Reader’s Links for Sept. 3, 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. The Substack is a different project in a sense. It is older videos that in the light of subsequent events, look different or of increased importance, Check it out now and again if you like.

About Eeyore

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

37 Replies to “Reader’s Links for Sept. 3, 2024”

  1. Car makers across the UK are rationing sales of petrol and hybrid vehicles to sidestep punitive net zero fines, one of the country’s biggest dealership chains has claimed.

    Robert Forrester, chief executive of Vertu Motors, revealed the constraints being self-imposed on car sale forecourts as demands to meet state-imposed climate targets are pushed forward.

    The move comes as consumer demand for expensive electric cars continues to wane.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/09/03/left-wing-uk-governments-state-imposed-rules-see-petrol-cars-rationed/

    • Restricting individuals’ ability to move around without using a government-controlled means of transportation has always been the goal: that way, the government can control who goes – and does not go – where and when, they can make whole areas non-accessible by simply cancelling public or government regulated private mass transit to there when they feel like it.

      Like, say, not stopping at train stations and cancelling busses to a city where a protest is scheduled, and so on…

    • I’m not sure how public this is, so for the moment, I can only say what happened and where, but not to who. Soon though, this should all be out there. This week actually.

      In the UK in the recent election, there was an MP who was polling at over 60% to win his seat.

      The ballot box, only paper ballots and hand counted, disappeared for 4 hours.

      At the end of the day, he lost his seat and only got 6% of the vote.

      You would know the name of this MP.

  3. Migrant gangs in Colorado have robbed eight gun stores using children between the ages of 12 and 17 to commit the crimes, but some of the attacks have not gone as planned thanks to proactive measures put in place by shop owners.

    In the latest robberies in Colorado Springs the young thieves stole cars and rammed them into the gun store buildings in hopes of entering the stores to steal guns off the store’s shelves.

    In one incident on August 8, the thieves made away with 13 guns and left almost $65,000 in damage after slamming into the store with a stolen car.

    “They rammed through the wall, climbed over the hood of the car and ran in the store,” Steven Kinder, the general manager at Spartan Defense and Training, told KDVR-TV.

    Between July and August, four gun stores in and around the extended Denver area suffered similar smash-and-grab incidents and in every case where police ended up with suspects, the perpetrators were minors.

    In the case of Spartan Defense and Training, the thieves made away with a few AK-47s and Glock pistols, as well as some ammo.

    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2024/09/02/colorado-gun-stores-block-robberies-by-minors-pushed-by-migrant-gangs/

    • I think that Denver is a staging area for migrants from Columbia

      data point 8 or so people I met at the northern border who had flown in from Denver

    • Jake Wallis Simons:
      Suspension of Military Aid to Israel Is an Embarrassing Mistake

      • Over the last three years, Britain sold 3.1 billion pounds worth of weapons to Qatar, the world’s foremost sponsor of Sunni jihadism and the principal benefactor of Hamas.

      • It sold 1.9 billion pounds worth to Saudi Arabia, which has been engaged in a bloody war in Yemen that has not been fought entirely according to democratic norms.

      • Turkey, which has crushed the Kurds once again with less concern for human rights than one might hope, received 799 million pounds in British arms.

      By contrast, Israel, the Middle East’s sole democracy and the only power to respect the rights of women and minorities, which is locked in an existential struggle against the forces of jihadism that menace us all, bought 83 million pounds of British arms, 1% of its total weapons purchases.

      Yet it is the Jewish state that attracted the criticism of Foreign Secretary David Lammy amid misinformation that it has been prosecuting the war in Gaza to excess. In fact, Israel has been fighting a cleaner war in Gaza than has ever been waged anywhere in the world.

      Arguably, the Israeli-British security partnership has benefited us more. Britain’s Watchkeeper surveillance UAVs, based on Israel’s Hermes 450 drone, have saved countless British lives in Afghanistan. British troops have trained with Israel’s cutting-edge Rhino mobile command and control center.

      In 2015, Israeli intelligence helped the Metropolitan police discover a bomb factory in northwest London, complete with three tons of ammonium nitrate. This suspension of 30 arms export licenses will surely prove an ill-judged blip, to be rectified when wiser heads prevail.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/03/lammys-halting-of-military-aid-to-israel-is-an-embarrassing/

      https://archive.ph/UfRYZ
      ……….
      Understanding the Israel-UK Weapons Trade (BICOM-UK)
      https://www.bicom.org.uk/analysis/understanding-israel-uk-weapons-trade/
      ………….
      Britain’s Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis:
      UK’s Suspension of Arms Licenses to Israel Will Encourage Our Shared Enemies

      It beggars belief that the British government, a close strategic ally of Israel, has announced a partial suspension of arms licenses, at a time when Israel is fighting a war for its very survival on seven fronts forced upon it on Oct. 7, and at the very moment when six hostages murdered in cold blood by cruel terrorists were being buried by their families.

