Hi there, !
Today Sat 05/16/2020 Fri 05/15/2020 Thu 05/14/2020 Wed 05/13/2020 Tue 05/12/2020 Mon 05/11/2020 Sun 05/10/2020 Archives
Rantburg
533946 articles and 1862712 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 62 articles and 231 comments as of 15:42.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
President Ghani, in light of attacks, orders Afghan forces to resume attacks on the Taliban
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 15:27 Lex [4] 
2 10:08 Phusotle Dingle5823 [9] 
15 21:45 Frank G [15] 
5 11:10 Frank G [8] 
5 12:20 Skidmark [1] 
6 13:29 Clem [10] 
1 09:23 Raj [4] 
0 [11] 
12 15:53 Procopius2k [14] 
2 07:00 Skidmark [1] 
14 18:13 g(r)omgoru [1] 
0 [3] 
9 19:18 M. Murcek [7] 
18 23:24 Thaith Elmeresing6163 [2] 
7 15:18 ruprecht [3] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
6 23:45 gorb [12]
0 [3]
0 [8]
0 [5]
0 [9]
3 17:12 Alistaire Tingle9882 [5]
0 [8]
0 [3]
0 [14]
0 [14]
2 11:20 Frank G [9]
0 [9]
2 12:14 Skidmark []
0 [7]
0 [6]
0 [8]
3 18:59 jpal [15]
1 11:25 Frank G [5]
1 09:32 b [15]
0 []
5 14:38 bbrewer126 [6]
0 [11]
0 [9]
1 09:37 b [9]
0 [8]
0 [2]
0 [2]
15 14:45 Phineter Turkeyneck6202 [1]
Page 2: WoT Background
17 23:22 Bobby [8]
1 08:34 Besoeker [5]
2 08:42 Woodrow []
3 13:32 Mullah Richard [2]
3 21:45 Frank G [4]
0 [7]
0 [5]
1 08:43 Mercutio [10]
2 07:57 Woodrow [7]
3 08:40 Mercutio [10]
Page 4: Opinion
1 12:21 Clem []
3 16:48 Frank G [8]
2 09:17 Clem [1]
10 21:43 Frank G [12]
6 16:16 rjschwarz [6]
Page 6: Politix
1 19:04 Lex [2]
24 21:50 Besoeker [11]
8 17:45 M. Murcek [12]
12 18:31 ruprecht [11]
Clem — we seem to have misplaced the article that was here. If you would you be so kind as to post the link in the O Club (which is open to everyone, not just whatever would be considered officers here at Rantburg), we’ll reconstitute the thing and send it back to yesterday, where it belongs.

—trailing wife for the moderators at 11:50 a.m. EDT
Posted by: || 05/13/2020 09:22 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Someone please show Clem where we keep the Gestappo images. :-)
Posted by: gorb || 05/12/2020 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  So, they became Facebook so quickly we didn't notice?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/12/2020 2:12 Comments || Top||

#3  @ gorb - I believe we have Heinrich Müller's photo in the 'Burg's collection!
Posted by: Clem || 05/12/2020 4:47 Comments || Top||

#4  I added Nazi: Gestapo, per gorb’s suggestion. I’m not sure which one is Heinrich Müller, Clem — sorry.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2020 7:27 Comments || Top||

#5 

Hello, PW, sorry, Müller's mug shot was under G for Gestapo in "Pix". Probably should be in the mug shot section.
Posted by: Clem || 05/12/2020 8:00 Comments || Top||

#6  Anything to avoid looking at grooming activities...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2020 13:10 Comments || Top||

#7  When people say that Canada and the US have the same freedom as the US they show their ignorance.
Posted by: ruprecht || 05/12/2020 15:18 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Manafort being released from prison amid coronavirus
[Just the News] Former Trump presidential campaign manager Paul Manafort has reportedly been released from prison amid the coronavirus.

Manafort’s lawyers in past weeks have requested that their client be allowed to serve his sentence under home confinement, citing his age and pre-existing medical conditions, two factors that put him at higher risk for contracting the highly virus.

A Manafort lawyer has declined to comment and the Bureau of Prisons has yet to respond, according to ABC News, which reported on Manafort’s purported release, based on sources.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/13/2020 09:09 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good! Really.
Posted by: Clem || 05/13/2020 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Spill the beans on Podesta!
Posted by: Phusotle Dingle5823 || 05/13/2020 10:08 Comments || Top||


How coronavirus gripped the Navajo: More than 3,200 of the 175,000 population are infected and 100 have died after man who attended Tucson basketball game brought in virus and spread it to the community where a THIRD of homes don't have running water
See also here.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • The Navajo Nation has reported 3,204 positive COVID-19 cases and 102 deaths as of Monday, and the number of infections continues to climb

