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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT    Local News    Politix   
26 martyrs, 51 wounded on the 210th day of the Israeli Gaza operation
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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-Great Cultural Revolution
On the Violent Left, Eternal Recurrence
Key paragraphs:
[The Pipeline] Jack Dunphy
Have we learned nothing from the past? It’s not as though we need to explore antiquity for lessons in how to confront today’s issues. While such an exploration would no doubt be helpful, any effort in that direction is beyond – far, far beyond – the stunted intellectual capacities of our current crop of ruling elites, certainly to include our degreed betters running our so-called institutions of higher learning.

… Still, one prays for more wisdom in those we’ve entrusted with authority. For the most part, we pray in vain. Witness the chaos this week on display on college campuses across the country, where we find that the protesters who brought so much death and disorder in 2020 have swapped their BLM T-shirts for kaffiyehs and adopted the Gazans as their Cause of the Season. Same clowns, different circus.

In the small hours of yesterday morning, police officers at last routed the motley rabble of such people who had been occupying the main quad on the campus at UCLA, arresting more than 200 of them and scattering the rest. Left behind were tons of assorted garbage and graffiti covering some of the school’s most iconic buildings.

UCLA administrators had taken a hands-off approach to the encampment for days, this despite the fact that some of the occupiers had taken it upon themselves to limit access to one of the school’s main libraries as final exams were drawing near. A request sent out days earlier to other University of California campuses for additional police officers was withdrawn, leaving the 65-man UCLA P.D. to cope with what was clearly an escalating problem.

Late on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, counter-protesters arrived on campus, apparently compelled to action in the absence of legitimate authority. They brawled with the occupiers for hours until a sufficient number of officers from the LAPD, the L.A. Sheriff’s Department, and the California Highway Patrol could be assembled and restore order.

It need not have come to this. UCLA officials didn’t even have to recall the events of 2020 for instruction. All they had to do was look at how other schools had responded to similar protests over the previous month. On April 5 at Pomona College, about 40 miles east of UCLA, pro-Hamas protesters invaded and occupied the office of the school’s president, who promptly announced that any who failed to leave the building would be arrested and suspended from school. Police from several agencies were called in and made 19 arrests. We’ve heard nary a peep from Pomona College since.

Officials at the University of Florida issued a statement welcoming peaceful expressions of dissent, but warning that the school “is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children.” Last Monday, nine protesters were arrested at the school’s Gainesville campus, which has since been calm.

But UCLA Chancellor Gene Block chose the cowardly path of least resistance, allowing the placement of tents and barricades on the quad and watching idly as lowlifes from across Southern California and beyond descended on the campus and began dictating the movements of anyone not sympathetic the plight of the Palestinians.

What was it that prevented him from adopting the Florida approach? Why not announce that protesters were free to espouse all the vitriol they liked as long as they didn’t interfere with others’ pursuit of an education? Praise Hamas until you’re blue in the face, but don’t put up any tents and don’t block access to classrooms and libraries. Simple enough, it would seem, but too lacking in nuance for Mr. Block.

He has now reaped what he sowed, with a portion of his campus a shambles that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair, to say nothing of the coming bill for police overtime from the departments he had to enlist in his rescue. The UCLA endowment is about to take a hit.

Jack Dunphy is the pseudonym of a police officer in Southern California. He served with the Los Angeles Police Department for more than 30 years. Now retired from the LAPD, he works for a police department in a neighboring city. Twitter: @OfficerDunphy
Posted by: Frank G || 05/04/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || [80 views] Top|| File under:


#2 
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 12:57 Comments || Top||


John Cleese, an English national treasure has never been one for political correctness,...Cleese reminded us that the West's culture and way of life are the most superior, and absolutely worth persevering
A taste:
[AmericanThinker] John Cleese reminds us that ‘race doesn’t matter, but culture does’

One need only look at the most prominent elements of traditional Western Civilization (architecture, music, education, representative governance, civic life, the relationship between the sexes, family structure, Judeo-Christian morality, etc.) to know that it’s far superior to any other that has ever existed—but state such a politically-incorrect truth and you’ll find yourself a target of the progressive left, because they’re intolerant and ignorant, and they’re willing to use violence to make a point.

But John Cleese, an English national treasure has never been one for political correctness, and in a recent interview, Cleese reminded us that the West’s culture and way of life are the most superior, and absolutely worth persevering; here’s what he said, via a Daily Mail item out yesterday:

Speaking to The Oldie magazine, Cleese said: ‘Race doesn’t matter, but culture does.

‘I think that some cultures are superior to others, and we should not be frightened to say so.

‘A society that goes in for female genital mutilation is abhorrent and I happen to think that if people come to live in Britain, they should accept and adhere to our values.’

‘I understand that some 20 per cent [sic] of Muslims in the UK would like to see Sharia law and I believe that's wrong.’

