[INSIDER] An entry level vault associate at a Home Depot in Arizona was arrested last week on charges of passing counterfeit money totaling nearly $390,000 over a period of about three and a half years.
The US Secret Service, which was originally founded in 1865 to enforce laws against counterfeiting, said in a statement that Adrian Jean Pineda admitted to the crime when confronted by Home Depot supervisors and federal agents.
According to the complaint filed in the Arizona District Court, Pineda went on Amazon and bought pretend $100 bills designed for movie props and bearing the serial number "PLAYMONEY," which he substituted for real bills from the store's cash register.
As a vault associate for Home Depot — a position with an average hourly wage of $14, per Glassdoor — Pineda was responsible for preparing bundles of cash for deposit at a local Wells Fargo branch.
"He was just in a really good position to do the crime," Frank Boudreaux Jr., the special agent in charge with the US Secret Service's office in Phoenix, told The New York Times.
"He bypassed the first layer of counterfeit detection — the cashier," Boudreaux added.
A Home Depot spokesperson referred Insider to the Secret Service when reached for comment.
Security footage documented Pineda on at least 16 occasions taking fake bills from his personal wallet, mixing them into the register funds, and then pocketing the real money, the complaint said.
Home Depot alerted the Secret Service in December after it noticed an unusually high number of fake bills coming from the location where Pineda worked. The Secret Service says the store's losses totaled $387,500 from the scheme.
On January 31, a Home Depot asset protection manager confronted Pineda about the deception, after which he was interviewed by Secret Service agents who say he admitted to embezzling the funds and handed over seven fake bills and $5,300 in stolen cash that he had on his person at the time.
Pineda was hired in November 2017, and told agents he first swapped the fake cash in August 2018 and continued until the day of his arrest, the complaint said. Pineda will appear before a federal judge on Monday for a status hearing.
Fed Chairman Powell expressed interest yesterday in interviewing Adrian, a key proponent of "Modern Moneyary Theory," for an open position at the Dallas Fed.
Posted by: Chris ||
02/07/2022 17:12 Comments ||
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#7
noticed an unusually high number of fake bills
What would be the usual number of fake bills?
Asking for a friend.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/07/2022 17:22 Comments ||
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#8
none
Posted by: Chris ||
02/07/2022 20:19 Comments ||
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#9
Why did it take them 3 1/2 years to catch him?
"We was working the case. First thing you learn in a union shop is "Don't kill the job. We call it laying the groundwork for prosecution."
The usual number of fake bills - if one knew what that was, and didn't get too greedy, you could have a little side hustle and never show up on the radar.
A Las Vegas high school student violently attacked a classmate by punching her in the head over 30 times as other students watched and laughed
Graphic video of the incident shows the victim lift her hands up to protect herself before laying her head on her desk
The attacker continues to strike as a person, presumably the teacher, extends their arms to the attacker and yells: 'Stop, stop, stop. Get off of her'
The video ends with the victim face first on her desk. It remains unclear to what extent she was injured or what condition she is in
The district did not disclose what disciplinary actions were taken, but notes that violence is not tolerated and 'will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law'
The Clark County School District Police Department also confirmed a Las Vegas High School student was cited for battery last Wednesday
Las Vegas HS - demographics:
Hispanic 72%
White 10%
Black 9%
Asian or Pacific Islander 5%
Two or more races 3%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 1%
Average ACT score: 15 (= slightly above guessing; borderline illiterate)
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The Sailors were not actively training when they reported symptoms and were transported to receive emergency care,' the Navy said in a press release. It is unclear what 'symptoms' the pair displayed.
They had both reportedly completed Hell Week, which takes place during the fourth week of part of Phase 1 of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.
It is a grueling 'five-and-a-half days of cold, wet, brutally difficult operational training on fewer than four hours of sleep,' the Navy says, and candidates 'run more than 200 miles and do physical training for more than 20 hours per day.'
The Navy produces around 200 to 250 SEALs a year. In the last two decades, 17 have died during training, NBC News reported.
SEAL candidates go through 24 weeks of training throughout five phases, including a physical training test, obstacle courses, extensive swimming and running, combat diving, land warfare training and other physically difficult tests.
Many candidates do not make it pasted Phase 1, also known as Stage 3, and a 'significant' number begin to drop out.
