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Rescuers in Ukraine pull 5 puppies from the rubble of a building destroyed by fire

Five puppies were rescued by firefighters from underneath the rubble of a destroyed building in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy; a video shows workers rinsing the puppies with water.

Speaker Mike Johnson Claims Classified Briefing Made Him Flip-Flop on Spy Powers Reform

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday explained his apparent flip-flop on a controversial surveillance law, saying that he now favors limited reforms after receiving a classified briefing.

The post Speaker Mike Johnson Claims Classified Briefing Made Him Flip-Flop on Spy Powers Reform appeared first on Breitbart.

Is our fiercely tribal politics just a distortion of reality?

Polarization is seen more and more as a feature and not a bug of American political life. With the 2024 presidential election coming, where does it stop?

Switzerland will host a Ukraine peace conference in June and hopes Russia can join one day

Switzerland will host an international conference from June 15-16 that will draw top government figures in order to help chart a path toward peace in Ukraine; more than 100 countries will be invited.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says 3 of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza

Three sons of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' top political leader, were killed Wednesday in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike; his sons are among the most high-profile figures killed so far in the war.

Finishing Hamas: The Only Way the War Can End

 

 

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City, October 7, 2023. Palestinian militants have begun a “war” against Israel which they infiltrated by air, sea and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Photo by Ali Hamad apaimages

 

A proportional response means it will happen again and again until Israel is destroyed.

The liberals want Israel to “show restraint.” The most unthinking are those calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. As long as Hamas continues to exist, this war can never end. A ceasefire would be followed by countless billions in developmental aid flowing from the globalist establishment into Gaza. It would be a huge win for Hamas. Terrorist attacks against Israel would continue. And if Israel reacted again in the future, they would immediately be attacked by the globalists. Both Hezbollah and Hamas will continue to attack Israel, provoking, wounding, occasionally killing, and the world will continue telling Israel to restrain itself.

The Covenant of Hamas clearly states Hamas’s goal of killing all of the Jews and eliminating Israel. “HAMAS” is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. The movement issued the Covenant of HAMAS on August 18, 1988. Hamas, an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization, has been designated a terrorist organization by the US and many Western powers. The group was elected as the official authority in Gaza in 2006.

Hamas operates with the expressed intent of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The HAMAS Covenant states: ‘The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.’ (Article 6). This suggests that not only does Hamas seek to eradicate Israel in Gaza, but also in the territory currently known as Israel, as well as the West Bank, where Hamas holds no authority.

Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant is interpreted as a call for genocide against Jews: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.'”

There is no way to negotiate with a group whose aim is genocide. Liberals calling for compromise are actually just calling for Israel’s capitulation. What compromise would be possible? Hamas wants to kill 100% of the Jews. Should the two parties haggle and agree for Hamas to kill 40% instead? Given Hamas’s genocidal intent, there is no way that the two sides can coexist.

The two-state solution is complete nonsense. Gaza and the West Bank are not contiguous; they cannot be a single country. It would be impossible for Israel to ensure its security because they would be pressured by globalists to not impede Palestinians passing through Israel from one state to the other.

 

The liberals keep stressing that Gazaa and the Palestinians are not Hamas. However, there appears to be no anti-Hamas movement in Gaza. There is no anti-Hamas resistance. The Gazans looked very happy when they were celebrating after the October 7th attack on Israel. So, it is unclear how the liberals see Hamas as distinct from Gaza. And if they are distinct, why have the liberals not condemned Hamas? There don’t seem to be protests in the US or Europe stating “We support Gaza, but condemn Hamas.”

Even the liberals, even the Queers for Palestine are refusing to condemn Hamas. If they do not differentiate between Hamas and Gaza, then why should everyone else?

Iran and Qatar must also be held accountable for their support of Hamas and other militias. Qatar has provided financial and political support to Hamas, and Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was based in Qatar for a period. Additionally, Qatar has hosted a Hamas office, which serves as a political bureau and facilitates communication and coordination with the international community. This office has been involved in diplomatic efforts and media relations on behalf of Hamas.

Right now, the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia, are disrupting global shipping. Hezbollah is also ratcheting up their harassment of Israel, firing missiles into Israeli territory and trying to instigate a war. Given Israel’s current posture of seeking a military solution to finally end these insurgencies, Hezbollah may get the war they are asking for.

The world must not just sit on the sidelines, but should take an active role in targeting Iran, destroying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) preventing China from supporting Iran economically, and disabling Iran’s ability to fund and train regional militias. This would decrease China and Russia’s access to oil and drones, respectively, which would help the US achieve foreign policy objectives in Asia, as well as in Ukraine.

One way to alleviate the burden on American taxpayers funding Ukraine would be to end the war. If China’s support for Russia were cut, the end would come much sooner. If Russia did not have Iranian drones, that would also help level the field and bring the end nearer.

Attacks on Iran would also serve to destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The only way that Israel can survive is to eliminate Hamas. The only way for the region to be stabilized is for Iran’s destabilizing force to be eliminated.

The post Finishing Hamas: The Only Way the War Can End appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City, October 7, 2023. Palestinian militants have begun a "war" against Israel which they infiltrated by air, sea and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Photo by Ali Hamad  apaimages

Terrence Howard Says Salary on 'Empire' Lower than 'White Counterparts,' Demands CAA Pay Him $120 Million

Actor Terrence Howard says that Creative Artists Agency (CAA) owes him over $120 million for his work on Empire, asserting that he had been paid less than his "white counterparts" working in television.

The post Terrence Howard Says Salary on ‘Empire’ Lower than ‘White Counterparts,’ Demands CAA Pay Him $120 Million appeared first on Breitbart.

American CEOs overlook China risk at their own peril

Do the CEOs understand the goals of the Chinese Communist Party? The contrast could not be starker when one compares the meetings in Beijing with the warnings of U.S. military leaders.

