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Stray Nigeria airstrike kills 7 children in Niger
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
8 20:42 trailing wife [16] 
2 16:03 magpie [11] 
4 14:51 M. Murcek [12] 
26 21:18 Merrick Ferret [13] 
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9 10:06 Matt [6] 
1 07:32 Bobby [5] 
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8 13:38 swksvolFF [10] 
1 06:48 Dron66046 [14] 
1 12:06 Abu Uluque [5] 
3 13:33 SteveS [5] 
15 14:56 Merrick Ferret [8] 
11 23:36 Skidmark [19] 
3 18:27 Silentbrick [18] 
1 08:12 Too Old To Work [5] 
2 18:25 jpal [11] 
2 08:53 Mercutio [7] 
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1 08:42 NN2N1 [6] 
8 22:58 DooDahMan [12] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
9 15:59 magpie [3]
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4 21:08 Shiva Protector of the Hohlraums [12]
4 13:29 DarthVader [5]
5 15:09 Skidmark [5]
8 22:12 Merrick Ferret [14]
3 07:04 Procopius2k [10]
22 15:24 Sheter the Lesser9291 [7]
1 12:29 Skidmark [20]
1 00:41 Merrick Ferret [21]
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Page 6: Politix
3 23:24 Merrick Ferret [23]
9 13:40 M. Murcek [6]
4 12:44 Greng Black3494 [9]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Mexican Scientist Pleads Guilty to Working in U.S. for Russian Spies
[Breitbart] A Mexican scientist pleaded guilty to working for a foreign government while in the United States. The scientist, who admitted to having worked for Russian spies in Florida, faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

This week, 36-year-old Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes went before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks where he pleaded guilty to the official charge of “acting on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General” – a type of charge used for espionage cases. He is expected to be sentenced in May. Cabrera Fuentes, a Mexican national is a biochemist and a researcher who lived in Singapore and also studied for an advanced degree in Russia.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the manner in which Cabrera Fuentes communicated with the Russian government official and the events that followed “are consistent with the tactics of the Russian intelligence services for spotting, assessing, recruiting, and handling intelligence assets and sources.”

The case against Cabrera Fuentes began in 2019, when a Russian agent recruited the Mexican scientist and asked him to rent a specific apartment in Miami, Breitbart Texas reported in February 2020. After Cabrera Fuentes rented the apartment, he traveled to Moscow, Russia, where he was given a description of a vehicle used by a “U.S. government source “ in Miami, Florida, and asked to find it and photograph the license plate. In February 2021, when Cabrera Fuentes went to photograph the vehicle at an apartment complex in Miami, a security guard caught him and kicked him out of the property. Two days later, federal authorities stopped the scientist at an airport in Miami and found photographs of the vehicle on his phone.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He would have been OK if he'd been spying for the Chinese.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/21/2022 12:06 Comments || Top||


Man Punches 4-Year-Old in Head in Times Square, Mother Helps Detain Suspect, Authorities Say
[Breitbart] A man who has a track record of assaulting strangers allegedly punched a four-year-old boy in the head in Times Square on Thursday, authorities say.

Police say the attack occurred around 3:20 p.m. at the corner of 7th Avenue and West 46th Street when Babacar Mbaye, 34, randomly pummelled the small child who was with his 43-year-old mother, WABC reports.

Surveillance footage obtained by the New York Post shows two women, one of whom is the four-year-old’s mother, going after the suspect. One of the women tackled the perp to the ground while the other swung an object in her hand while standing over him, the footage appears to show. Two police officers then burst into the frame, with one of them engaging the suspect on the ground as the woman who was battling the man gets up, the video allegedly shows. It is unclear which woman is the boy’s mother, the Post reports.

“Who needs DA Bragg? The mother took care of justice the old fashioned way,” a Manhattan officer told the outlet, taking an apparent swipe at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The boy received medical attention at the scene in Times Square.

While being taken into custody, Mbaye allegedly kicked a police officer.

Prosecutors said that once he was in custody at Bellevue Hospital, he allegedly told police that he “drank a whole bottle of hand sanitizer” and added, “I shouldn’t have done this,” the Post reports.

He was charged with felony assault, reckless endangerment, and resisting arrest, prosecutors and police said. He was arraigned on Friday.

A New York City Police Department (NYPD) spokesman told WNBC that Mbaye has 40 prior arrests. His record, which dates back to 2009, includes arrests for criminal possession of a weapon, assault, driving while intoxicated, and menacing, sources told the Post. Additionally, he has 16 misdemeanor convictions on his record, prosecutors said.

At the time of Thursday’s attack, he was on supervised release for three open misdemeanors related to “assaulting strangers,” which date back to last summer, prosecutors said, per the Post. Two of the attacks happened in the past month; one where he “pushed a stranger and punched her twice in the shoulder,” and another in which he “punched a stranger in the head,” prosecutors said.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Jay Weiner set Mbaye’s bail at $30,000 cash, and Bragg’s office asked for bail be upped to $50,000, the Post reports.

