Reader’s Links for May 9th, 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

27 Replies to “Reader’s Links for May 9th, 2024”

  2. When the going gets tough the tough get going. But who’s tough now?

    Businessmen for the most part are pretty tough if they are self-made men. Otherwise toughness is well hidden until it is tested. It is there, but buried in the facade of polite society which, until this falls apart, we don’t see much of. Women are often the first to show us, especially mothers or women with strong motherly instincts. They are fearless.

    People often present as tough but are only acting. A good example is the lawyer, judge or politician who talks with great moral superiority, pounding the table with self-righteous, mock resolve only because they have a corrupted system at their back. And of course their morality is nonsense because, today, it is Woke. As Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they get that first punch in the head.

    Once the money–other people’s money–the savings and the jobs run out times will show people their true colours. Some will survive by becoming more tribal because they will have no choice. These groups, or gangs, will appear homogenous in some ways because they have a common purpose or identity. In Canada under Covid many people sought refuge in groups identifying under the Freedom banner against the mafia state that treated them unfairly.

    This group is homogenous only superficially. Scratch that surface and you find all the frailties, shysters, conmen and crooks you find anywhere else. You will find more Jesus than you can swallow. There are probably a thousand government-paid rats in the Freedom group undermining it. These agents will do their best to sow the seeds of distrust among good, but naive, people. Some agents may get street cred by posing as someone who has been de-banked. They will be taken at their word because nobody thinks to question it. Others will be pied pipers enticing people to follow them down dead-end paths just to waste their time. There are a million tricks to be played on good-natured people who, until they get wise, are suckers. The term Wise Guy comes to mind.

    Immigrants are often leaner and meaner because they come from tough places. Indians, Russians, Chinese and other ethnicities have brutal reputations in some quarters because they are brutal to deal with. They brought with them their homeland sensibilities forged by shit-hole systems rife with corruption, deception and the dog-eat-dog mentality.

    The coming economic depression intentionally imposed by the mafia state will inevitably give rise to a huge black market economy, especially when CBDCs are introduced. If you don’t believe it you are underestimating human ingenuity. People will find a way, gang members will be vetted for fealty using effective methods, and parallel societies will emerge organically.

  3. Intifada in Amsterdam, the Netherlands! It took the mayor just 24 hours to decide to intervene in the student protests. Plenty of videos, most of these are short clips from a live feed by AT5 (the local TV station).

    4m summary of the riots, protestors used busts (sculptures) from university buildings to reinforce barricades, university filed charges. Police brought in buses to move protesters out of the area, but the tires were punctured.
    Looks like a majority of the protesters consisted of foreign students. Check out the “queers4palestine” banner at 1m40, and the hammer and sickle at 2m58.
    Video comes with (auto?) english subtitles:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9Entq_j-Ok
    Fireworks thrown at police shovel:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091801_cfd06f83

    Protesters demand compensation:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091823_4c42db10

    More videos, more or less in reverse chronological order.
    Aftermath, looks like Gaza:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/?selectedId=100091940_cb170b31

    A local finds his lost table.. Apparently private property was looted to build the barricades.
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100091870_230f5d56

    Riot police takes down barricades at Roeterseiland, which belongs to the university of Amsterdam. Students had set up a camp there, to force the university to divest and cut ties with Israeli universities. The barricades were deemed a safety hazard because they block access to first responders. Four videos (scroll down):
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/gaza?selectedId=100091801_cfd06f83

    Riot cop gets ammonia to the face on the Rokin (square) at 1m17:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8O8tUOobWw

    K9 deployed at the Rokin:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100091937_9ccf1284

    10-minute-video from the same area:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFaFSrlJ3E

    Riot police gets blasted with fire extinguishers, respond with their batons.
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/demonstratie?selectedId=100091941_6bd397c8

    Tard protester “attacks” shovel, then jumps in a canal:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100091921_4dd5287a

    Riot police clear the Binnengasthuis area (property of the university of Amsterdam). Some nice baton work:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100091927_87815037

    Same area. Over 5 hours of idiocracy. Fire extinguishers used against riot police at 14m44,:I didn’t bother to watch this video beyond that point:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rLUQeFD0fk

    Bonus video from same area(?), riot cop has good reflexes:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100091916_0f9755ea

