Reader’s Links for March 30th, 2024

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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

24 Replies to “Reader’s Links for March 30th, 2024”

    • Very OT:

      Johnny this one is making me rethink my opinion of the Key Bridge incident, yes both it and this could be coincidence but I don’t like coincidence of this size and importance.

      Once is happenstance

      Twice is coincidence

      Three times is enemy action

      DEVELOPING: Oklahoma Bridge Shut Down After Being Struck by Barge (VIDEO)
      by Cristina Laila Mar. 30, 2024 7:20 pm228 Comments

      A bridge near the Kerr Lock & Dam in Sallisaw, Oklahoma was shut down on Saturday after it was struck by a barge.

      “The Oklahoma Highway Patrol responded to Sequoyah County after a barge hit a bridge near the Kerr Lock & Dam,” 4029tv.com reported.

      “US-59 south of Sallisaw at the Kerr Reservoir is completely shut down at this time due to a barge that has struck the bridge. Troopers are diverting traffic away from the area. The bridge is going to be shut down until inspections of the bridge can be made,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on Saturday.

      Engineers reportedly inspected the bridge and reopened it for travel later Saturday.

      A shocked bystander who captured the collision on video dialed 911 to report the incident.

      WATCH:

      https://twitter.com/i/status/1774212590442274885

      This is the second time in a week that a ship has struck a bridge.

      Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed very early Tuesday morning after a container ship collided with a support column.

      Several people who were working on the Baltimore bridge at the time it collapsed perished.

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/developing-oklahoma-bridge-shut-down-after-being-struck/

  2. (Richard: The left is making no secret that they are trying to destroy Christianity.)

    Biden Issues White House Proclamation Declaring EASTER to be ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’
    by Cassandra MacDonald Mar. 30, 2024 7:30 am1056 Comments

    Joe Biden has issued a White House proclamation declaring March 31 as “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

    This March 31, of course, is Easter.

    “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives,” Biden wrote in the declaration.

    “I am proud that my Administration has stood for justice from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+ community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and respect. I am proud to have appointed transgender leaders to my Administration and to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in our military,” Biden continued. “I am proud to have signed historic Executive Orders that strengthen civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, the justice system, and more. I am proud to have signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every American can marry the person they love.”

    Biden wrote that “transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our Nation.”

    The Democrat also complained that “extremists” are working to keep pornographic books out of the hands of children — and to ban mutilating minors with “sex change” operations.

    Biden wrote, “extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families — silencing teachers; banning books; and even threatening parents, doctors, and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children.”

    “At the same time, my Administration is working to stop the bullying and harassment of transgender children and their families. The Department of Justice has taken action to push back against extreme and un-American State laws targeting transgender youth and their families and the Department of Justice is partnering with law enforcement and community groups to combat hate and violence.”

    “NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.”

    Biden, who is Catholic, has also banned religious artwork from the White House Easter egg competition.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/biden-issues-white-house-proclamation-declaring-easter-be/

    • ‘Devout Catholic’ Joe Biden Bans Christian-Themed Designs From White House Easter Art Contest
      by Ben Kew Mar. 30, 2024 7:15 am283 Comments

      The supposedly “devout Catholic” Joe Biden has banned any Christian-themed designs from being submitted to the White House’s Easter-themed art contest.

      The contest, which is for children of members of the National Guard, is part of the White House’s annual Easter celebrations.

      However, a flyer for the contest states that submissions “must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements,” despite the fact that Easter is an explicitly Christian festival.

      Children are also warned not to submit any material containing “bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.”

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/devout-catholic-joe-biden-bans-christian-themed-designs/

    • SATANIC CULT: Kamala Harris’ Easter Weekend Message: Abortion on Demand
      by Cristina Laila Mar. 30, 2024 2:20 pm24 Comments

      The Biden Regime is under fire for issuing a White House proclamation declaring March 31 as “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

      This March 31, of course, is Easter!

      “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives,” Biden wrote in the declaration.

      “Devout Catholic” Joe Biden also banned any Christian-themed designs from being submitted to the White House’s Easter-themed art contest.

