Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/10/2025 17:10
Comments ||
Top||
#3
His AI was acutely aware
As it talked to Ms. Todd on a dare.
"Ma'am, that one ninety-three
Is a wonder to see...
But your thirty-seven thousand two hundred forty-nine is a mystery to me."
Sighed her agent, "Oh, gawd. What a square."
[IsraelTimes] An oil tanker that burned for weeks in the Red Sea and threatened a massive oil spill has been “successfully” salvaged, a security firm says.
The Sounion had been a disaster in waiting in the waterway, with 1 million barrels of crude oil aboard. It had been struck and later sabotaged with explosives by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, taking months for salvagers to tow the vessel away, extinguish the fires and offload the remaining crude oil.
The Houthis initially attacked the Greek-flagged Sounion tanker on August 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating as part of Operation Aspides rescued its crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel after they abandoned the vessel and took them to nearby Djibouti.
The Houthis later released footage showing they planted explosives on board the Sounion and ignited them in a propaganda video, something the Iran-backed group has done before in its campaign.
#1
'Joint US-Israeli airstrikes' pound Yemen, reports say Israeli jets hit Hodeidah Port and Haziz power station near Sanaa; Arab media reports US, UK forces carried out 12 airstrikes in Yemen’s northwestern Amran province
God damn Hamas to Hell., and all their fellow travellers, too.
[IsraelTimes] The family of hostage Hamza Ziyadne, 22, say they have been informed that his body was identified by the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.
Ziyadne’s remains were recovered by the IDF from a tunnel in southern Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ’s Rafah on Tuesday night, along with the body of his father Youssef, 53.
The IDF says its representatives notified Ziyadne’s family of the news this morning, following the identification process by the forensic institute.
"Hamza and Youssef were kidnapped alive on October 7 and were killed in Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... captivity. The IDF and Shin Bet share in the family’s grief at this difficult time," the military says.
"The IDF and Shin Bet are making every effort to return all the hostages as quickly as possible," the statement adds.
The IDF said earlier this week that the remains it recovered from the tunnel raised "grave concerns" for Hamza’s life. It is now confirmed that he was indeed killed.
It is now believed that 94 of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
[IsraelTimes] Australian authorities denounce “hate-filled” vandals who daubed swastikas and other graffiti on a Sydney synagogue in the early hours of Friday, the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish places of worship.
The vandalism on the Southern Sydney Synagogue comes a little over a month after masked arsonists gutted a Melbourne synagogue, prompting the government to create a federal task force targeting antisemitism.
The Hamas-led terror onslaught in October 2023 and subsequent war in Gaza has sparked regular protests by supporters of Israel and Palestinians while feeding tensions between the two communities across Australia, as in much of the world.
The Sydney vandalism was “a hate-filled attack by individuals that have got hate in their hearts,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns tells journalists.
“I think the painting of a swastika on a Jewish building shows you everything you need to know about how appalling these particular individuals are and what their ultimate aim is.”
Police say they have increased the protection of synagogues around Sydney.
To no avail, sadly. What are they doing wrong?
Investigators will review all CCTV in the area, says New South Wales police assistant commissioner Peter McKenna.
“It’s abhorrent. It’s not the Australian way, as I said, and people who do this sort of thing should realize that we will be out in force to look for them. We will catch them. We will prosecute them,” he tells reporters.
#2
Off the "watched Furiosa last night (and, boy, is my scowl tired)" pile...
The Last, Fast Ride of Promethean JOE
O horror! A roar o'er the sand!
Are the ramparts of Rantburg unmanned?
"Got a gut full of Hass
And a boatload of gas
And forever to pass it and--"
"Banned."
[IsraelTimes] Singapore says it has detained three men since October last year who were preparing to travel to the Middle East to fight against Israel, and one expressed willingness to carry out attacks in Singapore if instructed to do so.
The Home Affairs Ministry says in a statement that the three Singaporean men are not linked to one other and were “radicalized” online, but there is no indication others were recruited.
It is not immediately clear why the ministry is announcing the detentions now.
Following their arrest in October, they were detained under Singapore’s Internal Security Act, which allows suspects to be held for lengthy periods without trial.
The three are a director of a digital marketing company, a lift mechanic and a security guard, aged 41, 21 and 44, respectively.
One of the three was willing to carry out any instruction from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the statement says, “including conducting attacks in Singapore,” adding the man had no specific attack plans.
The Palestinian terror group Hamas is backed by Iran. Iran has not made a threat against Singapore, though it has vowed to target Israeli and Jewish targets abroad.
One of the men visited a shooting range in Thailand to learn to operate firearms, while two planned to visit shooting ranges in Indonesia, it says.
The ministry says restrictions were placed on two other Singaporeans in June and July last year under the security law, related to the conflict in Gaza.
[IsraelTimes] Family members of Elizabeth Tsurkova, a Russian-Israeli researcher held in captivity in Iraq since her abduction in 2023, met yesterday with the government’s point man on hostages, Gal Hirsch, and with foreign coordinators of the issue who are visiting Israel, Hebrew media reports say.
The Israel Hayom daily cites unnamed officials familiar with the details as saying the goal is to advance indirect talks with Baghdad to free Tsurkov, noting that this is the first public evidence of efforts by Jerusalem to secure her release via mediators.
The newspaper quotes an unnamed senior diplomatic official as voicing hope that recent positive regional developments, including the decision by Iran-backed Iraqi militias to stop launching attacks on Israel, “will also create the opportunity to bring Elizabeth home.”
[IsraelTimes] An Israeli civilian from the northern Arab town of Kabul has been charged with planning a bombing attack, the Shin Bet security agency says.
The suspect is named by the Shin Bet and Israel Police as Mahmoud Hussein Muhammad Bushkar, 37, whose father is a West Bank Paleostinian.
Bushkar was recently detained by Border Police officers. The Shin Bet says he told interrogators that he planned to build suicide belts to carry out an attack.
The investigation found that Bushkar "viewed content dealing with the preparation of explosives, purchased equipment and various materials with which he performed several experiments, including the production of a TATP-type explosive and the preparation of a pipe bomb, and later even planned to prepare an boom belt in order to carry out attacks in Israel," the security agency and police say.
Authorities say that the suspect unsuccessfully attempted to recruit two others to aid him in carrying out the attack.
The Shin Bet and police investigation found that the suspect was "inspired" by the events of the current war and the 2021 Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... conflict to carry out the attack.
A handgun and materials to build bombs were seized from his possession, the Shin Bet adds.
An indictment was filed against Bushkar this morning at the Haifa District Court.
[IsraelTimes] IDF troops operating in southern Syria have located a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle packed with ammunition, the military says.
The find was made by troops of the 474th Golan Regional Brigade, who are operating in a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border and in some areas just beyond it.
Alongside the IFV, the military says the Golani Brigade found additional caches of weapons, which were captured or destroyed.
The IDF says it seeks to prevent the weapons from reaching “hostile elements” that could harm troops and Israeli civilians in the Golan.
[IsraelTimes] Earlier today, the IDF says, it carried out a drone strike in southern Lebanon after identifying suspects loading a vehicle with weapons.
The weapons were being taken from buildings that the military says were used by Hezbollah.
An Israeli Air Force drone struck the vehicle with the weapons “to remove the threat,” the IDF says.
#11
Saw the X-posted video of the LA's ____ Men yesterday removing items in a hurry with a fire already at the house behind it, early this morning.
The comments and captions read, that they were helping their friend move his stuff to a safe location. ☺
But, now, think of this in another way.
Insurance company will cover the house and X-amount $$$ for the contents - minus the usual +/- $1,000 deductible?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2025
2025-01-10 02:21 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11147 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This is NOT climate change caused.
Rainfall chart shows a consistent repetitive natural weather cycle for LA and nothing abnormal since it started back in 1877. In fact, LA has had ABOVE normal rainfall since 2021.
Using the 148 years of historical data, as a reference.
The Southern Cal/LA area Political Leadership can expect the next few years to be on the dryer side.
#3
Ugh. Did anyone see that briefing where they had a lineup of diverse sign language people? The dude with the bangle earrings, 7th grade girl quality makeup, and pony tail down to his pooter? School marm after school marm doing their best 5th grade play script?
[IsraelTimes] Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun tells lawmakers he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.
His comments are seen partly as a reference to the Hezbollah terror group’s arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.
According to Reuters, lawmakers burst into the longest applause of the speech after Aoun’s statement, while Hezbollah parliamentarians remained still.
Before Israel dealt it a series of setbacks in recent months, the Iran-backed Hezbollah over the years amassed far greater powers than the Lebanese army and took over southern Lebanon in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.
He also vows to end the Israeli presence in southern Lebanon from which the IDF is slated to finish withdrawing at the end of the month.
“I pledge to oversee the activation of security agencies and to discuss a strategic defense policy that enables the state to remove Israeli occupation from all territories,” Aoun says.
[SraelTimes] The commander of Hamas’s Sabra Battalion, part of the Gaza City Brigade, was killed in a recent airstrike, according to the military and Shin Bet.
A separate strike killed the battalion’s deputy commander, along with other operatives, according to the IDF.
In a joint statement, the IDF and Shin Bet say that the Sabra Battalion commander, Osama Abu Namus, was eliminated in a drone strike this week.
The IDF says Abu Namus was a “significant source of knowledge” in Hamas and was responsible for attacks on Israel and IDF troops in Gaza, especially soldiers operating in the Netzarim Corridor area, located just south of Gaza City.
A separate strike killed Mohammed al-Tarq, the deputy commander of Hamas’s Sabra Battalion, the military says. According to the IDF, he previously served as the commander of a Nukhba force company in the battalion.
Al-Tarq was also responsible for attacks on troops in the Netzarim Corridor, the military says.
The IDF says recent airstrikes also eliminated two commanders in the Sabra Battalion’s Nukhba force company, including one responsible for the supply of weapons.
The Sabra Battalion is named after the neighborhood of Gaza City in which it operates.
In a statement, COGAT says this includes 6,750 liters of fuel, 10,000 liters of water, dozens of food crates and nearly 300 boxes of medical supplies.
It says that on Monday, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, supplies were delivered to Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, including 291 boxes of medical equipment, along with food supplies, and that water supplies totaling 10,000 liters and food crates were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital.
