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Israel retaliates after Syrian missile lands near nuclear reactor
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
FBI puts law enforcement nationwide on notice about increase in crime, 'remain vigilant'
Wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the police are being jailed instead of the criminals or that hundreds of thousands of illegals are pouring over the border into the US or or or the fact that police are being defunded in a massive way. FBI aka Democrat's brown shirts aka Deep State.
[Fox News] The FBI is warning local law enforcement agencies to prepare for potential increases in crime over the next few months as the summer season kicks off and more people continue to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Crimes rates in many cities have increased since the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, with many agencies seeing upticks in gun violence and crimes committed by teenagers.

"The FBI is warning local and other federal law enforcement to be on the lookout for potential increases in violence heading into the warmer months," a senior law enforcement official told Fox News. "As more people are free to move about and socialize, crime of all different levels may certainly increase."

In a statement to Fox News, the FBI said it doesn't comment on specific intelligence reports but that the agency routinely shares information with law enforement partners.

"The FBI shares information about potential threats to enhance the ability of law enforcement agencies to better protect the communities they serve," the FBI said. "As always, we urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the nearest law enforcement agency."

In Chicago and Washington D.C., authorities are seeing more violent crimes and carjackings involving juveniles. One of the more brazen crimes involves two girls -- ages 13 and 15 -- who are charged with the death of an Uber Eats driver who was killed during an attempted carjacking. They are expected to receive a plea bargain.

Last month, while at the scene of a shooting that left two people dead and three others wounded, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said: "We have a gun violence problem in the community."

On Tuesday, authorities in Chicago said a 16-year-old had been arrested in connection with using a knife during an attempted carjacking.

"You know, idle minds are the devil's playground. And a lot of these kids, they've been idle for a year-and-a-half now without going to school. And that's been a big problem," Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo told Fox News earlier this month.

Acevedo also serves as president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and was previously chief of the Houston Police Department.

In New York City, crime statistics show the city reported 106 murders from Jan. 1 through Sunday, compared to 100 in the same time period last year. Shootings are also up 64%, according to New York Police Department figures.

In March, the city saw a 9% jump in killings and 492 gun-related arrests.

Los Angeles has seen 97 murders as of April 10, a nearly 30% jump from last year. Other violent crimes were down with the exception of aggravated assault, according to Los Angeles Police Department numbers.

The FBI warning comes as half of adults in the United States -- 130 million people -- had already received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose. Crime steadily increased across the country last year in the first few months of lockdowns that coincided with the emergence of mass protests and social unrest over police brutality.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm sure they hadn't noticed an increase themselves. FBI is fucking uselesss.
Posted by: Chris || 04/22/2021 8:20 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Sluse Grealet9429 || 04/22/2021 10:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Does this mean they're not worried about 'white supremacists' and "Trumper Insurrectionists"?
Posted by: Bobby || 04/22/2021 11:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Unfortunately it is not a Bee™ article...
Posted by: magpie || 04/22/2021 12:18 Comments || Top||

#5  The FBI is warning local law enforcement

Kinda like a Fauci warning.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/22/2021 18:12 Comments || Top||

#6  I put it down to Heinlein's "bad luck."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/22/2021 19:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Take apart some of the street gangs instead of chasing down people who "trespassed" on public property.

But I suspect that would raise the ire of the Democrats, which the FBI is desperate not to do.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 04/22/2021 20:16 Comments || Top||


Babysitter, 24, 'killed one-year-old boy with wrestling moves' after becoming angry over a torn pillow
  • [Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Marvin Rex Lake has been charged with capital murder following the death of Ahren Joshua DeHart who suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured skull

  • Police say Lake, of El Paso, Texas, said he did not know how the boy was injured

  • But he later admitted carrying out the wrestling moves and putting him in a football hold after getting upset that DeHart had ripped a pillow, cops say

  • Lake is said to have admitted anger issues, saying he did not know his strength

  • The victim and two other children were being watched by Lake on April 13 while their moms worked. The other children also suffered injuries, police say

  • Dehart died from his injuries on April 16

"Kid shouldna wanted to challenge me! F*&ked around and found out!"
Posted by: Fred || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He didn't know his strength against a year old?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru PB || 04/22/2021 1:39 Comments || Top||

#2  This is the reason they're in jail.
Posted by: Wren || 04/22/2021 3:44 Comments || Top||