Palestinians returning to Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal find an unrecognizable city

After the Israeli military announced it was withdrawing troops from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Palestinians filed into the area on Monday to salvage what was left from the destruction.

The Case for US Withdrawing from the UN

 

Nigerian physicians being trained by the World Health Organization (WHO) on how to put on and remove personal protective equipment (PPE) to treat Ebola patients. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

There are a lot of legitimate reasons to criticize the United Nations. It is ineffective, expensive, threatens U.S. sovereignty, and impedes U.S. foreign policy objectives. But mostly, it is completely ineffective.

Earlier this month, North Korea tested a hypersonic weapon. Kim Jong Un is obsessed with developing nuclear missiles capable of striking South Korea, Japan, and the US. The United Nations expressed grave concern over the North Korean nuclear program but has been unable to slow it, much less stop it.

During COVID, China influenced the UN’s health body, the World Health Organization (WHO), to advocate for masks, lockdowns, school closures, and vaccines. The global economy still has not recovered, while children all over the world lost roughly two years of schooling. Teachers in the US are reporting that not only are children behind academically, but truancy has doubled compared to pre-COVID times, and classes are unruly.

Last December, Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) introduced a bill to Congress calling for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations. The bill, titled the Disengaging Entirely from the United Nations Debacle (DEFUND) Act, proposes withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO), ceasing participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, including providing funding, personnel, and equipment. Additionally, it would revoke diplomatic immunity in the U.S.

Among Senator Lee’s objections were the loss of sovereignty and the ongoing funding for the UN, which comes at the expense of US taxpayers. The US is the single largest funder of the UN, accounting for about one-third of the organization’s budget. In 2022, the US contributed $18 billion.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) supported the bill, citing corruption within the UN and the UN’s protection of Hamas in the current conflict with Israel. A further complaint was that China, a country the US has sanctioned for committing numerous human rights violations, particularly genocide against the Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang, sat on the Human Rights Council.

Republicans have been criticizing the UN for years. Regarding a US pullout from the Human Rights Council, Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said, “When organizations undermine our national interests and our allies, we will not be complicit.” He was attacked by Democrats, liberals, and the mainstream media, who apparently value globalism over the national interests of the United States. When the Council was first formed in 2006, then-President George W. Bush refused to join.

At that time, Representative Tom Lantos of California, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said, “This is a major retrenchment in America’s long struggle to advance the cause of human rights around the world, and it is a profound signal of U.S. isolation at a time when we need to work cooperatively with our Security Council partners.” The point Rep. Lantos is missing is that the US can be committed to human rights without joining the UNHRC.

The Brookings Institute said, “This telling remark illustrates that this administration’s North Star is toward a nostalgic past in which states had greater independence from international laws and multilateral diplomacy.” Countries, particularly the United States, having autonomy to join or not to join, to act without joining, is not a matter of nostalgia. It is a matter of choice. Throughout the decades, American Republicans have chosen for the U.S. to be independent and autonomous. Furthermore, there is the very real issue that when Washington joins these multinational organizations, the U.S. winds up footing the bill.

In 2018, Brookings said that US participation in the UNHCR was crucial, “investigating and condemning human rights abuses by some of the worst violators of human rights—Syria, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Sudan, Cambodia, Belarus, Burundi, and Eritrea, to name a few.”

Looking at this list, 18 years later, it is obvious how ineffective the UNHCR is. Syria remains a basket case of instability, Iran is the single most disruptive force in the Middle East, the Myanmar junta has bombed more civilians in the last two years than Russia has in Ukraine, Sudan is still facing civil war. Hun Sen, who ran Cambodia as his own pocketbook for 30 years, retired, transferring power to his son, Hun Manet. Belarus is a pariah state, one of Russia’s closest allies, and Eritrea is on the brink of war with Ethiopia, again. Burundi only has limited rebel activity now, with only 20 people killed in December. They also have border disputes with Rwanda, but have not declared war. So, maybe the globalists count that as a success.

Supporters of globalism cite the importance of the UNHCR in protecting LGBTQ and women’s rights. Meanwhile, about 30% of UN member countries are Muslim-majority countries where LGBTQ may be illegal, and where women have very few rights.

Ironically, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, and Venezuela have all sat on the UNHCR despite being some of the most oppressive countries that regularly repress human rights. The UNHCR has done nothing to change the world’s worst regimes, guilty of gross human rights abuses: Algeria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Zimbabwe. Additionally, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have sat on The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The UN Security Council is similarly useless and farcical. China and Russia sit on the council and have veto power to stop UN actions against genocide or against China or Russia, two of the world’s biggest violators.

Trump tore up the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. He even threatened to withdraw the US from the UN and NATO. While these may seem extreme actions, why is it so wrong for the US to act in the best interest of the US? Furthermore, why should the US continue to pay money and lives for institutions that fail to prevent wars or mitigate crises but which can infringe on US autonomy?

The post The Case for US Withdrawing from the UN appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

ppe_training_2

Nigerian physicians being trained by the World Health Organization (WHO) on how to put on and remove personal protective equipment (PPE) to treat Ebola patients. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Zelensky Warns U.S. Congress: Meet Ukraine Military Aid Demands or Russia Wins

Kyiv will lose the war against Russia if the U.S. fails to approve military aid to battle Moscow's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.

The post Zelensky Warns U.S. Congress: Meet Ukraine Military Aid Demands or Russia Wins appeared first on Breitbart.

Poll: Donald Trump More than Twice as Popular as Mitch McConnell

Former President Donald Trump's popularity among Republicans is 43 points greater than Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) popularity, a recent Morning Consult poll found.

The post Poll: Donald Trump More than Twice as Popular as Mitch McConnell appeared first on Breitbart.

Comedian W. Kamau Bell: 'No Matter Who the Next President Is, This Country Might Be F**ked'

Comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell recently insisted that Americans don't understand the problems we face if we think a single president will make a difference and added that we are "in trouble" if comedians can't make fun of it all for fear of being canceled.

