Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia terror group, fired rockets into northern Israel on Wednesday, hitting a factory that employed people with special needs, and killing a 23-year-old Druze Arab named Zaher Bashara in the facility.
The post Hezbollah Hits Israeli Factory for People with Special Needs; Kills Druze Arab, 23 appeared first on Breitbart.
The top spokesman for the Taliban regime of Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, repeated the terrorist organization's claims on Monday that the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), the jihadists' Afghan affiliate, had been "significantly weakened" in the country under Taliban rule.
The post Taliban Insists ISIS Can’t ‘Create a Threat’ from Afghanistan After Moscow Massacre appeared first on Breitbart.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed Democrat lawmakers' "assault weapons" ban on Tuesday, along with a number of other Democrat-backed gun controls.
The post Gov. Youngkin Vetoes Virginia Democrats’ ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban appeared first on Breitbart.
Democrat President Joe Biden is “destroying US credibility with our allies” and “turning our back on Israel,” according to Republican officials, who are blasting the “anti-Israel” president’s “unconscionable” decision to have the United States abstain from a vote on the U.N. Security Council's first ceasefire demand in Gaza, in a move that further increased tensions between the Biden administration and Israel.
The post GOP Blasts Biden’s ‘Unconscionable’ U.N. Vote Abstention on Gaza appeared first on Breitbart.
The Chinese state propaganda Global Times newspaper blamed President Joe Biden's disastrous extension of the 20-year Afghan war and subsequent Taliban conquest of Kabul for creating the conditions to allow a harrowing terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday, which the Islamic State claimed responsibility for.
The post China: Biden’s Afghanistan Disaster Made Russia Terror Attack Possible appeared first on Breitbart.
When you think rap music, you don't often think of enthusiastic support for Republican politicians, but you can never underestimate former President Donald Trump's ability to defy expectations.
The post 11 Rappers Backing Donald Trump in 2024: ‘He’s a Soldier,’ ‘We Miss You’ appeared first on Breitbart.
In a scathing letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, FTX Trading CEO John Ray alleges that disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried made "callously" and "demonstrably false" claims in his sentencing memo to secure a lighter prison term. According to Ray, the harm caused by SBF is "vast" and his remorse is "nonexistent."
The post Current FTX CEO Says Disgraced Fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s Remorse Is ‘Nonexistent’ appeared first on Breitbart.
TikTok poses a significant national security risk, yet banning it could infringe on the First Amendment.
Many US lawmakers advocate for its ban due to this recognized threat, primarily focusing on its extensive data collection practices. TikTok collects various user data, including browsing history, location, and potentially biometric identifiers, raising concerns about access by the Chinese government. China’s National Intelligence Law mandates that all companies and entities aid the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in intelligence gathering and that they turn over all data when requested to do so.
Influence operations present another potential concern. The CCP’s United Front Work Department oversees foreign influence and propaganda efforts. Operating thousands of social media accounts, it disseminates disinformation, shapes public opinion, and influences elections.
Although less common, there is also a malware risk associated with TikTok. The People’s Liberation Army’s Unit 61398, also known as APT1, is China’s military hacking unit. The U.S. Intelligence community has identified China as a major hacking threat, with numerous high-profile hacks and cybercrimes linked to the Chinese government. There’s a possibility that TikTok or its updates could contain malicious code, potentially granting Beijing access to data and allowing activities such as spying on U.S. military or government personnel by remotely activating device cameras.
A pervasive threat across all social media platforms, including TikTok, is active monitoring by China. The Chinese government employs numerous highly sophisticated and costly programs for monitoring and analyzing social media content. This data enables identification of users and understanding of their preferences, facilitating tailored propaganda messaging. Additionally, China can access users’ location, demographics, social connections, affiliations, and family details. This wealth of information serves Beijing in recruiting agents or identifying vulnerable individuals susceptible to exploitation or corruption.
As Congress considers a TikTok ban, opponents have initiated TikTok campaigns, threatening lawmakers with potential loss of votes in the next election if they support the ban. This underscores the risks associated with TikTok. Without an FBI investigation, it’s impossible to determine whether these individuals acted independently or if they were paid by Beijing.
