at the level of societal leadership.…

    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/konceptsia-intelligence-failure

    • Abu Yahuda:
      Why We Failed

      Volumes could, and will be, written about how Israel allowed herself to be raped by Hamas on 7 October 2023. But to focus on the forest rather than the trees, I see two major failures:

      The first was the reliance on interconnected automated systems to secure the border, replacing traditional human observers and patrols. In exceptional situations, humans can take initiative and act outside of the system. They can act alone when communication is cut off, and they can recalibrate themselves to entirely new operational environments that were previously unexpected. A military unit can be designed to operate together under centralized control, but individual soldiers can also fight independently if they must.

      This is precisely the capability that was not designed into the automated systems that were supposed to replace traditional boots on the ground. The remote cameras, sensors, and remotely operated or automated weapons that were installed did not have the distributed intelligence that human armies do. Even after a surprise attack, human soldiers can regroup, make new plans, and counterattack. The automated systems could not….

      The more sophisticated a technology, the more complicated it is, the more parts it has, and more possible avenues there are to attack it….

      Richard once said: The high tech weapons are necessary but no matter what you do the war isn’t over until some scared soldier with a knife on the end of his rifle digs them out of their holes.

      The second major failure was similar to the disaster of the Yom Kippur War: what Israelis call “the conseptzia.” The conception, in this case, was that Hamas was not interested in a major confrontation with Israel, that it was concerned with the practical matters of governing Gaza, and that it could be bribed by allowing the influx of cash from Qatar…

      Israel’s leadership ignored the bloodthirsty threats that continued to issue from Hamas, ignored the buildup of its forces, and ignored the ongoing training exercises intended to develop their ability to invade Israel’s bases, towns, and kibbutzim (Hamas even built a model kibbutz that they practiced attacking)….

      Some of the Gazans who were given permits to work in Israel were in fact spies who gathered information about the targets that would be attacked on 7 October. Detailed maps of army bases, towns, and kibbutzim were found on terrorists that were killed in the attack. In the future, Jews will have to do their own farming and construction work, or bring in foreign workers that aren’t moonlighting as terrorists.
      …
      Certainly the Americans are still committed to the idea of a Palestinian state in the territories, even if they have learned that Hamas – at least by that name – can’t be part of it. Moti Kedar said that the top leadership of our military establishment “speak American, not Hebrew.” That, too, will have to change.

      https://abuyehuda.com/2023/10/why-we-failed/

      • U.S. funded-&-organized color revolution. Military and intelligence elite were distracted, chain of command got loused up.

        Of course as soon as the smoke clears they’ll achieve their goal of ousting Bibi. That’s the pattern: Golda, Begin.

        • War is a very barbaric affair, all the efforts to make war cleaner and less deadly do is make the wars longer and deadlier for the side that refuses to accept reality and fight for a clear victory. Western Civ has spent all of the time since WWII trying to find a substitute for victory and failing. All of the calls for a cease fire and negotiated settlement are doing is insuring that the but hers bill will be much larger.

  15. 2 Killed in Brussels Shooting After Gunman Yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ While Opening Fire With AK-47: Report
    The two victims were reportedly wearing Sweden soccer jerseys during the attack, which played out just before the Euro soccer qualifier
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/2-killed-in-brussels-shooting-after-gunman-yelled-allahu-akbar-while-opening-fire-with-ak-47-report/ar-AA1ijeRR
    Two people are dead and several are injured after an AK-47 yielding gunman allegedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” and opened fire near the heart of Brussels, Belgium on Monday night, according to local media reports.
    The assailant, who opened fire after getting off a scooter, shot two victims who were reportedly wearing Sweden soccer jerseys, Sudinfo, a Belgian news service, reported.
    The violence played out just ahead of the UEFA European Championship qualifying soccer match between Belgium and Sweden scheduled for Monday night. The game was set to be held at Heysel Stadium, some three miles away from where the shooting unfolded.
    Video circulating on social media and aired on Belgian broadcast news that was reportedly taken at the scene shows a man wearing a bright orange shirt firing on fleeing pedestrians.
    The man could be seen chasing after several people, following them into a building before firing his weapon again.
    [..]
    According to Sudinfo, the suspect allegedly said he shot the two people to “avenge the Muslims” and added that “we live and die for our religion.” The man was seen fleeing the scene on his scooter, the outlet reported.
    Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers quickly arrived at the scene, and sealed off the immediate neighborhood. She declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting.
    The shooting came at a time of increased vigilance linked to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has heightened tension in several European nations.