Thomas Kenniff, Mbaye’s lawyer, said the defendant lives with his mother and siblings and is unemployed.

Per the Post, Kenniff said:

He was dancing in the midst of Times Square and inadvertently made contact with the child … which drew the ire of the child’s mother who maybe perhaps reasonably believed that he intended to strike the child. But I’m confident that was not his intention.

Mbaye is due back in court on Wednesday.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think some noted jurist once said "Your right to swing your arms around in public ends at my chin."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 2:07 Comments || Top||

#2 
I am all for ridding the streets of Dangerous Crazies types like it use to be.

But, how can we do it and not give the politically aggressive overreaching types a weapon to lock up opposition voices?

Deinstitutionalization def: Moving severely mentally ill people out of state institutions and then closing all or part of those containment institutions. Which happened between 1980 - 1999. It has been documented to be a major contributor to Metro Homeless numbers and their related crimes.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/21/2022 6:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Police are just not selected and incentivized for creative policing anymore. Too many pansy tests and psych evals and must be all sorts of woke nonsense too by now in training. In Asian countries, where there are crazies proportional to the large populations, we like to say 'life is short, the world is full, rid it of assholes one at a time, this is your duty.' Many a recidivist, crazy, or simply incontinent mofo is simply... wasted... in transit. All it takes is creative reporting and some counter forensics. Like 'he tried to run and got scrunched under a ten wheeler', or he slit his own throat with a loose handcuff, etc. One cop in Gujarat, only 1/4th of his arrestees ever got to a lock-up. He was investigated later and had to retire but in his career he rid the world of many assholes. Another guy in Chennai carried snake venom in a pouch for the eventual, 'he had ingested something before the arrest, we took him to a hospital but alas...'
Posted by: Dron66046 || 02/21/2022 7:09 Comments || Top||

#4  I like the way you think.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 12:05 Comments || Top||

#5  ...cough....
Might be a case of being in the wrong cell with the wrong gang members inmates.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2022 13:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Its cute how so many are so predictably violent that is akin to a mascot at a theme park. Except instead of a hand-shake and photo op, they try to kill you.

"Hey, here comes Mickey the Knife! Gather close kids, and don't make the eye contact!"
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2022 15:41 Comments || Top||

#7  "I shouldn't have done this."

I assume he's talking about the hand sanitizer.
Posted by: KBK || 02/21/2022 18:00 Comments || Top||

#8  "A man who has a track record of assaulting strangers"

Great. Just great.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/21/2022 18:04 Comments || Top||

#9  "So, how was the trip to New York?"

"Great. Got to see Donald the Crack Man."

"Oh, he's my favorite! Was he telling those weird stories or stabbing people?"

"He was having a stabby day; got the Asian couple just in front of us!"

"Sooo Lucky! Sooo Jelly!"
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2022 18:20 Comments || Top||

#10  Ref #8: "A man who has a track record of assaulting strangers"

Appears he's not spent much time in Georgia.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 18:39 Comments || Top||



Defendant Accused of Kidnapping, Murdering Dallas 4-year-Old Found Incompetent to Stand Trial
Incompetent to stand trial.
Because he doesn't understand how law works.
Does anyone?

[Breitbart] A Texas judge has found Darriynn Brown, 19, the man accused of kidnapping four-year-old Dallas boy Cash Gernon and stabbing him to death last May, incompetent to stand trial.

Dallas County Magistrate Judge Farrel Chapman’s decision Friday came after doctors for both the defense and the prosecution deemed Brown incompetent, the Dallas Morning News reports. Chapman ordered that Brown receive treatment at the North Texas State Hospital System.

If Brown, charged with capital murder, regains competency, he would stand trial for his alleged crimes. Heath Harris, Brown’s attorney, asserts that his client is schizophrenic and suffers from additional mental disorders.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If it had been a dog, what would happen to the dog even though a dog couldn't understand the 'proceedings'? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2022 6:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Given it was stated:
"If Brown, charged with capital murder, regains competency, he would stand trial for his alleged crimes."

Therefore, I would like to wish Darriynn Brown a speedy recovery. So that he can balance the scales of Justice.☻


BTW: This was a Black Teen murdering a White 4 year old child. But I have not seen the WLM rioting in Dallas or anywhere over this, in the USA.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/21/2022 7:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Ignorance of the law is no excuse, therefore insanity doesn't matter.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 02/21/2022 18:27 Comments || Top||


Gun crimes grab most media attention, while gun use in self-defense gets merely a fraction: experts
Related: There's a way out of the homicide surge – but it's a long, uphill battle
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How many times did US citizens (all races and colors) use their personal firearms in SELF-DEFENSE and/or the halting of a Crime?

A 2021 survey estimated that guns are used 1.67 million times per year in self-defense in the United States..

