[BombThrower] The Omniwar Symposium was well worth watching in full. It hits many points I’ve been covering for years now, from transhuman ambition to religious inversion. Even so, there was plenty of new material for me to sink my teeth into. All the presenters are admirably learned and articulate, so the info went down easy.
Their overarching thesis posits an all-encompassing assault by elite powers on mass populations—the fat cats against “the people.” This is a global war, waged alongside various inter-elite geopolitical conflicts. In the long view, the omniwar is a struggle to establish a technocratic hegemony. It is a fight to crush our freedoms. It is a war against humanity.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The former vice chairman of Target has issued a dire warning to American consumers and retailers ahead of the holiday shopping period.
Gerald Storch predicted that the seasonal shopping period between Thanksgiving and Christmas would be weighed down by economic and political uncertainties this year.
'It's very clear that consumers are running out of money,' he told Fox Business.
'They're increasingly stressed by inflation and the exhaustion of their pandemic-era savings... they're spending less than the growth of inflation,' he told the program on Thursday.
The former Target exec pointed out that a quirk in the calendar means Thanksgiving falls later than usual this year, meaning the shopping period will be shorter too presenting a tough climate for retailers.
[FoxNews] One witness appeared to undercut the USSS account of killing Crooks
The deadly shooting at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 was a "preventable" incident stemming from a lack of proper planning and communication between law enforcement agencies, according to a new report.
The House Task Force investigating the attempts on Trump’s life is releasing their interim findings on Monday, with a final report expected by Dec. 13.
"Although the findings in this report are preliminary, the information obtained during the first phase of the Task Force’s investigation clearly shows a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners before the rally," the report said.
U.S. Secret Service (USSS) personnel at the event "did not give clear guidance" to state and local authorities about how to manage security outside of their hard perimeter, nor was there a central meeting between USSS and the law enforcement agencies supporting them the morning of the rally – two findings presented as key failures in the 51-page report.
"Put simply, the evidence obtained by the Task Force to date shows the tragic and shocking events of July 13 were preventable and should not have happened," the report said.
A would-be assassin’s bullet clipped Trump, Republicans' 2024 nominee, in the ear while he was addressing supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the summer.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire on the rally from a rooftop just outside the event’s security perimeter, killing one attendee and injuring two others in addition to Trump.
The Monday report underscores the mountain of scrutiny that USSS has grappled with since the shooting, with lawmakers on both sides questioning how Crooks was able to fire eight shots before being killed by a single bullet to the head.
The task force found that Crooks "had been under scrutiny by the Secret Service’s state and local partners" for roughly 40 minutes before "information about a suspicious person" reached the USSS command post.
It said three local law enforcement officers noticed Crooks around 5 p.m. ET, each "independently" deducing his "behavior and manner were suspicious."
Back-and-forth ensued among local and state units, with communication made more difficult by a lack of a central command system with USSS.
The report later said that from around 5:38 p.m. to 5:51 p.m., "a series of calls and messages about Crooks’s description and movements reached the Secret Service."
The document also referenced prior testimony by a witness from the Butler Township Police Department whose colleague spotted Crooks on the roof just before he opened fire.
That witness said their colleague fell from the roof – which he was tenuously gripping – while shouting "THERE’S AN AR! AN AR! AN AR! A GUY WITH AN AR!"
"To date, the Task Force has not received any evidence to suggest that message reached the former President’s USSS detail prior to shots fired," the report said.
The report also quoted a witness from the Butler County Emergency Services United (ESU) whose account of shooting Crooks appears to undercut the USSS’s assertion that one of its snipers killed the gunman.
"He fired a single shot from a standing position at Crooks, who was in a prone position on the roof. Butler ESU Witness 5 told the Task Force that he believes his shot hit Crooks," the report said.
Crooks’ autopsy suggests he was only hit by a single bullet which proved fatal, the report noted. Former USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle previously said a USSS counter-sniper killed Crooks, and the report said "there is no evidence to date to the contrary."