And yesterday, also in collaboration with WHO, “6,750 liters of fuel were transferred to hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip — A-Nasser, Al-Aqsa, and the European Hospital — to sustain their critical operations.”
“The IDF, through COGAT, will continue to act in accordance with international law to allow and facilitate humanitarian assistance for the residents of the Gaza Strip, with a focus on medical support,” the statement says.
Three girls and their father were killed when an airstrike hit their house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the civil defense agency alleges.
In a separate strike, eight people were killed when their house was struck in the town of Jabalia in northern Gaza. Several more were wounded in that strike, according to the civil defense agency.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
[IsraelTimes] Swiss national arrested in Iran and accused of spying committed suicide in prison, the chief justice of Iran’s Semnan province is quoted as saying by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
[IsraelTimes] The Palestinian Authority has arrested 247 outlaws as part of its counterterror raid in the Jenin refugee camp that has been ongoing for several weeks, PA security forces spokesperson Anwar Rajab says.
Speaking at a press conference in Jenin, Rajab says PA forces have defused 245 explosive devices in addition to confiscating weapons and ammunition.
Eight of those arrested are suspected of illicitly financing terror groups in the northern West Bank.
Iranian proxies? ISIS? The government of Egypt? Inquiring minds want to know.
Rajab says PA forces also seized funds that were supposed to go toward the families of “martyrs and prisoners” but had been “misappropriated by the lawbreakers,” Haaretz reports.
[IsraelTimes] Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south... opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been sprung after being detained upon leaving a protest in Caracas Thursday against President Nicolás Maduro ...Commie el presidente para toda la vida of Venezuela, successor to Hugo Chavez. Nick is his country's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy, except that even though his country's sitting on an enormous puddle of oil, he can't manage to get it out of the ground. Unlike Qadaffy and Hugo Chavez, he's not dead yet... , whom she accuses of stealing a presidential election last July, her team says.
Machado "was intercepted and knocked from the cycle of violence she was traveling on" leaving a rally in the capital, her entourage says on X, adding shots were fired."She was forcibly detained. During the period of her abduction, she was forced to record several videos and then released."
[JonathanTurley] There is an interesting defamation case out of New York in which the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit by Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI) against the Anti-Defamation League (“ADL”) and individual defendants Jonathan Greenblatt, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper. Not only did the court reject the claim that canceled speeches resulted from alleged defamatory statements, but it also noted that the statements about NOI are protected opinions.
In Farrakhan v. Anti-Defamation League, Judges Susan L. Carney, Joseph F. Bianco, and William J. Nardini upheld the lower court’s dismissal of what they described as Farrakhan’s “sprawling allegations.”
District Court Judge Denise Cote (S.D.N.Y.) first dismissed the case, noting that it was based on a publication that quoted Farrakhan at length. She also noted that, after quoting Farrakhan, the ADL post titled “Farrakhan Predicts Another Holocaust” was clearly an opinion piece. The so-called “Ticketmaster Letter” ended with the hyperlinked statement that “[y]ou can learn more about Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam on our website.”
The actual quotes from Farrakhan made this action doubly difficult:
“A Jewish man said to me, ‘You know, we say never again. Never again will we be in the oven. Never again.’ I said, ‘Hold it.’ You can say that to men, but you can’t say that to God. Because the Bible says, behold the day cometh that shall burn — as a what? —as an oven. And those who do wickedly, He will slay them and leave them neither root nor branch…The War of Armageddon is to decide who will live on this earth.”
“I’m saying to the Jews: if you want salvation, if you want to get back into the paradise of God, come with the Messiah, that’s your ticket. Some of you have already recognized your brother as that. But that’s an invitation to them to break them apart from those who are about to be destroyed. God is not unjust; when he kills you, you know you deserved it.”
The Second Circuit rejected the causal effect of the publication in leading to Farrakhan being blocked on two speech platforms run by third parties — Morgan State University and Vimeo. It found that the claims were mere speculation on the underlying nexus.
It also found no concrete injury from acts like ADL-supported creation of the “U.S. National Strategy [t]o Counter Antisemitism.”
The panel, however, then held that the objections to Farrakhan as pushing anti-Semitic views were protected statements of opinion. The court ruled that whether Farrakhan and the NOI are anti-Semitic is a statement incapable of being proven true or false. It is left to the judgment of the reader and the perceived meaning of the quoted statements themselves.
[IsraelTimes] After scrutiny from pro-Israel groups, Morningstar says situation too complicated, won’t advise on any ‘contiguous territorial disputes’; watchdogs, investors pan ‘mystifying’ move
When investors need help navigating business decisions in conflict zones they turn to specialized firms that are supposed to help them keep clear of human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... abuses. But one of the biggest firms offering advice on environmental, social, and governance issues recently announced that when it comes to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict, it will no longer have anything to say.
The conflict is just too complicated to weigh in on, Morningstar announced last month, following years of pressure by pro-Israel groups who charged that the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) field effectively fuels Israel boycotts.
The company said it devised a new policy that ends coverage of human rights issues connected to "disputes concerning contiguous territories" after an investigation of alleged anti-Israel bias in the company’s research and analysis.
"This means we won’t cover those areas because human rights issues, when related to contiguous territorial disputes, are less likely to be objective, reliable, or consistent, and subject to complex geopolitical factors, divergent views and conflicting partisan media reports," Morningstar said in a statement posted to its website.
The policy change caps off a series of reforms implemented by Morningstar in response to scrutiny by a coalition of pro-Israel groups, including the Jewish Federations of North America, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League.
After initially rejecting allegations that the company inappropriately downgraded Israeli companies and companies doing business in Israel, Morningstar changed course in 2022 when it was on the verge of being blacklisted by Illinois’s public pension systems. The company appointed two people as independent experts and asked them for detailed feedback about its operations.
The experts, retired US diplomat Alejandro Daniel Wolff and Vanderbilt University law professor Michael Newton, issued recommendations, such as eliminating the use of the term "Occupied Paleostinian Territory" from its research products.
In a report released December 31, the experts announced that Morningstar had implemented changes that adequately address the concerns, noting that the "Israel/Paleostinian conflict area" was now excluded from analysis entirely.
The coalition of pro-Israel groups welcomed the news in a statement, saying it merely wanted Israel held to the same standards as any other country.
"Our coalition believes structural anti-Israel bias is a form of antisemitism, and we applaud Morningstar’s efforts and good faith cooperation to root out anti-Israel bias from their products," the statement said. "The experts’ recommendations and the framework Morningstar developed should serve as a model for the entire ESG industry to ensure that credit ratings are not infected with anti-Israel bias."
Other regions also now ineligible for analysis under the new rule are the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine; the Essequibo region of Guyana; Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... between India and Pakistain; Nagorno Karabakh, contested between Armenia and Azerbaijan; and Western Sahara in Africa, Morningstar told the news outlet Responsible Investor.
The outlet quoted a variety of voices, including investors and watchdogs, who were critical of the exclusion of contiguous territorial disputes.
Phil Bloomer, executive director of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, for example, called the new rule "mystifying."
"This is the reality of most 21st-century conflict," he said. "Investors need access to more, not less data and understanding of the role of business in contributing to human rights risks and abuse in acute and chronic conflicts."
The conclusion of the dispute at Morningstar comes as conservative and pro-Israel groups escalate pressure on another ESG company over the same issue. MSCI is currently pushing back against allegations that it discriminates against Israel with investment ratings that rely on biased sources of information.
[Rudaw] Iraq’s migration and displaced ministry on Wednesday said that over 700 nationals were repatriated from the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) housing those with links to ISIS.
"The new convoy [of returnees] consists of 193 families which total 715 people," ministry spokesperson Ali Abbas told Rudaw.
It is the first batch of people to be repatriated to Iraq in 2025 with Baghdad frequently repatriating its nationals from the camp.
Al-Hol camp in Rojava’s Hasaka province is infamous for its squalid conditions and has notoriously been branded a breeding ground for terrorism.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at the camp since the defeat of the group in 2019.
In late December, an Iraqi politician told Rudaw that the country was preparing to repatriate over 700 ISIS-linked nationals from the camp.
Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria have repeatedly called on the international community to repatriate their nationals from the camp, but their calls have largely gone unanswered as most countries are unwilling to bring back their citizens due to security concerns.
The repatriation of ISIS-linked citizens has sparked opposition in Iraq, with tribes unwilling to accept and welcome people associated with the group that committed heinous human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. abuses and war crimes from 2014 to 2017, when they controlled vast swathes of the country.
Most repatriated individuals are resettled in al-Jada camp in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, to be prepared for reintegration into their communities and then returned to their hometowns.
[IsraelTimes] Far-left groups Code Pink and Jewish Voice for Peace tie catastrophic fires to funding for Israel, prompting condemnation from Jewish groups
US Jewish groups condemned anti-Israel activists on Thursday for blaming the Los Angeles wildfire crisis on Israel.
Several anti-Israel groups and commentators linked the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... and US military spending on Israel to the catastrophic fires.
Code Pink ... a U.S. anti-war group. The group describes itself as a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. It was founded in 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and of the other usual antiwar suspects. Its website lists hysterical allegations of US war crimes, and states that thousands of civilians were killed in Fallujah in 2004. Maybe it was millions. Benjamin was a 2000 candidate for the U.S. Senate on the Green Party ticket. She lost... , a far-left activist group, said on Instagram, "When US taxes go to burning people alive in Gaza, we can’t be surprised when those fires come home."
That sure sounds like a threat that pro-Hamas types are setting fires as punishment. Something for the new head of the FBI to look into?
The group also said it was pressuring Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, Senator Alex Padilla at his Washington, DC office, tying the war to climate change.
The New York branch of the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace, in an Instagram post about the fires, said, "Instead of putting resources toward making our country livable, our government is putting billions toward Israel’s genocide of Paleostinians in Gaza."
Fatima Mohammed, a leader of New York’s hardline anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime, posted an image of the fires and said, "The flames of Gaza will not stop there."
"Dropping hundreds of thousands of bombs on Gaza, turning it into a blazing inferno, has consequences," she said. "There are climate consequences that will find us all."
