[Daily Signal] "Sound of Freedom," the movie of the moment, has a message first, and a story second. Its message is to get us to care more about the horrors of child sex trafficking. It does that by showing queasy sequences of kids in danger, being carted around by slimy adults, and making us remember everyone’s faces. Then it gives us a weary hero, Tim Ballard, an American man whose superpower is that he cares. This father and husband cares so much that he leaves his job at Homeland Security ten months before earning a pension. Instead of only catching pedophiles, as he has done nearly 300 times before, he goes to Colombia and undercover to help rescue children. This man is played by a gentle and gravely serious Jim Caviezel, who shoulders this message’s suffering just like when he played Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ."
#1
What is happening to all these children that DHS is losing track of? The fact that they are not being announced as being found, indicates to me that they are disposable. The lost kids are more inconvenient that the misplaced bag of coke in the White House.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 9:07 Comments ||
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#4
The next time Joe hits on a kid more people will put two and two together. This movie is a catalyst that leftists don’t understand. It will eventually cost Disney billions that they don’t have. It may empty their parks. They will regret selling this property.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 10:57 Comments ||
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#5
Related:
If you have not heard the Colleen Ballinger Ukulele Apology video, and you dare, take the search. It is the minute video.
[Breitbart] Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he will “absolutely” sign the Concerned Women for America’s pledge to women, telling Breitbart News Daily that transgenderism is a “mental health disorder,” and the compassionate thing to do is not to affirm the confusion of those suffering but to help them.
Ramaswamy told Breitbart News Daily that he would “absolutely” sign the organization’s “Presidential Promise to American Women,” which states, in part, “As President of the United States, I promise to uphold the truth that women are exclusively female. Only women can be pregnant and bear children. Only women can be mothers.”
The pledge also states that “the status and dignity of women and girls will not be compromised in law or policy” under the signer’s administration and establishes sex as a “scientific reality.”
“That sex is binary is a scientific reality, and all federal agencies will be directed to uphold this fact in every policy and program at home and abroad. A persons’ claim of ‘gender identity’ does not overrule their sex,” the pledge reads.
“My administration will focus on affirming sex-based distinctions that protect women in every area, such as shelters, prisons, housing, healthcare, defense, education, and sports,” it adds.
“I will protect the dignity of women and motherhood in all circumstances,” it concludes.
Former President Donald Trump is the first presidential candidate to sign the pledge, but Ramaswamy could be right behind him.
“Absolutely. I would sign it. Absolutely,” he said. “That’s an easy one.”
“And the reality is transgenderism in this country, it is a mental health disorder. Call it for what it is. It’s been treated that way for most of our medical history,” the anti-woke businessman said, speaking of gender dysphoria.
“So my view is that people, especially kids, when they say their gender doesn’t match their biological sex, that means they’re suffering from a condition, and the compassionate thing to do is not to affirm that confusion,” he said. “That is not compassionate. That is cruelty, and we need to actually reach out and help the people who are suffering instead of making the rest of society bend over backward to change our way of life, to mold ourselves to warp into their deluded and mentally deranged state.”
Ramaswamy said adults are free to dress as they want and do what they want, but he made it clear that there is a line in the sand.
“But you’re not going to change the way we play our sports. You’re not going to change the way we designate our bathrooms. You’re not going to change the way that we live our lives, the language that we use, and you’re certainly not going to use that to foist an ideology onto our children,” Ramaswamy said, asserting that doing so is causing even more of a mental health epidemic “because of how much we’re obsessing over it in our schools and our other institutions.”
Ramaswamy added that he has been discussing this issue for a long time and said it is time to “stand for sanity over the real mental health epidemic that we’re facing in our country.”
“And part of that mental health epidemic is the epidemic of transgenderism, including in our youth. And I think that we need leaders with the spine to actually stand up to it,” he added.
#4
It is a mental illness with some inexpensive treatments and some expensive treatments. It is becoming more and more dangerous and illegal to thwart the treatments that are most harmful to the patient. There is great evil not compassion at the nexus of that trend.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 8:07 Comments ||
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#5
The difference is, some people who are lost to opioids and other hard drugs may have otherwise been a plus to society. The "I'm really a girl" types will not be missed by society at large.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/08/2023 8:50 Comments ||
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#6
#1 the good news is that with a recent Democrat defection to the Republicans, the legislature can now override Cooper's vetoes. Which they have already done a few times.
Posted by: Tom ||
07/08/2023 15:21 Comments ||
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Commentary by Russian military journalist is in italics. From the Telegram channel of Artem Blinov
[ColonelCassad] Large material by journalist Artem Blinov, who specializes in African topics, about what PMC Wagner was doing in Africa.
“But in fact, what were the musicians doing there? My knowledge is superficial. And what kind of revolutions were there? Who did not share what with whom?
