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.

Scott LoBaido – Pizza – June 26, 2023
https://twitter.com/ScottLoBaido/status/1673373032075739141
Scott LoBaido – City Hall, NYC – March 20, 2024 – High Noon
https://twitter.com/ScottLoBaido/status/1767658921299157461
Family of 16-year-old victim of horrific attack says extent of brain damage is unknown, community steps up to help financially
by Carlos Garcia – March 13, 2024
https://www.theblaze.com/news/hazelwood-victim-kaylee-gain-attack
DeSantis Mobilizes Florida State Guard to Ward Off Expected Wave of Haitian Migrants
by Kristinn Taylor Mar. 14, 2024 7:30 am287 Comments
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is mobilizing State Guard other elements of the government to ward off an expected wave of Haitian migrants as the Caribbean nation descends further into chaos.
DeSantis posted to X Twitter on Wednesday about his move to protect Florida, “For quite some time, the State of Florida has been dedicating significant resources to combat illegal vessels coming to Florida from countries such as Haiti. Given the circumstances in Haiti, I have directed the Division of Emergency Management, the Florida State Guard, and state law enforcement agencies to deploy over 250 additional officers and soldiers and over a dozen air and sea craft to the southern coast of Florida to protect our state. No state has done more to supplement the (under-resourced) U.S. Coast Guard’s interdiction efforts; we cannot have illegal aliens coming to Florida.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/desantis-mobilizes-florida-state-guard-ward-expected-wave/
23 States and District of Columbia File Amicus Briefs in Favor of Joe Biden and Government Censorship and Regulation of Speech in America – via the MO v. Biden Case
by Jim Hoft Mar. 14, 2024 8:15 am174 Comments
Twenty-three Democrat run states and the District of Columbia, the home of our nation’s capital, filed amicus briefs in support of government censorship and banning of free speech in the United States.
These 23 states and the District of Columbia filed amicus briefs in support of the Biden administration in the SCOTUS case is Murthy, et al v. Missouri, et al, 23-411 (Missouri v. Biden) case.
The states essentially argue that they have an interest in collaborating with tech companies to “encourage” the public to behave themselves and “discourage” the public from believing alleged “disinformation” or engaging in online predatory behavior. The clear message is that they believe that the government has the right to shut down and censor speech.
The list of un-American states that support government censorship include:
New York
Colorado
Arizona
California
Connecticut
Vermont,
Washington,
Washington, D.C.
Wisconsin
New Jersey
New Mexico,
Oregon
Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island,
Delaware,
Hawaii,
Illinois,
Maine,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
Michigan,
Minnesota,
Nevada
HOWEVER, a number of courageous states filed an Amicus Curiae brief in SUPPORT of Gateway Pundit and the Free Speech Respondents. These (16) heroic states include:
Montana,
Alabama,
Alaska,
Florida,
Georgia,
Iowa,
Idaho,
Tennessee,
Kansas,
Nebraska,
Ohio,
South Carolina,
South Dakota,
Utah,
Virginia,
West Virginia,
and the Arizona Legislature
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/23-democrat-states-district-columbia-file-amicus-briefs/
West Point Removes the Words ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ From Its Mission Statement
by Mike LaChance Mar. 13, 2024 9:40 pm692 Comments
West Point has removed the words ‘duty, honor, country’ from its mission statement, replacing them with the more generic words ‘Army values.’
This change comes amid the worst military recruiting problem in the United States in years. Does anyone in military leadership think this will help with that issue?
This will also do nothing to quiet the idea that the military has gone ‘woke.’
Breitbart News reports:
West Point Superintendent Army Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland on Monday announced a new mission statement for the venerable institution that replaces the words “duty, honor, country” for the more generic “Army values.”
The West Point’s previous mission statement was:
To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/west-point-removes-words-duty-honor-country-its/
New York Lawyers Step Up and Offer to Help FDNY Firefighters Targeted by Tyrant AG Letitia James
by Cristina Laila Mar. 13, 2024 10:00 pm426 Comments
Two New York lawyers have stepped up to help the firefighters being targeted for ruin by Marxist NY Attorney General Letitia James.
Last week a group of FDNY firefighters booed Letitia James as she gave a speech during a promotion ceremony.
After honoring FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, Letitia James’s speech was effectively drowned out by LOUD pro-Trump chants in the crowd.
