Biden to Resume ‘Offensive’ Weapon Sales to Saudi Arabia
On the campaign trail in 2020, Biden told voters he would treat Riyadh as a pariah. He made the promise because Saudi’s brutal war in Yemen had claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, and the Kingdom assassinated Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a diplomatic building in Turkey.
As president, Biden never fulfilled that campaign pledge. He continued most arms sales to Saudi Arabia, allowing Riyadh to execute the war in Yemen for more than a year before a ceasefire deal was reached with the Houthis. Additionally, rather than treat Riyadh as a pariah, Biden has sought to ink a major deal with Saudi Arabia that would give the Gulf state a Japan-style defense commitment from the US.
by Kyle Anzalone:
https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/biden-to-resume-offensive-weapon-sales-to-saudi-arabia/
FBI Raids Home of Former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter
On Wednesday, the FBI raided the home of Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector and outspoken critic of the NATO proxy war in Ukraine and Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.
Ritter told reporters outside of his New York home that the raid was related to a suspected violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law that requires individuals or entities engaging in lobbying or other activity on behalf of a foreign country to register as foreign agents with the US Department of Justice.
“The search warrant is related to concerns apparently the US government has about violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. I will tell you right now I am not in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act … and hopefully, by executing the search warrant and taking the information that they did, they will rapidly reach that conclusion,” Ritter said.
Read the rest:
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/08/07/fbi-raids-home-of-former-un-weapons-inspector-scott-ritter/
Netanyahu Dissolves War Cabinet, Consolidates Power
The Prime Minister plans to make future decisions about the war in Gaza with a small consultation group
by Kyle Anzalone
https://rebelnet.me/news/bcd3f421072d93f497e9
The Trump Trial and our Injustice System
by Ron Paul
I’ve long criticized our current U.S. justice system—on all levels—as becoming much more about political justice than blind justice. The bizarre trial and conviction of former President Donald Trump last week on 34 felonies only reinforces my concerns:
https://rebelnet.me/news/3290d4230db0db6d3f62
Maldives Bans All Israeli Travelers Over ‘Genocidal Acts’ in Gaza
Nearly 11,000 Israelis visited the Indian Ocean archipelago nation last year,
Quote: “We don’t want your money with blood on it.”
https://rebelnet.me/news/66f0b1652b1c1262439c
Israel Used US-Made Bombs in Rafah Tent Camp Massacre
by Dave DeCamp
Investigations from CNN and The New York Times found that the bombs Israel dropped on a tent camp in Rafah on Sunday were made in the US. Weapons experts examined debris that was filmed at the scene of the strike and identified it as a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, a munition manufactured inside the US by Boeing.
The Israeli military said it used two munitions that had small warheads, each packed with 17 kilos of explosives, which is the traditional payload of a GBU-39. The GBU-39 is designed for precise targeting, but weapons experts say there’s always a risk of mass casualties when dropping the bomb on such densely populated areas.
Full article: https://news.antiwar.com/2024/05/29/israel-used-us-made-bombs-in-rafah-tent-camp-massacre/
House Bill To Send College Protesters To Gaza.
Yes you read that correctly. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) introduced a bill in the House designed to send US college protesters to Gaza. Ogles said the minimum amount of time the protesters would have to spend in Gaza would be six months. “If you support a terrorist organization, and you participate in unlawful activity on campuses, you should get a taste of your own medicine,” he said.
https://rebelnet.me/news/ccf7f68c492d838bfc1d
House Passes Bill That Conflates Criticism of Israel With Antisemitism
The House overwhelmingly passed a bill that conflates criticism of the modern state of Israel with antisemitism and will mandate that definition be used by the Department of Education when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws.
The bill could be used to crack down on pro-Palestine protesters at college campuses across the country, who have been falsely labeled “antisemitic” despite Jewish students participating in the protests.