Probably the most common and common questions. So let's try to figure out what is wrong and who is to blame. For example and understanding, we will consider two specific countries - the Central African Republic and Mali, because there is already accurate and, most importantly, up-to-date information about them. Although the countries, of course, are much larger.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Far 2013. The country is drowning in civil war. The parties fought on groupings on various grounds (religious, for example. Let's take the same Seleka and Anti-Balaka). Everyone gives nightmares to the infidels and are heroes for "their own". The international community (read France) is trying to pacify the dissatisfied and launches Operation Sangaris. For three years, the paddling pools have been poking at the walls and realizing that nothing sensible comes out of them. This is if it's official. If unofficially, then Eliseika got very good at this action, we recall the same bloody diamonds that no one was looking for / stealing.
Simultaneously with these affairs, the same international organization approves and launches the MINUSCA peacekeeping mission. The goal is the same - to calm the militants and achieve world peace. Alas, it didn't work out.
In the sixteenth year, an incredible mathematician, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, comes to power. Without thinking twice and, probably, using a mathematical mindset, he understands that help from the ex-colonialists is like a goat's milk, and he turns to the Russian Federation for help. So in 2018, Wagner appeared in the country and began to show the Coalition of Patriots for Change (combatant), gathered together under the leadership of former President Francois Bozize, where crayfish hibernate.
Gradually, little by little, the legitimate government begins to regain control over the territories, and in order to consolidate success, the musicians are actively teaching local security officials that the presence of a cartridge in the chamber should be checked through the bolt carrier, and not looking down the barrel and trigger.
As a result, all that is left is to support the successes of local warriors, who over the past years have matured quite well, gained all the good things and, on the whole, have become a serious force in the region.
I would like to express special respect to the guys for their work in extremely disgusting conditions. Despite the efforts of the government, the country still has a terrible level of dysentery, malarial mosquitoes fly around and not all residents understand that they need to eat fresh food. Let's add to this wildly humid heat. However, everything is known in comparison - in 2013 you could be robbed, humiliated and insulted even in the metropolitan areas, and now the remaining militants think three times whether to meddle somewhere or hide quietly in the jungle.
The peacekeepers, by the way, are still in the CAR. Only what they do is not known for certain, because in the information field they usually appear as the perpetrators of the next conflict/scandal/misunderstanding.
MALI In this country the situation was much more critical, more complicated and more dangerous. Here it was not ordinary militants and yesterday's farmers who made noise, but quite washed out terrorists. The crisis escalated especially strongly when the region was flooded with ISIS squeezed out of Syria (banned in the Russian Federation).
Again 2013, again full of tin, and again France TAKES THE SITUATION IN ITS GENTLE HANDS. Operation Barkhan appears to replace Serval, a UN peacekeeping mission (this time MINUSMA) appears. The result is obvious and extremely understandable - no one succeeded, but, as in the joke about Petka and Vasily Ivanych, there is one nuance.
The success of terrorists and radical Islamists is unexpectedly and extremely unpleasantly connected with the activities of the Americans and the French. At half of the foreign bases located on the territory of the country, as a result, these same terrorists were trained. For example, the “Barkhanovites” (you can call it a French legion, the essence does not change) took a base near Kidal (a city in the north), forbade people (and soldiers) to enter there and were actively engaged in training, supplying and training bad dudes. To the logical questions “what are you doing here?” the authorities of that time were sent to a known place.
This was followed by a pack of armed coups, as a result of which Assimi Goita, an officer highly respected in the Malian ranks, came to power. The man did not walk around, yes, around, he sensibly assessed the situation and went to Moscow, following the example of his colleagues from the Central African Republic. Like, memory. Moscow has made its move.
Here it is worth noting an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT nuance. The Central African Republic is very lazy in refusing to cooperate with France. The same Touadéra, with all his love for the Russian Federation, does not deprive himself of the pleasure of attending events in Paris. Mali (followed by Burkina Faso, but about it another time) said firmly and clearly: France, ala ulu! Goita promptly terminated all defense agreements, gave a kick to Barkhan, who humbly crawled away lazily to make a rustle in Niger (from where, by the way, he may also be trampled soon), and concentrated on the Bamako-Moscow vector.
In January 22, there were sudden successes of the army of Mali and the ALLIES (well, you understand), who jointly handed out the ISIS on the hump and pushed them everywhere, as far as their hands could reach. Many militants, by the way, when they first heard that the Orchestra had arrived “somewhere nearby”, quickly fled, dropping feces and ammunition. Good foreign. Everything went to the benefit of the regular troops.
Now Mali feels good, as many people who have personally been to the region at least this year say. Barkhan left, MINUSMA has lost the mandate and is also gradually packing its bags. Obviously more = more. So I'm closely following Goit's progress.