WATCH:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1765802719883706763
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/new-york-lawyers-step-up-offer-help-fdny/
Explosion at FBI Training Facility in California Leaves 16 Injured
by Anthony Scott Mar. 13, 2024 9:00 pm513 Comments
An explosion at the FBI’s training facility in Irvine, California, has left 16 people injured.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Orange County Fire Authority announced that an explosion had occurred during the Orange County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team’s annual training exercise.
Thirteen people were hospitalized as a precaution after feeling dizzy from the blast, while another person suffered more severe injuries and is expected to get surgery.
Orange County Sheriff’s Department gave no details on what caused the blast and is currently investigating the incident.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/explosion-fbi-training-facility-california-leaves-16-injured/
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2024/03/democrat-ag-ellison-continues-war-on-legal-gun-sales-with-complaint-against-fleet-farm/#ixzz8USmT9Nfo
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook
Democrat AG Ellison Continues War on Legal Gun Sales with Complaint Against Fleet Farm
Ammoland Inc. Posted on March 14, 2024 by David Codrea
“I’m proud to be a Protect Minnesota Orange Star Candidate. Gun violence has disrupted the lives of Minnesotans of all ages and all walks of life, and it’s long past time to do something about it. I will always be an ally in that fight as Attorney General.” (Keith Ellison/Facebook)
“Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is accusing Fleet Farm of violating state law when the retailer allegedly sold firearms to ‘straw purchasers,’ according to newly filed court documents,” ABC affiliate KSTP Eyewitness News reported Monday. “Defendants knew or had reason to know, based on the circumstances of the sales and the information known to Defendants, that straw purchasers were not purchasing for themselves and were buying firearms for others,” Ellison charged, accusing the Midwest retail chain “of violating the Minnesota Gun Control Act.”
“A citizen can purchase traditional rifles and shotguns without a permit. Purchase of a handgun, however, requires a valid permit that will include a criminal background check. Likewise, the purchase or transfer of a pistol or a semi-automatic military-style assault weapon will require completing a purchase/transfer permit,” John Mascolo, Esq. of FindLaw writes. “Applicants for a gun permit in Minnesota must undergo a criminal background check through the Minnesota Crime Information System and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS. Those seeking to purchase a firearm may seek a permit from their local police chief or county sheriff.”
Is Ellison saying Fleet Farm, which as a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) is routinely audited by an ATF notorious for “zero tolerance” revocations over innocuous paperwork flubs, transferred guns without going through the process? No? Then what’s his beef?
“It’s alleged Fleet Farm sold 13 guns during a 12-month period to a straw purchaser who later pleaded guilty to helping straw purchase nearly 100 firearms,” KSTP explains. “The lawsuit mentions specific firearms used in the Truck Park Bar shooting in October 2021 that left one person dead and another 14 injured.”
And that is Fleet Farm’s fault…how? Does Minnesota law limit how many firearms purchases a citizen can make in a year? It does not.
Curiously, one of the “commonsense gun safety laws” the prohibitionists have tried to enact everywhere, (in Everytown!), is a “one-gun-a-month” law. They do things incrementally, and many would prefer “no-guns-a-month,” but as an aside, a U.S. District judge just held that California’s purchase limitation edict “did not fit within the nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation.”
So, Ellison is running afoul of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), of Bruen, and more to the point, of the clear Second Amendment proscription that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” And his excuse for going after Fleet Farm is that its retail employees can’t do the impossible and read the hearts and minds of customers, and that it is therefore responsible for not just their criminal actions, but for the subsequent actions of those they deal with.
In truth, he just wants to use the virtually unlimited resources of the state to rob a victim with deep pockets blind through lawfare and shut all gun dealers down, which is par for the course with this character.
When he was in Congress, he was part of a group of Democrat gun prohibitionists who staged a sit-in, which “shut down the House’s legislative work” to demand more citizen disarmament. He and they were clearly and defiantly obstructing and impeding official proceedings, a charge used to throw J6 Capitol protestors into the federal gulag.
Ellison is a former leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, co-founded by Bernie Sanders. And the Caucus (with Ellison specifically lauded) maintains “ties” with the Communist Party USA and “close ties” with another “progressive” group, the Democratic Socialists of America, the domestic arm of Socialist International.
The DSA devoted a page on their website (until they took it down to try to hide it—this link goes to the Internet Archive record, which may load slowly but they can’t erase) to hymns glorifying their “struggle.” The following example should be of special interest, since the people they’re talking about are pretty much you and me:
Are you sleeping, Are you sleeping, Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie, And when the revolution comes, We’ll kill you all with knives and guns, Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie
That’s what he represents. And this is what Fleet Farm does:
“Fleet Farm has been serving hardworking families since 1955. We’re built on a foundation of Midwestern values. You could say we’re a lot like our customers. We believe in honoring tradition, taking pride in our work and doing what’s right.”