#4
The past few weeks SoCal weather has been nice during the day.
But in the morning and at night it can be quite cold.
And the water can be quite cold.
Hypothermia can put quite a strain on the heart too.
Had a dual-Karma moment yesterday afternoon on I-24 headed Southbound toward Nashville. Traffic stopped, accident or something. A few minutes passed, cars began driving along the shoulder (emergency lane) back North to an 'on ramp.' First one, then dozens. As soon as it began, it stopped. Off in the distance behind me, a sea of blue flashing lights. KARMA !
About fifteen minutes later, the traffic began to slowly move. In the grassy median between the North and South bound highways, cars appear. First one then a half dozen or more, joined by a large Dodge 4x4 pick-up buried rear axel deep. All stuck in the mud as they were attempting to cross over the median and head back North. KARMA !
#6
Israeli Ministry of Health study reported in New England Jourbal of Medicine involving over 150,000 young men who received Pfizer vaccine found that within 30 days of the second jab, the myocarditis rate for boys (~1 in 12,000) was about 10x higher than normal.
Nb. That's just the risk of one type of heart effect, myocarditis, and only within the first 30 days of receiving Pfizer's experimental gene therapy. The real rate of serious adverse cardiac damage, over a lifetime, is even higher.
#7
I believe somebody's reporting wasn't careful enough. There's not a chance that candidates "run more than 200 miles" during the 5 and a half days. That's basically all they would have time to do--that's a marathon and a half every 24 hours for 5 straight days. I've read David Goggins book and he makes no mention of that kind of distance. In fact, he makes no mention of running those kind of distances until after he had already completed the hell weeks he went thru.
#8
Well, think 2 miles from the compound to the mess hall ~x6<> is 18. Add a fast 25 mile ruck and you've got about 40x5 days~200.
These guys are studs.
Get the 2 mile run @8-10 minutes/mile [prob closer to 5] and the 'marathon' at a [easy] 4:30 pace. Say 6 hours on the road, 30 minutes to eat, and 4 hours of sleep leaves plenty of time for swimming and PT.
#10
I'll stick by my earlier assertion--the candidates do not "run more than 200 miles" during the 5 and a half days. I read David Goggins book and he made no mention of those kinds of distances until he had long cleared the hell weeks he endured.
The candidates are indeed "physical studs", but they are also of each of the 3 different body types. Marathon runners tend to be almost exclusively "ectomorphs". For an endomorpho or mesomorph to bang out 200 miles in a 5 day period while also doing all of the other grueling tasks that comprise hell week is an assertion I have read nowhere else. The reporter had to be incorrect, or the reporter's source was incorrect.
#11
Agreed the 200 miles is an exaggeration. But I have spent time at Coronado and watched them. It is grueling. I am surprised more have not died, the better statistic would be how many are medical out. They are hypothermic for most of the training. Its crazy.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/07/2022 17:22 Comments ||
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Bad headline. Should be something like Damaged Trust In Police Fueled Revenge Murders, Say Criminologists.
[FoxNews] Packing culture, retaliation became worse after George Floyd died.
Larry McMichael was arrested for a gun charge before he could retaliate against his brother’s killer, the reformed drug dealer, who has been shot 22 times, told Fox News.
But others were shot in the fallout. The victim’s best friend, for example, was killed.
"It was a lot of going back and forth," McMichael said.
His story embodies what criminologists told Fox News: packing culture and a drive to retaliate, rather than turn to law enforcement, has driven homicides in the nation’s capital. Those elements have become more prevalent since trust in law enforcement deteriorated after the defund the police movement took hold following George Floyd’s killing.
#1
This was the whole idea. There's a lot of ruin in a country, and someone has to commit the arson to start those fires. America is strong because it is a trust-based society. People generally trust strangers. The left's whole idea in starting the riots was to destroy societal trust. Their endgame is to destroy the United States, western culture and white people, in any order. Only then can the board be cleared so they can build their perfect social justice utopia.
It took the 'state' hundreds of years to end the practice by promising justice. It has spent the last 50 years dismantling justice because it often times icky and nasty. Just look around as the Bolshevik DAs treat perps as victims.
#3
Nothing new. Criminals settle disputes with guns, not litigation.
Posted by: Too Old To Work ||
02/07/2022 8:16 Comments ||
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#4
you're crazy if you trust strangers.