According to several Black Community sources that do not have independent official data to verify.

Depending on the source (BLACK GUNS MATTER, BLM, and etc.)
The Black Community use of Firearms in Self Defense is roughly 34 to 40% of the estimated 1.2 Million situations. Which seems in line with FBI crimes tables for B.O.B. crime rates.

BTW: When will the DOJ/FBI release the complete 2019 Crime Tables

Should we expect the 2020 & 2021 crime tables in 2025 after the National elections?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/21/2022 8:42 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Camille Herron: American ultrarunner breaks own 100-mile women's world record
Who needs transaletes?
[BBC] American endurance athlete Camille Herron has broken her own women's world record in winning the USA Track and Field 100-mile Championships in Nevada.

The 40-year-old beat her previous mark by almost a minute and a half, winning in 12 hours 41 minutes 11 seconds - averaging around 7:37 minutes per mile.

She finished almost half an hour ahead of first male athlete Arlen Glick, who came home in 13:10:25.

"What a difference a year makes," said Herron, who was fourth in 2021.

Camille Herron: Record-breaker fuelled on tacos and beer
"I came back healthy, humbled, hungry to redeem myself, and [ready] to let the magic come out."

In her first event as a Masters racer in the 40-44 age range, she also broke the 50-mile world record in that age group with a time of 6:08:24.
My apologies for accidentally deleting Skidmark’s post. Here it is, reconstituted, including Merrick’s posted comment.

— trailing wife at 10:20 a.m. ET

#1 In other news, UPenn's Lia Thomas (transitioned from M to F, pronouns she/her) defeated Yale's Iszac Henig (transitioning from F to M, pronouns he/him) to nab the Ivy League women's [sic(k)] freestyle crown

Posted by: Merrick Ferret 2022-02-21 00:36
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2022 10:22 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That is awesome! I hate running but a nice wilderness hike for 3 days over 30 miles is the best.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/21/2022 13:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Almost sounds like some of those stories about how the Apache Indians could march
Posted by: magpie || 02/21/2022 16:03 Comments || Top||


Tennessee is a failure. Thankfully.
[Giffords] Annual Gun Law Scorecard

Year after year, the evidence is clear: strong gun laws save lives. Is your state doing enough?

Since 2010, the experts at Giffords Law Center have researched and graded state gun laws, revealing an undeniable correlation between strong laws and low gun death rates. To build a safer America for us all, our leaders need to adopt these lifesaving solutions nationwide.

EVERY STATE, RANKED
Each year, our attorneys track and analyze gun legislation in all 50 states, assigning laws and policies point values. States are ranked and given letter grades, which are then compared to the most recent gun death rates released by the CDC. For over a decade now, the data has shown that commonsense gun laws prevent gun violence—but only in the states with the courage to enact them.

Select a state on the map or in the table to view that state’s individual scorecard.

Tennessee: WHAT CHANGED THIS YEAR
  • Repealed a law requiring a background check to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public

  • Made it harder for local police to enforce federal gun laws
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 02/21/2022 09:35 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh, I see. California, Illinois, and New York all have "A"s. Texas, and most of the south, have an "F". Florida has a "C".

Maybe 'gun violence' by felons and gangbangers never charged doesn't count?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2022 14:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Florida will move up to an easy B once Nikki Fried is out of state gummint. We would move up to A- of not for the GOPe types holding back Constitutional Carry here.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:21 Comments || Top||

#3  ^Right up there with New York?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2022 14:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Oops. I inverted the grading scale. We are working hard on our F.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:51 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Ethiopia starts generating power from River Nile dam
[BBC]

Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Congo close to deal to recover $2b. worth of assets from Israeli investor
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The Big Guy" wants his cut.
Posted by: Too Old To Work || 02/21/2022 8:12 Comments || Top||


Britain
The Queen has COVID: Monarch, 95, has mild 'cold-like' symptoms but continues light duties at Windsor Castle just days after Charles and Camilla both caught virus
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Aka sniffles. Endemic now. It's OVER, you fvcking fools
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  She's in one of the highest risk cohorts. You have to expect lots of COVIDian religionists are praying for her to expire to energize their cause.

Being who she is, she will cheerfully, with that dry British wit, disappoint them.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 2:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Give her a shot of whiskey and she'll be fine.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/21/2022 11:57 Comments || Top||

#4  God save the Queen!
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2022 13:20 Comments || Top||

#5  A Gin and Tonic and hopefully the Queen will keep sailing along...
Posted by: magpie || 02/21/2022 16:01 Comments || Top||

#6  God save her... yes I agree.
She is the last of any sanity & dignity left in the UK Gov..

But we have repeatedly heard how the elite and royals are getting VAX. So how did they get infected?.. IF...The VAX & BOOSTERS Work?