It’s all part of a wider movement to ban not just guns (Ellison doesn’t like the First Amendment any better than he does the Second), but to demonize and exclude those with traditional American values. Look at the government and media push going on before the upcoming November elections to conflate rejection of collectivism, immorality, and treason with “white rural rage,” for the DOJ/FBI to portray those Americans as “the greatest threat,” and to condemn “Christian Nationalists” as theocratic Nazis for believing rights are “endowed by our Creator” instead of privileges to be portioned out or withheld by the state.
There’s no room in Keith Ellison’s America for such outcasts. That’s why they’re so desperate to disarm us. And that’s why the government monopoly of violence subversives masquerading as “gun safety advocates” at Giffords proclaimed “We are proud to endorse Keith Ellison for attorney general.”
While Texas AG Stands Up For Law Enforcement, IL’s AG Threatens Them With Five to Ten Years in Prison For Off-Duty or Retired Carry at Schools
By
John Boch –
March 14, 2024 12
We loved yesterday’s news about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton going after five businesses or organizations that ban off-duty cops from carrying on their premises, in violation of Texas state law. Kudos to AG Paxton for not only using common sense, but holding noncompliant feet to the fire.
Anyone who says that your vote doesn’t count clearly doesn’t understand that elections have consequences. Do you think for a moment if someone like Beta Beto O’Rourke would have done the same had he run for and won the Lone Star State’s AG position?
In the real world, we bring you the polar opposite in Illinois: Attorney General Kwame Raoul. A whole lot of pro-gun folks stayed home in the last election and instead of electing renowned civil rights attorney Tom DeVore as our AG, we got Kwame the Clown.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/while-texas-ag-stands-up-for-law-enforcement-ils-ag-threatens-them-with-five-to-ten-years-in-prison-for-off-duty-or-retired-carry-at-schools/
Leaked Iranian Gov Docs Show Soros Group Acted as Foreign Agent
Should George Soros and allies be arrested for failing to register as foreign agents?
February 9, 2024 by Daniel Greenfield 48 Comments
In 2014, the International Crisis Group began conducting negotiations with an arm of the Iranian government. The ICG, whose launch was funded by George Soros and whose board of trustees currently includes both Soros and his son, was dealing with the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), an arm of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, whose leader had hailed the Hamas massacres, rapes and kidnappings of Oct 7 as a “glorious victory”.
IPIS has been linked to compromising a future Pentagon Chief of Staff, and other key figures around Robert Malley, Biden’s Iran envoy, and a former president of the Soros organization, who had been removed from the Obama campaign for his contacts with Hamas for the ICG, and who is currently under FBI investigation for allegedly mishandling classified materials.
Ali Vaez, the Crisis Group’s current Iran director, was allegedly shown in a leaked email that same year writing to then Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif in the name of the Crisis Group that “as an Iranian I considered it my national and patriotic duty to offer His Excellency help to publicly oppose the breakout time concept”. Breakout time refers to the amount of time it would take Iran to produce enough materials for a nuclear weapon that could kill millions of Americans.
By 2016, the ICG and the Iranian government arm had quietly signed a Memorandum of Understanding to “promote and intensify the friendship and the mutual understanding” with the Soros group. When asked about the MOU, the ICG refused to discuss it. While such MOUs are usually signed with governments, the ICG served as a ‘state within a state’ in the United States government, and key figures from the Soros group, like Malley, occupied governmental roles.
It is illegal for organizations in the United States t
https://www.frontpagemag.com/leaked-iranian-gov-docs-show-soros-group-acted-as-foreign-agent/
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/03/13/senior-israeli-official-suggests-us-trying-to-overthrow-netanyahu/
The notorious anti-American, anti-jooo site doesn’t bother to follow up – boomerang hit his head?
https://vladtepesblog.com/2024/03/13/a-few-items-indicating-the-direction-of-things-links-1-for-march-13-2024/#comment-841566
Love the commie posing as “antiwar”.
Yeah, like the Jane Fonda hippies. Recycling old commie tactics.
Real selective propaganda from enemies. ZeroHedge bait.