Posted by: Chris ||
02/07/2022 9:54 Comments ||
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#5
The BLM grifters were never about "justice" or "progress." The goal was to line one's pockets and strike at The Man ... aka Anarchy For Fun and Profit
A total of seventy three officers were intentionally killed in the line of duty in 2021, nearly 59 percent more than in 2020 when 46 cops were murdered
The last time the number was higher was in 1995 when 74 officers were intentionally killed on the job
55 officers were intentionally killed in 2012, 27 in 2013, 51 in 2014, 41 in 2015, 66 in 2016, 46 in 2017, 56 in 2018 and 48 in 2019
Police veteran Jason Johnson blamed the spike to rising tensions between the public and law enforcement officers since the police killing of George Floyd
Johnson added he believes the Biden administration's 'actions have shown that they are not supportive of the police'
William Jefferson Clinton served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001.
Is it just the Liberal Far Left White Guys or do 1/2 White 1/2 Black Far Left Presidents rack them up also?
Quoting a 2016 article POLICE MAG
"As of July 17, 2016 - 94 officers have been fatally ambushed under President Obama's ongoing eight years of office."
Summary:
It seems when a Far Left Liberal Congress or Presidents are in office, then US Law and Order and POLICE are at risk.
Plus each Liberal Far President Since Carter has called for citizens to be disarmed and made defenseless, reduced law enforcement budgets, and/ or steered Police funding to social issues.
Corporal Annette Goodyear of the North East Police Department is being a hailed a hero for saving a young girl from an oncoming car before getting struck
Acting swiftly, Goodyear grabbed the girl by the shoulders and shoved her out of the way before she herself is struck by the vehicle
Goodyear is then seen laying on her back in the street while the young girl, onlookers and the female driver of the sedan come to her aid
Goodyear suffered minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital and released shortly after
Wasn't some news guy just arrested for this?
[FoxNews] Mom and daughter talk to 'Fox & Friends' about Eagles safety Anthony Harris' kind gesture.
A Philadelphia Eagles player traded his football cleats for dancing shoes to make a Texas girl's dream come true after tragedy.
Eleven-year-old Audrey Soape lost both her father and grandfather last year. When the time came for her school's daddy-daughter dance, Audrey's mother Holly reached out to her favorite NFL player, Eagles safety Anthony Harris, for help on social media.
"I told him about the situation, and surprisingly he was more than willing to do it," Holly Soape told "Fox & Friends" Friday. "It happened really fast. He said yes probably about a week before, so it was kind of a whirlwind."
Harris also paid for Audrey's dress, shoes, hair and makeup for the big event.
"She just felt like a princess all night," Holly said.
Lucas Lillar, 13, was yelled at by a substitute teacher in front of his class for wearing a Blue Lives Matter face mask at a middle school near Sacramento
Another off tilt teacher.
Don't they do background checks anymore?
The teacher scolded him, telling him it was the 'new Confederacy flag!'
Interaction caught on camera by other students who recorded on their phones
Lucas wears the mask because his dad and stepmom are both police officers
The controversy comes as 27 cops were injured and 4 killed in January 2022
The Fraternal Order of Police argues violence directed at law enforcement officers is skyrocketing
FOP President Patrick Yoes argued the 'alarming' rise in violence 'must be addressed now, not only at all levels of government but also by society, as we will all suffer the consequences if they go unaddressed'
#2
Moron can't even get his insults right. Saying "Confederacy flag" is as retarded as saying "America flag" or "China flag." How does a schoolteacher not understand the adjectival form, Confederate?
No wonder Americans are deserting the public schools in record numbers.
[DW] Argentina ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita... 's leader Alberto Fernandez agreed to tie the South American nation to China's massive Belt and Road initiative following talks with Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Don’t do it, Argentina! It’s intended to for China’s benefit, not your own, as other nations have discovered to their regret.
China and Argentina pledged deeper economic cooperation and integration in the infrastructure-focused Belt and Road Initiative, after a meeting on Sunday between presidents Xi Jinping and Alberto Fernandez.
The two leaders agreed to a five-year plan for agricultural cooperation, focusing on key areas to grow and diversify trade and investment within the sector.
