[NYPOST] US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington on Sunday after suffering from symptoms of an "emergent bladder issue," the Pentagon said.
The Defense Department said in a statement that the White House had been notified and Austin had transferred "the functions and duties of the office" to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
"Today, at approximately 2:20 pm, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was transported by his security detail to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to be seen for symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue," Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
Austin, 70, has been under scrutiny regarding his decision to shield his prostate cancer diagnosis and recent hospitalization from White House and Pentagon officials, including President Biden.
The defense secretary apparently tried to conceal his Jan. 1 admittance to Walter Reed after complications related to a December surgery to treat prostate cancer.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2024 2024-02-12 01:43 ||
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#1
So Kathleen Hicks, an Obama hold over takes the reins?
Remind me...
What is her military exp.?
Because, all I see is Civil Service positions, and a Ph.D. in political science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
#9
Walter Reed was suppose to be closed. Underfunded by Congress. Well, till the 2d Gulf War and it made the evening news (cause they wanted to hammer Bush) and in the Congressional hearing on the problem someone didn't hold back and listed all the requests to Congress for funding that were turned down and just like that it disappeared from the news.
[GEO.TV] Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) top leader Barrister Gohar Khan Sunday demanded the release of the party's "political prisoners," including founder Imran Khan, in reaction to Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir's "healing touch" statement on general elections.
Congratulating the nation over the conduct of the February 8 polls, the army chief, on Saturday, said the nation needed stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation.
Gen Munir had said that Pakistan’s diverse polity and pluralism would be well-represented by a unified government of all democratic forces imbibed with national purpose.
According to the military's media wing, the COAS had said the nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation, which does not suit a progressive country of 250 million people. “Elections are not a zero-sum competition of winning and losing but an exercise to determine the mandate of the people.”
Responding to Gen Munir's statement, Barrister Gohar said "healing touch" means there should be no political prisoners in the country.
This comment by the politician, who also represents Khan in his legal battles, came during an interview with Arab News, setting the tone for the party's future moves as its candidates lead in the polls.
"[PTI] mandate has to be respected. Short of it there can be no healing touch.”
Gohar, while responding to the COAS's "unified government" stance, added that it does not necessarily mean a coalition government.
"United government means that every party should be united in one thing, which is that you have to respect and regard people’s mandate first,” he said.
The politician, who won the general elections from the NA-10 constituency, added: "The people have spoken [through the vote] and for the first time they have spoken in a very tough situation [amid a crackdown against PTI]."
In the interview, the PTI chairman said that 95 out of the 102 total independent candidates were backed by the party and remained its loyalists. The PTI will also contest the results in "at least 50 seats" where it considers the results have been manipulated.
The lawyer-cum-politician maintained his party is "near victory in Punjab" and has "two-thirds majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa".
"We are actually close to the final figure in the Centre. We would be hopefully forming the government in the Center, as well as Punjab and the KP," he added.
Gohar, like several other politicians, also complained about the delay in the release of results by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), even two days after the end of the polling process.
"We are giving time to the Election Commission [of Pakistan] to announce all the results by 12 [am] tonight [Sunday],” he warned.
"If they do not, then we are going to hold a peaceful protest in front of the RO [Returning Officer] offices in all those areas where elections [results] have not been announced or elections [results] have been withheld," Gohar added,
Stating that the nation has decided in favour of the PTI, the politician also hinted at the possible release of the party's founder in the coming days.
"I think we will go to the high court, these convictions [against Khan] would be set aside and he will be out soon," said Gohar.
[IsraelTimes] The war between Israel and Hamas ...one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... has devastated the economies of both the war-torn Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip and the West Bank, the International Monetary Fund’s chief says, adding that only "durable peace" will improve the outlook.
"The Paleostinian economy’s dire outlook is worsening as the conflict persists," managing director Kristalina Georgieva tells the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
"Only a durable peace and political solution will fundamentally change it."
"Economically, the impact of the conflict has been devastating," Georgieva said.
In the Gaza Strip economic activity dropped 80 percent from October through December compared with a year earlier, the IMF chief says. The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 when Hamas launched a shock terror onslaught in southern Israel.
She adds that in the West Bank, economic activity has dropped by 22 percent.
#4
This is the entire point. The attacks of Oct. 7 had and should have had numerous consequences in order to deter further attacks.
I don't think the Japanese economy in 1945 was in any great shape, either. But they have made remarkable strides since then, having learned the right lesson. Palestinians, take note.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/12/2024 13:56 Comments ||
Top||
#5
war has not devastated the economies.
palestinians have.