#3  ^He shouldn't be in jail - he should be feeding the fishes.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 4:56 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 Heh heh heh.
Posted by: Wren || 04/22/2021 5:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Well we have a twofer here.
Posted by: Dacama || 04/22/2021 7:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Was his nickname 'Superfly' by any chance? Rowdy Rex?
Posted by: Raj || 04/22/2021 8:29 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm going with the Camel Clutch.
Posted by: Slappy || 04/22/2021 21:16 Comments || Top||

#8  Huggy Bear
Posted by: Cherenter Elmaper2571 || 04/22/2021 21:43 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Paratrooper, 21, posts smiling selfie just moments before being killed in parachute jump from Blackhawk helicopter at Fort Bragg
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]
  • Spc. Abigail Jenks died Monday in a training jump at the North Carolina base

  • Jenks was conducting a static line jump from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter when she suffered the fatal injury, officials said

  • Few details were released about the accident, as the investigation continues

  • In a static line jump, the chute is deployed via a cord attached to the inside of the aircraft on one end and the top of the skydiver's deployment bag on the other

  • This type of jump involves a very short free fall before the chute is deployed and is often used for jumps from lower heights of around 1,000 feet or less

  • Fort Bragg officials released Jenks' identity Wednesday, saying Jenks was originally from Gansevoort, around 50 miles north of Albany, New York

  • She had joined the Army in October 2018 before being assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, as a paratrooper

  • Governor Andrew Cuomo paid tribute to the New York native and ordered flags to be flown at half staff across state buildings in her honor from Thursday

  • This is the second death in less than a year among the 82nd Airborne Division
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/22/2021 06:51 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There aren't too many things that can go wrong; chute malfunction or intentional.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/22/2021 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Playing with selfies distracts from what one is actually doing. The 82nd Airborne might want to consider taking all cell phones as trainees board the airplane, returning them on the ground.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/22/2021 11:59 Comments || Top||

#3  ..why should they have any cell phones in a tactical situation, training or real world? Practice Opsec so it becomes automatic.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/22/2021 12:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Sad. But who lets them have cell phones in training?
Posted by: Dron66046 || 04/22/2021 12:46 Comments || Top||

#5  I went through Jump School in Feb of 1993. I was subsequently awarded my gold Navy/Marine Corps wings a year later after the requisite number of jumps from different aircraft and 6 months in a jump billet.

Suffice to say ...this activity requires one to be 100% focused on the task at hand and all the things that can go wrong. Very little room for error at 1000ft AGL. RIP soldier.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 04/22/2021 13:55 Comments || Top||

#6  There's about three outhouses full of wrong in this story.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/22/2021 15:19 Comments || Top||

#7  For some reason I'm reminded of "Private Benjamin".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 15:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Ah'm gonna project 'hazing'.
Long fall off a short rope.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/22/2021 18:08 Comments || Top||

#9  Well at least she died smirking
Posted by: Gromoth Hatfield8596 || 04/22/2021 20:03 Comments || Top||

#10  I'd have serious questions for the safety officer and/or crew chief about why this young lady wasn't benched as soon as the camera came out.

And I think I know the answer already. No, I would not want to discipline our high profile Female 82nd Airborne Combat Infantry candidate, especially such a high profile and flashy training task likely with a diversity kommissar and camera crew waiting at the drop zone.

No, she was not allowed to be yelled at, disciplined, and even let to fuck off during a very dangerous training, endangering herself and her teammates, and because of that we had a safety slip up and she is dead.

This is the fault of those who set, or rather, lower the training standards.

Among them, are the politicians like Cuomo.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/22/2021 20:44 Comments || Top||

#11  Accidents happen yearly, and this is likely one of those, especially on a hop-n-pop out of a smaller helicopter vs a ramp jump off a Chinook, or ramp or door jumps off larger aircraft.

UNlike you, I have several selfies I have taken on static line jumps - if it was a hollywood jump. This wasn't likey the soldier's error. Full battle jump requires a lot more attention for deployment, drop discipline and proper landing, so that might be an issue.

But disciplining soldiers for a camera in what looks to be the ramp area before they even boarded and after they finished gearing up exept for the headgear? Swiskof you're full of it on that if you think its a discipline problem. Pics there have been going on ever since cameras were common, as long as they didnt violate Opsec. Have you even been in the Army in the past 20 years?
Posted by: These Forkbeard7574 || 04/22/2021 22:13 Comments || Top||

#12  And I also like MANY others, have the classic photo of the tops of my boots and my knees in the breeze on the way down after my chute deployed.