    VIDEO of shooting
    https://twitter.com/intelFromBrian/status/1713988783769604337?s=20

  16. Abu Yahuda:

    The Proper Objectives of the Campaign in Gaza

    The first and highest-priority objective must be the restoration of Israel’s honor and power of deterrence in the Middle East. This is the part that is the most difficult to understand for the West, particularly by the elites in the US and Europe, but it is an existential condition for the survival of our state. A person or a nation without honor will not live long in this region.

    What was done to us, what we allowed to be done to us, was so shameful that today we stand naked, a target for anyone who wants to kill us, to invade our country, to take our property, to defile our women, to enslave our children….

    The long-term objective must be to ensure that this cannot happen again. And from a strategic standpoint, that implies that Israel must either implement a military occupation capable of controlling the population and preventing the rise of a new terrorist regime, or she must force a change in the population to one that will not become a threat….

    https://abuyehuda.com/2023/10/the-proper-objectives-of-the-campaign-in-gaza/

  17. BREAKING: OBAMA JUDGE HITS TRUMP WITH GAG ORDER! – THEN LECTURES TRUMP ATTORNEYS ON ELECTION INTERFERENCE!
    By Jim Hoft Oct. 16, 2023 11:55 am1186 Comments

    Lawless DC Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama-appointed judge, hit President Trump with a gag order on Monday.

    President Trump will be barred from speaking out against Special Counsel Jack Smith, court witnesses and more!

    This is complete lawlessness and is meant to silence President Trump as Jack Smith continues to leak to the press on a weekly basis.

    Holy crap!

    CNBC reported:

    A federal judge Monday imposed a partial gag order on former President Donald Trump in his criminal election interference case in Washington, D.C.

    U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan barred Trump and other parties in the case from making any public statements targeting special counsel Jack Smith and his staff. She also prohibited statements targeting court staff.

    The ruling by Chutkan granted some of the restrictions sought by Smith, whose office is prosecuting the federal case accusing Trump of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.

    Chutkan delivered the ruling at the end of a hearing in which she expressed concerns about the scope of Smith’s proposed order.

    At one point, Chutkan asked prosecutor Molly Gaston to define which of Trump’s statements about the case would qualify as “disparaging,” and therefore be barred under the gag order. She also asked how such an order could be enforced against a former president.

    Chutkan clashed repeatedly with Trump defense lawyer John Lauro, who argued that the effort to limit his client’s out-of-court statements would violate Trump’s First Amendment rights.

    Lauro also argued that a gag order would adversely impact Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. He accused the Justice Department under President Joe Biden of censoring Trump, and claimed, without evidence, that the case against Trump was inextricably linked to Trump’s effort to reclaim the White House from Biden.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/breaking-trump-hit-gag-order-leading-presidential-candidate/

    • Is this becoming a back-handed way to keep foreign policy in the hands of those who despise Israel?

  18. Trump Responds to Judge Chutkan’s Gag Order
    By Cristina Laila Oct. 16, 2023 1:30 pm662 Comments

    President Trump on Monday afternoon responded to Judge Tanya Chutkan’s gag order.

    Judge Tanya Chutkan held a hearing on Monday morning on Jack Smith’s proposed gag order and used it as an opportunity to attack Trump.

    Chutkan laughed at Trump’s lawyers and lectured them on election interference.

    Judge Chutkan laughed at Trump’s lawyers before telling them that Trump does not have unfettered First Amendment Rights.

    “You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn’t,” Judge Chutkan said, according to the AP. “We’re not talking about censorship here. We’re talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case.”

    President Trump will be barred from speaking out against Special Counsel Jack Smith, court witnesses and more!

    Trump responded to Chutkan’s unconstitutional gag order.

    “A TERRIBLE THING HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY TODAY – GAG ORDER!” Trump said on Truth Social as he was about to land in Adel, Iowa for a campaign rally.

    Trump’s spokeswoman Liz Harrington also released a statement on Chutkan’s gag order.

    “Today’s decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement,” Liz Harrington said.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/trump-responds-judge-chutkans-gag-order/

  19. Obama Judge Chutkan Laughs at Trump’s Lawyers, Says Trump Doesn’t Have “Unfettered First Amendment Rights”
    By Cristina Laila Oct. 16, 2023 1:10 pm387 Comments

    Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday imposed a gag order on Trump in the middle of a presidential election.