The deal, concluded at a 40-minute meeting on the sidelines of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, is of great importance to Argentina. It comes at a time when the South American country greatly needs to improve its economic performance.
China is Argentina's second-largest economic partner after Brazil. The Asian superpower imports Argentine soybeans and beef, and the two countries also have a major currency swap deal.
On Sunday, the two presidents signed a memorandum of understanding related to China's signature Belt and Road initiative, which is a platform for Chinese investment in railways, ports and highways worldwide.
"This strategic decision will allow the national government to sign different agreements that guarantee financing for investments and works for more than $23.7 billion," Argentina's government said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the smoke and fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... Xi stressed that China was willing to share development opportunities with Argentina and help it expand exports and upgrade its industries.
The Argentinian president had a warm encounter with 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... , saying that his country should be "a door for Russia to enter Latin America in a more decisive way." He also mentioned that his country sought to lessen its dependence on the IMF and the US.
Communists could run out of sand in the desert. Q.E.D.
[AnNahar] Cuba has announced a new 10 percent tax on retail food sales, as the country endures economic woes marked by rampant inflation.
The levy taking effect Monday will target self-employed people and small- and medium-sized companies in the retail food sector, said the decree published in the official government gazette. These sales were only allowed starting in August of last year as part of reforms in the communist run island.
Cuban economist Pedro Monreal wrote on Twitter that the new tax will probably have two effects: higher food prices and more inequality among the Cuban people.
Monreal said it will hurt "lower income households that spend a relatively higher percentage of their resources on food."
Monetary reforms applied last year caused prices of goods and services to shoot up in Cuba, mainly those of food. Inflation last year came in at 70 percent.
People have to wait in long lines for scarce supplies of food and medicine.
Cuba imports 80 percent of the food it consumes. Its purchases have declined drastically due to a shortage of hard currency and because of international transport problems stemming from the Covid pandemic.
#1
If we could only figure out a way to have the US Generation Weirdos that are PRO-socialism & communist. Like to experience it 1st hand by spending 2 years in Cuba as a common worker BEFORE THEY CAN VOTE.
[BBC] French President Emmanuel Macron has said he thinks a deal to avoid war in Ukraine is possible and that it is legitimate for Russia to raise its own security concerns.
Before talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, he called for a "new balance" to protect European states and appease Russia.
He restated that the sovereignty of Ukraine was not up for discussion.
Russia has massed troops on Ukraine's border but denies planning to invade.
Moscow has made a string of demands, including that the Nato defence alliance rule out Ukraine becoming a member, and that it reduce its military presence in eastern Europe.
Western countries have rejected this, instead suggesting other areas of negotiation, for example talks on cutting back nuclear weaponry.
Posted by: Chris ||
02/07/2022 0:58 Comments ||
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#3
1. Russia and NATO agree that Ukraine will be sovereign i.e. independent of both NATO membership and Russian military coercion. In effect, Ukraine will become what Austria was during the Cold War: a non-aligned borderland.
2. NATO will allow inspections by Russia of its missile facilities at forward bases in nations bordering Ukraine and Russia.
3. Russia will pull its forces back to some agreed-upon distance from the Ukrainian border. Russia will cease provocations in eastern Ukraine in exchange for limited autonomy for those Russian-speaking regions.
4. Ukraine will ensure that Russian Crimea has access to Ukrainian fresh water sources. Russia will ensure that Ukraine has access to Russian gas.
5. US and Russia will create a working group to explore cooperation against Islamist and other threats on Russia's southern flank, including in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
6. Brandon shall not be required to leave his bunker or take questions on any of the above. All official US statements will be scripted by Nicholas Burns, Thomas Graham and other old Russia Hands at State and will be read by an animatronic version of the current POTUS.
#5
#1 Looks like the war ghouls on Rantburg are supporting another new war. Blood for the blood god! Fill the cemetery at Arlington with American teenagers. Folded American flags for weeping mothers everywhere!
#7
Remember at least this much come Nov.
We have a President and a Congress that would rather secure the borders of foreign nations than protect and secure the borders they are sworn to protect by their Oath Of Office.
#12
Merrick Ferret what's to prevent the Russians from taking over the canal?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/07/2022 10:53 Comments ||
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#13
Looks like the war ghouls on Rantburg are supporting another new war. Blood for the blood god! Fill the cemetery at Arlington with American teenagers. Folded American flags for weeping mothers everywhere!
