News Domestic and International

Official PA Daily Denies That the First and Second Jewish Temples Ever Existed

Geller Report - Sat, 05/27/2023 - 15:00

The Palestinian Arabs’ efforts to efface any indication that the Jews have a history in the land of Israel can be found here:

Similarly, a regular columnist of the official PA daily claimed that not “one relic” has been found as proof of the Jewish kingdoms:

“Throughout 75 years of Israel’s existence they – and before them Western archaeologists from Britain, Germany, France, the US, and others, who conducted researches and excavations even before Israel existed – attempted but did not find one relic indicating the existence of the alleged Jewish kingdoms in Palestine. Therefore, there was no First Temple and no Second Temple, and there also will be no Third Temple on the Arab land of Palestine.

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 22, 2023]

So the Western Wall, part of the original retaining wall of the Temple Mount, does not count as a “relic”? What about the mountains of Jewish artifacts that were found in the thousands of tons of debris that the Palestinians threw out when they were building another mosque inside the Temple Mount, and that Israeli archeologists, horrified at the wanton destruction, managed to collect and tirelessly combed through to find thousands of artifacts that had been in the First and Second Temples? Or are we supposed to have forgotten al about those finds?

The Palestinians have tried everything they can to present themselves as the true inheritors of the Land of Israel. Some of them have concocted a false lineage, presenting themselves as the descendants of the Canaanites, a people who lived in the land in 4000 B.C. Others claim that the Israeli Jews are not from the Middle East at all, but are descended, rather, from the Khazars of Central Asia, who supposedly converted to Judaism in the 8th century. But most of all, they rely on simple denial: there is not “a shred of proof,” there is “not the slightest evidence,” there “is nothing that supports the Jews’ claims,” and so on and so idiotically forth.

Yet ancient Jewish buildings have been found all over Israel – the synagogues unearthed, some completely intact and others in various states of dilapidation and ruin, and the mikvehs, and the ancient cisterns. There are also the 150,000 tombstones on the Mount of Olives cemetery, the oldest, and largest, Jewish cemetery in the world, dating back to 3000 B.C. The Jewish religious texts that have been discovered, especially the carbon-dated Dead Sea Scrolls, that tens of millions of visitors have seen in the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, are not a fiction that the Zionists forged. Nor are such proofs of Jewish existence in the Land of Israel as the fifteen letters written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, by the Bar Kochba resisters to Roman rule, found in the Cave of Letters near En-Gedi.

There is the extensive testimony of historians to the existence of the Jews in the Land of Israel, not only from Jewish historians like Flavius Josephus, but also by Greek and Roman historians. The Romans, after all, had conquered the Jews, and then had to contend with the resistance to their rule, and they recorded all of it. Historians in the Middle Ages, whatever they may have thought of Jews, never denied that Jews were the indigenous inhabitants of, and many had remained in, the Land of Israel. that they called “Palestine.” Historians of the Crusades wrote of the encounter of Crusaders with Jews in the Holy Land. Until the Palestinian Arabs made their their preposterous claims, no one, not even those opposed to the Jews, ever denied that Jewish presence going back thousands of years.

How many thousands of histories have been written, in every European language, about the Jews in what the Western world, following the Roman example, called “Palestine”? And once again, let’s repeat: what of the synagogues unearthed? What of the 150,000 Jewish graves in a cemetery that dates to 3000 B.C. What of the tens of thousands of artifacts unearthed in the archeological sites in Israel: the menorahs, the pottery, the coins, the oil lamps, the utensils, the frayed textiles? What of the similar artifacts that were found by in the hundreds of tons of soil from inside the Temple Mount that the Palestinians deliberately dumped out when building a mosque?

The Palestinian insistence that there is “not the slightest evidence” linking Jews to ancient “Palestine” is not the least of the nonsense that they feed the credulous, including their very selves. And all we can do is to keep sweeping back that tide of denial, evasion, and lies, hoping that with each sweep of that broom, the truth — or some of it – will stick.

Seattle Mail Delivery Halted Amid Soaring Crime

Geller Report - Sat, 05/27/2023 - 14:00

Democrat crime has trumped the United States Postal Service creed, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Except Democrat horrors.

Seattle Mail Delivery Halted Amid Troubling Crime Spree

By: Conservative America Today, May 26, 2023:

A skyrocketing crime rate is impacting Americans in all corners of the country, but areas of the Pacific Northwest have become especially dangerous in recent years.

Along with Portland, Oregon, many neighborhoods around Seattle, Washington, have seen a sharp rise in violent attacks and property crimes — and the issue has even impacted mail delivery for some residents.

The U.S. Postal Service, known for its unofficial motto that “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” will prevent the delivery of the mail, nevertheless determined that it was temporarily too risky to do so in Seattle’s 98118 ZIP code.

Last week, USPS spokesperson Kim Frum announced: “Mail delivery to less than 900 residents in parts of south Seattle was affected last week because of equipment security concerns. Improvements to the affected equipment were made, and all mail was delivered to the impacted residents.”

Although some of the affected residents received a letter informing them of the pause in mail delivery, others said they found out through social media posts and other indirect means. In order to pick up their mail, the individuals impacted by the move were required to visit a local post office in person, where wait times approached an hour and some were told to leave when the facility closed at 5 p.m.

Juana Esquibel said she attempted to retrieve her mail on three separate occasions and had to leave work early in order to make it to the post office.

Another resident claimed a postal employee encouraged her to rent a post office box.

Keep reading…..

Pink Floyd Star Roger Waters Wears Nazi Uniform at Berlin Concert, Faces Police Probe

Geller Report - Sat, 05/27/2023 - 13:36

Roger Waters is perhaps the most dangerous human beings ever seen in rock music. Waters uses his enormous platform to demonize Israel and glorify Palestinian terrorism. At a recent concert in Berlin, Waters dressed in a Nazi costume. He pretended to shoot at the crowd with a fake gun, while an inflatable pig bearing the Star of David floated above. Waters is exulted by the Left, but should be ostracized by all decent people. Shame on AMC Theatres for promoting Waters.

Waters has long been a notorious Jew hater, but the norming of antisemitism by the left has taken it to a whole other level.

Please stop your promotion of antisemite Roger Waters @CEOAdam @AMCTheatres

Actively promoting a rabid Jew haters like Waters if a form of complicity pic.twitter.com/OEpWzZW1xv

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 25, 2023

Reminder: in 2013 Roger Waters featured a pig with a Star of David during his concert in Belgium

During the same concert, he wore a long black leather jacket w/a red-and-white arm band, similar to a Nazi uniform.

Waters also allies himself with antisemites like Linda Sarsour. pic.twitter.com/r07PbmBLYz

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 24, 2023

Reminder: in 2013 Roger Waters openly expressed his antisemitic views towards Judaism during an interview, stating:

“They [the Jews] believe some very weird stuff you know, they believe that everybody that is not a Jew is only on earth to serve them and they believe that the… pic.twitter.com/H504GHypK7

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 24, 2023

Pink Floyd star Roger Waters faces police probe over ‘Nazi costume’ at Berlin concert

By Yahoo, May 26th, 2023

Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters is facing a police investigation for dressing in Nazi-style uniform at a concert in Germany.

The musician, 79, wore a black trench coat with a red armband as he appeared to mimic the SS outfit from World War Two.

He pretended to shoot at the crowd with a fake gun while an inflatable pig bearing the Star of David floated above.

FDA Admits That Childrens’ Hearts Are Damaged by Covid Vaccine

Geller Report - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 18:00

This, now, after the fact…..

Micky Geller #diedsuddenly on May 6th.