The camera is not the problem. Wait until the AAR and report before you go slagging the soldier.
Posted by: These Forkbeard7574 || 04/22/2021 22:15 Comments || Top||


The last defender of the Brest Fortress, Pyotr Kotelnikov, dies at 92
[REGNUM] The last surviving defender of the Brest Fortress, WWII veteran Pyotr Kotelnikov, died in Moscow at the age of 92. This was reported on April 21 by the Ren-TV channel.

At the same time, according to the source, the veteran died at home, he suffered from cancer.

Note that Pyotr Kotelnikov was born in 1929 in the village of Dolgovo, Penza Region, and after the death of his parents ended up in one of the orphanages in the Rostov Region, where he learned to play the viola, and in 1940, together with four comrades, he was taken to the musical platoon of the 44th Infantry Rifle shelf.

On June 21, 1941, young musicians rehearsed at the Northern Gate of the Brest Fortress, and on the morning of June 22, the war broke out. Kotelnikov, who at that time was barely 12 years old, helped the wounded, carried them ammunition, food and water, since the child was not given a weapon. On June 29, a group of fighters went to the breakthrough and took the guys with them.

Recall that at the beginning of World War II, the defenders of the Brest Fortress, being completely surrounded in the rear of the strongest group of the German fascist army, without water and food, without communication, with an acute shortage of ammunition and medicines, fought with the enemy for almost a month.
Posted by: badanov || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not a month they fought but just over a week.
Posted by: BernardZ || 04/22/2021 5:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Soviet pamphleteer, Sergey Smirnov in 1956, found writings on the walls of the fortress dated 20 July, 1941.

Soviet resistance continued to the end of July
Posted by: badanov || 04/22/2021 6:49 Comments || Top||

#3  badanov is correct. The organized troops held out for a week, but resistance went on for much longer.

"The Russians at Brest-Litovsk fought extremely steadfastly and tenaciously. They showed excellent infantry training and demonstrated a remarkable will to fight," wrote Lieutenant General Fritz Schlieper, commander of the 45th Infantry Division.
Posted by: European Conservative || 04/22/2021 10:10 Comments || Top||


-Great Cultural Revolution
Atheist Group Excommunicates Richard Dawkins for Transgender Heresy
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 07:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not The Bee? YJCMTSU.
Posted by: Bobby || 04/22/2021 7:46 Comments || Top||

#2  The left is becoming an ouroboros now...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/22/2021 8:17 Comments || Top||

#3  ha ha ha... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !
Posted by: Dron66046 || 04/22/2021 12:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Not the Bee™...? *Snicker*
Posted by: magpie || 04/22/2021 12:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Richard, come on over to the Christian side. We believe in redemption, forgiveness, and things like that.
Posted by: Tom || 04/22/2021 14:05 Comments || Top||

#6  I can sympathize with an atheist who hates God because of some perceived injustice or Job like afflictions in their life. What I cannot understand is the all out war against faith, by people without any experience to motivate this hostility.

Has anybody noticed that in debates the channels will pit only flat earth Luddite types or know nothing papists against scientists? Makes the scientists look smarter than they are and denigrates all faith for making men boorish and silly.

I used to like that Hitchens guy beat up on islam and papists, but he too became a drag because of his incessant militant opposition to anyone being 'stupid enough to believe in a god'.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 04/22/2021 16:16 Comments || Top||

#7  What I cannot understand is the all out war against faith, by people without any experience to motivate this hostility.

It's about power to impose one's will on others. People who asked for 'tolerance' before show they have none themselves. It was never about "live and let live".
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/22/2021 17:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Yes. I think that's it.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 04/22/2021 17:27 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Deby's son named 'president of the republic' of Chad
Step by step, the transition continues. Yesterday he appointed a transitional council, today this.
[AlAhram] According to a charter released by the presidency on Wednesday, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, will 'occupy the functions of the president of the republic' and also serve as head of the armed forces

A son of Chad's slain leader Idriss Deby Itno is to take over as president in place of his father, according to a charter released by the presidency on Wednesday.
It said General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, who on Tuesday was named transitional leader as head of a military council following his father's death, will "occupy the functions of the president of the republic" and also serve as head of the armed forces.

The charter repeals the preceding constitution and will be implemented as the "basic law of the republic," according to its terms.

The younger Deby has also been named "supreme head of the armed forces," it said.

Deby's son had overseen his father's security as head of the elite presidential guard and had often appeared alongside him.

He signed a decree Tuesday setting out a military council with 15 generals, including himself and 14 others known to have been part of the late president's circle of loyalists.