      This is even though Easter is a Christian holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

      It gets worse…

      Kamala Harris on Saturday fired off a tweet attacking Trump for choosing Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v Wade.

      Harris’ Easter weekend message: Abortion on demand.

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/godless-regime-kamala-harris-easter-weekend-message-abortion/

    • Exclusive — Trump Camp: Biden Must Apologize to Christians After Declaring Easter Sunday ‘Trans Day,’ Banning Kids from Religious Egg Designs at WH

      Former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is lighting up Democrat Joe Biden and the White House for the president’s “appalling and insulting” behavior towards Christians on Easter.

      “It is appalling and insulting that Joe Biden’s White House prohibited children from submitting religious egg designs for their Easter Art Event, and declared Easter Sunday as ‘Trans Day of Visibility,’” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Breitbart News on Saturday. “Sadly, these are just two more examples of the Biden Administration’s years-long assault on the Christian faith. We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

      The Trump campaign’s move here comes after Biden issued an official proclamation as president of the United States on Good Friday declaring that Easter Sunday this year will be “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

      “We honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives,” Biden said in the proclamation.

      In addition to that, Biden and his White House have now banned children from submitting “overtly religious” artwork at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. The annual event is normally nonpartisan and not controversial, but Biden and his radical leftist White House employees have got their agenda infiltrating even this yearly tradition.

      The event, hosted by First Lady Jill Biden, sent out a flyer to participants barring children from submitting any Easter eggs from containing religious content on their designs. “The Submission must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements,” the flyer stated.

      These latest developments come after Biden previously skipped a wake of a slain New York City Police Department officer, Jonathan Diller, to instead hold an all-hands-on-deck desperate fundraiser with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in New York. Trump actually went to Officer Diller’s wake, and afterwards delivered brief remarks in which he noted that the nation needs to see law and order restored after Biden and his Democrat allies have gutted police protection nationwide the past few years. The Trump campaign similarly ripped Biden over the mistake he made.

      Biden came straight out of that ritzy fundraiser hosted by actress Mindy Kaling—on the stage of which late night comedian Stephen Colbert interviewed him, and at which several elitist entertainers like Lizzo and Queen Latifah performed—to issuing this official proclamation on Friday declaring that Easter Sunday this year will be the new national “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

      These overt cultural missteps by the Biden team—this stuff over Easter, and on Thursday over law enforcement—provide major contrast opportunities for the Trump campaign, which has been seizing them to show America how much better it was under Trump than it is under Biden and how much better it will be if Trump comes back.

      https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/03/30/exclusive-trump-camp-biden-must-apologize-to-christians-after-declaring-easter-sunday-trans-day-banning-kids-from-religious-egg-designs-at-wh/

    • INSULTING – Liberal Churches Embrace “Transgender Day of Visibility” for Easter Sunday
      by David Greyson Mar. 30, 2024 6:20 pm52 Comments

      The Christian faith is continually being mocked by an increasingly hostile Biden regime mixed with a handful of misguided liberal Churches who probably don’t even have a copy of the Bible.

      Crooked Joe Biden declared March 31st to be a “transgender day of visibility,” insulting millions of Christians.

      In light of Biden’s outrageous insult to Easter, a handful of liberal churches and other religious groups tied to LGBTQ (and whatever letter they added) are following suit in observing this during Easter Sunday.

      Some of these churches will be mixing transgenderism and Easter celebrations in their services. Apparently, Transgender Day of Visibility has been around since 2009.

      The Christian faith is continually being mocked by an increasingly hostile Biden regime mixed with a handful of misguided liberal Churches who probably don’t even have a copy of the Bible.

      Crooked Joe Biden declared March 31st to be a “transgender day of visibility,” insulting millions of Christians.

      In light of Biden’s outrageous insult to Easter, a handful of liberal churches and other religious groups tied to LGBTQ (and whatever letter they added) are following suit in observing this during Easter Sunday.

      Fox News reported:

      A handful of liberal churches, religious groups and LGBTQ+ organizations are celebrating the fact that Transgender Day of Visibility, recognized each year on March 31, falls on Easter Sunday in 2024.

