Reader’s Links for June 22nd 2024

Posted on by

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

40 Replies to “Reader’s Links for June 22nd 2024”

  1. The night had not set
    The day was en route
    The five-a.m. birds
    Were bubbling words
    And the little dog sat
    Head-to-toe black
    On the cool back porch
    Because it was not the inside.

    She thought: “I love sitting here, at this time of day. The air is so fresh, it makes my nose sings. Sweet dew on the grass what more could I ask?”

    Then she lifted her head
    And saw the first rabbit
    Who’d entered the yard
    To munch grass for breakfast.

    Then came another
    And then came a third
    While the little dog watched
    Like a shepherd with herd.

    “What an odd little dog, ”
    Her master then thought
    As he spied through the door
    Morning coffee in hand
    “She doesn’t give chase
    She makes them feel safe
    And they know that she’s there
    Yet still they don’t care.”

    From behind in the hallway
    The daughter stands silent
    Watching her father stand at the back door
    Thinking what a strange Dad who gets up before sunrise
    She then goes back to bed
    Knowing she’s safe.

    • Your words paint a beautiful picture Johnnyu.
      It’s a great way to start the day. Thank You.

      P.S. I like the chickens that you posted a couple of days ago. Now that was funny.

      • Thank you very much, EB. Now if only I could remember what I said about chickens…honestly my mind is a jumbled mess sometimes.

  8. Just checked the weather from Environment and CLIMATE CHANGE Canada. Are — we— being — programmed? Under rainfall warning, hmmm it must be going to rain. Stay home, stay safe, stay dry.

  9. Truth is not hate speech.
    CAIR was incorporated in 1994
    Nihad Awad, Omar Ahmad and Rafeeq Jaber were all leaders of the Islamic Association of Palestine.

    • Tell that to the German guy sitting in jail for having shown an actual historical photo of the Mufti of Jerusalem and high-ranking Nazi official…

      Or the leader of the AFD who was convicted of hate speech for issuing a factually correct warning about migrant rape gangs.

      Even here, in little old Canada, we have a legal concept of ‘hate facts’: true and provable acts that cannot be used in a courtroom for self defense because the facts themselves might cause hurt feelings…

      So, yes, truth is often legally classified as ‘hate speech’ in more and more of what used to be The West – and more and more truth is being classified as ‘hate facts’.

  10. A candidate for the French snap election representing Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) anti-mass-migration populist party was attacked and hospitalised by a “group of masked people”.

    Marine Le Pen slammed “ultra-left militias” after a group of her activists, including a Parliamentary candidate, were set upon by a group of black-clad attackers in the city of Saint Étienne, in the Loire. The RN activists were “pushed around and insulted”, and “projectiles” including rotten fruit, water, and flour were thrown.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/06/22/extreme-left-violence-le-pen-party-candidate-hospitalised-following-masked-men-attack/

  11. Nigeria has been experiencing a “surge” in anti-Christian violence, including numerous kidnappings and murders. These are often carried out execution style, according to recent reports.

    “On June 3, three Christians were just executed by the radical Islamic terrorists, ISWAP,” said Kyle Abts, executive director of the International Committee on Nigeria. “These Islamic terrorists allowed Muslims to flee, but retained the Christians for their propaganda video, which shows their execution.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2024/06/22/nigeria-reports-surge-anti-christian-violence/

    Note: Sorry this has to be said, but it does: Nigerians tend to be significantly darker skinned than Arabs. So, people who are protesting the “genocide” of light-skinned Arabs while not protesting the actual genocide of dark skinned Nigerians are – you guessed it – racists! And, it needs to be pointed out to them, over and over and over.

    Aside: remember, Mohammed was white, as reported in the Sunnah. One of his companions ‘saw The Prophet’s thigh, and it was white’. And, we have been told over and over again that Jesus was a ‘racialized’ person. So, siding with people who follow a white guy’s religion over those who follow a ‘racialized’ prophet is – you guessed it – racist.

  12. Authorities in South Texas arrested a previously convicted horse rapist who returned to a local ranch to sexually assault a white mare. The suspect has a history of arrests for breaking into local ranches and having intercourse with specific horses.

    Court records in Hidalgo County revealed that sheriff’s deputies arrested 54-year-old Cirilo Castillo this week near Edinburg, Texas, after a ranch owner caught him standing in a chair having sex with the mare. The woman claimed that Castillo had broken into her property in the past to have sex with her horse. Authorities arrested him and charged him with two counts of criminal trespass and two counts of bestiality.

    https://www.breitbart.com/border/2024/06/22/serial-horse-rapist-arrested-for-fourth-time-in-south-texas/

    Note: there has been a strong movement over a decade and a half long in Germany to normalize bestiality, they had even suggested having ‘bestiality brothels’…yet another way to redefine what is ‘normal’ and undermine our society. Glad to see Texas has not succumbed to this vector yet.

  14. A Nevada judge dismissed an alternate electors case against six Republicans who had submitted alternate elector certifications disputing the results of the 2020 Presidential election, pointing out that the case was in the wrong jurisdiction.

    Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus called off the trial that had been set for January, ruling that state prosecutors had a crime that had “occurred in another jurisdiction,” according to the Nevada Independent.

    This comes after a grand jury indicted the six Republicans: Michael J. McDonald, the chairman of the Nevada GOP; Jim Hindle, the vice chairman of the Nevada GOP; Jim DeGraffenreid, Jesse Law, Shawn Meehan, and Eileen Rice, in December 2023. The six alternate electors were charged with submitting alternate elector certifications regarding what liberal Democrats call a “fake electors” plot.