    Oudemanhuispoort area (also uni property), protesters form a human chain to get bricks to the “front” and build a barricade:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091867_e1bdaf53

    Tard protester tries to fill a bucket with water from a canal and fails. Too dumb to sh*t straight:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100091954_b274ab92

    Behind the barricades:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/?selectedId=100091896_03d5bf2b

    Blonde girl in pant suit (looks like dutch student) “attacks” riot police, lasts 5 seconds:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091869_cb9ff56e

    Pro-hamas tards on the march:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091857_d974c035

    Israeli flag burned:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091798_68a89ae4

    Protesters chant “politie/fascisten/staatsterroristen” (“police/fascists/state terrorists”), plus a little baton work:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/zoek/politie?selectedId=100091842_76ec4a00

    Police officer is spat in the face by a protester at the Holocaust monument. Check the porn ‘tache and interesting hair styling (wetlook / shaved sides / 3rd world mullet) at 0m09:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/zoek/politie?selectedId=100091841_3e2d4763

    Police officer taunted and harassed:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091840_8164161a

    Journalist is shouted down and chased from the tent camp at Roeterseiland:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/tag/amsterdam?selectedId=100091781_74af7a1d

  6. The occupiers at the university of Amsterdam were apparently infiltrated by a pro-Hamas group that is already banned in Germany. Turn on english subtitles:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9-Cax8mu0E

    Staff at the same university reject the decision of the university council to have the protestors removed, and complain about “police brutality” in an open letter on X/Twitter:
    https://twitter.com/martijndekker/status/1788352060871582072

    Apparently some staff was involved in the protests. Check the Twitter-bio of this staff member:
    Political Anthropologist | University of Amsterdam | Scholar of Contentious Politics | Rebel ??? | Feminist | Amateur Musician | Nail Polish Fetishist

  8. Judge Arthur Engoron Under Investigation for Alleged Improper Advice Before Fining Trump $454 Million
    by Jim H?ft May.

    Judge Arthur Engoron is now under investigation after claims surfaced that he received unsolicited advice from a prominent New York City real estate attorney, Adam Leitman Bailey, weeks before ordering former President Donald Trump to pay a hefty $454 million judgment.
    This investigation by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct seeks to determine whether Engoron violated judicial conduct rules, NBC New York reported.
    In March, Engoron ordered Trump to pay more than a $355 million fine and barred Trump “from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years.” Trump was also required to pay interest on the penalties, bringing the total amount to $454 million.
    Engoron claimed Trump and each of the defendants “participated in aiding and abetting the conspiracy to commit insurance fraud by their individual acts in falsifying business records and valuations, causing materially fraudulent SFCs to be intentionally submitted to insurance companies.”
    Eric Trump and Don Jr. were also ordered to pay $4,013,024 each.
    How a Faith-Based Company is Changing the Way Americans Protect Their Retirement
    Letitia James sought $370 million in ‘damages’ when there was no victim in this fraud case, and she also sought to ban Trump and his sons from operating any businesses in New York. She accused Trump of inflating his assets and defrauding lenders and insurance companies, despite having no evidence or rationality.
    A judge ruled that President Trump can post a $175 million bond to cover Letitia James’ $464 million judgment.
    Bailey stated publicly that he spoke with Judge Engoron three weeks before the decision, advising him to “get it right.” Although Engoron has denied any influence from Bailey, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is reportedly investigating whether Engoron violated judicial conduct rules, according to NBC New York.
    “I actually had the ability to speak to him three weeks ago,” Bailey told NBC New York on Feb. 16. “I saw him in the corner [at the courthouse] and I told my client, ‘I need to go.’ And I walked over and we started talking … I wanted him to know what I think and why…I really want him to get it right.”
    Bailey maintains he has no personal connection to any lawsuits involving Trump and is not a fan of the former president. He claims to have advised Engoron that a ruling imposing such a substantial fine could damage New York’s economy. Bailey also mentioned that Engoron “had a lot of questions, you know, about certain cases” during their conversation.
    In response, Judge Engoron’s spokesperson Al Baker vehemently denied any impropriety, stating that “No ex parte conversation concerning this matter occurred between Justice Engoron and Mr. Bailey or any other person. The decision Justice Engoron issued on February 16 was his alone, deeply considered, and wholly uninfluenced by this individual.”
    The Latin term ex parte means “from one party”. In legal terms, it refers to a legal proceeding that is conducted without the presence or notice of the other party. It can also refer to improper contact between a judge or party and a lawyer.
    New York State Rules of Judicial Conduct explicitly prohibit judges from engaging in ex parte communications, except when seeking advice from a disinterested expert.
    According to New York law, “If a judge inadvertently receives an unauthorized ex parte communication bearing upon the substance of a matter, the judge shall make provision promptly to notify the parties of the substance of the communication and provide the parties with an opportunity to respond.”
    More from NBC New York:
    The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct will now consider whether the rules of judicial conduct were violated in this instance, according to sources familiar with the matter.