[IsraelTimes] A senior IDF military intelligence official tells Israel Hayom that there is "heavy suspicion" that Hamas ...a regional Iranian catspaw,... intelligence penetrated the Israeli military before October 7.
"Nukhba faceless myrmidons had information on the IDF’s most sensitive sites, including those within the army that are most classified," the officer says. "We must determine how this information reached them. We are talking about details that IDF commanders don’t talk about even to their closest friends."
Hamas enjoyed intelligence that couldn’t have been gleaned from drones or observation posts, the officer says, adding that help from a foreign power is entirely conceivable.
How very interesting. No doubt more will become clear as the intelligence haul is analyzed.
The IDF officer says that this would represent a "double failure" for the Shin Bet, which is responsible for uncovering Hamas’s plans and foiling its espionage attempts.
#2
Hamas enjoyed intelligence that couldn’t have been gleaned from drones or observation posts, the officer says, adding that help from a foreign power is entirely conceivable.
The HAMAS intelligence center was directly beneath the Gaza UN building. Might wish to start there.
#3
The US just deactivated CCP software that was installed in US computer systems that would have shutdown electricity, communication and infrastructure. How difficult is it to believe that this is not a world wide problem. The next war will be proceeded by such tactics. We need to deactivate TICTLK immediately.
Posted by: Old Salty ||
02/12/2024 9:34 Comments ||
Top||
#4
In 2013, Haaretz reported that 48,000 Palestinians are legally employed in Israel and Israeli settlements, the highest number since the outbreak of the Second Intifada. It also states that according to evaluations, up to 30,000 worked illegally without a work permit.
It has been reported that this situation has been ended.
#5
Anyone ever ask how many foreign-born, Chinese immigrants work in key critical infrastructure industries throughout the United States? Didn't think so.
Confusion said "Come," and we bowed
And we bought, as we thought, not aloud,
That the passage of time
Could be turned on a dime.
["Refill... Amazon Prime!"]
- Bee, not proud
[IsraelTimes] Jordan’s King Abdullah participated in an air drop of humanitarian aid to Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , state-owned Al Mamlaka broadcaster says.
A video showed the monarch in military gear on board a plane in the latest mission by the Jordanian air force to drop urgent medical supplies to field hospitals it runs in the war-torn enclave. According to official media, the latest airdrop was on Feb. 6.
The kingdom, which has been among Arab neighbors pushing Israel to allow more aid into Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , is the only country that airdrops aid to the enclave, channeling it through these two medical facilities.
It has conducted 11 air drops, with at least two conducted with the French and Dutch air forces, to deliver medical aid.
The king, who has been vocal in calling for an end to Israel’s military campaign, left on Thursday on a tour of major Western capitals and is due to meet US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. ‘This Is A Man ThatDoes Not Seem Demented’... in Washington on Feb 12. to lobby for an immediate ceasefire.
#4
He's the only King I've met in person (at the SOFEX / Special Operations Exhibition in Amman). Interesting that he wasn't initially the crown prince. He had planned on a military career until his father did a late, unanticipated change to the order of succession.
#5
/\ Sandhurst grad and avid Harley Davidson lover. Loves to pop silk and go to the range. Was the deputy at KASOTC (Jordan's SF School House). HALO and HAHO qualified. Good ally of the US and GB. A strong proponent of SOF, as you might imagine.
[IsraelTimes] A Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera appears to also be a commander in Hamas’s military wing, according to images and documents recovered by the IDF in the Gaza Strip.
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says that several weeks ago, troops found a laptop in a Hamas base in northern Gaza, which belongs to a man by the name of Mohamed Washah.
Washah, from central Gaza’s Buriej, has been featured in Al Jazeera broadcasts in recent months, with the Qatari-owned station calling him one of their journalists.
Adraee says that evidence recovered from the laptop reveals that Washah is also a “prominent commander” in Hamas’s anti-tank missile unit, and in late 2022, he began to work in research and development for the terror group’s air unit.
Last month, two Al Jazeera journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah were later accused by the IDF of being members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
⭕️خلال نشاط لقواتنا قبل عدة أسابيع داخل احدى معسكرات حماس في شمال قطاع غزة تم ضبط كمبيوتر متحرك يعود إلى المدعو محمد سمير محمد وشاح من مواليد 1986 من البريج حيث يتضح من المستندات ان محمد وشاح هو قائد… pic.twitter.com/s8CX1kOfvP
[IsraelTimes] Reports swirl as Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ’s southernmost city emerges as imminent target of IDF campaign; officials reportedly tell Egyptian security establishment they will coordinate with Cairo
Senior Israeli security officials were reportedly working around the clock Sunday to calm Egyptian concerns about a looming Israeli military offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, as US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to press ahead with the campaign without a "credible" plan to protect civilians.