The bill passed in a vote of 320-91 and now heads to the Senate for a vote, and received “no” votes from 21 Republicans and 70 Democrats. Opponents said they voted against the legislation because it threatened the First Amendment.
Read more: https://rebelnet.me/news/70d0fc4a633f05c166ac
Report: Israel Tells US It Has No Choice But To Respond to Iran
Axios reported on Monday that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Israel has no choice but to respond to Iran’s missile and drone attack, which came in retaliation for Israel’s bombing of Iran’s consulate in Damascus.
Gallant and Austin spoke on Sunday after President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US would not support an Israeli attack on Iran. The US is trying to portray the Iranian attack as a victory for Israel since most of the drones and missiles were intercepted with the help of the US, the UK, and Jordan, although some missiles got through and damaged an Israeli airbase.
But the US is also reaffirming that it will continue to defend Israel if there is another escalation. According to the Pentagon, Austin told Gallant that the US “does not seek escalation,” but he added that the US will “continue to defend Israel.”
Israeli TV reported on Monday that the Israeli War Cabinet convened again and agreed to respond to the Iranian attack “clearly and forcefully,” but there are no details on what the response would look like. The report said the attack would be designed to send the message that Israel will “not allow an attack of that magnitude against it to pass without a reaction.”
by Dave DeCamp
Big War News:
Iran Launches Major Drone Attack on Israel
The attack comes weeks after Israeli forces bombed Tehran’s consulate building in the Syrian capital, killing seven officials, including a senior IRGC commander, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi. The attack triggered a major spike in regional tensions, and Iran vowed to respond in kind.
Get the truth: https://linked-out.me/news/4192f3b6b3d3dc1b7b8a
House Votes To Extend Warrantless Spying Powers
An effort to force federal agencies to obtain warrants before snooping on Americans was narrowly shot down
https://linked-out.me/news/2fe4a575b28b197ab705
IDF Admits To Killing their own Israeli Elderly Hostage on October 7
An elderly Israeli woman abducted by Hamas during the group’s surprise attack last year was likely gunned down by an IDF helicopter, an internal probe concluded. To date, Tel Aviv has offered few details about other captives who may have been killed in friendly fire incidents.
The 67-year-old resident of the Nir Oz Kibbutz, Efrat Katz, was taken hostage during Hamas’ assault last October. Footage of the kidnapping showed the woman stuffed into the bed of a truck alongside her daughter and two grandchildren.
In an internal Israeli military probe published on Friday, the IDF admitted it had “failed to protect civilians” during its response at Nir Oz.
More & Source:
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/04/05/idf-admits-to-killing-elderly-hostage-on-october-7/
US Secretary of State says Israel is as bad as Hamas...
Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a stark warning to Tel Aviv that Israel risked becoming no different from Hamas if it did not curb civilian casualties in Gaza. The senior official also said that the White House welcomed the opening of another border crossing into the territory, but would not be satisfied until more aid reached the Palestinians.
During a press conference in Brussels on Thursday, Blinken pinned blame on Hamas for the severe deprivation in Gaza but said Tel Aviv shared some responsibility and must assist the millions of refugees displaced by its bombing spree.
Source, by Kyle Anzalone:
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/04/05/blinken-israel-becoming-indistinguishable-from-hamas/
AI Machine Directs Israel's Bombing Spree in Gaza
Select Quote:
"One source stated that human personnel often served only as a “rubber stamp” for the machine’s decisions, adding that, normally, they would personally devote only about “20 seconds” to each target before authorizing a bombing — just to make sure the Lavender-marked target is male. This was despite knowing that the system makes what are regarded as “errors” in approximately 10 percent of cases, and is known to occasionally mark individuals who have merely a loose connection to militant groups, or no connection at all."