He’s exactly right, because all cultures are not equal. Who would argue that the culture of a NAMBLA convention is not “inferior” to the culture of a pro-life conference, it’s just different? (Well, now that I think about it, a sizable portion of Democrats probably would argue that.) Would anyone argue that Third Reich culture trumps the culture of 1930s Paris? Is the self-sacrifice seen so often in Western warfare (the strong protect the weak and oppressed paradigm) on equal footing with combatants who use their own children as human shields?
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/04/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || [168 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  I would appreciate this more if John Cleese hadn't spent most of his career trying to tear down the British civilization and culture he now misses.
Posted by: Tom || 05/04/2024 8:14 Comments || Top||


America's STD hotspots laid bare in new analysis of CDC data... is your hometown an epicenter? But what about COVID!
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Thirty-four states had more than 1,000 STD cases per 100,000 residents

  • Southern states like Tennessee represented a large portion of the top states

  • The top 10 were: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; St Louis, Missouri; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Montgomery, Alabama; San Francisco, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Washington, DC.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || [216 views] Top|| File under: Mob Rule

#1  There appears to be an underlying pattern, as usual.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/04/2024 6:16 Comments || Top||

#2  L.S.D. ran and controlled METRO's with the highest STD rates

Anyone care to do the obvious political party related data?. 🙄
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/04/2024 6:51 Comments || Top||


#4  The state IQ ratings are wrong; Minnesota is over- stated... my wife and I moved.
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/04/2024 8:42 Comments || Top||

#5  From Skidmark’s IQ article:

Kids that had scored on the 'gifted' scale 30 years ago, wouldn't have that same classification by today's standards, while those who had scored in the lower range might score in the intellectually disabled range in 2024,' Dombrowski said.

The average level of where a person should be intellectually is a score of 100, and in comparison, a person with an IQ between 115 and 130 is considered 'gifted' while anyone with an IQ between 130 and 145 is labeled as a genius.


I have no idea what that first paragraph means. As for the second, both trailing daughters tested as gifted, which put them in the top 2% of their age group. Last I looked, giftedness does not directly correlate to raw IQ, being the result of thinking differently about things than the rest of us, whether in art, music, or academics; incidentally, giftedness is categorized as a learning disability, alongside mental retardation and dyslexia. And IQs in the 115-130 range are bright, 130-145 are brilliant, and above 145 are genius — though perhaps the English label the categories differently.

Finally, the several point variation in IQs is well within the IQ test’s 10-point error range, assuming the silly thing were done properly — which it never is.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/04/2024 11:08 Comments || Top||

#6  "Gifted" does not mean gifts.
It generally means you must work harder.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 11:47 Comments || Top||

#7  ^And the goblins are out to get you.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 05/04/2024 11:58 Comments || Top||

#8  What, no Bill Gates promoting the latest and worst greatest in vaccines?
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 12:00 Comments || Top||

#9  Can we correlate this data with single moms and EBT cards?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/04/2024 12:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Not with Common Core maths you can't.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 12:07 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
The most dysfunctional state in America? Soaring unemployment, sky-rocketing debt and punishing taxes send residents fleeing
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Move over Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, and New York, a new state is in contention for the 'most dysfunctional' in America.

Illinois is grappling with a string of issues which have triggered a rise in residents departing the state.

The state has struggled to add jobs and its public pension debt has ballooned to nearly $150 billion. Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch shot Ike through the elbow. Take that, Ike! he yelled......
its population has declined, hurting tax income.

Conservative thinktanks have now grouped Illinois with other blue states like New York and California, which have also faced an exodus amid issues ranging from immigration to crime.

'Unemployment rates are very high; wage growth is lagging compared to most other states,' said Bryce Hill, the director of fiscal and economic research at the Illinois Policy Institute.

Hill told the Daily Caller: 'The Census Bureau has reported that residents are leaving the state en masse to the tune of hundreds of thousands every single year, so much so that the state's population has actually been declining for the past 10 years.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 07:19 || Comments || Link || [138 views] Top|| File under:


#2  Taxpayers are just serfs to the public employees union in IL.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/04/2024 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Old news for anyone who has done business with this deadbeat state. Years in arrears paying bills to its vendors. Always crying broke yet bullying it's beleaguered taxpayers.

Refugees should be treated by new host states like the lepers they are.
Posted by: Regular+joe || 05/04/2024 12:00 Comments || Top||


The Truth About the Klingons
[Townhall] Let me say right up front that I recognize that nothing I could say will sway the opinion of those who are predisposed to view the CIA as an evil, corrupt, and out of control entity. Some will not be open to a conversation that presents another point of view. Much of that feeling is based on some of the admittedly stupid things that the CIA has done over the years, certainly including in more recent years.

That being said, let me point out that while the CIA’s failures and sometimes questionable activities always become public knowledge, the successes of the CIA are almost never known by the American people. Those successes far outnumber the CIA’s failures by a large margin.

The times when the CIA has saved lives protecting the country from terrorist attacks, or the times they have provided America’s decision-makers with high quality intelligence to help them formulate our national policies, or have given us the edge in any international negotiations by providing our side with a better understanding of our adversaries weaknesses and bargaining positions are rarely, if ever known. If Americans knew about those successes then our enemies would as well, and they wouldn’t be much of a success after all.

Agency employees toil in anonymity. They don’t get the ticker-tape parades, the chests full of medals, or any public accolades afforded to others. They go about doing their jobs quietly, accepting that theirs is a profession that by its very nature has to be anonymous.

That leads to much of the mistrust of the Agency on the part of the American public. The Agency operates in the shadows, aptly described by the title of the book "Wilderness of Mirrors." When all one hears about is the times the Agency has ’stubbed its toe’ and never hears anything positive, it’s pretty natural to develop a sense of skepticism about anything the Agency is involved with.