    Last month Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to gag Trump.

    “The need for the proposed order is further evidenced by a review of the defendant’s prejudicial statements in the weeks since the Government initially filed its motion on September 15,” Jack Smith’s prosecutors wrote in the court filing reviewed by this reporter.

    Smith’s prosecutors said Trump waged “a sustained campaign of prejudicial public statements regarding witnesses, the Court, the District, and prosecutors.”

    Judge Tanya Chutkan held a hearing on Monday morning on Jack Smith’s proposed gag order and used it as an opportunity to attack Trump.

    President Trump will be barred from speaking out against Special Counsel Jack Smith, court witnesses and more!

    Trump’s lawyer John Lauro rightfully argued a gag order would stop Trump from campaigning and speaking on important issues.

    Judge Chutkan laughed at Trump’s lawyers before telling them that Trump does not have unfettered First Amendment Rights.

    “Chutkan laughed after Trump’s lawyer John Lauro argued that the current conditions are working, saying she disagreed before she went through some of Trump’s statements one by one. Chutakn said Trump “doesn’t” have unfettered First Amendment rights, and that there’s “no question” that the court is entitled to draw restrictions to ensure the fair administration of justice.” NBC News reported.

    “You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn’t,” Judge Chutkan said, according to the AP. “We’re not talking about censorship here. We’re talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case.”

    The trial date is scheduled for March 4, 2024.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/obama-judge-chutkan-laughs-trumps-lawyers-says-trump/

  20. House Oversight Launches Investigation Into Whether Biden’s Stolen Classified Documents Were Used to Make His Family $Millions$
    By Cristina Laila Oct. 16, 2023 11:45 am146 Comments

    The House Oversight Committee on Monday launched an investigation into whether Joe Biden’s stolen classified were used to make his family millions of dollars.

    “We are investigating whether classified documents President Biden was caught mishandling included sensitive information related to specific countries involved in his family’s foreign business schemes that brought in millions for the Bidens,” the Oversight Committee said on Monday.

    On Monday House Oversight Chairman James Comer sent a letter to Special Counsel Robert Hur demanding more information about Joe Biden’s stolen classified documents.

    The House Oversight Committee last week revealed that five White House employees were involved in Biden’s stolen classified documents case.

    The Committee also revealed Joe Biden and his attorney lied about communications and when the classified documents were discovered.

    Joe Biden STOLE SCIF-designated classified documents and improperly stored them at the Penn Biden Center. He also stored classified documents in his garage next to his Corvette where his son Hunter had access to the sensitive materials.

    Nine boxes of documents were taken from Joe Biden’s lawyer’s Boston office and we have no idea what is in those boxes because the National Archives is covering up for Biden.

    Recall that it was reported that Joe Biden’s attorney first discovered “Obama-Biden administration documents in a locked closet while packing files as they prepare to close out Biden’s office in the Penn Biden Center” in November 2022. Biden and his team claimed they immediately contacted the National Archives upon discovering the documents in November 2022.

    “They immediately called the Archives — immediately called the Archives, turned them over to the Archives, and I was briefed about this discovery,” Biden said in November 2022.

    This timeline presented by Biden’s attorney is of course a lie.

    According to new information released by the House Oversight Committee, Joe Biden lied about the timeline. Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations, went to Penn Biden Center to take inventory of President Biden’s documents and materials on March 18, 2021.

    The classified documents were discovered nearly TWO YEARS before Joe Biden’s lawyer said he ‘found’ them.

    Chairman Comer in his letter cited Robert Hur’s interview with Joe Biden.

    “Recent reports indicate you recently interviewed President Biden and other individuals involved in this matter, and the Committee now seeks information from your office to further our investigation,” Comer’s letter to Hur said. “As detailed in the Oversight Committee’s bank memoranda and Impeachment Inquiry Memorandum, evidence suggests President Biden may have used certain members of his family-particularly his son, Hunter Biden-to accumulate millions of dollars from foreign individuals and entities for the benefit of his family and himself.”

    “Indeed, the Biden family received millions of dollars from foreign sources while President Biden served in public office and afterwards,” the Oversight Committee said. “If any of the classified documents mishandled by President Biden involved countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies, the Committee needs access to that information to evaluate whether our national security has been compromised.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/house-oversight-launches-investigation-whether-bidens-stolen-classified/

  21. Jack Smith Hiding Names of His Prosecutors Trying to Jail Trump in Violation of Federal FOIA Law
    By Cristina Laila Oct. 16, 2023 4:20 pm59 Comments

    Special Counsel Jack Smith is still hiding the names of his prosecutors in violation of federal Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) law.