He was 18 years old.

Geller was a college freshman studying kinesiology at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and on the school's national champion waterski team

Geller was also on the Canadian Junior National Waterski team, and had… pic.twitter.com/8Ai2A9fGeF

— DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) May 19, 2023

Pregnant moms are encouraged to not even take Tylenol or eat hot dogs- yet Big Pharma, the Media, and Global Governments LIED and aggressively pressured pregnant women into taking an experimental mRNA technology anyway.

They claimed it was “extremely safe and effective” for… pic.twitter.com/eFfA3xicCY

— DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) May 20, 2023

One baby has died and eight have been admitted to intensive care in a mysterious cluster of infections.

15 babies recently born with myocarditis in Wales and SW England.

Health chiefs were spooked by the 'unusual' spike in cases over such a short space of time, prompting a… pic.twitter.com/t5X9LCW843

— DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) May 18, 2023

FDA Detects Serious Safety Signal for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Children

In the last week: World’s sixth best young water-skier ‘dies suddenly’ aged just 18

College Football Star Jaden Hullaby Dies Suddenly at 21

By Zachary Stieber, The Epoch Times, May 25, 2023:

Children of certain ages who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine face an elevated risk of heart inflammation, according to a new federally funded study.

Vaccinated children aged 12 to 17 face a heightened risk of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, and a related condition called pericarditis, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers found.

The number of myocarditis and pericarditis events in that age group met the threshold for a safety signal, the researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association on May 22.

The elevated risk was present within seven days of vaccination, according to the data.

Researchers identified 89 cases among 12- to 15-year-olds and 64 cases among 16- and 17-year-olds after reviewing records from commercial databases run by CVS Health, HealthCore, and Optum.

The claims were made between Dec. 11, 2020, when Pfizer’s vaccine was cleared by the FDA, and mid-2022.

Researchers looked at data to determine whether any of the 20 health problems were experienced at higher rates by the vaccinated. The problems included myocarditis or pericarditis, Bell’s palsy, appendicitis, and stroke.

Only myocarditis or pericarditis met the criteria for a safety signal……

Keep reading

HITS BOTTOM, KEEPS DIGGING: Bud Light To Sponsor Pride Parades Despite Ongoing Boycott, Joining Children’s Hospital Which Sexually Mutilates Children

Geller Report - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 17:00

This is textbook business school case study stuff. Lose touch with your audience, go down in flames.

America’s woke companies have lost their way. Make your products. Sell your products. And STFU.

Here’s what they are sponsoring:

Little girl at a pride parade pets a man dressed up in pup fetish gear as another whips a man shaking his ass right in front of her.

It isn’t rocket science as to why acceptance of our “community” is plummeting.

Parents, we beg you to please not take your children to Pride. It… pic.twitter.com/WJMcxqJl0M

— Gays Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) May 26, 2023

JUST IN: Bud Light is doubling down by funding pride events around the country.

Bud Light will be sponsoring the Cincinnati Pride Parade alongside Planned Parenthood and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital which medically transitions minors.

Things keep getting worse for the… pic.twitter.com/nZAVE9Evh4

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 25, 2023

Related:

Bud Light To Sponsor Pride Parades Despite Ongoing Boycott

By Spencer Lindquist, Daily Wire • May 25, 2023:

Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch are sponsoring at least three different upcoming Pride events despite backlash over the partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a social media influencer who identifies as transgender.

Bud Light is listed as a sponsor on the Cincinnati Pride Parade website. Planned Parenthood and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which medically transitions minors, are both also listed.

Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Missouri, where Anheuser-Busch is headquartered, the company is listed as the presenting sponsor of the St. Louis Pride Parade. A sponsorship packet explains that there are only four “presenting sponsor” slots available. The “Rainbow” sponsorship tier, located below the “presenting sponsor” tier, requires entities to pay $25,000.

Bud Light is also listed as a “Diamond Sponsor” of Stonewall Columbus, which organizes and hosts the annual Columbus, Ohio, Pride Parade. The “diamond” sponsorship tier requires companies to donate $20,000, a document from the organization specifies. The document also adds, “All Stonewall Columbus sponsors must affirm Stonewall’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies AND agree to donate no less than 8 hours of volunteer time during a calendar year.”

Anheuser-Busch was also listed as a premier sponsor for the San Francisco Pride Parade in 2022. The 2023 sponsors of the San Francisco Pride Parade have not yet been released.

Keep reading…….

Supreme Court Sides with Big Tech Against Victims of Islamic Terrorism

Geller Report - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 16:00

Leftists hate the Supreme Court and want to destroy it, because it is the last bulwark preventing the full implementation of their anti-American and authoritarian agenda. Patriots likewise are relieved that the Court currently has enough Justices who respect the Constitution to prevent the total destruction of the freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. But a recent Supreme Court ruling demonstrates that patriots’ hope that the Court will stop the Left from trampling upon all our freedoms may be ill-advised. The Court has just sided with Big Tech when it had a chance to force the social media giants to some accountability.

Jewish News Syndicate reported Sunday that the Supreme Court ruled against “the families of terrorism victims in two separate cases in which the plaintiffs accused Google, Twitter and Facebook of ‘aiding and abetting’ attacks by failing to block content promoting terrorism.” In the case of Twitter v. Taamneh, which was “brought by family members of Nawras Alassaf, who was killed in a 2017 ISIS attack in Istanbul,” the vote was unanimous. In the other case, Gonzalez v. Google, “the plaintiffs asserted that the companies were liable for the death of American college student Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in a café during coordinated ISIS attacks in Paris in 2015.” That one was “sent back to a lower court.”

The Court’s unanimous decision in Twitter v. Taamneh and its refusal even to consider Gonzalez v. Google were ominous, as both cases featured plaintiffs who were contending that the social media giants hadn’t done enough to block jihad terrorist material on their platforms. JNS noted that these decisions “handed a victory to the tech industry by declining to weigh in on the foundational U.S. internet law known as Section 230.”

This is the notorious law that “protects online companies from liability for content posted by their users. It also gives internet companies the ability to remove content without liability.” The Court stated that Gonzalez v. Google “should be dismissed because the plaintiffs didn’t have a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act. It advised the lower court that there was no need to address Section 230.”

That was bad enough in itself, but it was even worse in light of the fact that Google, Twitter (both in its pre-Elon Musk days and to a lesser extent even now) and Facebook have systematically and relentlessly censored, blocked, banned and shadowbanned opponents of jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women, on the pretext that they’re purveying “hate speech.” The social media giants let jihadist material proliferate while moving ruthlessly to suppress material that opposed jihad violence, at the behest of the massively discredited Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The real “hate speech” was the jihadist rhetoric and recruitment for which Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google were trying to hold the social media giants accountable. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an attorney for the Gonzalez family: “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court refused to acknowledge the dangers of Section 230’s blanket immunity for the social media platforms and their facilitation of these vital internet services to designated terrorist organizations….It is clearly understood that platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook will never voluntarily act to self-regulate in any meaningful way that safeguards the lives of innocent people or protects the national security of the U.S. or other democratic states. The terror victims accuse the social media giants of knowingly providing their services to extremist groups like ISIS and Hezbollah.”

The social media giants didn’t just provide jihadis a platform while silencing foes of jihad. Back in February, the Jerusalem Post reported that a group called the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) had discovered that “Facebook created 108 pages for Islamic State in addition to dozens of other pages for terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda. These terrorist group pages were generated automatically as users listed the groups in their profiles or ‘checked in’ to terrorist organizations.” The Post added that “some of these automatically generated pages have been living on Facebook for years, racking up likes and posts with terrorist propaganda and imagery.”