Or, is the Deep State over there at work cleaning house?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/21/2022 19:04 Comments || Top||

#7  /\ I agree as well. What remains of the Royal Family after her is least of all royal.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 20:33 Comments || Top||

#8  I hope the Queen lives another 40 years. Prince Chas. is slime.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 02/21/2022 22:58 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukraine Ho?
[Twitter]

Putin speech






Fake Incidents

A good Twitter thread to follow


Added for "Tanks Moving Around and smoking"

column

Serbia now claiming Ukraine Attacks Russia!

Strategic Climate view of Russia/USSR


Posted by: 3dc || 02/21/2022 14:15 || Comments || Link || [16 views] Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,

#1  So Pootie's gonna do it?

Brandon was correct?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2022 14:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Is that the Russian distance for COVID or beyond the range of the old KGB undetectable assassination weapons?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2022 14:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Created in the same studio wher eDisney faked the moon landing for the CIA?

/sarc
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:56 Comments || Top||

#4  -Hunter perks up, looks around-
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2022 15:39 Comments || Top||

#5  For any 'burgers out there who know which end of the thingy the boolet comes out of:

1- I see all kind of reports about "Russian armor" moving around, but what does that mean? If the reference is to tanks, are they T-72's or T-90's? In which case do follow-up vehicles include replacement arms for the loaders? Or are they the new T-14 Armatas, which are so cleverly designed that they're invisible?

2- And I see references to hundred of Javelins in the hands of the Ukrainians. I think the Russian countermeasure is improved top-armor for the tanks, but I don't know if that would actually work or has been tested in combat.

My point being that if I were a Russian tank commander I think I'd want President Putin to have the honor of commanding the lead vehicle. He can stand shirtless in the hatch for a great photo op.
Posted by: Matt || 02/21/2022 16:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Ok, I'm watching for what passes for television news. Where are the talking heads who said Vlad was bluffing? FOX's Jennifer Griffin thinks he's likely to push beyond the Donbas toward Poland.

Griffin is probably correct.


Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 18:33 Comments || Top||

#7  "Everything was traditionally Russian. We will reassemble The Borg"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/21/2022 19:06 Comments || Top||

#8  Set as today’s headline. Thank you for being on top of this for us, 3dc.

May the times turn out not to be nearly as interesting as they at the moment appear.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2022 20:42 Comments || Top||


Biden and Putin agree to 'principle' of summit discussing Ukraine
1) There's gotta be ice cream
2) I'll need my nappie
3) with fuzzy blanket
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 04:06 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the stakes weren't so high it would be comical watching Putin play with Biden.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/21/2022 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  /\ He won't, he's too smart. His longer-term dividends might be squandered.

They cannot be credited with stopping the bloodshed if there is not bloodshed to stop.


Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 8:01 Comments || Top||

#3  China is watching this tour de force by Putin that reveals the desperate cowardice of the Bidet Administration. But most telling, is how they are also setting this up to be cover for all of their other failures in the press. Americans who are squeezed hard in the worst decline in quality of life since the Great Depression, are encouraged to monitor the breathlessly covered goings on in a nation that has virtually no cultural or economic significance to the US. But, theyare a significant cash flow provider to Hunter and a host of other DC elites, so maybe that explains it?After all, the tax plantation exists to serve the aristocracy on the Potomac!
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/21/2022 11:33 Comments || Top||

#4  From the New York Post February 21, 2022 7:01am Updated -

Kremlin pours cold water on summit plan for Biden, Putin on Ukraine

I don't see how a summit would accomplish anything as long as Brandon threatens to expand NATO into Ukraine.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/21/2022 11:53 Comments || Top||

#5  High energy prices and inflation are already being blamed on the looming Eastern Euro conflict. Psaki came out with that yesterday.

She simply MUST be believed !
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 11:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Putin doesn't need to invade. At this point he's already partially achieved his goals, and he has all the time in the world to achieve the remainder. Besides, invasion's not popular at home or with Xi; if he invades he will probably lose China's support.

Also note that those recently called up reserves are not exactly in fighting shape. Seems like another feint.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 12:07 Comments || Top||

#7  Fox reports now on TV Putin has declared eastern Ukraine provinces independent.
Posted by: Jatle Sinatra9653 || 02/21/2022 13:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Brandon will have to impose sanctions.
Posted by: Jatle Sinatra9653 || 02/21/2022 13:28 Comments || Top||

#9  /\......on Ukraine.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 13:34 Comments || Top||

#10  No borsch for youse.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 13:40 Comments || Top||

#11  My advice: When you go to the Borscht Belt, skip the borscht and double up on the belts.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 13:43 Comments || Top||

#12  She simply MUST be believed!

She's an Enema of the Peehole, and so shall she be remembered.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 13:45 Comments || Top||

#13  not exactly in fighting shape.

"Photos circulating on Russian social media platform VK show dozens of soldiers sleeping on the floor of a tiled room."