The council is tasked with an 18-month transition toward "free and democratic elections."

Mahamat Idriss Deby also chairs the "military transition council, the council of ministers, the councils and superior committees of national defence," according to the charter.

The new head of state will promulgate legislation adopted by the 69 members of the national transition council, who are named directly by Mahamat.

The Transition Charter, which contains 95 articles, also guarantees "freedom of opinion, conscience and worship."

A transition government has been set up, whose members are named by the new president.

"The members of the army who are called to the transition government are discharged from all military duties," the charter said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Putin Warns of 'Quick and Tough' Russian Response for Foes
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
on Wednesday sternly warned the West against encroaching further on Russia's security interests, saying Moscow's response will be "quick and tough" and make the culprits feel bitterly sorry for their action.

The warning during Putin's annual state-of-the-nation address came amid a massive Russian military buildup near Ukraine, where cease-fire violations in the seven-year conflict between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces have escalated in recent weeks. The United States and its allies have urged the Kremlin to pull the troops back.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Those who organize any provocations threatening our core security interests will regret their deeds more than they regretted anything for a long time."

Putin is crystal clear: he told us in no uncertain terms that Russia regards Eastern Ukraine as a core security interest -- what we typically describe as a "vital interest."

Is Eastern Ukraine a vital or "core security" interest for the US?
How could it possibly be vital to our freedom or prosperity?

Posted by: Bugs Graviting7500 || 04/22/2021 6:17 Comments || Top||

#2  bidens bank account
Posted by: Chris || 04/22/2021 8:20 Comments || Top||

#3  WWIII postponed
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 10:40 Comments || Top||

#4  That's Russia for you. Quick and tough. Give me an experienced military leader as president for life any day over septuagenarians surrounded by appeasers and lickspittle yes men, or worse - traitors. And five year life spans and multiple ideologies and core beliefs to swing between every term, like drunks on our way to oblivion.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 04/22/2021 13:36 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Researcher Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Stealing Trade Secrets to Sell in China
[EpochTimes] A hospital researcher on April 19 was sentenced to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal trade secrets from an Ohio children’s hospital to sell in China, according to the Justice Department.

Zhou Yu, 51, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to stealing at least five trade secrets relating to exosome research from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio, where he had worked for 10 years until 2017. Exosomes are small sacs of fluid released from cells that have increasingly been used in the research, identification, and treatment of a range of diseases, including liver fibrosis and liver cancer.

Zhou’s co-conspirator was his wife, Chen Li, 48, who also worked as a researcher at another lab in the institute. She was sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for her role in the scheme after also pleading guilty.

"Zhou and his wife executed a scheme over the course of several years to set up businesses in China, steal American research, and profit from doing so," Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio said in a statement.

The couple started a company in China to create and sell exosome "isolation kits" using stolen trade secrets from the institute, court documents stated.

They also received funding from Chinese authorities, including the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, prosecutors said.

"Zhou’s greed was encouraged and enabled by a series of Chinese Government programs which incentivize thievery in an attempt to supplement China’s own research and development goals on the back of American ingenuity and investment," John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, said in a statement.

The couple had also applied for several Chinese-backed programs, including talent plans—a method used by Beijing to facilitate the transfer of foreign technology to China, the department stated.

As part of their conviction, the couple was ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution. They were also required to forfeit around $1.45 million as well as shares from their companies. The defendants were arrested in July 2019 in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,.

Zhou’s case is among dozens of prosecutions brought by the department in recent years targeting Chinese state-sanctioned theft of U.S. intellectual property.

In December 2020, Zheng Zaosong, a Chinese medical researcher, was sentenced to time already served after pleading guilty to making false statements to federal Sherlocks.

Zheng, 31, came to the United States on a J-1 visa in August 2018 and conducted cancer cell research at Harvard University’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He was arrested on Dec. 10, 2019, at Boston’s Logan International Airport, where he was found with 21 vials containing biological materials in his luggage. He lied and answered "no" when asked by federal officers whether he was traveling with any biological items.

Zheng later admitted that he intended to use the vials to conduct research at his laboratory in China’s Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital and then publish findings under his own name.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/22/2021 00:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Japan-Based USAF F-16s Flew South China Sea Mission Fully Loaded With Live Air-To-Air Missiles
[TheDrive] The four U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets that recently flew a mission over the highly contested South China Sea were photographed landing at Yokota Air Base in Japan, en route to their home base at Misawa. The images confirm that these jets were armed for counter-air operations with a heavy load of live air-to-air missiles. The jets’ appearance in the South China Sea last week coincided with the biggest presence of People’s Liberation Army aircraft in Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in recent times: 25 aircraft in all.