      As Israel faces down the threat of Iran and its proxies, not just to its own people but to all of us in the democratic West, this announcement feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law, when in fact it is going to extraordinary lengths to uphold it.

      Sadly, this announcement will serve to encourage our shared enemies. It will not help to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages, nor contribute to the peaceful future we wish and pray for. Britain and Israel have so much to gain by standing together against our common enemies for the sake of a safer world. Surely that must be the way forward.

      https://x.com/chiefrabbi/status/1830713463456387159

  7. NYPD officer: 75% of arrests are migrants
    By Olivia Murray
    Straight from the horse’s mouth, in this case a “Midtown officer” patrolling the streets in New York City, comes the news that around 75% of the arrests are migrants, with the natural assumption being that they’re the illegal “newcomers” the progressive Democrat crowd keeps marketing to us as our cultural enrichment. From a report at the New York Post:

    Across New York, recently arrived migrants are flooding the criminal-justice system — at far higher rates than public officials have acknowledged.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/09/nypd_officer_75_of_arrests_are_migrants.html

    • They don’t recognize ultra-progressive Israelis? No sense of fellowship with these comrade wannabes?

  11. This Canadian left Ontario some years back because Canada was too socialist. He’s a builder and moved to Texas.

    He has discovered a massive fraud in property taxes imposed by counties. They claim to not raise property taxes, but instead raise the appraised values of properties year-over-year, compounding values on every previous year’s fictitious value. When people challenge or complain that their property is not worth the new appraised value they may get a minor reduction if they’re lucky, but most often they are told it is the “formula’s” fault and nothing can be done.

    As a property owner I can say the very same scam occurs in Canada. This fraud is in the trillions. It is yet another sneaky way collectivists decimate the middleclass and private property ownership.

    https://www.youtube.com/live/RZK2a8e9gqA?si=nMw-247syavib0rj

  12. Chicago Resident Issues Chilling Warning to Armed Venezuelan Gangs After They Overtake Apartment Complex in the Windy City (VIDEO)
    thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/chicago-resident-issues-chilling-warning-armed-venezuelan-gangs/
    Sep. 3, 2024 12:00 pm
    Chicago man warns Venezuelan criminals who are taking over the city. Credit: @Daarulaaa Tiktok

    Brutal gang wars may soon be on the horizon in Chicago thanks to border czar Kamala Harris’ intentional dereliction of duty. As The Gateway Pundit reported Libs of Tik Tok shared , a shocking 911 call on X that revealed 32 armed Venezuelan migrants were attempting to overtake an apartment complex in Chicago last night. LISTEN:

    BREAKING: A group of 32 armed Venezualans took over an apartment building in Chicago tonight. Here’s the audio of the 911 dispatch call.

    First they did this in Aurora, CO and now Chicago? Which city will be next? This invasion happened on Kamala’s watch. pic.twitter.com/0L33y7PXto — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 3, 2024

    This news comes just a week after Venezuelan gangs took over apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, a city just 9 miles outside of Denver. Shortly after the news broke, a Chicago resident posted a video on Tiktok that raises cause for concern that rampant gang violence could break out unless the Venezuelans are swiftly removed (not likely to happen). In the video, he chillingly warns that the Venezuelan gangs are in for a rough ride if they continue to terrorize residents of the Windy City. This includes them getting potentially ‘chopped up’ if they don’t stay home. He also says that Chicagoans have an ace up their sleeves in an all-out war with the illegals…Switches. The man is likely referring to glock switches which are small devices that can be attached to the rear of the slide of a Glock handgun. This converts the pistol into one capable of full automatic fire. WATCH:

    @daarulaaa? original sound – Daarulaaa

    Resident: To all Venezuelans in Chicago…if you ain’t on all that bulls**t, stay neutral. If you know someone in that building who’s in on that bullsh**t, don’t let them run in that building. Because once word gets out that that’s the building they in, they’re going to chop that b**ch down…y’all better just stay in the house. So I don’t speak Spanish…but take this with a grain of salt if you like: this ain’t Colorado, this ain’t Utah, this ain’t like none of them places. This is just like where you are from. The only difference is you use a lot of handguns and old revolvers and machetes and sh*t. We got switches. If you’re not familiar with what a switch is, we will show you.