    The commission’s administrator, Robert Tembeckjian, declined to comment, citing a statute on confidentiality.
    Christopher Kise, a member of the Trump defense team which has repeatedly criticized Engoron’s handling of the case, said if Bailey’s claims are true, it casts doubt on the integrity of the process.
    “The code doesn’t provide an exception for ‘well, this was a small conversation’ or ‘well, it didn’t really impact me’ or ‘well, this wasn’t something that I, the judge, found significant,” Kise said. “No. The code is very clear.”
    Several experts consulted by NBC New York said the rules are meant not only to prevent outside influence, but also any appearance of outside influence.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/judge-arthur-engoron-under-investigation-alleged-improper-advice/

  9. Hillary Clinton Says Trump is Hitler, Will Lock Up His Political Opponents and End All US Elections as We Know It (VIDEO)
    by Cristina Laila May. 9, 2024 11:20 am331 Comments

    Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday launched another attack on Trump while the Biden Regime is trying to put the former president in prison for non-crimes.

    Hillary Clinton doubled down on her claims that Trump is trying to jail his political opponents – while Trump is in court fighting the Biden Regime’s Soviet-style lawfare trial.

    “Maybe he wouldn’t jail all of his political opponents. One is one too many. Maybe he wouldn’t try to force out business, the members of the press who didn’t agree with him. One is one too many,” Hillary Clinton said.

    Clinton suggested Trump would end all elections.

    Typical projection. The Democrats are through with elections. Rush Limbaugh called this in October 2020.

    “They [the Democrats] resent the whole premise behind elections. They don’t believe they should have to persuade anybody to agree with them.,” the late great Rush Limbaugh said.

    Hillary Clinton suggested Trump would end elections.

    read the rest at

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/hillary-clinton-says-trump-is-trying-lock-up/

  10. US law could force Biden to pull UN funding if Palestinian recognition bypass succeeds, experts say

    The U.S. will face a difficult decision if the Palestinians should succeed in establishing a workaround toward official recognition, which could trigger America pulling all funding from the U.N. in protest, according to experts.

    “If the draft resolution as it currently stands is adopted, U.S. law demands that the U.S. withhold all funds from the U.N.,” Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro University Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, told Fox News Digital. “The question is: Where is Congress? It needs to make it very clear, very publicly, that American law will be upheld and take immediate steps to do so.”

    The U.S. in 1990 passed Public Law 101-246, which focused on authorizing appropriations for fiscal 1990 and 1991 for the Department of State. Section 414 of the bill highlighted concerns over the inclusion of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the United Nations and specialized agencies.

    The section states, “No funds authorized to be appropriated from this act or any other Act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states.”

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-law-could-force-biden-080000671.html

  11. Peter Sweden- IT’S HAPPENING: Britain REFUSES to Sign WHO Pandemic Treaty
    by Peter Sweden May. 9, 2024 10:45 am80 Comments

    This is big news for freedom and sovereignty.

    I recently reported on how in the latest draft of the WHO pandemic treaty, it was being watered down.

    Now it is being reported that Britain is REFUSING to sign on to the World Health Organisation’s pandemic treaty and that they will not sign any form of the treaty that undermines Britain’s sovereignty.
    That is very good news.

    However, the reason they are against the treaty is because countries will be obliged to give away 20% of pandemic related health products. In other words, things such as vaccines, medicines and protection equipment like face masks.

    In other words, it is basically a form of Global Communism.