The Viper photos, taken by Iori, whose tweets can be found here, detail the jets’ extensive armament. Each jet was armed with five beyond-visual-range AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and a single short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder — one of the latest AIM-9X missiles on some of the jets, or an older AIM-9M on the others. Under the belly, each aircraft was fitted with an AN/ALQ-184 electronic countermeasures self-protection pod. All of the weapons were live, a relatively uncommon sight, especially over Japan, and indicated that this was much more than a simple long-distance training mission and, instead, a calculated signal to the Chinese military and possibly even a contingency operation.

As evidenced by the AN/ASQ-213 HARM Targeting System, the distinctive pod-mounted sensor found under the right side of the aircraft’s intakes, these jets are the radar-killing Wild Weasel F-16CM versions but, on this occasion at least, they were carrying maximum air-to-air load-outs. That these live missiles were then taken over the sensitive South China Sea suggests a willingness to demonstrate U.S. ability to generate defensive combat air patrols (CAPs) in proximity to Taiwan, as well as other hotspots in the region.

The photos were taken on April 17, when all four of the jets that had been involved in the South China Sea flight on April 12 touched down at Yokota Air Base, in eastern Tokyo, at around 3:00 PM local time, presumably for a fuel stop, before departing again around 5:00 PM. They then flew home to Misawa Air Base, their home station, around 400 miles further north.

It’s unclear where the jets actually took off from for the April 12 mission, but they may have flown from Kadena Air Base, on the island of Okinawa, located around 300 miles north of Taiwan. This island has a massive U.S. Air Force presence of its own and would have positioned them much closer to the South China Sea. Nevertheless, extensive tanker support was still required, with at least four different Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers identified in the strategic channel area south of Taiwan, based on online flight tracking data.

Once in the South China Sea, the four jets performed an overflight of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), currently on a scheduled deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.

At the same time that the F-16s were conducted their armed patrol, the People’s Liberation Army was sending no fewer than 25 aircraft into Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ, comprising 14 J-16 and four J-10 multirole fighters, four H-6K missile-carrying bombers, two KQ-200 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.

The Chinese force was bigger than that which was encountered in the area last month, which you can read more about here, but featured a similar mixed composition. On that March 26 mission, however, some of the PLA aircraft extended their flightpaths further out into the South China Sea, before hooking around further behind Taiwan and then returning, suggesting a possible attack profile approaching the eastern side of Taiwan.

(cont.)
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Unlike the Minnesota National Guard in Minneapolis.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/22/2021 7:33 Comments || Top||


Europe
F-15s, F-16s, C-130s Deploy for Exercise in Poland
[AirForceMag] USAF F-15s, F-16s, and C-130s are training in Poland in an agile combat employment exercise that comes as Russia executes a massive buildup on the border with neighboring Ukraine, though U.S. officials say the exercise was long-planned.

F-15Es from the 492nd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England; F-16s from the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany; and C-130s from the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, arrived in Poland for the ACE event on April 19.

The F-15Es and F-16s will operate out of 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, Poland, and the 31st Tactical Air Base in Krzesiny, while the C-130s will operate out of Chievres Air Base in Belgium, according to a release. After the event, the F-15Es will remain to train with the Polish air force.

"Opportunities to train alongside our Polish allies are incredibly valuable and critically important. It allows us to hone our combat skills, build lasting relationships and learn to operate seamlessly as a combined force," said Gen Jeffrey L. Harrigian, U.S. Air Forces Europe-Air Forces Africa commander, in the release. "The reoccurring aviation detachment rotations make both nations stronger by developing highly capable Airmen ready to deliver combat airpower, anytime and anywhere.

Within the last couple weeks, Russia has increased its forces along the border with Ukraine in occupied Crimea. Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said April 19 that this buildup is "certainly larger" than in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea, and he called for Russia to be more clear about their intentions. Moscow has said the build-up is for training, but it is "not completely clear" to the Pentagon that this is true, Kirby said.