Commentator Mehdi Hasan also linked US military aid to Israel to the Los Angeles fire department’s budget.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is mainly funded by the city of Los Angeles, while military spending for Israel comes from the federal government.
Anti-Israel activists have previously tied funding for Israel to unrelated issues, such as New York libraries.
New York Congressman Ritchie Torres, one of Israel’s most outspoken supporters in Washington, lashed Code Pink for blaming Israel for the fires.
"The nature of Antisemitism is to scapegoat the Jewish People and the Jewish State for everything wrong in the world — no matter how tenuous the causal connection," he said on X. "The modus operandi of Antisemitism is slanderous scapegoating: when in doubt, blame the Jews."
"Codepink’s rabid anti-Zionism and insatiable animosity toward Israel drives them to make an absurd, incomprehensible claim," the head of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, said on X. "What does it say about a group that will find a way to use any tragedy to foster incitement and antisemitism?"
Amy Spitalnick, the head of the progressive Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called the Code Pink statement "the latest example of a relentless scapegoating of Israel or Jews for virtually any global problem."
Spitalnick also warned against right-wing rhetoric blaming the fires on diversity initiatives. Elon Musk, in a post on X about the fires, said, "DEI means people DIE."
#2
More proof that the Left has become a collection of social agenda idiots, always looking for something to whine about for attention and $$$$$.
BTW: Imagine Code Pink'ers under Islamic rule for a sec. If they were lucky, they would be publicly flogged, and placed in prison for gang raping. Otherwise, just a big sword swinging in a public execution.
[Rudaw] Sulaimani-based counter-terrorism forces on Wednesday announced the arrest of several Islamic State (ISIS) suspects in the Sharazur district during an intelligence-led operation.
In a statement, the General Directorate of Counter-Terrorism (CTG) said they arrested “a number of” ISIS suspects, hailing from Salahaddin province.
It elaborated that the suspects were involved in “several terrorist acts and human rights violations” and had held various positions within ISIS when the group controlled swathes of Iraqi land during its three-year reign which began in 2014.
The CTG said that the arrests were conducted swiftly, with no reported harm, and the individuals have been transferred to courts for legal proceedings, emphasizing that the directorate “will continue its operations to arrest and destroy all terrorists and sleeping cells of ISIS throughout Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”
ISIS remains a significant security threat in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, operating through sleeper cells and launching sporadic attacks despite its territorial.
[IsraelTimes Nearly all House Republicans, several Democrats back legislation punishing the ICC for going after Netanyahu and Gallant, but measure will face bumpier path through Senate
The US House of Representatives voted on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court to protest its decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel’s campaign against the Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... terror group in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Lawmakers voted 243 to 140 in favor of the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act," which would urge sanctions on any ICC official or entities backing The Hague who advance "any effort to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies."
The sanctions include blocking or revoking visas and prohibiting US property transactions.
The legislation states that the US and Israel are not signatories to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, which accordingly has no jurisdiction over their conduct.
Forty-five Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... joined 198 Republicans in backing the bill. No Republicans voted against the measure, but Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie abstained, saying afterward that the House "should not get involved in disputes between other countries."
The House vote, one of the first since the new Congress was seated last week, underscored strong support for Israel’s government among President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... ’s fellow Republicans, who now control both chambers in Congress.
Trump will be sworn in on January 20 for a second term as president.
"America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel," Florida Republican Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a House speech before the vote.
The breakdown of the vote was largely the same as the one on similar House legislation last year that failed to advance out of the Senate, though, the number of "Nos" was slightly lower amid absences due to former president Jimmy Malaise Carter
...only the second worst president ever. Now the third worst, after Obama and Biden... ’s funeral and the wildfires in Los Angeles.
The legislation still needs to be okayed in the Senate, where it will have a harder time passing, although newly appointed Republican majority leader John Thune has promised swift consideration of the act so Trump can sign it into law shortly after taking office.
In order to be passed in the Senate, Republicans will need to recruit around seven Democrats to vote with them, which may be difficult given that the outgoing Biden administration has to date refrained from backing such punitive measures against the court, not wanting to delegitimize the international body whose sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... it supports.
Congressional Republicans have been denouncing the ICC since it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza.
The warrants effectively bar Netanyahu and Gallant from entering the ICC’s 124 member states. Neither Israel nor the US are members of the court.
The charges against the two men allege that they committed the war crimes of directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza and of using starvation as a method of warfare by hindering the supply of international aid to Gaza.
Chief prosecutor Karim Khan also alleged that they committed the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts as a result of the restrictions they allegedly placed on the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has strongly rejected the substance of the allegations, insisting that it has funneled massive amounts of humanitarian aid through the crossings along the Gaza border, and that any problems with the distribution of that aid to the Paleostinian civilian population are a result of inefficient operations by the aid organizations on the ground, difficulties arising from the ongoing conflict in the territory, and the looting of aid by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Israel has also rejected allegations that it targets civilians, insisting that civilian casualties caused by the operation have resulted in large part due to Hamas’s tactic of embedding its fighters and installations within Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.
The war in Gaza was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led Lions of Islam stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive has killed more than 46,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The figure cannot be independently verified and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, of whom Israel says it has killed at least 18,000 in Gaza as of November, in addition to about 1,000 inside Israel during the onslaught.
The ICC has said its decision to pursue warrants against the Israeli officials was in line with its approach in all cases, based on an assessment by the prosecutor that there was enough evidence to proceed, and the view that seeking arrest warrants immediately could prevent ongoing crimes.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed by an IDF strike in Gaza back in July. While Khan had initially sought arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintained a separate PM in the West Bank. Zapped during the 2023-24 war, to eveyone's satisfaction... , and Yahya Sinwar as well, the two were killed before the warrants were issued in November.
The Republican-led House passed the act seeking to sanction the ICC in June, but the measure was never taken up in the Senate, which at the time was controlled by a Democratic majority.
Virginia's suit against the Biden Administration (together w. 5 other states) has resulted in suspension of illegal Title IX rule across the country. This is the 1st clear nationwide injunction against a re-write of decades-old civil rights… pic.twitter.com/nUr1DiJ4N4
[IsraelTimes] Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) announced on Tuesday that he is reintroducing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a measure aimed at preventing trans-identified males from competing in women’s sports.
The US has blacklisted China’s largest shipping line and two shipbuilders over alleged links with the People’s Liberation Army, as Washington turns its attention to the country’s massive maritime sector.
Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. was named in a Federal Register filing on Tuesday, qualifying it as a Chinese military company as determined by the Pentagon, along with China State Shipbuilding Corp. and China Shipbuilding Trading Co. While the blacklist carries no specific penalties, it discourages US firms from dealing with those companies.
It also signals increased scrutiny of marine transport and shipbuilding as Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... prepares to return to the White House. China has the world’s largest shipbuilding sector, producing more than half of merchant vessels globally, while the US industry has virtually collapsed over the last generation.
Chinese shipbuilders accounted for almost 60% of the worldwide orderbook in the first quarter of last year, according to shipbroker BRS. The US’s nervousness over this dominance comes as shipping lines and ports become increasingly important as arenas of geopolitical competition, with Covid-19 and its aftermath exposing the fragility of global supply chains.
Washington telegraphed its unease over China’s shipbuilding industry at Senate hearings last year. The US builds only one container ship for every 359 such vessels that China constructs, Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democratic congressman for Illinois, said at the time.
The latest Pentagon blacklist also included Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., as well as Chinese oil major Cnooc Ltd.
Cosco shares fell as much as 4.4% in Hong Kong on Tuesday, outpacing a decline in the city’s benchmark stock index, while Cnooc was down as much 1.6%.
The two companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Both Cosco and Cnooc have been previously targeted by Washington. Cosco was sanctioned in 2019 for hauling Iranian oil, with those penalties lifted in 2020. Cnooc was one of the earliest Chinese state-owned enterprises to be hit with US sanctions and was also added to a Pentagon blacklist in 2021.
Cnooc, meanwhile, has two onshore shale oil and gas projects in the US, two deepwater projects and interests in several other exploration blocks in the US Gulf of Mexico, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Rising tensions with Washington could cause the company to reassess its ownership of those assets, it said in a note late last month.
The Biden administration on Tuesday blacklisted the same Chinese shipping company over its ties to the Chinese military that Hunter Biden was set to partner with in a failed railway deal in Southern Europe.
The Department of Defense added the China Ocean Shipping Corporation (COSCO), the largest shipping company in China, to the list identifying “Chinese military companies” in the United States along with other Chinese shipbuilders. Though listed companies do not face penalties, U.S. companies are discouraged from pursuing business relationships with them.
HUNTER COURTED CHINESE COMPANY
As a state-owned enterprise, COSCO has long faced scrutiny for its ties to the People’s Liberation Army and its participation is expanding the influence of the Chinese Communist Party across the globe, even as the United States’ own commercial maritime power is on the decline.
Yet, Hunter Biden, the president’s son, and his business partners in 2015 courted COSCO for funding in an acquisition deal. The project was a proposed acquisition of the Greek national railway TrainOSE which was set to be privatized. This was just one of many deals the younger Biden organized with Chinese partners while his father was Barack Obama’s vice president.
Evidence shows Hunter Biden also provided real access to his father to his business partners, despite the president having claimed repeatedly that “I have never spoken to my son about his overbusiness dealings.” This deal, emails show, was no different.
The Department of Defense added Chinese electric vehicle battery maker CATL—which Ford Motor Company has partnered with on a billion-dollar EV project in Michigan—to a list of companies that actively aid China's military.
Burying the lede a little…
The Pentagon published documents Tuesday designating CATL and 133 other companies to its Section 1260H list of Chinese military companies, which the Department of Defense is required to update on an annual basis.
Lawmakers, security experts, and former federal officials have warned for years that the China-based CATL maintains strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party infrastructure even as the firm continues to develop a high-profile EV project with Ford in Michigan.
CATL's inclusion on the list is another black eye for both Ford's struggling EV business and Democrats' climate ambitions—the Ford-CATL project was made possible by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D., Mich.), whose administration helped fund it with nearly $2 billion in direct subsidies and tax breaks. It is the latest evidence of the Chinese government's stranglehold on global green energy supply chains.