All that was apparently just fine with Facebook. Meanwhile, Facebook has acted swiftly and consistently to suppress the pages of groups such as my own Jihad Watch, the American Freedom Defense Initiative and innumerable others that dared to discuss the motivating ideology behind jihad terrorism, and to speak up against the oppression of women and others under Islamic law.

Yet now the Supreme Court has given Facebook and its sinister colleagues a free hand to continue to distribute jihad terror material, and silence those who oppose it, without any accountability at all. Patriots should duly reevaluate their enthusiasm for the Judicial branch. It removed the cancer on the body politic that was Roe v. Wade, but it has a long way to go before it can be said that it stands consistently in defense of freedom.

West Bank: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmers and torch vehicles

Middle East Eye - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 14:53
West Bank: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmers and torch vehicles
Five Palestinians were wounded in the attack, with one victim in a serious condition after being shot in the head
MEE staff Fri, 05/26/2023 - 15:53
Palestinian farmers' vehicles were parked on the side of a field when Israeli settlers attacked them (Screengrab)

Crowds of Israeli settlers attacked and wounded Palestinians while torching their vehicles, in the latest assault against farmers in the occupied West Bank. 

Palestinian media reported that settlers from Adei Ad illegal settlement, northeast of Ramallah, assaulted Palestinians working on their land between Turmus Ayya and al-Mughayyir villages in the centre of the West Bank.

Settlers threw stones and fired bullets at farmers, wounding at least five people. One of the victims is in a serious condition after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers who accompanied the settlers. 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said four injuries were a result of beatings and stones thrown by settlers. Those victims are in a stable condition.

//-->

Around 270 bales of hay and five cars parked on the side of the fields were torched, according to Marzouq Abu Naim, a councillor at al-Mughayyir village. 

Abu Naim said that Israeli forces stormed the area "to provide protection for the settlers", leading to clashes between young men and soldiers.

Amin Abu Alia, the president of al-Mughayyir village council, said that "settlers used live bullets, stones and sticks" in the assault.

"The Israeli army intervened to protect the settlers, firing teargas canisters at the Palestinian farmers," he added.

Abu Alia said the two main entrances to al-Mughayyir, which has been repeatedly attacked by settlers over the years, have remained blocked by the Israeli military for two weeks, forcing residents to take long and rough roads to reach their workplaces.

On Thursday, Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians from al-Mughayyir village.

Today, in the northeastern region of Ramallah, extremist Israeli colonizers perpetrated a destructive arson attack, deliberately targeting five Palestinian vehicles and crops. pic.twitter.com/Hfw6kaN49J

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 26, 2023

The European Union Delegation to the Palestinians said it was "appalled" by the settler attacks.

"The EU condemns settler violence and calls on Israel to take decisive steps to ensure accountability and protect the Palestinian civilian population in line with its obligations under international law," it said in a Tweet. 

//-->

While Israeli settler violence against Palestinians is common in the West Bank, attacks have grown at an alarming rate in recent years, according to UN human rights experts.

UN figures show settler attacks have been on a year-to-year upward trend since 2016, with at least 849 attacks recorded in 2022 - 228 of which led to casualties. 

Human rights groups have previously accused Israeli authorities of enabling settler violence and failing to prosecute offenders or protect Palestinians. 

“Armed and masked Israeli settlers are attacking Palestinians in their homes, attacking children on their way to school, destroying property and burning olive groves, and terrorising entire communities with complete impunity,” UN experts said last year. 

“Disturbing evidence of Israeli forces frequently facilitating, supporting and participating in settler attacks makes it difficult to discern between Israeli settler and State violence,” they added.

Nearly 700,000 settlers live in more than 250 settlements and outposts across the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmers and torch vehicles in the West Bank

Hajj: UK quota cut to create fairer system, Saudi ambassador tells MPs

Middle East Eye - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 14:36
Hajj: UK quota cut to create fairer system, Saudi ambassador tells MPs
Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al-Saud pledges to try to find ways to increase UK allocation after cut from 25,000 to 3,600
Areeb Ullah Fri, 05/26/2023 - 15:36
Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al-Saud (c) said Riyadh had already dispatched someone from the Nusuk team to help British pilgrims facing issues booking the Hajj (Supplied: CBHUK)

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK defended Riyadh’s decision to reduce the number of Hajj places given to western countries during a meeting earlier this week with British MPs. 

Members of the All Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) on Hajj and Umrah met Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al-Saud in London on Wednesday to discuss the reduced number of places for British pilgrims on this year's Hajj, and other issues surrounding the new Nusuk booking system.

Last week, the APPG said it would lobby the ambassador for more Hajj places after the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah reduced the number of places allocated to the UK from more than 25,000 before the Covid-19 pandemic to approximately 3,600. 

The ministry also introduced a new booking system, Nusuk, for pilgrims from mostly western countries hoping to undertake Hajj this year. 

Some users who registered and tried to book places through the new system have complained of paying thousands of pounds for tour packages without receiving any confirmation of their booking, or receiving messages informing them that their booking has been cancelled. 

This new system has also sidelined travel agencies - which have traditionally organised Hajj packages for western pilgrims - for the second year in a row, after the organisation of the pilgrimage was outsourced last year by the ministry to another company, Motawif. 

In a statement on Friday, the APPG said the Saudi ambassador had defended the ministry's decision to reduce quotas for some countries on the grounds that it was trying to create a fairer Hajj system.

“His excellency sympathised that certain countries (including the UK) had in previous years been allocated more Hajj quotas compared to other countries,” the APPG said.

'He emphasised that… a formula of "one pilgrim per thousand" of the Muslim population of a country was being applied'

British parliamentary group 

“He emphasised that the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had a challenge to apply a fair Hajj quota allocation system across the world, and for this reason, a formula of ‘one pilgrim per thousand’ of the Muslim population of a country was being applied.” 

But the APPG said the ambassador had told MPs that he would look into ways to increase the quota for the UK.

He also said a member of the Nusuk team had arrived at the embassy to help resolve booking issues.

The Council of British Hajjis (CBHUK) welcomed the ambassador’s assurances and said some more places had opened up on Nusuk for British pilgrims after the MPs' meeting with the ambassador. 

Members of the APPG on Hajj and Umrah present at the meeting on Wednesday with the Saudi ambassador included its chair, Yasmin Qureshi MP, vice-chair Imran Hussain MP, and Rashid Mohammed Mogradia from the CBHUK.

Hussain welcomed the commitment to addressing issues faced by British Hajj pilgrims, and said: "The issues faced by many Muslims in the UK during Hajj this year have been very troubling and I’m therefore pleased that following the APPG’s delegation to Saudi Arabia earlier this year, where we raised our concerns with ministers and officials, the ambassador has confirmed he’ll be working to act on the findings of our delegation.”

Hajj packages 'sold out'

Earlier this week, Middle East Eye reported that Hajj places had "sold out" for British Muslims hoping to fulfil the pilgrimage.

Nusuk confirmed on Tuesday that all the slots for UK Muslims had been allocated and said the "country capacity" for Britain was full. 

Last week, MEE also revealed that the APPG had warned that the reduced Hajj quota for the UK would lead to British Muslims waiting between "five to 10 years" before they can go on the Hajj.

According to the minutes of an APPG meeting from February, Saudi officials told the MPs that new quotas for the UK and other western countries would align with Muslim-majority countries, which have historically been allocated one place per thousand Muslims in the population.

The quota figure for Muslim-majority countries can vary depending on the arrangements between Saudi Arabia and individual countries.