      Easter Sunday, which is not a fixed date, also falls on March 31, marking one of the most important liturgical celebrations as millions of Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

      Though Transgender Day of Visibility has been celebrated since 2009 on March 31, several liberal religious and non-religious organizations have rejoiced that Easter will fall on the same day. Some churches are superimposing transgender themes on Easter celebrations.

      “To celebrate Easter in Canada, the Calgary Unitarians, a liberal religious organization, is incorporating a drag show as part of its Sunday service that will show “support [for] our Trans Siblings” and serve as a ‘sacred act of protest,’” Fox News reported.

      Transgenderism has nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is what Easter is about.

      In addition to this, Joe Biden actually banned Christian themed art for Easter at the White House.

      The Biden regime has given priority to fringe groups like LGBTQ while alienating millions of Christians in the United States.

      In addition to that, inflation has made Easter less affordable for the average American. Staple items for the Sunday celebration have increased dramatically since early 2021 when the Biden regime took over.

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/insulting-liberal-churches-embrace-transgender-day-visibility-easter/

    • Trump Campaign Blasts Biden’s “Blasphemous” Proclamation Declaring Easter Sunday Transgender Day of Visibility
      by Kristinn Taylor Mar. 30, 2024 4:20 pm313 Comments

      The Trump campaign issued a statement Saturday blasting Joe Biden’s “blasphemous” proclamation of Easter Sunday as Transgender Day of Visibility. The campaign also criticized Biden for barring religious themes from a White House Easter Egg contest for children of National Guard members.

      Transgender Day of Visibility was started by an activist in 2009 who set the day of the annual observance for March 31. It is not a federally mandated day of observance such as Vietnam Veterans Day set on March 29 which was signed into law by President Trump in 2017 and was observed on Friday.

      Neither Barack Obama nor President Trump observed Transgender Day of Visibility while in office. Joe Biden became the first president to do so in 2021 and he has issued proclamations declaring March 31 Transgender Day of Visibility each year since. Biden and other Democrat officials are being criticized for maintaining the March 31 observance even though it falls this year on Easter Sunday.

      Obama posted a statement last year, “On this Transgender Day of Visibility, Michelle and I want every trans person in America—and around the world—to know that we see you and we stand with you. Every LGBTQIA+ person deserves to feel safe and protected.”

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/trump-campaign-blasts-bidens-blasphemous-proclamation-declaring-easter/

    • Gov. Kathy Hochul Orders New York Landmarks Lit Up in Trans Flag Colors on Easter Sunday for Transgender Day of Visibility, Including One World Trade Center and Niagara Falls
      by Kristinn Taylor Mar. 30, 2024 3:00 pm1034 Comments

      New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) issued a proclamation Saturday declaring March 31, Easter Sunday, to be Transgender Visibility Day and ordered state landmarks including One World Trade Center in New York City and Niagara Falls to be illuminated in the colors of the transgender flag.

      In 1956, a different New York observed Holy Week:

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/gov-kathy-hochul-orders-new-york-landmarks-lit/

  3. “His Blood Is on Your Hands!” – Wife of Officer Jonathan Diller Went After Democrat Mayor Eric Adams and DA Alvin Bragg at Her Husband’s Wake
    by Jim Hoft Mar. 30, 2024 7:45 am368 Comments

    As reported earlier by Cullen Linebarger, New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul was asked to leave the wake for murdered NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller Friday afternoon following a confrontation with a man in attendance.

    As the New York Post reported, Hochul arrived at the Massapequa Funeral Home on Long Island for the second day of viewings around 1:45 p.m. But the governor had been in the venue for only 10 minutes before she was spotted clashing with a man in a black suit, according to the outlet.

    But Hochul was not the only New York Democrat leader who was asked to leave the wake for Officer Diller.

    Mayor Eric Adams and lawless Attorney General Alvin Bragg, whose policies keep dangerous criminals out on the streets, were both confronted at the wake — By Officer Jonathan Diller’s wife!

    Officer Diller’s alleged killer had 21 prior arrests and 9 felonies but was still running the streets of New York City thanks to the policies of Alvin Bragg.