  • The virus was brought to the Navajo Nation, home to roughly 175,000, by a man who attended a basketball tournament in Tucson, Arizona

  • He brought it to small Chilchinbito church where locals across region gathered
    ...a typical superspreader event...
  • The number of cases is disproportionately high among Native Americans

  • If the Navajo Nation were its own state it would have the second highest per capita rate of nearly 18 cases per 1,000 people, only behind New York

  • Factors including crowding, tradition, medical disparities and a lack of running water and electrify have contributed to the virological catastrophe

  • Doctors Without Borders, known to aid in medical crises across the globe, has now dispatched a team of nine to the hard-hit Navajo Nation

  • More doctors from the federal Indian Health Service, local hospitals, Navajo Nation officials, the National Guard, volunteer doctors, nurses and EMTs from across the nation have arrived to help

  • Over 18,000 tests have been administered and 13,576 proved negative as of Monday
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/13/2020 07:28 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Health
Diabetes. Alcoholism. Obesity. Cardiovascular disease. All are health problems that confront the Navajo at rates greater than the national average.

At the moment, Type 2 diabetes in children is rampant. In fact, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in Native American youth between 10 and 19 years old is more than nine times higher than in white children.

Other common health issues include cardiovascular disease and chronic obesity. Between 1995 and 2004, the most common cancer among the Navajo was colon cancer, while stomach cancer had the highest mortality rate, according to a report by the Navajo Epidemiology Center.

Alcohol abuse, and to a lesser extent, drug abuse, are also prevalent among the Navajo, which could explain their higher-than-average rates of motor vehicle related death, homicide, suicide and depression.

Many of the health problems expressed by the Navajo these days can be linked with their gradual transition from an active population who ate healthy foods to a more sedentary population who tend to eat starchy, packaged foods. Such a lifestyle can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease.
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/13/2020 8:21 Comments || Top||

#2  ..don't forget the genetic factors as well. The Navajo survive isolated in high desert country where water and food supplies have been limited for centuries. They adapted to their environment. Unfortunately, the environment changed with a dramatic increase in the availability of both. The Pueblo natives along the Rio Grand river corridor live among the communities the settlers established for a couple centuries (ie Tome NM est 1650) now. The settlers and the Pueblo natives have largely been farmers with somewhat reliable crops, food and water.

It will be interesting to compare to the Hopi tribe that the Navajo nation surrounds. They don't play well together. The Hopi have a long tradition of Pueblo runners and exercise.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/13/2020 8:33 Comments || Top||

#3  They didn't do a good enough job looking out for abuela or papa or big mama.
Posted by: Clem || 05/13/2020 8:53 Comments || Top||

#4  South Korea, for all its First World hygiene, formal culture, and disciplined behaviours, also had a church superspreader event. But it isn’t all over Facebook how foreign nations sent South Korea medical supplies and volunteer medical staff.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2020 12:39 Comments || Top||

#5  So Korea gave the world Rev. Moon
Posted by: Lex || 05/13/2020 12:41 Comments || Top||

#6  And a dictatorship along the way, IIRC. In the South, that is.
Posted by: Clem || 05/13/2020 13:29 Comments || Top||


South Korea's LBGTQ community fears discrimination after new spike of Covid-19 cases linked to capital's gay district
[Business Insider South Africa] The LGBTQ community in South Korea fears a rise in discrimination after a reported new spike in coronavirus cases was linked to a man who attended night clubs in Seoul's gay district and later tested positive for the disease.

As of Saturday, May 9, South Korea confirmed 18 new coronavirus cases - the first time in five days that the number jumped above 10. Most of the cases originated in the popular Itaewon district in Seoul, where a 29-year-old man visited three nightclubs before testing positive for the virus.

The man tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, May 7, while an additional 14 people with who he had contact were also infected on Friday.

The 29-year-old could have also infected an estimated 2,000 people after he also walked around Seoul and other neighbouring provinces, including Gyeonggi and Gangwon, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, according to Reuters.

But the new reports have left the LGBTQ community fearful of discrimination after several local media organisations have sensationalised details about the outbreak occurring in the gay district of the capital.

After the major media outlet Kookmin Ilbo ran the story of the man visiting the gay nightclubs, a social media storm ensued. The terms "gay" and "Itaewon corona" were trending on South Korea's Naver web search portal.

Some social media users also posted videos of the bars and clubs in the district, urging followers for donations "to help put a stop to these disgusting goings-on," according to The Guardian.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/13/2020 06:32 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Official AP headline style description = "(Designated victim group) fears backlash / discrimination after (whatever recent event grabs headlines)".
Posted by: Raj || 05/13/2020 9:23 Comments || Top||


African swine fever hits SA: What you need to know
[Business Insider South Africa] African Swine Fever has hit South Africa again, with government confirming cases in the Eastern Cape over the weekend.