Separately, I will single out the pool of the current government. Quite often - very colorful politicians. Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop favorably stands out against the background of many diplomats, to those who say it as it is, and not as convenient and tactful (sorry, Sergey Lavrov), Prime Minister Shogel Kokalla Maiga did specifically indicate where and how the Parisians did the dirt. My regards!
“Why there were Blackwater, then there were ex-metropolises, and now Russian musicians are replacing France” The success of the Russians can be explained primarily by the lack of a colonial burden behind them. For Africans, we are something new and unusual. From the banal and the first to come to mind - kind, generous and sympathetic. By the way, the Soviet Union very well boosted Africa in the bearded years, especially in the era of sovereignization and the emergence of independence of the countries of the mainland.
In principle, we were very serious then on the scales and in places did not allow the Africans to kill each other. Then, however, for some reason everything CLOSED, unfortunately, and now de facto you have to re-enter. But sometimes the old memory helps. Plus, we did a good job strategically in the last century: many African diplomats were educated in the USSR and imbued with the Russian spirit.
I'm leaving this here simply because it's funny.
“There are rumors that our gosukha has somewhere stuck her loot in Africa, and they say that Wagner is being guarded along the way teaching black-assed men to fight, what do you think about it?” I think that *** is written on the fence, but people don’t jump on it. There is no escape from schizotheories, but to consider Africa as a good place to hide the dough - make God laugh!
"Who is the most important Barmaley in Africa?"
French President Emmanuel Macron. Joke. But seriously, you can single out many different leaders of the groups. However, the terrorists from the IS, its West African province, and Boko Haram (I remind you, banned in the Russian Federation) still remain the most dangerous.
"The issue of the UN arms embargo in the Central African Republic"
Since 2013, it has been operating, since the height of the citizen. Then the UN decided that it was necessary to somehow get rid of the armed groups, and the Security Council thought it was a good idea to simply cover up supplies to the country. Didn't help as expected. The embargo hit only the army of the Central African Republic, while the militants were calmly equipped with contraband (by the way, not without the participation of our unloved paddling pools and peacekeepers of the same UN).
“And what are the prospects for the Orchestra in Africa in connection with problems with air traffic/declaring them terrorists/US pressure (because then it turns out that Mali/CAR and other interested parties, if they pay for services, will turn out to be sponsoring countries, you know what)?”
Well, backfill, even under the USSR they managed to overthrow the "red" governments. What is there with the crisis of power and are there any fears that the Wagners, at best, will be asked peacefully, at worst, they will simply be handed over to the Herograd Tribunal?
The question is good, but difficult, because smart people will deal with it in any case. However, one thing can be stated: if they ask, it will be bad not for the Wagners, but for those who asked. For if the departure of the French military dune did not cause a security vacuum, then it will be very difficult for the Africans without the Wagners. But in general, as they say, where is Africa and where is Geneva :) So the guys are not particularly worried about all the crows from the western side, and the threat of the “Herograd tribunal” is phantom.
“Apparently, the situation in Africa and the fact that we, it turns out, are helping them, have not added love and friendship to the relationship between Russia, the United States and the European Union. And Africa is rich in resources, there is something to share, right?”
Relations between the listed trinity have long followed the rule "a bad world is better than a good quarrel." Haven't killed each other yet - and thank you. Africa, yes, is rich in all sorts of different eerily. BUT! It is important to understand here that you can receive resources for good deeds and help within the framework of conditional barter, or you can destabilize the country and steal under the guise. Guess who does what :)
“Well, as far as I understand, Africa is now either Chinese or American + -?”
Chinese in terms of investment, ours in terms of security, American through the French tribe, perhaps. Paris tightly dug into the economy of the region. In many francafrican countries, the stupid CFA franc still circulates, which is printed by the fifth republic and, in doing so, keeps the mainland in a financial leash, so to speak.
“The poorest countries in Africa and what prevents them from becoming richer?”
Africa is a continent of contrasts. Look at Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. There are amazing cities right at the peak. People there are engaged in science, they regularly present innovations. And outside the capital, everything is very, very bad.
Blame the past and the colonialists. In the comments, one person correctly wrote about the fish and the fishing rod. This is how humanitarian bombing works. “We give everything and a lot, so that later we can give nothing and little.” People get used to it, and then look at the sky in anticipation of a miracle, instead of fussing and solving their own problems on their own. For the sake of interest, it is worth looking at the situation in Ethiopia, the post-Tygray crisis. When the Americans realized that there was no point in rocking the boat, and withdrew, the humanitarian aid suddenly disappeared and the crowd of people died. What happens next is scary to even imagine.