Yeah, well, the commies are out on ficklebook too ranting about capitalism, so I'm guessing some new poll numbers are out. Perhaps a new hunger game designer is flexing.
#14
I did see that Team Syria is courting Brandon for weapons, attempting to re-form the Anti-Assad Company and Laundry Mat.
Come to think of it, Brandon does seem to be doing some real War Ghoul shit. Perhaps there is a Hunter's Art World forum you could go to with your grievances?
#15
what's to prevent the Russians from taking over the canal?
All the more reason to compromise and negotiate an agreement. Russia holds all the cards. They want more than anything else to close off the possibility, for good, that NATO or any hostile power will establish a base at Sevastopol.
The equivalent for us would be the China establishing a military base on the Gulf of Mexico just across the Rio Grande.
Unthinkable, to be prevented at all costs, by ANY Russian government--even a pro-western democratic one.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov proposed to abandon the term "fake news" and replace it with the term "Bloomberg-news" after the American agency released a report that Russia's alleged invasion of Ukraine had begun. Peskov stated this in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Recall that Bloomberg on the night of February 5 released a message that Russia allegedly launched an invasion of Ukraine. The agency later deleted the post, citing an error.
Peskov noted that such an incident once again shows how dangerous the aggressive actions of the West in Europe are.
Peskov also ironically admitted that the Kremlin could replace the term fake news with Bloomberg-news.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[RIA Novosti] The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova , denied the assertion of some media that the decision to withdraw the CSTO contingent from Kazakhstan was made after the conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui.
According to a number of media reports, the CSTO forces were withdrawn from Kazakhstan after a call from the Chinese ambassador to the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Commenting on this in her Telegram channel, Zakharova wrote that "the Chinese ambassador did not call Sergei Lavrov."
"Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China. And what will we do with Sergei Lavrov's telephone conversations with his Turkish and Indian colleagues on the eve of the deployment of the CSTO forces? Where is the expert's deep thought that it was after this that the Russian military flew to Alma-Ata? The decision on the input and output of the CSTO forces is made by the CSTO members. China is not a member of this organization," she wrote.
According to her, "Decisions in the CSTO are taken collectively, on the basis of the Treaty. The whole operation (discussion, decision-making, its implementation) was carried out as openly as possible. Information was provided by all departments and, of course, by the CSTO itself, whose secretariat showed high professionalism in working with the media. The operation ended - its active coverage ended," the official wrote.
As Zakharova pointed out, "the fact that the operation was shown by all our channels almost around the clock is absolutely natural: it was about citizens of Russia, Russian military, heading to a country with which we are connected by a common history, family ties and the longest border."
"And also proximity to Afghanistan, where everything, to put it mildly, is not very stable after the enchanting flight of NATO from this country last year," added Maria Zakharova.
Tokayev spoke about the help of CSTO peacekeepers during the riots
According to her, "We regularly comment on the topics of the situation in Kazakhstan , the CSTO and the operation, including on the platforms of international organizations."
She concluded: "But the question of the level of experts in our liberal media, including Ekho Moskvy, has come to a head."
In early January, mass protests took place in Kazakhstan. In the first days of 2022, residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed the doubling of prices for liquefied gas.
Later, the protests spread to other cities, including Alma-Ata, the old capital and the largest city of the republic: looting began there, militants attacked state institutions, took away weapons. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed to the CSTO for help "in overcoming the terrorist threat."
The CSTO Collective Security Council decided to send collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation. The successful completion of the CSTO mission was announced on January 13. On January 19, the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan announced that there were no longer any foreign military in the republic.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] The American press continues to discredit itself by publishing deliberately false information about the allegedly impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as describing the various consequences of this fake invasion.
According to the director of the Foundation for the Study of the United States. Franklin Roosevelt at Moscow State University Yuri Rogulev, such publications, in particular in the largest American newspaper The New York Times, are a reflection of the ongoing information-psychological war. Rogulev stated this in an interview with RT.
"There is no other way to call it. Because we see that this pressure is gaining momentum and is taking on the character of a war," Rogulev emphasized.
The expert also stressed that publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post in the United States have long been losing their audience and have become an analogue of the "yellow press."
