Hezbollah Violence Intensifies on the Israel-Lebanon Border

US foreign policy is failing to keep Israeli clashes with Hezbollah from growing.

by Dave Patterson | Jul 2, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Good Reads, Military Affairs, Opinion

While most of the world is focused on Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah is wreaking havoc. Since the horrific October 7 attack by the Hamas terrorists on southern Israel, the continuous barrage of Iran-supplied Hezbollah missiles and mortar rounds has been more of a sideshow to the Gaza conflict. That is changing rapidly, however, and US policy in the region is not keeping up with the ramped-up intensity.

Taking on Hezbollah Is a Priority for Israel

Israel is in a position where it must counter a growing enemy on its northern border supplied by Iran. As Liberty Nation News explained in its report, “Israel Cannot Give Up the Fight”:

“Sometimes, it becomes all too easy to see events in a conflict like that – started on Oct. 7 by Hamas’ murderous attack on Israel – as a series of isolated incidents…Every day, Israeli security forces are engaging Iran-supported Hezbollah terrorists on the southern Lebanese border, persistent skirmishes with Palestinian militias and independent terrorists in the West Bank, and continuing attacks by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as the Jewish state attempts to pause the fighting in Gaza.”

Hezbollah exists as an Iranian proxy. The United States has declared the organization a terrorist group. However, America has not engaged Hezbollah for its terrorist operations as it has ISIS and Al Qaeda. “Shiite Muslim Hezbollah is part of a collection of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the Axis of Resistance. It was the first group that Iran backed and used as a way to export its brand of political Islamism,” the Associated Press explained.  As a terrorist group, it plays heavily in Lebanese and Syrian government policies. Additionally, Hezbollah is well organized and has a significant inventory of weapons of growing sophistication. “Israel sees it as its most direct threat and estimates that it has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles,” the AP reported.

As Hezbollah becomes increasingly more aggressive, the potential for an all-out war between Israel and the terrorists appears more likely. In March 2024, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) issued an analysis of the tensions building between Israel and Iran-sponsored Hezbollah. The CSIS assessment, titled “The Coming Conflict with Hezbollah,” explained there have been “more than 4,400 violent incidents” between Israel and Hezbollah at the northern Israeli border with Lebanon and Syria. Some news reports claim Hezbollah has launched over 5,000 antitank guided missiles, one-way drones, and rockets at Israel.

In addition to being a proxy for and doing the bidding of Iran, Hezbollah has a clear objective. “Hezbollah sees itself as a revolutionary organization that is one of the leaders of the broader Muslim struggle against Israel. Destroying Israel has been a part of its core ideology since its founding, and most of its members are sincerely against the very existence of the Jewish state,” the CSIS report observed.

Meanwhile, American diplomats seem incapable of reducing the hostilities on Israel’s northern border. “Efforts by the US special envoy Amos Hochstein to fashion an agreement that would include a pullback from the border by Hezbollah have so far fallen short,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Other nations have considered the risk of a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah too high. “The risk of escalation this week prompted foreign governments including Canada, Germany and the Netherlands to reiterate calls for their citizens to leave Lebanon, with some warning that intensified fighting could lead to the closure of commercial travel routes,” the WSJ explained.

Both Sides May Want to Reduce the Conflict, But Not Yet

There is a widely held belief that Israel and Hezbollah do not want a large-scale conflict. Still, the continuous tit-for-tat exchange of artillery, antitank guided missiles, drones, and rockets are driving the leadership on both sides to an expanded battle. Much of the fear of a widening Israel-Hezbollah conflict is being fueled by intelligence assessments from the region. “A large-scale confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah is likely to break out in the next several weeks if Jerusalem and Hamas fail to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza, US intelligence indicates,” Politico said.

As Israel faces the prospect of a real war on its northern border, continued fighting with jihadist Palestinian terrorist-militias in Jerusalem’s West Bank, and the prolonged fighting in Gaza against the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists, reliance on the US to broker an effective end to the fighting is waning. The most recent US policy to withhold precision-guided 2,000 bombs was not seen in Israel as a confidence-building decision. Though the US has tried to be the peacemaker, little has come from the effort. Many believe a ceasefire in Gaza will prompt a reduction in Hezbollah raids on Israel. As appealing as that might sound, Hezbollah has been attacking Israel for decades. Short of putting significant pressure on Iran, the sponsor of the conflict, little will convince Hezbollah to stop its attacks on Israel.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.

 

Read More From Dave Patterson

And the Truth Will Set You Free! Thank You Joe Biden!

By Rich Kozlovich

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John F. Di Leo posted an article noting that "all of a sudden there's a crisis".  A crisis the Democrats and Bidenites never noticed before.  It was the debate that did it!  Now they're embarrassed because the world has seen just how incapacitated Biden is.  But he didn't really mean it, he was laying foundation.

After all, conservatives knew everything that was being exposed was the reality of Joe Biden for even before the 202o election.  He's well known as a mediocre not very bright, clueless political hack, and grifter. And they're just now embarrassed? Amazing!