The post Comedian W. Kamau Bell: ‘No Matter Who the Next President Is, This Country Might Be F**ked’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Myanmar: Only Bad Guys Can Have Guns

 

Reporting from the war zone in Burma/Myanmar

The UN and the global community have failed to enforce an arms embargo against the Myanmar junta, which receives weapons from Russia and China, while private donors are prohibited from supplying weapons to the rebels.

Late in the afternoon on Easter Sunday, the Burmese army launched airstrikes against a Buddhist temple in Karen State, where civilians from the nearby village had taken refuge. Five-hundred-pound bombs rained down for more than 10 hours. There were no soldiers in the village, so the strike had no military objective. In the end, women and children were among the dead, as was the head monk, whose body was torn in half. The villagers will likely join the ranks of the roughly 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burma.

The IDPs have no UN protection and remain prime targets for the Burmese military. They also have little or no support from outside. Humanitarian aid given by the US, EU, and UN goes directly to the junta. These donations end up funding the war, displacing and killing the very civilians the outside world mistakenly believed they were helping.

Airstrikes and artillery barrages are now killing more civilians in Burma/Myanmar than anywhere else on Earth, including Ukraine.

Since the 2021 coup, the United Nations, US, EU, and most developed countries have agreed not to sell arms to the Myanmar junta. However, a binding arms embargo has been stymied by China and Russia, both members of the Security Council. In 2022, when the UK drafted a statement of concern about the crisis, China and Russia vetoed it.

The Burmese army receives economic support from China and purchases attack helicopters and fighter jets from both Russia and China. The fuel for the jets is provided by China and Russia, and possibly India, though India denies it. The Burmese army also receives small arms, artillery, armor, and training from both Russia and China.

An example of how ineffective the UN is: the Burmese junta is one of the most sanctioned pariah states on the planet, yet they have no shortage of weapons, and the UN is powerless to stop them.

The ethnic resistance armies, by contrast, have no heavy weapons, no aircraft, and no means of detecting or defending against airstrikes. They engage in combat with a mix of homemade weapons, Vietnam-era US weapons, shotguns, hunting rifles, muskets, crossbows, cheap Burmese and Chinese copies of quality weapons, and even bicycle pump guns (Yes, you read that correctly).

Karenni bicycle pump gun, Myanmar/Burma photo by Antonio Graceffo

What’s more, the rebels have no aircraft for resupply or troop transport. Consequently, the soldiers must travel on foot, carrying all of their equipment. Currently, one of the largest battles in Karenni State is taking place at the city of Loikaw. It takes approximately three weeks to walk there from the military base. The average Karenni soldier weighs about 121 lbs (55 kg). Carrying a Burmese MA-1 assault rifle, which weighs 4 KG, along with a backpack, uncooked rice, crew-served weapons like mortar rounds and ammunition, the gear quickly adds up, nearing their body weight. By the time they reach the front lines, they are hungry, weak, and ill-equipped.

 

Burmese assault rifles Myanmar/Burma photo by Antonio Graceffo

 

The rebels now control most of the jungle and rural areas, but across the country, the Burmese army still holds the cities and towns. They are entrenched and have surrounded their positions with landmines. The rebels cannot launch direct attacks due to the presence of landmines and the fear of airstrikes. Drones have proven successful, but the rebels lack an adequate supply of drones, and the junta now possesses drone jammers provided by Russia.

Private donors attempt to transfer weapons to the rebels, but transiting weapons through Thailand violates Thai law. Meanwhile, the junta is fine to receive airplane and shiploads of weapons at its air and sea ports, in violation of international sanctions.

Outrage expressed in a UN letter has not halted the flow of weapons to the junta.

Last week, two Myanmar nationals were arrested in Thailand attempting to deliver an anti-drone jammer to an address in Burma. They were arrested under Thailand’s Arms Control Act, which prohibits the transit of weapons through Thailand without a permit.

Thai authorities are capable of intercepting weapons passing through Thailand, but most of those are destined for the rebels. The UN and the international community are unable to prevent weapons and fuel from reaching the junta, despite the junta being sanctioned and recognized as “the bad guys” by everyone except China and Russia.

The law can prevent the good guys from having guns, but not the bad guys. This echoes the old saying: “In a world where guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.”

The post Myanmar: Only Bad Guys Can Have Guns appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

bicycle-pump-gun-2

Karenni bicycle pump gun, Myanmar/Burma photo by Antonio Graceffo

dsc_0036

Burmese assault rifles Myanmar/Burma photo by Antonio Graceffo

Climate Change and Low Wages Not Grounds for Asylum

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Two of the biggest reasons the Democrats give as to why illegals are coming and why they should be granted asylum are climate change and “the chance at a better life“; essentially, because they want higher wages.

In the past, neither of those qualified you for asylum. You pretty much had to prove that you had been singled out for execution by a despotic government or had to be fleeing a real, verifiable crisis, not a made-up climate crisis.

If we allow everyone in who wants to earn more money, that would encompass most of the world’s population.

The US has the 8th highest GDP per capita in the world, behind some very small but rich countries: Luxembourg, Singapore, Ireland, Norway, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland, which have a combined population of 37,600,000 people.

So basically, if wanting better economic opportunities was a legitimate reason to be granted asylum, all but 0.5% of the world’s population could claim that they would be richer living in the U.S. That means that over seven and a half billion people would qualify to come to the US if the criteria were that they could earn more money.

As for climate change, they are now using the term “climate migrants.” And to be fair, the climate probably is changing, but that doesn’t mean everyone should be applying for asylum. Ostensibly, the climate is changing everywhere, including the US, so coming to the U.S. wouldn’t help anyone escape climate change.

According to UN data, there has been a 1.8°C increase in temperature since 1951. Are people actually aware of such a small change? And why would it make them leave their home?