    Brian Kilmeade reported this at FOX News.

    Brian Kilmeade: Kathy Hochul getting an earful as she was leaving the wake for murdered NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, this over in Massapequa. A source tells me this happened moments after Hochul refused to abide by the family’s wishes. They were doing open cast and viewing, and she did not want to wait on the outside. So she came in while they were closing the casket. As she stormed in, they just couldn’t stop her. I’m told that family members let her have it when she got there, saying, “His blood is on your hands.”

    Hochul wasn’t the only one approached at the wake. Mayor Eric Adams and DA Alvin Bragg were both confronted directly, this time by officer Diller’s wife.

    The source tells me She let them have it, too, telling them the same thing that was told to Huchul, “His blood is on your hands.”

    Jason Chaffetz: Now, make no mistake, far-left politicians and district attorneys have empowered criminals like the one accused of murdering Officer Diller. Now, sadly, violent crime is a serious problem across New York City and is still way up from pre-pandemic levels. This week, another New York City woman was randomly punched in the face. The allegation is that it appears to be a growing trend in the city. The victim allegedly suffered a broken jaw, and her mouth is now wired shut. But the alleged perpetrator was released from jail without posting bail despite two prior arrests for assault.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/his-blood-is-your-hands-wife-officer-jonathan/

  4. Illegal Immigrant from China Detained After Illegally Entering Marine Corps Base — Security Concerns Prompt Investigation
    by Jim H?ft Mar. 30, 2024 8:45 am166 Comments

    A Chinese national has been detained after illegally entering a Marine Corps base in the El Centro Sector on Friday, sparking a federal investigation into the incident.

    The unnamed individual was apprehended on a U.S. Marine base after reportedly ignoring orders to vacate the premises.

    Border Patrol Chief Agent Gregory Bovino shared the incident on X. Bovino revealed that the subject had been confirmed as being in the country illegally.

    An accompanying image of the suspect was posted, though details about the individual’s identity remain undisclosed.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/illegal-immigrant-china-detained-after-illegally-entering-marine/

  5. Fed Up Chicago Residents Chant ‘Go Red!’ and ‘No More Blue, No Matter Who’ at City Council Meeting (VIDEO)
    by Jim H?ft Mar. 30, 2024 8:30 am201 Comments

    A resounding message, “Go Red… No More Blue, No Matter Who!” has become the battle cry of frustrated Chicagoans facing neglect from long-standing Democratic leadership.

    This outcry is a culmination of pent-up grievances, particularly exacerbated by the Biden regime’s open border policy to illegal immigrants.

    The Gateway Pundit previously reported that two Chicago Aldermen, Anthony Napolitano (41st) and Anthony Beale (9th), have cosponsored a resolution that would add a referendum to the March 2024 primary ballot asking voters if Chicago should continue to keep its sanctuary city designation.

    Chicago has spent over $100M to care for the illegals arriving in the city thanks to Joe Biden’s open border.

    Despite the millions in taxpayer dollars, the city remains so overwhelmed that migrants are being housed in police stations and turning O’Hare airport into a dangerous, filthy, and unsanitary encampment.

    A packed migrant shelter in Chicago with over 1,800 residents (including 95 children two years old and younger) in the O’Hare airport is experiencing a measles outbreak that has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to dispatch a team to help battle the outbreak.

    Chicago is facing a $538 million budget shortfall for 2024, with more than a third of that shortfall tied to Biden’s illegal crisis, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/fed-up-chicago-residents-chant-go-red-no/

  6. Democrats Push Bill to Prevent Trump Receiving Pre-Election Security Briefings
    by Ben Kew Mar. 30, 2024 8:15 am238 Comments

    A Democratic-sponsored bill is seeking to prevent Donald Trump from receiving classified information in the run-up to 2024 presidential election.

    Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) has drafted the Guarding United States Against Reckless Disclosures (GUARD) Act, which if passed would prevent the president, vice president, members of Congress, and federal candidates from accessing classified information if they face charges related to obstructing official proceedings, unlawfully retaining classified defense information, or engaging in activities as a foreign agent, alongside other criminal allegations.