    Because that is what it is. The WHO is a bunch of unelected elites that want to control your life.

    Did you know that Dr. Tedros, the leader of the WHO actually worked for a Communist junta in the regime of a Marxist dictator in Ethiopia.

  12. The “Left” Is a “Bigger Danger” to Our Country than Russia and China – President Trump Drops Truth Bombs on the Way into Today’s NYC Show Trial (VIDEO)
    by Jim Hoft May. 9, 2024 11:00 am115 Comments

    President Trump took time to speak with supporters on Thursday morning on his way into court in the New York City Alvin Bragg – Juan Merchan show trial.
    President Trump was flanked today by Senator Rick Scott from Florida who joined him in the courtroom.
    President Trump first shamed American Jews for voting Democrat after the unprecedented attacks by the far left in recent weeks at campuses across the United States.
    Recall that President Trump was the first US president in history to complete peace agreements between Israel and several Muslim nations labeled The Abraham Accords.
    Trump then dropped this truth bomb that is obvious to anyone paying attention, the far left today is a “bigger danger” to the country than even Russia or China.

    President Donald Trump: Thank you very much. What Biden is doing with respect to Israel is disgraceful. If any Jewish person voted for Joe Biden, they should be ashamed of themselves. He’s totally abandoned Israel, and nobody can believe it. I guess he feels good about it because he did it as a political decision. You have to do the right decision, not the political decision. But he did a very bad thing. I just want to let you know that we’re I just filed a major motion in the Appelate Division concerning the absolutely unconstitutional gag order, where I’m essentially not allowed to talk to you about anything meaningful that’s going on in the case. And many good things are going on with the case. It shouldn’t have been filed. They had this morning the top legal scholars in the country. This is a Frankenstein case. They took a dead misdemeanor. They attached it to a dead alleged federal felony and zapped it back into life.
    So many of us are just amazed to watch this actually walk into court because it’s not a recognizable crime that any of us have seen. It’s Jonathan Turley. I’ve been doing this for 60 years, and I don’t understand what crime he’s been charged with. Nobody understands this. I just don’t get the crime. There’s no evidence of any crime whatsoever. This is a shame. That’s Alan Dershowitz. And these are people that speak their minds. They’re not for me. They’re for justice. This is another one. This is without precedent in American history. Only with the desperation of President Joe Biden and his fanatic left wing enforcers did it become possible to think about arresting and jailing their major political opponent. This case must be taken out of Judge Merchan’s head because it’s totally conflicted. Judge Merchan is totally conflicted. Like probably no judge has ever been conflicted before. Here’s another one, Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg. His prosecution of former President Donald Trump violates both the federal and state constitutions. This is a prosecutor making it up as he goes along. Due process – does not tolerate that. So these are statements. This is Andrew McCarthy made that statement. Highly respected. A judge is allowing wide scope of information that has absolutely nothing to do with the case. That’s Rebecca Rose Woodland at Fox News.
    Today, we have Rick Scott here, Senator Rick Scott. We have other politicians here. We have people, many people in support.
    The outside of this building is closed down, like Fort Knox. Nobody’s ever seen. We have so many police down here, New York’s finest, and they are New York’s finest. They’re just told what to do. But they don’t have them at Columbia, they don’t have them at NYU or any other places. This is like an armed camp down here.
    And you have nothing to worry about. Believe me, your problem is from the left. It’s not from the right. Big problem from the left. It’s from within, from within our country. That’s, in my opinion, a bigger danger than China or Russia. You have it from the outside and you have it from within. From within is a bigger danger to our country, and it’s from the left, not from the right. But Rick Scott’s here, and he said, You can’t go after political persecutions. This is ashamed. This should not be happening in our country. Senator Ted Cruz put out a very strong statement about attacking Donald Trump and the American voter. It’s an attack on both. This is purely and simply election interference. There is no case. So that’s the way it is. But here we sit after two and a half weeks, and I think you’ll see some very revealing things today.
    I want to thank my lawyers. They’ve done a very good job, and I’d rather thank them after it’s over as opposed to now because we don’t want them to get carried away. There’s no case. It should have never been brought. Alvin Bragg didn’t want to bring it. Cy Vance didn’t want to bring it, and he didn’t. He left, he didn’t bring it. Everybody’s looked at it. Southern district didn’t bring it. Federal elections didn’t bring it. It’s also a federal case, not a state case, which they’re not allowed to do, but these are minor details. I I just want to thank you for being here, and we’ll see you later in the afternoon. Thank you very much. What did you think of the story Daniels that’s coming in? How does the money care about the testimony?
    Are you politicizing this trial? All right. That is former President Trump. Right before court, he usually does make comments. He made two basic comments. First of all, he started with the news of the day from the Biden announcement last night during the CNN interview that basically, Israel might be on their own when it comes to needing weapons. The President here, President Trump, made a point of saying that if you’re Jewish in America and you voted for Biden, you must be disappointed. He actually said, You should feel ashamed of yourself. But I think what his point was is that Biden is a that Biden is abandoning Israel in its time of need.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/left-is-bigger-danger-our-country-than-russia/