Whether the Saudi government intends to revise the number annually, or what data it will draw on to calculate how many Muslims would be eligible to go from western countries, remains unclear.

UK's Hajj quota was cut to create fairer system, Saudi ambassador tells MPs

Inflation Rises Unexpectedly in April – Jumps 0.4% in April and 4.7% from a Year Ago

GatewayPundit - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:45

Inflation bounced higher in April up 4.7% from a year ago.

The inflation rate under Joe Biden and Democrats continues to hold at a rate more than twice what it was just three years ago under President Donald Trump.

Via CNN – The Fed’s go-to gauge was up 4.7% for the year. In March, the core PCE gauge grew by 4.6%.

BREAKING: Inflation ALERT!

PCE inflation (consumer items) JUMPS to 4.4%, surpassing 3.9% forecasts.

FED is NOT going to like this.

Rate hike incoming.

Buckle up!

— Genevieve Roch-Decter, CFA (@GRDecter) May 26, 2023

CNBC reported:

Inflation stayed stubbornly high in April, potentially reinforcing the chances that interest rates could stay higher for longer, according to a gauge released Friday that the Federal Reserve follows closely.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, which measures a variety of goods and services and adjusts for changes in consumer behavior, rose 0.4% for the month excluding food and energy costs, higher than the 0.3% Dow Jones estimate.

On an annual basis, the gauge increased 4.7%, 0.1 percentage point higher than expected, the Commerce Department reported.

Including food and energy, headline PCE also rose 0.4% and was up 4.4% from a year ago, higher than the 4.2% rate in March.

The post Inflation Rises Unexpectedly in April – Jumps 0.4% in April and 4.7% from a Year Ago appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Greece: Aid workers decry 'abductions, violence' against refugees in Lesbos

Middle East Eye - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:22
Greece: Aid workers decry 'abductions, violence' against refugees in Lesbos
Doctors Without Borders reports violence, alleged pushbacks to sea of refugees on Lesbos amid rapidly deteriorating conditions
Katherine Hearst Fri, 05/26/2023 - 14:22
Refugees and migrant women and children rest on a Greek Coast Guard ship (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP)
Refugees and migrant women and children rest on a Greek Coast Guard ship (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is calling on the Greek authorities to investigate reports of violence, pushbacks and abductions as well as deprivation of food and basic assistance faced by refugees on the island of Lesbos.

According to the NGO, newly arrived refugees have suffered alleged attacks by unidentified masked groups who gain trust by posing as doctors. Last October, MSF reported finding a group of refugees tightly bound and injured, reportedly by a masked gang.

"This practice is shocking and an unacceptable manipulation of humanitarian aid. It must stop," MSF Sea tweeted.

The NGO also reported experiencing increasing difficulty locating people in urgent need of medical care. Since June 2022, MSF said, it was unable to find 940 people from reported locations and it was assumed they had been pushed back out to sea.

Although the Greek government has repeatedly been accused of performing illegal pushbacks, the authorities consistently denied this practice. However, last week, a New York Times report into damning footage of the Hellenic Coastguard rounding up 12 migrants, among them young children, and setting them adrift on an inflatable raft in the Mediterranean suggests that the Greek authorities are ramping up these extrajudicial expulsions.

According to Duccio Staderini, head of mission for the MSF Greece and Balkans mission, the organisation received a report of 103 migrants needing medical attention on the same day as the pushback reported by the New York Times.

"We found only 91. The fact that the New York times reported 12 migrants [were pushed back] suggests that they could be our missing 12," Staderini told MEE.

Following the report, the EU Commission demanded a full and independent investigation into the incident.

In his first interview since his election win last week, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, confirmed that it is "already being investigated". During his election campaign, he defended his government's  "tough but fair" migration policies and lauded a 90 percent drop in arrivals of "illegal migrants".

Caught in the Act

For Maro, a volunteer for Alarm Phone, a self-organized hotline for refugees in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, the report came as no surprise. Maro has heard many similar stories.

"But it's the first time that we saw video footage documenting [a pushback] step by step," Maro told MEE. "We have seen photos... but this is the first time that [the coastguard] are being caught in the act.”

But Maro was sceptical about the calls for an Athens-led investigation.

"It is very clear the investigative body will be under the influence of the government," Maro said. "Everybody is calling for more investigations. How about actual measures, like cutting funding? The EU is providing Greece with money for migration management, but nobody is putting cutting the funding on the table."

'The EU is providing Greece with money for migration management, but nobody is putting cutting the funding on the table'

- Maro, Alarm Phone

Since 2015, with the arrival of over one million Syrian and Iraqi refugees, Greece and the EU have progressively hardened stances on migration.

A 2022 report by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human rights described "a systematic state policy" of extrajudicial pushbacks by Greek authorities. Also in 2022, Human Rights Watch reported the use of masked migrants as proxies to perform illegal pushbacks on Greece's land border with Turkey. Afghan asylum seekers reported assault, theft and being forced to strip by these masked gangs.

On 14 March, following an alleged pushback by the Greek authorities, the Turkish coastguard recovered four bodies following the sinking of two dinghies off the coast of Turkey.

Greece does not act alone; a 2020 report by Lighthouse revealed the country's close collaboration with the European Border Agency, Frontex, in the pushbacks.

'Explosive' conditions

In the camps on Lesbos, conditions are reported to have deteriorated significantly. On 17 May, MSF reported that authorities were denying food to recognised refugees and threatening to evict them.

"The conditions on Lesbos are explosive, people are left without any other option," Stadineri told MEE.

In Megala Therma, a camp on Lesbos initially intended for quarantine after the onset of the Covid pandemic, overcrowding and a scarcity of beds are preventing urgent medical access. Food is distributed only once a day.

"There is nothing in new in all this, Moria is repeating," " Stadineri said, referring to the Lesbos camp notorious for its squalid and overcrowded conditions and which was swept by fire in 2020. "This is the fear. We're turning the reception system into a detentions and expulsion system."

Aid workers decry 'abductions, violence' against refugees on Greek island

Bud Light Sponsoring Several Pride Events — Despite Anheuser-Busch Market Value Dropping $15.7 Billion Over Dylan Mulvaney Fiasco

GatewayPundit - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:15

Bud Light is doubling down and sponsoring Pride parades across the nation.

The news of the sponsorships comes as Anheuser-Busch InBev’s market value has collapsed by a massive $15.7 billion since Bud Light’s partnership with transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney was announced.

According to a report from the Daily Wire, Bud Light is listed as a sponsor for Pride parades in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, as well as St. Louis, Missouri.

The report states that “in St. Louis, Missouri, where Anheuser-Busch is headquartered, the company is listed as the presenting sponsor of the St. Louis Pride Parade. A sponsorship packet explains that there are only four ‘presenting sponsor’ slots available. The ‘Rainbow’ sponsorship tier, located below the ‘presenting sponsor’ tier, requires entities to pay $25,000.”

“In Columbus, Bud Light is listed as a ‘Diamond Sponsor’ for the city’s upcoming pride parade,” the report adds. “According to a document from Stonewall Columbus — which ‘organizes and hosts’ the ‘annual’ event — companies are required to donate $20,000 to the organization in order to become ‘Diamond’ sponsors.”

Other Anheuser-Busch products, including Corona, sponsor other Pride events, including the Los Angeles Pride Parade.

Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch’s market value has collapsed under a conservative boycott.

Investor’s Business Daily determined the shocking $15.7 billion figure using S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

“The market value of Anheuser-Busch InBev, whose fourth bestselling brand is Bud Light, dropped $15.7 billion since April 1, based on a conversion to U.S. dollars by Investor’s Business Daily using data from S&P Global Market Intelligence,” Investor’s Business Daily reports. “That’s the day Dylan Mulvaney, a TikTok influencer and transgender woman, pitched the Bud Light brand during the NCAA March Madness tournament.”