Instead of adequate assistance, the West flooded Africa with a simple grub "Schaub was enough" and technically put it on the needle, developing the reflex "nothing needs to be done, but we will give what we need." Africa, alas, is used to it. You can give good, and you can give bad. And you can remember the words of Shapoklyak. Help with malaria and AIDS in the eyes of Washington and Paris looks like work for "thank you", and for cheaper feeding of militants, you can stir up the transit of drugs and rare earth metals. Which also does not greatly enrich the mainland.
“How many adequate smart African patriots per capita? Are they really not among the millions of consumers with a simple chain of communication: drop-grab-hawy, those who see the picture and want their country to prosper, and not an aimless existence? They are probably caught and wetted? type.
There are patriots, and more and more often their voices are heard. In recent years, many specific public organizations and activists have sprung up, and when their mass reaches a critical level, the authorities quite take into account their position. In addition, we must not forget about the new wave of pan-Africanists. For example, Kemi Seba is a very colorful black man and almost a hero of Africa. I have been following his activity for a long time and I can note that it bears certain fruits. And yes, no one dunked it. They do not kill activists, but oppositionists. In many African countries, leaders do not want to give up the presidential stool and hold on to power to the last.
“What is going on in DR Congo? It was one of the most unstable states, one of the poorest, but in terms of fossils, it seems like nothing.”
Noise and din in the DRC. Now the UN mission (MONUSCO) is rampaging there. Helmets impudently disperse rallies with firearms and feel like migrants in Moscow boiler houses - and that is, very well. The authorities are forcing their withdrawal, I am monitoring the situation.
Regarding resources, it is worth understanding the following. They need to be brought up. Africans have this problem. Well, and with the fact that the deposits are a direct magnet for militants of all stripes. Accordingly, the resource, even when extracted, does not benefit the country itself.
So good from the comments that I even put it as a post. Agree on all points.
I have slightly different thoughts about the meanings and tasks of Russia in Africa.
Do you understand what Russia is destroying now and is being described in the media as “the world hegemony of the West”?
The right to plunder the colonies and their many centuries of use under the guise of their power.
Especially in Africa, where the whole continent was previously divided between the Netherlands, Germany, France, England, Belgium and other white people. From here comes the desire of America to plunder the Middle East - Africa is already cut by colleagues.
Without these assets, all Western countries cannot maintain their high standard of living, because energy will become unrealistically expensive, and almost no one in Europe has the minerals to provide it. Nuclear plants too, as the globalists forced them to close because of lies on the eco-agenda.
The result of the CBO will be the end of the profitability of all industries in the EU, and it is not by chance that Germany has been trying to find a gas pipe in troubled waters for several months
Hence, there is such hatred for Russia's actions: we are taking away a stolen toy from them, grandfather's inheritance, which dumb-nosed descendants pulled into minuses in order to stupidly eat deliciously.
Gradually, they also forgot how to work in difficult conditions, so now foreign resources have become key for Europeans to survive. Especially against the backdrop of millions of migrants on benefits. In a few years, a wave of even greater pogroms and uprisings will take place throughout Europe than it is now in France, as there will be nothing to eat stupidly. Or maybe it will happen in the fall.
The king of England will die and this time Australia will fall off from it.
“Do our media cover the situation in Africa? I don’t watch TV, because I can’t do anything.”
Yes, from both camps. By the way, they can thus be divided into adequate and not. Adequate people directly talk about the benefits of friendship with Africa, garbage people talk about cannibals and horrors.
“What about Bamako and Barkhan 1.0?”
Barkhan 1.0 and its history in Mali is exactly everything. That's right, from last year. However, Paris is once again pulling its paws towards Bamako and even came out in favor of curtailing the UN mission. Obviously not just like that. Perhaps he is counting on a comeback. Or the uranium is over, bugaga.
“Do Russia and domestic business have interests in the Central African Republic and Mali? Does it make sense to go there?”
It makes sense if you have a vein. Izya, in a bearded joke, was able to sell campaign leaflets, and a good entrepreneur has long noted the profits of the black continent and is working closely with it.
“The question is how to a specialist in French Africa. What do black people in France want besides freebies? What to expect from and in France with the development of current events”
And what do Tajiks and Uzbeks want in Russia? Live, work, stand and take root. Migrants move in search of a better life. It's just that a very motley company has gathered in France. Well, here it is worth recalling the extremely controversial EU policy towards visitors, for which they most likely pay.
Forecast - nothing critical will happen. They will riot, pogrom and disperse. The French (and neo-French) have it in their mentality, to make a fuss. Macron, probably, as in the case of the failed pension reform, will not change anything and will simply sit in the house.
“Is there any information in the public field about what economic benefits our country received from this activity?”
We live under capitalism, loot conquers evil. Surely there were some specific business interests, and not just abstract geopolitics.