    The Jack Smith Special Counsel refuses to release the names of his team members. Why is that? We know they are most certainly ALL Democrats. We know they lack integrity and honor.

    In June, Tom Fitton and Judicial Watch sued Joe Biden’s DOJ to obtain the names of the radical Democrats who are members of Jack Smith’s Special Counsel.

    Jack Smith refuses to release the names of his team of radical prosecutors trying to jail Trump.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/10/jack-smith-hiding-names-his-prosecutors-trying-jail/

  23. 2006 Audio Emerges of Hillary Clinton Proposing Rigging Palestine Election
    Unearthed tape: ‘We should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win’
    By Ken Kurson • 10/28/16 1:00pm

    On September 5, 2006, Eli Chomsky was an editor and staff writer for the Jewish Press, and Hillary Clinton was running for a shoo-in re-election as a U.S. senator. Her trip making the rounds of editorial boards brought her to Brooklyn to meet the editorial board of the Jewish Press.

    The tape was never released and has only been heard by the small handful of Jewish Press staffers in the room. According to Chomsky, his old-school audiocassette is the only existent copy and no one has heard it since 2006, until today when he played it for the Observer.

    The tape is 45 minutes and contains much that is no longer relevant, such as analysis of the re-election battle that Sen. Joe Lieberman was then facing in Connecticut. But a seemingly throwaway remark about elections in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority has taken on new relevance amid persistent accusations in the presidential campaign by Clinton’s Republican opponent Donald Trump that the current election is “rigged.”

    Speaking to the Jewish Press about the January 25, 2006, election for the second Palestinian Legislative Council (the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority), Clinton weighed in about the result, which was a resounding victory for Hamas (74 seats) over the U.S.-preferred Fatah (45 seats).

    “I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake,” said Sen. Clinton. “And if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”

    Chomsky recalls being taken aback that “anyone could support the idea—offered by a national political leader, no less—that the U.S. should be in the business of fixing foreign elections.”

    Some eyebrows were also raised when then-Senator Clinton appeared to make a questionable moral equivalency.

    Eli Chomsky participated in an interview with Hillary Clinton at the Jewish Press in 2006.
    Eli Chomsky, photographed today at the Observer offices, participated in an interview with Hillary Clinton at the Jewish Press in 2006.
    Regarding capturing combatants in war—the June capture of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas militants who came across the Gaza border via an underground tunnel was very much front of mind—Clinton can be heard on the tape saying, “And then, when, you know, Hamas, you know, sent the terrorists, you know, through the tunnel into Israel that killed and captured, you know, kidnapped the young Israeli soldier, you know, there’s a sense of like, one-upsmanship, and in these cultures of, you know, well, if they captured a soldier, we’ve got to capture a soldier.”

    Equating Hamas, which to this day remains on the State Department’s official list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, with the armed forces of a close American ally was not what many expected to hear in the Jewish Press editorial offices, which were then at Third Avenue and Third Street in Brooklyn. (The paper’s office has since moved to the Boro Park section of Brooklyn.) The use of the phrase “these cultures” is also a bit of a head-scratcher.

    According to Chomsky, Clinton was “gracious, personable and pleasant throughout” the interview, taking about an hour to speak to, in addition to himself, managing editor Jerry Greenwald, assistant to the publisher Naomi Klass Mauer, counsel Dennis Rapps and senior editor Jason Maoz.

    Another part of the tape highlights something that was relatively uncontroversial at the time but has taken on new meaning in light of the current campaign—speaking to leaders with whom our country is not on the best terms. Clinton has presented a very tough front in discussing Russia, for example, accusing Trump of unseemly ardor for strongman Vladimir Putin and mocking his oft-stated prediction that as president he’d “get along” with Putin.

    Chomsky is heard on the tape asking Clinton what now seems like a prescient question about Syria, given the disaster unfolding there and its looming threat to drag the U.S., Iran and Russia into confrontation.

    “Do you think it’s worth talking to Syria—both from the U.S. point [of view] and Israel’s point [of view]?”