The report added, “Meanwhile, the other major publicly traded global beer brands have added $3.2 billion in market value during the same time.”

Mulvaney, an adult biological male, has become controversial over his “Days of Girlhood” series on TikTok and meeting with President Joe Biden on “Day 222 of being a girl” to advocate for allowing minors to transition.

The activist-influencer said then, “I’m ready to step up and show that trans people are not going anywhere and that trans kids deserve a fighting chance to be their true selves.”

After Bud Light provided Mulvaney with a commemorative can to celebrate one year of “girlhood,” conservatives immediately began a boycott — one which is shaping up to be one of the most influential political boycotts of all time.

The post Bud Light Sponsoring Several Pride Events — Despite Anheuser-Busch Market Value Dropping $15.7 Billion Over Dylan Mulvaney Fiasco appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

It’s Official! The Gateway Pundit Now Has More Daily Page Views than FOX News Primetime Shows Have Nightly Viewers

GatewayPundit - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:00

Since FOX News fired Tucker Carlson one month ago their numbers have plunged into the abyss.

FOX News lost at least half of its audience following the ouster of its top-rated nightly host.

Before Tucker was fired he was bringing 3.4 million viewers to his show on the channel each night. This also lifted the numbers of the rest of the primetime lineup.

But FOX News has still not recovered from this suicidal move to nix Tucker Carlson and blacklist Donald Trump.

The channel is suffering. Here are the primetime numbers from Wednesday night – the numbers were higher than usual thanks to Governor DeSantis’s appearance following his announcement on Twitter that he is running for president.

The highest rated FOX News program had 1.95 million views.

Now compare this to the traffic this week on The Gateway Pundit.

The Gateway Pundit averaged over 2.6 million page views a day this past week.

The Gateway Pundit numbers this year continue to improve. If the current trend continues we will have another record year in 2023.

Of course, this is despite the fact that we are censored, blacklisted, and silenced on every major social media platform including Facebook, Twitter, and Google-YouTube. This hasn’t stopped readers from finding our website and coming back.

The Gateway Pundit continues to bring you the most honest and courageous content online today.

Thank you to our readers, friends and contributors! Thank you for our success!

The post It’s Official! The Gateway Pundit Now Has More Daily Page Views than FOX News Primetime Shows Have Nightly Viewers appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Al Qaeda Lawyer Blown Out in Supreme Court Ruling In Suit To Seize Old Woman’s Home and Take All the Profits

Geller Report - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:00

I have so many thoughts on this story. First, note how the lawyer for al Qaeda terrorists represents the government – the Minneapolis Hennepin County (Ilhan Omar’s district). He was also was an acting solicitor general under Obama.Here again we see another terrible example of post-America, those who stand with our enemies are richly, richly rewarded while those of us who fight in defense of America and individual rights are smeared, defamed and relegated to the fringe.

This case is deeply disturbing, more so because it had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to see justice. It should never have happened. An elderly woman owed $2,300 in taxes and out of control government seized her home and all the profits from its sale. The al Qaeda lawyer argued before the Supreme Court Wednesday that a Minnesota county was in the right when it confiscated an elderly woman’s condo and took all the profits from its sale over a small unpaid tax.

Hennepin County, which contains Minneapolis, confiscated an elderly woman’s condo and took all the profits from its sale over a small unpaid tax. The county received $40,000 from the sale of Geraldine Tyler’s condo after the county seized the property in 2015 over $2,300 in unpaid taxes. Tyler, now 94, owed $15,000 in total with penalties and interest on the unpaid taxes.

Al Qaeda Lawyer Neal Katyal Blown Out in Supreme Court Ruling

Unanimous Court rejects Katyal’s argument that county can seize old woman’s home and take all the profits

By: Free Beacon, May 26, 2023:

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday against a left-wing lawyer after he tried to convince the justices that a Minnesota county was right to take all the profits from the sale of a home it confiscated from an elderly woman.

Supreme Court justices were unconvinced by arguments last month from lawyer Neal Katyal, who once defended Al Qaeda terrorists. Katyal defended Hennepin County, which contains Minneapolis, after it confiscated an elderly woman’s condo and took all the profits from its sale over a small unpaid tax. The county received $40,000 from the sale of Geraldine Tyler’s condo after the county seized the property in 2015 over $2,300 in unpaid taxes. Tyler, now 94, owed $15,000 in total with penalties and interest on the unpaid taxes.

The High Court ruled that states that seize and sell private property to make up for unpaid taxes cannot keep more from the sales than what a taxpayer owed.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the Court’s opinion. “The county had the power to sell Tyler’s home to recover the unpaid property taxes,” Roberts wrote, but added that the county “could not use the toehold of the tax debt to confiscate more property than was due.”

The justices appeared unconvinced by Katyal’s arguments in April. Justice Neil Gorsuch mocked the lawyer’s argument that expensive properties could be seized for minuscule missing payments. “So a $5 property tax, a million dollar property, good to go?” Gorsuch asked Katyal, who answered in the affirmative.

Katyal, who was acting solicitor general under former president Barack Obama, is no stranger to representing controversial defendants. He is known as a member of the “al Qaeda 7,” a group of lawyers who represented al Qaeda terrorists against the Bush administration.

POWDER KEG EUROPE: Russian Official Predicts the END of Ukraine – Polish Military Ready to Intervene in Case of COUP in Belarus – Georgia Being Pressured Into Military Action Against Putin

GatewayPundit - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 12:45

The war in Ukraine is far from over, but a lot of activities prefacing the post-war realities are already playing out, showing an increasingly militarized ‘powder keg’ Europe, at the brink of widespread military conflicts.

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev: Now it’s time to say how Ukraine will disappear, and also what is the risk of a resumption of conflict in Europe and in the world.”

Russias’ Medvedev. Credit Intel Slava Z
  1. “The western regions of Ukraine are coming under the control of a number of EU states with the subsequent “anschluss” of these lands by recipient states. At the same time, a certain “no-man’s-land” Ukrainian territory will remain, which is squeezed between Russia and lands that have passed under the sovereignty of a number of European countries.
  2. Ukraine disappears after the completion of its own in the process of its division between Russia and a number of EU states. The government of Ukraine is being formed in exile in one of the European countries. The conflict ends with reasonable guarantees of its non-renewal in the near future, but with the preservation of the terrorist activity of the Ukrainian Nazis, who will be dispersed on the territory of the EU states that have received Western Ukrainian lands.
  3. The same thing happens as in the first case, but with the opposite sign. The western lands of Ukraine are joining a number of EU countries. The people of the central and some other ownerless regions of Ukraine, within the framework of Article 1 of the UN Charter, immediately declare their self-determination by joining the Russian Federation. His request is granted, and the conflict ends with sufficient guarantees of its non-renewal in the long term.”
Poland’s General Skrzypczak.

Poland Military ‘ready to interfere’ in eventual Belarus coup d’état.

Senior Polish General commented on the recent cross-border actions in Belgorod, and said that similar moves could soon happen in Belarus, too.

Charter 97 reported:

“General Waldemar Skrzypczak, former commander of the Polish Land Forces & former Deputy Minister of Defense, has said Poland should prepare for a coming uprising against Lukashenko in Belarus.

‘If the Ukrainian counteroffensive is successful, the Belarusian soldiers allied with the Ukrainian Army won’t quit. They’ll go to Belarus.’