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1830807423206015453

    https://v16m-default.tiktokcdn-us.com/bf35c793674e8213ed0ecf576f5cee91/66d7e440/video/tos/useast8/tos-useast8-pve-0068-tx2/os6UNnpIetjvBRSgGCLNApfGAUqvLI25eUqIHt/?a=1988&bti=NDU3ZjAwOg%3D%3D&ch=0&cr=3&dr=0&lr=tiktok_m&cd=0%7C0%7C1%7C&cv=1&br=2504&bt=1252&cs=0&ds=3&ft=4bBsyMzm8Zmo0S6Y7-4jVzkOQpWrKsd.&mime_type=video_mp4&qs=0&rc=NzxnaTo4M2dpPGhnOTRpNkBpanhpeHU5cjxkdTMzaTczNEA1NS1iYTIuXmIxMWFhNV41YSNmMG9gMmRrXl5gLS1kMTJzcw%3D%3D&vvpl=1&l=202409032236197621B02173C5F61005E1&btag=e00090000

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/chicago-resident-issues-chilling-warning-armed-venezuelan-gangs/

    • 32 ARMED Venezuelan Gang Members Overtake Apartment Complex in Sanctuary City of CHICAGO [911 Call Audio Included]
      thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/chicago-shocking-911-call-reveals-32-armed-venezuelan/
      Sep. 3, 2024 8:00 am

      American citizens have been watching in shock as Venezuelan gangs are taking over apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, just outside of Denver.
      This X screen shot, captured from a video posted on Aug. 28, allegedly shows various armed gang members taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
      This X screen shot, captured from a video posted on Aug. 28, allegedly shows various armed gang members taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. (@vicentearenastv / X Screen Shot)

      Denver is a hot spot for dumping Venezuelans who’ve crossed our open-borders while Joe Biden’s Border Czar Kamala Harris sat back and the crisis unfold.

      Last night, a shocking 911 call was shared by Libs of Tik Tok on X, that revealed 32 armed Venezuelan migrants were attempting to overtake an apartment complex in Chicago last night.

      The recorded call can be heard in the tweet below.

      Here is a transcript of the call:

      911 Operator #1: A person with a gun.

      6124 S. King St.

      32 Venezuelans are trespassing in the building.

      Showing guns in the courtyard, and they have motorcycles in the courtyard as well.

      Are stairwells are filled.

      Nothing further—it is unclear.

      911 Operator #2: Hey, I’m sorry. Are you headed over to shots fired or to the 6124 S. King for the migrants?

      Chicago Police officer responds: On King Dr.

      Alright, there’s another building at [ineligible]

      We’ve had multiple calls for the guns at 6124 S. King.

      Officers noticed a disturbance, a large gathering.

      Could be 32 Venezuelans trespassing in the building property showing guns in the courtyard.

      There are motorcycles in the courtyard—all stairways filled.

      Listen to the 911 call here:

      BREAKING: A group of 32 armed Venezualans took over an apartment building in Chicago tonight. Here’s the audio of the 911 dispatch call.

      First they did this in Aurora, CO and now Chicago? Which city will be next?

      This invasion happened on Kamala’s watch. pic.twitter.com/0L33y7PXto

      — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 3, 2024

      Winter is right around the corner. Did anyone honestly think these Venezuelan gangs who ruled the countries they came from, were going to be sleeping in tents in local parks while unarmed Chicago residents slept inside?

      This Chicago resident warns the ARMED Venezuelan gangs thinking about taking over their places of residency in gun-free Chicago, “We got switches!”

      Trending: Chicago Resident Issues Chilling Warning to Armed Venezuelan Gangs After They Overtake Apartment Complex in the Windy City (VIDEO)

      Chicago resident warns ARMED Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment complex in their gun-free city…
      “We got switches!” pic.twitter.com/RXyJRciPQz

      — PattyMI (@PattyLovesTruth) September 3, 2024

      Maybe now, Americans will see the value of our Second Amendment…

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/chicago-shocking-911-call-reveals-32-armed-venezuelan/

      https://twitter.com/i/status/1830807423206015453

    • Chicago is home to the world’s largest Polish Diaspora. Poles recognize marauding mobs unleashed by soulless totalitarian elites.
      It’ll be interesting to watch as this plays out.

      • That it will, the street gangs along with concerned citizens are going to create a big resistance to the Venezuelan Alpha Hotels.

  13. Sactuary City: Police Sources Say Illegals Make Up 75% of Arrests in Midtown NYC
    thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/sactuary-city-police-sources-say-illegals-make-up/
    Sep. 3, 2024 11:15 am
    Migrants arrive at the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC, which serves as a main processing center.

    New York City has embraced and even bragged about its sanctuary city status. But their desire to place a woke agenda ahead of its citizens has had real-world, devasting consequences for New Yorkers.