Hollywood contributes by continually depicting the Agency negatively, showing Agency employees as corrupt and dishonest, and rarely presents even a balanced view of the Agency or the people who work for it. Movies based on historical events that the Agency had involvement with very often distort what actually happened, or at the least take a perfunctory jab at the Agency. It’s hard to combat the millions of dollars and popular personalities that Hollywood can invest into a project that’s sole intent is to show the Agency in an unfavorable light.

Much of that public mistrust is also deliberately being bred by our nation’s enemies. How better to distract the Agency from its important work than to have the Agency be constantly dealing with accusations, distortions, and outright fabrications created by covert influence operations conducted by our enemies? Made much easier nowadays by social media, not to mention a biased and corrupt news media. Mark Twain once said that "a lie can travel around the world before the truth can put on its shoes." Certainly a true statement in the age of TikTok, Facebook, and ’X’ (formerly Twitter).

All one has to do is plant a false, distorted, or misleading story and let it grow legs of its own. Before you know it the story will have amassed a million ’Likes’ and ’Shares,’ with not one person bothering to dig into things a little to find out whether it’s accurate or not. Our enemies are very adept at this and are spreading false information regularly. And Americans buy into it and pass it along every day.

Now let me talk about some of those stupid things the Agency has done over the years.

The CIA is part of the Executive Branch of our government, and they report to and answer to the President of the United States. Throughout the Agency’s history the head of the CIA has been directed by the president to conduct a variety of tasks deemed important and necessary by the president for our country’s national security. Often times in the past the president and his most senior advisors would give their marching orders, adding the caveat "I don’t care how you do it, in fact I don’t want to know how you do it, just make it happen." This has led to some of the stupid things the Agency has done. So there’s a shared blame. The Agency certainly merits criticism for choosing the method in which they carry out the president’s orders, just as the president’s administration bears responsibility for giving often vague and ambiguous orders, opening the door for mistakes and poor judgment.

It’s also important to understand that "The" CIA doesn’t do anything collectively. More appropriately would be to say that "certain elements of the CIA, usually a small, senior, and select group have been involved in something that crossed the line into the political realm, was a violation of the Agency’s charter, or even a violation of federal law, or American’s Constitutional rights."

Few Agency employees serving both overseas under cover or inside the U.S. have a clue what some political appointees in Headquarters might be up to on behalf of a particular president and his administration. So let’s not paint them all with a broad brush.

"The" Agency is made up of thousands and thousands of conscientious and dedicated patriots, many of whom put their lives at risk daily in some of the worst environments around the world on behalf of the American people. The Memorial Wall in the lobby at CIA Headquarters has a star etched into it recognizing each Agency employee who has made the ultimate sacrifice.

Let me finish by repeating what I said right up front. Many will summarily dismiss and won’t believe a word I’ve written. In their view the CIA is bad, and their minds are closed on the matter. But our nation and the decision-makers we elect need high quality intelligence information to help them lead, and to protect our country. The CIA certainly needs some fixing, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Good people at the CIA are doing their best to earn your trust. Don’t dismiss them based on the actions of a very few in senior leadership, or the brown-nosers who curry favor with them.

The Agency is much more than those individuals who bring discredit to a fine organization made up of patriots and heroes. That’s the truth about the CIA.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 00:27 || Comments || Link || [198 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Burn the village in order to save it" could be their motto now.

Those successes far outnumber the CIA’s failures by a large margin.

9/11

Did they fire the director and higher ups?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/04/2024 7:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Uhhh! NO!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 05/04/2024 11:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Shhhh! It's a secret.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/04/2024 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  If the Klingons are so good, why did the gum'ment feel the need to create the DNI?
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 14:17 Comments || Top||

#5  The DNI is little more than powerless speed bump that alerts and insulates the hive. If it had any power it would control the intel community budget.

The DNI's main task is to keep the skies away.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 14:38 Comments || Top||

#6  ....keep the FLIES away.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 14:39 Comments || Top||

#7  The intelligence community and public health establishments are receiving similar levels of public (dis)esteem these days, well earned and for similar reasons. Playing politics and lying under cover of 'secrets' or 'expertise' erode confidence in institutions that need to be trusted, and likely do as much or more real damage as those is-only-you-knew successes.
Posted by: Nero || 05/04/2024 19:08 Comments || Top||

#8  This is the author's bio. I'd say the article counts as special pleading:

Del W. Wilber brings over thirty years of experience in Security and Counterterrorism as a former Intelligence Officer serving with the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense in Eastern and Western Europe and the Middle East, and in law enforcement.
Posted by: Nero || 05/04/2024 19:09 Comments || Top||

#9  Just because a Klingon occasionally does it's job, doesn't make it any less of a traitor with numerous crimes against America.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 05/04/2024 20:02 Comments || Top||

#10  I can easily believe the CIA rank and file are decent, hardworking people fighting for America. Or were at one time. Having worked in large hierarchical organizations, I know that corporate culture flows downstream. You may personally feel it is 'toMAYto', but if the boss says 'toMAHto', then toMAHto it is, and woe unto him who dares say otherwise.