"They long have turned into an analogue of the yellow press. Anything is printed, any articles, without any reliance on facts, with sheer fabrications," Rogulev noted.
As REGNUM reported earlier , the entire leading American press, as if by order, writes that Russia is allegedly preparing an invasion of Ukraine and paints the details of this fake "invasion". The data differ only in how many hours Kiev will fall (options: 48 hours, 72 hours), how many victims will be (50 thousand people, 85 thousand people) and how many Ukrainians will flee to the European Union (from 5 million or more).
At the same time, all the American and European press writing about this refer to some anonymous sources in intelligence, the highest echelons of power, and so on.
WP: Russian troops invading Ukraine are 70 percent ready
[REGNUM] Western media continue to spread false information about Russia's allegedly impending invasion of Ukraine. Now the American newspaper The Washington Post, citing "sources from among officials and intelligence officers," writes that Russia allegedly "pulled to the borders of Ukraine" about 70 percent of the forces and means for a large-scale invasion of this country.
Russia is said to have trained as many as 83 battalion tactical groups, each with about 750 troops. Allegedly, 60 such groups were recorded near the Ukrainian border two weeks ago.
In addition, Russia is allegedly preparing to carry out landing attacks along the coast from warships of the Black Sea Fleet. Also, The Washington Post, following other American media, replicates the statement that the Russians will need two days to take Kiev.
WP writes that Russia's invasion of Ukraine will lead to the death of at least 50 thousand people, cause a humanitarian crisis and provoke a wave of refugees up to 5 million people.
It is worth noting that Reuters has already spread a fake that Russia is preparing an invasion of Ukraine. According to Reuters, which also refers to intelligence, Kiev will fall in the same two days, but there will be a few more victims - 85,000 people.
It is noteworthy that the Associated Press, whose journalist Matthew Lee questioned the statements of the official Washington about the allegedly impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, wrote that the credibility of the official statements of the White House has seriously fallen in recent years, as administration officials constantly lie and propagandize.
Kiev could fall 'within days' - Reuters
[REGNUM] In the event of a "full-scale invasion" of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the number of possible victims of a potential conflict could reach 85,000, unnamed US officials told Reuters.
They considered that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could lose 5,000 to 25,000 troops, Russian troops - 3,000 to 10,000. At the same time, 25,000 to 50,000 thousand people could die among the civilian population.
In addition, Reuters adds that "if the Russian Federation invades Kiev," then the capital of Ukraine could fall "within a few days," and "millions of refugees will pour into Europe."
It is noted that the Russian Federation has about 70 percent of the combat power that is allegedly required for a "full-scale invasion" of Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of allegedly preparing an attack on Ukraine.
#1
Well they've got an easy answer for that. If you disagree with their warmongering propaganda, they call you a Russian agent engaged in hybrid warfare against your own country.
See how this works? See how once you let the war monster out, it never goes back in the cage? They're used to war now. It's the normal state of affairs. Being at peace is weird and unsettling. Anyone who's against war can be smeared as being on the side of the enemy. And people were calling for a new war with Iran just yesterday.
#2
I call BS. Why now? What's the urgency? When has Putin ever behaved in ways predicted by western intelligence agencies?
Occam would say this is just fearmongering to push Lindsay Gheyraham et al to make noises about The Mother Of All Sanctions -- as a transparent bargaining chip for the inevitable negotiated agreement.
#3
And note the start date of this war. Early in the year - the Nazis waited to invade Russia until June, which was their undoing. Six months to take Moscow wasn't enough, but we'll have nine months. Plus we are a lot closer, from NATO territory in Estonia it's only about 200 miles to Moscow.
Of course, we can count on the Pentagon to screw everything up and turn it into a multi-year quagmire with massive losses and new expansions to Arlington cemetery. But that's OK - there will be massive destruction of gold-plated armaments in this new war - all of which will require replacement in the shortest possible time! It will be Christmas in summer for the military-industrial complex.
#5
"They long have turned into an analogue of the yellow press. Anything is printed, any articles, without any reliance on facts, with sheer fabrications," Rogulev noted.
...CHASY OSTANOVILIS', and all that...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/07/2022 6:50 Comments ||
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#6
And note the start date of this war. Early in the year - the Nazis waited to invade Russia until June, which was their undoing. Six months to take Moscow wasn't enough, but we'll have nine months. Plus we are a lot closer, from NATO territory in Estonia it's only about 200 miles to Moscow.