This has caused some panic that the pork industry could face a listeriosis-like crisis, but experts believe that while some producers may suffer heavy losses, the supply of pork in the market should remain stable.

The disease is deadly to pigs - sometimes killing 100% of herds - and is highly contagious. Pigs can die from haemorrhaging within days of contracting the disease, and there is no cure or vaccine. But it is harmless to humans.

Last year, the disease swept through Asia, and millions of pigs were slaughtered. It has also wreaked havoc in Western Africa, and three years ago, cases were recorded in the Free State, North West, Northern Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

Because the disease is so contagious, all affected livestock need to be slaughtered immediately.
More pressure on the world supply of pork, impacting the price and availability in China...
"Farmers have no choice but to cull their stocks, this will have a significant impact on their farm finance. Furthermore, the industry has to bear the cost of culling and controlling further spread of the disease," says agricultural economist at FNB Agribusiness, Pertunia Setumo.

Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, believes that the county’s pork industry will not be heavily impacted because the outbreak occurred in a communal setting and large pork suppliers remain unaffected.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/13/2020 06:29 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:


Doctors Without Borders Deploys In the U.S. to Help Navajo Nation
See also here.
[Townhall] Doctors Without Borders, the international humanitarian organization, is frequently known for its work around the world. The organization typically deploys medical personnel to places like Africa and the Middle East. But the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic has the organization deploying to the United States for the first time ever.

A nine-person medical team — made up of two physicians, three nurse/midwives, a water sanitation specialist, two logisticians and a health promoter who specializes in community health education — have been deployed to the Navajo Nation, CBS News reported.

The Navajo Nation, which sits in parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico and spans 27,000 square miles, has been hit particularly hard by the Wuhan coronavirus because of preexisting conditions, like hypertension and diabetes, and the lack of adequate medical care. According to CBS, the Navajo Nation, which is home to around 170,000 people, "has a higher coronavirus death rate than that of 46 states."

According to Fox News, the reservation has had more than 3,120 coronavirus infections and more than 100 deaths. That puts their infection rate at 18 percent.

"There are many situations in which we do not intervene in the United States, but this has a particular risk profile," Jean Stowell, the organization's coronavirus response lead in the United States, told CBS. "Situationally, the Native American communities are at a much higher risk for complications from COVID-19 and also from community spread because they don't have access to the variety of things that make it possible to self-isolate... You can't expect people to isolate if they have to drive 100 miles to get food and water."

The White House Coronavirus Task Force previously warned about those with preexisting conditions, particularly those in minority communities, about the greater likelihood of them contracting the virus.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/13/2020 03:19 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The Navajo Nation, which is home to around 170,000 people, "has a higher coronavirus death rate than that of 46 states." According to Fox News, the reservation has had more than 3,120 coronavirus infections and more than 100 deaths. That puts their infection rate at 18 percent."
Is this the New Math?
Posted by: b || 05/13/2020 9:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Terrible explanation. Author must have been a Common Core student. 3120/170K = 1.8%.
Posted by: Phusotle Dingle5823 || 05/13/2020 10:06 Comments || Top||

#3  What about Apache?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 10:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Common Core Math-educated
Posted by: Lex || 05/13/2020 10:52 Comments || Top||

#5  #2 the Apache are in the south east sector where the Lincoln National Parks shows.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/13/2020 12:12 Comments || Top||

#6  ooops should have been #3
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/13/2020 12:12 Comments || Top||

#7  Farmington is a scary, depressing place. I have an old buddy from my bike messenger days that lives there. He was lured back by the tribe with promises of land, work, and a house... none of which materialized. But he met a girl and there you go.

I remember riding a motorcyle through there in '98. I stopped for some gas and the teenage girl behind the counter mouthed out silently "Take me with you!"

I nearly did.
Posted by: Secret Master || 05/13/2020 12:18 Comments || Top||

#8  #5 I meant why the Apache is not hard hit?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru PB || 05/13/2020 13:23 Comments || Top||

#9  ^ better lungs?
Posted by: Lex || 05/13/2020 13:40 Comments || Top||

#10  Apache had not lived in the southwest as long. There were nomadic and are recent arrivals (historically) to the SW. Supposedly their orgins were Canadian and from the plains.
Posted by: Vespasian Ebboting9735 || 05/13/2020 14:58 Comments || Top||

#11  ^Archaeological and historical evidence suggests the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajo and Apache entered the Southwest around 1400 CE.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 15:10 Comments || Top||

#12  Good question. Insufficient information to provide an answer of any high confidence. What I do know is that the tribes that are more self sufficient seem to be doing better than those who are not. The Navajo are sort of like a Detroit of the tribes. Highly dependent upon Bureau of Indian Affairs and government largess.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/13/2020 15:53 Comments || Top||


Coronaplague Roundup
737 die as corona continues to prey on more
[The News (Pak)] Coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to infect and kill more people in Pakistain with the number of confirmed cases rising to 34,325 and fatalities to 737 on Tuesday as of 1:30am. As many as 31 people died of the COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Of the reported 34,325 confirmed cases, Sindh reported 12,610 cases, Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

13,259, KP 5,021, Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
2,158, Islamabad Capital Territory 716, Gilgit-Baltistan 457, and AJK 86.