    Clinton replied, “You know, I’m pretty much of the mind that I don’t see what it hurts to talk to people. As long as you’re not stupid and giving things away. I mean, we talked to the Soviet Union for 40 years. They invaded Hungary, they invaded Czechoslovakia, they persecuted the Jews, they invaded Afghanistan, they destabilized governments, they put missiles 90 miles from our shores, we never stopped talking to them,” an answer that reflects her mastery of the facts but also reflects a willingness to talk to Russia that sounds more like Trump 2016 than Clinton 2016.

    This is how news used to be collected.
    This is how news used to be collected.
    Shortly after, she said, “But if you say, ‘they’re evil, we’re good, [and] we’re never dealing with them,’ I think you give up a lot of the tools that you need to have in order to defeat them…So I would like to talk to you [the enemy] because I want to know more about you. Because if I want to defeat you, I’ve got to know something more about you. I need different tools to use in my campaign against you. That’s my take on it.”

    A final bit of interest to the current campaign involves an articulation of phrases that Trump has accused Clinton of being reluctant to use. Discussing the need for a response to terrorism, Clinton said, “I think you can make the case that whether you call it ‘Islamic terrorism’ or ‘Islamo-fascism,’ whatever the label is we’re going to give to this phenomenon, it’s a threat. It’s a global threat. To Europe, to Israel, to the United States…Therefore we need a global response. It’s a global threat and it needs a global response. That can be the, sort of, statement of principle…So I think sometimes having the global vision is a help as long as you realize that underneath that global vision there’s a lot of variety and differentiation that has to go on.”

    It’s not clear what she means by a global vision with variety and differentiation, but what’s quite clear is that the then-senator, just five years after her state was the epicenter of the September 11 attacks, was comfortable deploying the phrase “Islamic terrorism” and the even more strident “Islamo-fascism,” at least when meeting with the editorial board of a Jewish newspaper.

    In an interview before the Observer heard the tape, Chomsky told the Observer that Clinton made some “odd and controversial comments” on the tape. The irony of a decade-old recording emerging to feature a candidate making comments that are suddenly relevant to voters today was not lost on Chomsky, who wrote the original story at the time. Oddly enough, that story, headlined “Hillary Clinton on Israel, Iraq and Terror,” is no longer available on jewishpress.com and even a short summary published on the Free Republic site offers a broken link that can no longer surface the story.

    “I went to my bosses at the time,” Chomsky told the Observer. “The Jewish Press had this mindset that they would not want to say anything offensive about anybody—even a direct quote from anyone—in a position of influence because they might need them down the road. My bosses didn’t think it was newsworthy at the time. I was convinced that it was and I held onto it all these years.”

    Disclosure: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of Jared Kushner, publisher of Observer Media.

    https://observer.com/2016/10/2006-audio-emerges-of-hillary-clinton-proposing-rigging-palestine-election/

    • The Scars of Democracy
      Theodor Adorno and the crises of liberalism.

      On April 6, 1967, Theodor W. Adorno accepted an invitation from the Association of Socialist Students at the University of Vienna to deliver a lecture on “aspects of the new right-wing extremism.”

      The topic held a special urgency: The National Democratic Party, a recently founded neofascist group in West Germany, was surging in popularity and would soon surpass the official 5 percent threshold needed to secure representation in seven of Germany’s 11 regional parliaments.

      In Europe after World War II, Adorno was highly esteemed not only for his philosophical and cultural writings but also for his analysis of the fascist tendencies that still survived in the so-called liberal democratic orders of the capitalist West, and the students and socialist activists gathered in Vienna were eager to hear his thoughts.”

      https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/adorno-aspects-new-right-wing-extremism/

  24. Hamas Islamist terrorists have released video of an injured Israeli hostage Mia Schem from Gaza.
    IDF Statement
    Last week, Mia Schem’s family was informed by IDF officials that Mia had been adbucted.
    IDF representatives are in continuous contact with the family.
    The IDF is deploying all intelligence and operational measures for the return of the hostages.
    In the video, Hamas is trying to portray itself as a humane organization, while it is a murderous terrorist organization responsible for the murder and abduction of babies, women, children, and elderly.
    https://twitter.com/AdityaRajKaul/status/1714024982072918409
    Aditya Raj Kaul – October 16, 2023
    https://twitter.com/AdityaRajKaul/status/1714024982072918409

  25. Can a Donor Revolt Save American Universities?

    After universities both-sides the mass slaughter of Jews, Bill Ackman, Jon Huntsman, and others are saying ‘the buck stops here.’

    https://www.thefp.com/p/can-the-donor-revolt-save-american-universities
    …….
    I already joined this jihad.