    Holthus’s ruling came after she had heard arguments from prosecutors explaining why Clark County was the right county for the case to be tried in, even though the alternate electors had signed the documents in Carson City, and the documents had been mailed from Douglas County, according to the outlet.

    “You have literally, in my opinion, a crime that has occurred in another jurisdiction,” Holthus explained. “It’s so appropriately up north and so appropriately not here.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/06/21/nevada-judge-dismisses-alternate-electors-case-citing-wrong-jurisdiction/

  15. Costco has urgently recalled more than half a million portable battery chargers after two homes caught on fire and more than 100 other instances of the devices overheating were reported.

    The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) told consumers to “immediately stop” using the myCharge POWER HUB All-In-One 10,000mAh portable chargers with model numbers AO10FK-A, AO10FK-B, and AO10FK-C in a Thursday notice.

    The chargers, sold exclusively at Costco, have been the subject of 120 reports involving faulty overheating, including two reports of residential fires that resulted in “approximately $165,000 in reported property damage,” officials said.

    Costco had already received more than 100 returns of the product after many had melted, begun smoking, caught on fire, exploded, and more.

    https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2024/06/21/costco-recalls-more-than-500000-battery-chargers-after-multiple-fires/

  16. Chinese dictator Xi Jinping dashed to Tibet on Wednesday to meet with Communist Party officials after former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and a bipartisan congressional group met with the Dalai Lama in India.

    The Dalai Lama is the 88-year-old exiled spiritual leader of the oppressed Tibetans, whose language, culture, and religion are under constant attack from Xi’s tyranny. Among other depredations, the Chinese government has claimed the power to control the Dalai Lama’s spiritual reincarnation.

    Pelosi and the sitting congressional representatives met with the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, a northern Indian city in the Himalayas, where the exiled Tibetan religious leader has dwelled for most of his long life. The group also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi during the trip to India.

    https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2024/06/21/xi-jinping-rushes-to-tibet-after-nancy-pelosi-meets-with-dalai-lama/

  17. Philippine Outrage Swells at ‘Barbaric’ Chinese Coast Guard Sword Attack

    A group of 17 Philippine business organizations issued a rare statement on Friday denouncing China’s attack on Filipino naval personnel in the South China Sea on Monday.

    The group appealed for “unity towards a non-violent resolution that respects our rights as a peace-loving nation.”

    “We deplore the continued harassment of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), the PCG (Philippine Coast Guard), and most of all, our people who are just trying to earn their livelihood,” the statement said.

    The statement notably avoided calling China out by name, but there is no question China was the aggressor it was denouncing. Chinese Coast Guard ships violently intercepted three Philippine supply vessels near the Second Thomas Shoal on Monday, ramming the Philippine ships and tearing into their inflatable hulls with axes and swords.

    https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2024/06/21/philippine-outrage-swells-barbaric-chinese-coast-guard-sword-attack/

  18. “This is the Definition of Corruption” — AG Merrick Garland is Now Calling GOP Lawmakers, Coercing Them Not to Vote for ‘Inherent Contempt’
    thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/this-is-definition-corruption-ag-merrick-garland-is/
    Jun. 21, 2024 7:40 pm

    GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said last week that she will bring force an inherent contempt vote to the House floor after the DOJ declined to prosecute US Attorney General Merrick Garland.

    “Under inherent contempt proceedings, the House or Senate has its Sergeant-At-Arms, or deputy, take a person into custody for proceedings to be held in Congress,” according to the National Constitution Center.

    The Justice Department won’t prosecute Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress over the Biden audio tapes.

    In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday, the department said, “The department has determined that the responses by Attorney General Garland to the subpoenas issued by the committees did not constitute a crime, and accordingly the department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the Attorney General.”

    “The DOJ is not above the law. Garland is not above the law. Inherent contempt will be called up and brought to the floor,” Anna Paulina Luna said.

    “I already filed the resolution and I will be calling up the vote,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said on Friday afternoon.

    Senior Congressional Correspondent for Fox News Chard Pergram wrote, “Fox is told that Democrats would likely move to table or kill the resolution to hold Garland in “inherent contempt.” Thus, the vote is one step removed from an actual up/down vote on inherent contempt. If the House moves to the table, the issue is dead. However, if the House rejects tabling the measure, it proceeds to hold a vote on actual inherent contempt. Fox is told that Garland has reached out to moderate Republicans, pushing them to reject inherent contempt.”

    2) The last time Congress used its inherent contempt powers, it held a Commerce Department official who refused to cooperate at the Willard Hotel in Washington for ten days in 1934.

    Fox is told that Democrats would likely move to table or kill the resolution to hold Garland in…

    — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 21, 2024

    In a series of explosive posts, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has launched a scathing attack on Attorney General Merrick Garland.

    Reports are emerging that Garland is personally reaching out to moderate Republicans, urging them to vote against holding him in ‘inherent contempt.’

    Rep. Luna wrote:

    “It’s being reported Garland is CALLING moderate Republicans asking them to vote against holding him in inherent contempt. Garland, you can make this all go away by handing over the tapes. You’re willfully ignoring congressional issued subpoenas…

    Garland is now calling Republican members of congress pressuring them to NOT vote for inherent contempt. This is the definition of corruption. He thinks he is above the law and can tell members of congress what to do.

    Why is Garland fighting so hard to hide the tapes? What is on the tapes that is causing him to behave in criminal fashion in an effort to protect Biden? Any other American would be in jail for doing what he is doing.

    Garland, release the tapes to Congress and allow us to listen to them.