    Police sources shared shocking details with The New York Post, suggesting that a staggering estimate of as many as 75% of the people arrested in Midtown Manhattan over recent months for crimes including assault, robbery, and domestic violence are migrants.

    Sanctuary City laws hamper police who are not allowed to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on cases where the suspects are suspected of being in the country illegally.

    And often, illegals are quickly released back onto the streets.

    From The Post:

    “New York City eliminated a tool to get rid of violent criminals. What a mess,” Jim Quinn, a veteran former prosecutor at the Queens District Attorney’s Office, told The Post.

    “The sanctuary city law is pathetic. It’s disgusting. It’s crazy.”

    Making matters worse, police sources say, word has gotten out in the shelters about the city’s lax bail guidelines — meaning migrants know they’re going to get kicked back onto the street quickly after they’re nabbed.

    The Gateway Pundit reported on illegals from local shelters creating “Wolfpack-gangs” to intimidate and rob citizens.

    While a large percentage of the crimes being committed by illegals are classified as ‘domestic incidents’ or petty thefts, others are far more horrifying, including violent sexual assaults.

    Many of the illegals do not appear to fear arrest since they know that New York’s soft-on-crime approach and failed no-bail “Less is More” act will likely quickly return them to the streets.

    The “Less is More” Act was signed into law in 2021 by far-left New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

    The Less is More Act gives more leniency to parolees and removes reasons to put parolees back behind bars; according to The Post, “It removes technical parole violations like being late for an appointment, missing a curfew or finding alcohol or drugs in urine samples. And the act would speed up the timeframe to judicial review for any violations.”

    As a result, repeat offenders are quickly released to continue their crime sprees.

    Offenders like Alexander Ayala, 24, who was among several migrants charged for an attack on two NYPD officers, was charged with two counts of assault and one count of obstruction following the violent incident and released on ‘supervised release.’

    In August, Ayala was arrested and charged again for identity theft and possession of stolen property and again quickly released on his own recognizance.

    Yohenry Brito, 24, was also part of the violent altercation with police officers and released, only to be arrested again for serial theft.

    Midtown is not the only community facing a surge in crimes perpetrated by illegals.

    In Queens, sources tell The Post the number is closer to 60% of those arrested are illegals.

    Trending: Chicago Resident Issues Chilling Warning to Armed Venezuelan Gangs After They Overtake Apartment Complex in the Windy City (VIDEO)

    A court officer at the Queens Criminal Courthouse told The Post, “Come on Mondays! Almost every case is a migrant.”

    Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) shared some of the more disturbing crimes from her state in recent months at the hands of illegals that she rightly places at Kamala Harris’ feet.

    Cops shot in Queens.

    13 yr. old girl raped in Queens.

    Women raped in Manhattan, Bronx & Brooklyn.

    Multiple people stabbed to death.

    A serial killer who murdered 23 in Peru.

    All are illegal immigrants that Biden-Harris rules let in. You vote for Harris, you own it. pic.twitter.com/6j2U7dzlSN

    — Nicole Malliotakis (@NMalliotakis) August 21, 2024

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/sactuary-city-police-sources-say-illegals-make-up/

  14. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/5-year-attacked-mountain-lion-labor-day-family/story?id=113344231

    5-year-old attacked by mountain lion during Labor Day family outing to Malibu Creek State Park near Los Angeles

    “Multiple witnesses saw the attack,” officials said.
    By
    Bill Hutchinson
    September 3, 2024, 12:02 PM ET
    • 4 min read
    Mountain lion attacks 5-year-old in CaliforniaThe mountain lion was euthanized after the attack, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).Carol Gray/Adobe Stock

    A Southern California family’s Labor Day weekend picnic turned into a terrifying ordeal when a mountain lion attacked a 5-year-old boy and tried to drag him into the woods, prompting his relatives to rescue him from the wild animal’s jaws, authorities said.

    The brazen attack unfolded at 4:21 p.m. local time Sunday in Malibu Creek State Park, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and left the child with “significant but non-life-threatening injuries,” according to a statement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

    A family of six adults and several children from Woodland Hills, California, was having a picnic at the park in the Santa Monica Mountains when the large cougar suddenly appeared and snatched the boy as his family and witnesses watched in horror, according to the statement.
    Adobe Stock
    Malibu Creek State Park in Malibu, Calif. Adobe Stock

    “The children were playing in the immediate vicinity of the family’s picnic table when the mountain lion attacked the boy,” fish and wildlife officials said. “One or more adults charged at the lion, and it released the boy.”

    The child, whose name was not released, suffered bite and scratch wounds and was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was treated and released, officials said.
    MORE: Cyclists ‘fight off’ cougar, save friend being mauled: Washington Police

    “Multiple witnesses saw the attack and observed the mountain lion climb up a nearby tree,” according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
    Carol Gray/Adobe Stock
    Stock photo of a mountain lion.Carol Gray/Adobe Stock

    When state park rangers and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, officials said the mountain lion was still in the tree.