Monitoring US social media grants Beijing a deep insight into American society, allowing them to identify vulnerabilities, exploit divisions, and shape public opinion to meet their strategic goals. Therefore, there’s no dispute regarding TikTok’s national security threat.
Some Americans, including Donald Trump, oppose a TikTok ban for two primary reasons: they view it as ineffective due to Beijing’s activity on all social media platforms, and they perceive it as a violation of the First Amendment.
In 2020, conservative social media accounts were frequently shut down, particularly those advocating against masks, school closures, lockdowns, vaccines, or the election results. Dissenting voices were silenced, creating a false impression that all scientists and doctors supported COVID measures. Conservatives value the freedom to express diverse viewpoints and have experienced censorship firsthand.
Yes, TikTok is a national security threat. And yes, it contains Chinese government propaganda and disinformation. But many liberals believe that conservative talking points are also disinformation. They reject claims that crime rates are up, illegal immigrants are illegal, funding Ukraine might be a bad idea, and the border is not secure. If they could, they would brand these positions as disinformation or Russian propaganda and ban them.
Mainstream media and the liberal establishment already disdain Twitter for allowing free speech. A common misconception about the First Amendment is that it solely protects speech we agree with, or speech that is “true,” or speech that “is not dangerous.” But during 2020 and 2021, we learned that the definition of “true” can be twisted. Banning untrue information becomes self-fulfilling because many people believe that only mainstream media is true. And if mainstream media refuses to print something, then it must not be true. As for “dangerous speech,” the only speech that is supposed to be censored is “a call to action” or “advocacy of illegal action.”
Hate speech is another area of contention. Who gets to determine what is or is not hate speech? There have already been people who lost their jobs or were kicked out of schools for stating, “There are only two genders.”
A TikTok ban sets a dangerous precedent for government censorship.
The post TikTok Ban: National Security and the First Amendment appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
PLA Hackers
印媒指解放军"61398部队"发动黑客攻击。(互联网)
The Palestinian Security Forces (PASF) were founded by the US, UN, and Russia in 1993. They have been funded and trained by the US on and off ever since. Now, the Biden White House wants to boost the PASF through the U.S. State Department. Allegedly, this will contribute to regional stability, as the PASF could coordinate with the Israel Defense Force (IDF). Furthermore, there is some discussion of deploying the PASF into Gaza to maintain order.
Providing weapons, money, and training to the same authority that birthed Hamas and the PLO—what could possibly go wrong?
The Palestinian Security Forces (PASF), also known as the Palestinian National Security Forces (PNSF), began following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) through the Oslo Accords in 1993. The PASF was originally formed from the bodyguards and security personnel of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Under Yasser Arafat, the PASF grew into a larger, more formidable force.
After the death of Arafat in 2004, plans were made to rebuild the PASF. The following year, with support from the US, EU, UN, and Russia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the creation of the office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The goal was to remake the PASF as a multi-branch force as part of President George W. Bush’s Road Map to Peace.
The PASF consists of four branches: the Presidential Guard (PG), tasked with safeguarding the Palestinian president; the National Security Force (NSF), which ensures area security and aids the Palestinian Civil Police; the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP); and the Civil Defense (CD) directorate, responsible for basic firefighting and emergency response across the West Bank. All of the forces were largely trained by the Americans, with the PG being the only one extensively trained by the USSC.
After Hamas won the 2006 elections in Gaza, continued U.S. funding and training of the troops became more problematic. The situation became even more unstable in 2007 when tensions between Hamas and Fatah, another major Palestinian political party, escalated into violence, leading to a series of clashes between Hamas and Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip. Hamas emerged victorious in these clashes, effectively taking control of the Gaza Strip and ousting Fatah forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas. This event is commonly referred to as the “Hamas takeover of Gaza” or the “Gaza coup.” It led to a split in Palestinian governance, with Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip while Fatah maintained control over the West Bank.
The Hamas/PLO split makes it very difficult for Gaza and the West Bank to work together, raising questions about how the US would train the security forces of both entities and who those entities would obey. Currently, the PASF exists and has troops in the West Bank, but they are being driven out of some towns by armed groups, and they have not received their salary in months, although the US regularly sends aid money.
One could easily ask why the White House is even trying. Hamas and the PLO have both been dubbed terrorist organizations. Under international law and US law, it is illegal to provide funding, training, and weapons to terrorists.