‘I hope this will trigger an uprising in Belarus, this is what Lukashenko is afraid of. Let’s prepare for an uprising in Belarus, because it will happen.’

[…] ‘We must be ready to support the troops that will carry out the operation against Lukashenko.’

The General did not speak in any official capacity, but the understanding is that he is voicing the mainstream military opinion in increasingly belligerent Poland.

Belarusian president Lukashenko reacted to this as he received Nuclear Missiles from Russia that will be stationed in Belarus that very day: “We are ready, let them come!”

Georgia’s Irakli Kobakhidze.

And finally, Georgia has been bullied by the EU to sever trade with Russia – a move that would be innocuous for Russia but tragic for the Georgian economy. But now we learn the real shocking extent of Ukrainian pressure in the nation.

Ukraine Watch:

Ukraine has asked Georgia to open a second front against Russia.

According to the chairman of the ruling party of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, Ukrainian officials made such a request to the Georgian authorities.

‘I think it is important for the international community to know what is required of our country. This important information should be communicated to our partners’, Kobakhidze said.”

The post POWDER KEG EUROPE: Russian Official Predicts the END of Ukraine – Polish Military Ready to Intervene in Case of COUP in Belarus – Georgia Being Pressured Into Military Action Against Putin appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Huda-Par: Erdogan's allies accused of being the Kurdish Hezbollah

Middle East Eye - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 12:31
Huda-Par: Erdogan's allies accused of being the Kurdish Hezbollah
Conservative religious party denies links to outlawed armed group, but critics are keen to highlight shared ideology and goals
Yusuf Selman Inanc Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:31
HUDA-PAR Chairman Zekeriye Yapicioglu is seen carrying a girl during a celebration of the prophet's birthday in Diyarbakir 30 April (Reuters)
Huda-Par chairman Zekeriya Yapicioglu during a celebration of the prophet's birthday in Diyarbakir 30 April (Reuters)

Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections have thrown up no shortage of hotly debated issues, none more so than the emergence of the Kurdish religious conservative Free Cause Party (Huda-Par).

Allied to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Huda-Par won four of the parliament's 600 seats on 14 May, running under the list of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Those wins give another boost to Erdogan's People's Alliance coalition as the president campaigns for a run-off victory in the presidential election on Sunday.

To members of the opposition, who equate Huda-Par with a Kurdish armed group called Hezbollah, the new members of  parliament are a frightening development.

Football fans have chanted "we don't want Hezbollah in parliament" in stadiums, opposition leaders have cited the armed group's murders in the 1990s and several activists have raised concern about women's rights, which Huda-Par have advocated rolling back in the name of tradition.

//--> //--> //-->

The Kurdish Islamic party's presence in parliament has become a lightning rod for Turkey's renewed debates about secularism and ethnicity, issues that will likely play out in Sunday's run-off.

The Kurdish Hezbollah

But what exactly is Huda-Par, and what is Hezbollah? Are they related to each other? 

Firstly, the Turkey-based Hezbollah (which translates to party of God) has no connection to its more famous Lebanese namesake. 

Secondly, Huda-Par officials strongly deny the allegations that their party is the political wing of Hezbollah, a designated terror organisation. That said, Huda-Par officials admit that some former Hezbollah fighters are among its membership.

The Kurdish Hezbollah emerged in 1979, around the same time as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as an Islamist armed group. Its focus was on overthrowing Turkey's secular political system and advocating for Kurdish rights, including safeguarding the Kurdish language.

Yet the conflict that primarily preoccupied Hezbollah was not against state forces, but with the PKK.

Viewing the PKK as an organisation founded by infidels to corrupt religious Kurds with Marxist ideology, Hezbollah armed itself in the 1990s and began battling PKK fighters in Kurdish-dominated cities. 

//--> //--> //-->

Many believe that the Turkish state facilitated Hezbollah's fight against the PKK. Nevertheless, Hezbollah's anti-PKK stance swiftly transformed into a takfiri understanding of Islam, whereby any Muslim who did not strictly adhere to Islamic rules or follow Hezbollah's interpretation was labeled an infidel deserving punishment. 

A HUDA-PAR flag is was unfurled at a Diyarbakir rally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 14 April (Reuters)
A Huda-Par flag unfurled at a Diyarbakir rally for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 14 April (Reuters)

//--> //--> //-->

Omer, head of a well-known Islamic community in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir, told Middle East Eye that Hezbollah was so extreme that its members started targeting Islamic scholars who did not support their cause. He asked MEE not to disclose his surname due to the sensitivity of the subject. 

"In the 1990s, they were so radical that they harmed religious Muslims more than the state and the PKK." 

During the second half of the 1990s, police uncovered mass graves and torture chambers linked to Hezbollah in Konya, Adana and elsewhere.

One of their most prominent targets was Konca Kuris, a Muslim feminist activist who believed the Quran needed to be reinterpreted to align with modern needs. She was found dead in Konya in 2000, with police believing she had been tortured to death by Hezbollah in 1999.

Another well-known figure allegedly assassinated by Hezbollah was Gaffar Okkan, head of police in Diyarbakir.

Okkan had played a key role in crushing Hezbollah in the southern city, but died along with five other policemen in an ambush suspected to have been conducted by the armed group.

The group also kidnapped many prominent Kurdish figures, interrogating and torturing them.

Turkey elections: Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu battle for nationalist vote
Read More »

One kidnap victim told Middle East Eye that they had to leave their Kurdish city hometown and resettle in western Turkey following their release.

In 2000, during a police raid on a mansion in Istanbul's Beykoz, Hezbollah leader Huseyin Velioglu was killed. Following this operation, the group is believed to have been dismantled.  

Yet many, like Omer in Diyarbakir, believe that it re-emerged as Huda-Par as a legal, non-armed political party. 

"Their understanding of Islam and approach to politics have changed since the killing of Velioglu," Omer said. 

"They have made peace with other Islamic communities in the [Kurdish] region. They have even apologised to many Islamic scholars. They are now focusing on social activities such as delivering aid to poor people or organising huge ceremonies to celebrate the prophet's birth."

Indeed, around one million people get together in Diyarbakir every year in April in an event backed by Huda-Par officials, featuring sermons and songs in Turkish and Kurdish.

Omer believes that the foundation of Huda-Par as a legal political party has also sparked controversy among former Hezbollah fighters, prompting its most radical wing to disassociate from the party.

Mashuq Kurt, an expert on Hezbollah at Royal Holloway, University of London, told MEE that after 2000 the group underwent "a silent period for a few years and transformed into legal entities in the mid-2000s". 

"They remain very conservative and loyal to the Islamist ideology, yet their methods changed, and their activities have been legalized in the past two decades," he said.

Huda-Par denies allegations

Huda-Par was officially established in 2012 as a political party after receiving necessary permissions from the interior ministry. 

Its leader, Zekeriya Yapicioglu, denies the allegations that his party is a successor to Hezbollah, but has also said he does not view the armed group as a terror organisation. 

When asked to comment on the allegations and origins of the party, a Huda-Par official told MEE: "All the information about our party exists on the webpage."

Kurt argues that Hezbollah and Huda-Par enjoy "a shared ideology and support base... but only the judiciary can establish an organic tie between the groups".

Turkey elections: Ogan endorses Erdogan in presidential runoff
Read More »

Even so, the opposition is determined to draw a distinct line linking the party and Hezbollah, highlighting Huda-Par's criticism of Turkish secularism and the armed group's violent history.

Huda-Par's party programme casts Kurdish uprisings as reactions against secularism and Turkification and denounces the state's subsequent crackdown, which it says killed hundreds of thousands of people.