  13. Judicial Watch Releases Voicemail Recording of FBI Agent and Secret Service Agent Coordinating Raid of Mar-a-Lago (AUDIO)
    by Cristina Laila May. 9, 2024 12:00 pm8 Comments

    Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch released a voicemail recording of an FBI Special Agent and Secret Service agent coordinating the raid on Mar-a-Lago.

    “Yes, hi, this is Special Agent [redacted] from FBI [unintelligible]. We met on Monday [the day of the raid]. We have a couple of specific follow-up asks of you, um, so give me a call so we can discuss that. My number is [redacted]. Again, my name is [redacted]. Thanks, bye,” the special agent said in an August 11, 2022 voicemail.

    AUDIO:

    Post
    See new posts
    Conversation
    Tom Fitton
    @TomFitton
    .@JudicialWatch
    : Voicemail Recording Shows FBI and Secret Service Coordination on Raid of @realDonaldTrump
    ’s Home — “We have a couple of specific follow-up asks of you, um, so give me a call so we can discuss that.”
    This recording is real-time evidence of the Biden administration’s whole government operation to abuse Trump by raiding his home. Judicial Watch will continue to piece together the details of the conspiracy to launch an unprecedented and malicious raid on the home of Biden’s chief political opponent.
    https://judicialwatch.org/raid-of-trumps

    https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1788357353466716249

    read the rest at

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/judicial-watch-releases-voicemail-recording-fbi-agent-secret/

  14. Has Israel followed the law in its war in Gaza? The US is due to render a first-of-its-kind verdict
    ELLEN KNICKMEYER
    Updated Wed, May 8, 2024 at 12:37 PM CDT·7 min read
    945