National Guard Soldiers Forced To Sleep in a Parking Garage
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 13:58 Comments || Top||

#14  Don Adams time. Would you believe...
"Russia will invade."

...No? OK, Would you believe...
"Russia is preparing to invade -- any day now!"

...well, would you believe...
"Russia is preparing false flag ops which will definitely be followed at some point by an invasion."

Oops.... Would you believe...
"Russia is preparing to recognize two regions as a possible prelude to an invasion."

Next: "Russia didn't invade but they could have invaded!"
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 14:00 Comments || Top||

#15  Pretty much the same as COVID vaxx:

You are vaccinted. You won't get COVID.

You got COVID anyway? Well, it would have been worse without the vaxx. (That cannot be scientifically proved in any individual case, in any way at all.)

You got boosted, twice and got COVID again? Well, whatever it is, it's not proof the vaccines don't work. (Empirically, it absolutely is proof of exactly that.)

The next shot will do the trick. If not, there's always more lockdowns.

Pretty much the exact same schtick.

Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:08 Comments || Top||

#16  Brilliant: Magoo & Co deliberately leaked their own intelligence assessments (bad move), then publicly predicted the other side's moves (really bad move), and then created expectations that the US would take drastic measures against Russia when the predicted act occurred (really stupid move).

Just brilliant: Show your hand and tell all the players at the pok3r table your strategy, and lock yourself in to one and only one maneuver in advance.... in advance of events that are totally under the control of your adversary.

From Kennan and Acheson, or Kissinger and Nixon, to Maxwell Smart and Wile E. Coyote. In barely a generation.

We Are Ruled By Ludicrous Morons

Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 14:11 Comments || Top||

#17  17 intelligence agencies could not determine whether or not the prize was in the top or bottom of the box of Cap'n Crunch.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:23 Comments || Top||

#18  These shitheads truly do believe their postmodern BS about how "The Narrative" is all.

They actually thought they could use screaming headlines, repeated 24/7 by their sycophantic press, to force a ruthless, brilliant realpolitiker acting on his own turf, with no hindrance at all, to capitulate. With their stupid fvcking "Narrative."

Yes, this is indeed just like the way they've lied repeatedly about WuFlu and forced their domestic subjects to comply with their idiotic, botched public health mandates and lockdowns and power grabs. But Putin is not a pu$sy, and Russians are not sheep.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 14:23 Comments || Top||

#19  At least cargo cults had to build crude runways and control towers. All the IC has to do is leak some bilge to NYT / WAPO and wait.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:24 Comments || Top||

#20  Well the Russians now have invaded Ukraine.
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/21/2022 18:43 Comments || Top||

#21  White House is in "crisis mode".....per the nuus.

Foking WHY ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 18:45 Comments || Top||

#22  No, they all predicted an attack on Kyiv. That's not what's happening.

Look at the map: these tiny little Russian-speaking regions are as far from Kyiv (and Poland, and the West) as they can possibly be. These are Russian-speaking regions that by any historically, linguistically, culturally and socially have since Catherine's time been part of Russia. They have never respected Kyiv's rule. This is why there is zero opposition to the Russians there.

Even Magoo recognizes that we have no interest, absolutely none, in these regions -- which is why he's talking about completely ludicrous sanctions against only these two piss-poor regions that have no impact on us or the world at all.

Magoo's people could end this crisis tomorrow if they would simply agree -- in a formal signed document -- that NATO expansion into Russia's southern tier must never, ever happen.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 20:32 Comments || Top||

#23  Sen. Bill Bradley told us that expanding NATO was a "blunder of monumental proportions."

Prof. Stephen F. Cohen of Princeton argued long and hard to no avail that this was a colossal mistake.

One of our greatest diplomats and most astute observers of Russia, George Kennan, strenuously warned in 1996 against this foolish, grievous error.

Every one of these wise students of Russia said that kicking the Russians while they were down would come back to haunt us. So foolish. Such blind, heedless arrogance.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 20:59 Comments || Top||

#24  Just brilliant: Show your hand and tell all the players at the pok3r table your strategy, and lock yourself in to one and only one maneuver in advance.... in advance of events that are totally under the control of your adversary.

Following the brilliant President Obama’s script to the letter. It’s working about as well now as it did then, which must be of some comfort to somebody.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2022 21:00 Comments || Top||

#25  The only thing that matters now is bringing this to a conclusion. That cannot & will not happen militarily. The Ukrainian government cannot possibly withstand a protracted war, and -- Lindsay Ghey's bleating notwithstanding -- we will not put our soldiers or airmen in harm's way. Our brace Polish allies, Estonians et al -- none of them matter.

Only the US could deter Russia. No one else. We never had any intention of doing so. We knew that. Putin knew that.

Sanctions are the ultimate stupidity -- the final, brainless flailing and thrashing of the most incompetent, demented, destructive presidential administration in US history.