    The CDFW “deemed the mountain lion a threat to public safety” and park rangers euthanized the animal by shooting it, officials said.
    MORE: Mountain lion attacks man from behind while he and his wife relaxed in hot tub

    Per standard protocol, wildlife officers went to Northridge Hospital Medical Center and obtained evidence samples of the bite and scratch wounds on the child, and from his clothing, officials said.

    “Those samples were confirmed a DNA match by the CDFW’s Wildlife Forensic Lab in Sacramento,” officials said.

    The incident comes after a 21-year-old man was killed by a cougar that attacked him and his 18-year-old in May in Northern California’s El Dorado National Forest, about 52 miles northeast of Sacramento. Officials said it was the first fatal mountain lion attack in the state in 20 years.

    Since 1890, fewer than 50 mountain lion attacks on humans have been reported in California, including six that have been fatal, officials said.

  15. Gun Controlling Brazil’s Ban on X and Free Speech Not Only Predictable but Inevitable
    Ammoland Inc. Posted on September 3, 2024 by David Codrea
    Birds of a feather, and they both want your guns… (Palácio do Planalto/CC BY 2.0)

    “They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil,” Elon Musk posted on his X feed Friday. He was reacting to a ruling by Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court banning the platform until, as Fox Business reports:

    “[A]ll related court orders on X were complied with, including the payment of fines amounting to 18.5 million reais ($3.28 million) and the nomination of a legal representative in Brazil. In a move to avoid the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to get around the blockage, Moraes said that individuals or companies who tried to keep access to the social network could be fined up to 50,000 reais a day, which is equal to nearly $9,000.”

    The ruling should hardly come as a surprise to students of how governments operate as they become more collectivist, and Brazil is a prime example. Moraes’ actions have prompted even The New York Times to observe:

    “He has jailed people without trial for posting threats on social media … ordered raids on businessmen with little evidence of wrongdoing; suspended an elected governor from his job; and unilaterally blocked dozens of accounts and thousands of posts on social media, with virtually no transparency or room for appeal.”

    “Three months ago, I warned that free speech in Brazil was in danger of extinction by their Socialist Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes,” U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a daughter of Cuban exiles, declared on X. “Now with absurd pretexts, he is threatening to shut down X tonight, and censor @elonmusk. What else will Brazilians lose under Lula?”
    Possibly everything.

    It was Brazil’s Supreme Court that annulled then-former/now current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s convictions for bribery and corruption, not because he didn’t do it, but on “legal technicalities,” and set him free from prison so that the socialist politician could run—and win— against Jair Bolsonaro in 2022. And it’s Moraes who has been “ordering investigations, detentions, and content removal without traditional due process” while “many targets of Moraes’s orders are linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro or are vocal critics of the current administration.”
    A leftist wins, “conservatives” like Bolsonaro and his supporters are branded dangerous rightwing extremists and set up for persecution, and their political speech is censored. Sound familiar?
    Regular readers of my AmmoLand columns know how this has been made possible.

    “Gun ownership went up. Killings went down,” The Washington Post reported on the results of Bolsonaro loosening gun restrictions. Then, unsurprisingly, the anti-gun WaPo effectively asked “Who are you going to believe—cherry-picked, doubt-casting ‘experts or your lying eyes?” Again, unsurprisingly, readers had to get deep into the weeds to see the admission “Analysts say it’s too early to draw conclusions.”

    “Brazil Will Condemn Itself to Repeat Past if ‘Anti-Gun’ Lula Returns to Power,” I reported in 2021, with that “past” being what I cited in a 2006 GUNS Magazine column:

    “Brazil’s police ‘execute thousands’” the BBC headline declares… “A lot of these killings are quasi-executions, with shots to the head and the heart,” a representative of the human rights group Global Justice told The Houston Chronicle, which reported “police in Rio and its suburbs … have taken the lives of more than 4,000 people in the past five years … In the worst massacre in Rio’s history, police officers gunned down 29 men, women and children on the night of March 31.”