    Garland, why don’t you give me call as well. You should have my cell phone number. I’d like to hear your pitch on why you think you should not be held accountable?”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/this-is-definition-corruption-ag-merrick-garland-is/

  19. Ted Cruz Puts Trump’s Tax Idea Into Bill Form, Quickly Gets Support from Fellow Republicans
    thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/ted-cruz-puts-trumps-tax-idea-bill-form/
    Jun. 22, 2024 10:20 am
    Photo of author

    Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is not waiting until after the presidential election to launch a bid to put one of former President Donald Trump’s ideas into effect.

    Cruz has introduced the No Tax on Tips Act that would keep the Internal Revenue Service from taking a slice of the income service workers gain through tips, according to a news release on Cruz’s website.

    During a recent rally in Las Vegas, Trump indicated he opposes taxes on tips, according to The Hill.

    “For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy. Because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips,” Trump said.

    No tax on tips. Spread the word. Vote for Trump. No tax on tips.#MAGA #Trump2024 #SaveAmerica #NoTaxOnTips pic.twitter.com/zJ9mbMvD5I

    — Chris Crocker (@ChrisCrocker) June 15, 2024

    “We’re not going to do it, and we’re going to do that right away, first thing in office, because it’s been a point of contention for years and years and years. And you do a great job of service, you take care of people and I think it’s going to be something that really is deserved,” he said.

    Cruz said that the National Restaurant Association and other groups support his bill.

    Sen. Cruz introduces bill to make tips exempt from federal income taxes.https://t.co/LOZ7L1ND01

    — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 20, 2024

    “American workers in dozens of industries depend on tipped wages to support themselves. Today, I am introducing pro-worker legislation, the No Tax on Tips Act, to ensure they get to keep all of those tips. This legislation is a common-sense pro-worker bill that will help families deal with the historic inflation caused by the Biden administration,” he said.

    The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Rick Scott of Florida and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.

    “President Trump is right: tips are earned by providing good service. It is simpler and more fair to let these workers keep the reward they earned rather than send it to D.C. bureaucrats,” Cramer said.

    Daines said the bill is an antidote to the inflation created by President Joe Biden.

    “Providing a much-needed tax cut for working families will help offset Biden’s high prices,” he said.

    Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association, said Cruz’s bill “would provide immediate tax relief for more than 2.2 million restaurant employees and their families, putting more money in their pockets at a time when we’re all feeling the squeeze of higher prices.”

    Myra Reddy, director of government affairs for the Professional Beauty Association, noted that 1.3 million licensed beauty professionals would also be impacted by the bill.

    “Restaurant servers, bartenders, and other tip-earning employees give so much to the local businesses and communities they serve—delivering the essential service of food with hospitality that creates lasting memories,” Emily Williams Knight, president and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association said.

    “It’s wonderful to create an opportunity to give back to them by helping them keep more of their hard-earned tips that they can invest in their families and our local economy,” Knight said.

    The bill would allow Americans to deduct 100 percent of their tipped wages when they file their taxes.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/ted-cruz-puts-trumps-tax-idea-bill-form/

  20. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò Confirms He Has Not Attended Vatican ‘Schism’ Trial – Refutes Jesuit Magazine Pushing Fake News for Bergoglio Faction
    thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-confirms-he-has-not/
    Jun. 22, 2024 9:45 am
    Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

    Earlier this week The Gateway Pundit reported that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano was summoned to the Vatican to be excommunicated by Red Pope Francis.

    Archbishop Carlo Vigano, a friend of the faithful and totally dedicated to the Church and sharing the word of Jesus Christ, was notified that he is being summoned to the Vatican.

    Vigano has been outspoken against the destruction of the Church, COVID mandates, and stolen elections. He has called out the current Pope for his destructive actions against the Church. He has warned about the World Economic Forum. For this, there are reports that he is being excommunicated from the Hoy Catholic Church.

    On Friday Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano announced that he had not attended his Vatican ‘schism’ trial and he will not attend such a trial!

    Lifesite News reported, via Midnight Rider.:

    The reports spread by certain media outlets, stating that I presented myself yesterday, Thursday, June 20, at the Palace of the Holy Office, as intimated to me by the Decree of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, is devoid of any foundation. These reports are completely false.

    The Jesuit magazine America, the media arm of the Society of Jesus in the United States and the megaphone of the “church of mercy” of the Jesuit Bergoglio, has rushed ahead, while Vatican News (here) was still totally unaware of the Decree sent to me on June 11, only by a simple email, without respecting those formalities necessary for the validity of the communication of a Decree, and which I myself published on X two hours before the meeting scheduled at the Dicastery. Although all the elements were clearly stated in my communiqué, inferences and speculations took precedence, in typical Jesuit style.

    Haste is a bad counselor. Therefore, Gerard O’Connell’s article Archbishop Viganò charged with schism by the Vatican that appeared yesterday at America (here) seems to have been written even before I made the Vatican document public. This reveals the close contiguity between the Vatican apparatus and America magazine and confirms a very precise strategy, aimed at liquidating my trial with a condemnation that has already been decided by Bergoglio and his zealous collaborator Tucho Fernández, author of the scandalous pornographic pamphlet La Pasion mistica: Espiritualidad y Sensualidad, as well as Saname con tu boca: El arte de besar.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-confirms-he-has-not/

  21. SHOCKER: Disgraced Ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo Confirms Lawfare Against Trump is Politically Motivated, Says Case Wouldn’t Be Brought if Trump Wasn’t Running for President
    thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/disgraced-ex-governor-andrew-cuomo-confirms-lawfare-against/
    Jun. 22, 2024 7:30 am
    Screenshot: Real Time with Bill Maher/Youtube

    Disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo admitted on live television that the legal cases against Donald Trump were politically motivated.

    Speaking to Bill Maher, Cuomo stated that the attorney general’s case against Trump in New York would have never been brought if Trump hadn’t been running for president.