    Although the bill does not reference Trump by name, Sherill made no secret of the fact it was designed specficially for him.

    Sherill said in a statement on Thursday:

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/democrats-push-bill-prevent-trump-receiving-pre-election/

  7. Missouri Teen Kaylee Gain Awakens from Coma After Brutal Beatdown from Classmate, Only to Face Another Big Problem
    by George C. Upper III, The Western Journal Mar. 30, 2024 10:20 am22 Comments

    The family of a Missouri school girl who was badly beaten earlier this month says she is out of her coma — and out of the intensive care unit.

    “Kaylee is now out of the intensive care unit, and in the past few days Kaylee has been able to engage in limited verbal conversations,” her parents said in a statement released by their lawyer cited by St. Louis’ KSDK.

    “Kaylee also recently began speech therapy, and has gone on a few short walks with the assistance of hospital staff as she is still unable to ambulate on her own,” they added. “However, Kaylee does not have any recollection of the altercation that led to her hospitalization.”

    Earlier, her mother had written on a fundraising site that her daughter “still has an incredibly long journey ahead of her,” which seemed hardly less true a week later.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/missouri-teen-kaylee-gain-awakens-coma-brutal-beatdown/

  8. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones to Get Tough on VICTIMS – Wants to Hold Business Owners Responsible for Crimes Near Their Stores
    by Jim Hoft Mar. 30, 2024 7:00 am525 Comments

    St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones wants to get tough on crime – VICTIMS.

    The far left mayor wants to hold businesses responsible for crime committed near their stores.

    St. Louis previously had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. Repeat offenders are let out of confinement and back on the street.

    The Missouri House voted on Thursday to approve “state control” of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police as leaders like Jones have failed to fight the crime epidemic in the city. According to local KTVI, a force of nearly 1,400 officers has shrunk by more than a third, with officers unable to address the lawlessness, including rampant public gunfire

    ABC 13 News reported:

    St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones plans to hold local businesses accountable for violent crime outside their establishments, she told Action News 5.

    Her comments came while attending a meeting of the Black Mayors’ Coalition on Crime. The group, launched this week by Memphis, Tennessee Mayor Paul Young, aims to “harness the collective power of black mayors across the nation to fight crime” and includes 21 leaders of cities across the country.

    We have a lot of violence around convenience stores and gas stations,” Jones said of St. Louis. “So how can we hold those business owners accountable and also bring down crime? Some of the things we’re already doing, we’re finding that other mayors are doing as well.”

    Her statement comes as the area is currently embroiled in controversy following the brutal attack of a 15-year-old girl. Kaylee Gain could be seen on video convulsing on the ground after being battered and having her head slammed against the pavement by another girl. Family lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer told TND Gain suffered a fractured skull, brain bleeding and brain swelling as a result of the attack.

    A GoFundMe page for the teen has raised nearly $350,000 as of Monday, with at least $10,000 of that total coming from billionaire Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/st-louis-mayor-tishaura-jones-get-tough-victims/

  9. Surveillance Footage Exposes Polling Place Manager Bringing Blank Ballots into Lorain County Bar on Eve of Election, Investigation Underway (VIDEO)
    by Jim H?ft Mar. 30, 2024 11:20 am193 Comments

    The integrity of the election process in Lorain County, Ohio has come into question after a polling place manager was captured on surveillance footage transporting blank provisional ballots into a local bar.

    The Lorain County Board of Elections, the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), and the Ohio Secretary of State have launched a full investigation into the incident, Cleveland19 reported.

    The video from the MAHD House Bar & Grille, which has since gone viral, clearly shows the poll manager entering with bags and placing them inside a booth, only to leave them unattended while he enjoyed a meal.

    The owner of MAHD House, James Tucker, expressed his concern upon realizing what the bags contained.

    “After he ordered his dinner, he went over and started stuffing these bags which we could see in them they said ballot on it and I’m like that don’t look right,” Tucker told 19 News.

    “I’m telling you, when I seen it, I went, ‘this does not look right,’” Tucker said.