It asks the Turkish state to issue an official apology and pay compensation to the victims.

The programme also asks for the recognition of Kurds in the constitution, declaring both Turks and Kurds as "the constitutive founders of the country". It says Kurdish must be accepted as the second official language and be used in education.

Famous phrases of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish republic, that lionise Turks should be removed from schools and state institutions, it says. The programme also demands that religious schools be given official status.

These demands are no different from that of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the left-wing pro-Kurdish party frequently accused by the government and its allies of being linked to the PKK. 

Huda-Par nonetheless counts Turkish nationalists such as the MHP and recently presidential candidate Sinan Ogan as its electoral allies.

A useful alliance

Clues to why the AKP, MHP and others are happy to sit alongside Huda-Par can be seen in recent comments by Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

Earlier this week, he told a TV programme: "The most important step taken by Turkish Republic and Turkish politics in the last few years is [the alliance with] Huda-Par. You will see in 10 years… how the conservative axis in the east and southeast of Turkey will gain a significant position."

In the 2018 elections, Huda-Par received 0.31 percent of the vote, failing to gain a single seat. This year it ran under the AKP list, so it is unknown how many votes went specifically to the Kurdish party.

Soylu, however, said he believes the numbers are unimportant, and has denied the party has any links with Hezbollah.

The government also accuses the opposition of hypocrisy, pointing to previous meetings between Huda-Par and the parties in the Table of Six.

A former HDP member, who asked to remain anonymous, told MEE their party has long been aware of the AKP plan to co-opt Huda-Par.

"People, especially young people, will not remember the 1990s and Hezbollah's atrocities," they said.

According to the ex-HDP member, Huda-Par can appeal to conservative religious voters and promise economic benefits due to its alliance with the government.

"In this way, they will try to lure more votes from conservative religious Kurds."

Kurt believes that Huda-Par will have "more room and platforms to disseminate its messages and activities" with four MPs now in parliament.

Istanbul, Turkey

REVEALED: Rupert Murdoch Hosted Ron DeSantis at His California Ranch and Told Him FOX News Will Support Him

GatewayPundit - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 12:30
Ron DeSantis wins the support of FOX News

FOX News owner Rupert Murdoch hosted Governor Ron DeSantis at his California Ranch in Bel Air in 2020. He told him FOX News would support his potential run for president in 2024.

Since then Murdoch and FOX Corp fired its top host Tucker Carlson who was a favorite of the Trump-MAGA crowd.

FOX News has since implemented a soft ban on President Trump.

The news channel is suffering from this new direction. FOX News has lost nearly half of its audience since firing Tucker Carlson.

Knewz reported on this meeting. For the record, Knewz was owned by Murdoch’s NewsCorp until 2021.

According to Vanity Fair, the conservative news mogul invited the Florida Governor to his Vineyard in Bel Air, California for dinner in 2020 and assured him that Fox would support his potential presidential run in 2024.

Earlier this year, signs of this sentiment became more apparent as Fox implemented a soft ban on Trump and began featuring DeSantis more frequently.

Additionally, during this time, the Dominion lawsuit loomed over the news corporation, prompting it to distance itself from the election controversy and thus steer clear of Trump.

Murdoch even expressed regret, stating that he would have preferred his anchors to be more assertive in denouncing Trump’s election conspiracies that defined his campaigns. He was also quoted saying, “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” per the Independent.

The post REVEALED: Rupert Murdoch Hosted Ron DeSantis at His California Ranch and Told Him FOX News Will Support Him appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Is the United States Poking the Bear or Is Ukraine Going Rogue or Is it Both?

GatewayPundit - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 12:15

Yesterday three Western supplied drone boats attacked a Russian ship guarding the Turkstream pipeline. Russia claims all were destroyed but there is video that suggests one hit the Russian ship. This attack is the latest in a series of events over the last three weeks where Ukraine is hitting targets in Russia with U.S. and British supplied weapons. In addition to this maritime drone attack Ukraine has carried out the following:

  • Cross border incursion in the Belgorod region with U.S. supplied vehicles and weapons. The attack was repulsed with heavy losses on the Ukrainian side.
  • Sporadically launching artillery and himars attacks on Russian civilians towns along the border
  • Two drones attacked the Kremlin.
  • British Storm Shadow cruise missiles have hit targets in Russia

None of these attacks are “game changers” but they are fueling a rising tide of anger in Russia. The maritime attack on the Russian ship guarding the Turkstream pipeline is especially puzzling because it is indirectly an attack on a member of NATO (i.e., Turkiye). The media is discounting the possibility that was sanctioned by the U.S. or the U.K. and suggesting it was carried out by Ukraine without consulting its NATO partners.

However, my new friend, Steve Bryen, has an excellent piece posted at the Asia Times on the Turkstream pipeline incident that explains why this was not a unilateral Ukrainian operation:

There are a number of disturbing facts about this operation.

The first is that the Ukrainians were preparing to attack the Turkstream pipeline and needed to knock out the Russian ship helping to guard it. Turkstream moves natural gas at an annual capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters and consists of two 930-kilometer offshore lines and two separate onshore lines that are 142 kilometers (88.2 miles) and 70 kilometers long.

One of the customers for Russian gas from this pipeline is Hungary. It would deal a substantial blow to Hungary if Turkstream were destroyed, and that could lead to a government upheaval in that country. Hungary, under Viktor Orbán, is regarded by Washington as pro-Russian. . . .

The Ukrainians carried out this operation in the Bosporus, around 80 miles from the Turkish mainland. It is reasonable to say that this attack wasn’t just on the Russians, but it was the first part of an attack on a NATO ally, Turkey and other gas consumers, especially Hungary – also a NATO ally.

The long distance from Ukraine proper suggests that Ukraine would have needed real-time intelligence to locate the Russian ship and target it.

Here comes the disturbing part. Reportedly there was a US RQ-4 remotely piloted surveillance aircraft in the vicinity of this incident. The RQ-4 could have provided real-time targeting information and also could have relayed the same information to the Ukrainian unmanned naval drone. While there is no hard evidence that the RQ-4 played any role, how else could Ukraine have managed this operation?

While the United States and the rest of NATO are feigning ignorance about the attack, the key fact is that Ukraine needed targeting data that only NATO intelligence sources could provide. This means that the United States played a direct role in this attack. When you add this incident to the cross-border incursion in the Belgorod region where U.S.-supplied vehicles carried out the attack, Russia can only conclude that the United States in becoming more involved in the war against Russia.

This marks a dangerous escalation in the war and Russia is unlikely to shrug it off as insignificant. Besides the maritime drone attack, two U.S. B-1 bombers in the Baltic flew close to Russian air space and were intercepted by Russian fighter planes. Add to this the recent Biden reversal giving the green light to send F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and the deployment in late 2022 of elements of the 101s and 82nd airborne units in Poland and Romania respectively. Those troops are still there.

Russia also is carefully watching the upcoming NATO exercise, Air Defender 23:

Air Defender 23 will be the most significant military exercise ever carried out over the European skies. The event will take place from June 12th until June 23rd, involving the air forces of 25 nations.

More specifically, Air Defender 23 will represent the most extensive deployment exercise of air forces in the history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, commonly known as NATO. The unprecedented event will involve up to 10,000 exercise participants who will train their flying skills with approximately 220 aircraft. The military exercise will take place in European airspace and under the command of the German Air Force, or Luftwaffe.

While NATO can pretend that this is just a routine exercise, a “training” operation of this size and scale against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the region is akin to lighting a match in a gasoline storage tank. It increases the possibility of the war in Ukraine expanding to a full blown conflict with NATO.