The exercise in Poland is "fairly routine," and "not a specific reaction to what’s going on" in Crimea, Kirby said. Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops to annexed Crimea, in a move that shows "the risk of further escalation is evident," said Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top diplomat, according to Reuters. U.S. European Command boss Gen. Tod. D. Wolters told lawmakers last week that he sees a "low-to-medium" risk that Russia will invade Ukraine.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Why does anyone care about Russia does in Russian-speaking Eastern Ukraine?
Posted by: Solomon Smiter of the Faith2502 || 04/22/2021 5:47 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't
Posted by: Chris || 04/22/2021 8:21 Comments || Top||

#3  ...no more than the German speaking Sudetens in the former Czechoslovakia. [btw that was resolved in the post war years with ethnic cleansing of those German speaking people]
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/22/2021 12:01 Comments || Top||

#4  ^ oh so Putin is another Hitler seeking lebensraum? Really?
Posted by: Flanter Claviling1258 || 04/22/2021 15:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Pre-1939 Hitler. Feel Better?
Posted by: Thaviling Jemble6834 || 04/22/2021 20:35 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Report: Germany to purchase Russian vaccine
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 07:36 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Tesla In Fatal Crash Took 4 Hours and 30,000 Gallons Of Water To Put Out
[NYDailyNews] Police have identified the two men who died in a fiery, allegedly driverless Tesla crash outside Houston earlier this week.

William Varner, a 58-year-old anesthesiologist, was killed, as was Everette Talbot, 69, authorities said. It was Talbot’s spouse who was first notified of the accident, reported KHOU-TV.

The accident happened at about 11:25 p.m. Saturday in the Houston suburb of Spring, and apparently "no one was driving" the Tesla Model S when it smashed into a tree as it tried to navigate a cul-de-sac, Harris County police said.

The car, which can be driven on autopilot, burst into flames upon impact. One occupant was found in the front passenger seat and the owner in the back seat, police said.

It took 30,000 gallons of water to put out the fire, which burned for four hours, authorities told KHOU.

The victims had left a house saying they were going to test the vehicle’s driverless capabilities, a witness told Reuters.

But Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Monday that his data showed the autopilot feature was not enabled and that the owner had in fact not purchased autopilot capabilities. Even if enabled, the feature does not render the vehicle autonomous, Tesla has said.
There you have it! They thought that button they pushed meant autopilot!
"Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD," Musk tweeted. "Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have."

The National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are both investigating, KHOU reported.

The NHTSA has been stepping up inquiries into Tesla crashes lately, The Associated Press noted, but has not yet gone so far as to regulate them — a stance that could change.

"With a new administration in place, we’re reviewing regulations around autonomous vehicles," the agency said last month.

Some say Musk has over-hyped the self-driving capacity of his systems, hiding caveats in the fine print.

"Elon’s been totally irresponsible," Alain Kornhauser, faculty chair of autonomous vehicle engineering at Princeton University, told the AP. "It’s not a game. This is serious stuff."

Meanwhile, people are mourning the victims.

"Dr. Varner was a tremendous human being who personally impacted many," Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

"We were saddened to hear of the death of one of our physicians over the weekend," U.S. Anesthesia Partners told Reuters. "Dr. Varner spent his life caring for others, and now we are focused on caring for his colleagues and family, helping them to cope with this sudden and unexpected loss."
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like a Tesla crash with entrapment's is a crispy critter accident scene.

A FEW TESLA FIRES

Posted by: NN2N1 || 04/22/2021 7:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Anyone else worried that Tesla can track you like this? Yes...there are "black boxes" in all cars these days but this takes it to another level.
Posted by: Warthog || 04/22/2021 9:42 Comments || Top||

#3 
Whoops ! No Auto-drive Vehicle feature purchased...

Elon Musk ... The Dr. Darwin of the AV World. /snark

Too many of these events have taken place in recent years with tragic results for drivers, passengers, non-AV traffic and innocent pedestrian bystanders.

It is time for this game to be reset, and manufacturers be held liable for failures, in this case a big RED Tesla Screen "No Auto-drive hands-free feature installed"
Posted by: Flavique Grinesing9350 || 04/22/2021 10:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Does adding remote access to Auto-drive not cause concern? Anyone?
Posted by: magpie || 04/22/2021 12:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Should be easy enough to make the car turn itself off if it doesn't sense at least one hand on the wheel actually making driver inputs while the car is moving above anything more than a trot.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/22/2021 13:18 Comments || Top||

#6  Of course, I'd like to see cars that self destruct if they make unsignaled turns.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/22/2021 13:18 Comments || Top||

#7 
'Smoooooth...yeah '

'Now for the main event.'

'Oooh yes, the autopilot!'

'Here.' [Pushes cigarette lighter]

'wow! We've come such a long way...'