Eventually, anyone who is not a team player leaves for greener pastures, gets fired or is sent off to work in the boonies. No doubt, the FBI was once filled with hardworking people trying to protect America. Same with the Center for Disease Control, at least until the CDC became the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Gosh, it's almost like we are seeing a pattern.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/04/2024 20:52 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
The Truth and Consequences of Targeting Tik Tok
[NewsWithViews] By now, every American should have figured out that we are being "spied on" everywhere we go, everything we say, everything we post, text, Google search, buy online, or share on social media, every platform, including Tik Tok. Why do you think ads for products you just mentioned to a friend in a "private" conversation start "randomly" popping up on your devices? You smart phone and smart TV watch every move you make.

They also should have figured out that real journalism is dead in the USA, all news outlets, and social media platforms are heavily censored to maintain the government approved narrative on any and all issues, foreign or domestic. They should have figured out that we no longer have "constitutional" courts or "inalienable rights" in the USA, but instead, British Common Law courts used to undermine everything in the Charters of Freedom.

But it turns out that the vast majority of Americans aren’t as awake and aware as we would hope. As a result, most live under the facade of legitimate government, even as they watch that government violate every protected right in the Bill of Rights, spy on and attack American Citizens denying them a right to free speech, to peaceably assemble, or seek any real form of justice.

According to our weaponized federal government officials, "Tik Tok must be banned because it’s owned by the Communist Party of China." But what if that isn’t true?

Who Really Owns Tik Tok?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 10:14 || Comments || Link || [85 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ownership & control are two different things.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 05/04/2024 12:57 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm more worried about our own three-letter agencies spying on us than the Chinese.

Of course, how much did Meta/Facebook, etc., lobby (and give dough to politicians) to get rid of TikTok?

I don't have it nor FB and never will, but TikTok is VERY popular. This isn't about the Chinese.

Similar accusations of Chinese "control" or "ownership" are out there for trading platform Webull. Is Congress going to do the same to them?
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 14:21 Comments || Top||

#3  I pity the poor bastards that have to watch all the tik tok videas hoping for anything of value. It's an outhouse inside a dumpsterfire of stinky mess over there.
Posted by: ruprecht || 05/04/2024 23:16 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
How to fit Russian interests into Iran's African strategy
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Viktor Vasiliev

[REGNUM] The second Iran-Africa International Summit took place last week. The Islamic Republic hosted economic ministers from more than 30 African states. Nevertheless, non-economic methods remain Tehran’s main means of influence on the Black Continent.

IRANIAN INTEREST
In recent years, Iran, along with Russia, has begun to pay significant attention to Africa. Thus, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi toured Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe in July 2023. The trip to the African continent was the first of its kind by an Iranian president to Africa since 2012.

Of course, Iran had and still has an African strategy. But its current activation became possible only after reconciliation with Saudi Arabia. Because until recently, the Iranian presence on the Dark Continent was largely a competition with the Saudis.

Thus, in March 2005, the country signed an “agreement on assistance for $1.5 million to the budget of the Ghanaian state.” In 2017, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif opened a hospital in Kampala, Uganda, partially funded by the Islamic Republic. The country also spends significant sums on building social and health infrastructure, particularly through the Red Crescent.
The Red Crescent originally being the Ottoman empire’s counterpart to the International Red Cross of Christendom. Iran used to have the Red Lion and Sun, but when the Mullahs took over they traded it in for the Ummah’s Red Crescent. It’s interesting that both Iran and Turkey are willing to beggar themselves tossing alms to indigent Moslem nations in competition with the oil sheikdoms, tossing bad money after worse.
Iran, which at one stage benefited from high oil prices, also provided financial and economic support to Sudan, Somalia, Senegal, Ethiopia and DR Congo.

Of course, Iran is rapidly developing economic relations.

Among the areas of cooperation between Iran and African countries are car assembly plants, oil supplies, gas production, electricity, and consumer goods. Iran is gradually increasing its trade with Africa.

According to Masoud Kamali Ardakani, former director general of the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Iran office for Arab and African countries, trade between Iran and Africa reached a record US$1.2 billion in 2017 and 2018.

But despite this growth, trade with Iran in 2018 accounted for only 0.12% of Africa's total trade with the world.

Iran's main market in recent years has been East Asia, especially China. Iran's Africa policy is a side project linked to the larger project of competing with the United States (and, until recently, Saudi Arabia).
The Soviet Union used to try to compete with America on spending. We all know how that went.
IRAN-AFRICA SUMMIT
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who attended the summit, addressed the African guests.

“It is necessary to develop a clear program both for the entire African continent and for each African country with a specific schedule. The first step between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the African continent is will, fortunately this will exists and this meeting is a symbol of the will of African countries and Iran to expand economic relations,” Raisi said.

The summit program, including the participation of guests in the 4-day exhibition of the export potential of the Islamic Republic of Iran "EXPO 2024", was quite practical.

According to Mohammad Nematzadeh, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran, trade between Iran and Africa could potentially reach $5 billion. Currently, relevant departments estimate the annual trade turnover between Iran and African countries at $1.278 billion.

Representative of the Trade Development Commission Hane Samat recorded that direct export of Iranian goods has been established with 39 countries of the African continent.