https://linked-out.me/news/3fc915ee1c8e116780fe
TGIF: Israel Humiliated
by Sheldon Richman
To more fully understand the ferocity of Israel’s massacre of the
people of the Gaza Strip, it’s perhaps worth considering that on October
7, 2023, the reputedly invincible Israeli Defence Forces and
intelligence services were made to look like fools caught sleeping on
guard duty. While Hamas’s murder, assault, and kidnapping of
noncombatants must be strongly condemned, we should be able to see how
humiliating that was for the Israeli government, which brags as much
about its awesome power as it does about its allegedly unequaled moral
stature. Gaza Strip, it’s perhaps worth considering that on October
7, 2023, the reputedly invincible Israeli Defence Forces and
intelligence services were made to look like fools caught sleeping on
guard duty. While Hamas’s murder, assault, and kidnapping of
noncombatants must be strongly condemned, we should be able to see how
humiliating that was for the Israeli government, which brags as much
about its awesome power as it does about its allegedly unequaled moral
stature.
Read the full article:
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/tgif-israel-humiliated/
The Social Security and Medicare Scams
by Laurence Vance
Charlotte Cowles is a financial advice columnist for The Cut,
“a New York Magazine site dedicated to women’s lives and interests,
including politics, work, money, relationships, style, and parenting.”
She recently lost $50,000 when she fell for a scam,
put that amount in cash in a shoe box, and handed it over to a stranger
that she was duped into thinking was an undercover CIA agent.
The scam she fell for is not that unusual. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
consumers reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to scams in 2022. The FTC
received fraud reports from 2.4 million consumers. The top five scams
were imposter scams; online shopping scams; prizes, sweepstakes, and
lotteries; investment-related reports; and business and job
opportunities.
Not mentioned by the FTC or reported on by any magazine is that the
federal government operates two of the biggest scams that have deceived
Americans for decades: Social Security and Medicare.
Instituted during the New Deal of President Franklin Roosevelt in
1935, Social Security is the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability
Insurance (OASDI) program that provides monthly benefits for retirement,
disability, survivorship, and death to about 65 million Americans,
including survivors and dependents, making it the largest federal
domestic program.
Instituted during the Great Society of President Lyndon Johnson in
1965, Medicare is government-funded health care for Americans 65 years
old and older and for those who are permanently disabled, have end-stage
renal disease, or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). About 65 million
Americans are enrolled in Medicare, and it is the second-largest federal
domestic program.
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) of 1935 (amended in
1965) imposes on every person’s gross income an employee payroll tax
designated for Social Security and Medicare, with matching contributions
from employers. The Self-Employed Contributions Act (SECA) of 1954
requires that self-employed individuals pay Social Security and Medicare
tax on their net earnings if they are at least $400.
Social Security is funded by a 12.4 percent payroll tax (split
equally between employers and employees) on the first $168,600 of
employee income. Medicare is funded by a 2.9 percent payroll tax (split
equally between employers and employees) on every dollar of employee
income. Employees (but not employers) pay an additional 0.9 percent
Medicare tax on wages over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for
married couples filing jointly. Self-employed persons pay the full 12.4
percent Social Security tax and 2.9 percent Medicare tax but receive a
tax deduction equal to 50 percent of the amount of payroll taxes they
paid. They are also subject to the additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax,
if applicable.
Although labeled as such, these taxes are anything but
“contributions.” Employers who don’t properly withhold Social Security
taxes face fines and imprisonment. Although you can opt out of Social
Security and Medicare by not signing up for them when you are eligible
in your 60s, you can never opt out of having to pay Social Security and
Medicare taxes your entire working life. And no one is entitled to get
any of his “contributions” back should he decide not to enroll in Social
Security or Medicare.
Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from paychecks are not
invested or deposited in an account with the taxpayer’s name on it, and
there is no real trust fund or physical lock box where these taxes are
set aside for future use. All payroll taxes collected end up in the U.S.
Treasury along with personal and corporate income taxes, estate and
gifts taxes, and excise taxes. Social Security and Medicare benefits are
paid out of current government revenues.