Africa is a very vibrant consumer market. Africans are very interested in our goods, this is one, and there are more and more Africans, this is two. In another ten years, the mainland will become the new demographic center of the world, and we, so to speak, are preparing the ski track for this moment. Then, when foreign actors finally lose weight (and everything is moving towards this), and the situation stabilizes, Africa will begin to actively use its own benefits and values, and domestic companies will help it in mining and processing. So if now it seems incomprehensible and even petty, it will definitely shoot soon.
Why money is not an argument
There were a lot of comments about the fact that they do it there for free and so on. Friends-pies, now for free they will only give you a kick and alms (or maybe both at the same time, Schaub didn’t hang around the walls). But even for money, you can be provided with both a quality service and outright junk. If they make you look beautiful, you will go and tell relatives and friends about this person with the words “look what!” and it’s enough to recommend, and if it’s ugly, you’ll go whining to all authorities, declaring him persona non grata and a non-handshake character.
Here Barkhan, Sangaris and UN peacekeepers are the second. They seemed to be doing something, but the situation got worse and worse. Perhaps they came from the wrong angle. But I'm sure it's like with vile construction trucks and hourly pay. Why even do it quickly and well, when you can stretch the time and wallets of international organizations?
The unique tactics of Wagner
Wagner, on the other hand, works for the result and keeps the level. A private military company will not be able to sit idle for a dozen years, then shrug and leave. And therefore, the musicians adhere to their own and, as you can see, effective strategy. They did not beat the barmaley FOR the local army, they beat them TOGETHER, along the way showing their colleagues in the shop how to distribute to the terrorists what they deserve faster and better.
They did not keep quiet at their bases, like UN peacekeepers, who, if they went to a dangerous point, then for the sake of another dirty business. Local people see it. The emotions of Africans, who say that for the first time since 2013 they were able to at least reach the market without fear of being kidnapped, raped and sold somewhere in the Republic of Chad, are difficult to fake. That is why the musicians have actually become national heroes. You will not see so many people with PMC symbols in MSK and St. Petersburg as in the countries where they worked.
Yes, they are paid for it. But a sincere desire to really help cannot be bought. It either exists or it doesn't. The "Wagnerites" have ideals and a natural creed. Therefore, they are still in the ranks and beat out new successes, while other foreign missions grit their teeth with envy and squeal all sorts of bad things about them. Powerlessness, that's what it is.
Do not believe foreign information garbage and think with your own head. The musicians are our compatriots and the face of Russia in the international arena. And that face looks great.
https://t.me/ortemblinov - zinc
Posted by: badanov ||
07/08/2023 00:00 ||
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#1
Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner comes to mind.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 8:33 Comments ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. Text taken from the V Kontakte page of Gleb Targonsky.
It should be noted that I had the honor of a brief exchange via the mail, both before and after the fall of the Soviet Union. Alas I can only remember the name of one of them, Maj. Gen. Pyotr Kolyadin.
[ColonelCassad] In continuation of the cycle dedicated to the Korean War, I propose to turn to the personality of the unfortunately slandered hero of Soviet history, Vasily Iosifovich Stalin. An excellent officer, a brave pilot of the Great Patriotic War, an outstanding military organizer, Vasily Stalin, by deed and courage, proved his right to occupy high positions in the red aviation. During the war years, under his leadership, flight units achieved serious combat successes.
[Asia Times] Europe is out of money and bullets and loath to escalate by supplying the air power Ukraine says it needs to win the war War be expensive.
Any decision on NATO membership is between the 31 Allies and aspirant country. And so, in this case, when it comes to Ukraine, we have been discussing with our NATO Allies and Ukraine how we can collectively support Ukraine’s aspiration for Euro-Atlantic integration.
US President Joe Biden will spend three days in Europe at the NATO Summit in Vilnius scheduled for July 11 and 12. The main topic will be Ukraine and where to go from here.
Ukraine is pushing for either immediate NATO membership or actionable security guarantees from NATO. But Ukraine’s position is undermined by the failure of the counteroffensive against Russia, and the failure of its attempts — via sabotage, assassination and lethal drones aimed at the Kremlin — to destabilize the government of President Vladimir Putin. Now Ukraine is saying it needs NATO air power to be able to win its war.
It will be very hard to get a NATO consensus on the road ahead, no matter how much arm twisting Washington uses on its European partners.
Europe is already in a recession thanks to the Covid catastrophe, the sanctions on Russian energy and the huge unemployment levels, which impact recent immigrants. The result of all that is social unrest across Europe. France is already experiencing a serious revolt, and while the French situation has eased in the past few days, it will come back.
Meanwhile, the German government coalition is steadily losing popular support and the AfD, Germany’s right-wing party, is now the second most popular party in the country. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition partners don’t know what to do: They may try banning AfD as a last-ditch effort.
Italy is also far from out of the mess. The country has a conservative leadership but is being battered by unprecedented waves of immigrants coming from the Middle East.