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing heat over its military support for Israel’s war, the Biden administration is due to deliver a first-of-its-kind formal verdict this week on whether the airstrikes on Gaza and restrictions on delivery of aid have violated international and U.S. laws designed to spare civilians from the worst horrors of war.
    A decision against close ally Israel would add to pressure on President Joe Biden to curb the flow of weapons and money to Israel’s military. The Democratic administration took one of the first steps in that direction in recent days, when it paused a shipment of 3,500 bombs out of concern over Israel’s threatened offensive on Rafah, a southern city crowded with more than a million Palestinians, a senior administration official said.
    The administration agreed in February at the insistence of Democrats in Congress to a negotiated agreement mandating it look at whether Israeli forces in Gaza have used U.S.-provided weapons and other military assistance in a lawful manner.
    Additionally, under the agreement, it must tell Congress whether it deems that Israel has acted to “arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly,” delivery of any U.S.-supported humanitarian aid into Gaza for starving civilians there.
    Officials said Wednesday they would not meet the day’s deadline for the report to be delivered to Congress, but expected it would still come this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discussion internal administration deliberations.
    Israel’s campaign to crush the Hamas militant group after its surprise October attack — and the ensuing disaster for Gaza’s civilians — have fueled a debate about whether the United States should act on grave human rights violations by one of its foreign recipients of military support when it sees them, as advocates say U.S. law requires, or only when it deems doing so serves U.S. strategic interests.
    “While human rights is an important component of the national interest, American priorities are much broader — particularly in an era of strategic competition,” Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and GOP Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, wrote last week in urging to Biden to repeal his February directive.
    But Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who spearheaded congressional negotiations with the White House to mandate the review, told reporters he feared the administration may allow policy aims to shape the outcome of its review. Van Hollen said he supports a strong security partnership with Israel but believes the U.S. should apply standards evenly.
    Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. security assistance. Palestinian suffering in the war in Gaza has churned up protests and other challenges for Biden at home and abroad as he seeks reelection against former President Donald Trump, a Republican.
    The administration’s findings must be “seen to be based on facts and law, and not based on what they would wish it would be,” Van Hollen told reporters last week.
    At the time the White House agreed to the review, it was working to head off moves from the Democratic lawmakers and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to start restricting shipments of weapons to Israel.
    Israel launched its offensive after attacks led by Hamas killed about 1,200 people on Oct. 7. Nearly 35,000 Palestinian civilians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since then, according to local health officials. U.S. and U.N. officials say full-fledged famine has set in in northern Gaza, owing to Israeli restrictions on food shipments and to the fighting.
    Human rights groups long have accused Israeli security forces of committing abuses against Palestinians and have accused Israeli leaders of failing to hold those responsible to account. In January, in a case brought by South Africa, the top U.N. court ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive.
    Israel says that it is following all U.S. and international law, that it investigates allegations of abuse by its security forces and that its campaign in Gaza is proportional to the existential threat it says is posed by Hamas.
    As the suffering of Palestinian civilians grew, Biden and his administration edged away from their initial unwavering public support of Israel and began to criticize its conduct of the war.
    Biden in December said “indiscriminate bombing” was costing Israel international backing. After Israeli forces targeted and killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in April, the Biden administration for the first time signaled it might cut military aid to Israel if it didn’t change its handling of the war and humanitarian aid.
    Republican Ronald Reagan was one of the last presidents openly to suspend some U.S. support for Israel’s military as a way to pressure Israel over its offensives.
    Under a 1997 congressional act known as the Leahy law, when the U.S. finds credible evidence that a unit of foreign security forces has committed gross human rights abuses, any U.S. aid to that unit is supposed to be automatically suspended.
    Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., last week that the U.S. found the evidence of such abuses by one particular Israeli unit to be credible. Blinken added that Israel had yet to rectify the unit’s wrongdoing, something the Leahy law says must happen for any suspension of military aid to be lifted. Blinken said rather than suspend the aid, the U.S. would work with Israel to “engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit.”
    Israeli officials have identified it as the Netzah Yehuda, which is accused in the death of a Palestinian American man and other abuses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank before the latest war in Gaza.
    Tim Rieser, a veteran Senate foreign policy staffer who helped now-retired Sen. Patrick Leahy craft the law, said if it had been applied to Israel, “maybe it would have been a deterrent.”
    Instead, “what we’ve seen is that abuses against Palestinians are rarely punished,” Rieser told The Associated Press.
    While a finding against Israel under the national security memo wouldn’t obligate the administration to start cutting military support for Israel, it would increase pressure on Biden to do so.
    A report to the administration by an unofficial, self-formed panel of military experts and former State Department officials, including Josh Paul and Charles Blaha, points to specific Israeli strikes on aid convoys, journalists, hospitals, schools and refugee centers and other targets broadly protected by law. The report argues the administration must find Israel’s conduct in Gaza has violated the law. Amnesty International has argued the same.
    The high civilian death tolls in Israel’s strikes go far beyond the laws of proportionality, the U.S. critics and rights groups say. They point to an Oct. 31 strike on a six-story apartment building in Gaza that killed at least 106 civilians. Critics say Israel provided no immediate justification for that strike.
    “They’re taking what we did in Mosul and Raqqa, and going tenfold beyond,” exceeding even what was allowed under U.S. rules of engagement at the time in the so-called war on terror, said Wes Bryant, a former Air Force targeting expert who led strike cells against the Islamic State and other extremist groups in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. He is among those urging the U.S. to condition military support to Israel.
    “If this is the new bar for 21st-century warfare, we might as well go back to World War II,” Bryant said.
    Israel and the Biden administration say Hamas’ presence in tunnels throughout Gaza, and alleged presence in hospitals and other protected sites, make it harder for Israeli forces to avoid high civilian casualties.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/israel-followed-law-war-gaza-040200914.html