    During the interview, Cuomo, along with RINO crybaby Adam Kinzinger, discussed various topics ranging from the climate crisis to Russia’s alliance with North Korea. However, it was his comments on the legal challenges faced by Trump that truly caught the viewers’ attention.

    “The trial in New York, the one he [Trump] got convicted for, was the greatest fundraising bonanza ever,” Maher said, adding, “He was lagging behind Biden, and now he’s pulled quite a bit ahead.”

    “That trial was the greatest reason people had to send their checks for $5, $10, $25, whatever dollars to Donald Trump. So I was always with you [Andrew Cuomo] on the one in New York, the hush money trial. I don’t think they should have brought that one,” he added.

    Cuomo responded, “That case, the attorney general’s case in New York, frankly, should have never been brought. If his name was not Donald Trump and if he wasn’t running for president. I’m the former AG in New York. I’m telling you, that case would have never been brought. And that’s what is offensive to people. And it should be!”
    WATCH:

    Crowd Goes Dead Silent as Bill Maher Realizes “Hush Money” Trial Was a BIG MISTAKE

    BILL MAHER: “The trial in New York, the one he [Trump] got convicted for, was the greatest fundraising bonanza ever. He was lagging behind Biden, and now he’s pulled quite a bit ahead. That trial… pic.twitter.com/lATiJBVaj0

    — The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) June 22, 2024

    This admission from Cuomo exposes the Democrats’ relentless pursuit of Trump as nothing more than a political witch hunt. This isn’t surprising given their history of using legal mechanisms to undermine Trump’s presidency and potential reelection.

    The Democrats launched two impeachment proceedings against Trump during his presidency and initiated multiple legal challenges after he left office.

    The first impeachment in 2019-2020 charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over allegations of pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The Senate acquitted Trump of these charges.

    The second impeachment in 2021 accused Trump of inciting an insurrection following the January 6th event. Despite seven Republicans joining the Democrats in voting to convict, the Senate once again acquitted Trump.

    Post-presidency, legal challenges against Trump continue to mount.

    Timeline of collusion:

    September 9, 2022: Biden made a divisive comment about ensuring Trump does not become president again, which many interpret as a call to action against Trump’s political future.

    November 7, 2022: Trump teases a major announcement, hinting at his potential run in the 2024 election.

    November 15, 2022: Trump officially announces his candidacy for the 2024 presidential race.

    November 18, 2022: Key events unfold that suggest a coordinated effort to target Trump:

    Matthew Colangelo, Joe Biden’s third-highest-ranking DOJ official, resigns and within days, joins Bragg’s office, a move that raises numerous eyebrows regarding its propriety and timing.
    On the same day, Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints Jack Smith to oversee federal cases against Trump in a move that coincides suspiciously with other developments.
    Nathan Wade, linked to another prosecutor targeting Trump, spends extensive time at the White House, further implicating direct connections.

    December 2, 2022: Matthew Colangelo decided to join the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, starting his new position on December 5.

    Last month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also inadvertently admitted that the relentless lawfare against President Donald Trump is not about justice; they’re a strategic ploy to hamstring his 2024 presidential campaign.

    “By the way, Trump’s doing it in the South Bronx not to make a point but because he’s got court. And the man practically has the legal version of an ankle bracelet around him, and he can’t leave the 5 boroughs because he always has to be in court,” she said.

    Trending: “This is the Definition of Corruption” — AG Merrick Garland is Now Calling GOP Lawmakers, Coercing Them Not to Vote for ‘Inherent Contempt’

    “So it is truly an embarrassment to him. And I am looking forward to the response of everyday Bronxites talking about how they feel about him coming to their backyard,” AOC added.

    This lawfare by Democrats, as pointed out by AOC’s own words, is aimed at limiting Trump’s mobility and, by extension, his ability to campaign freely across the country.

    READ:

    ELECTION INTERFERENCE: AOC Says the Quiet Part Out Loud — Reveals Democrats’ Lawfare Against Trump is Designed to Obstruct His Campaign Like an ‘Electronic Ankle Monitor’ (VIDEO) https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/election-interference-aoc-says-quiet-part-loud-reveals/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/disgraced-ex-governor-andrew-cuomo-confirms-lawfare-against/

  22. Alan Dershowitz Urges Ordinary Americans to File Lawsuits Against New York for Election Interference and State Official’s Ongoing Attempts to Rig Election by Silencing Trump!
    thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/alan-dershowitz-urges-ordinary-americans-file-lawsuits-against/
    Jun. 22, 2024 7:15 am
    Alan Dershowitz calls on Americans to file lawsuits against the lawless New York officials persecuting Trump.

    Harvard Law Professor and author Alan Dershowitz joined Sean Hannity on Friday night to discuss New York City DA Alvin Bragg’s latest attempt to gag Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump from speaking about his lawfare show-trial in New York City.

    On Friday Soros-funded DA Alvin Bragg filed a complaint to silence President Trump even though the sham lawfare case has already ended.

    Bragg cited “ongoing threats” against his office by Trump supporters after his office abused the legal system to convict Trump of bogus crimes that have still not been defined.

    This is how the Marxist left works. Get used to it. Marxists never back down they only plow forward with their wicked drive for absolute power.

    On Friday night Alan Dershowitz told the FOX News audience that

    Sean Hannity: Let’s get your take, Professor. I don’t think the Trump legal team has any other options but what they’re doing. Your thoughts?

    Alan Dershowitz: Well, they have to appeal. I have a piece in tonight’s Wall Street Journal in which I urge people like us to file lawsuits against New York. After all, we have the right to hear Donald Trump in the election.