NASA data shows that sea level rises by 3.4 mm per year. To put that number in perspective, New York City streets are roughly 400 feet above sea level. At the current rate of sea-level rise, it will take 35,882.35 years for the sea to reach Broadway.

Of course, the climate crowd tells us that the rise is accelerating. It has doubled over the past thirty years. Assuming it doubles again over the next thirty, it will then be rising at a frightening rate of 6.8 mm per year. And it will reach Times Square in less than 17,941 years.

My goodness, won’t someone please think of the children’s great, great… 718 generations, great-grandchildren!

Illegal immigration has doubled over the past four years. Ostensibly, if climate change is the cause, then the effects must also have doubled or dramatically increased during that time.

One reason that is given is that Central America has been increasingly affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts, which have displaced populations and prompted migration to the United States.

Doing some digging, it turns out that there have always been hurricanes, floods, and droughts in Latin America. Hurricanes occur every year between June 1 through November 30.

In fact, in 1899, Hurricane San Ciriaco hit Puerto Rico, and it was the most destructive hurricane in the history of the Caribbean, with heavy rains lasting for 28 days. Of course, the title of the most destructive or strongest hurricane is debatable. Some experts say the Great Hurricane of 1780 was the most powerful.

And there are other hurricanes over the past two hundred years that qualify with the most rainfall, highest barometric pressure, most wind, most deaths, but the bottom line is, hurricanes have always happened. So, they cannot be the cause of illegal migration over the past four years.

Looking into drought, I found an article with scary pictures of dry, parched earth. And the text read, “Already this year, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo reported their lowest levels of rainfall in 20 years during the November-to-March rainy season.”

This confirms that 21 years ago, there was a worse drought. Checking to see if it is actually raining less, I found this from the EPA: “Since 1901, global precipitation has increased at an average rate of 0.04 inches per decade.”

Therefore, we have established that there is more water and more heat. So, I wanted to check if there was also more food. And yes, crop yields across the globe, including in Latin America, have been trending steadily upward. So, claims that hunger caused by climate change drove illegal immigration over the past four years are illogical.

According to the UNHCR, “By 2050, climate change could force more than an estimated 216 million people to evacuate their homes, leaving their present lives and livelihoods behind, and move to safer areas.”

Here is the answer: People are fleeing their homes today, despite higher rainfall and increased agricultural yields, because they know that by 2050, every place on Earth that is not the United States will become uninhabitable.

There are two possible reasons why illegal immigration has doubled over the past four years. One possibility is that more people became aware of the fact that outside of the United States, the whole world will be uninhabitable.

The other possibility is that there are TikTok and other social media accounts telling people, “If you say climate change, they will let you in.”

The post Climate Change and Low Wages Not Grounds for Asylum appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

dsertification_des_terres

Racaille1950, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

German Police Patrol Without Pants to Protest Uniform Shortage

German police are facing a serious uniform shortage -- the war in Ukraine is blamed -- and officers have gone trouserless to make the point. 

The post German Police Patrol Without Pants to Protest Uniform Shortage appeared first on Breitbart.

Ukraine Will Join NATO, Says Antony Blinken

NATO leaders have already said that while they want Ukraine to join, it doesn't meet eligibility -- including not being at at war and occupied.

The post Ukraine Will Join NATO, Says Antony Blinken appeared first on Breitbart.

Last USS Arizona Sailor Who Survived Pearl Harbor Attack Passes Away at 102

Lou Conter, the last survivor of the battleship USS Arizona which was sunk in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102.

The post Last USS Arizona Sailor Who Survived Pearl Harbor Attack Passes Away at 102 appeared first on Breitbart.

What’s wrong with this picture?

(Scott Johnson)

I understood from the Star Tribune headline over the AP story yesterday that the IDF had massacred some 100 Gazans seeking food and water. As of this morning, the AP is sticking with the story with a Rafah dateline. It leads with this observation: “Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said.”

I’m not sure about the massacre. Deep into the story we hear from the ever reliable “Gaza Health Ministry.” The AP reports: “At least 112 people were killed, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. The ministry described it as a ‘massacre’ and said more than 700 others were injured.” The AP raises no warning about the record of the “Gaza Health Ministry” on such matters.

The IDF spokesmen have a better record than the AP on these IDF alleged massacres. I take it that the IDF denies that’s what happened, although it is investigating. [See update below.] The Times of Israel reports, per the IDF, that troops opened fire on several Gazans who moved toward soldiers and a tank at an IDF checkpoint, endangering soldiers, after they had rushed the last truck in the convoy further south. The Times of Israel story quotes IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari:

This morning, the IDF coordinated a convoy of 38 trucks to provide additional humanitarian assistance to the residents of northern Gaza. This humanitarian aid came from Egypt, went through a security screening at the Kerem Shalom humanitarian crossing in Israel, and then entered Gaza, for distribution by private contractors. As these vital humanitarian supplies made their way toward Gazans in need, thousands of Gazans [rushed] the trucks, some began violently pushing and trampling other Gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies.

Here are the facts: At 4:40 a.m., the first aid truck in the humanitarian convoy started making its way through the humanitarian corridor that we were securing. Our tanks were there to secure the humanitarian corridor for the aid convoy. Our UAVs were there in the air to give our forces a clear picture from above. At 4:45 a.m., a mob ambushed the aid trucks, bringing the convoy to a halt.

Hagari also showed a new video of the incident that is included in the Times of Israel story. Hagari’s statement continues:

In this video, the tanks that were there to secure the convoy saw the Gazans being trampled and cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots. When the hundreds became thousands and things got out of hand, the tank commander decided to retreat to avoid harm to the thousands of Gazans that were there.

You can see how cautious they were when they were backing up. They were backing up securely, risking their own lives, not shooting at the mob.” he continued…No IDF strike was conducted toward the aid convoy. On the contrary, the IDF was there carrying out a humanitarian aid operation, to secure the humanitarian corridor, and allow the aid convoy to reach its distribution point, so that the humanitarian aid could reach Gazan civilians in the north who are in need.