"The autopsy found no evidence of an entry wound from a second bullet," the report said.
His bloodwork was also "positive for antimony, selenium, and lead," with the latter element potentially coming from Crooks’ time spent at a firing range, according to the report.
The report also points to logistical issues – particularly on the part of USSS – in the hours before the rally took place.
For instance, there were two command centers set up for the event, with a witness testifying that no one from the Butler Police Department was invited to the USSS’ hub.
Butler ESU Commander Edward Lenz also told Task Force staff that a sniper from his unit advised a USSS agent to pick up a radio communication device from their command center to be able to keep in contact with local and state authorities – but the agent never retrieved it.
The report said ESU snipers, who were not positioned to monitor the building Crooks fired from but were inside the complex, were also not informed of any plan to keep an eye on the facility itself.
"Local law enforcement told the Task Force that the Secret Service did not give any guidance to Butler ESU and Beaver ESU regarding the placement, role, and responsibilities of their snipers… they understood their assignment to be overwatch of the rally venue," the report said.
Local and state law enforcement held two briefings on the morning of the rally, but USSS "did not participate in either briefing," the report said.
USSS held its own briefing at 10 a.m. that day, but the report suggested local units were not invited.
Indeed, one Pennsylvania State police officer "was invited to the 1000 USSS briefing by one USSS agent, then subsequently asked to leave by another."
In the conclusion of its report, the Task Force indicated it would continue its efforts to interview officials and review new details as they emerge, and reaffirmed its goal to investigate both the July 13 incident and the Sept. 15 assassination attempt against Trump at his West Palm Beach Golf Course.
The Task Force was commissioned by House leaders after a unanimous vote in the chamber.
[Bee] DETROIT, MI — Sources within the fundraising wing of the Trump campaign report that they recently raised several million dollars in fewer than 12 hours after Trump introduced the new catchphrase "How much would you pay not to hear Kamala talk?"
According to Doug Jameson, a Trump staffer, the phrase has been incredibly effective at getting average Americans to cough up some cash for Trump. "As it turns out, people are really, really motivated by the prospect of not having to listen to Kamala Harris for the next four years," Jameson said. "I can't believe we didn't think of this earlier — the donations just keep rolling in."
According to Trump, the phrase is one of the best catchphrases he's ever come up with.
"I was listening to Kamala talk, and it was so painful, and I wondered how much money I would pay to not have to listen to her," said Trump. "And I realized I would pay a lot of money, so much money. And so I had maybe the best idea anyone has ever had, that we should ask everyone to just donate the amount they would pay to not have to hear her talk ever again. Let me tell you folks, the dollars, they are coming in so fast, it's so fabulous. Very good. So much winning!"
At publishing time, the Trump campaign had doubled the amount of donations coming in after adding another catchphrase: "How much would you pay to not have to watch Tim Walz wave for the next four years?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/21/2024 06:57 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
They would do well to make this parody a reality.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/21/2024 8:42 Comments ||
Top||
#2
^ #1
It does raise the question.
If I were to subscribe, to say You-Tube. Would doing so halt the 30 or so Harris Political Ads per hour?
But then there would only 100's of Anti-Trump and Pro-Harris videos to sort thru.
[Modernity] A CNN commentator declared Saturday that white people who don’t vote to "save democracy" won’t be able to "escape the accountability that they must face."
The remarks were made by Angela Rye during a discussion on the network in which she attempted to move blame for Harris’ dismal polling numbers away from black men.
Rye stated "The responsibility of saving democracy should be on the largest demographic in this country that is white men and white women."
[Axios] How Israel decimated Hamas and Hezbollah leadership in three months
One by one, Israel has tracked, targeted and eliminated the leadership of its greatest regional enemies in a sprawling decapitation operation with little precedent in modern history.