[IsraelTimes] Behrouz Esbati says now-ousted Syrian leader refused multiple requests to let Iran-backed militias attack from country after October 7; acknowledges regime’s fall a ‘very big blow’
Iran’s former top general in Syria has revealed that Tehran pushed the since-deposed Syrian leader Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... to open an additional front against Israel as it battled terror groups Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... and Hezbollah over the past 15 months.
In a recording cited by the New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... on Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati said ties with Assad had been strained prior to the Syrian regime’s collapse at the beginning of December, over his refusal to let Iran-backed militias open a new front against Israel from Syria.
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... had presented Assad with detailed plans to use Iranian resources in Syria to attack Israel, but despite multiple requests, he refused to let them go ahead, Esbati said.
Esbati spoke last week at a Tehran mosque, and his comments were reported in Iranian media on Monday, the NY Times said. In other remarks, Esbati acknowledged that the Islamic Theocratic Republic was "defeated very badly" by the fall of Assad, despite Iranian leaders’ repeated efforts to downplay the matter.
He also was said to play down the notion of Iran again directly attacking Israel and accused Russia of shutting down radar systems in Syria during alleged Israeli attacks on Iranian resources.
The fall of the Assad regime came amid an ongoing war in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip that began on October 7, 2023, when the Iran-backed Paleostinian terror group Hamas led thousands of forces of Evil to attack Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
The next day Hezbollah began attacking along Israel’s northern border. That conflict also spiraled into an open war that ended with a fragile ceasefire at the end of November after Israel largely decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and resources.
In addition, other Iranian proxies, such as militias in Iraq and Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s rebels, have also fired missiles and drones at Israel since the Gaza war started.
Despite the ostensible refusal of Assad to sanction the opening of a Syrian front with Israel, there were several rocket attacks from Iran-backed groups in Syria at northern Israel in the past 15 months, though apparently not at the scale Iran had sought. Such attacks had also occurred from time to time before the war started.
Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at Israel during the same period.
Days after the battered Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in late November, the Assad regime fell, marking two major strategic setbacks for Iran. Hamas, too, has been greatly diminished by the war in Gaza, with many senior figures killed, including two of its long-time leaders.
Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah are all avowed to destroy Israel.
"I don’t consider losing Syria something to be proud of," Esbati said "We were defeated and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow and it’s been very difficult."
For decades, Iran and Syria were key strategic allies. Tehran used Syria to supply its proxy Hezbollah terror group in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... with weaponry, and Iranian military advisers as well as Hezbollah helped the Assad regime battle Lions of Islam during the country’s prolonged civil war.
But in December rebel forces surged across Syria and ended the Assad regime’s 50-year rule. Since then, the new government has sought to reassure the world that it seeks regional stability and has opened channels of communication with several Western nations, while also talking to Iran.
Esbati accused Russia of saying it was bombing rebel forces in Syria when it was in fact dropping munitions on open fields. He further claimed that over the past year, as Israel allegedly stepped up bombing a campaign on Iranian resources in Syria, the Russians "turned off radars," enabling the strikes.
According to the report, Esbati oversaw Iran’s military operations in Syria and worked closely with the country’s ministers, defense officials, and Russian generals. Moscow was also an ally of the Assad regime and provided military support, including significant air power, during the civil war.
Israel has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of aerial raids on Iranian targets in Syria but generally does not comment on specific attacks.
In light of the heavy Russian presence in Syria, Israel in September 2015 set up a mechanism with Moscow — involving work groups led by the deputy chiefs of both militaries — to avoid conflicts and potentially fatal misunderstandings.
Despite Assad’s ouster, Esbati said Tehran will still look for ways to enlist fighters in Syria regardless of who runs the country.
"We can activate all the networks we have worked with over the years," he was quoted as saying. "We can activate the social layers that our guys lived among for years; we can be active in social media and we can form resistance cells."
"Now we can operate there as we do in other international arenas, and we have already started."
The report noted that Iran faces public and political opposition in Syria, as well as Israeli warnings that it will act to destroy any Iranian military buildup.
Esbati’s speech at the Valiasr Mosque in central Tehran was titled "Answering Questions about Syria’s Collapse."
During a question and answer session, Esbati said that Iran was not planning to again attack Israel, as it did twice last year.
"The situation" at the moment means another attack is not realistic, the report cited Esbati as saying. Across the Middle East, multiple arenas are waiting to see what steps the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... will take after he takes office on January 20.
Esbati also explained why Iran did not directly attack US military bases in the area, saying that would only bring a larger retaliation from the US and its allies. Esbati noted that some Iranian missiles would not escape US air defense systems.
Nonetheless, he offered his listeners assurances that Iran was still the dominant force in the region, the report said.
An Iranian member of the powerful Revolutionary Guards who worked in the past as a strategist in Iraq, where Iran also wields control over powerful militias, told The Times that Tehran has held meetings on forming a Syria strategy. Though no policy has been decided, there is agreement that chaos would benefit Iran.
Fighting over the past 15 months also drew in Iran directly when it fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in April and October last year. Both attacks were largely thwarted by Israeli air defenses in cooperation with the US and its regional allies.
Following the second attack, Israel carried out widespread strikes on Iran for the first time, pounding its air defense systems and rocket manufacturing capabilities.
#1
With the introduction of the internet, many people have lost their beliefs in God, I wonder if that is happening in the mid-east also. The only reason for the Iranian terrorists is the need for money to feed and clothe the family’s of the terrorists. Cut off the bucks and they collapse! Why do you think COVID was being developed? If the CCP can find one piece of DNA in a particular race that ours doesn’t posses the we can eradicate that race.
Posted by: Old Salty ||
01/10/2025 12:46
Comments ||
Top||
#2
...being an advantage of a mongrel population that generally doesn't give a $hit about 'purity'. If its all mixed up, its harder to find something unique in the general population.
#4
I wonder if that is happening in the mid-east also.
Yes. Nobody is more cynical about religion than those living under a totalitarian Moslem government. Also among those who moved to the West. However, to say so aloud is to invite Death to walk alongside you, so people mostly don’t.
The #Israeli military says it intercepted three drones approaching from the east within an hour, including two believed to have been launched from #Yemen.https://t.co/WelwVdMC5b
[IsraelTimes] Sirens sound in southern community of Gvulot as first UAV intercepted, 2 more within hour shot down over sea; official tally finds Houthis has fired 40 missiles, 320+ drones in war
Israel’s air force intercepted three drones apparently launched at the country by Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s in quick succession on Thursday evening, the military said, marking the first attack in days by the Iran-backed terror group.
No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks, with only one of the three UAVs seemingly reaching Israeli territory. The launches came hours after the IDF released data tallying over 350 drones and ballistic missiles fired by the group at Israel since October 7, 2023.
The first drone set off sirens in the southern community of Gvulot, some 20 kilometers from the border with Egypt. The Israel Defense Forces said the sirens were activated there "according to protocol."
In a statement, the IDF said the drone was launched at Israel "from the east," and initial military assessments found the drone had been fired from Yemen.
Footage posted to social media from the incident appeared to show Israeli Air Force helicopters shooting down the drone. Residents of the area also reported seeing an interceptor missile launched.
Another image shared online showed that the remains of the intercepted drone crashed in an open field.
Footage shows the interception of an apparent Houthi drone over southern Israel this evening.
Minutes later, the military said a second drone launched at Israel from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF over the Mediterranean Sea.
No sirens sounded in the second incident as no towns were under any threat.
Less than an hour after that, the military said a third drone "from the east" — likely from Yemen — was intercepted by the IAF over the Mediterranean Sea, before reaching Israel.
The IDF later published footage showing one of the drones being knocked down.
There was no immediate Houthi claim for the attacks, though the Israeli military believed that the terror group was behind them. The launches appeared to be the first targeting Israel from Yemen since just after midnight on Sunday morning, following several weeks that have seen near-daily attacks by the rabidly anti-Israel Houthis.
In past attacks, drones launched by the Iran-backed group from Yemen have crossed into southern Israel via the Egypt border or made a long route — also via Egypt — to reach Israel from the west.
The strikes came hours after the IDF released new data on attacks on Israel from Yemen since the onset of the war, which began with Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... ’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught.
According to the military, the Houthis have launched some 40 ballistic missiles at Israel, the vast majority of which were intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
In one case, the military failed to shoot down a Houthi missile, and there were two incidents of partial interceptions, all of which resulted in damage and injuries in Israel.
According to the military, some of the Houthi ballistic missiles fell short before reaching Israel.
Additionally, the IDF said it has recorded over 320 drones launched at Israel from Yemen amid the war.
Over 100 of the drones were intercepted by the IAF using ground-based air defense systems, fighter jets, and helicopters. Several drones were also shot down by the Israeli Navy.
There have been two cases of what the IDF called "effective" drone impacts in Israel, with causalities and damage, while the others either struck open areas or did not reach the country, according to the military.
The Iran-backed Houthis have ramped up missile and drone attacks on Israel since early December, though Thursday’s incidents ended a rare lull that had lasted several days.
On Monday, the Houthis claimed to have launched four drones at Israel, targeting a "vital target" near Ashkelon, and targets near Tel Aviv. The IDF said it was unaware of any drones reaching Israel that day from Yemen, and there were no reports of impacts.
Israel and Western allies have carried out several sorties against Houthi targets in Yemen, but they have failed to stem the attacks.
The IAF last struck the Houthis out on December 26. Since then, the Iran-backed group has fired five ballistic missiles and at least four drones at Israel.
The Yemeni rebels have also been firing at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — destabilizing a vital shipping lane and prompting reprisal strikes by the United States and sometimes Britannia against Houthi targets.
[HotAir] For years now, opponents of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center have had a simple mantra: "Cop city will never be built."
And you have to give the activists credit for trying. Not only did they camp out in the forest and attempt to tie up the project in the courts, they also resorted to arson on a number of occasions, targeting both police and the construction companies that were working on the project. Here's a report from January 2023:
This group of anarchists didn't stop with legal protest. In fact, they openly vowed on many occasions, "If you build it we will burn it."
And yet, here we are in January 2025 and the Atlanta Public Training Center is nearly complete and is already being used.
Atlanta’s new public safety training center that’s been the subject of protests for years is finally built, and officials must now find a way to balance security with community building.