'Progress.' [changes seat, leans back] 'It's mankind's own wi...'

CRASH ! SCHOOM ! FUUFFT !

'Aaaaaieeee !!'

'Aaaaagh! Help! Somebodeeeee!'
Posted by: Dron66046 || 04/22/2021 13:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Sitting on a huge lithium battery does not bode well for keeping a car and people inside non-burnt.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/22/2021 14:18 Comments || Top||

#9  Anyone else worried that Tesla can track you like this? Yes...there are "black boxes" in all cars these days but this takes it to another level.

Well, Tesla's black boxes always seem to indicate that Autopilot Is Not At Fault, According To All The Data It Broadcast Just Before The Crash, even though all that's left is a hunk of molten silicon.

In short, you can believe the data being provided by Tesla isn't being pulled out its ass if you want. I don't see any evidence that it's trustworthy, though.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 04/22/2021 15:18 Comments || Top||

#10  Not sure how excited I'd be, ordered to spray water on that thing.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/22/2021 15:24 Comments || Top||

#11  So is a burning Tesla battery a chemical fire, or an electrical fire?
Posted by: Bobby || 04/22/2021 16:42 Comments || Top||

#12  ^ Embrace the power of and...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/22/2021 16:50 Comments || Top||

#13  I seem to remember a high school chem class where a bit of lithium combined with water created a serious attention span.
Posted by: Mercutio || 04/22/2021 19:51 Comments || Top||

#14  This will be a disaster with fires in garages.
Posted by: Unusing Platypus5935 || 04/22/2021 19:59 Comments || Top||

#15  The victims had left a house saying they were going to test the vehicle’s driverless capabilities, a witness told Reuters.

But Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Monday that his data showed the autopilot feature was not enabled and that the owner had in fact not purchased autopilot capabilities.


Sounds really simple to me. Covid
Posted by: Slappy || 04/22/2021 21:14 Comments || Top||


The First Flight On Another World Wasn't on Mars. It Was on Venus, 36 Years Ago
[AirSpaceMag] Cool as it is, Ingenuity does not mark the dawn of extraterrestrial aviation.

The world was thrilled this week as NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter pulled off something truly novel (see video above)—the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. But if you paid close attention, the precise wording of that accomplishment included qualifiers. Like the Wright brothers’ airplane, the Mars helicopter was preceded by balloons. In Ingenuity’s case it was a pair of aerobots that rode along with the Soviet Vega 1 and 2 Venus spacecraft and flew through the Venusian atmosphere in 1985. The episode is recounted in Jay Gallentine’s lively 2016 history of planetary exploration, Infinity Beckoned, from which the following excerpt is adapted.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ingenuity is reusable, and will be making multiple flights.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 04/22/2021 7:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Venus was lighter than air, while Mars is heavier than air.

Not the same thing at all.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 04/22/2021 15:30 Comments || Top||

#3  I deplore Terra-centrism. How do you know Martians weren't flying a million years ago?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 15:37 Comments || Top||

#4  ^ Couldn't have. They had only tripedal tanks by our late 1800s if I remember correctly.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 04/22/2021 15:54 Comments || Top||

#5  ^Burroughs' Mars not Wells'.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 16:04 Comments || Top||

#6  ^ Barsoom not Mars ;)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/22/2021 17:25 Comments || Top||

#7  ^Just a Native name old chap.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 17:33 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Indonesia submarine with 53 on board goes missing north of Bali
Via Boris Rozhin
[AlJazeera] Indonesia’s navy is searching for a missing submarine with 53 people on board that went missing on Wednesday and is seeking help from neighbouring Australia and Singapore in the hunt.

The 44-year-old German-made submarine, KRI Nanggala-402, was conducting a torpedo drill in waters north of the island of Bali but failed to relay the results as expected, the navy said.

An aerial search found an oil spill near the submarine’s dive location and two navy vessels with sonar capability have been deployed to assist the hunt, the defence ministry said.

Al Jazeera’s Jessica Washington, reporting from Jakarta, said: “Hopefully, that is something of a breakthrough which could help with finding the location of this vessel and the 53 individuals on board.”

“We understand that the Indonesian navy is currently in the process of surveilling the area both by air and sea,” she said.

A defence ministry statement said requests for assistance had been sent and Australia, Singapore and India had responded.

“We are still searching in the waters of Bali, 60 miles (96 km) from Bali, (for) 53 people,” military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told Reuters news agency in a text message.

Tjahjanto said the navy has deployed scores of ships to search the area, including a hydrographic survey ship.