Of 737 deaths, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reported 267, Sindh 218, Balochistan 27, Gilgit-Baltistan 4, Punjab 214, and Islamabad Capital Territory 6.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse...
the recovery ratio of patients stands at 39 percent in Punjab, as Lahore remains the hotbed of new infections, mortalities, and low percentage of recoveries among the patients.

In Punjab, as many as 4,452 patients have recovered so far out of 11,869 cases with a recovery ratio of 39 percent. The corpse count has climbed to 211, while the fragile health system is coping with 7,206 active cases of novel coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
admitted to public sector hospitals, makeshift field hospitals and quarantine centres in the province.

During the last six days, as many as 28,531 tests were performed across Punjab resulting in diagnosis of 3449 patients as Covid-19 positive.

In the same period, the percentage of positive cases hovered around 10.44 percent to 18.39 percent. However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
the ratio of positive cases dropped to single digit Tuesday for the first time since last six days as only 301 patients were confirmed positive out of 4,568 suspected patients with a ratio of diagnosis at 6.59 percent.

Coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to infect and kill more people in Pakistain with the number of confirmed cases rising to 34,325 and fatalities to 737 on Tuesday as of 1:30am. As many as 31 people died of the COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Of the reported 34,325 confirmed cases, Sindh reported 12,610 cases, Punjab 13,259, KP 5,021, Balochistan 2,158, Islamabad Capital Territory 716, Gilgit-Baltistan 457, and AJK 86.

Of 737 deaths, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reported 267, Sindh 218, Balochistan 27, Gilgit-Baltistan 4, Punjab 214, and Islamabad Capital Territory 6.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse...
the recovery ratio of patients stands at 39 percent in Punjab, as Lahore remains the hotbed of new infections, mortalities, and low percentage of recoveries among the patients.

In Punjab, as many as 4,452 patients have recovered so far out of 11,869 cases with a recovery ratio of 39 percent. The corpse count has climbed to 211, while the fragile health system is coping with 7,206 active cases of novel coronavirus admitted to public sector hospitals, makeshift field hospitals and quarantine centres in the province.

During the last six days, as many as 28,531 tests were performed across Punjab resulting in diagnosis of 3449 patients as Covid-19 positive.

In the same period, the percentage of positive cases hovered around 10.44 percent to 18.39 percent. However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
the ratio of positive cases dropped to single digit Tuesday for the first time since last six days as only 301 patients were confirmed positive out of 4,568 suspected patients with a ratio of diagnosis at 6.59 percent.

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:




#4  ^Nebraska has stopped reporting on confirmed coronavirus cases in the state's meatpacking plants, after the state revealed more than 1,000 workers were infected.

Going full Xi?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 7:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Montana closed 3/28, reopen 4/27. 16 deaths.
Nebraska stay open. 103 deaths.

Montana population: 1.069 million
Nebraska population: 1.934 million

Montana population density: 6.86/mile^2
Nebraska population density: 23.8/mile^2

Nearly 1 in 6 Nebraska cases linked to meat plants
Meaning 5/6 are not.

Conclusion?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 8:16 Comments || Top||

#6  /\ Anecdotal.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/13/2020 15:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey! Anybody remember the IHME models? I was browsing through their updates to the latest model (05/12) and discovered this nugget (a model, remember) --

While most other EEA countries saw small to moderate increases in projected cumulative COVID-19 deaths since the May 4 release, Sweden was the main exception: today’s projections point to 5,760 cumulative COVID-19 deaths (estimate range of 4,426 to 9,089) by August, while the May 4 release had Sweden’s predictions at 10,196 (estimate range of 3,474 to 37,830). Although the uncertainty intervals overlap for both sets of predictions, the updated estimates are, on average, 4,436 deaths lower.
http://www.healthdata.org/covid/updates
Posted by: Bobby || 05/13/2020 15:51 Comments || Top||

#8  ^ I can't read the IMHE cuz my internet is down due to Net Neutrality and I already died from Covid, tax cuts, withdrawing from the Iran deal and Paris Accords, and Orange Man Bad
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2020 16:41 Comments || Top||

#9  ForeverQuarantine religionists hit hardest...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/13/2020 19:18 Comments || Top||


-War on Police-
LAPD Chief releases 'disturbing' bodycam footage of cop beating an unarmed homeless man in the head while his hands were behind his back
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/13/2020 07:30 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WTF!? Who knows what the hell this guy did but that coppers needs removal. Clearly beating with out need.