He was laying foundation to show how much the debate exposed what the Democrat party was all about, along with the media and his enabling supporters.   They've not been embarrassed by all his other embarrassing performances of the past three and a half years.  Here are ten paraphrased points demonstrating their hypocrisy.

1. Losing focus during public meetings honoring veterans or mourning military losses.
2. wandering off in the middle of the event, leaving the honorees and attendees insulted.
3. They weren’t embarrassed when he gave speeches, recounting the life stories of others as if they were his own, as a fabulist imagining histories that could easily be fact-checked and disproven in real time, again and again.
4. They weren’t embarrassed when he sniffed the hair of a prime minister or literally bumped heads with a pope.
5. They weren’t embarrassed when he had “bathroom malfunctions” on stage in the middle of speeches and meetings with foreign heads of state.
6. They weren’t embarrassed when he spouted insulting gaffes to his own constituents, shouting such insults as “I don’t work for you!”, and “They should learn to code!” whenever his policies attacked a business, a profession, or a state.
7. They weren’t embarrassed when he fell asleep in the middle of cabinet meetings, state events, even one-on-one press conferences with other world leaders.
8. But most importantly, they weren’t embarrassed when mountains of undeniable evidence proved his criminality -- and the criminality of his family -- in a pay-for-play pattern that has been going on for decades.
9. And they weren’t embarrassed when he appointed incompetents, criminals and freaks to be cabinet secretaries and department heads, ranging from an airport kleptomaniac in drag to a man wearing a plastic nursing chest prosthesis for imitation breastfeeding. 
10. And they weren’t embarrassed when his policies caused record deficits, unprecedented inflation, a collapse in the American standard of living, a flood of illegal aliens, a lethal crime wave, and the destruction of our standing as a net exporter of energy.

Biden isn't just a failed President, he is now and has always been a failed human being.  He's failed his family, as well as his nation.  And now the Democrats are scared it's Biden who's going to cost them the power they so cravenly desire to continue destroying the nation.   That's what the debate revealed, they're the problem, Biden is the symptom.   

It also revealed what conservatives, and insiders already knew.  America is being run by aides, unelected functionaries.  That should have been obvious to the most casual observer simply based on the freaks, incompetents, and losers Biden was appointing to the federal judiciary, and other important positions.

Vince Coyner continues in that vein saying:

Every single American with a functioning brain already knew that Joe Biden was mentally unfit for the position he held. From the stumbling to the bumbling to the mumbling, it was crystal clear to anyone looking. Despite that, we’ve been told by everyone from the press secretary to members of Congress to the media and every Democrat who could get in front of a camera that Biden was not only capable but robust. That, of course, was a lie. We knew it was a lie, but they kept saying it, over and over as if their repeating it would make it real. They had to keep up the facade of Biden’s competency until it was no longer needed.

And Americans now realize they've been lied to?  Really?  And it took this to make everyone realize he really was elected via voter fraud, and the desperation will be so great this time they'll go so insane with voter fraud even the Supreme Court won't be able to over look the criminality of the Democrat vote stealing cabal, an illegal national conspiracy to once against steal the election.  

That's a RICO issue.    

There are no boundaries on the left.  There is no evil they won't embrace.  There is nothing too vile, too corrupt, or too criminal they won't use in order to stay in power.   "Trump is fearless and that puts him in even graver danger....... especially as his following and potential stable of voters grows larger. Bad people want him gone. I know he knows that.  So, Mr. President, watch your back. But watch your front as well. The sirens are everywhere."

Election 2024: It’s More About Ideology E. Jeffrey Ludwig.  We can see that this election is not mainly a conflict between two mature, intelligent leaders, but is more oriented toward an ideological conflict: Trump is the personification of capitalist success and dynamic entrepreneurship.  Biden and his Obamaphiles — with the inclusion of Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the Squad — are now taking a huge leap in favor of communist ideology and cultural Marxism......

 

According to Monica Showalter, "things are moving in the Godfather-like internal politics of the Democrat party. Like mafiosi.... Democrat power players have called in Joe Biden for a sitdown.............For those of us who have been wondering who pulls the puppet strings, now we have the answer -- Obama, and former chief of staff Ron Klain........he's being told by Obama to step down because disaster is going to be what he gets if he doesn't..........Jill Biden, happy to play the role of Mrs. Wilson, and fond of the perks and travel she gets as first lady, will fight back hard..........Wouldn't that be a pretty picture? Doesn't sound like a recipe for success for the Democrats as the walls come crashing down around them...."

 

The left keeps screaming that Republicans, white people, conservatives, Christians, Israel supporting Jews, and Donald Trump represent the greatest threat there ever was to "our" democracy.  Well, here's the greatest treat to America, Joe Biden.  Ask this:  Who knew he was so demented and when did they know it, and deliberately hid it from America?  