@brianoflondon:
I love it. Come on Biden, attack Bibi again.
https://twitter.com/brianoflondon/status/1768005984566313439
@CarolineGlick
New Direct Polls poll for
@Now14Israel
shows
@netanyahu
leading
@gantzbe
by 10 points, 47-37%.
Likud is leading Gantz’s party 25 to 22.
The right-religious bloc has a 62-seat majority to 48 seats for the leftist bloc.
Biden’s fight with Netanyahu strengthened the PM.
Does the White House realize how dumb it looks?
https://twitter.com/CarolineGlick/status/1767991748033167799
My records on that go back to 2004. This collaboration goes waaay back. Brzezinski, Baker, Chuck Hagel, Petreaus, Soros, et al.
NIAC (National Iranian American Council) made common cause with CAIR (Council of American Islamic Relations).
China Plans to ‘Sinicize’ Islam
We can learn from this, but not in the way you might think.
March 14, 2024 by Robert Spencer 6 Comments
Newsletter
[Make sure to read Robert Spencer’s contributions in Jamie Glazov’s new book: Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America.]
As the Chinese Communist Party is a totalitarian entity, it views any other authority or object of loyalty as a competitor that must be destroyed. That’s why the Chinese government has cracked down so brutally upon the Uighur Muslims, and now a leading ChiCom official has announced the end goal of that persecution: the “Sinicization” of Islam. The U.S., and the West in general, can learn a great deal from what the Chinese are doing: it’s a grand lesson in what not to do.
Reuters reported Thursday that Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party top dog in Xinjiang, declared confidently that the inexorable march of history toward the dictatorship of the proletariat and pure Communism would take care of China’s little problem with Islamic jihadis. “Everyone knows,” he asserted, “that Islam in Xinjiang needs to be Sinicized, this is an inevitable trend.”The Sinicization is already well underway. Reuters reminds us that “rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in Xinjiang, including denying Uyghurs full religious freedoms. Beijing vigorously denies any abuses.” Also, ChiCom President Xi Jinping has on many occasions called for the “Sinicization” not only of Islam, but of Christianity and Buddhism as well, so that all religious expression becomes just another way of demonstrating one’s loyalty to the Communist state.Sinicization, in the case of Christianity, has involved rewriting parts of the Bible to remove or alter passages that might inspire readers to think critically about Communism, forcing Christians to celebrate as heroes Communists who betrayed the Church, and requiring Christian teachers to attend Communist indoctrination sessions.
Will similar measures, applied to Islam, defang the Religion of Peace and end the possibility of jihad terror in China? That’s what Chinese Communist leaders are banking on. But they’re being short-sighted.What is likely to happen in China, given the lessons of history, is that the “Sinicization” of Islam will proceed, and initially it will appear to be a comprehensive success. Muslims in China will appear to be practicing an Islam with Chinese characteristics, and to have assimilated completely into Communist Chinese society.The Communist victory celebrations, however, will be premature. When the Communist Party begins to weaken, suddenly and unexpectedly, traditional Islam will begin to reemerge. Eventually, the Chinese Communists will discover that despite all their efforts, Islam has not become “Sinicized” at all, but is still pretty much what it has always been.
The reason why this is a sure bet regarding what will happen in China is because we have seen all this unfold in the West in the relatively recent past. One hundred years ago, Islamic societies were largely Westernized. After World War I, Turkey and Iran rejected the rule of Islamic law and actively patterned their new governments after Western secular models. The Westernizing trend continued: by mid-century, Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser was laughing at the prospect of asking Egyptian women to wear hijabs.
Even as late as the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Western “experts” were confidently predicting that Islamic societies would secularize and Westernize after the pattern of secular Turkey. Since then, however, everything has gone awry for the “experts,” although they still enjoy their tenured professorships and media adulation despite having been proven wrong about everything.
Turkey has re-Islamized, and Western influences have receded drastically in Islamic societies. Where Nasser joked about the impossibility of getting Egyptian women to wear hijab, now virtually all women wear the hijab.
We are likely to see the same trajectory in China, but Ma Xingrui and his colleagues are almost certain to ignore all the indications of what’s to come. Ma Xingrui and his ilk are atheists who don’t understand the religious impulse. Under Communist pressure, it will recede, but it won’t disappear, and it will return when it can.
The lesson for the West is not to follow China in its repressive measures. Western countries should uphold the freedom of conscience while drawing a firm line at violence that finds a justification in religious texts and teachings.