Not surprisingly, Israeli intelligence discovered that Palestinian Authority security personnel have been involved in terror attacks. According to a report from the Israeli NGO Regavim, 46 members of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) lost their lives while engaging in terrorist activities aimed at or attempting to target numerous innocent Israelis. Additionally, 25 individuals were apprehended, and at least seven were injured. These findings suggest systematic wrongdoing within the PA’s ranks. The report goes on to allege that not only does the Palestinian Authority fail to condemn terrorism perpetrated by security force members, but it also celebrates them and provides financial assistance to the terrorists and their families.
The post Biden White House Is Funding Palestinian Security Forces appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
2012_Palestinian_National_Security_Forces_exercise_in_Gaza_(03)
Fars Media Corporation, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Artificial interest rate controls cause inflationary booms, depressing busts, and result in taxpayers bailing out wealthy bankers every five to ten years.
While businesses struggle to obtain loans and consumers suffer under extremely high interest rates, the Federal Reserve cautioned this week “against cutting US interest rates too soon or too much.”
The implication is that the Federal Reserve knows what the correct interest rate should be and when and by how much it should be cut. But for every other product, apart from loans, the market determines the price. And the market is never wrong.
The Fed deciding that it knows the right interest rates and quantity of dollars that the economy should have is extremely presumptuous. Even more worrying, the acceptance by the general public that the Fed is correct is an example of central planning.
Entrusting the Fed with superior knowledge over the market, comprising 330 million consumers and sellers, represents a frightening leap toward central authority dictating everything from health and education to how you raise your child or what media you are allowed to read.
Also, if the Fed knows the right interest rate and quantity of money, why aren’t they able to prevent economic crises and bank failures?
When it comes to most other products in the economy—shoes, cars, clothing—the price is determined by the market, and the market never gets it wrong. If the market price goes too high, people stop buying; if it goes too low, companies lose money.
So, we wind up with a market price that consumers are willing to bear and that companies can live with.
Most importantly, in our capitalist/democratic system, the only people who pay for those shoes, cars, and clothing are the people who buy them. If you think the price is too high, you don’t have to buy, and the government doesn’t force you to pay for your neighbor’s shoes.
Or at least, that is how it is supposed to work. Some administrations are more socialist than others, and you do find yourself paying for your neighbor’s shoes through taxes, but that is the subject of another article.
Today, we are discussing how the Fed distorts the economy by artificially controlling interest rates, which leads to inflationary booms, depressing busts, and ultimately results in taxpayers bailing out wealthy bankers.
Until the self-imposed destruction of the COVID lockdowns, the most recent economic crisis was in 2008, which resulted in over 8 million Americans losing their jobs.
Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department used nearly $1 trillion of taxpayer money to buy up banks’ toxic assets and to make emergency loans to banks teetering on the brink of collapse.
These were private, for-profit companies that received payouts from public funds. From a free-market standpoint, the reason why toxic assets plummeted in value was that the risk was too high and the public didn’t want to buy them.
So, the banks effectively made a terrible product that consumers didn’t want, but which the government purchased with taxpayer money.
Even worse, in order to stimulate a failing economy, the Fed artificially suppressed interest rates until two years ago. As of December 2021, the federal funds rate target range was 0.00% to 0.25%.
And that low rate, along with dramatic increases in government spending and borrowing and the creation of money, resulted in the 9% inflation during the Biden administration. To rein in the inflation, the Fed began raising the federal funds rate, which currently stands at 5.25% to 5.50%.
This figure is the federal funds rate, the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans. The rate you pay for mortgages, car loans, and credit cards will be much higher.
The Fed artificially keeps the interest rate low when politicians want to give the illusion of economic growth. In 2023, after the Fed began raising interest rates, the low Fed rates of the preceding 15 years resulted in banks like Silicon Valley Bank sitting on investments that paid 1.79%, while new treasuries were paying 3.79%.
This meant that the banks had to pay more to borrow money than they were earning on their portfolio of loans and investments. SVB and several other banks went bankrupt, resulting in a $25 billion bailout.
Meanwhile, the entire banking system is estimated to be sitting on $620 billion in similar, unrealized losses because of artificial interest rate manipulation by the Fed.