He said that contact with the vessel was lost at 4:30 am on Wednesday.

CNN Indonesia reported that Indonesian navy official Julius Widjojono said he suspected the submarine had descended to a depth of 600-700 metres.
Posted by: badanov || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Task Force of B-52s Deploy To Andersen
[AirForceMag] Four B-52s deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on April 17 in the latest Pacific bomber task force mission.

The B-52s, from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., will train with joint services and allied nations during the deployment, according to a Pacific Air Forces release.

"The Air Force is currently working in a complex, dynamic, and sometimes volatile global security environment," 2nd Bomb Wing Commander Col. Mark Dmytryszyn said in the release. "It is our charge to regularly conduct these joint and combined security cooperation engagements across different geographic combatant commands and their areas of operation."

The deployment comes on the one-year anniversary of the Air Force ending the Continuous Bomber Presence at Guam. For 16 straight years, the Air Force kept bombers based at Andersen as a deterrent. Since then, the Air Force has sent smaller "bomber task force" rotations, which include a few bombers at a time, on a more unpredictable basis.

B-52s and B-1s have rotated through the base as part of BTFs.

"These BTF missions demonstrate the strategic credibility and tactical flexibility of our forces to address today’s matters," Dmytryszyn said in the release. "As an aircraft capable of employing with a wide variety of nuclear and conventional weapons, delivered across a continent-spanning range, employing global joint all-domain command and control systems, the B-52 remains a universally-recognized symbol of America’s assurances to our allies, our partners, and the world."
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 04/22/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  I wonder what they are carrying these days, cruise missiles , glide bombs , anti-aircraft , or FBI agents greased in pig fat.
Posted by: Phinetch Wherese4624 || 04/22/2021 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  ...Miss Buffy has a marvelous faculty for focusing one's mind...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 04/22/2021 6:06 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ #2 Mike, definitely the most frightening war machine ever made. But it frightens me too, because it means that our procurement system is so throughly screwed that we're flying planes older than me. I'm mainly thinking about the Navy surface fleet -- at the rate they're going the USS Constitution will be the most lethal surface combatant we have. I hope I'm wrong.
Posted by: Matt || 04/22/2021 13:49 Comments || Top||

#4  The future of warfare is from space.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 04/22/2021 14:02 Comments || Top||

#5  ... #4 The future of warfare is from space.
why go to war if territory is not involved? How do you occupy territory without grunts?
Posted by: irish rage boy || 04/22/2021 15:41 Comments || Top||

#6  ^First you break the enemy, then you occupy the territory. And, nowadays it's not about taking their territory anyways - it's to stop them from taking ours.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/22/2021 16:02 Comments || Top||

#7  Matt, it's worse than you realize.
The USS Constitution is the only commisioned vessel that the Navy has that's sunk an enemy ship.
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/22/2021 17:22 Comments || Top||

#8  ^ Ed, LOL. I hadn't thought of that. Great visit if you're ever in Boston.
Posted by: Matt || 04/22/2021 18:21 Comments || Top||



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2021-04-22
  Israel retaliates after Syrian missile lands near nuclear reactor
Wed 2021-04-21
  'Unbearable' conditions push Biden administration to close Houston migrant center
Tue 2021-04-20
  Chad's president Deby dies after fighting rebels on battlefield- Army
Mon 2021-04-19
  Khartoum, ICC Agree to Try Bashir
Sun 2021-04-18
  Mozambique: Terrorists Destroy Over 100 Cabo Delgado Schools
Sat 2021-04-17
  Iran Starts Enriching Uranium at 60%, its Highest Level Ever
Fri 2021-04-16
  Russia downs American spy plane - correction: "Escorted"
Thu 2021-04-15
  Biden Announces Withdrawal of US Forces from Afghanistan, Germany and Britain to follow
Wed 2021-04-14
  Minnesota National Guard have deployed to Brooklyn Center following mass race rioting and looting by BLM
Tue 2021-04-13
  Babel's governor ''disappears'' after an arrest warrant issued against him
Mon 2021-04-12
  Occupied Portland ICE building set afire by left-wing extremists during Saturday night insurrection
Sun 2021-04-11
  Convicted ISIS supporter tells Chicago judge he's 'just a normal guy'
Sat 2021-04-10
  Somali army captures Al-Shabab bases in central region
Fri 2021-04-09
  Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II's husband, dead at 99
Thu 2021-04-08
  US vows to ‘return to compliance’ with Iran nuclear deal, lift sanctions

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