    Predictably, teleSUR dutifully gushed “Brazil’s Lula: ‘Jobs And Books, Not Guns.’” It’s what “the media” does.
    I followed up my report with several others that documented my predictions unfolding:

    Brazil’s Leftists Set Sights on Renewed Citizen Disarmament (Nov. 2022)
    Totally Unsurprisingly, Brazil Begins Gun Bans Ahead of Lula Inauguration (Jan. 2023)
    Brazil Returns to Gun Control of Old Under Socialist Dictator Lula (Jul. 2023)

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    So, naturally, as Sen. Ted Cruz reminds us, Joe Biden refers to Lula as “my friend and partner in democracy.” He also reminds us the NFL will be playing a game there (Eagles vs. Packers), and if it “gives a damn about the Constitution & free speech, they should cancel the game immediately.” (It doesn’t, as my columns on its anti-gun stances have repeatedly shown, and in a richly ironic development, Eagles cornerback Darius Slay doesn’t want to go because “They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much going on, because the crime rate is crazy.”
    So much for Lula’s “commonsense gun safety laws.” Perhaps WaPo can get more criminologists to deny any connection.
    There’s a clear lesson here for anyone inclined to see it: Freedom is interconnected. If a government is not afraid to take your guns, why would it hesitate to suppress your speech?

    We see it happening all over the world, a prime example being the UK, where a police commissioner has threatened to extradite and jail U.S. citizens for online speech. Once they perceive no personal cost, tyrannical maniacs will literally do anything.

    And they have plenty of encouragement. Newsweek speculates “whether similar bans could occur in other parts of the world, particularly in the United States and Europe.”

    To see who’s for that, do an X search for @elonmusk and see all the posts by Democrats, painting him as the bad guy in this with every allegation, related or otherwise, they can thorw at the guy. Of course, they want to see any platform that allows alternate ideas to their control freak demands not necessarily banned, just “repurposed” to their advantage.
    They’re the same ones who want your guns.
    UPDATE

    Per Red State, “Former Clinton Apparatchik Robert Reich: Elon Musk Should Be Threatened With Arrest for ‘Disinformation.’”

    https://www.ammoland.com/2024/09/gun-controlling-brazils-ban-on-x-and-free-speech-not-only-predictable-but-inevitable/

    https://redstate.com/wardclark/2024/09/01/former-clinton-apparatchik-robert-reich-elon-musk-should-be-threatened-with-arrest-for-disinformation-n2178806#google_vignette

  16. Kamala Harris-Led Office, ATF May Have Conspired With Anti-Gun Groups on Lawsuit
    By Tom Knighton | 8:30 AM | September 03, 2024
    AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

    When local officials started declaring their counties to be Second Amendment sanctuaries, the idea that they might have held any degree of communications with the NRA or other gun rights groups beforehand was a serious accusation. You see, public officials aren’t supposed to use their office to advance special interests, at least in theory. Especially when we’re talking about taxpayer money.
    Advertisement

    Well, they’re not supposed to unless they’re pushing a media-approved position.

    It seems that the Democratic nominee for president, in her office as vice president, is accused of doing something just like that. Plus she, along with the ATF, are stonewalling a House investigation looking into it.

    Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning on what she characterizes as a record of a tough former prosecutor. But a White House office she has “overseen” may have focused less on gun crimes and more on targeting a legal gun manufacturer.

    The House Oversight and Accountability Committee says the Biden-Harris administration is stonewalling an investigation into potential “collusion” with a gun control group founded by billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to boost Chicago’s lawsuit against Glock Inc.

    Since June, neither the White House nor the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, better known as the ATF, has responded to multiple inquiries from the committee.

    The ATF missed its most recent deadline to respond to the committee on Wednesday, Aug. 28.

    “The American people should be very concerned that, rather than prosecuting criminals, the Biden-Harris White House is colluding with anti-Second Amendment groups, and rather than responding to serious congressional requests with transparency, the White House is choosing to not comply with our request,” Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital.

    The committee has been investigating the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention’s communications with the Everytown for Gun Safety regarding a lawsuit by the city of Chicago against Glock, a firearms manufacturer.

    The controversy could also play into the presidential race.

    In September 2023, a White House press release announced, “The new Office of Gun Violence Prevention will be overseen by Vice President Harris, who has been a key leader in the Biden-Harris Administration’s effort to end our nation’s gun violence epidemic.” Biden named Stefanie Feldman director of the office.

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    And let’s understand, Glock isn’t accused of failing to conduct background checks or selling guns to unlicensed dealers for distribution. They’re being sued because someone made an aftermarket accessory that has been illegal in this country since it was developed and Glock didn’t completely upend their proven design so that the accessory wouldn’t work anymore.

    It’s insane.

    Imagine people modifying vehicles illegally, for a moment. Let’s say they removed their emissions control systems for a second. This is an illegal modification under the Clean Air Act that many do for a variety of reasons, but it’s still illegal.

    This is akin to suing auto manufacturers for not designing cars so people can’t do that…which is probably now on the table since I mentioned it.

    So yeah, the lawsuit is stupid.