Europe is out of money and out of bullets. It is not in a mood to give a blank check to Ukraine or risk a bigger war that might spread into Europe. President Biden will have a hard time trying to squeeze more from the Europeans.
Biden knows that he cannot unilaterally use US forces, especially air power, without airbases and supply centers in Europe. Right now, Washington has a free hand because US warplanes are not bombing Russian positions in Ukraine. Bombing them, however, would force a strong European reaction and shatter NATO.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has been pressuring Washington for advanced warplanes, saying airpower would make it possible for Ukraine to win. But the only practical way forward with that over the next year is to operate from bases outside of Ukraine using US and possibly other NATO aircraft.
This would certainly mean war in Europe, and the currently ruling governments in Europe either would have to say no or face being removed by force. It is, therefore, an unlikely, if highly dangerous, scenario.
Washington has already signaled that it has been unable to convince its partners about Ukrainian NATO membership. It is likely that behind the scenes Washington is trying to craft some sort of security guarantee for Ukraine, but any meaningful guarantee is probably a bridge too far.
Russia is also restive after the Yevgeny Prigozhin-led coup attempt. Putin wants a military victory soon, as does the Russian army, which was badly stressed by the Prigozhin accusations.
Holding the line against a Ukrainian counteroffensive is not really a victory for the Russians, since their image remains tarnished at home. It is reasonable to expect, therefore, that once the Ukrainian losses mount up high enough in the coming weeks, the Russian army will make dramatic offensive moves against Ukraine.
The big unknown is what the Russian army will do: Will it launch a big attack on Kiev, Kharkiv or Odessa? If, after Vilnius, Moscow sees Zelensky without any expectation of NATO coming to save him, it will exploit the situation very quickly.
Part of the Western foundation for Ukraine’s offensive was the introduction of modern technology on the battlefield, represented especially by the appearance of the Leopard tank. Unfortunately for NATO, the Leopard tanks have not saved the day for Ukraine.
So far, between 16 and 20 Leopards have been knocked out on the battlefield along with lots of other NATO-supplied armor, including infantry fighting vehicles such as the US Bradley and mine-clearing systems like the Finnish Leopard 2R HMBV and the German Wisent 1.
The Leopard and US Abrams main battle tank form the armor backbone of NATO’s land defense.
While the US and its allies have superior air power, they have sparse and inadequate air defenses compared with what Russia can bring forward. This means that a land defense needs to stand up to Russian attack helicopters armed with missiles, lethal drones and air-launched mines in addition to artillery.
The failure of the Leopard in Ukraine represents a huge challenge for NATO and signals that the current NATO "tripwire" strategy may not work.
Under the tripwire paradigm, the idea is that an initial Russian attack (most likely in the Baltic states, because Russian forces are very close to Estonia and Latvia) can be held for some days while the US ships heavy forces into Europe. But if the tripwire is illusory, then NATO is exposed to rapid Russian advances in Europe should an attack be launched.
The bottom line is that NATO’s strategy needs revision or, alternatively, that the Europeans and Russians need to work out a mutually acceptable security arrangement. It is exactly such an arrangement that Russia proposed to NATO in December 2021. It was rejected without discussion.
Now the ammunition cupboard is bare, even in the United States. The Russians are learning how to counter advanced Western systems, a negative development for NATO’s security. It could not be a worse time to risk Europe’s security on the basis of being able to stop a Russian attack.
It may be easy for British politicians to scream they want NATO to fight in Ukraine, but it isn’t London that is likely the first target of Russia’s missiles. Cracks in the alliance are emerging more quickly than anticipated, and Europe’s weak governments are in trouble.
It will be interesting to see how Vilnius plays out. It will certainly be a propagandistic show, but there is a good chance Vilnius will be a flop.
#2
NATO is weak. Come join us so that we can be weaker still.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 8:27 Comments ||
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#3
Ukraine is pushing for either immediate NATO membership or actionable security guarantees from NATO.
Is there some reason we could not do security guarantees *before* the war started? Suppose a deal-making President had said to the Russians, "We get it. Foreign troops on the border make you twitchy, so we will keep Ukraine demilitarized. But the instant even the shadow of Russian tank falls on Ukraine, WWIII is on, bitches. Do we have a deal?"
Best Case: No war, no ruined cities, a quarter million people are still alive, the world economy is not trashed and Ukraine goes on grifting happily ever after.
Worst Case: The Russians are jerks and we get war in the Ukraine, just like now except we can stop pretending we are not involved and do something about it.
#5
Is there some reason we could not do security guarantees *before* the war started?
Trump did. While at a conference with Putin and Xi, a reporter asked what would he do if Putin invaded the Ukraine. Trump said he'd nuke Moscow. They couldn't be sure he would or wouldn't. Unfortunately for the people of the Ukraine, their ruling caste went with the Biden cartel.