    I called an estate lawyer I know very well, one of the top in the country. Asked for suggestions of Harvard and MIT alumni I might approach. And names of other friendlies who work with high net worth individuals.

    Maybe the university administrators will learn their tolerance for naked incitement to violence is not cost free. Not every senior corporate executive has signed on to DIE DEI. Even those who have might think twice before hiring filthy, mouthy hate-mongers.

  26. AGRICULTURAL WATER USE
    by
    Katharina Buchholz,

    Oct 16, 2023
    Global water accessibility
    Agricultural water withdrawal way beyond the limit of renewable freshwater resources is most common today in countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Several other nations, for example Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Pakistan and India, stick out for using up a higher share of their freshwater resources in agriculture than their neighbors. This is according to the FAO Aquastat database, where the latest available year for the data is 2020.

    Desert climates like on the Arabian peninsular make countries there overextend their annual water budgets by agriculture alone. This has led to studies concluding that the United Arab Emirates, for example, could run out of groundwater by 2030. In Pakistan and Iran, between 63 and 70 percent of renewable freshwater resources were dedicated to agriculture in 2020, rising to 68 and 77 percent including all freshwater uses. Extensive and water-intensive agriculture, including cotton crops, is also driving up freshwater use in the semi-arid climates of Central Asia. Here, Uzbekistan used 111 percent of renewable water resources per year, followed by Turkmenistan at 65 percent (106 percent when counting all freshwater use). The only other country extending its freshwater budget only when combining agriculture and other freshwater uses was Jordan.

    Agriculture accounts for 72 percent of all freshwater withdrawals globally, including a lot of overuse. According to the FAO, global freshwater resources per person have declined by 20 percent in the past decades, while water availability and quality have also deteriorated. Additional factors playing a role in this are pollution and climate change, stretching the precious resource even thinner. October 16 marks World Food Day, which this year has the motto: Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind.

    Infographic: Agriculture Puts Strain on Water Resources in MENA Region | Statista
    DESCRIPTION

    This chart shows agricultural water withdrawal as a share of total renewable water resources in 2020.

    Report

    Download Chart

    https://www.statista.com/chart/31038/agricultural-water-withdrawal-share-of-total-renewable-water-resources/

  27. (Richard: Gun control is dead, the control freak politicians are refusing to accept reality but world events are forcing reality on them. Gun control kills people, the left would rather you die then be armed and defend themselves.)

    Supreme Court Orders ‘Ghost Gun’ Makers To Comply With Biden’s Rule
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    MONDAY, OCT 16, 2023 – 07:55 PM
    On Monday evening, the Supreme Court directed two “ghost gun” manufacturers, BlackHawk Manufacturing Group and Defense Distributed, to comply with a Biden administration rule that mandates the serialization of unfinished gun parts, like a lower receiver for an AR-15 or the frame of a handgun.

    SUPREME COURT BOLSTERS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION `GHOST GUN’ RULE
    TOP COURT BLOCKS EXEMPTIONS FOR TWO `GHOST GUN’ MANUFACTURERS
    “The justices, without any public dissents, granted a request from the administration, which said two lower courts had “effectively countermanded” an Aug. 8 Supreme Court order that allowed the regulations for the time being,” according to Bloomberg.

    After the Supreme Court’s first ruling on Aug. 8, Judge Reed O’Connor of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas permitted both manufacturers to sell ghost gun kits. The court asserted that the justices had left open the option of any relief for individual businesses.

    The regulation does not ban ghost gun kits. Instead, manufacturers and sellers must obtain licenses, serialize each kit, and require background checks.

    Biden administration alleges that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’s ghost gun rule will counter the flood of untraceable firearms pouring into cities.

    The rule will be effective while the administration appeals the judge’s ruling to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans – and potentially the Supreme Court.

    However, Defense Distributed saw this day coming and pivoted from 80% frames and receivers to 0% kits (read: here & here).

    That means DD’s Ghost Gunner 3, a 3-axis CNC machine, can take a metal block and create a lower receiver or frame.

    DD is years ahead of Biden’s rogue ATF. The recent Supreme Court decision shows the government’s discomfort with at-home gun kits, which have been available for many years.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/supreme-court-orders-ghost-gun-makers-comply-bidens-rule