Among the systemic measures to intensify cooperation with African countries are the dispatch and work of 12 business consultants, the opening of Iranian houses of innovation and technology, as well as the opening of export centers on the African continent.

Iran and African countries also created a joint committee on agricultural cooperation.

The head of the foreign trade department of the Organization of Rural Cooperatives of Iran, Seyed Ruhollah Latifi, said during the summit: “ Iran can, given the African continent's need for fuel and energy, technology and mechanization of agricultural production, investment, design and construction of infrastructure such as mining, dams, road construction and construction projects, oil refinery overhauls, gas production, etc.”

IRAN'S TRADITIONAL STRATEGY IN AFRICA
The Islamic Revolution of 1979 was not only a turning point in the history of Iran, but also radically affected Tehran's relations with the African continent.

The new Iranian government sought to export the Islamic revolution and was distinguished by its ardent anti-imperialism.
Anti Christian imperialism, anyway. They’re just fine with Iranian imperialism.
These two factors were reflected in a special way in relations with African countries.

For a long time, Tehran’s African vector remained a continuation of the Cold War with Saudi Arabia. Iran, which has 25 embassies in Africa, has faced stiff opposition from the kingdom. The Sunni state has an extremely negative attitude towards the presence of Shiite Iran in Africa.

As a consequence, countries such as Egypt and Morocco also became concerned about Iranian proselytism. Morocco has twice severed relations with Iran. The first time in 2009, condemning Tehran's religious "activism"; the second in 2018, accusing Iran of supporting the Polisario rebel movement in Western Sahara through the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Senegal severed diplomatic relations with Iran after the seizure of an arms shipment in Lagos in 2010.

And after the execution by Saudi Arabia of the Shiite sheikh Nimr Bakr al-Nimr in 2016, Djibouti and Somalia also announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Iran. Sudan, Tehran's longtime ally, did the same.

As for anti-imperialism, the Islamic Republic participates in the non-aligned movement and acts as a defender of oppressed countries in the face of Western (primarily US) domination. Iran is trying to show that the country is not isolated on the international stage and that it is not the only country having problems with the United States.

There will definitely be points of contact between Pan-Africanism and the image of Iran as a fighter against Western hegemony. It can be predicted that the Pan-African public will soon have flags of Iran and portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini, along with the Russian tricolor and the image of Putin and Che Guevara.
Angels of light, all three.
It is these two key trends that are supported by Iran’s humanitarian and economic initiatives in Africa.

Among the areas of interest for Iran on the continent are agriculture, the security sector and religion (in Nigeria, for example, there is a Shiite community). Part of the conductor of Iran's interests is the Lebanese community, which is ubiquitous in African countries.

MATING POINTS
At the moment, there is a third characteristic feature of the Iranian presence on the Dark Continent: coincidence with Russian interests.

The most active actions of the Iranians practically coincide with Russian activity in Africa. In particular, the Alliance of Sahel States raised the flag of resistance to Western hegemony and objectively found itself in the same boat with Iran.

For the Islamic Republic, the emergence of new military authorities in Africa has opened up an opportunity to expand influence on the continent and support the overall process of returning to the international stage.

Given the threats of jihadism, arms exports are also relevant, especially against the background of the winding down of military partnerships with the United States and France.

The last track common to Russia and Iran fell on Niger.

According to many experts, it was Niger’s decision to get closer to Iran that led to a conflict situation with the United States and the decision to quickly curtail military-technical cooperation with Washington. Allegedly, according to intelligence data, the American side learned that Tehran was negotiating with Niamey to purchase 300 tons of uranium.

Africa Intelligence in a recent publication reveals confidential negotiations between the Nigerian junta and the Iranian government on the supply of 300 tons of uranium.

As is known, the US attempt to limit Niamey in the choice of partners ended with the demand of local authorities to leave the country and the simultaneous arrival of military specialists from the Afrika Korps of the Russian Defense Ministry.

DIVISION OF LABOR
At the moment, there is no coordination between Tehran and Moscow in the African direction. But this could be a logical step.

Because both Russian and Iranian strategies are quite niche, but at the same time not conflicting with each other - in some places they are competing, and in others they are complementary.

In a narrow circle of allies (including Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea), Russia could build an extremely effective and independent strategy, completely “working” and interesting for all African countries.

From a distance, this could resemble the activities of the Warsaw Pact countries on the Dark Continent.

Yes, there was strong competition between the countries, not to mention friction with communist China or Yugoslavia. But overall, this provided a good range of opportunities for African countries and effective tools to counter the influence of France and other Western states.

Such cooperation can give a synergistic effect by using the strengths of each of the countries friendly to Russia.

For example, Iran is excellent at organizing the formation and subsequent effective work with proxy forces - we are talking about the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Africa, this niche can be filled by certain groups of pan-African activists.

And even the military-technical side of Iran’s presence may be familiar to us from the Northern Military District. It is also necessary to understand that the UAV market in Africa will be occupied, if not by Iran, then by Türkiye. The first partner, of course, is more preferable for us.

Posted by: badanov || 05/04/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || [39 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
The Crimean Naval War at Sea - Battleships, Bombardments and the Black Sea
[YouTube]
Posted by: badanov || 05/04/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || [43 views] Top|| File under:


Economy
‘The Only Ethical Response Is Divestment': Experts Tell Congress Auditing for Slavery in Chinese Factories Impossible
[Breitbart] Experts, including one of the world’s top researchers on the Uyghur genocide and a senior official in the Department of Labor, told Congress this week that legitimate audits to inspect for slave conditions and other forced labor in China, especially in the occupied Uyghur region, are “impossible.”