A first look at the 85-acre, now-$115 million complex in the South River Forest in unincorporated DeKalb County featured walking trails, dog kennels, classrooms, a six-story burn building and even a barn near the front entrance that will house 11 horses...
Crews are still putting on the finishing touches, but officials expect the center to be fully up and running in the first quarter of 2025.
Despite all the chanting, arson and threats, Cop City has been built. Police gave local media outlets a tour of the new facility just before Christmas.
So what happens next? Will the activists follow through on their promise to burn the place down? The police chief seemed prepared for an attempt.
"If you want to protest the training center, if you want to protest how police are trained, we’re going to give you an environment to do that in and we’re going to protect your right to do that," Schierbaum said. "If your intent, however, is to damage or burn, then we’re going to arrest you, and we do have an effective plan to make sure that does not happen here."
I hope he's right about having an effective plan because the left-wing holy warriors responsible for all those arson attacks mentioned above (and many more) are probably not going to stop now. They failed to stop it being built but they can still keep their other promise: "If you build it, we will burn it."
[TCN] America’s proxy war with Russia isn’t anything new. It’s been decades in the making. Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick explain what nuclear war would actually look like.
[CTH] Despite my reservations about Mike Waltz, this is the best approach.
During an interview with Breitbart News, incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says the entire National Security Council is going to be removed from position and new staff assigned to the NSC. Every member is expected by the Trump administration to willingly resign at 12:01pm on inauguration day.
This is very much needed because the NSC is a petri dish for political manipulation of intelligence and policy depending on the ideological alignment with the NSC member. We have talked about this issue at length. The various silos of the DC intelligence and policy institutions send and embed ideologues in the NSC to represent their interests. The only way to deal with it correctly is to remove all of them and vet their replacements.
BREITBART NEWS – […] The way the NSC works is the National Security Advisor oversees a team of political appointees from the president who oversee a wide range of what are called “detailees”—people who work at the various agencies and departments across the federal government who are assigned, or detailed, to work at the White House for a period of time on the NSC in a portfolio in which they demonstrate expertise.
These career intelligence officials come from places as wide-ranging as the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the Pentagon, and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and report up to the political appointees atop each major portfolio in the NSC.
The NSC has various issue-specific portfolios like counterterrorism and cyber policy as well as regional portfolios focused on things like the western hemisphere or the Middle East or Europe or Asia. The detailees then help coordinate back to the various agencies and departments so the whole federal government executes on the decisions that the president makes.
… “[T]he folks that we’re bringing in are 100 percent aligned with the president’s agenda. Hell, the entire world seems to be aligned with his agenda if you just look at the outreach from world leaders and everybody who wants to come to Mar-a-Lago. So, there’s a little bit of a difference in that everybody was reflexively just against him [the first time] just for the sake of it and the Trump Derangement Syndrome was out of control in 2017.
Now, after seeing and feeling four years of progressive governance under Biden and seeing the world come unglued, we’re not even seeing the levels of resistance to his agenda—that’s just a broader point. But also, the folks we’re bringing in, the key members of my team, have relationships out in these agencies and we know who is completely on board.”
Waltz was one of Trump’s first personnel announcements right after he won the presidential election, and since the National Security Advisor position does not require confirmation in the U.S. Senate, he has been one of the most vocal and public figures among the incoming Trump administration since then.
Other folks who are slated for Cabinet positions need confirmation by the Senate before they start regularly engaging publicly with the media, so Waltz and a few others have filled the void in the meantime. But most importantly, Waltz is fighting to get the right team in place at the NSC so Trump is ready to roll on day one, and added there has been “zero issue” in so doing. (read more)
[ZeroHedge] The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general this week confirmed it is auditing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) over concerns that its employees avoided homes that displayed signs supporting then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in the aftermath of several hurricanes.
In a letter dated Jan. 6, the office told Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) that an audit of the disaster relief agency was initiated on Dec. 17, 2024, to “determine how well FEMA followed its policies and procedures when addressing safety concerns and determining community trends that impact disaster survivor assistance in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.”
Two months ago, a now-terminated FEMA employee, Marn’i Washington, allegedly told a FEMA team in Florida to bypass homes that display Trump signs. After reports surfaced that FEMA workers were told to avoid those homes, FEMA Director Deanne Criswell announced that the employee, Washington, was fired.
“I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct,” Criswell said in a statement at the time.
But Washington later said in several media interviews that the policy was systemic and that she was being scapegoated. FEMA officials “were already avoiding these homes, based on community trends, from hostile political encounters,” she told Fox News at the time, adding that the policy had “nothing to do with the campaign sign, it just so happened to be a part of the community trend.”
“Firstly, I’m being framed,” she told NewsNation in mid-November 2024.
“There’s no violation of the Hatch Act. I was simply following orders.”
On Dec. 3, 2024, Graves and Perry, two lawmakers who sit on the House Transportation Committee, called for an investigation into the claims made by Washington and other reports “of the deliberate avoidance of homes with Trump campaign or political signs” during FEMA’s response to the two hurricanes.
“The actions taken by FEMA supervisors in directing employees to avoid homes that displayed Trump campaign signs or flags are disturbing and raise serious questions about the culture and political bias that permeates FEMA leadership,” they wrote, adding that the committee is also concerned about whether the practice was “more widespread than reported” and could have harmed hurricane victims.
In November 2024, Criswell testified before a House subcommittee and said that not providing aid to people due to political beliefs is “completely at odds with FEMA’s mission,” stressing that the incident wasn’t part of a broader FEMA trend.
FEMA had faced criticism late last year after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Criswell suggested the relief agency would run out of funding needed to last the remainder of the 2024 hurricane season.
The announcement from Mayorkas did not sit well with certain Republicans. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and others highlighted two FEMA announcements last year allocating more than $1 billion to offset the costs of illegal immigrants who were flooding U.S. cities, which GOP officials said should instead have been provided to communities reeling from the hurricanes.
[LegalInsurrection] Failed VP candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) announced his endorsement for anti-gun David Hogg for Democratic National Committee vice president.
“David Hogg represents exactly the kind of bold, dynamic, and courageous leadership our party needs right now,” Walz wrote on X. “He has a unique ability to connect with the American people and to speak to the strengths of our party.”
Hogg told ABC News three weeks ago he intended to run:
“I think this role is a great way of, for one, bringing newer voices into the Democratic Party,” Hogg told ABC News. “I just want to be one of several of those voices to help represent young people and also, more than anything, make sure that we’re standing up to the consulting class that increasingly the Democratic Party is representing instead of the working class.”
The DNC offers four opportunities to serve in a vice chair capacity — three general vice chairperson roles and one vice chairperson for civic engagement and voter participation.At 24, Hogg is considerably younger than the declared candidates for DNC chair, notable after Vice President Kamala Harris’ pitched herself as a “new generation of leadership” during her presidential bid.
Hogg used the shooting to gain a national platform to fight against guns.
The left propped up Hogg, splashing him all over the place.
Remember when Harvard accepted Hogg? Yeah, he had a decent SAT score but nowhere near to others accepted into the school.
Hogg even tried to launch a pillow war against MyPillow’s Mike Lindell. He quickly abandoned it once it came to light that, well, it’s not that easy to just DO SOMETHING.
The left tried to cancel Fox News host Laura Ingraham because she said he whined after many California colleges rejected him.
Well, as Kemberlee pointed out, Hogg spent months (and still does!) using derogatory terms to describe us who enjoy guns and support the 2nd Amendment.
#1
“David Hogg represents exactly the kind of bold, dynamic, and courageous leadership our party needs right now,” Walz wrote on X. “He has a unique ability to connect with the American people and to speak to the strengths of our party.”
Totally agree. Proceed.
I just want to be one of several of those voices to help represent young people
#1
If this doesn't make you blood boil, you aren't paying attention. LA Department of Water and Power, which can't keep the hydrants filled or manage the water supply, had mid-level supervisors making $800,000 a year! Rampant corruption
“A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of use when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby.
Officials told The Times that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117 million gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades.
The revelation comes among growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while battling the blaze. Numerous fire hydrants in higher-elevation streets of the Palisades went dry, leaving firefighters struggling with low water pressure as they combated the flames.
” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/as-flames-raged-in-palisades-a-key-reservoir-nearby-was-offline
#4
#1 That's Calif for you. Most of those positions would be classified as exempt under the Fair Labor and Standards Act, which means no overtime just salaried. It's all grift looting the tax base.
#6
The Greensburg Tornado, and Starbuck's Fire (2017 look it up) property owners had to foot the bill to clean up and brin their property up to code before they were eligible for FEMA money.
That is, if FEMA has any money after being milked for Illegals.
#1
Using them in place of the "penal battalions" of the Stalin era.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/10/2025 15:37
Comments ||
Top||
#2
I hope the Europeans that are today enjoying the safety of shopping and cafe life while withholding weapons to the Ukraine understand that these russian barbarian savages are coming. pic.twitter.com/BDMO5kY1Xl
(Looks in that direction and sees the ground covered in mines)
"Comrade Sergeant, if I make it to the other side, can I have some more borscht MREs and watch MinskMaidens for a few minutes?"
#5
Didn't Iran do the same thing in the Iran-Iraq war? IIRC they sent teenagers marching through a mine field to find the mines. Eventually they directed the kids to wrap themselves in blankets so that when they were blown up, the body parts weren't strewn all over the battlefield.
[NYPost] Dramatic video footage captured the moment a 69-year-old homeless man stabbed the thugs who mercilessly terrorized him on a Queens subway train, killing one and wounding another.
In a twist of transit justice, it’s the surviving goons who are now behind bars, prosecutors said.
“The victim was accosted, without provocation, and our investigation has shown that he defended himself while attempting to retrieve his property,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement Wednesday.
“As a result, my office will not be filing charges for the fatality.”
Gripping footage of the violent encounter on a 7 train on Dec. 22 shows the victim sleeping on the train shortly before 12:30 a.m. when two of the brutes — identified by prosecutors as Stalin Moya and Oswaldo Walter — grab one of the man’s bags and take it into a second car.
Moya then goes back and grabs more of the victim’s bags — waking him up in the process.