Why it matters: The killing of Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar this past week capped an astonishing three-month streak in which a succession of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, as well as several Iranian generals, were taken out by Israel.
The series of killings, a year after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, has dealt a crippling blow to the so-called "axis of resistance" Iran has been building, arming and funding for years.
While the death of Sinwar marked the most important symbolic victory, it was distinct in that it was not a targeted assassination — and not the product of a sophisticated operation or pinpoint secret intelligence.
Driving the news: One of Israel's top goals since the start of the war has been to kill the leaders of Hamas and any militants involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.
A special unit inside Israel's domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, was formed to do exactly that.
U.S. intelligence services and special operation units worked with the Israelis for months to hunt down Sinwar and his deputies, investing a huge amount of intelligence and operational resources.
Time and time again, the forces got close to Sinwar inside the Hamas tunnels in southern Gaza — but time and time again, he managed to evade them.
When Sinwar was finally caught, it was pure coincidence.
The Israel Defense Forces unit that closed in on the house he was hiding in didn't know the identity of the militants with whom they were exchanging fire.
The 19-year-old soldier who killed the most wanted man in the Middle East only discovered his historic accomplishment in hindsight.
Flashback: As the fighting with Hezbollah on the northern border escalated in the days after Oct. 7, Israel also started targeting senior commanders of the Iranian-backed Shia militia.
Israel took out several Hamas and Hezbollah commanders in the first six months of the war. But a major breakthrough came in mid-July with the killing of the commander of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in southern Gaza.
It was the first time Israel had managed to kill one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attacks.
Two weeks later, Israel conducted an airstrike in Beirut and killed Hezbollah's top military commander, Fuad Shukr — the biggest blow to the militia since Israel's assassination of its previous military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, in 2008.
Another Israeli assassination was carried out less than a day later — this time in Tehran, where a bomb exploded in an Iranian government guesthouse and killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In mid-September, Israel launched an unprecedented clandestine attack against Hezbollah — remotely detonating thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies.
The explosions left thousands of Hezbollah members killed or wounded, among them several senior officials.
Over the next few days, Israel carried out a series of unprecedented airstrikes that destroyed large parts of Hezbollah's rocket and missile arsenals and killed many of its senior and mid-level commanders, including its head of military operations, Ibrahim Aki, and a dozen of the elite Radwan Force's top commanders.
Zoom in: The attacks reached their height in late September with the assassination of Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in his bunker with many of his senior deputies.
Among those killed were Hezbollah's southern front commander, Ali Karaki, and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander in Lebanon, Brigadier Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan.
It took less than a week for the IDF to assassinate Nasrallah's successor, Hashim Safi al-Din, in an airstrike on Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters.
The militia's head of intelligence, Hussein Hazimah, known as "Mortada," was also in that bunker. Neither of their bodies has been found to this day.
The big picture: The series of assassinations and other military operations in the region helped restore much of Israel's deterrence, which was shattered on Oct. 7.
Israeli officials say most of Hamas' and Hezbollah's military leadership has been eliminated, and much of the political leadership is dead or on the run.
Still, while the decapitations have made it far more difficult for Hamas and Hezbollah to function, the groups are far from destroyed or willing to surrender.
The final bit is a record of Jake Sullivan fretting that the stupid Israelis have no exit plan, which is not the same as them not telling him their thinking.
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.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[BombThrower] The Omniwar Symposium was well worth watching in full. It hits many points I’ve been covering for years now, from transhuman ambition to religious inversion. Even so, there was plenty of new material for me to sink my teeth into. All the presenters are admirably learned and articulate, so the info went down easy.
[Bee] DETROIT, MI — Sources within the fundraising wing of the Trump campaign report that they recently raised several million dollars in fewer than 12 hours after Trump introduced the new catchphrase "How much would you pay not to hear Kamala talk?"
[Axios] How Israel decimated Hamas and Hezbollah leadership in three months