    But it’s worse if the ATF and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention–an office overseen by Vice President Harris–colluded with Chicago officials to make happen. This is an assault on a company that isn’t accused of breaking any law. No one is saying Glock violated any rule or regulation. So why did our tax dollars go toward trying to punish them for something they’re not legally required to do?

    Moreover, if this move was so righteous, why isn’t the ATF and the Office complying with the House investigation into their alleged collusion?

    No, they did some shady stuff and know it and are hoping to keep the American people from knowing because this is yet another bit of evidence to show that it’s not about guns in illegal hands, but about punishing law-abiding firearm manufacturers for stuff that happens outside of the realm of their control.
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    It really is time to defund the ATF and abolition the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

    https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/09/03/kamala-harris-led-office-atf-may-have-conspired-with-anti-gun-groups-on-lawsuit-n1226117

  17. John Podhoretz:
    The Hostage Murders and the New Threat: Would the Hostages Have Survived If Israel Had Not Been Restrained by America?

    An American – Hersh Goldberg-Polin – has been murdered in the tunnels under Rafah.

    I cannot help but ask – would Hersh and the other five hostages have survived if Israel had not found itself restrained and under assault, not told to pause, not scolded in phone calls with petulant Americans, without arms and aid held up, without being lectured about the geostrategic value of going slow or not going at all.

    Imagine an Israel that was not told by its best friend in the world that offensive action in Gaza had become self-defeating, was not told that Israel should care more about feeding people in Gaza than about eliminating the threat to its 9 million citizens and pummeling Hamas until that evil group of thugs begged for ways to negotiate to return the hostages.

    We Americans are morally liable for our role in our backseat-driving in this war, for screaming at the Israelis at the wheel, unnerving them as they were trying to keep their eye on the road ahead.

    https://www.commentary.org/john-podhoretz/the-hostage-murders-and-the-new-threat/

  18. Bari Weiss:
    Dark Tunnels and Moral Beacons
    The names of the six murdered Israeli hostages – and the evil ideology of their executioners—should be seared into the minds of all who wish to live in civilization.

    Six innocent Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorists who stole them nearly a year ago. The chaos Hamas ushered in on Oct. 7 with the mass rape, abduction, torture, and slaughter that marked the start of Iran’s multifront war against Israel exposed a moral confusion in the West.

    We read headlines describing these six Israelis as having “died” in Gaza. We are told that those defending their murderous captors “have a point.” The foundational principle of our civilization is that every human life has dignity. It is this very principle that Hamas and its barbaric ilk are trying to turn on its head.

    Many will rightly point out that Americans should be especially outraged because one of those murdered, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an American citizen. But it’s not just that one of Iran’s terror proxies murdered an American citizen. It’s that he and all of those murdered by Hamas are on the front lines of a wider war that America is already part of – whether we like it or not.

    In other words: This is not only about Israel. It is about the reality that those who burn Israeli flags burn them alongside American ones. Hersh, and those executed beside him, were killed by Iran, a country now in league with China and Russia, that calls for death to America in the same breath it calls for the destruction of Israel.

    Statements of sorrow from the leaders of the Free World are insufficient. The message to terrorists and those who support them should be that the defenders of civilization will defeat them. No matter the cost.

    https://www.thefp.com/p/bari-weiss-dark-tunnels-and-moral

  19. WSJ:
    Hamas Murders Six Hostages, Israel Is Blamed
    They were killed in Rafah, where Biden and Harris delayed Israel’s entry with threats and by withholding weapons.Hamas Murders Six Hostages, Israel Is Blamed

    Hamas probably can’t believe its luck – or the lack of moral seriousness by its enemies. The terrorists murder six Israeli hostages and Israel is suddenly under pressure to make concessions to Hamas. The crime here is all on Hamas, which took the innocent hostages on Oct. 7 and has refused to release them through multiple rounds of U.S.-brokered negotiations.

    Yet the reaction is to blame the Israeli government. On Monday, President Biden accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to secure a hostage deal. U.S. pressure should be on Hamas, which took the hostages and murders them.

    https://www.wsj.com/opinion/hamas-executes-six-hostages-including-an-american-gaza-war-rafah-4907e7c6
    (ArchiveToday is misbehaving, won’t let me in.)
    ………………
    Bassam Tawil:
    Ceasefire Deal Will Prevent Hostages from Coming Home

    The aim of the execution of six Israeli hostages by Iran-backed Hamas was to shock the Israeli public and convey to the Biden administration the need to increase pressure on Israel to accede to most of Hamas’s demands. The Hamas leaders see the ongoing tensions between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government as an encouraging development. It has long been the dream of Hamas and many Palestinians to see the U.S. turn its back on Israel.

    In any hostage deal, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 atrocities, will not release all the hostages at once. He will continue to physically surround himself with many of them to ensure that Israel does not kill him.