Coming from a family member of Saint Paul's most prolific (a "hunter") officer.
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/13/2020 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Those cops need to be reassign to 'Handicap Parking' enforcement. If you weren't handicap when you parked there, you will be afterwards. Square hole, square peg sort of thing.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/13/2020 8:36 Comments || Top||

#3  I see the pigs continue to be pigs.
Posted by: Clem || 05/13/2020 8:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Not interested in checking into Hotel Newsom?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/13/2020 10:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Clearly rage (fist) rather than control (club).
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/13/2020 12:20 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Update - Mexico sheds light on note requesting answers over Obama era gun-running
[FOX] The foreign minister of Mexico announced on Monday that he sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. requesting answers related to a gun-running sting that caused tension during the Obama administration, according to a report.

In a video posted on Twitter, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard quoted Eric Holder, the former U.S. Attorney General, as saying Mexican authorities knew about the ill-fated 2009-2011 scheme known as "Fast and Furious."

"The [Mexican] government requests that it be provided with all the information available regarding the 'Fast and Furious' operation," Ebrard said, according to Reuters.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/13/2020 07:35 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Give Holder to the Mexicans. I'll pay for the tickets.
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/13/2020 7:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Fair exchange for cartel bosses, I think.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/13/2020 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Do we not have an extradition treaty with Mexico? Give them Holder and Obama.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/13/2020 8:44 Comments || Top||

#4  *Hee Hee* Holder extradited *Snicker* The image has made my morning!
Posted by: magpie || 05/13/2020 10:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe he should ask Trump for a preemptive pardon. Like Marc Rich


Hahahahahhahhaahahhah
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2020 11:10 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
'North Korea leader Kim Jong Un missing for another 12 days
Nothing to see here, literally. Go about your business, Zek
[NY Post] North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been missing for another 12 days ‐ leaving US intelligence only able to guess this week that he is "probably" alive and well.

The Hermit Kingdom released photos of its dictator at a red-ribbon event on May 1 to quash escalating rumors that his three-week absence was a sign that he was dying or even dead.

But he has not been seen since ‐ making it a dozen days and counting from the release of the images, which US intelligence has been unable to verify.

"He seems to be out and cutting ribbons on fertilizer factories," White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters in Washington on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.

"So, you know, our thinking is he is probably doing well."

However, he conceded that intelligence "can't say one way or the other" whether the recent "open source" photos of Kim were real.
They're not. A bad double
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2020 10:14 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Wait, wasn't there a sighting just this last weekend?

Damn you gravitational time dilation!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/13/2020 11:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Dead and power struggle? Absolutely possible, but his international problems are otherwise occupied. Add into the mix he has his own resort, a yacht, a couple of thousand whores, a mid size remuda of chefs and wine/intoxicant cellar one must imagine to be extensive. Time will tell, but there are a great many things he could be doing.
Posted by: Cesare || 05/13/2020 13:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Or maybe that's what they want us to think...
Posted by: Raj || 05/13/2020 15:14 Comments || Top||

#4  DNC's taking notes. Could come in handy wrt to Plugz this fall.
Posted by: Lex || 05/13/2020 15:27 Comments || Top||


Contingency plans in place for Chinese drills in South China Sea
[FOCUSTAIWAN.TW] Taiwan said Tuesday that contingency plans are in place for its outlying islands in the South China Sea, following a Japanese media report that the Chinese military is planning to conduct drills in the area to simulate the seizure of one of the islands.

Japan's Kyodo News reported that day that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is planning to hold a large-scale beach landing exercise near China's Hainan Province in August, with a scenario of capturing the Dongsha Islands (Pratas Islands), currently controlled by Taiwan.

The report, which did not cite its sources, said the Dongsha Islands are significant to Beijing as they sit at a strategic point, because Chinese warships have to sail by them when going to the Pacific from Hainan Province.

Responding to this, Maj. Gen. Lin Wen-huang (林文皇), who heads an operations and planning office at the Ministry of National Defense (MND), said at a presser that the ministry is monitoring movements of "hostile forces" through intelligence gathering and surveillance.

He made clear that the MND has contingency plans in place for the South China Sea and that work to strengthen combat readiness and defense preparedness on Taiping Island and the Dongsha Islands will not stop.

Taiwan, along with Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, claim ownership of the South China Sea region, either in part or wholly. At present, Taiwan controls Taiping, the biggest island feature in the South China Sea, and the Dongsha Islands, with coasties personnel deployed on them.

Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Home Front: Politix
Early Results Point to a Blue-to-Red Flip as Mike Garcia Leads In CA-25's Special Election
[RedState] As the nation is aware, a special election was held Tuesday in California to fill the unexpired term of former Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned after an ethics scandal in October 2019. In the last month both President Trump and Barack Obama have relentlessly pushed for their party's candidate on social media, as have heavyweights from both sides of the aisle.

As of 11:00 p.m. Pacific, it looks like Republican Mike Garcia is going to fill that term, flipping the seat from blue to red – the first such flip in more than 20 years. In fact, Garcia holds a 12-point lead over Democrat Christy Smith.

Related: Who is Mike Garcia, Katie Hill's likely replacement in Congress?
Posted by: Phusotle Dingle5823 || 05/13/2020 08:12 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uncounted ballot boxes to be discovered in 5 ... 4 ... 3?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 8:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Special Election in Wisconsin also went Red. The state voted Trump previously but had a long streak of going Democrat since they voted for Reagan back in the day.
Posted by: ruprecht || 05/13/2020 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  They'll keep the votes coming in till they get the Caracas results they want.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/13/2020 8:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Yah. Right. Wait 'til all those mail-in ballots get printed...I mean, counted.
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/13/2020 8:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Dems are not a party but a criminal cartel.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/13/2020 8:46 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't think they will cheat for this one. That will be for the November push. The DNC has pretty much already written this off until Nov. as per their announcements.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/13/2020 9:44 Comments || Top||

#7  November push

That's when ballot harvesting kicks in. They couldn't do it this time because of the quarantine.
Posted by: Phusotle Dingle5823 || 05/13/2020 9:46 Comments || Top||

#8  You can beat the Democrat, but can you beat the fraud?
Posted by: Iblis || 05/13/2020 13:14 Comments || Top||

#9  You can beat the Democrat, but can you beat the fraud?

Tough to do. Ask Norm Coleman
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/13/2020 13:33 Comments || Top||

#10  It looks like he’s a good pick: Annapolis, F/A-18 fighter pilot in Iraq (2003), VP of business development at Raytheon, backed by President Trump among others, step-father an LA policeman. He should get some plum committee seats and bring back goodies for his district as well.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2020 16:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Blue-To-Red... not good for Plugs, not good at all.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/13/2020 16:27 Comments || Top||

#12  Remember the media analysis formula: Red flips blue or blue hold = Big deal, huge bellwether, Orange man on the way to jail. Blue flips red or red hold = Can't read anything into it or it's trending to go blue next time, Orange man on the way to jail.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/13/2020 17:58 Comments || Top||

#13  Dems are not a party but a criminal cartel

As I see it there are 3 kinds of Democrats:
1) Corrupt, tyrannical and basically treasonous
2) Not personally corrupt but willing to ride along for the personal perks
3) Too stupid to know s/he is aiding and abetting crooks and treachers

Group 1: Nearest lampost
Group 2: Tar and feathers
Group 3: Give them a lollypop and a pat on the po-po and send them to bed.

All three groups - debar from any public office (though admittedly this would be redundant for group 1)
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/13/2020 18:47 Comments || Top||

#14  Dems are not a party but a criminal cartel.

Like that guy said:
“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”

The Dems have truly achieved racket-hood. The party started as a great cause - protecting the working man from the rich fat cats. They went thru a business phase that profitably turned cities like Chicago into cities like Chicago. Now, it's the party of grifters, con artists, and race-hustlers. It's still the party of the working man, if you still believe the mythology, but all the money comes from Big Hollywood and Big Tech instead of the union halls.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/13/2020 20:54 Comments || Top||

#15  ^ Well said
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2020 21:45 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Three Gulf states reach out to Israel for help battling COVID-19 pandemic
[IsraelTimes] UAE and Bahrain have been in touch with Ramat Gan’s Sheba hospital for months; now a third country — likely Kuwait — has asked for help erecting telemedicine facilities.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2020 00:58 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Playing us for suckers.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 4:00 Comments || Top||

#2  I was guessing Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/13/2020 7:00 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Men have high levels of enzyme key to COVID-19 infection, study finds
[Jpost] Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is found in the heart, kidneys and other organs.

Men's blood has higher levels than women's of a key enzyme used by the new coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
to infect cells, the results of a big European study showed on Monday -- a finding which may help explain why men are more vulnerable to infection with COVID-19.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is found in the heart, kidneys and other organs. In COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, it is thought to play a role in how the infection progresses into the lungs.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, also found that widely-prescribed drugs called ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) did not lead to higher ACE2 concentrations and should therefore not increase the COVID-19 risk for people taking them.

ACE inhibitors and ARBs are widely prescribed to patients with congestive heart failure, diabetes or kidney disease. The drugs account for billions of dollars in prescription sales worldwide.