The IDF posted Hagari’s statement below on X. Video is included with his statement.

“We recognize the suffering of the innocent people of Gaza. This is why we are seeking ways to expand our humanitarian efforts.”

Watch the full statement by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari on the incident regarding the humanitarian aid convoy the IDF facilitated. pic.twitter.com/m6Pve3Odqw

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 29, 2024

“And yet the lie will be repeated as fact over and over and over by those who are ignorant, and those who are not ignorant but are evil, and those who are Susan Sarandon,” comments Cliff Asness. Add the detestable Senator Elizabeth Warren to the list. Query into which category the AP falls.

Netanyahu & his right-wing government have created a catastrophe in Gaza. Today Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians desperate for aid.

The U.S. must push for a cease-fire, hostage releases, & condition military support on pursuing a two-state solution for a lasting peace. pic.twitter.com/igeEpeFRC8

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 29, 2024

I can’t wait for the United States Air Force to show us how it’s to be done. If this goes down as advertised, we can resupply Hamas directly.

The U.S. Air Force is reportedly preparing for an Operation beginning next week that will see the Mass Airdropping of Humanitarian Aid including Food, Water, and Medicine into the Gaza Strip, with Flights utilizing C-130 and C-17 Transport Aircraft being launched from Airbases in… pic.twitter.com/ZH7Es0vvoj

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 1, 2024

UPDATE: The Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff includes this account in today’s edition.

Ramadan in Nigeria: Muslims raid displaced persons camp, murder 38 people, injure 51 others

Ramadan in Nigeria: Muslims raid displaced persons camp, murder 38 people, injure 51 others
This is reminiscent of the Khaybar raid. According to Islamic tradition. Muhammad exiled two of the three Jewish tribes of Medina, the Banu Qaynuqa and Banu Nadir, to Khaybar. Then later, he raided Khaybar and massacred those he had previously exiled. In this case, these people were in the displaced persons camp after previous jihad […]

Colorado: Prosecutors to argue that Muslim who murdered 10 people in supermarket is competent to stand trial

Colorado: Prosecutors to argue that Muslim who murdered 10 people in supermarket is competent to stand trial
Al Issa (which is how he himself spells his name, not “Alissa” as the establishment media persists in calling him, apparently so as to obscure his Arabic and Islamic identity), is now accused of “feigning” his mental illness. That may well be what he is doing. He had, after all, stripped down to his shorts […]

Ramadan in Pakistan: Muslims murder a Hindu, a Christian and a Sikh in targeting of religious minorities

Ramadan in Pakistan: Muslims murder a Hindu, a Christian and a Sikh in targeting of religious minorities
“Kill them wherever you find them…” (Qur’an 2:191, 4:89, cf. 9:5) “Christian man shot dead in ‘targeted’ attack,” The Nation (Pakistan), April 2, 2023 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): PESHAWAR – Unknown motorcyclists killed a member of the Christian community in Sufaid Dheri area, police said on Saturday. Kashif Maseeh was an employee in […]

UK: Anglican cathedral to host Ramadan iftar during Easter season

UK: Anglican cathedral to host Ramadan iftar during Easter season
Once again, do these Christians really think that this will change what the Qur’an teaches about Christ and Christianity? Qur’an 98:4-6: “Nor were the people of the book divided until after the clear proof came to them. And they are not ordered to do anything else but serve Allah, keeping religion pure for him, as […]

Germany: Leftist state government takes ‘clear stance against antisemitism’ while ignoring Islamic Jew-hatred

Germany: Leftist state government takes ‘clear stance against antisemitism’ while ignoring Islamic Jew-hatred
Of course they do. The Green Party is much more worried about appearing to be “Islamophobic” than it is about Islamic antisemitism. “German State Ignores Iranian, Palestinian, and Turkish Antisemitism,” by Benjamin Weinthal, Jewish Press, March 28, 2023: The chairman of the Jewish community in Bamberg, Bavaria, dispatched a scathing letter to a German Green […]

UK: Muslim financial analyst was bomb-making jihadi, plotted jihad massacre

UK: Muslim financial analyst was bomb-making jihadi, plotted jihad massacre
“The Prophet said, ‘War is deceit.’” (Bukhari 4.52.269) “The respectable businessman by day who was a bomb-making jihadi by night… and how his mass-murder terror plot was foiled by two IT guys,” by Dan Sales, Mailonline, March 26, 2023: For families in the playground opposite Asad Bhatti’s home, the financial analyst working at Legal & […]

UK: Migrants have ‘nice iPhones and smart clothes. They are all men. You do not see any women or children.’

UK: Migrants have ‘nice iPhones and smart clothes. They are all men. You do not see any women or children.’
They’re upset about the quality of the accommodations and food, also. Non-Muslims paying for the upkeep of Muslims is a Qur’anic dictate: “Fight against those do not believe in Allah or the last day, and do not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, even if […]

Iran’s Foreign Minister: ‘We strongly condemn the repression of the peaceful demonstrations of the French people’

Iran’s Foreign Minister: ‘We strongly condemn the repression of the peaceful demonstrations of the French people’
It’s not that Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has no self-awareness or no information about the violent suppression of protests in Iran. It is an attempt to show that what the Islamic Republic has done with its protestors is not so out of the ordinary, and to deceive people into thinking that the Iranian regime has not actually […]

Yazidi woman who was kept as an Islamic State slave says Shamima Begum is ‘fake,’ still loyal to ‘Sharia ideas’

Yazidi woman who was kept as an Islamic State slave says Shamima Begum is ‘fake,’ still loyal to ‘Sharia ideas’
The possibility cannot be discounted. “The Prophet said, ‘War is deceit.’” (Bukhari 4.52.269) “I was an ISIS slave – I saw Shamima Begum at camp where she learnt how to use suicide belts & guns, she’ll never change,” by Henry Holloway, The Sun, March 18, 2023: AN ISIS slave has told how she saw Shamima […]