    And, this gag order says that Joe Biden can accuse Donald Trump of being a felon, having been convicted by an unfair jury, unfair judge of a non-crime. He has the right to do that. But Donald Trump has one hand tied behind his back because he can’t respond in full. He can’t talk about the judge’s daughter. He can’t talk about the unfairness of the jurors. I guess even the DA is now saying, Well, maybe he can talk about the witnesses.

    But the First Amendment applies not only to Donald Trump, the speaker, but to all of us, the viewers and the listeners. We have the right to hear a full and complete debate, not a partial debate in which Trump is restricted about what he can say. So I hope that the gag order will be appealed by Trump’s lawyers. And I hope Amicus Briefs, friend of the Corp, briefs, will be submitted by ordinary people saying, Look, you’re depriving us of our right to hear somebody.

    Via Midnight Rider.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/alan-dershowitz-urges-ordinary-americans-file-lawsuits-against/

  23. Post
    Conversation
    Laurence Tribe ?? ??
    @tribelaw
    One terrible possibility is that, while Judge Cannon is hearing arguments today that the whole system of Special Counsels (like Smith for J6 and Weiss for Hunter Biden) is illegal, so SCOTUS is putting the finishing touches on a decision ripping up Smith’s entire mandate (and possibly undermining all the indictments he has obtained against Trump) while it considers ending the so-called Chevron doctrine making the administrative state possible.

    That would make the Federalist Society’s “unitary executive” theory a Bannon-like wrecking ball of gigantic proportions that would explain but not justify the delay in handing down these rulings.

    https://x.com/tribelaw/status/1804185266854432919

  24. Louisiana becomes first state to allow surgical castration as punishment for child molesters

    Louisiana has become the first state where judges can order offenders guilty of certain sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration
    By
    SARA CLINE Associated Press
    June 21, 2024, 4:11 PM ET
    • 4 min read
    National headlines from ABC NewsCatch up on the developing stories making headlines.The Associated Press

    BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana has become the first state where judges can order offenders guilty of certain sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Tuesday.

    While the punishment of surgical castration is used in other countries that are known for harsher criminal sanctions — including the Czech Republic and Nigeria — it will be new in the U.S. The governor’s office confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday that Landry had signed the bill earlier in the week.

    Proponents of the Louisiana law, which takes effect Aug. 1, hope the new possible punishment will deter people from committing sex crimes against children. Opponents argue that it is “cruel and unusual” punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution. They say it is sure to face legal challenges.

    The legislation gives Louisiana judges the option to sentence someone to surgical castration after the person has been convicted of certain aggravated sex crimes — including rape, incest and molestation — against a child under 13. The punishment is not automatic and would be by individual cases and at the discretion of the judge.

    Louisiana has 2,224 people in prison for such crimes. The law can be applied only to those who have convicted a crime on or after Aug. 1 of this year.

    A handful of states, including Louisiana, California, Florida and Texas, have laws allowing for chemical castration for those guilty of certain sex crimes. In some of those states, offenders can opt for the surgical procedure if they prefer. But no other state allows judges to impose surgical castration outright, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    In Louisiana, which for 16 years has allowed judges to order chemical castration of people convicted of certain sex crimes against children, that punishment is rarely issued. Chemical castration uses medications that block testosterone production to decrease sex drive. Surgical castration is a much more invasive procedure that involves the removal of both testicles or ovaries.

    An offender who “fails to appear or refuses to undergo” surgical castration after a judge orders the procedure could be hit with a “failure to comply” charge and face an additional three to five years in prison, based on the bill’s language.

    The bill received overwhelming approval in both of the GOP-dominated chambers. State Sen. Regina Barrow, a Democrat, authored the legislation, but votes against it mainly came from Democrats.

    “We are talking about babies who are being violated by somebody,” Barrow said during an April committee meeting. “That is inexcusable.”

    Proponents of the measure argue that the punishment is just for horrific crimes against children. Critics argue that the state should focus on the rehabilitation of those guilty of such crimes in an effort to lower recidivism rates.

    Others wonder if more states may look at adopting a similar law to Louisiana’s and question the constitutionality of such measures. The U.S. has decided that retributive punishment — “an eye for an eye” — is cruel and unusual, said Katrina Sifferd, a philosophy professor at Elmhurst University.

    “We don’t rape rapists,” she said. “We don’t cut off the hands of thieves.”

    The legislation is one of several controversial bills signed by Landry this week, including a measure allowing law enforcement to jail people who enter the U.S. illegally, similar to a Texas law and others facing legal challenges.

    Republican states and Democratic President Joe Biden have been fighting over U.S.-Mexico border security. If the Supreme Court upholds the Texas law, Louisiana’s law will expand enforcement of immigration law to local, not just federal, authorities. It also creates the crime of “illegal entry or reentry” into the state and establishes punishments that include prison time and thousands of dollars in fines.

    https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireStory/louisiana-state-surgical-castration-punishment-child-molesters-111325172

  25. Detroit Judge Busted for Unregistered Handgun at Airport
    By Tom Knighton | 7:01 PM | June 21, 2024
    AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

    The state of Michigan is one of those that decided making law-abiding citizens register their handguns would have some kind of impact on criminals who will not register theirs. No, I don’t understand the logic–if you can call it that–behind this “thinking” or anything, but it isn’t anything but a way to treat law-abiding citizens like they’re suspected criminals.
    Advertisement

    But suffice it to say that if you’re in Michigan, your handgun is supposed to be registered with the authorities.

    You should most definitely not bring your unregistered handgun to the airport, though. Especially if you’re trying to board a flight. I mean, you can check it in your luggage in accordance with the airline’s rules on such things–they’re not likely to check to see if it’s properly registered, after all–but you should definitely not try to take it on the plane.