The Supreme Court has ruled that no one is entitled to receive Social
Security or Medicare benefits because he “paid into the system” his
whole working life. In fact, there is no correlation between payroll
taxes collected and Social Security and Medicare benefits paid. Congress
could at any time raise or eliminate the Social Security wage base
and/or increase the payroll tax rates for Social Security Medicare (or
both) on employers or employees (or both) while not changing benefits a
whit.
Social Security and Medicare benefits could be reduced at any time.
Benefits for both programs could be means tested. The retirement age for
Social Security could be raised. The eligibility age for Medicare could
be raised. Cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security could be
reduced or eliminated. Medicare could eliminate coverage for certain
medical procedures, raise deductibles, and/or increase co-payments. And
payroll taxes could be raised at the same time.
Social Security and Medicare taxes exist simply for the purpose of
raising revenue. If the taxes extracted from Americans’ paychecks were
called by the government simply “payroll taxes,” instead of Social
Security and Medicare taxes, then the fact that these programs are just
welfare programs would be quite evident.
Don’t be scammed by the government, politicians, and the AARP about
Social Security and Medicare. View them for what they are:
intergenerational income-transfer schemes and wealth-redistribution
programs.
It’s Time to End Squatter’s Rights
by Ryan McMaken
Last month, New York City homeowner Adele Andaloro was arrested after changing the locks on a house that had been seized by squatters. According to The New York Post:
“Andaloro was charged with unlawful eviction because she had changed
the locks and hadn’t provided a new key to the residents. The residents,
however, are squatters.
Fortunately, Andaloro’s arrest was filmed and went viral, reviving an
ongoing debate over squatters “rights,” under which trespassers can
take over an unoccupied house or piece of land and attempt to establish
legal ownership.
Not long after the Andaloro video surfaced, an immigrant TikToker with 500,000 followers posted a video encouraging other migrants to squat in
private residences in the United States. The immigrant, Leonel Moreno,
explained to potential squatters that under US law, “if a house is not
inhabited, we can seize it.”
These videos have fueled increasing concern among property owners who
have witnessed the explosion in the numbers of aggressive homeless
residents in both central cities and suburbs. This, coupled with millions of new foreign nationals flooding into US cities in
recent years, has further increased concerns about a sizable, rootless
and impoverished population searching for opportunities to seize
unoccupied homes.
These recent examples have prompted many Americans to wonder why
squatter’s rights exist at all. Historically, there have been some
arguably reasonable justifications for the practice, such as in times
past when real estate records were far less precise and well preserved.
In modern times, however, squatter’s rights have little purpose beyond
redistributing property to favored interest groups. Moreover, squatter’s
rights in modern settings bear less and less resemblance to the
squatter’s rights of history.
Thanks to all this, it is becoming increasingly clear that squatter’s
rights have outlived whatever usefulness they may once have had. The
time has come to end squatter’s rights altogether.
Source: https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/its-time-to-end-squatters-rights/
The ‘Enemy of the People’ Is At It Again
by Tom Woods
“The corporate press is the enemy of the people.”
If they wanted
to, these reporters could find other economists who say there’s nothing
wrong with falling prices, but since they’re lackeys for the status quo,
they don’t want us entertaining the possibility of prices that trend
downward rather than upward, because then maybe we’ll start questioning
the regime under which we live.
The arguments advanced by “economists” like this, who say falling prices are a bad thing, are unpersuasive, to say the least.
Thus Duncan Weldon writes in The Guardian: “Falling prices
might sound like a good thing, and in individual cases they often
are”—hey, he throws us a bone there!—”but a falling general price level
is usually associated with severe economic strains.”
Where’s his evidence? Not one word of proof is supplied, because
“deflation causes depressions” is just something all right-thinking
people know and doesn’t require evidence.
I have a novel idea: how about we check the data?
Full article:
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-enemy-of-the-people-is-at-it-again/
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