 "the White House staff, every member of the cabinet, the leadership of the Democrat party, including especially the Obamas and the Clintons, congressional leadership of both parties, the entire Washington press corps from all major media corporations." ....."most despicably, the entire Biden family"  

 

During this time he's interacted with "Putin, Xi, Khamenei, Zelenskyy, Netanyahu, and every world leader who has interacted with him on the world stage, or behind closed doors, allies and adversaries alike", and make no mistake, they knew his brain was a bowl of oatmeal.  And they must be rolling on the floor with laughter at what Biden has done to the greatest military the world has ever know. 

 

But according to the Democrat lackeys and myth makers, with support from America's Pravda like media, it's not Biden and his myrmidons who are a threat to America.  No, once again, it's Donald Trump, white people, church going Christians, Catholics who like the Latin Mass, conservative Jews who are America's greatest threat. 

Well, that's not playing well to American audiences any longer, except for Hollywood. Hollywood is firm as a bag of cement for Biden, and guess who they're blaming for his debate mess .....watch out now, here it comes......the CNN moderators!  Imagine that.  Did I say firm as a bag of cement?  I meant dumb as a bag of cement, Bette Midler is the perfect example of Hollywood's self delusion saying:

 

“[Biden] answered the questions, Trump never did. He feinted, he wove, he dodged, he lied.”   

 

I wonder if she takes stupid pills, or was she watching the same debate as everyone else?  Just a thought, but let's face it. Who really cares what she thinks....and I use the word think with caution.   Well, after Hollywood just raise over 25 million dollars for his election, and even though Obama had to lead him off the stage, they're have to remain firm.  Why?  To do otherwise would be admitting they're stupid.  And then there's Bill Clinton who says he supports Biden because he ‘given us 3 years of solid leadership’, and Obama who claims he will continue to support Biden because of the level of his moral character.  Imagine that. 

Insane Moments in French Taxation

July 2, 2024 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

I wrote yesterday about a strange quirk in the Dutch tax system. That country (which is quite sensible on issues such as personal retirement accounts and school choice) has a very odd way of double taxing income that is saved and invested.

 

Today, we’re going to leave the Netherlands, travel through Belgium, and visit the country that arguably has the developed world’s worst tax system. Yes, I’m referring to France (though I’m open to the argument that Italy might rank even lower). Though, as I’ve warned before, never underestimate the ability of French politicians to take a bad situation and make it even worse.  And that may be about to happen. Alan Katz reports for Bloomberg that the French left wants a 90 percent tax rate on successful taxpayers.

I’m not joking. Here are some excerpts.

France’s leftist alliance would raise the top marginal income tax rate to 90% if it were to take over the government following legislative elections that run through July 7. …the plan was previously in the program of his far-left France Unbowed party. In a budget amendment proposed in 2019, the top rate would apply on taxable income over €411,683 ($440,213). The income tax rate in France currently tops out at 45% on income over €177,106. …

The last time a government tried…a top income tax rate anywhere close to the level proposed by Coquerel…a 75% rate…paid by companies on salaries of more than €1 million. The tax…expired at the end of 2014. …the leftist alliance unveiled its plans…a vast increase in taxation and public spending…and reverse Macron’s pension reform.

So what’s the likelihood of these awful ideas being translated into policy? Based on the first round of the French legislative elections (which took place on Sunday), the likelihood of something bad has increased. That’s because President Macron’s party (which favors the status quo) suffered a a major setback while the hard left and populist right gained ground.

The populist right won the most votes, but that hardly matters since they are not fans of limited government. Indeed, the Economist has an article explaining that the two groups have disturbingly similar plans to expand the fiscal burden of government.

Both blocs’ agendas are “dangerous for the economy”, according to Patrick Martin, the head of MEDEF, a business federation. …On the hard right, Marine Le Pen’s total yearly net spending promises when she ran for president in 2022 amounted to…the equivalent of about 3.5% of GDP. …promises to strike down Mr Macron’s pension reform, which raised the legal minimum retirement age from 62 years to 64… The RN also wants to restore the wealth tax…

The left-wing alliance, dominated by Unsubmissive France, the party of…a one-time Trotskyist, has even more ambitious tax-and-spending plans. …striking down Mr Macron’s pension reform, reintroducing the wealth tax, bringing in an “exit tax” for those leaving the country, scrapping France’s 30% flat tax on financial income, increasing inheritance tax and imposing a tax on “super profits”, whatever they mean by those.

We won’t know the composition of the legislature until the second and final round of the election, which will happen on July 7.  But it’s clear that the two statist blocs will control the vast majority of seats.

However, this doesn’t mean bad policy is a foregone conclusion. My fingers are crossed that they spend so much time fighting each other over issues such as crime and immigration that they forget that they are united in favor of higher taxes and more spending.

The bottom line is that the French public sector already is excessive. Making it an even bigger burden will accelerate the country’s almost-sure-to-happen economic crisis.