UK: Muslim says he praised a jihadi and encouraged people to behead blasphemers ‘just to have some more followers’

UK: Muslim says he praised a jihadi and encouraged people to behead blasphemers ‘just to have some more followers’
It’s telling that Ajmal Shahpal thought he would get more followers by praising a jihad murderer and encouraging beheading for blasphemy. We’re constantly told that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the West reject “extremism.” So if that were true, wouldn’t praising a jihadi and calling for the beheading of blasphemers make Shahpal less popular? […]

Israeli Finance Minister says ‘There is no such thing as a Palestinian people,’ US says ‘we utterly object’

Israeli Finance Minister says ‘There is no such thing as a Palestinian people,’ US says ‘we utterly object’
Smotrich is right in this. PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein said this in 1977: The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians […]

Sweden: Muslim ‘Young Role Model of the Year’ is sentenced for throwing stones at police

Sweden: Muslim ‘Young Role Model of the Year’ is sentenced for throwing stones at police
Was Hani Bilal Madi practicing Muhammad’s adage of “war is deceit” when he insisted that his involvement in the Qur’an riots was only to “prevent more serious crime”? Were non-Muslim authorities so anxious to find a Muslim role model who appeared to be “moderate” that they didn’t investigate Hani Bilal Madi as thoroughly as they […]

UK: Christian lecturer fired for saying ‘homosexuality is invading the church’

UK: Christian lecturer fired for saying ‘homosexuality is invading the church’
Here is more evidence that the Left is at war with reality. Homosexuality is invading the Church; just look at what has been going on in the Roman Catholic Church, with the endless molestation scandals, and the Orthodox and others have their own problems of a similar kind. So Aaron Edwards was fired for telling […]

Indonesia: Muslims block Christians’ construction of a church

Indonesia: Muslims block Christians’ construction of a church
Islamic law forbids the construction of new churches. Christians are “forbidden to ring church bells or display crosses, recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals and feastdays, and are forbidden to build new churches” – Reliance of the Traveller o.11.5 (6,7) “Muslims Block Christians’ Construction in Indonesia,” Morning Star News, March […]

Pamela Geller in American Thinker: Banned From LinkedIn, Who Is Giving These Orders?

Check out my latest article at the American Thinker:

I was banned from LinkedIn for telling the truth

By Pamela Geller Amerian Thinker, March 18, 2023:
On Thursday, I got yet another notice from the LinkedIn’s “Trust & Safety Team”: “Your post goes against our policy on misinformation. It has been removed and only you can access it.” The post that LinkedIn found objectionable was from my website, the Geller Report, and was entitled

“CORPORATE STATE: Domestic Terror Group Black Lives Matter Received Nearly $83 Billion from Corporations.”

My post consisted of an excerpt from a Breitbart article plus three lines of my own commentary. LinkedIn didn’t dispute the accuracy of anything in my post or its source; it just doesn’t want it said. This comes after LinkedIn had banned me from their platform for nearly three years for posting accurate and well-sourced information that goes against the leftist narrative.

Who is giving these orders?

Keep reading……

 

Malaysia: Muslims threaten to murder film director, throw acid on his car for ‘insulting Islam’

Malaysia: Muslims threaten to murder film director, throw acid on his car for ‘insulting Islam’
Such people are demanding respect, but what they take for respect is really a silence or obsequiousness born of fear. “‘Mentega Terbang’ Director, Actor Get Death Threats & Cars Doused With Acid,” by Danial Martinus, Mashable SEAsia, March 16, 2023 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): Not too long ago, Malaysian film Mentega Terbang made […]

UK: Qur’an row imam spoke about punishing Muslims for celebrating Christmas

UK: Qur’an row imam spoke about punishing Muslims for celebrating Christmas
A few years back, some fake ex-Muslims harshly criticized me for criticizing Maajid Nawaz. The British supermarket chain Tesco had run an ad featuring hijabbed Muslims celebrating Christmas, and Nawaz had said that anyone who looked askance at this was “Islamophobic.” I pointed out that the number of observant, Sharia-adherent Muslims who celebrated Christmas was […]

Massachusetts bill ‘an unprecedented and unconstitutional effort to promote one religion, Islam, over all others’

Massachusetts bill ‘an unprecedented and unconstitutional effort to promote one religion, Islam, over all others’
“Diversity, equity and inclusion” is inherently and in always and every case a gateway to the preferential treatment of the Left’s favored groups. I joined Muslim leaders from across Mass. at the State House office of Sen Eldridge to enthusiastically discuss his bill establish a Muslim American Commission, SD.2376An Act promoting the civil rights and […]

This Is the Left in Power: Newark Becomes Sister City With Fictional Place

This Is the Left in Power: Newark Becomes Sister City With Fictional Place
New in PJ Media: What happens when you elect people to office who have only the most tenuous grip on reality, and actually think that Rachel Levine is a female admiral, Lia Thomas is a champion female swimmer, and Old Joe Biden is a competent, capable president of the United States? They’re finding out the […]

Pamela Geller, American Thinker: Urgent Case for Legislation against Facebook and Google

Read my latest over at The American Thinker. We are seeing an unprecedented erosion in our First Amendment rights, increasingly prohibiting the flow of ideas and free expression in the public square (social media). Run by left-wing self-possessed snowflakes, social media giants are indulging their worst autocratic impulses. And because they can, it is getting worse. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Having grown up in the 1970s, I can tell you it was a vastly different country then. It was free. But we aren’t any no longer, and it is time we took back what is ours — our unalienable freedoms.

January 30, 2018

The Urgent Case for Legislation against Facebook and Google

By Pamela Geller, American Thinker

Having been one of the early targets of social media censorship on Facebook, YouTube et al, I have advocated for anti-trust action against these bullying behemoths. It is good to see establishment outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and National Review coming to the same conclusion, or at least asking the same questions.