    That’s especially true if you’re a judge.

    The Smith & Wesson .380 pistol a Wayne County Juvenile Court judge had in her purse going through security at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport was not registered, according to a police report of the incident — the latest episode involving a public official bringing a gun to the Romulus airport.

    Third Circuit Court Judge Cylenthia LaToye Miller was about to board a Delta Airlines flight to New York’s LaGuardia Airport at about 9:18 a.m. on June 8, when a U.S. Transportation Security Administration agent spotted the pistol on the x-ray machine’s monitor, according to a report by the Wayne County Airport Authority Police Department that was obtained by The Detroit News through a public records request.

    “(A TSA agent whose name was redacted) checked Ms. Miller’s purse and found a Smith & Wesson, M&P Bodyguard 380,” said the report that was written by an airport police officer. “I cleared the weapon to make it safe. There was a round of ammunition chambered. The firearm was not artfully concealed. I located Ms. Miller’s credentials, ID, driver license and (an item that was redacted).

    “Ms. Miller told me she had not registered the firearm at this time,” the report said. “Ms. Miller told me her brother lived and purchased the firearm in (a redacted location).

    “Ms. Miller was told she was under arrest for bringing a loaded firearm through an Airport Security Checkpoint,” the report said. ” … TSA conducted their additional screening. Upon Ms. Miller completing TSA screening, (an airport police corporal) escorted her to (another area of the airport).”

    Miller was issued a misdemeanor ordinance violation for “dangerous weapons” and ordered to contact Romulus’s 34th District Court within 14 days.

    Advertisement

    Miller, through her attorney, claims the gun belonged to a close friend.

    However, I don’t think that gets her out of hot water. After all, Michigan has universal background checks, which cover the transfer of firearms. People think of it as gun sales, but it’s really any transfer from one owner to another. “It belongs to a close friend” may well be interpreted to an illegal transfer, even temporarily, and cause her even more problems.

    Whoops.

    Regardless, the defense seems to be that this is an old gun registration law and it should be repealed, which I agree with. Gun registration is blatantly unconstitutional and generally useless in preventing violent crime. There’s no reason for the laws to exist so they should go the way of the dodo.

    But it’s the law on the books now, and Miller appears to have violated it.

    However, it seems she was far from the first person from the criminal justice system to have done so.

    Former Detroit Police Chief Jerry Oliver resigned in 2003 after he brought an unregistered .25 caliber pistol into Metro Airport as he was on his way to a police chief’s conference in Philadelphia. Former Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan, now Detroit’s mayor, charged Oliver with possessing an unlicensed handgun, a misdemeanor. Oliver pleaded no contest to the charge and paid a $250 fine. The former chief also was fined $300 by the TSA.

    In 2007, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy recused herself after Sylvia James, former chief judge of Inkster’s 22nd District Court, was stopped with a loaded, unregistered gun in her carry-on bag. Worthy said she and James were sorority sisters who had a personal relationship. Washtenaw County prosecutors took the case and decided not to charge James, because they said investigators were unable to prove she had intentionally brought the firearm to the airport.

    Advertisement

    So it seems Miller is just keeping up with tradition or something.

    I sincerely hope these other folks’ penalties were on par with what the average person in Detroit would face for the same thing. I’d hate to think that there’s preferential treatment for colleagues or anything, though I think we all know that’s probably the case.

    Of course, if this gets the gun registration thing killed in Michigan, so much the better. Unfortunately, I’ve seen nothing out of that state lately that suggests we’ll see any such thing. Instead, we’ll see this become a non-story and the state will just find other gun control laws to cram down the throats of the law-abiding citizens who have done nothing wrong.

    Because that’s what happens in anti-gun states and that’s what Michigan is.

    https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/06/21/detroit-judge-busted-for-unregistered-handgun-at-airport-n1225352

  26. Shootings Spike in Gun-Controlled New York City
    By Cam Edwards | 8:29 AM | June 22, 2024
    AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

    It’s not unusual for crime to increase as the temperature rises, but warmer weather alone can’t account for the sharp increase in shootings that have taken place across New York City over the past few weeks.
    Advertisement

    According to the New York Post, the number of shooting incidents in the five boroughs in June is up by almost one-third compared to 2023. Over the past week the figures have gotten even worse, with a 50% spike in shootings across the city.

    “It’s like the Wild East because we’re on the East Side,” said Sokpini Tay, whose 11-year-old son, Kyhara Tay, was killed by an errant slug. “Nobody’s really doing anything it seems. Nobody really cares.

    “Basically, everybody’s doing it and getting away with it,” he said. “The summer just started so I mean it should be going up because you’re gonna have more people out and about.”

    Officials at City Hall said more cops were deployed to troubled precincts following an earlier spike in shootings in 2022 and 2023 – and note that overall crime is down throughout the Big Apple.

    Police data show that most major crimes have dipped since last year, including a nearly 15% decrease in murder, a 10% drop in burglaries and a 10.5% reduction in car thefts.

    However, other crimes have crept upward in the past year. That includes rapes, which are up to 734 from 583 this time last year, and robberies, which have risen to 7,505 this year compared to 7,120 at the same time last year – jumps of 7.5% and 5.4%, respectively.

    It’s not lawful concealed carry holders who are responsible for the increase in shootings. In fact, a number of these incidents have involved kids not old enough to legally possess a firearm at all, including a 16-year-old arrested on Tuesday on murder and weapons charges.

    Startling surveillance video obtained by the Daily News shows two men talking outside the Blue Sky Smoke Shop at W. 207th St. and 10th Ave. in Inwood when the shooter, wearing a black ski mask, opens fire at them from across the street around 11:40 p.m. on Sunday.