P.S. French politics are so absurd that I was only half-joking in 2012 and 2017 when I wrote that voters should pick the socialist over the socialist (and I similarly noted that the socialist beat the socialist in 2022).

P.P.S. In fairness to the current president, at least he has been semi-rational about pension reform (though his policy on wine leaves something to be desired).

P.P.P.S. If the top tax rate on households gets anywhere close to 90 percent and the wealth tax is restored, the combined burden will exceed 100 percent for some taxpayers. A (not-so) grand French tradition.

Are We Now A Radical Socialist Nation?

Has anyone tried unplugging the United States and plugging it back in? 

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors. Any cartoons appearing will have been added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition,   E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.  RK

Unless the rigged trial in New York City is overturned quickly, the answer is yes, we are a radical socialist nation. Some other recent events that make us wonder if the republic can be saved.

Department of Homeland Security: 

Stephen Miller’s American First Legal (AFL) has obtained documents that show that the DHS’s board “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group” believes that Trump supporters, and military and religious people are potential “terror threats” to the United States. Miller is former Senior Advisor, Acting Attorney General, and Budget Director in the Trump administration.

The report states that we—after all, Patriot Neighbors readers are Trump supporters, we are people of faith, and many are in the military or veterans—are “likely to commit a domestic violent extremist attack ...”

Does the DHS consider Black Lives Matter and Antifa members to be terror threats? What about the pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist folks? All of them have destroyed public and private property and injured or killed innocent Americans.

Supreme Court:

On June 26, SCOTUS ruled against the First Amendment. In “The Supreme Court is Not Going to Save You,” John Davidson at The Federalist closes with:

But as Wednesday’s ruling in Murthy v. Missouri shows, no Supreme Court majority is going to save America and rescue the Constitution. That’s only going to happen, if it happens at all, through a second American Revolution and the re-founding of the country. As I’ve argued before, we need to stop calling ourselves conservatives because there is nothing left to conserve. One of the things that means is letting go of the idea that a majority of originalist Supreme Court justices is going to swoop in and undo all tyrannical mechanisms that a century of administrative bureaucracy has built up for the purpose of undermining and destroying our system of government.

That’s simply not going to happen. Continuing to wish for it and expect it is a fool’s errand, and if we want to be prepared for what’s coming, we need to be realistic about that.  But it's possible the tide is turning to freedom.

With our prayers and involvement, we must have hope of saving our republic. Let’s look at some recent wins that show the tide might be turning in the direction of Conservative Judeo-Christian values. However, we need Republican leadership, which seems to be in short supply.

• 

  Bowman Loses Primary:  The anti-America, antisemitic Representative Jamaal Bowman lost his June 25 primary race to George Latimer. We won’t waste additional space on Bowman except to remind you that before Bowman became a congressman in 2020, he was a middle school principal. Need we say anything more about why our public schools are indoctrinating America’s youth?

Internationally

Canada: There was an election in Ontario’s Toronto-St. Paul district last week for a seat held by liberals for more than 30 years. Yet, conservative Don Stewart won! Hmmm, what does this foretell for liberal (some say Marxist) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? 

France: Emmanuel Macron was so embarrassed by the French people’s vote in the European Union Parliamentary election that he called for snap elections. It would be fitting if he suffered electoral humiliation. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally should do very well in the two rounds of voting (June 30 and July 7). The French people will be electing 577 members of the 17th National Assembly. Illegal immigration, rising crime, and deteriorating standards of living are the major issues for the French people. Of course, Macron is threatening that there will be a civil war in France if the people give thumbs down to his liberal party and instead support National Rally or New Popular Front.

Great Britain: Their election is on July 4—the perfect day for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party to make a big showing. Because Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives (America’s version of RINOs) have been doing such a disastrous job, the Reform Party could become a powerful minority party even if Labour wins the parliamentary election. Illegal immigration, rising crime, and deteriorating standards of living are the major issues for the British people.

Watch NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson at Faith & Freedom Convention

Update, Pride Madness: 

Tractor Supply Last week, we told you that Tractor Supply wants customers to believe it has red, white and blue patriotic American values, but its CEO Harry “Hal” Lawton promotes a very woke company. According to Robby Starbuck, whose new documentary “The War On Children” is streaming now: 

Tractor Supply gave $100,000 to an activist group that "worked around the clock" to stop deportations during the Trump presidency. 

The group is Conexion Americas'. Their founder also previously headed the National Council of La Raza which got $2+ Million from George Soros. The outcry was YUGE and Tractor Supply, probably not wanting to be “Bud Lighted,” made an announcement that it is pulling back from DEI, pride and all the other insanity. (“Insanity” is our word.) 

To share your views with CEO Lawton: Email: InvestorRelations@TractorSupply.com Phone: 615-440-4600 or 877-718-6750

A Simple NO From King George Started the Revolutionary War

By Betts Rivét, Americanism,  Conservative Patriots of Orange County 

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors. Any cartoons appearing will have been added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition,   E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.  RK

Way back in 1765, the colonies were beginning to realize they needed to stand together because dictates from England just didn’t seem right. After all, the colonies were not even represented in England’s Parliament but suddenly, the British monarch via Parliament were taxing products coming from England.