A good deal of the hysteria concerning Russia is weather and the ground conditions.
The ground in Ukraine is frozen, hard enough to support heavy vehicles, so that will be the perfect time for Putin to attack and take over Ukraine in three days.
Once the spring thaw begins, the hysteria will quiet some until the summer. Then it will start all over again.
And the Russian general staff will be screwing with the west with their deployments/exercises until it gets its guarantees.
North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... pressed ahead with the development of its nuclear and missile programs last year despite international sanctions, according to a confidential United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... report seen by AFP on Saturday.
Pyongyang is under major sanctions over its weapons programs, including a ban on exports of coal, iron, lead, textiles, seafood and other products.
While no nuclear tests or launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles were reported last year, North Korea kept developing "its capability for production of nuclear fissile materials," according to the report, which was compiled by sanctions monitors and shared with the 15 UN Security Council members.
"Maintenance and development of DPRK's nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure continued, and DPRK continued to seek material, technology and know-how for these programs overseas, including through cyber-means and joint scientific research," said the report, using the initials of North Korea's official name.
The document also said North Korea resorted to cyberattacks, especially on cryptocurrency assets, as an important source of government revenue.
The UN experts noted a sharp increase in the quality of illicit refined petroleum imports last year, "but at a level much lower than that of previous years."
While Western countries have steadily pushed for more pressure on Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow have called for easing sanctions on humanitarian grounds and urged more flexibility when dealing with North Korean leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... Pyongyang conducted an unprecedented seven weapons tests in January, including launching its most powerful missile since 2017 as it hinted it could restart nuclear and long-range missile tests.
[DW] Gazprom's market power in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... is the result of a monopoly. Russian legislation stipulates that only Gazprom is allowed to operate pipelines used for export. It has been the biggest supplier to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... (EU) for decades.
Continued on Page 49
[YouGovUK] Late last year, YouGov compiled a list of 19 ways in which foreigners have been accused of abusing Italian food, and asked people in 17 countries and territories (including Italy) whether they were acceptable or unacceptable.
Of the list of 19, Italians see no problem with four: eating pizza for lunch (+89); having Bolognese sauce with spaghetti (+81); eating pizza with a fork rather than your hands (+69); and having meatballs with spaghetti (+58). Figures shown are net results, with positive numbers meaning more people say it as acceptable than unacceptable, while negative numbers mean more people consider it unacceptable than acceptable.
Another four are divisive to Italians: having risotto as an appetiser or side dish (+2); putting oil in the water you are cooking your pasta in (+1); snapping dry spaghetti before boiling it (-1); and adding plain pasta to a plate or bowl and then adding the sauce afterwards (-4).
[ZERP] A new highly transmissible and much more damaging strain of HIV has just been discovered in the Netherlands by scientists working with Oxford University. They're calling it the "new virulent subtype B" - or "VB", for short.
An international study led by researchers from Oxford’s Big Data Institute identified 109 cases of the new variant after analyzing more than 6,700 samples from patients who had tested positive for HIV. Details from the study were published this week in the medical journal Science. The researchers determined that the variant has been circulating in the Netherlands for "several years".
#1
When all the predictions that HIV would sweep through the non-gay, non-IV-drug-abusing population proved false, Fauxi turned his attention to SaRs-COVID, and on his watch, this happened.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/07/2022 6:29 Comments ||
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#2
Hey, that's Tony Science you're talking about there.
Or being anywhere close to ground truth
[C4ISRNET] The intelligence community now has a tool that allows English-speaking users to search through foreign language text and speech for information.
The new tool was developed by Raytheon BBN Technologies in partnership with the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity — an organization within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that develops technologies to solve some of the intelligence community’s hardest problems.
Essentially, once English-speaking users enter a search query in English, the program looks through foreign language documents and recordings to find relevant results, translating those phrases back into English before presenting results back to the user. It’s an “English-in, English-out” tool, and the company claims its system allows operators to search foreign documents, find results and understand their context and meaning without having to speak the language, according to a Jan. 31 announcement.
Raytheon said they used Kazakh, Pashto, Somali, Swahili and Tagalog as the low data foreign languages for its machine learning algorithm, which was additionally tested against Farsi, Bulgarian, Lithuanian and Georgian.