That’s when things got violent.
The unidentified victim followed Moya into the second car to try to get his things back, only to be attacked and pounded by several men in the group as they scattered and hid his bags.
The footage shows the victim then being shoved and slugged repeatedly by the group — until he has enough and pulls out a long knife and slashes his attackers, wounding at least two.
The cowardly thugs then scatter — one is seen stumbling away, bleeding from his wounds — as the victim stands in the middle of the empty subway car, still clutching the knife.
Pena, 26, Walter, 29, and two others — Jose Valencia, 35, and Henry Toapanta, 32 — have been indicted by a grand jury on robbery and assault charges in the incident.
The DA’s office said all of the suspects are also homeless.
“Our subways must be safe for the millions of people who depend on public transportation,” Katz said in her statement. “The New York City subway system has been outfitted with cameras and the video recovered in this case is vital to our prosecution.”
The incident comes amid a recent jump in subway violence and has similarities to earlier instances when straphangers fought back against transit thugs.
#5
“Our subways must be safe for the millions of people who depend on public transportation,” Katz said in her statement.
"Your stereotypical cats,
Often wearing their sweet little hats,
Aren't easily herded,
But...
Cheese it!" he blurted.
"A pack of Melindas!"
"Oooh, rats!"
[bangety bang bang... "Pimpollo..." bang]
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Donald Trump was officially sentenced in the New York hush money case involving porn star Stormy Daniels, putting him on track to become the first convicted felon to be sworn in as President of the United States.
The President-elect, 78, appeared virtually for his hearing on Friday in Manhattan Criminal Court where Judge Juan Merchan sentenced him to an unconditional discharge.
The 'no-penalty' sentence, which finalizes his criminal conviction of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records from his trial in May, means the incoming president will avoid jail time, hefty fines, and probation.
Although a slap on the wrist, it will go on his permanent record and make him the first American president to take the White House as a convicted felon when he is sworn in on January 20.
It was a show trial, and everyone knows it. Congrats, guys, you’re going to be in law courses and PoliSci text books for the next couple of centuries as an example of what not to do.
Speaking to the court via Zoom before learning his fate, Trump described the proceedings as a 'very terrible experience' and claimed it was a case Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg never wanted to bring.
'This has been a political witch hunt, it was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election,' he said, sitting alongside his attorney Todd Blanche.
'The people of our country got to see this first hand and voted, I won and got the largest number of votes of any Republican candidate in history.'
Trump also attacked his former fixer and a key witness in the case Michael Cohen, calling him a 'totally discredited person.'
He added: 'I'm innocent, I did nothing wrong. The business records were extremely accurate, it was done by an accountant who gave very credible testimony.
'With all that's happening in our country today, with the city burning to the ground... with all of the problems going on... I got indicted over calling a legal expense a legal expense.
'I think it's an embarrassment to New York,' he continued.
Explaining his decision, Judge Merchan called it 'the only lawful sentence' the court could impose 'without encroaching on the highest office of the land'.
'The legal protections afforded to the office of the President have been laid out by our founders, the conditions, and the United States Supreme Court,' he added.
'The considerable indeed extraordinary legal protections afforded by the chief executive is a fact that overrides all others'.
The judge, however, noted that the protections of the Presidency 'are not a mitigating factor' for the crime.
'They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justifies its commission in any way. One power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict.
#1
WTF? Does SCOTUS have its head up its ass. Wasn't it just back in July that they came up with their POTUS immunity ruling. A lot of inconsistencies in the court.
Judge Juan Merchan is conflicted. Kangaroo court w/show trial with Soros backed Prosecutor.
#5
NOW the appeals for trial errors and hackery can go forward
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2025 11:09
Comments ||
Top||
#6
#2 -- A point to consider is that judges have to pay federal taxes like anyone else. Which means they have to file tax returns. Which can be audited. Not that Trump would order such a thing at 12:01 on January 20th.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/10/2025 11:38
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Trump and his opponents both seem to missing a point in this.
Now that Trump has been sentenced to no time in jail he may not be re-sentenced in 2029 (and the original conviction may be appealed). If the sentencing had been postponed to 2029, he could have faced jail time and Trump could not have appealed). So, to my way of thinking, the Trump lawyers should not have asked for a postponement and the anti Trump lawyers should have.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/10/2025 12:21
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Trump faked 'em out.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/10/2025 12:40
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Plus now he can appeal the ruling and the appeals court has already hinted they will overturn this garbage.
#10
So, to my way of thinking, the Trump lawyers should not have asked for a postponement and the anti Trump lawyers should have.
If I understand this correctly, Trump got a better outcome despite not getting what he "wanted". I don't buy into all the 4D chess stuff, but given that The Other Side will automatically oppose whatever Trump does, you have got to wonder if this was a plan.
From what I have read, the decision by Roberts & Co hinged on the fact that the judge said he was going with unconditional discharge. My only surprise is that the judge did not pull a fast one and give him time.
#11
^
If Merchan would have given him jail time it would have been stayed by a higher court within an hour, then Merchan would have been cited for misbehavior.
But, yes, now that the sentence has been pronounced, Trump's team can proceed with appeals. And yes, if the sentencing would have been postponed (as Trump's lawyers wanted), the sentencing could not have been appealed. Furthermore, if the sentencing was postponed, a future court could consider all kinds pronouncement by Trump during the Trump presidency as detrimental and given him a jail sentence.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/10/2025 14:03
Comments ||
Top||
[FoxNews] Programs are geared toward specific demographic groups, such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC
The Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded over $100 million in grants to promote restorative justice and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures over the course of the Biden administration, according to a conservative watchdog.
Parents Defending Education (PDE) released the report on Thursday, which found that from 2021 to 2024, millions of dollars were spent on federal funding in 36 states and 946 K-12 school districts, serving over three million students to promote restorative justice practices, social emotional learning and DEI in the classroom with many projects aimed at improving school climates for specific demographic groups, such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color).
The DOJ's STOP School Violence Program provides grant money to nonprofits, school districts, and city and state governments in an effort "to increase school safety by implementing solutions that will improve school climate." But, PDE argues that the DOJ actually aims to replace exclusionary discipline with restorative practices and social emotional learning (SEL).
Social emotional learning is advertised as a way to teach students social skills in support of their mental health and emotional well-being, but it has been criticized as a way to implement controversial topics like Critical Race Theory and Gender Theory. As a result, it has become a point of contention among parents, teachers and politicians who advocate for a strong academic emphasis at school and against classroom discussions that they feel should be left up to parents' discretion at home.
PDE describes exclusionary discipline as a process that removes the disruptor from the classroom, allowing the rest of the class to continue learning. Restorative practices, in contrast, often disrupt class time for more students, as both the offender(s) and victim(s) in a conflict are brought together to discuss what happened and "repair harm," PDE states.
The report breaks down the grants into four categories: general, DEI, consulting/certification and hiring. For example, consultants hired by the DOJ aimed to "educate students or staff on [a] changing school climate" and promote concepts like critical race theory, critical gender theory and queer theory, according to PDE's analysis. Over $10 million was allocated to hiring new administrators for DEI roles like "restorative justice facilitators."
Outside organizations brought in to train students and staff on the proposed subject include CASEL, the International Institute for Restorative Practices, Second Step, and Courageous Conversations About Race.
"Words matter, and this report highlights how the Biden administration chose to deliberately hijack a school safety program to fund their pet programs," Nicole Neily, president and founder of PDE, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"It’s hard to imagine that ‘school climate’ would ever be improved by the creation of racially-segregated programming or hiring teachers on the basis of skin color - if anything, these programs only lead to more animosity and tension between students."
Notable examples of grants rewarded include $2 million from the DOJ to "create safe learning environments where practices of anti-racism and anti-oppression are embedded" at the Minnesota Department of Education, $1,853,070 awarded to Bowling Green State University to develop student mental health curriculum in rural and high-poverty districts, which includes activities like "mindfulness meditation, yoga, and knitting circles," $1,785,773 for Penn State University to decrease cyberbullying in Central Pennsylvania K-12 schools, providing an opportunity "to meaningfully advance equity in violence prevention for communities historically underserved, marginalized, adversely affected by inequality, and disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization (People of Color (POC), women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ community)."
Neily told Fox News Digital in her statement that the grant program is intended to "recognize, respond quickly to, and prevent acts of violence." This, she said, is why it’s "so infuriating that projects like knitting circles were given the green light."
Other examples include a collaborative program between Temple University and the School District of Philadelphia, allocating $1,688,668 in an attempt to prevent violence by teaching at-risk youth about "community policing, trauma informed conflict emphasizing racial/historical and intergenerational trauma, impacts of social media on conflict and conflict escalation and management, anti-bias education, restorative practices."
A million dollars was granted to Reach Out West End in Upland, California to fund a project to improve school safety in Jurupa Valley Unified School District with content "on LGBTQIA+ issues aligned with SB 857, mental/behavioral health, substance use prevention and/or conflict mediation." Another $1,000,000 was given to Ocean County in New Jersey to "reduce the acceptability of teasing, oppression, and all forms of violence."
Nearly $1 million was awarded to Milwaukee Public School’s board of directors to "promote racial equity" through activities like "racial equity seminars" and student-led focus groups "to dismantle institutionalized barriers and promote inclusive school climates," the DOJ announcement of the grant reads.
[Ynet] Defense Minister Israel Katz has directed the military to submit a plan for the "complete defeat of Hamas in Gaza," emphasizing that the plan will proceed if the terrorist group does not release the hostages by the time U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
In a statement from Katz’s office, the defense minister underscored during a high-level security meeting that the release of hostages remains the top priority for Israel’s security establishment. The meeting included IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Defense Ministry Director-General Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir and senior military commanders.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be drawn into a prolonged war of attrition while the hostages remain in Hamas tunnels, their lives at risk and enduring severe suffering," Katz said. He also instructed the military to outline potential obstacles to implementing the plan, including humanitarian concerns, leaving key decisions to the political echelon.
Katz dismissed discussions of political solutions for Gaza, saying that no Arab or international actor would assume responsibility for Gaza’s civilian management without the total collapse of Hamas. "Our commanders and soldiers are conducting a heroic fight, but we must adapt our strategy to deliver a decisive military victory and conclude the war in Gaza," he added.