The COVID lockdown economic crisis caused 120,000 businesses to close and 30 million Americans to lose their jobs. To compensate, the Biden White House, working with Congress on fiscal policy, and the Federal Reserve, implementing monetary policy, the deficit skyrocketed, the debt hit record levels, and interest rates were kept low.
As a result, Biden claimed the largest growth and job creation in history, as well as the highest inflation in 40 years.
Now, in addition to enduring years of lost wages, depleted savings, and mounting personal debt, Americans are grappling with the combination of inflation and high interest rates. All of which was enabled by the Fed’s policies,
The post From Policy to Pain: How the Fed Impacts Your Wallet appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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By Gryffindor - File:33 Liberty Street IMG 9058.JPGThis is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: This panorama has been automatically stitched using commandline tools, and the end result hasn't been validated by any humans for any accuracy or beautifullness. The original can be viewed here: 33 Liberty Street IMG 9058.JPG: . Modifications made by AzaToth., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17173323
Read my latest in WND here:
SHARIAH IN AMERICA
CATHOLIC CHURCH SNAGGED BY ‘THE GELLER BAN’Exclusive: Pamela Geller explains why D.C. Metro barred Christmas ad
The Washington Times reported last Tuesday that “the Catholic church is taking Metro to court after the Washington-area transit agency rejected an ad campaign promoting a website aimed at encouraging attendance at parishes throughout the D.C. area.” Why did the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reject these ads? Because of the Geller Ban.
This goes back to June 2015, when my organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), created a free-speech ad campaign defying the blasphemy laws under the Shariah. We put up 100 billboards around St. Louis, depicting the winning cartoon in our Muhammad cartoon contest that was fired upon by jihadis in Garland, Texas, under the headline, “SUPPORT FREE SPEECH.” The cartoon depicted Muhammad being drawn by an artist. Muhammad says, “You can’t draw me!” The artist responds: “That’s why I draw you.” It was an apt summation of the courage and refusal to be bullied that we need to have in the face of violent intimidation from Islamic jihadis.
The billboards featuring this Muhammad cartoon also went up in and around the northern tri-county area of Marion, Baxter and Boone counties in Arkansas. But in what could only called an end-run around the First Amendment, when we tried to run them in the Washington, D.C., subway, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) enforced the Shariah under the guise of banning all “political ads.” No other ad had compelled WMATA to take such drastic action. My ads violating Islamic blasphemy laws led to Shariah bans in New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco et al.
The ban itself is mutable and unclear. No contemporary medium of communication may pass the test of being merely commercial and non-political. The New York Times runs an editorial page every day – not to mention the slant of their “straight news” – and therefore, if they can advertise, so can the Village Voice, the Socialist Militant and Dabiq (ISIS’ four-color magazine), for that matter.
The WMATA threw in public safety for good measure, as if these craven quislings knew what was conducive to the public good. Color me skeptical. They said the buses would be a target for jihadis. Yet if we’ve learned anything since 9/11, it is that America is the target. The West is the target for Islamic terrorism. Abridging our freedoms so as not to offend savages is surrender and un-American. It results in more demands, more surrender, more capitulation to Shariah law (which is what WMATA did).
Running and hiding is no strategy in a war. Operation Fetal Position is a recipe for disaster.
No one cared when my ads were banned, but it was never about me. The enemedia makes it about me, monsterizes me, so that people run in horror at the bogeyman and say yes, yes, shut her up, shut her down. It’s covert totalitarianism.The Catholic Church, of course, would not have dreamed of sticking up for my free-speech rights at the time the Geller Ban first was put into place. But it’s like the famous Martin Niemöller poem:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.Now they have come for the Catholic Church, and who will speak up for their free-speech rights?
What most people don’t know is the Geller Ban is not unique to Washington, D.C. In fact, the Geller Ban is in effect in every major city in the United States: New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, liberal San Francisco, Denver and more.
So who will speak up for the other organizations that want to run perfectly reasonable ads, as mine were, and run afoul of this ban?
This is what the left does to anyone who stands in the way of the Islamic agenda. It’s all in my new book, “FATWA: Hunted in America.” Get the book, buy it for friends. Educate those around you.