Now our moronic leaders are on the brink of complete and total failure: trashing our economy-- El-Erin says stagflation is coming; showing the total bankruptcy of their vaunted Alliance; driving Russia and China, former rivals, into a de facto alliance in which Putin can move men and materiel from the Chinese border to the West because for the first time in modern history, Russia fears no Chinese incursion.

Unbelievable, staggering, epic incompetence.

This is how the American Century ends.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 21:12 Comments || Top||

#26  All they had to do was treat Russia's legitimate security concerns with respect and due care. Admit that it was insane to try to expand NATO across Russia's southern tier.

Show a sincere willingness to create a security system that treated Russia as an equal partner -- instead of spreading endless bullshit about how Trump was a Russian spy and that great nation an evil transphobic white supremacist pariah.

And now we have a stunning failure. Fvck this absurd collection of retards. They have no legitimacy left, none.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 21:18 Comments || Top||


IS Prime Minister Bennett sez get out of the Ukraine while you still can
[Jerusalem Post] Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reiterated the government's warning to Israeli citizens in Ukraine, at Sunday's cabinet meeting.

"This is not the time to say 'it'll be OK,'" Bennett said. "It's better to be inconvenienced now than to be in real danger later. Come home."

Bennett said that "this is a sensitive time for the world's stability," but would not predict what will happen between Russia and Ukraine.

Bennett commended the Foreign Ministry's efforts to help Israelis return from Ukraine.

The Israeli Embassy in Kyiv opened for four hours on Sunday, a day on which it usually closed, in order to facilitate more Israelis’ departure.

Despite the efforts and the government’s entreaties in the past week, only about 3,000 out of an estimated 12,000 Israelis left Ukraine.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 03:53 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Emergency Biden-Putin Summit to be Held - maybe
[Yahoo] President Biden agreed "in principle" to hold a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the White House confirmed on Sunday evening.

Driving the news: Biden said the meeting can only take place if Russia does not invade Ukraine...

The agreement was reached following two separate conversations that Macron had with the U.S. and Russian leaders, according to a statement from the Élysée Palace, which said Putin had also "accepted the principle of such a summit."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an emailed statement that the summit would follow Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's scheduled meeting in Europe later this week — which would also only take place if Russia "does not proceed with military action."
Posted by: Lord Garth || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
If this is all real and not a staged deflection.
Then BIDEN will play the role of UK Prime Minister Chamberlain and announce:

☺Here is a sample fill in the blanks MSM sound bite ☺

"My good friends, for the _#_ time in our history, a British Prime Minister A Democrat President has returned from (insert a nation) bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time. -- September 30, 1938 Feb. ___, 2022"

Or, is this all Staged Saber Rattling deflection hype for the disastrous Mid-terms, given the LSD's polling numbers?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/21/2022 6:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Brandon's gotta prevent WW III, doncha know.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2022 7:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Reminds me of Charlie Brown and Lucy VanPelt and the football with Putin playing Lucy.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/21/2022 8:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Christ. Better get James Cromwell into make-up.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2022 13:08 Comments || Top||

#5  ^ better the banjo kid from Deliverance. Actor must be over 60 now
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 13:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Fuggin' Herm Edwards would be an improvement.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2022 13:22 Comments || Top||

#7  My dog would be an improvement
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/21/2022 13:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Got it - perfect.

Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2022 13:38 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China Wants to Buy 100 Million Metric Tons of Coal from Russia
[Breitbart] This figure has increased by eight percentage points since 2010, according to the Russian state-owned news agency.

China is suffering from a massive coal shortage that has pressed Beijing to ramp up imports of the fuel from foreign countries, especially Russia, over the past year.

“China imported about 3.7 million tons of thermal coal from Russia in September [2021],” the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) reported in October 2021. “That’s up 28% from August [2021] and more than 230% higher than a year ago.”
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Russia! COAL!
Gerbil wormist heads explode. HOW DARE YOU!!
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Russian markets getting ready to soar...
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 0:45 Comments || Top||

#3  OTOH, it's been pointed out by many that gerbil worming is a scam- "I'll believe it's a crisis when they all start acting like it's a crisis."
OTOH, you really don't hear much about this from China lovers like Tom Freidman or Joostin Turdo. I guess that means they are OK with it, eh?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 2:14 Comments || Top||

#4  All of this is a well orchestrated and pre synchronized coordination between Russia and China. The Russians have waited until the closing of the Olympics to make their move. China will back and shore up the Russian economy after the "first Boot" cross the line in Ukraine. China will directly threaten Taiwan and Australia first . Why haven't we heard the other shoe being dropped by the Biden administration, sending home Russian Diplomat #2 in a 'Tit for Tat'? The US will lose this game of 'chicken' with China unless they pull every dollar out of China for every 'dollar' China sends into Russia to break the NATO AND EU sanctions.
Posted by: Waldemar Gromorong9327 || 02/21/2022 3:25 Comments || Top||

#5  India and Russia have poorest grade of coal to burn. China's upgraded coal fired plants do very poorly with those sources. Australian coal was the best but they shot themselves in the foot on that one.
Posted by: Dale || 02/21/2022 3:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Who else is in the market for Oz's coal?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 4:01 Comments || Top||

#7  The Greta dog that didn't bark. (Arthur Conan Doyle)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2022 6:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Australian coal was the best but they shot themselves in the foot on that one.