There went the tea in the Boston Harbor. Even though the colonies wanted independence, the king of England didn’t care. “Those colonies are mine,” he repeatedly said.

So, what did King George do next? He hired German mercenaries to use against his American subjects. Plus, he created a blockade of American ports and declared American ships to be enemy vessels. The audacity of the king to think he could get away with that. The Revolutionary War will teach him but it took eight years, until 1783, to finish the job.

BUT stop and think about this. There were 13 colonies, all with different governments. When Congress was formed it was a sign of solidarity but all 56 delegates from the colonies would need authorization from their constituency to vote for independence. It was in May 1776 that John Adams presented a resolution to Congress that the “authority under the said crown should be totally suppressed.” All delegates from 13 colonies passed the resolution clearing the way for ringing of the Liberty Bell on July 4, 1776, announcing the adoption of the United Sates Declaration of Independence. Freedom at last from British Rule. You see, King George, you should have known better!

Follow this link to learn more about the Conservative Patriots of Orange County

This Is Islam!

By Rich Kozlovich 

I really do get tired of hearing about the poor, poor Muslims, and their enablers in the public sector, academia, and the media who cry Islamophobia.  Lets get this right once, please just once.  There is no such thing as Islamophobia.   There can be no such thing as Islamophobia because a phobia an irrational fear.  A mental disorder, and make no mistake about it, there's almost 1500 years of history to show the world needs to fear Islam, a violent, criminal, political movement masquerading as a religion, that not only allows the brutality, rape, murder, slavery, and pillaging of non Muslims, it encourages it claiming these vile acts give them creidt with Allah. 

When someone tells you they hate you and want to kill you, believe them.

Body of German-Israeli Woman Shani Louk Recovered in Gaza-  Palestinian barbarians kidnapped her from Music Festival, raped her, broke her legs, murdered her, then paraded her body through the of Gaza, as civilians cheered.  Hamas militants stormed in and killed at least 260 attendees in attendance to that festival....... 

Israeli forces found the remains of three October 7 Israeli hostages on Friday. The body of 28-year-old fashion stylist was identified by her family. She was kidnapped at the Nova music festival. Hamas terrorists targeted the music festival knowing thousands of young Israelis would be in attendance. The Palestinian terrorists killed over 300 innocents and kidnapped another 100 Jews at the music festival. This recording of Amit Buskila will break your heart. This was the last her family heard from her.

Prominent Muslim Declares: 'We Are On The Road To The White House' - The Islamic Takeover of America Unveiled - Osama Siblani declares the Arab-American community’s unstoppable ascent to political dominance in the U.S., aiming for control from local towns to the White House.  In a recent address on May 10, 2024, at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan, Osama Siblani, the radical editor and publisher of The Arab-American News, declared the Arab-American community’s growing influence in the United States. Speaking at a terror-tied dinner hosted by the Lebanese International Business Council, Siblani proudly asserted, “Forty years ago, we had a mayor for this town who talked about the Arab problem. Guess what? The Arabs are ruling Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and Hamtramck.”.............

Caught on Camera: Another Brutal Attack on French Teenager Sparks Outrage - A young French teenager was physically attacked in front of his school, Saint-Riquier College in Amiens, France. The incident occurred after class and prompted the victim to file a complaint. According to the initial information available, the attack took place late in the afternoon as the student was leaving the school grounds. Although the exact details of the incident’s circumstances or the identity of the black attacker are not yet known, several videos of the attack have been posted online. In the footage, we see a young man being knocked to the ground by a black individual in a tracksuit who appears visibly taller. Once on the ground, the victim received several kicks and punches from the same individual............

New Survey: 85% of Europeans Want Tougher Action on Illegal Migration - A recent survey by BVA Xsight for ARTE Europe Weekly reveals key insights into Europeans’ views on various issues ahead of the European elections. This large-scale study, conducted between March 27 and April 4, 2024, involved 22,726 Europeans from all 27 EU member states. The results highlight significant concerns and opinions on immigration, economic conditions, health, war, and “climate change.”...........

Canada's Descent into Tyranny: John Carpay Exposes Trudeau's War on Free Speech and Religion... - “Government that is big enough and powerful enough to provide you with everything is also a government that is big enough and powerful enough to take everything away from you.”In a powerful speech delivered at the Canada Strong and Free conference in Ottawa, John Carpay, head of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, sounded the alarm on the erosion of individual rights in Canada. Carpay’s impassioned address highlighted two controversial pieces of legislation, the “Online Harms Act” (Bill C-63) and C-367, both of which, he argues, threaten the very foundation of Canadian freedoms...............