    Even if Hamas were to initially release 10 or 20 hostages as part of any agreement, who could ensure that the remaining captives would be released? Are we supposed to take Hamas’s word for it? Are we supposed to believe that the Americans, Egyptians and Qataris would be able to force Hamas to comply with the terms of any agreement?

    Hamas is only interested in a deal that would keep it in power and make Israel lose the war. The hostages-ceasefire negotiations have broken down because of insufficient pressure from the Biden administration on Hamas’s patrons in Qatar.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20917/israel-protests-embolden-hamas

  20. Matti Friedman:
    Among the Mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
    Here in Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s neighborhood, the bewildering events of the past year were reduced to one human face.

    Here in Israel, we’ve had to learn a lot since this war began. We’ve learned that we’re nearly encircled by Iranian proxies. We’ve learned that the terrorist organization Hamas operates openly in the territory of two American allies, Turkey and Qatar.

    We’ve learned that Egypt, which has a border with Gaza and a peace agreement with Israel, has been allowing in the weapons that Hamas uses against us.

    We’ve learned that Hamas is not universally shunned as a terror group, but actually enjoys broad support including in the West, including among some of the most educated citizens.

    We’ve seen that much of the Western press is capable of turning a story about a war launched by Muslim fundamentalists into a story about the injustice of the Israeli response, and indeed about the injustice of our country’s existence.

    We’ve seen the support of the American administration wane as the war wears on, including an explicit demand by the White House to stay out of Rafah – the Gaza city where the six hostages were found, but too late.

    https://www.thefp.com/p/among-the-mourners-of-zion-and-jerusalem
    ……….
    Matti is exceptional. He wrote about his career at AP, then his intro to Israel – serving on the front lines during the Second Lebanon War. He wrote about why Israelis can’t talk about the Second Intifada: the pain is still too keen.

    My best friend and her family fled Belarus, just over the Ukraine border, when the govt finally evacuated them from the Chernobyl exclusion zone. They survived on WW-2 canned food.The kids needed medical treatment.

    Professionals who left everything, scrambled to Israel, ready to learn Hebrew and blue-collar job skills. Then she and the kids were five minutes late for their bus. They found themselves covered by bits of flesh and blood. They came here as soon as they could.

    A cousin of mine realized her dream of aliyah, but also fled with her husband and kids. They couldn’t cope with the constant random attacks, searching for names of families and friends among the dead and injured. (Neither could I. That may be why I needed help with PTSD after the Boston Marathon Bombing.)

    When I hear Americans on campus calling for Intifada, that’s what goes through my mind.

  21. Seth J. Frantzman:
    Iran Uses Houthis to Blockade Israel and Take Over the Red Sea

    More than eight months after the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian began, the Houthis continue to attack ships. They attacked the Greek-flagged oil tanker MV Sounion in the Red Sea on Aug. 22 and the ship, carrying 1 million barrels of crude oil, continues to burn. Iran backs the Houthis and is using them to try to blockade Israel and take over the Red Sea.

    Stakeholder countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt should be doing more to secure the waterway, but they are concerned they will not be backed by the West. This leaves the region open to Iran’s predatory behavior. The Houthi campaign is not really about Israel. This is about Iran making a play to control the region.

    The U.S. and Western countries have largely been unable to stop the Houthi attacks, which are occurring almost every day. This is not how international waters are supposed to operate. It used to be policy to keep these waters safe. However, Iran and the Houthis have shown they can upend centuries of the U.S., UK, and others securing the world’s waterways.

    This is part of a play by Russia and China to upend world order. Their goal is to work with Iran and proxy groups such as the Houthis to weaken the U.S. and Western ability to set global norms.

    https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-817389#google_vignette
    ………….

    Seth J. Frantzman:
    Hamas Is Demanding the Philadelphi Corridor for a Reason

    Hamas controlled the Philadelphi Corridor bordering Egypt since 2007 and it used it to build up an unprecedented rocket arsenal. It used this arsenal to carry out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The control of the border was a key ingredient in Hamas’s strength, and this is why it wants it back.

    Hamas understands that the IDF’s control of these areas is preventing Hamas from controlling all of Gaza. When Israel controlled Gaza from 1967 to 2005, control of the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors was key to securing Gaza. Hamas understands that control of the border with Egypt and central Gaza is a key to its return to power.

    https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-817386

  24. Joel Pollak @joelpollak
    Netanyahu shows a translated Hamas document that was found in Gaza that suggests putting psychological pressure on the Israeli public by blaming Netanyahu for everything, and targeting defense minister Yoav Gallant as the key to undermining support for the government and the war.

    https://x.com/joelpollak/status/1830663412348493852