The experts spoke before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), a bicameral entity that largely focuses on the Communist Party’s human rights abuses against its people and other malign practices, during a hearing on Tuesday. The hearing, titled “Factories and Fraud in the PRC,” addressed if it is possible for American companies, and those in the greater free world, to conduct reasonable due diligence to keep their supply chains devoid of human rights abuses if operating in China.

The panelists concluded that social audits by third parties were highly unreliable, as the Communist Party has subverted all of society to make it impossible for workers to speak freely on the conditions in their factories and industrial parks. Furthermore, evidence is mounting that China is redirecting slavery-tainted products to third countries such as India and Vietnam to compromise supply chain tracking and ensure the products get sold in American and European markets.

The hearing focused largely on forced labor, the practice of making it impossible for a person to escape work environments. In many of these cases, individuals are forced into traditional slavery – with no legal rights as a person and no meaningful salary – though the panelists at the hearing stated that Chinese companies often offer meager wages to their workers, even when it is impossible for them to leave their jobs. The United Nations classifies forced labor as a form of “modern slavery.”
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 08:39 || Comments || Link || [45 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Think THATS impossible to audit...

IRS to Increase Audit Rates of Wealthy Taxpayers by 50 Percent
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 11:35 Comments || Top||


Patrick Bet Davis: “$962 BILLION Due” - Nearly 300 Banks Could FAIL Due to Collapse of Commercial Real Estate
[YouTube] The looming threat of $962 billion in overdue debt poses a severe risk of nearly 300 banks failing, primarily driven by the collapse of the commercial real estate market.



Related from regnum.ru
Musk warned of dollar depreciation amid growing US national debt

[Regnum] If the United States does not deal with its own national debt, which has already exceeded the $34 trillion mark, the American currency will completely depreciate.American entrepreneur Elon Musk made this statement on his page on the social network X.

According to the businessman, the authorities of the United States of America must take decisive measures to resolve the situation with the national debt. At the very least, it is necessary to slow down the rate of its growth.

“We need to do something about our national debt, otherwise the dollar will be worthless,” Musk expressed his concerns.

As Regnum reported, at the beginning of the year, the US Congressional Budget Office published a report according to which the American national debt is expected to continue to grow and reach a historical anti-record by the end of 2034.

At the same time, US President Joe Biden, speaking to members of the House of Representatives and Senate on March 8 with his annual State of the Union address, called the American economy the envy of the whole world. According to him, the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in 50 years, and inflation rates have dropped from 9 to 3%.

Former US President Donald Trump, in turn, stated that the American economy had fallen into decline during Joe Biden's presidency, and inflation had gotten out of control, which would lead to the dollar losing its status as the world standard. According to the politician, the decline of the American currency will be the largest failure of the United States in 200 years.

Even more from the V Kontakte page of Armed Forces of Novorossiya (VSN):
American billionaire Jamie Dimon:

"[We have a war in Ukraine. Ukraine is fighting against Russia. What will happen to the world economy if Russia wins?]
Video is in English with Russian subtitles.


It will be a disaster. This is the first war in Europe, a free democratic country was attacked by 200 or 300 thousand Russians soldiers under the threat of nuclear war. We have never had nuclear blackmail before, which also teaches a lesson to people. Having nuclear weapons is very good, because people will be afraid of you. This all affects military alliances, all global economic alliances. wins, many in Europe will ask the question: “America will protect Europe? Can we rely on the States?” And this is also a question of economics, because if Russia wins, there will be economic chaos in the world.”

Posted by: badanov || 05/04/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || [152 views] Top|| File under:

#1 

Who did not see Silicon and Remote virtual office workers replacing Bricks and Mortar to some significant degree?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 05/04/2024 6:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Another real estate crash. If there was some way to predict these things...
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/04/2024 9:06 Comments || Top||


#4  No wonder why "they" are clamoring for lower interest rates.

But, no matter. We've been hearing this fear pörn about [regional] banks failing for a good year now.

Yawn.....
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 11:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Wonder if this one of the things driving companies to bring back workers into the office at least part of the week.
Posted by: Chantry || 05/04/2024 19:13 Comments || Top||


Government Corruption
Cooking the Books
[Doomberg] "The path of sound credence is through the thick forest of skepticism." — George Jean Nathan

Imagine, if you will, a green chalkboard. In the upper left corner is written CH4, the chemical formula for natural gas, and in the bottom right is everybody’s favorite molecule, CO2. In between these extremes—sloping downward and to the right—are the words oil, coal, and wood, in that order. What our chalkboard illustrates is a gross approximation of the extent to which the carbon atoms embodied in those materials are already burned (i.e., oxidized), and by extension how much residual energy can be extracted from these feedstocks by burning them further. In essence, it serves as a proxy for energy density.