  15. Undocumented immigrant arrested for kidnapping and assaulting 11-year-old in Lake Worth
    by Amber Raub, and staff
    Mon, May 6th 2024 at 12:45 PM
    Updated Tue, May 7th 2024 at 5:12 AM

    LAKE WORTH, Fla. (CBS12) — A 20-year-old undocumented immigrant has been arrested for allegedly snatching an 11-year-old girl off the street in front of her Lake Worth home and sexually assaulting her.
    The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s (PBSO) arrest report says Marvin Dionel Perez Lopez grabbed the 11-year-old by the hand and forced her into his van where he began assaulting her.
    When the child’s mother went looking for the girl, she spotted the van not far from their apartment building where the victim and Lopez both lived. The mother spotted them inside and began banging on the van door and shouting.
    According to sheriff’s deputies, Lopez jumped out of the van and ran away. After the incident, the victim’s mother went to Lopez’s apartment, where his brother was home. The brother called Lopez and told him to come home.
    The mother waited to confront him. Lopez pleaded with her for forgiveness, but there was no way she could, the mother reportedly said to deputies. Then she called the police.
    Investigators interviewed the victim, and she told them Lopez had forced himself on her after she repeatedly resisted his advances. She even tried to leave the van, but he pulled her back in. It escalated until Lopez allegedly raped her.
    On May 3, PBSO deputies arrived at the apartment to speak with Lopez. As the deputies knocked on the door, they noticed Lopez climbing out a back window and started running, fleeing into an alleyway. After multiple deputies and a K-9 unit searched the van for Lopez, they interviewed his brother, who said that Lopez ran because of what happened with the girl next door.
    Palm Beach County Victim Services director Nicole Bishop, says instances like this are unfortunate, but not uncommon.“Sexual assault is far more prevalent in our community than we would like to believe,” said Bishop.
    She tells CBS12 News that victims typically know their perpetrators, and in this case she did.
    “Stranger rape is far less prevalent than acquaintance rape. So most oftentimes it is someone that the person knows,” said Bishop.
    On Monday, the sheriff’s office confirmed Lopez’s arrest, adding that he is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who crossed the U.S.-Mexico Border in early January. He made his way to Florida shortly after. PBSO stated he has an immigration court date scheduled in 2027.
    Palm Beach County Sheriff, Ric Bradshaw says this crime never should’ve happened.
    “Here’s a Guatemalan, who came into the country illegally was stopped by the border people released, and made his way to South Florida. And now he commits a crime where he held an 11-year-old girl against her will and sexually assaulted her,” said Bradshaw.
    Sheriff Bradshaw tells CBS12 News that the federal government needs to do more to protect citizens.
    “We grabbed him. He’s confessed to the crime. So he’s gonna get tried for a capital crime before he even remotely thinks he’s gonna get deported. He’s gonna do the time here first,” said Bradshaw. “The federal government is victimizing the people who live in this country by letting these people in here”
    Lopez was arrested on counts of kidnapping to sexually assault a minor, sexual assault of a victim under 12 years old, and resisting an officer without violence. He’s being held in the Palm Beach County jail without bond.

    https://cbs12.com/news/local/lake-worth-man-arrested-for-kidnapping-sexually-assaulting-minor-marvin-dionel-perez-lopez-white-van-k-9-unit-saturday-captive-florida-may-6-2024

  16. UCLA finally asks for FBI help — but to investigate pro-Israel supporters

    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Chancellor Gene Block says the college has contacted the FBI and the LA District Attorney’s Office about investigating a group of pro-Israel counter-protesters who allegedly attacked an anti-Israel campus encampment, sparking hours of violent clashes.

    Hundreds of anti-Israel agitators set up an encampment on UCLA’s campus in Royce Quad last month to demand that the university divest from companies and institutions linked to Israel.

    However, early Wednesday morning, a group of about 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters arrived at UCLA’s campus and clashed with the anti-Israel agitators there, resulting in fights breaking out and fireworks being shot at encampment demonstrators while other items were also thrown as part of the chaos.