“The system is designed to be applied to any foreign language,” said Raytheon BBN Program Manager John Makhoul in a statement. “Low-resource languages present a particular challenge to retrieval and translation technologies because of a lack of data for training systems. Raytheon BBN met that challenge by developing techniques to overcome the issue of low data and applied them to an end-to-end system that exceeded the goals of the program.”
The solution is part of IARPA’s Machine Translation for English Retrieval of Information in Any Language, or MATERIAL, program, launched in 2017. Raytheon is one of four prime contractors developing solutions, including Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute. Each vendor was given a package of training data to develop machine learning solutions. MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Tarragon Consulting made up the test and evaluation team that assessed performances.
[C4ISRNET] The Pentagon’s top IT office issued a nearly $7 million contract to develop its zero trust IT architecture, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday.
The cyber threat landscape has shifted in recent years, becoming much more dynamic. As a result, traditional defenses have proven to not be up to the test. The federal government has now shifted to what it calls a zero trust model, which assumes networks are already compromised and validates users, devices and data continuously.
The contract, awarded to Booz Allen Hamilton, is for Thunderdome, the Defense Information Systems Agency’s implementation of zero trust. The contract is for a six month prototype effort in which the agency will operationally test how to implement its zero trust architecture involving technologies such as Secure Access Service Edge and Software Defined-Wide Area Networks.
“Over the course of the next six months, we plan to produce a working prototype that is scalable across the department,” said Jason Martin, director of DISA’s digital capabilities and security center.
[C4ISRNET] If a war against a major adversary breaks out, it’s going to require the military to resupply troops at a pace it hasn’t seen in a long time, Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, head of U.S. Transportation Command, said on Wednesday.
And to keep up with that frenetic tempo, TRANSCOM is going to have to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to streamline its logistics operations, Van Ovost said in an online conversation hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“We can’t afford to sift through reams and reams of data” in a major war, Van Ovost said. “We really do need to apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to turn that data into knowledge, for which we can make decisions. Creating that decision advantage is going to give us that time and space and options for senior leaders to come up with different options to reduce risk, to increase effectiveness.”
#2
Deep State. Not one mention why we need forces in far flung locations.
The first responsibility of our military establishment is the security of the homeland. The invasion from the south shows it has no interest in performing the fundamental mission of why they exist. [Insert all the excuses here why they won't do their job here]
[C4ISRNET] Top Pentagon officials and defense industry executives huddled on hypersonic weapons development this week, marking a new level of attention to the area.
But experts say the fiscal 2023 budget will be the true test of whether the U.S. Department of Defense is serious about building the necessary momentum to deliver hypersonic capabilities on a faster timeline.
The unclassified meeting, convened Thursday by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and attended by more than a dozen defense CEOs, was largely centered around gathering industry feedback on the impediments to speeding up development of hypersonic capabilities, according to an official readout of the meeting.
The conversation was mostly led by Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, but Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made an appearance toward the end, offering prepared remarks focused on the importance of the capability and the need to go fast to outpace China’s progress on hypersonic weapons, according to the readou
#1
I've worked every possible position regarding libation service. What was just described has nothing to do with being a quality bartender - and no quality patron would accept as such. For further reference, see Korova Milk Bar
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/07/2022 0:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
^ "If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange—meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil."
#3
People are already desensitized to human contact courtesy of the internet. I don't know about the rest of you, but I used to go to bars to get away from the ex wife and just be out among people not robots.
Posted by: Chris ||
02/07/2022 1:03 Comments ||
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#5
I used to go to bars to get away from the ex wife and just be out among people not robots.
Mr. Wife is the same, Chris, except for the ex-wife as he hasn’t one of those. After all, one can more cheaply drink at home. I hope since then you’ve found a more congenial replacement.
#9
But the robot will not short the cash register.
Note to bar owners, do not do this in New Mexico. If a customer is obviously drunk and you serve them you assume huge financial liabilities as the consequence of any destructive act by said customer after leaving your establishment as well as loss of license to dispense liqueur.
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.
...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...
...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
[ZERP] A new highly transmissible and much more damaging strain of HIV has just been discovered in the Netherlands by scientists working with Oxford University. They're calling it the "new virulent subtype B" - or "VB", for short.