 

Clash of Civilizations: Spain's Santiago Abascal on the Incompatibility of Islam and Western. - On May 10, 2024, Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s conservative Vox Party, released a video articulating his party’s view that Islam poses a threat and is fundamentally incompatible with Spanish society. The outspoken leader declared, “Incompatible ways of life cannot coexist in the same neighborhood without causing enormous damage. Islam is incompatible with the West. #InSelfDefense.” Accompanying his tweet, the video further detailed Abascal’s concerns, depicting what he perceives as a clash of civilizations unfolding within Spain.......

 

 The Fight for European Civilization: Éric Zemmour's Crusade Against Mass-Migration.  “The weakening of the Christian religion by left-wing militancy in the 20th century opened the way for an Islam that claims to fill our spiritual void and that very clearly intends to dominate the entire European continent, and it is succeeding.” – Eric  French politician Éric Zemmour addressed the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels on April 17, 2024, emphasizing the urgent need to challenge the European Union’s migration pact, combat the Islamization of Europe, and resist judicial overreach and “wokeism.” Criticizing EU migration policies, Zemmour outlined the threats these issues pose to European cultural identity and freedoms. His speech set the stage for a call to action to safeguard European heritage and values against these pressing challenges.....

 

'Kuffār', 'Zionist', 'Jew', 'Allah': Tags Discovered Once Again in French Cemetery, 82 Graves. After the majority of jihadist attacks and crimes, politicians and media often deflect, attributing motives to mental health issues or simply hiding the identities, religion, and immigration statuses of the perpetrators. On Monday, May 6th, disturbing black spray-painted hateful and threatening inscriptions were discovered on 82 graves in Tourtoirac cemetery. The French police initiated investigations. Sadly, this incident is not isolated; similar vandalism occurred in the region earlier this year. “It’s utterly distressing,” laments Nanou as she pushes open the cemetery gate, situated away from the town of Tourtoirac. The discovery was made in the afternoon by a craftsman tasked with repairing the gate, according to reports from France Bleu Périgord. A total of 82 graves were found defaced..............

France: Man throws Molotov cocktail into synagogue, causing major damage, threatens cops with knife and iron bar - “The attacker’s identity and motive are still unclear.” His identity may be, but is his motive unclear? Really? “Police shoot dead suspect who threw ‘Molotov cocktail’ into French synagogue,” by Jane Prinsley, The JC, May 17, 2024: French police have shot dead an armed man who allegedly set fire to a synagogue in the northwestern city […]

 

Indonesia: Muslims attack Catholic students with knives - If the perpetrators and victims had been reversed, which they would not be and should not be, this would be international news. As it is, you’ll only hear about it here. “Muslims Attack Catholic Students with Knives in Indonesia,” Morning Star News, May 8, 2024: SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Two young women were […]

 

Pakistan: Muslim pushes Christian employee into chaff cutter, tearing off her ear, she is denied justice - Christians are always at risk in Pakistan. Muslims such as Muhammad Mustafa know that the authorities will side with them. They can abuse Christians with impunity. “Justice Denied Christian Woman Cast into Chaff Cutter in Pakistan,” Morning Star News, May 15, 2024: LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Saima Bibi was serving tea […]

 

Islamic Republic of Iran: Sharia police beat little girl for wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt -  Non-Muslim women in Britain, France, and Germany will need a certain period of adjustment. But they’ll learn, just as Iranian women did after 1979. A video obtained by @IranIntl shows morality police forces violently beating a little girl in Fadak Park of Boroujerd, western Iran, because she was wearing a t-shirt with short sleeves. The […]

 

Hizballah top dog: If Israel invades Lebanon, Lebanese will target Americans ‘wherever they may find them’ - And of course the Southern border is wide open. “Kill them wherever you find them” (Qur’an 2:191, 4:89, cf. 9:5). “Hizbullah Official Nawaf Mousawi: If Israel Invades Lebanon – Hizbullah Will Retaliate Against Americans Wherever They May Find Them,” MEMRI, May 13, 2024: Hizbullah official Nawaf Mousawi threatened in a May 13, 2024 show on […]

 

France: Statue of Virgin Mary beheaded and fire set in Sainte-Thérèse church in Poitiers - Leftists have in recent years indulged in several orgies of destroying statues, but their favored method of destruction is pulling them down, not beheading them. Still, a Leftist may have done this, but could it have anything to do with the introduction into France of a large population of people who believe that Christianity is […] 

 

India: Muslim murders his 18-year-old daughter by slicing her neck for having a boyfriend - The victim, Suhana, clearly angered Mohammad Shahid so much by having a boyfriend rather than, presumably, simply submitting to an arranged marriage, that it made him believe that she had transgressed this Qur’anic dictate: “And it is not fitting for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and his messenger have settled a […]

 

Camp of the Dumbbells Clarice Feldman Neither the Biden administration nor the EU seems interested in the large and growing antipathy to open borders. And both will regret ignoring it.  In 1975 a Frenchman, Jean Raspail, wrote a fictional account of how western civilization was destroyed by unrestricted immigration from the Third World. His work, The Camp of the Saints, has been out of print for some time, but it again became popular in 2011 and  Amazon now is offering it on Kindle and you can read it free online. I urge you to do so, because it is probably the most prescient novel you will ever read.  Every day on X (formerly Twitter) I read accounts from around the world of the increased crime, inflation, hatred, and destruction of western civilization by the open borders policies of countries and the European Union. Bringing in hordes of undereducated men who live off the welfare state and hold views incompatible with ours is every bit as destructive of modern western life as Raspail envisioned it would be. Here’s a brief, representative sample of what I am reading every day online. (Online because the legacy media is largely ignoring it.)........