Please elaborate on that one...
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/21/2022 9:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Why haven't we heard the other shoe being dropped by the Biden administration, sending home Russian Diplomat #2 in a 'Tit for Tat'?

He sent Kamala instead.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 11:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Please elaborate on that one...

What are the types of coal?

Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 12:03 Comments || Top||

#11  You need good quality coal such as anthracite for best quality steel production. China had shut of Australia for a time for siding for Wuhan investigation.
Posted by: Dale || 02/21/2022 14:12 Comments || Top||

#12  Metalurgical coal is a specific subvariety of anthracite. Coking coal.

Aren't the Chinese probably recovering steel from the demolition of buildings in the ghost cities? Maybe not. They might actually do the analysis and decide it's cheaper to create more new steel than recycle used. I have no idea.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:17 Comments || Top||

#13  Subvariety of bituminous. Sorry.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 14:19 Comments || Top||

#14 
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/21/2022 14:40 Comments || Top||

#15  ^ sub(human) variety of vituperous
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/21/2022 14:56 Comments || Top||


Economy
Rents reach ‘insane' levels across US with no end in sight
[AP] Krystal Guerra’s Miami apartment has a tiny kitchen, cracked tiles, warped cabinets, no dishwasher and hardly any storage space.

But Guerra was fine with the apartment’s shortcomings. It was all part of being a 32-year-old graduate student in South Florida, she reasoned, and she was happy to live there for a few more years as she finished her marketing degree.

That was until a new owner bought the property and told her he was raising the rent from $1,550 to $1,950, a 26% increase that Guerra said meant her rent would account for the majority of her take-home pay from the University of Miami.

"I thought that was insane," said Guerra, who decided to move out. "Am I supposed to stop paying for everything else I have going on in my life just so I can pay rent? That’s unsustainable."

Guerra is hardly alone. Rents have exploded across the country, causing many to dig deep into their savings, downsize to subpar units or fall behind on payments and risk eviction now that a federal moratorium has ended.

In the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, median rent rose an astounding 19.3% from December 2020 to December 2021, according to a Realtor.com analysis of properties with two or fewer bedrooms. And nowhere was the jump bigger than in the Miami metro area, where the median rent exploded to $2,850, 49.8% higher than the previous year.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 01:45 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So with MID-TERM months away and the Liberal-Socialist-Democrats way behind in the polls?

Should we expect to see a $100 billion in shifted funds called the "Shelter America" Emergency Act bill suddenly appear.

AKA "House the poor for votes" stunt?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/21/2022 6:00 Comments || Top||

#2  ...Well, for one, I see rent controls making a comeback, because the people most likely to suggest them are the ones least likely to understand the effects.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/21/2022 6:44 Comments || Top||

#3  It's Adam Smith's nature's way of saying - Move Elsewhere, like someplace you can afford.

It's call supply and demand. Florida and Texas are suffering from an uncontrolled influx of neo-Socialists who crapped in their old nest and seek a new one to despoil.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2022 7:02 Comments || Top||

#4  /\ And this drives up the prices of what is available, own or lease.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 7:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Gee, do you think there's any relation to the recently-discontinued rent moratorium based on the deadlycoronavirus pandemic? Or is it just inflation due to the profligate spending because of the deadlycoronavirus pandemic?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2022 7:37 Comments || Top||

#6  /\ Conspiracy theories. Little more than conspiracy theories.

[sarc off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 7:42 Comments || Top||

#7  A great time to be renting to recently imported "interpreters" whose rent is paid directly by the gummint...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2022 7:53 Comments || Top||

#8  /\ 'Section 8' housing to an entirely new level.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2022 7:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Surprisingly, shouting that "Housing is a human right!" did not produce more housing.
Posted by: Matt || 02/21/2022 10:06 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Intl Court of Justice Set to Resume Hearings on Myanmar Genocide Case
[BenarNews] The International Court of Justice in The Hague will hold hearings this week to determine whether it has jurisdiction to judge if atrocities committed by Myanmar’s military against Rohingya Moslems constituted a genocide.
or pest management?
The West African nation of Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
filed a case at the ICJ in November 2019 accusing Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention through the alleged expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh amid a brutal crackdown in 2017.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Hague will hold hearings this week to determine whether it has jurisdiction to judge if atrocities committed by Myanmar’s military