Since CH4 has no oxygen atoms and every carbon is surrounded by four hydrogens, it is not burned at all and is rich in potential energy. Oil has fewer hydrogens per carbon atom and barely any oxygen, so it is only slightly more burned than CH4. Coal contains less hydrogen still and a fair bit of oxygen, so it is measurably more burned than oil. Wood is replete with oxygen-rich celluloses and other complex natural polymers, putting it below coal on our chalkboard. Finally, CO2 is saturated with oxygen, and so the carbon in it is fully burned. It is a thermodynamic sink.

It follows from this rudimentary chemistry lesson that burning wood emits more CO2 per unit of energy produced than burning coal, that coal is worse than oil, and that oil is worse than natural gas. The same can be said about other undesirable byproducts of combustion, as wood and coal in particular contain all manner of contaminants that do not burn very well. As an instructive contrast, natural gas burns so cleanly and efficiently that we use it for cooking indoors with nary a thought given to ventilation, but starting a campfire in the middle of your living room would be, well, kind of nuts. The clouds of smoke that blanketed much of North America last year as a result of forest fires in Canada are testimony to these obvious empirical truths.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 08:24 || Comments || Link || [91 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It’s the largest power plant in the UK, and for years it served as a visible reminder of how essential coal has been for the country. But five years ago, Drax started switching from burning coal to burning wood.”

Bringing the cords of wood to Newcastle?
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 11:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Was watching a 'House Hunters' show about two US grad students studying for a masters in ecological something-or-other in Europe, who were thrilled when their new home option featured a wood burning stove as their only source of heat. "Chopping firewood will be good exercise."

I snorted, and explained it to my incredulous wife.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/04/2024 14:05 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Pick A Damn Side
[WIRE] When it comes to the college protesters roiling America’s campuses and roiling America more generally, it’s time for Americans, and particularly their political class, to pick a side.

There are only two sides to this particular argument. One side despises America and the West, and the other side really likes America and the West. That binary decision is not particularly tough.

It is happening on college campuses all over America.

You get to pick which side you think the American president ought to stand on and which side you think the American people ought to stand on.

The first side includes a UCLA protest spokesperson saying, "I think, given the fact that the University of California is founded on colonialism, it’s inherently a violent institution. There needs to be an addressment (sic) of U.S. imperialism and its ties to the UC system, and how it perpetuates war and violence abroad. Not only abroad, but also here locally."

The case they are making is that the United States is bad. When they say the University of California is founded on colonialism, what they really mean is that the United States is founded on colonialism, imperialism, exploitation, and rape of the native peoples — and all the rest of this garbage.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 05:46 || Comments || Link || [81 views] Top|| File under:


This Is Why Trump Should Pick Tulsi Gabbard for VP
[PJ] I know Trump's people released the "short list" of his VP picks, but I'm not buying it.

Trump is clown-slapping Biden in almost every demographic except for those pesky, middle-aged, white zin-chugging Caucasian broads. They hate Trump with the power of 17 Prius hybrid engines.

I am personally related to at least two such women. One screams like a wounded harpy when Trump is on TV. The other, after a weekend of debate, admitted that her hatred of Trump is largely "emotional." By that, I assume she means it is hip to abhor Trump in her estrogen-overdrive social circles. You know the type: suburban, middle-aged moms dressed in their LULULEMON threads, posing as shining examples of what today's women "should" be as they nibble avocado toast like their hipster kids.

I have a sneaking suspicion that loathing Trump is cool with women who graduated with a degree or two only to abandon them to push prams to "baby yoga" classes.

They see themselves as smarter than us MAGA-capped goobers who are not worthy of debate. When pressed into a discussion, these Hillary lovers dodge facts and figures of Trump's victories during his term, usually with a haughty "you're stupid" snicker and a condescending brickbat talking point, likely purloined from serial harridan Rachel Maddow. But Tulsi Gabbard can change some of their minds. Maybe not all, but perhaps just enough to push Trump into the White House and President Finger-diddle into the tar pits.

Gabbard is the woman that lefty "paint and sip" chicks pretend they are: strong, smart, and unafraid. Few, if any, of the Trump-hating ogresses out there have served in the military. Gabbard, not caring what others think, had the lychees to leave the Democrats, a move that could potentially end her political career, when she saw that the Party had become a laughable, donkey circus, a move most liberal women could never fathom. Of course, it doesn't hurt that, physically speaking, Gabbard is also a total stun gun.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 01:10 || Comments || Link || [275 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mixed feelings.

Mike
Posted by: MikeKozlowski || 05/04/2024 6:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Trump should pick VA Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears as his VP. A conservative black woman who would annihilate Kamala-lala- ding-dong in VP debates.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/04/2024 8:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Winsome Sears was born in Jamaica mon.
Posted by: Bugs+Mussolini3055 || 05/04/2024 8:29 Comments || Top||

#4  No this is why
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/04/2024 8:38 Comments || Top||

#5  The Democratic wine moms — and now many grandmoms — are never going to be persuaded by a woman who is everything that they claim to be. Nor will Lt. Gov Sears change their minds when Condoleezza Rice could not.