It appears that the United States is prepared to take more desperate, ill-advised actions in the wake of the Ukrainian defeat at Bakhmut. There are no gestures of conciliation emanating from Washington. Just the opposite — more bellicose rhetoric and actions.

Russia, for its part, is not sitting on its hands. In the early hours of Friday, Ukrainian TG-channels reported on Geraniums UAV  and aerial bomber attacks in Sumy, Chernigov and Zapozhye regions, as well as in Dnepropetrovsk region. Explosions also are reported in Kupyanskiy district of Kharkov region tonight. Yesterday, Russia hit he dam at the Karlovskoye reservoir, which is 40 km north-west of Donetsk and is a critical supply route for Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk region. This makes it more difficult for Ukraine to supply its forces on the East side of the Volcha river and creates more obstacles Ukraine must surmount if it hopes to launch a successful counter-offensive.

It appears that Russia’s three week long bombing campaign — using strategic bombers — is taking a toll on the forces Ukraine has been assembling for their long awaited counter offensive. Ukrainian losses are making it difficult to assemble the the man power and fire power required to launch and sustain an offensive operation beyond a few days. We will know for certain within the coming weeks.

I will put it simply — we are living in the most dangerous time in World history since the start of World War II. The United States is showing no sign of backing down from its effort to keep the war going in Ukraine in the futile hope of weakening Russia. And Russia is intensifying its operations to decimate Ukraine’s military capabilities. This appears to be a toxic recipe for a horrendous collision. I hope I am wrong.

The post Is the United States Poking the Bear or Is Ukraine Going Rogue or Is it Both? appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Finland Electricity Prices Drops to BELOW ZERO Due to Efficiency of Nuclear Power Plants

Geller Report - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 12:00

This is what common sense looks like.

Insider: Finland was dealing with an unusual problem on Wednesday: clean electricity that was so abundant it sent energy prices into the negative. While much of Europe was facing an energy crisis, the Nordic country reported that its spot energy prices dropped below zero before noon (Insider).

Marian L Tupy: Finnish electricity price drops BELOW ZERO after the latest nuclear reactor is switched on. That is what the world could have looked like if the greens did not stop humanity from expanding nuclear power. Remember: nuclear power = no CO2 emissions (Twitter)

Finnish Nuclear Plant Throttles Output After Electricity Prices “Become Too Cheap”

As we detailed in early May, the transition from testing to regular output last month saw Finland’s first nuclear power-plant drive electricity prices dramatically lower.

by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, May 25, 2023 – 02:45 AM

As yle reports, the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor in Eurajoki, southwest Finland, started regular electricity production in mid-April, about 14 years behind schedule

Since then prices for power in Finland have continued to plunge as the efficiency of the plant flooded the grid with ‘new’ energy.

So much in fact that early on Wednesday of last week, the market price for electricity dropped below zero cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and for hours after that the price was only 0.3 cents per kWh at its highest, according to the country’s grid operator, Fingrid.

That was unacceptable and prompted the plant’s owner, Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) to significantly cut back its output…

Electricity production must also be profitable for nuclear power plants, and when the price is particularly low, there may be situations where output is limited,” TVO communications manager, Johanna Aho, said.

According to Aho, cutting back on nuclear power production due to excessively low electricity prices is very rare, but not unheard of.

Janne Kauppi, an energy markets advisor at Finnish Energy, agreed with that sentiment.

“There haven’t been many situations where nuclear power output has been regulated specifically because of low prices,” Kauppi explained.

“When prices go negative on the electricity market, basically anyone who can adjust their production will do it, so that they don’t have to pay for their own production,” Kauppi noted.

The Finnish example is a testament to how nuclear can play a part in solving the current energy crisis, with consumers still paying sky-high fees for energy in many European countries.

However, the hypocrisy is of course that when power prices were extremely high in 2022, hurting consumers – it was all Russia’s fault; but now that prices are plummeting, operators can’t have that and withdraw supply to hurt consumers.

Do you see a pattern here?

Keep reading…..

West Bank: Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in Hebron settlement

Middle East Eye - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 09:42
West Bank: Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in Hebron settlement
Israeli media say 28-year-old was shot dead for carrying a knife, although there are no reports of Israelis being hurt
MEE staff Fri, 05/26/2023 - 10:42
Israeli soldiers fire rubber bullets towards Palestinian stone-throwers during clashes in Hebron, 2 May 2023 (AFP)

Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire on Friday morning in a settlement south of Hebron city in the occupied West Bank.

Alaa Khalil Qaysieh, 28, was shot dead in Teneh Omarim, an Israeli settlement built on the lands of Ad-Dhahiriya town in Hebron governorate, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The Israeli military alleged Qaysieh crawled under an unguarded iron gate to enter the settlement and was carrying a knife. 

A member of the settlement's armed guards shot him dead, claiming he attempted to stab a settler near a synagogue, Ynet reported.

No Israelis were hurt.

The Palestinian ministry of health later said it was informed of Qaysieh's death by the Israeli authorities.  

Teneh Omarim was established in 1983 and houses almost 1,000 settlers, heavily guarded by the Israeli military. 

Nearly 700,000 settlers live in more than 250 settlements and outposts across the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law.

At least 118 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank so far this year, with another 34 killed in Gaza. A total of 18 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians over the same period.

Earlier this week, the Israeli army conducted a large-scale operation in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus, killing three Palestinians and wounding six others.

Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in West Bank settlement

California Governor Gavin Newsom Has Disgusting Response to Target Boycott

GatewayPundit - Fri, 05/26/2023 - 03:15

Some conservatives are boycotting the retail chain Target, over the company’s promotion of LGBT and even Satanic themed merchandise.

People on the right are tired of giving their business to companies that go out of their way to show that they have nothing but hostility for average, right-leaning Americans.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is as leftist as they come, had a disgusting reaction to this, suggesting that the American people who are just reacting to this move by Target are the aggressors.

RedState reports:

Now the Left Is Attacking Target Too: Here Comes Gavin Newsom With a Shameful Hot Take

Some of the Target stores have now reportedly removed some of the LGBTQ merchandise and/or moved it to the back of the store, although they haven’t identified what items were removed. While the store is blaming “threats,” it’s likely more in response to the economic backlash from some calling for a boycott against the company because of items directed toward children.

Now, prepare for the boycott coming from the left, as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (otherwise known as “He Who Wants to Be President” if Joe Biden steps aside) attacked Target for removing the products.

See Newsom’s tweet below:

CEO of Target Brian Cornell selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists is a real profile in courage.

This isn’t just a couple stores in the South. There is a systematic attack on the gay community happening across the country.

Wake up America.

This doesn’t stop here.… https://t.co/1vRgukaT0g

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 24, 2023

The full text of the tweet is:

CEO of Target Brian Cornell selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists is a real profile in courage.

This isn’t just a couple stores in the South. There is a systematic attack on the gay community happening across the country.

Wake up America.

This doesn’t stop here. You’re black? You’re Asian? You’re Jewish? You’re a woman?

You’re next.

The left sure loves Nazi comparisons. People are sick of it.

This is horrifyingly disrespectful. As a Jew, If you're going to start making holocaust comparisons, you better have a DAMN GOOD REASON.

Moving LGBT stuff from the front of stores to the back is not a "and then you'll be next / and there was nobody left to speak for me" moment.… https://t.co/X3BMbrHtci

— Ari Daniel Bradshaw (@AriBradshawAZ) May 24, 2023

Target is going to learn the lesson Bud Light is learning now.

People are tired of having woke propaganda forced on them.

The post California Governor Gavin Newsom Has Disgusting Response to Target Boycott appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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