Channel 12 news reported Sunday evening that bigwigs from the Mossad spy agency, the Shin Bet security agency and the Israel Defense Forces had been in contact with their Egyptian counterparts to allay their concerns after Netanyahu said sending troops into Rafah was necessary to win the four-month war against Hamas ...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... Over half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has fled to Rafah to escape the fighting in other areas, packed into sprawling tent camps and United Nation-run shelters near the border. Egypt fears a mass influx of hundreds of thousands of Paleostinian refugees who may never be allowed to return.
The Rafah campaign is a crucial goal in the war for Israel as it serves as a smuggling haven for the enclave’s terror groups.
Channel 12 also reported that the security officials told their Egyptian contacts that Israel would not make any unilateral moves and that they would work in coordination with Cairo.
The reports came days after Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat said Egypt had threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if it sends troops into Rafah, where Cairo fears fighting could force the closure of the besieged territory’s main aid supply route. There were also reports that Egypt had warned Hamas that it must reach a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Israel within two weeks, or Israel would move into Rafah.
Channel 12 also reported, without citing sources, that the IDF would prefer that Gazook civilians currently sheltering in Rafah only be allowed to move to the north of the Strip as part of a hostage release deal. If not, according to the report, the military has other ways to operate in Rafah, though none were specified.
Earlier in the day, dozens of protesters were removed from the Kerem Shalom Crossing after setting up tents to block the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In recent weeks, groups of right-wing protesters have blocked the crossing in an attempt to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza’s civilian population while some 136 Israelis remain in Hamas captivity.
Biden queried Netanyahu on the Kerem Shalom crossing when the two spoke on Sunday, for the first time since the US president called Israel’s Gaza campaign "over the top."
It is believed that 132 hostages
...now reduced to 130 with the rescue of two in Rafah overnight...
kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 29 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
[IsraelTimes] Senior Egyptian officials have told their Israeli counterparts that they won’t oppose an operation in Rafah so long as it is carried out in such a way that Palestinian civilian casualties are avoided, Army Radio reports.
According to the report, the message from Cairo indicates that while Egypt may issue strong criticism of Israel should it launch an offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city, it won’t act in a way that prevents the IDF from operating.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Egyptian officials warned that the decades-long peace treaty between Egypt and Israel could be suspended if IDF troops enter Rafah, or if any of Rafah’s refugees are forced southward into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
[IsraelTimes] Egypt warned Hamas that it must reach a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Israel within 2 weeks, or Israel will move into Rafah, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Cairo is hosting talks on a deal beginning on Tuesday, which Israel, the US, and Qatar will attend.
His Excellency the minister is certainly entitled to his opinion.
[An Nahar] Iran's top diplomat warned on Saturday that a full-blown attack on Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... would "spell the end" of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu during a Beirut trip, as cross-border tensions surge over the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war.
Israeli forces and Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah, a Hamas ...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... ally, have traded near-daily fire following the outbreak of war on October 7 between Israel and the Paleostinian Death Eater group in the Gaza Strip.
"Any move by the Zionist regime (Israel) for a large-scale attack on Lebanon will spell the end of Netanyahu," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told news hounds in Beirut.
Amir-Abdollahian, whose country backs a number of gangs in the region including Hezbollah and Paleostinian factions including Hamas, was on his third visit to Beirut in over four months of hostilities.
"Our assessment is that the Zionist regime will never be able to fight on two fronts," he added. "Netanyahu is struggling to get out of the Gaza quagmire."
On Tuesday, La Belle France's top diplomat had warned officials in Beirut that Israel is threatening to wage war on Lebanon to return residents displaced by cross-border fire, Lebanon's foreign minister had said.
Earlier Saturday, an Iranian foreign ministry statement quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying "the developments in Gaza are moving towards a political solution, but Netanyahu still sees the solution in war to save himself."
"Everyone should try to find a political solution to end Israel's attacks and war crimes against Paleostinians as soon as possible," the statement quoted him as saying.
Amir-Abdollahian met brass hats in Beirut including Hezbollah chief Sayyed His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... and Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri ...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... , a powerful ally of the group.
He also met Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... leader Ziad Nakhaleh, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, and deputy chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine Jamil Mazhar, the statement said.
"Only the Paleostinian nation and Paleostinian groups have the exclusive right to determine their own destiny," he said, adding that "other regional and international actors should refrain from imposing their plans."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2024 2024-02-12 00:15 ||
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#1
Bibi knows history. He remembers what happened to Churchill after WWII.
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.
Please forgive me for not 'giving credit' to any of these people.
...one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...a regional Iranian catspaw,...