    “I mean, we’re right across the street from the Lorain County Board of Elections. I’ve been here seven years, ain’t never seen nobody bring no ballot bags in. I don’t know what just happened, but I’m a little nervous,” he added.

    Read more at

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/surveillance-footage-exposes-polling-place-manager-bringing-blank/

  10. Counter-terror probe after Iranian journalist is stabbed ‘multiple times’ outside his London home in ambush by two men – with attackers still ‘on the loose’

    Pouria Zeraati is in a stable condition after being attacked with a knife yesterday

    A counter-terrorism probe has been launched after an Iranian journalist was stabbed ‘multiple times’ outside his London home.

    The Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said they were ‘keeping an open mind, given the occupation of the victim.’

    Pouria Zeraati is in a stable condition after being attacked with a knife yesterday, Iran International said. But his two attackers are still on the loose.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13253749/Iranian-journalist-stabbed-London-ambush.html

  11. Democrats Demonize Rural Voters at Their Peril

    A new study of ‘White Rural Rage’ is built on shoddy data—and is typical of progressive contempt for the ‘bigoted’ and ‘undemocratic’ countryside.

    By Sohrab Ahmari

    March 19, 2024

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    The Democratic Party was born in the late 1820s when small-time farmers and urban workers began demanding a greater say in political affairs. These demands horrified conservative elites. To them, “power naturally and necessarily follows property,” as the nineteenth-century statesman Daniel Webster declared. A sound regime, in this telling, limited decision-making to the wealthy, those who possessed the means and the motivation to uphold republican “liberty.”

    Otherwise, government would be overrun by “men with no property to assess and no character to lose,” in the words of the banker Nicholas Biddle. Yet such rhetoric only inflamed the insurgent Democrats who crowded Washington in those days, vowing to smash down the “moneyed aristocracy” and to empower the angry and excluded backcountry.

    All this is a dim memory in today’s Democratic Party. Many leading Democrats echo the likes of Webster and Biddle in addressing the backcountry: they’re haughty, unsympathetic, fearful of the ruddy-faced yokels with whom they are tragically fated to share a country. It doesn’t bode well for the party’s electoral prospects, never mind national cohesion.

    Consider the Washington book du jour, White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy, by the political scientist Tom Schaller and the journalist Paul Waldman. The “threat” in the subtitle concerns the outsize influence rural whites supposedly wield over the political process. This, even though they also harbor “undemocratic, sometimes violent impulses,” according to Schaller and Waldman. Rural folk are, they say, bigoted, conspiratorial, antidemocratic—just appalling.

    The authors insist they have the “receipts” to substantiate these charges. But their data is shoddy. A typical procedure is to examine polls gauging respondents’ agreement with progressive opinions on various issues that divide reasonable Americans. If rural whites disagree, it proves they are hateful or authoritarian (rather than merely nonprogressive).

    Schaller and Waldman note, for example, that rural whites are more likely than urban and suburban Americans to see immigrants as a “burden on our country.” Yet the authors never consider if these respondents might have facts in their favor. According to the latest Survey of Income and Program Participation by the U.S. Census, more than half of immigrant-headed households use at least one public welfare program, compared with 39 percent for native-born households. It is true that immigrants fare somewhat better when scholars study individual, rather than household, welfare use. But the point is that fears over immigration’s social burdens are neither obviously wrong nor necessarily hateful.

    The authors of White Rural Rage gravely observe that “rural citizens are more likely. . . to claim that Americans who live in other parts of the country do not understand the problems their communities face.” Well, quite. The 14 percent of Americans who reside in small towns rarely see themselves portrayed in popular entertainment, let alone portrayed positively; the concerns and values of the agricultural sector remain largely invisible to the mainstream. From this, rural Americans might reasonably conclude that their fellow citizens don’t understand them. How is this bigotry?

    As evidence of rural whites’ “undemocratic and antidemocratic beliefs,” Schaller and Waldman cite their support for “aggressive policing.” Maybe that’s an authoritarian attitude, but if so, it transcends race and geography. A Gallup survey conducted in the heat of the 2020 Black Lives Matter reckoning found that four out of five African Americans either wanted to maintain current levels of policing or for cops to appear in their neighborhoods more often. Yet I doubt the authors are planning a follow-up titled Urban Black Fascism: The Threat to Democracy.