 

Israel Cannot Maintain The Status Quo In Gaza Sha'i ben-Tekoa If Israel, having achieved a military victory, returns control over Gaza to the same radicals who control it now, she is re-committing to slow suicide. .......A self-respecting Israel must finally gird its loins (a Biblical expression), and demand its right to sovereign ownership of Gaza. And as the legitimate landlord, it will have the authority to evict squatters, who, in the last election and via every opinion poll since, have supported the Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas, whose goal is to finish Hitler’s work. Indeed, like the Nazis, the Brotherhood’s religion has had a 1,400-year history of mass murdering Jews, starting with the decapitation of hundreds at the Khaibar Oasis, a slaughter carried out by Muhammad himself.  In every century thereafter, Muslims massacred Jews. They butchered them in Toledo, Spain, in 1066; so did the rampaging Al-Muwahiddun (Almohades) in 12th-century Andalusia and North Africa. The Muslims expelled the Jews from Yemen in 1679; murdered hundreds in Algiers in 1805; and that’s just the shortlist...............

 

Rebels without a Clue Banafsheh Zand The woke student-protesters at Ivy League universities should try a year abroad in Tehran.  The Islamic regime has embraced pro-Hamas university student protesters in the U.S. and is offering scholarships to those who have been expelled or are facing harsh academic discipline.  Khamenei’s glee at the damage that his Hamas war is causing to the international reputations of the U.S. and Israel is predictable.  His regime has been a major financier and purveyor of every imaginable armament to Iran’s proxy groups in Iraq, Hezb’allah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and Bashar al-Assad in Syria.  These groups and individuals support Tehran’s obsession with eliminating the U.S. and its ally Israel from any sphere of influence in the Middle East.  In the commission of this act, they actively jail, torture, and execute any citizen or member of their community who dares to deviate.  Tehran is not the only one using the tragedies of this conflict to cover up its own horrific report card of oppression and carnage.  Hamas had a firm grip on Gaza from 2007 until late October.  Under their rule, summary executions of Palestinian opponents, repression, the criminalization of same-sex relations, and rampant human and civil rights violations have occurred.............

 

 

Press Release From the Buckeye Institute: The Chevron Decision

 Jul 02, 2024 01:04 AM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 1, 2024 Lisa Gates, Vice President of Communications, (614) 224-3255 SCOTUS Decision Quotes The Buckeye Institute Liberty, U.S. Constitution, Buckeye Score Huge Wins Columbus, OH – In the U.S. Supreme Court term that ended on July 1, 2024, The Buckeye Institute’s influence at the court was further cemented with numerous citations in the court’s ruling in Culley v. Marshall. In addition, The Buckeye Institute, the U.S. Constitution, and liberty all scored important victories in seven cases before the high court.   Most notable from this term were the extensive citations of The Buckeye Institute’s amicus brief in Culley v. Marshall. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Justice Sonia Sotomayor both quoted extensively from Buckeye’s brief, proof that the facts and legal arguments Buckeye’s attorneys put forward are influencing the highest court in the land and that The Buckeye Institute’s brief provides a detailed road map on how to fix civil asset forfeiture.   In his concurring opinion, Justice Gorsuch wrote of the problems with civil asset forfeiture, citing Buckeye:   “Meanwhile, according to some reports, these days ‘up to 80% of civil forfeitures are not accompanied by a criminal conviction.’ Brief for [The] Buckeye Institute as Amicus Curiae 14 (Buckeye Brief).”   Justice Gorsuch further cited Buckeye’s legal arguments when discussing the “booming business” of civil asset forfeiture, writing:    “Other agencies seem to prioritize seizures they can monetize rather than those they cannot, posing for example as drug dealers rather than buyers so they can seize the buyer’s cash rather than illicit drugs that hold no value for law enforcement. See Buckeye Brief 7–8.”   In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote of civil asset forfeiture being used “even when the owner is innocent,” also citing Buckeye:   “In fact, as many as 80% of civil forfeitures are not accompanied by any ultimate criminal conviction. Brief for [The] Buckeye Institute as Amicus Curiae 14.”   In highlighting that civil forfeiture is vulnerable to abuse, Justice Sotomayor further cited Buckeye’s arguments, writing:   “These cash incentives not only encourage counties to create labyrinthine processes for retrieving property in the hopes that innocent owners will abandon attempts at recovery, they also influence which laws police enforce, how they enforce them, and who they enforce them against. See Brief for [The] Buckeye Institute as Amicus Curiae 6–20 (detailing empirical studies on the effect of fiscal incentives in civil forfeiture on law enforcement decisionmaking).”   National Review also noticed the extensive citations to Buckeye’s amicus brief, with Dan McLaughlin writing, “Gorsuch and Sotomayor may be coming from different perspectives on the law, but both cited some of the same sources (such as an amicus brief by the free-market Buckeye Institute) and noted some of the same abuses.”   Furthermore, in seven cases this session, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted arguments The Buckeye Institute put forward in its amicus briefs. In Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the court agreed with Buckeye when it ruled that under the Administrative Procedure Act, the six-year statute of limitations does not start to accrue until an individual or business is injured by the federal regulation in question. In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. U.S. Department of Commerce, the court heeded Buckeye’s call and abandoned the Chevron doctrine, calling the doctrine “misguided” and “unworkable.” In Garland v. Cargill the court agreed with Buckeye and ruled that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceeded its authority when, with the stroke of a pen, it turned more than 500,000 Americans into criminals In Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney, a unanimous court agreed with Buckeye that when the National Labor Relations Board sues a private company, the government should not get special treatment on its request for a preliminary injunction. In National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, the court agreed with Buckeye that the state of New York’s actions violated the First Amendment and degraded our free speech protections. In Sheetz v. El Dorado County, the court agreed with Buckeye when it ruled that governments cannot use building and other permits to extort money from citizens.   That is a wrap on what was an exciting U.S. Supreme Court term with The Buckeye Institute continuing to make its mark. # # # Founded in 1989, The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational institution – a think tank – whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states. The Buckeye Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit, and tax-exempt organization, as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. As such, it relies on support from individuals, corporations, and foundations that share a commitment to individual liberty, free enterprise, personal responsibility, and limited government. The Buckeye Institute does not seek or accept government funding. Donate Today! Support The Buckeye Institute The Buckeye Institute | 88 East Broad Street Suite 1300 | Columbus, OH 43215 US