"Our findings do not support the discontinuation of these drugs in COVID-19 patients," said Adriaan Voors, a professor of cardiology at the University Medical Center (UMC) Groningen in The Netherlands, who co-led the study. The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 4 million people worldwide and killed almost 277,000, according to a Rooters tally. Death and infection tolls point to men being more likely than women to contract the disease and to suffer severe or critical complications if they do.

Analyzing thousands of men and women, Voors' team measured ACE2 concentrations in blood samples taken from more than 3,500 heart failure patients from 11 European countries.

The study had started before the coronavirus pandemic, the researchers said, and so did not include patients with COVID-19.

But when other research began to point to ACE2 as key to the way the new coronavirus gets into cells, Voors and his team saw important overlaps with their study.

"When we found that one of the strongest biomarkers, ACE2, was much higher in men than in women, I realized that this had the potential to explain why men were more likely to die from COVID-19 than women," said Iziah Sama, a doctor at UMC Groningen who co-led the study.

ACE2 is a receptor on the surface of cells which binds to the new coronavirus and allows it to enter and infect cells.

Sama and Voors noted that as well as in the lung, ACE2 is found in the heart, kidneys, in tissues lining blood vessels, and in particularly high levels in the testes.

They said its presence in the testes might partially explain higher ACE2 concentrations in men, and why men are more vulnerable to COVID-19.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2020 00:56 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So is ACE2 an enzyme or a receptor? This article says it's both.
Posted by: gorb || 05/13/2020 4:34 Comments || Top||

#2  ^Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 4:36 Comments || Top||

#3  More white male privilege?
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/13/2020 7:02 Comments || Top||

#4 

ACE inhibitors and ARBs are widely prescribed to patients with congestive heart failure, diabetes or kidney disease. The drugs account for billions of dollars in prescription sales worldwide.

"Our findings do not support the discontinuation of these drugs in COVID-19 patients," said Adriaan Voors.


No way in hell I'd believe in the discontinuance conclusions. Deep suspecting as money talks.
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/13/2020 8:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Strange because in some places more women are infected (but more men die). Are you listening, Hillary?
Posted by: Clem || 05/13/2020 9:19 Comments || Top||

#6  this is strange because CNN tells me that there is no biological difference between men and women
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 || 05/13/2020 11:29 Comments || Top||

#7  That's just for CNN watchers, Bob.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/13/2020 12:21 Comments || Top||

#8  What about the other 57 genders? How are they affected?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/13/2020 12:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Nevertheless, women are still hardest hit.
Posted by: charger || 05/13/2020 13:35 Comments || Top||

#10  S'Why transition surgeries are so important; cover all the bases.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/13/2020 13:55 Comments || Top||

#11  *Nobody seems to mention that Furries have a -4 to save vs. Chinese Food Flu.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/13/2020 13:57 Comments || Top||


#13  The final sentence from your link, g(r)omgoru:

'The current hypothesis is that this “cytokine storm” inhibits steroid synthesis leading to low testosterone levels in men,' says Professor Gabriel.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2020 17:06 Comments || Top||

#14  ^Thehormone is known to help regulate the body's immune response but when a man has low levels of testosterone, the immune system is not kept in check and can go haywire following infection.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 18:13 Comments || Top||


Ramjet-powered artillery round will double the U.S. military’s cannon artillery range to > 100 km.
[Twitter]
Posted by: 3dc || 05/13/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the 2Lt FA with the map and the radio is going to be a long way from home.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 05/13/2020 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  For when you need to reach WAY out and kick someone in the teeth...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/13/2020 1:15 Comments || Top||

#3  So if I'm reading this right, it will hit a target fast enough to kinetically kill it. No explosive involved so you can kill the "chicken truck" without excessive collateral damage, .....The goats of the Mideast thank you.
Posted by: Thaith Elmeresing6163 || 05/13/2020 1:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Herb can't be reached for comment?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2020 2:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Seems like the long range will require some sort of GPS guidance.
Posted by: gorb || 05/13/2020 4:36 Comments || Top||

#6  I would have thought that something with an engine would be called a rocket or a missile rather than a cannon round.

When I think of cannon I think of round shot or tanks. Oh well I'll learn.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/13/2020 6:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Long range artillery shells are already like a weak rocket. It's called Base Bleed.
Posted by: Phusotle Dingle5823 || 05/13/2020 7:23 Comments || Top||

#8  "I would have thought that something with an engine would be called a rocket or a missile rather than a cannon round"

Artillery is characterized as mortars, cannons, and missiles. The launching mechanism defines the payload. Back in the day we had Rocket-Assisted Projectiles (RAP) fired from the M198 155. We also had the Silver Bullet - nuke rounds.