    After about three hours without police intervention, Los Angles Mayor Karen Bass ordered the LAPD to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies and break up the protest.

    read the rest at

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/ucla-finally-asks-fbi-help-152442291.html

  17. JUST IN: Federal Appeals Court Rejects Hunter Biden’s Bid to Toss Felony Gun Charges
    by Cristina Laila May. 9, 2024 1:20 pm110 Comments

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    JUST IN: Federal Appeals Court Rejects Hunter Biden’s Bid to Toss Felony Gun Charges
    by Cristina Laila May. 9, 2024 1:20 pm110 Comments

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    A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Hunter Biden’s bid to toss gun charges.

    “The defendant in this criminal case appealed three pretrial orders entered on April 12, 2024, denying his motions to dismiss the indictment,” the court document released Thursday states. “This appeal is DISMISSED because the defendant has not shown the District Court’s orders are appealable before final judgment.”

    In September Hunter Biden was indicted on federal gun charges. He was indicted in a Delaware court on three counts related to his possession of a firearm while using drugs.

    “Two of the counts carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years,” NBC News reported.

    Hunter pleaded not guilty to all three felony gun charges in October.

    Separately, Hunter Biden was hit with a 9-count indictment filed in the Central District of California: Tax evasion, failure to file/pay taxes, and false/fraudulent tax return.

    US District Judge Mark Scarsi, a Trump appointee, tentatively set the trial for Hunter’s tax-related charges for June 20.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/just-federal-appeals-court-rejects-hunter-bidens-bid/

  21. $2.3 Billion Tax-Funded Grant to Renovate JFK International Airport Awarded Exclusively to Minority and Women-Owned Enterprises
    by Jim H?ft May. 9, 2024 3:20 pm49 Comments

    Governor Kathy Hochul announced that a $2.3 billion tax-funded grant in redevelopment contracts for JFK International Airport has been awarded exclusively to minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE).

    MWBE stands for Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise. It’s a certification issued by the state that gives developmental benefits to businesses that are primarily owned and operated by a woman or a person who is at least 25% African American, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American. If the business is publicly traded, the stock must also be at least 51% minority-owned.

    The move, which marks the largest participation of MWBE firms in any public-private partnership in New York’s history, has been praised by many for its focus on inclusivity.

    However, some are questioning whether the DEI criteria could inadvertently sideline other considerations crucial to project success, such as experience, efficiency, and past performance.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/2-3-billion-tax-funded-grant-renovate-jfk/

  22. Sinclair explores selling roughly 30% of its broadcast stations, sources say

    Sinclair

    , one of the largest owners of broadcast stations in the U.S., is looking to sell more than 30% of its footprint, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The company has hired Moelis

    as its investment banker and has identified more than 60 stations in various regions of the U.S. that it would be willing to sell, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Sinclair owns or operates 185 TV stations in 86 markets.

    The stations are a mix of affiliates including Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and the CW. If sold together, their average revenue for 2023 and 2024 is an estimated $1.56 billion, the people said. Sinclair is willing to sell all or some of the stations, which are in top markets like Minneapolis; Portland, Ore.; Pittsburgh; Austin, Texas and Fresno, Calif., among others.

    Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said Wednesday that the company is open to offloading parts of its business, without providing specifics.

    “As we’ve always stated, we have no sacred cows,” Ripley said during his company’s earnings conference call. “We want to unlock the sum of the parts valuation that we think we’re grossly undervalued for. And to the extent that asset sales makes sense in order to unlock that value and help us de-lever, the

    https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/sinclair-explores-selling-30percent-of-broadcast-stations.html

  24. Yet more from the Amsterdam intifada.

    The protestors left a mess at the Binnengasthuis complex (university of Amsterdam). At 1m33, an improvised sign saying “Dr Refaat Alareer memorial library”. At 1m43 “Queers for Palestine” grafitti is visible, at 0m14 there’s a banner that says “From the Rietveld to the sea/Defund the police” (Rietveld is an Amsterdam art academy), at 0m35 a hammer and sickle.

    Concerning Dr Alareer:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refaat_Alareer
    During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Alareer made media appearances on the BBC, Democracy Now!, and ABC News.[16][17][18] In the immediate aftermath of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, he described the attack as “legitimate and moral” and said it was “exactly like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.”[19] He also rejected allegations of Hamas engaging in sexual violence during the 7 October attack as lies used to “justify the Gaza genocide.”