    One of the men is seen dropping to the sidewalk, then lifting his head to shout twice, “Call an ambulance.”

    Michael James, 44, was shot in the face. He was rushed by medics to Harlem Hospital, where he died just after midnight Monday. The shooter’s other target, 45-year-old Alejandro Ramirez, died at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital minutes later, cops said.

    On Wednesday, Ramirez, who was known as Alex, was mourned by staff and customers alike at his longtime workplace, Johnny’s Pizza on Dyckman St. near Post Ave., about four blocks from where he was killed.

    “Your heart’s broke. You feel like every day now, you want to remember him. This business is a family,” said Kostantinos Ieromonahos, co-owner of the pizzeria.

    Advertisement

    Police haven’t released any details about the motive of the suspect, nor have they released any information about how the teen allegedly obtained a gun and ammunition. New York has “universal” background checks for both firearms and ammunition, but New York City itself is almost entirely bereft of gun shops, and there’s a thriving illicit market for firearms.

    As I said earlier this month, exercising your Second Amendment rights in NYC is a time-consuming and expensive process, but if you don’t mind breaking the law it’s incredibly easy to get a gun.

    According to the NYPD, more than 2,700 guns have been confiscated in the city this year; almost 18 guns per day. Meanwhile, the department won’t say how many concealed carry permits have been issued since the start of the year; perhaps because it would be embarrassing to officially acknowledge the paltry number of concealed carry licensees in the city. We do know that in 2022 the department only issued 1,551 carry permits, compared to seizing 7,135 guns from individuals who were possessing them in violation of New York law.

    There are 16-year-olds running around the streets of Brooklyn with guns while 60-year-olds are twiddling their thumbs waiting on the NYPD Licensing Bureau to process the carry application they dropped off months ago. New York’s gun control laws are failing the public safety test, but they’re also infringing on the inherent right to bear arms in self-defense. New Yorkers trying to exercise their Second Amendment rights can’t expect any relief from a hostile state legislature or city council, but there’s still a chance that the Supreme Court will soon weigh in on the state’s post-Bruen carry laws in Antonyuk v. James, which has been held in conference since early June. Something’s gotta give, and SCOTUS is the best avenue to give New Yorkers the Second Amendment relief they deserve.

    https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2024/06/22/shootings-spike-in-gun-controlled-new-york-city-n1225356

  27. In Dissent, Thomas Warns Rahimi Decision ‘Puts at Risk’ 2A Rights of More Americans
    By Cam Edwards | 1:01 PM | June 21, 2024
    Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool

    The 8-1 decision in Rahimi upholding Zachey Rahimi’s conviction for possessing a firearm while subject to a domestic violence restraining order is a fairly narrow opinion in many ways. As Justice Neil Gorsuch noted in his concurring opinion (we’ll have more to come on that opinion and the other concurrence), the ruling does not address lifetime bans on gun possession for those convicted of felonies or misdemeanors punishable by more than a year in prison, “whether the government may disarm a person without a judicial finding that he poses a ‘credible threat’ to another’s physical safety,” or the constitutionality of “other laws denying firearms on a categorical basis to any group of persons a legislature happens to deem, as the government puts it, ‘not ‘responsible.’”
    Advertisement

    But the lone dissenter in Rahimi still believes that the decision still opens the door for those types of bans to be upheld. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a minority of one, held that the government failed to show any historical statute or tradition that was materially similar to the modern prohibition on gun possession for those subject to a domestic violence restraining order. While Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, cited surety laws and statutes against “affray”, Thomas says those laws are substantially different from Section 922(g)(8) and don’t pass the “history, text, and tradition” test spelled out in Bruen.

    The Court recognizes that surety and affray laws on their own are not enough. So it takes pieces from each to stitch together an analogue for §922(g)(8). Our precedents foreclose that approach. The question before us is whether a single historical law has both a comparable burden and justification as §922(g)(8), not whether several laws can be cobbled together to qualify. As Bruen explained, “determining whether a historical regulation is a proper analogue for a distinctly modern firearm regulation requires a determination of whether the two regulations”— the historical and modern regulations—“are ‘relevantly similar.’” In doing so, a court must consider whether that single historical regulation “impose[s] a comparable burden on the right of armed self defense and whether that burden is comparably justified.”

    Advertisement

    Surety laws didn’t prohibit those subject to them from possessing or (in many cases) bearing arms. Instead, it required them to post a bond before they could do so. And affray laws, as Thomas pointed out, “were criminal statutes that penalized past behavior, whereas §922(g)(8) is triggered by a civil restraining order that seeks to prevent future behavior.”

    Thomas went on to say that the “mixing and matching” of historical laws that rely on one law’s burden and another law’s justification “defeats the purpose of a historical inquiry altogether.”

    Given that imprisonment (which involved disarmament) existed at the founding, the Government can always satisfy this newly minted comparable-burden requirement. That means the Government need only find a historical law with a comparable justification to validate modern disarmament regimes. As a result, historical laws fining certain behavior could justify completely disarming a person for the same behavior. That is the exact sort of “regulatory blank check” that Bruen warns against and the American people ratified the Second Amendment to preclude.

    Second Amendment attorney Kostas Moros also sees danger in the analogues accepted by the Court, which he says is likely to lead to lower courts upholding gun control laws based on even more dissimilar statutes from history.

    I’m less sold on Roberts’ use of the going armed laws. Yes, those apply to dangerousness generally I suppose, but the link is more tenuous than the surety laws. pic.twitter.com/cZSed94lb2
    — Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) June 21, 2024

    Advertisement

    Thomas did acknowledge and agree with the majority’s rejection of the DOJ’s contention that the Second Amendment can only be exercised by “responsible” citizens, but warned that today’s decision will weaken the history, text, and tradition test.