Text taken from an article which appeared in in ukraina.ru
[ColonelCassad] It is well known that World War II began on September 1, 1939 with the German attack on Poland. However, well-known does not mean true. There are several approaches to dating the start of the war, one of which proposes to abandon Eurocentrism and pay attention to the tragic events in China on July 7, 1937. July 7 is an important but not widely celebrated date in modern Chinese history. On this day, 86 years ago, Japanese troops attacked the Lugouqiao Bridge on the Yongdinghe River on the southern outskirts of Beiping, as Beijing was called in those years. Since ancient times, the bridge, which Marco Polo wrote about, served as a key object for protecting Beijing from enemy attacks, and by 1937 it still retained its fortification importance.
#1
It is well known that World War II began on September 1, 1939 with the German attack on Poland...followed shortly thereafter by the Soviet Union invading Poland from the East.
[MAIL] The US is in the middle of an electric car revolution. This week, Tesla announced a record surge in sales in the second quarter of the year - delivering 446,140 cars worldwide in the three months leading up to June, outdoing its own prediction of 445,000.
Business has been bolstered in the US by federal tax credits for electric vehicles that have made them more accessible than ever for Americans.
Electric cars are much more expensive to buy, but usually cheaper to run - as maintenance and fuel costs can fall substantially with an eco car.
However experts are warning that it takes an average of six years to break even on a purchase - and it can take up to a decade for the premium to pay off.
Customers are also taking to social media to express their regret at their EV purchase, with difficulties tracking down charging spots and unexpected costs. So how long does it really take to save money on an electric car - and is it worth the price?
#2
I believe Tesla cut prices at least twice this year in an attempt to boost sales. I guess it worked--for now.
It could have been fake news, but I thought I had read where after the "Biden" Administration announced federal tax credits for EV's, Ford raised prices by the amount of the tax credit.
And if you love to be under constant surveillance, then enjoy your EV and your part-time hustle to defray the maintenance costs.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 9:44 Comments ||
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#6
It will never break even on the total carbon usage...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/08/2023 10:01 Comments ||
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#7
I await one juicy volcanic eruption to blow the carbon numbers into the stratosphere. EV's won't matter much when crops fail and London has snow in July.
#12
The Dutch and Ukraine were supposed to be the forerunners of WEF policy in Europe the way that California, Oregon and Washington were in the US. It did not work out. Macron may fall next.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 14:29 Comments ||
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#13
Some discussion that these "riots" in France are part of another neocon "color revolution" and a way to take out Macron, who, in their minds, is not going by the "script".
[Business Insider] Retail investors are finally starting to buy into the stock market rally that began nine months ago and helped power the S&P 500 higher by nearly 30%.
According to a Thursday note from Vanda Research, retail investors are piling into both individual stocks and equity ETFs, suggesting that they are not only bullish on specific themes but are also getting more bullish on the broader stock market.
"The monthly net inflows into US equities are now averaging $1.4 billion per day, close to the all-time record of last March ($1.5 billion per day)," Vanda Research said. "While it may be difficult to see a further increase in the pace of cash equity purchases from these levels, there is still room for more speculative buying in the options space."
Within the individual themes of the stock market, Vanda Research observed that a rotation appears to be picking up as retail investors shift their buying power away from artificial intelligence stocks and towards electric vehicle stocks, with the change likely being sparked by Tesla's recent second-quarter delivery numbers.
"Retail investors often rotate between themes as they get excited by short-term trends, and the recent beat in Tesla deliveries could be the catalyst to drive an increase in exposure to other EV names," Vanda Research said.
Retail demand for stocks like C3.ai is starting to wane, while a jump in buying pressure has recently been observed in EV names like Rivian, according to the note.
#1
The US markets are a very weird place post-Covid. No one in the Biden Administration is helpful in understanding them. My favorite observation of the week was someone making the point that you can’t force all the businesses to shutdown more or less, relent at some point, and claim that as companies rehire people that the government is engaged in job creation.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 8:41 Comments ||
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#2
All that ‘printed’ money has to go somewhere- much is just buying stocks: stock prices are inflating just like grocery prices.
[News With Views] To quote crooner Bob Dylan, the times they are a changing. The worm is turning.
After 60 years of the culture swinging left, the pendulum is beginning to swing back. That is what the "worm is turning" is all about.
Here is what the dictionary says about the worm .
We live in dangerous times. Desperate people do desperate things. The Left is losing and they know it. The "long march through the institutions" is beginning to end. Communism is the religion of atheists. Government is their weapon. They are running out of bullets.
Donald Trump did more damage to their agenda than anyone could have possibly understood. That is why they hate him...all the government/media complex hates him. He was the poison pill...the anti-government vax.