Just this week, Facebook launched its latest of many attacks on my news site, the Geller Report. It labeled my site as “spam” and removed every Geller Report post — thousands upon thousands of them, going back years – from Facebook. It also blocked any Facebook member from sharing links to the Geller Report. The ramping up of the shutting-down of sites like mine is neither random nor personal. The timing is telling. The left is gearing up for the 2018 midterm elections, and they mean to shut down whatever outlet or voice that helped elect President Trump, the greatest upset in left-wing history.

In fighting this shutdown, we had to go back to the drawing board in our lawsuit against these social media giants. The basis of our suit was challenging Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) under the First Amendment, which provides immunity from lawsuits to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, thereby permitting these social media giants to engage in government-sanctioned censorship and discriminatory business practices free from legal challenge.

[the_ad id=”104820″]

Facebook and Google take in roughly half of all Internet ad revenue. According to the Wall Street Journal:

In the U.S., Alphabet Inc.’s Google drives 89% of internet search; 95% of young adults on the internet use a Facebook Inc. product; and Amazon.com Inc. now accounts for 75% of electronic book sales. Those firms that aren’t monopolists are duopolists: Google and Facebook absorbed 63% of online ad spending last year; Google and Apple Inc. provide 99% of mobile phone operating systems; while Apple and Microsoft Corp. supply 95% of desktop operating systems.

Both companies routinely censor and spy on their customers, “massaging everything from the daily news to what we should buy.” In the last century, the telephone was our “computer,” and Ma Bell was how we communicated. That said, would the American people (or the government) have tolerated AT&T spying on our phone calls and then pulling our communication privileges if we expressed dissenting opinions? That is exactly what we are suffering today.

Ma Bell was broken up by the government, albeit for different reasons. But it can and should be done.

It’s not a little ironic that, according to Breitbart:

AT&T has called for an “Internet Bill of Rights” and argued that Facebook and Google should also be subjected to rules that would prevent unfair censorship on their platforms.

AT&T, one of the largest telecommunications companies, called for Congress to enact an “Internet Bill of Rights” which would subject Facebook, Google, and other content providers to rules that would prevent unfair censorship on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Comcast or AT&T as well as content providers such as Facebook and Google.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson wrote, “Congressional action is needed to establish an ‘Internet Bill of Rights’ that applies to all internet companies and guarantees neutrality, transparency, openness, non-discrimination and privacy protection for all internet users.”

Stephenson posted the ad in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other national news outlets on Wednesday.

We must get behind this — all of us — and fast. Because what is happening is being engineered at the government level. A chief officer from a major American communications company went to the terror state of Pakistan to assure the Pakistani government that Facebook would adhere to the sharia. The commitment was given by Vice President of Facebook Joel Kaplan, who called on Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. “Facebook has reiterated its commitment to keep the platform safe and promote values that are in congruence with its community standards.”

Why the block? Because under Islamic law, you cannot criticize Islam. Facebook adhering to the most extreme and brutal ideology on the face of the earth should trouble all of us, because Mark Zuckerberg has immense power. He controls the flow of information.

Early last year, I wrote: “The US government has used anti-trust laws to break up monopolies. They ought to break up Facebook. Section 2 of the Sherman Act highlights particular results deemed anticompetitive by nature and prohibits actions that ‘shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations.’ Couldn’t the same be applied to information? The United States government took down Standard Oil, Alcoa, Northern Securities, the American Tobacco Company and many others without nearly the power that Facebook has.”

NRO has come to that same conclusion:

Tech companies such as Google and Facebook are also utilities of sorts that provide essential services. They depend on the free use of public airwaves. Yet they are subject to little oversight; they simply make up their own rules as they go along. Antitrust laws prohibit one corporation from unfairly devouring its competition, capturing most of its market, and then price-gouging as it sees fit without fear of competition. Google has all but destroyed its search-engine competitors in the same manner that Facebook has driven out competing social media.

Clearly Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos are contemporary “robber barons.” So why are they not smeared, defamed, and reviled like the robber barons of yesteryear? Says NRO:

Why are huge tech companies seemingly exempt from the rules that older corporations must follow? First, their CEOs wisely cultivate the image of hipsters. The public sees them more as aging teenagers in T-shirts, turtlenecks, and flip-flops than as updated versions of J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, or other robber barons of the past. Second, the tech industry’s hierarchy is politically progressive.

In brilliant marketing fashion, the Internet, laptops, tablets, and smartphones have meshed with the hip youth culture of music, television, the movies, universities, and fashion. Think Woodstock rather than Wall Street. Corporate spokesmen at companies such as Twitter and YouTube brag about their social awareness, especially on issues such as radical environmentalism, identity politics, and feminism. Given that the regulatory deep state is mostly a liberal enterprise, the tech industry is seen as an ally of federal bureaucrats and regulators. Think more of Hollywood, the media, and universities than Exxon, General Motors, Koch Industries, and Philip Morris.

The groovy t-shirt-turtleneck vibe may keep the great unwashed under their spell, but it’s the shared political ideology with the left that keeps these corporate managers free from accountability. The WSJ writes that antitrust regulators have a narrow test: Does their size leave consumers worse off? Surmising that if that’s the test, “there isn’t a clear case for going after big tech.”

I disagree. The consumer is far worse off. If we are not free to speak and think in what is today’s Gutenberg press, than we could not be worse off.

Pamela Geller is the President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), publisher of The Geller Report and author of the bestselling book, FATWA: Hunted in America, as well as The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America and Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

Pamela Geller, American Thinker: Urgent Case for Legislation against Facebook and Google

Read my latest over at The American Thinker. We are seeing an unprecedented erosion in our First Amendment rights, increasingly prohibiting the flow of ideas and free expression in the public square (social media). Run by left-wing self-possessed snowflakes, social media giants are indulging their worst autocratic impulses. And because they can, it is getting worse. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Having grown up in the 1970s, I can tell you it was a vastly different country then. It was free. But we aren’t any no longer, and it is time we took back what is ours — our unalienable freedoms.