Bangkok Billy, Capt, USMCR, 1st Bn/11Th Marines and 3rd Anglico
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 05/13/2020 7:24 Comments || Top||

#9  Bangkok Billy. In 1970, was in jump school at Benning with a Marine captain whose career ambition was to call in the New Jersey.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 05/13/2020 7:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Not to throw a wet blanket but what is the cost per round?
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/13/2020 8:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Great minds, Woodrow... must be something in the water. Seems like we're pricing ourselves out of the game. "OK, your allotment for this month is 3 rounds"
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/13/2020 8:58 Comments || Top||

#12  Excalibur GPS guided shell > $100,000
PGK GPS guided fuse (no shell) ~$10,000

Who knows what a GPS + Ramjet shell will cost? When the Navy tried for a really long range shell for the 6" Zumwalt cruiser guns, each shell ran about $1 million. Program got cancelled.
Posted by: Phusotle Dingle5823 || 05/13/2020 9:37 Comments || Top||

#13  U.S. Army’s new 58-caliber Extended-Range Cannon Artillery.
I hate being picky and pedantic (Are you kidding? I love being it!), but it is calibers not caliber.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 05/13/2020 9:42 Comments || Top||

#14  In 1970, was in jump school at Benning with a Marine captain whose career ambition was to call in the New Jersey.

One of my very few claims to fame was to be the sole FO on comms with the USS Wisconsin during late stages of Desert Storm (aka Desert Souvenir Hunt). No fire missions but 1 grunt had an ND w/his 60. Later went to Benning for my 5 Jump Chump award.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 05/13/2020 9:46 Comments || Top||

#15  6" Zumwalt cruiser guns

155mm (6.1"). If the Army get this to work, maybe the Zumwalts will finally have working guns.
Posted by: Phusotle Dingle5823 || 05/13/2020 9:56 Comments || Top||

#16  I happened to see the Michael Mansoor (#2 in the Zumwalt class) underway in San Diego Bay about a year ago. It's a great hulking beast, but it was unsettling to see a combatant ship with no visible weapons. It ain't ever gonna happen, but if we're going to do FONOP's through the Strait of Formosa, I would be delighted to see a couple of Iowa's (or all four) doing it, instead of an LCS and a replenishment ship.
Posted by: Matt || 05/13/2020 12:23 Comments || Top||

#17  I used to be excited about stuff like this, but nowadays I find myself wondering how it might be used on us.

Still good to know though.
Posted by: charger || 05/13/2020 14:44 Comments || Top||

#18  Sigh , I remember one of the dreams , was buying a bunch of double hulled oil tankers , filling up the space between the inner and outer hull with some kind of stuff ( mixture of ping pong balls and glass ? ) and using the top deck for VTOL or missiles . I wouldn't want to crew one.
Posted by: Thaith Elmeresing6163 || 05/13/2020 23:24 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
4Arab Spring
4Sublime Porte
4Govt of Iraq
3Taliban
3Islamic State
2Govt of Syria
2Moslem Colonists
2Commies
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Hamas
1Fatah
1Houthis
1al-Nusra
1Jaish-e-Mohammad
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda
1Hezbollah
1Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)
1Govt of Iran

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2020-05-13
  President Ghani, in light of attacks, orders Afghan forces to resume attacks on the Taliban
Tue 2020-05-12
  GNA militia evacuate their headquarters in Abuslim
Mon 2020-05-11
  Iran navy own goal in Oman Gulf exercise; 24 dead
Sun 2020-05-10
  GNA militias lines collapsing quickly
in Abuslim and Salah AlDin with a LNA advance
Sat 2020-05-09
  Houthi Yemeni Scholar Ibrahim Al-Ubeidi: Saud Clan Is a Jewish Family
Fri 2020-05-08
  933 Taliban Prisoners Freed by Afghan Govt, More Promised
Thu 2020-05-07
  PM is elected in Iraq without guidance from Qassem Soleimani
Wed 2020-05-06
  16 killed as airstrike targets gathering convened by Red Unit commander of Taliban
Tue 2020-05-05
  U.S. approves first Sudanese ambassador in two decades
Mon 2020-05-04
  66 civilians killed, wounded in Taliban attacks in first week of Ramadan
Sun 2020-05-03
  Multiple gunshots fired from N. Korea
hit S. Korean DMZ guard post
Sat 2020-05-02
  Trial begins in Denmark of man accused of attack plot for Iran
Fri 2020-05-01
  Southern Transitional Council declares self rule in Yemen
Thu 2020-04-30
  German government bans Hezbollah — Interior Ministry
Wed 2020-04-29
  El Salvador's President Takes On The Country's Gangs Amid Coronavirus Pandemic


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.
3.144.154.208
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (28)    WoT Background (10)    Opinion (5)    (0)    Politix (4)