    Several of the scholars whose work is cited in the book have already revoked their receipts. The authors, write the political scientists Nicholas F. Jacobs and B. Kal Munis in Reason magazine, “cite our research showing that there is a modest correlation between rural resentment and racial resentment. . . . What they fail to note is the only statistically and intellectually sound conclusion that could be drawn from our data: while this slight correlation exists, rural resentment is an attitude distinct from racial prejudice.”

    In the early republic, America’s conservative elites tried to justify class-based inequality as a way to resist democratic demands from below. They did this by lamenting, in the words of one conservative periodical, the “sensual excess, want of intelligence, and moral debasement” that supposedly marked the lower orders. In other words, inequality flows from the moral defects of the poor. Old-line U.S. conservatives recycle the same tropes today, for more or less the same purpose. It makes sense from a conservative point of view. What’s astonishing about our moment is that some Democrats should join the old-school right in trafficking nonsense about the ignorant and uncouth countryside.

    The irony is that Joe Biden has invested a great deal in rural development via his industrial policies and other measures. If he fails to do well with these regions come November, not a little of the blame will lie with the progressive pundits and dubious experts who relentlessly demonize rural America, even as they claim the mantle of the original party of rural rage.

    https://www.thefp.com/p/sohrab-ahmari-white-rural-rage

  13. JUST IN: 2-Year-Old Boy Shot in Broad Daylight Shooting in New York City – Gunman Still at Large
    by Cristina Laila Mar. 30, 2024 6:00 pm112 Comments

    Meanwhile in the Democrat hellhole of New York City…

    A toddler was shot in a broad daylight shooting in the Bronx at Fordham Road and Grand Concourse on Saturday.

    According to the New York Post, the 2-year-old boy was grazed in the right buttock and is in stable condition at Jacobi Medical Center.

    Police are looking for the assailant who was described a male in his 30s wearing a green hoodie, jeans and red tennis shoes.

    The gunman was last seen running northbound on Crescent Avenue and is still at large.

    The New York Post reported:

    A 2-year-old boy was shot in the Bronx in broad daylight, police said.

    The child was wounded in the right buttock on East Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse at around 1:45 p.m. Saturday, cops said.

    The toddler was brought to Jacobi Medical Center in stable condition, the NYPD said. Mayor Adams briefly surveyed the crime scene and spoke with investigators.

    Cops said they are looking for a man in his 30s wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, a black jacket with fur around the collar, light blue jeans and possibly red sneakers.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/2-year-old-boy-shot-broad-daylight-shooting/

  14. Is Justice Coming For Victims of COVID Wrongful Deaths?
    by Guest Contributor Mar. 30, 2024 6:40 pm30 Comments

    Tens of thousands of American families continue to demand justice for what they believe are the wrongful deaths (murders) of loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Such justice soon may be coming due in large part to the dedicated efforts of two attorneys in Florida (working pro bono) to thoroughly research the criminal codes of 25 states to identify crimes committed by various high-level officials and organizations prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    One of the attorneys, a former prosecutor, prepared extensive legal briefs (documenting strong evidence of crimes) that have been submitted to the attorneys general of Texas and Florida—the brief was subsequently filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/is-justice-coming-victims-covid-wrongful-deaths/

  15. Egyptian suspect, 62, to face trial after police foil alleged ISIS terror attack on Notre Dame Cathedral

    Further attacks have been stopped with ISIS ‘behind the last eight foiled plots’

    By Elena Salvoni

    An Egyptian man with links to ISIS is facing trial in France over a suspected plot to target the Notre Dame Cathedral, according to French media.

    The 62-year-old was arrested on March 5 by officers from the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), with reports at the time suggesting he intended to attack an unspecified church.

    The suspect was indicted for ‘criminal terrorist association’ on March 8 and placed in detention ahead of his trial.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13255453/Egyptian-suspect-62-face-trial-police-foil-alleged-ISIS-terror-attack-Notre-Dame-Cathedral.html