The real lesson for the West is that the bland confidence that Islam will Westernize, discard its violent and supremacist doctrines, and become benign is just as baseless and potentially dangerous as the confidence that Islam will “Sinicize.” Islam will continue to be Islam. Western leaders will ultimately have to stop lying to themselves and their people and face that fact, or prepare to submit.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/china-plans-to-sinicize-islam/
Uncle Vlad simply OWNS the religious institutions via puppets in his pockets. Orthodox Patriarch Krill (a real piece of work); the titular Chief Rabbi (a Chabadnik) isn’t kosher; each flavor of Islam has its own Putin-owned headman.
Buddhists, assorted animist cults from Siberia, ok. Protestants are NOT welcome. Jehovah’s Witnesses are persecuted as “extremists”.
It’s a tribal set-up very familiar to Russians. A version of Romanov nobility. Impossible to manage such a huge land mass, too much diversity. Lenin and Stalin were models of what to avoid. Tsar Vlad puts a lot of emphasis on religious comity as a core national value.
Doesn’t matter if it’s laid on with a trowel, religious sensibility is still a novelty of the last thirty years. Mostly shallow. Every crook wears a cross. But it plays well with what they’re calling the “Global South” (aka “Third World”). And Western conservatives who buy in to superlative Russian propaganda.
Ethnic Russians deeply resent the demographic trends: legal and illegal Moslem immigrants make babies! Nobody’s counting, but it’s likely Moscow has the highest percentage of Moslems of any European capital. From what I read in [machine translated] Russian newspapers, that’s – by far – the biggest gripe. (Carefully phrased, of course.)
Saudi AI bot grabs reporter’s ass. News at 11:
https://twitter.com/MeghUpdates/status/1765325222247645335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1768238751942083016%7Ctwgr%5Ecb6d1c24d28f8af248147dd62df040e02aa6b992%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Ftechnology%2Fwatch-saudi-ai-robot-gropes-female-reporter
Palm Beach County Sheriff Destroys Federal Government Following Arrest of Three Illegal Immigrants for Kidnapping and Assault
by Jim H?ft Mar. 14, 2024 10:45 am
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has launched a fierce critique of Biden regime’s immigration policies. His comments came following the arrest of three illegal immigrants from Guatemala on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.
The alarming incident, which unfolded on Tuesday according to WPTV reports, involved the three men forcibly taking the woman into a vehicle and subsequently assaulting her at two separate locations west of Lake Worth Beach.
The identities of the suspects have been released as Andres Felipe Morales, 29, Darinel Ordonez Jjimenez, 30, and Marcos Felipe Ramirez, 31.
The three suspects were detained and taken to Palm Beach County jail Monday evening, with their bonds set at $200,000 each during a court hearing on Tuesday. Their charges include sexual assault, false imprisonment, and felony criminal conspiracy. They are scheduled to appear in court again on April 10 at 10:30 a.m.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/palm-beach-county-sheriff-destroys-federal-government-following/
Another FBI Operative Identified on US Capitol Grounds on Jan. 6, 2021 – At Least 21 Confirmed Incidents of Feds, FBI Agents, and State Operatives Who Infiltrated Trump Crowds That Day
by Jim Hoft Mar. 14, 2024 2:20 pm0 Comments
The House Administration Committee released new footage today from Camera 7231 on January 6, 2021.
The video shows a man described as an active-duty FBI colleague of former FBI liaison to Capitol Police Officer John Guandolo.
The FBI agent is seen clapping his hands and sying “this is huge” as protesters ran up the east steps of the US Capitol on January 6.
This footage was published by Free State Will.
As reported earlier, the FBI lost track of how many operatives and paid informants they had in the Trump crowd on January 6, 2021.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/another-fbi-operative-identified-us-capitol-grounds-jan/
Judge Says She Will Decide on Motions to Dismiss Trump Case ‘Promptly’
Defense attorneys argued that the DOJ chose not to prosecute Biden for retention, and therefore it wouldn’t be criminal in Trump’s case either.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/live-updates-federal-judge-hears-motions-to-dismiss-trump-case-5606183?src_src=epochHG&src_cmp=CFP
Republicans Probe Podesta’s Role as Biden’s Climate Diplomat
(Bloomberg) — Congressional Republicans are intensifying their investigation into President Joe Biden’s climate diplomacy, accusing the White House of doing an end-run around a law requiring Senate confirmation of special envoys.