Write them off as potential Trump votes and concentrate on making Biden so unappealing they stay home, instead.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/04/2024 10:24 Comments || Top||

#6 
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/04/2024 10:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell were both marvelous modern success stories who wound up as willing as anyone to sell out to the Beltway ethos.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/04/2024 11:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Powell had some shady dealings in some miliary cover-ups, if I recall correctly. He knew who buttered his bread, I suppose.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 11:38 Comments || Top||

#9  Trump needs to pick a dude as VP. Just 'cuz.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 11:39 Comments || Top||

#10  ^And maybe, just maybe, somebody who can pick up the reins if needed?
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 05/04/2024 11:57 Comments || Top||

#11  ^^^ Peut-être
Posted by: DooDahMan || 05/04/2024 11:59 Comments || Top||

#12  Trump is clown-slapping Biden in almost every demographic except for those pesky, middle-aged, white zin-chugging Caucasian broads. They hate Trump with the power of 17 Prius hybrid engines.

They have either Gayle King or Robin Roberts in the morning. Then they sit around watching the one-sided and deranged lunatics on The View rant, rave and foam at the mouth and they believe every word. In the evening it's Nora O'Donnel or David Muir and they hang on every word as if it's the gospel.

These pampered and sheltered people are shocked when a real woman like Kristi Noem shoots a vicious dog. They think the dog should have been taken to a shelter where a good deal of money would be spent to give the dog a lethal injection. They think the dog was some cute little puppy like they have in Manhattan or out in the suburbs. The chardonnay ladies never hear Noem's side of the story.

They didn't hear Sarah Palin and they won't hear Tulsi Gabbard either. A cartoon version of Gabbard is all you'll ever see on TV and it won't bear any resemblance to the truth.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/04/2024 13:03 Comments || Top||

#13  TW - you get it.

I've been saying exactly that for years. There are certain demographics that resist being reached, but the #1 demographic that is totally unreachable is the AWFLs (and by extension, their p-whipped husbands). Any money or effort spent on trying to pry them from the D plantation is completely wasted.
Posted by: no mo uro || 05/04/2024 13:18 Comments || Top||

#14  ^ And yes, they DO hate us.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/04/2024 14:46 Comments || Top||

#15  ^Actually, they hate themselves, they just won't admit it - even to themself.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 05/04/2024 14:59 Comments || Top||

#16  she supported bernie sander. no way.
Posted by: Spanky B. Hayes2804 || 05/04/2024 19:33 Comments || Top||

#17  People don't actually vote for the VP but the VP will be the frontrunner in 2028. It would be foolish to toss that away with a Democrat choice. You need someone that will continue programs set up by Trump. You need someone that is a fighter.
Posted by: ruprecht || 05/04/2024 23:07 Comments || Top||

#18  Mercutio, I believe that is an image of Padme Lakshmi, not Tulsi Gabbard.

https://tineye.com/search/e8523992a8b8b50ead74d92f489210d54080cbcd?sort=score&order=desc&page=1
Posted by: ruprecht || 05/04/2024 23:12 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
'This is getting out hand': Internet is divided after Wendy's customer shares video of her giving order to AI employee at drive-thru
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Wendy's first began replacing drive-thru employees with AI chatbots in 2023.
As ‘tis said, the true minimum wage is zero.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || [131 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Appears to be working well. Where's the fun in that? Life is a struggle. We need more fighting! Anyway, howza bout automated cooking and serving? Delete the humans and make us the Eloi.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 05/04/2024 11:24 Comments || Top||

#2  "You want flies with that?"

Electric humanoid robot poised to shake up the job market
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/04/2024 11:44 Comments || Top||

#3  All that specialized ordering and got it right.

Unlike the last half-dozen times I've had to go drive-through.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/04/2024 12:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Does the robot get $20 an hour?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/04/2024 13:05 Comments || Top||

#5  ^ No, but the company will get taxed as if it did...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/04/2024 13:07 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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1Hezbollah
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1Islamic State
1Mob Rule
1Moslem Colonists
1Pak Taliban (TTP)
1Taliban/IEA
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
1[untagged]
1Antifa/BLM
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies

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

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

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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Meet the Mods
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2024-05-04
  26 martyrs, 51 wounded on the 210th day of the Israeli Gaza operation
Fri 2024-05-03
  US says Hamas seized first aid shipment to enter Gaza via Erez crossing
Thu 2024-05-02
  Turkish police detain over 200 May Day protesters in Istanbul
Wed 2024-05-01
  Hundreds of NYPD cops storm Columbia campus to clear out anti-Israel mob
Tue 2024-04-30
  7 people, including child, killed in attack on Shia mosque in NW Afghanistan
Mon 2024-04-29
  Israeli foreign minister says hostage deal would defer Rafah operation
Sun 2024-04-28
  Pro-Hamas protesters crash White House Correspondents Dinner
Sat 2024-04-27
   US to pull out troops from Chad in second African state withdrawal
Fri 2024-04-26
  Somali National Army Kills 30 70 Al-Shabaab Militants in Mudug Region
Thu 2024-04-25
  IDF is ready to start the operation in Rafah immediately
Wed 2024-04-24
  Israel military strikes northern Gaza in heaviest shelling in weeks, central Gaza ditto
Tue 2024-04-23
  NYPD cops in riot gear arrest dozens of NYU students, faculty at pro-Hamas encampment on campus
Mon 2024-04-22
  Yale students tear down an American flag on campus
Sun 2024-04-21
  SDF capture 38 ISIS suspects
Sat 2024-04-20
  Tehran signals no retaliation against Israel after drones attack Iran


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