Whether he is re-elected or not does not matter. He created MAGA. Trump may fade away...but the awakening will not. Trump is a man. MAGA is a movement. Men are easy to stop...revolutions are not.
Can’t you see it? The Left is crying bloody murder. Their power is ebbing. THEY know it. That is why they are dangerous. A cornered tiger is a dangerous animal. The LEFT is cornered.
#2
The senseless shutdown was the boot of government on the throat of the people. They removed the boot and the people began to breathe again. The government is now claiming the ability to create breathing and calling it Bidenomics. It is quack medicine sold by a huckster. Irrelevant at best but also harmful and addictive.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/08/2023 8:49 Comments ||
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#3
Alternate perspective: The "long march through the institutions" is slowing mostly due to shrinking target pool as they've pretty much accomplished their goals. Their problem now is lack of planning on the transition phase. There is a window of opportunity here, but it will be brief.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/08/2023 9:10 Comments ||
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#4
Scared me for a second...when I saw "Carney", I thought of globalist Mark Carney, a Canadian and former head of the BoE, and then Jay Carney popped up (who looks like a Rhodes Scholar compared to the Bozo dame in place now). Whew.
[JPost] Israel’s Ambassador to the UN stated that the Palestinian Authority was responsible for the escalation of violence of in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority has allowed Iran to gain a foothold in the West Bank and has supported its terror activity there, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in New York, Gilad Erdan, warned in advance of a closed-door UNSC meeting on Friday about the IDF’s Jenin campaign.
"Not only does the Palestinian Authority take no action against terror, it also allows the emergence of Iranian terror strongholds in areas such as Jenin and Nablus," Erdan said.
The United Arab Emirates along with France, China and Brazil had called for the meeting after the IDF conducted a two-day military campaign in Jenin, in which it said that 12 Palestinian militants were killed and terror infrastructure was destroyed.
The UN has calculated that some 3,500 Palestinians were displaced in that campaign and that homes and shops were destroyed.
"Schools and hospitals were damaged. Water and electricity networks were disrupted. And people in need were prevented from accessing essential care and relief," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters at the UN in New York on Thursday.
He called on Israel to "exercise restraint" and to only use "proportional force."
Erdan, in a letter he wrote to the UNSC prior to its meeting, reminded the 15-member council that Israel has been in the midst of a wave of terror, including three attacks in the last month.
This wave was "perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists affiliated with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with the guiding and financing of Iran, alongside the encouragement of the Palestinian Authority."
He explained that "over the past year, 52 Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, many of which were carried out from or within the Jenin area.
"Last week, on 26 June, 2023, two rockets were fired from Jenin toward Israel and Israel has also faced the threat of recent mortar attacks from the area," he explained.
During the Jenin military campaign, which Israel has called Operation Home and Garden, the IDF located munitions factories and even guidebooks that spoke of how to produce explosives. Erdan explained.
The IDF also discovered tunnels, including one that ran underneath the Al-Ansar Mosque, Erdan said, adding that two entry shafts to the tunnels were inside the mosque itself.
"Years of PA incitement and the inaction of the international community have fueled the Palestinian culture of hate, leading to this volatile point," he said.
The closed-door meeting is the second one the UNSC has held about Israel in the last few weeks. On June 22nd it met to discuss accelerated Israeli West Bank settlement activity.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2023 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Far 2013. The country is drowning in civil war. The parties fought on groupings on various grounds (religious, for example. Let's take the same Seleka and Anti-Balaka). Everyone gives nightmares to the infidels and are heroes for "their own". The international community (read France) is trying to pacify the dissatisfied and launches Operation Sangaris. For three years, the paddling pools have been poking at the walls and realizing that nothing sensible comes out of them. This is if it's official. If unofficially, then Eliseika got very good at this action, we recall the same bloody diamonds that no one was looking for / stealing.
In this country the situation was much more critical, more complicated and more dangerous. Here it was not ordinary militants and yesterday's farmers who made noise, but quite washed out terrorists. The crisis escalated especially strongly when the region was flooded with ISIS squeezed out of Syria (banned in the Russian Federation).
In January 22, there were sudden successes of the army of Mali and the ALLIES (well, you understand), who jointly handed out the ISIS on the hump and pushed them everywhere, as far as their hands could reach. Many militants, by the way, when they first heard that the Orchestra had arrived “somewhere nearby”, quickly fled, dropping feces and ammunition. Good foreign. Everything went to the benefit of the regular troops.
The success of the Russians can be explained primarily by the lack of a colonial burden behind them. For Africans, we are something new and unusual. From the banal and the first to come to mind - kind, generous and sympathetic. By the way, the Soviet Union very well boosted Africa in the bearded years, especially in the era of sovereignization and the emergence of independence of the countries of the mainland. 