Strange Moments in Dutch Taxation

July 1, 2024 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

When I write about how we can learn by examining tax policy in other nations, it’s normally because there’s an important policy lesson.

 

• It’s unfortunate to have an income tax.
• Adopting a VAT leads to bigger government.
• Wealth taxes are extraordinarily destructive.
• Class-warfare taxes don’t raise much revenue.

Sometimes, however, I share foreign examples simply because they are odd.

Consider these excerpts from a report by Charlotte Gifford in the U.K.-based Telegraph. It seems that the Netherlands had a very unusual way of double-taxing income that was saved and invested.

The Netherlands is expected to pay billions of pounds in compensation to taxpayers after a divisive levy on investments and second homes was shot down by the Dutch Supreme Court. On 6 June, the court ruled that the country…went against the European Convention on Human Rights because it forced savers and investors to pay tax on income they had not earned.

The decision has opened the door to legal redress for hundreds of thousands of people who were overcharged by the tax authority…based on fictional – rather than actual – returns. …the government assumed that everyone earned a 4pc return on their assets. Taxpayers were then charged 30pc on that yield.

This was regardless of whether they held cash, stocks or property and regardless of how their investments performed. …Savers were effectively punished for holding their money in low-interest accounts, with many forking out more in tax than they earned from their wealth. As a result people were charged effective tax rates of 100pc or more.

As you can see, this approach sometimes led to absurdly high tax rates.

For example, the Dutch government would assume that a household with $100,000 of assets would have $4,000 of earnings. It would then grab $1,200 of taxes.

But what if, in the real world, that household had the money in a bank account paying 1 percent interest. They would have to pay $1,200 of tax even though their earnings were only $1,000. That means a tax rate of more than 100 percent.

Or what if the household had money invested in the stock market and it was a bad year, meaning they lost money or maybe broke even. The government would still demand $1,200 of tax even though there were no earnings. That’s means a tax rate for higher than 100 percent. Infinite!

 

Barack Obama and Francois Hollande would be delighted.

To be fair, this strange system also could mean low tax rates. With the right (smart of lucky) investments, a household with $100,000 of assets might have earnings of $20,000. So a tax of $1,200 would mean a tax rate of 6 percent.

The bottom line if that this approach meant very high tax rates on people when financial markets were weak (or on people who were bad/unlucky investors). But very low tax rates when financial markets were strong (or on people who were good/lucky investors).

Ideally, there should be no double taxation. So if people save and invest their after-tax earnings, there should be no additional layers of tax when they get interest, dividends, or capital gains.

If the ideal policy is not possible, the goal should be the lowest-possible rates on productive behavior. And if such taxes have to exist, it makes sense to tax actual returns rather that assumed returns.

P.S. Some tax rates in the Netherlands are far too high.

P.S.S. Notwithstanding punitive income taxes, the Netherlands is a reasonably sensible nation by European standards. For instance, it has private Social Security and school choice.