And that's why narrow-focus like Galant had to go.
The proposed "total defeat of Hamas" would focus on dismantling the group’s remaining military units, concentrated in areas such as Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where most hostages are believed to be held. However, the IDF has refrained from large-scale operations in these areas, fearing harm to the hostages—a decision made with the approval of Israel’s political leadership.
Katz warned against a prolonged war that could exact a heavy toll without achieving a strategic victory. "We must not settle for a war of attrition that costs us dearly while failing to deliver the fruits of victory and the decisive defeat of Hamas," he said.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
01/10/2025
08:36 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11137 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[Mises Wire] The passing of former President Jimmy Carter has brought out the accolades for his post-presidential years, but not as much for his actual performance as president. As the New York Times editorialized:
There’s no predicting history’s verdict. Up to now, Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at age 100 in Plains, Ga., has been judged to be a middle-of-the-pack president, his one term in office remembered for circumstances and events that simply overwhelmed him: the seizure in Iran of 52 American hostages, the bungled attempt to rescue them, the gasoline lines, inflation, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Yet he is also considered one of America’s greatest ex-presidents, for using the residual star power of his office to help his successors and his country as a peacemaker, backstage diplomat, human rights champion, monitor of free elections and advocate for the homeless while finding time to write poetry and, by his own example, providing the best possible case for traditional religious values.
Yes, the NYT later mentioned briefly that Carter began the process to deregulate gasoline and oil prices, but for the most part, the accolades from the progressive side of American politics have concentrated on his activities after he left Washington. Others praise his progressive measures and support for solar energy, but fail to understand how important his economic legacy really was.
I alluded to that fact in a Mises Wire piece I wrote 24 years ago praising the Carter presidency for its deregulation efforts, but even then I did not fully understand the impacts of his deregulation efforts. Furthermore, I overestimated the commitment of Republicans to deregulation, especially given their enthusiasm for tariffs and the Jones Act, which is one of the worst laws on the books, economically speaking.
#1
I'm sure the survivors people of Venezuela appreciate his validation of the election of communist take over of their country, in order to avoid violence.
Excerpt:
"Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (in black), visiting the Camp Cemetery in 1972, when he was still governor of the U.S. state of Georgia, one of the remaining states of the Confederacy (Fraternity of American Descent)"
[Bee] President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama were just separated from their seats together at the Carter funeral for goofing off, snickering, and generally disruptive behavior.
According to Jill Biden, the pair had been asked to stop talking together, as it was disturbing the somber atmosphere of the funeral. When the two presidents ignored her, she was forced to take matters into her own hands and sit the pair at opposite ends of a pew.
"Believe me, we weren't disrupting anything at all," Trump reportedly complained, as Obama obediently went to take his seat at the other end of the pew. "I'm the quietest person at this funeral. So quiet — you'd never even know I'm here, because I'm grieving so much. Mucho quiet. Now, if you want to talk about disruption, Jill, how about the smells that have been drifting up from your husband's seat? Why don't you make him go sit somewhere else? Sad! Unfair!"
The separation seems to have worked, as Jill Biden only had to turn around once or twice to give Trump a firm, hard stare as he whispered a conversation with Melania.
At publishing time, Obama and Trump had been reprimanded again after Jill caught Obama flinging a spitball at Hillary and Trump flicking Kamala's ear.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2025
03:45 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11140 views]
Top|| File under:
[ZeroHedge] Texas lawmakers pre-filed around two dozen border and immigration bills ahead of the state’s 2025 legislative session aiming at securing its border with Mexico without relying on the federal government’s progress in tackling illegal immigration.
Good for them. I had no idea such a thing was possible.
With some 11 million non-citizens entering the United States under the Biden administration, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican-led legislature began crafting laws to address what they considered an invasion of the country caused by lax border policies.
While President-elect Donald Trump has vowed a mass deportation operation and praised the state’s efforts to stop illegal immigration through Operation Lone Star (OLS), it appears the GOP-led legislature isn’t taking any chances that future presidents will protect the Texas-Mexico border.
Abbott initiated OLS to counter a rise in illegal immigration, the illegal drug trade, and human smuggling that rose sharply in 2021.
The operation pays for Texas troopers and National Guard members at the border as well as the prosecution and jailing of illegal immigrants, primarily for trespassing and evading arrest.
With the state’s 89th legislative session convening on Jan. 14, notable Texas border bills include renewed attempts to create a Texas Division of Homeland Security, a Texas Border Protection Unit, and bills aiding the incoming president’s efforts to secure the border.
Other bills focus on restricting public assistance for illegal immigrants, while HB 219 and HB 89 would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in Texas.
TEXAS SOVEREIGNTY
The Texas Border Protection Unit Act, HB 354, is similar to HB 20, which was introduced in the 2023 legislative session and died on a point of order. Filed by Republican Rep. Brisco Cain, the bill would give law enforcement officers the authority to arrest those crossing the Texas-Mexico border illegally, just like federal border patrol agents.
Law enforcement in the unit would also have the authority to “deter persons attempting to cross the border unlawfully” with non-lethal crowd control measures.
The bill states the “security of Texans and the sovereignty of this state” have been threatened by transnational cartels, which are trafficking fentanyl and illegal immigrants.
The unit would also manage the construction and maintenance of the state’s border wall and physical barriers, such as buoys in the Rio Grande and razor wire.
“Voters have given us a clear mandate: secure the border and support Trump in achieving these priorities,” Cain told The Epoch Times via a text message.
Cain said even with Trump’s commitment to securing the border, Texas has a constitutional duty to protect its citizens.
“Federal measures can often fall short or fail to address the unique challenges we face as a border state,” he stated.
HB 354 would ensure that the “safety and sovereignty of Texans” aren’t left to the mercy of future administrations, he said.
State Republican Sen. Bob Hall filed Senate Bill (SB) 135 in a second attempt to establish the Texas Division of Homeland Security. It is similar to HB 127, which failed to progress and died in the 2023 legislative session.
The division would coordinate border security and related crimes within the state and with federal law enforcement.
Hall also filed SB 81, which would give Texas DPS officers the authority to arrest and deport people to Mexico who enter Texas illegally.
It would give law enforcement the power to arrest and prosecute criminals attempting to traffic drugs and illegal immigrants.
ICE AGREEMENTS
Republicans are also introducing legislation that would require sheriffs to cooperate with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
SB 658 and SB 134 would mandate that sheriffs request and, if offered, enter into written agreements with ICE to help protect the border.
These partnerships are known as 287(g) agreements and would help supply extra manpower and logistical support to crackdown on illegal immigration, and aid mass deportation under Trump.
SB 658 would require sheriffs in counties with a population of 250,000 or more to request and possibly enter into written agreements with ICE to “enforce federal immigration law.”
The measure would also set up a grant fund to reimburse sheriffs for additional costs associated with cooperating with ICE.
SB 134 is broader in scope, requiring all county sheriffs to apply for an agreement with ICE or face a loss in state grant money.
Similarly, HB 1491 would require county commissioners to apply and enter into agreements with ICE if offered to enforce federal immigration laws.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
Two other house bills deal with protecting children crossing from Mexico into Texas unlawfully.
Under the proposed HB 256, the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) would conduct rapid DNA tests on those entering the United States illegally who are detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are suspected of misrepresenting a family relationship.
Likewise, HB 1072 would require OLS officers to fingerprint and interview children unlawfully crossing the border if there is reason to believe they are being trafficked or in danger.
Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan recently pledged to help locate children who have lost touch with federal authorities after crossing into the United States during the Biden administration. Estimates put the number of such children at more than 300,000, according to an August 2024 report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.
LEGAL CHALLENGE
After hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants arrived at the U.S. southern border, Abbott in 2024 invoked the invasion clause of the United States and Texas constitutions to justify the state’s ongoing border operations.
The idea of state sovereignty was also behind Texas’s SB 4, which became law in March of 2024 and has remained in limbo pending an appeals court ruling.
Under SB 4, illegal immigrants who enter Texas outside legal ports of entry could be arrested on Class B misdemeanor charges and sentenced to up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders could face second-degree felony charges and sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Judges are granted leeway under SB 4 to drop the charges if the illegal immigrants agree to return to Mexico.
U.S. Department of Justice and civil rights groups sued to stop SB 4, saying immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government, not the states.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Arizona v. United States that federal law preempted state law when it comes to immigration.
Texas is betting the decision could be reversed under a more conservative high court.
The U.S. Supreme Court briefly allowed SB 4 to go into effect in 2024 before sending it back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which once again placed it on hold pending a ruling on the case.
[ZeroHedge] A graphic court transcript of a rape victim from a notorious Pakistani-heritage grooming gang operating in the north of England caught the eye of U.S. readers on social media platform X recently.
Billionaire Elon Musk quickly jumped onto the subject, attacking Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, and rekindling a long-smoldering debate in the United Kingdom on what is often called the “Grooming Gangs” scandal.
But what exactly is the scandal? Why did it take so long for the systematic exploitation and rape of thousands of girls to be exposed?
Why are Musk and others taking aim at the current prime minister, given the scandal emerged more than a decade ago? And what have investigations revealed?
For decades, children, specifically poor white girls in various towns in northern England, were targeted and groomed by Pakistani-heritage men, while—as later investigations, court cases, and reporters revealed—local officials turned a blind eye to the abuse due to fears of being labeled racist or destabilizing community relations.
But it took decades to come to light.
Not really. It was repeatedly exposed over the decades, only for the government at all levels to firmly brush it back under the rug.
In the 1990s, rumors began to emerge that men of Pakistani descent living in northern England towns were involved in raping children.
For example, the parents involved in the Coalition for the Removal of Pimping (CROP), later renamed Parents Against Child Exploitation (PACE), participated in a 2004 documentary that claimed white schoolgirls were being groomed for sex by Asian men in Bradford.
The result was “Edge of the City,” which was due to be screened on Channel 4.
However, it was pulled hours before airing, after claims the British National Party wanted to exploit the situation and the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police saying it might trigger race riots.
Groups such as The National Assembly Against Racism also lobbied against the documentary.
Member of Parliament Ann Cryer, representing Keighley, publicly raised concerns about the abuse of two girls in her constituency in 2002.