January 30, 2018

The Urgent Case for Legislation against Facebook and Google

By Pamela Geller, American Thinker

Having been one of the early targets of social media censorship on Facebook, YouTube et al, I have advocated for anti-trust action against these bullying behemoths. It is good to see establishment outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and National Review coming to the same conclusion, or at least asking the same questions.

Just this week, Facebook launched its latest of many attacks on my news site, the Geller Report. It labeled my site as “spam” and removed every Geller Report post — thousands upon thousands of them, going back years – from Facebook. It also blocked any Facebook member from sharing links to the Geller Report. The ramping up of the shutting-down of sites like mine is neither random nor personal. The timing is telling. The left is gearing up for the 2018 midterm elections, and they mean to shut down whatever outlet or voice that helped elect President Trump, the greatest upset in left-wing history.

In fighting this shutdown, we had to go back to the drawing board in our lawsuit against these social media giants. The basis of our suit was challenging Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) under the First Amendment, which provides immunity from lawsuits to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, thereby permitting these social media giants to engage in government-sanctioned censorship and discriminatory business practices free from legal challenge.

Facebook and Google take in roughly half of all Internet ad revenue. According to the Wall Street Journal:

In the U.S., Alphabet Inc.’s Google drives 89% of internet search; 95% of young adults on the internet use a Facebook Inc. product; and Amazon.com Inc. now accounts for 75% of electronic book sales. Those firms that aren’t monopolists are duopolists: Google and Facebook absorbed 63% of online ad spending last year; Google and Apple Inc. provide 99% of mobile phone operating systems; while Apple and Microsoft Corp. supply 95% of desktop operating systems.

Both companies routinely censor and spy on their customers, “massaging everything from the daily news to what we should buy.” In the last century, the telephone was our “computer,” and Ma Bell was how we communicated. That said, would the American people (or the government) have tolerated AT&T spying on our phone calls and then pulling our communication privileges if we expressed dissenting opinions? That is exactly what we are suffering today.

Ma Bell was broken up by the government, albeit for different reasons. But it can and should be done.

It’s not a little ironic that, according to Breitbart:

AT&T has called for an “Internet Bill of Rights” and argued that Facebook and Google should also be subjected to rules that would prevent unfair censorship on their platforms.

AT&T, one of the largest telecommunications companies, called for Congress to enact an “Internet Bill of Rights” which would subject Facebook, Google, and other content providers to rules that would prevent unfair censorship on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Comcast or AT&T as well as content providers such as Facebook and Google.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson wrote, “Congressional action is needed to establish an ‘Internet Bill of Rights’ that applies to all internet companies and guarantees neutrality, transparency, openness, non-discrimination and privacy protection for all internet users.”

Stephenson posted the ad in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other national news outlets on Wednesday.

We must get behind this — all of us — and fast. Because what is happening is being engineered at the government level. A chief officer from a major American communications company went to the terror state of Pakistan to assure the Pakistani government that Facebook would adhere to the sharia. The commitment was given by Vice President of Facebook Joel Kaplan, who called on Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. “Facebook has reiterated its commitment to keep the platform safe and promote values that are in congruence with its community standards.”

Why the block? Because under Islamic law, you cannot criticize Islam. Facebook adhering to the most extreme and brutal ideology on the face of the earth should trouble all of us, because Mark Zuckerberg has immense power. He controls the flow of information.

Early last year, I wrote: “The US government has used anti-trust laws to break up monopolies. They ought to break up Facebook. Section 2 of the Sherman Act highlights particular results deemed anticompetitive by nature and prohibits actions that ‘shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations.’ Couldn’t the same be applied to information? The United States government took down Standard Oil, Alcoa, Northern Securities, the American Tobacco Company and many others without nearly the power that Facebook has.”

NRO has come to that same conclusion:

Tech companies such as Google and Facebook are also utilities of sorts that provide essential services. They depend on the free use of public airwaves. Yet they are subject to little oversight; they simply make up their own rules as they go along. Antitrust laws prohibit one corporation from unfairly devouring its competition, capturing most of its market, and then price-gouging as it sees fit without fear of competition. Google has all but destroyed its search-engine competitors in the same manner that Facebook has driven out competing social media.

Clearly Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos are contemporary “robber barons.” So why are they not smeared, defamed, and reviled like the robber barons of yesteryear? Says NRO:

Why are huge tech companies seemingly exempt from the rules that older corporations must follow? First, their CEOs wisely cultivate the image of hipsters. The public sees them more as aging teenagers in T-shirts, turtlenecks, and flip-flops than as updated versions of J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, or other robber barons of the past. Second, the tech industry’s hierarchy is politically progressive.

In brilliant marketing fashion, the Internet, laptops, tablets, and smartphones have meshed with the hip youth culture of music, television, the movies, universities, and fashion. Think Woodstock rather than Wall Street. Corporate spokesmen at companies such as Twitter and YouTube brag about their social awareness, especially on issues such as radical environmentalism, identity politics, and feminism. Given that the regulatory deep state is mostly a liberal enterprise, the tech industry is seen as an ally of federal bureaucrats and regulators. Think more of Hollywood, the media, and universities than Exxon, General Motors, Koch Industries, and Philip Morris.

The groovy t-shirt-turtleneck vibe may keep the great unwashed under their spell, but it’s the shared political ideology with the left that keeps these corporate managers free from accountability. The WSJ writes that antitrust regulators have a narrow test: Does their size leave consumers worse off? Surmising that if that’s the test, “there isn’t a clear case for going after big tech.”

I disagree. The consumer is far worse off. If we are not free to speak and think in what is today’s Gutenberg press, than we could not be worse off.

Pamela Geller is the President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), publisher of The Geller Report and author of the bestselling book, FATWA: Hunted in America, as well as The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America and Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

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