Meaning Myanmar has yet to indicate that it gives a flying fcuk for the ICJ.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 02/21/2022 6:48 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Railways linkage pumps life into Iraq's economy and revives hopes of the ''Silk Road''
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2022 00:29 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in 2015 that China's initiative, known as the Belt and Road Strategy, encompasses about 1,000 projects, including connecting Eurasian countries to some 70 countries overlooking the line, primarily middle eastern countries, through which the road passes, with a network of land, rail and, airline routes, as well as pipes and internet networks, creating a nourishing environment for economic development.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2022 7:32 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
The iron-y: $10 quintillion asteroid might have less iron than believed

Not one word about aliens
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We will never know how much it is really worth until Elon Musk goes out there and brings it back.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/21/2022 17:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Too bad it didn't hit in Saudi Arabia. They could've enshrined it in big black cube as a tourist destination.
Posted by: jpal || 02/21/2022 18:25 Comments || Top||


The cells that can give you super-immunity
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So if I read this right...
Rockefeller University in New York also played with Gain of Function?
Deeper digging shows NIH granted close to $50M in recent years

So should we suspect that the 2015-2020 Research Grants totalling in the double digits Millions NIH grants were Doctor Flu. related?

"The aim of Rockefeller's scientists was to create an artificial version of the Covid-19 spike protein – the protein the virus uses to penetrate our cells – that could evade all known types of protective antibodies that had been found in the blood of Covid-19 survivors."

BTW: During the Obama Admin years this Univ. received crazy amounts of RESEARCH $$ in the Millions.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/21/2022 7:28 Comments || Top||

#2  ...they inserted it into what virologists call a pseudotype virus, one which has been engineered so it does not have enough genetic material to replicate, allowing scientists to tweak it and understand how it behaves without any risk of it escaping.

AKA the beginning of every disease disaster movie ever made.
Posted by: Mercutio || 02/21/2022 8:53 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Report: Chinese Man Kidnapped, Used as ‘Blood Slave' for Months in Cambodia
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is the original source the National Cambodia Inquirer?
Posted by: james || 02/21/2022 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Somehow, Bat Boy has to make an appearance in this story
Posted by: Frank G || 02/21/2022 11:35 Comments || Top||

#3  The problem with getting a transfusion of Chinese blood is that an hour later, you want another pint.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/21/2022 13:33 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Truck crashes into entrance to mosque in Iranian holy city
[IsraelTimes] A trailer truck smashes one of the gates at an important place of worship in Iran’s Shiite holy city of Qom and its driver was arrested, the Fars news agency reports.

It was not immediately clear whether the incident was accidental or deliberate.
Either way, by definition it must be Allah’s will. And the authorities don’t appear to be reacting as if it were jihad.
"A truck destroyed gate number six of the holy mosque of Jamkaran and entered the precincts of the sacred place," Fars says, without specifying whether there have been any casualties.

It adds that the truck was carrying extra gasoline, but did not specify what led to the incident.

The Jamkaran mosque, which welcomes thousands of pilgrims every week, was built on the spot where most Shiites believe the Mahdi, the twelfth imam of Shiite Islam, will return. They believe he disappeared more than a thousand years ago and will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony.

Following the incident, pilgrims are evacuated and law enforcement personnel establish a security cordon, Fars adds.

Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
34[untagged]
4Islamic State
2Human Trafficking
2Govt of Iraq
2Commies
2Ottoman Proxies
2Moslem Colonists
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1Pak Taliban (TTP)
1Palestinian Authority
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
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1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1Govt of Sudan

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2022-02-21
  Stray Nigeria airstrike kills 7 children in Niger
Sun 2022-02-20
  AQAP confirms two of their turbans airstruck
Sat 2022-02-19
  Nigerian Army Kills Top Boko Haram Commander, Others
Fri 2022-02-18
  Iraqi army seizes 36 artifacts in an ISIS tunnel in Nineveh
Thu 2022-02-17
  Arab Coalition conducts 17 targeted strikes against Houthis in Marib, Hajjah
Wed 2022-02-16
  Philippine Police: Hamas Plot to Attack Foreigners Uncovered
Tue 2022-02-15
  Syrian Migrant Stabbed By Vienna Woman He Was Trying To Rape
Mon 2022-02-14
  Putin explains his views on war with the west
Sun 2022-02-13
  Waukesha parade 'killer' Darrell Brooks Jr. pleads not guilty to 77 charges including six counts of homicide
Sat 2022-02-12
  French 'Freedom Convoy' protesting virus rules move toward Paris, police preposition to stop them
Fri 2022-02-11
  ISIS to choose Iraqi jihadi successor of al-Qurayshi, analysts
Thu 2022-02-10
  French court sentences jihadist man of Yazidi origin to 12 years in prison
Wed 2022-02-09
  Russia has no reason to attack Ukraine says Ukrainian MP
Tue 2022-02-08
  Canadian Government Getting Very Upset Over Freedom Truckers, Declare State Of Emergency
Mon 2022-02-07
  Ukraine crisis: Macron says a deal to avoid war is within reach


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