The decision to make John Podesta the country’s chief climate diplomat even though he will remain at the White House and is taking on the duties of a special presidential envoy is a “flagrant attempt to evade” the law, House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer said in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
At issue is a one-year-old mandate for Senate confirmation of anyone serving as a special envoy or in another position performing similar functions. The requirement never applied to former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, because he was appointed before it was enacted. Now that Podesta has taken on Kerry’s duties, Comer said, “it is unclear to what extent he will retain the same powers” and the specific details of his relationship with the State Department’s climate envoy office.
Read More: Kerry’s Climate Victories Clouded by Prospect of Trump Return
The committee is requesting documents that could shed light on Podesta’s role and responsibilities as well as changes in the office’s organization. The effort underscores deep Republican skepticism regarding the work of the US climate envoy, who’s responsible for representing the country in negotiations over Paris Agreement carbon-cutting targets and other multilateral efforts to avert global warming.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/republicans-probe-podesta-s-role-as-biden-s-climate-diplomat-1.2046271
===================================================
Biden’s illegal climate czar cashes in
It has become impossible to deny that both Hunter and James Biden have profited from access to President Joe Biden, so Democratic Party apologists have fallen back on claiming Biden never changed policy to benefit his family.
They won’t have that excuse when they defend new climate czar John Podesta’s role in suspending liquefied natural gas exports and the money his lobbyist brother will make representing foreign firms and governments profiting from the decision.
Considering that Biden illegally installed Podesta as his new top climate diplomat in a manner specifically designed to avoid Senate confirmation, Congress has every right to investigate Podesta’s role in enacting the LNG export ban and how many of his brother Tony’s current and former clients stand to benefit financially.
When Biden first appointed John Kerry to be the first special presidential envoy for climate, there was no statutory requirement that the position get Senate confirmation. But then, in 2021, the Democratically controlled House and Senate passed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which included a provision that any “special envoy,” or post performing a similar function, must obtain Senate approval.
When Kerry announced he was leaving the administration to join the Biden reelection campaign, Biden should either have left the post vacant or appointed a successor via Senate confirmation.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2913916/bidens-illegal-climate-czar-cashes-in/
Pro-Hamas statement quietly scrubbed from MIT website as school faces congressional investigation
A statement from several student organizations blaming Israel for the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, which was hosted on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s website, was quietly scrubbed as a House committee asked the institution for documents relating to its anti-Semitism investigation.
The statement was deleted around the same time that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked on March 8 for documents from MIT relating to anti-Semitism on campus…
”Palestine@MIT and the MIT Coalition Against Apartheid hold the Israeli regime responsible for all unfolding violence. We unequivocally denounce the Israeli occupation, its racist apartheid system, and its military rule. Colonization is inherently violent, aimed at erasing and replacing indigenous peoples.…
We af?rm the right of all occupied peoples to resist oppression and colonization.”
https://www.campusreform.org/article/pro-hamas-statement-quietly-scrubbed-mit-website-school-faces-congressional-investigation/25012
Terrific look at Lebanon, especially the plight of Christians:
Palestine As A Weapon… Inside Lebanon
The Gaza war between Hamas and Israel has had an effect on public opinion worldwide. But the effect has not been the same in all countries. In Spain and Latin America, for example, full-throated advocacy… [is on left]; the farther left the party, the more extreme the advocacy.
In the Middle East, the war has exacerbated existing friction between regimes, such as between Morocco and Algeria…. In Jordan, the war is heightening friction between the country’s Palestinian majority and its minority “East Bank” Jordanian elite.
Internal tensions also spiked in Lebanon, a country where the cause of Palestine has been used at least three times in the past 50 years – by the PLO, by Syria and by Iran – as an excuse for foreign interference and oppression.
Public opinion in Lebanon is not uniform according to sect. There are “pro-Resistance” Christians, some of them vociferously so, and there are non-Christians – Shi’a and Sunni and Druze – who are against Lebanon being part of a wider war and opposed to being dragged by Hizbullah into another conflict.
Those types of individuals often have to keep a lower profile given the threat of assassination, as befell Hizbullah critic Lokman Slim in 2021.[1] But if one was to generalize, opposition to war is much more likely -certain more open – among the country’s Christian population, which is much more likely to embrace the concept that the war in Gaza has nothing to do with Lebanon and that Lebanon should concern itself with its own business and be neutral in all regional conflicts, including wars with Israel.
To want to be neutral and at peace in Lebanon, to put the country’s interests first over some foreign conflict, is interpreted by the so-called “Axis of Resistance” as being pro-Israel even if one never mentions that state.
https://www.memri.org/reports/palestine-weapon-inside-lebanon