    The Court rightly rejects the Government’s approach by concluding that any modern regulation must be justified by specific historical regulations. But, the Court should remain wary of any theory in the future that would exchange the Second Amendment’s boundary line— “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”—for vague (and dubious) principles with contours defined by whoever happens to be in power.

    … The Framers and ratifying public understood “that the right to keep and bear arms was essential to the preservation of liberty.” McDonald, 561 U. S., at 858 (THOMAS, J.,concurring in part and concurring in judgment). Yet, in the interest of ensuring the Government can regulate one subset of society, today’s decision puts at risk the Second Amendment rights of many more.

    I suspect Thomas is right. While there are portions of Rahimi and several of the concurrence that may prove helpful to Second Amendment advocates going forward (which will be the topic of another post this afternoon), today’s decision will do nothing to put the brakes on lower courts upholding gun control laws using the most specious arguments. If anything, the majority opinion in Rahimi is likely going to lead lower court judges to rev up their activism. Gorsuch is arguing that today’s decision leaves many questions unanswered, but Thomas contends that even if that is the case, Rahimi is going to make it much easier to rule against gun owners in the future.

    https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2024/06/21/in-dissent-thomas-warns-rahimi-decision-puts-at-risk-2a-rights-of-more-americans-n1225359

  28. Op-Ed Argues Dems Chasing ‘Shiny Objects’ on Gun Control
    By Tom Knighton | 5:29 PM | June 21, 2024
    AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File

    While the Second Amendment is a non-partisan issue and there are liberals who oppose gun control, the truth of the matter is that the Democratic Party itself remains hostile toward gun ownership as a general rule.
    Advertisement

    In fact, the last semi-pro-gun Democrat in the Senate, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, has left his party and is now an independent. There’s really no one else on that side of the aisle who is at least hesitant to push gun control.

    But over at the Washington Examiner, Zachary Faria figures the issue Democrats have is that they’re chasing “shiny objects.”

    Senate Democrats attempted to push through a bump stock ban by unanimous consent, which predictably failed and will turn into yet another gun control talking point for the party. Why a bump stock ban, and why now? Because bump stocks are the shiny thing, with former President Donald Trump’s ban being found unconstitutional on Friday.

    Are bump stocks, which exploit the recoil of a semiautomatic gun to allow users to simulate automatic gunfire, used prominently in gun crimes? Not really. But bump stocks were the shiny thing that Democrats clung to after the Las Vegas shooting in 2017, becoming yet another scary gun term that Democrats wanted to use as an excuse to crack down on law-abiding gun owners.

    This is how gun control debates always go with the Democratic Party. If it isn’t bump stocks, it is a focus on “high-capacity magazines.” If not that, the focus goes to the vague and undefined characteristics of “assault weapons” or “expanded background checks.” If not that, there is always some “loophole” that is to blame. The proposals always would do next to nothing to stop criminals or shootings, and are always focused on making things more difficult or taking things away from law-abiding gun owners.

    Advertisement

    In other words, there is always some “thing” that is the problem, some item that is still available to the American people or some way to obtain a gun that is keeping their violence-free Utopia from coming to fruition and if we pass just one more law, then we can have peace and quiet…except that there’s another thing that will be revealed after that and so on.

    Faria is, of course, correct when he goes on to note that Democrats are pushing this instead of at least considering the possibility that the criminal justice reforms put forth by their allies back in 2019 and 2020 before the pandemic shut everything down might play a role.

    It at least seems plausible if nothing else.

    Yet Democrats will continue to always have one more law that needs to be passed. What’s more, we’ve seen how this plays out time and time again.

    A gun control group tries to argue that they just want a handful of what they call “common sense gun safety” measures. They lobby a state legislature to get them and succeed, so what do they do? They just trot out the next set of demands. They know that was just what they wanted then. They had no intention of stopping with the demands. They just want to move the needle more and more.
    Advertisement

    There will always be another law they want, though.

    I have yet to have an anti-gunner tell me where the line is other than something like, “I don’t want a total gun ban.” Well, sure, but there’s a lot of real estate between that and where we are now. Are they admitting that so long as one person can own a single, low-powered, single-shot firearm, they’re good? Probably, but they won’t say that. They want to be taken seriously and they want to pretend they’re not really for gun bans.

    But Democrats will keep finding another reason gun control doesn’t work and they expect you to swallow it.

    https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/06/21/op-ed-argues-dems-chasing-shiny-objects-on-gun-control-n1225351

  30. Icelandic officials are pulling back on their former support for Venezuelan migrants, and deported 180 immigrants who had only recently arrived in the Nordic country.

    The about face comes on the tail of moves by the Icelandic parliament to change policy on immigration to be more in line with that of other Nordic countries, according to Icelandic Monitor.

    The bill was wildly popular – even among the left-wing Green Party – and among its internal provisions allows Iceland to ignore the U.N. and its open border-styled immigration policy demands.

    The legislation reportedly sets stricter conditions for residency, family migration, and other measures.

    With the mood shifting against Venezuelans, especially, authorities deported 180 recent Venezuelan migrants all at once. The deportations were carried out by Iceland’s Directorate of Immigration and the European border agency Frontex, according to Iceland Review.

    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2024/06/22/iceland-reverses-course-freezes-out-rush-of-venezuelan-migrants/

  31. Houthis claim attack on US carrier in Red Sea, another vessel in Arabian Sea
    A Houthi statement said the Transworld Navigator took a direct hit from a missile. The operation against the Eisenhower had achieved its objectives successfully, it said, without elaborating.

    https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-807244