In doing so, she became the first public figure in Britain to speak out about allegations of “young Asian lads” grooming underage white girls in West Yorkshire.
She was shunned by her party, which ran the country from 1997 to 2010, and she said no one wanted to know, despite holding “constant” meetings with West Yorkshire Police and social services.
In 2014, Cryer said in The Guardian that she believed other politicians had heard similar stories but chose to ignore them.
Cryer added that she asked a Muslim councillor of Pakistani heritage to approach mosque elders with a list of 35 alleged perpetrators.
The imams reportedly dismissed the matter, saying: “It’s nothing to do with us.”
In 2007, the women and children’s rights campaigner and journalist Julie Bindel was one of the first to report in The Times of London that many northern towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire were experiencing a significant rise in “pimping” within the Asian community.
“It was a very uncomfortable scenario, not least because many of these crimes had an identifiable racial element: the gangs were Asian and the girls were white,” Bindel wrote.
“The authorities, in the shape of politicians and the police, seemed reluctant to acknowledge this aspect of the crimes; it has been left to the mothers of the victims to speak out.”
ANDREW NORFOLK 2012: THE TIMES INVESTIGATES
Although there were prosecutions the patterns didn’t come to light until a journalist joined the dots further.
Andrew Norfolk, a The Times of London journalist, was instrumental in breaking the Rotherham grooming scandal.
At least 1,400 children, girls as young as 11, had been raped by multiple attackers and sexually exploited in the South Yorkshire market town.
Norfolk’s series of investigations on grooming gangs resulted in many articles from 2011 onwards.
One investigation revealed a confidential 2010 police report that warned thousands of such crimes were being committed in South Yorkshire each year by networks of Pakistani-heritage men.
Offenders were identified to police but not prosecuted.
One of the alleged crimes—for which no one was prosecuted—included a 13-year-old girl who was found at 3 a.m. with disrupted clothing in a house with a large group of Asian men who had fed her vodka.
Despite a neighbor reporting the girl’s screams to police, authorities arrested the child for being drunk and disorderly and did not question the men.
Norfolk’s reporting won him prestigious journalistic accolades, including such as the Paul Foot Award in 2012, the Orwell Prize in 2013, and the Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in 2014.
Speaking to the BBC in 2024, Norfolk said that even he “massively underestimated” the scale of the abuse.
“They were treated like sub-human species for the pleasure of these men,” he said.
Norfolk said he came up against a “conspiracy of silence” when he tried to elicit responses from police forces and councils.
A 2012 Office of Children’s Commissioner study under a Conservative government was the first to set out the scale of the sexual exploitation of children and young people in Britain.
It identified 16,500 children who were at “high risk of sexual exploitation” between 2010 and 2011.
However, Norfolk criticized the report on the BBC at the time as a “missed opportunity,” saying it generalized the issue to all men and failed to address the racial and cultural factors central to the crimes.
“In a country which has a 7 percent Asian population, 35 percent of the identified abusers were Asian. And if you break that down further, less than 2 percent of the population of this country is Pakistani, and overwhelmingly, the men doing this are of Pakistani origin,” he said.
“And there was a chance to venture into sensitive areas here to try to begin the process of understanding why this crime model has put down such deep roots, and it’s been missed, and that’s a great shame,” he said.
There have been reports of grooming gangs in towns and cities, including Rochdale, Telford, Oxford, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Bradford, Keighley, and more.
GB News said that it identified 50 towns and cities where child exploitation gangs have operated or are operating.
The gangs often operate through takeaway restaurants and taxi drivers, using these locations to groom and abuse children, according to a government report.
REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS
Numerous reports and investigations have been conducted into the grooming gangs scandal, including those in Rochdale, Oxford, and Huddersfield, among others.
Professor Alexis Jay released a 2013 report that was commissioned by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council into the scale of abuse of 1,400 children, in Rotherham, from 1997 to 2013.
“In just over a third of cases, children affected by sexual exploitation were previously known to services because of child protection and neglect,” Jay said in the report.
“It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered,” she said, adding that children had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness violent rapes, and threatened they would be next if they told anyone.
Jay said agencies relied too heavily on traditional community leaders such as elected members and imams as the “primary conduit of communication with the Pakistani-heritage community.”
In 2022, she chaired a national inquiry into various forms of child sexual abuse, which did not extensively address the racial elements of grooming gangs.
Some of her recommendations included setting up a national child protection authority and making not reporting abuse a criminal offense.
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND FEAR OF RACIST LABEL
Several investigations said that political correctness influenced authorities’ inaction and failure to make decisive interventions.
Commenting on Jay’s Rotherham report, former Conservative leader Theresa May said there was “inadequate scrutiny by councillors, institutionalised political correctness, the covering up of information, and the failure to take action against gross misconduct.”
A government review covering 2004 to 2013 found that Greater Manchester Police and children’s social care failed to protect vulnerable children in Rochdale and said that they were “left at the mercy of their abusers.”
One senior investigating officer told the review investigators that at one point the issue was so widespread that they wanted “any Pakistani-looking taxi driver” carrying a female child passenger to be “stopped by division from tomorrow until further notice.”
“If the driver can’t account for the fare ... snatch them, arrest the driver, impound the car, let’s go into it big style and disrupt it,” the officer said. However, the officer said that none of these drivers were ever stopped.
The officer explained that there are “huge Pakistani, Indian communities up there, and a large proportion of the taxi drivers are from that background.”
“I can only guess that [Greater Manchester Police] patrols were frightened of being tarnished with a race brush for doing it,” the officer said.
The Telford Inquiry found that more than 1,000 children who had been groomed with child sexual exploitation were ignored because of “nervousness about race.”
In one case, the Inquiry heard about a school where attempts to raise concerns about the involvement of a Pakistani heritage grooming gang led to overt allegations of racism on the part of school staff from council personnel.
“It is difficult to conceive of a more wrong-headed response or one more designed to discourage complaint,” the report found.
In 2023, former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set up a Grooming Gangs Task Force comprised of specialist officers.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
01/10/2025
02:50 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11182 views]
Top|| File under: Human Trafficking
#1
I have daughters. If 1400 of them were found to brutalized, raped and tortured within a limited geographic area, the landfill would be the new place to hail a cab.
#2
They speak like this is in the past. It's not, and all those rapists are still on the streets. Now, let's take a look at the nastiness up in Scotland.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/10/2025 8:24
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Considering the espionage against the US and the brutalization of its citizens, perhaps a reevaluation of their government is in order.
#5
Where are the soccer hooligans when you need them?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/10/2025 12:43
Comments ||
Top||
#6
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
-- Eph.6
#7
250,000+ girls raped (and counting) over the decades. I can't wrap my brain around that. Yet the authorities wash their hands and consider those children as slags, effectively unpersons.
Posted by: Difar Dave ||
01/10/2025 13:40
Comments ||
Top||
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The US-British aggression on Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... launched raids at dawn Thursday, targeting the Sana'a, Hodeidah and Amran governorates, Yemeni media sources reported.
In the details, the sources said that US-UK aggression launched two raids on the Jarban area, in the Sanhan district, south of Sanaa province, and re-targeted the Harf Sufyan district in the Amran governorate, north of Yemen, with three raids.
Also, a raid targeted al-Luhayyah district, northwest of the coastal Hodeidah Governorate in western Yemen.
On Wednesday, the US-UK aggression launched raids, targeting Sana'a and Harf Sufyan District in Amran Governorate, northern Yemen
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2025
02:10 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11146 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
#1 Why the... are we starting a new war?
No more... foreign wars. EVER!!
So said armchair critics to Thomas Jefferson when he sent armed ships into the Med.
#2
You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
We would all rather stay home and watch tv or read a book, but sometimes you have to walk down the street and help the neighbors put out a fire or repel the barbarians.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The al-Qassam Brigades grabbed credit for the al-Funduq shooting operation near Qalqilya, which resulted in the killing of three Israeli settlers and the wounding of several others on Monday.
The military wing of the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... movement said late Wednesday that the operation was carried out in coordination with the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... (PIJ) movement, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
Al-Qassam stressed that joint operations will serve as the most powerful message of unity and cohesion among the various Resistance® factions against anyone attempting to undermine the Resistance®.
The Brigades announced that one of its commanders, martyr Jaafar Ahmad Dababsah, was the criminal mastermind behind the operation, through which the Resistance® delivered a message of field unity.
Following the operation on Monday, Hamas said in a statement that the shooting attack ''confirms that the Resistance® in the West Bank will continue despite the occupation's terrorism and security measures.''
The Paleostinian group called the attack a ''heroic response to the ongoing crimes and war of extermination committed by the [Israeli] occupation against our people.''
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2025
02:08 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11160 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Lebanese Parliament elected on Thursday the army commander, Joseph Aoun, as president of the country, to be the 14th president of the Lebanese Republic.
This comes after more than two years of a presidential vacancy, following the end of the term of former president Michel Aoun ...former president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... Thus, Joseph Aoun is the fourth commander of the army who holds this position, as Emile Lahoud, Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... , and Michel Aoun preceded him.
Joseph Aoun served as Commander of the Lebanese Army. He held this mission since March 8, 2017, succeeding General Jean Kahwaji. The beginning of his military career in the army dates back to 1983.
Aoun was promoted until he attained the rank of brigadier general in 2013. He continued to hold military ranks, reaching the rank of general in 2017, with his appointment as army commander, occupying this position during one of the most sensitive periods in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... During this period, Lebanon witnessed major security and political challenges, most notably the ''Dawn of the Outskirts'' battle in 2017, which the army fought with the resistance against terrorist organizations in the barren lands of the town of Arsal and al-Qaa, on the border with Syria.
The country also witnessed security challenges after the outbreak of protests on October 17, 2019, and the expanded Israeli war on Lebanon that lasted more than 60 days in 2023, which imposed new obligations on the Lebanese army, with the signing of the ceasefire agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2025
02:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11198 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Los Angeles' water boss who makes $750,000 a year couldn't quite explain why fire hydrants have run dry during the disastrous wildfires in a bumbling video.
During a press conference Wednesday, Janisse Quiñones, the newly appointed chief executive officer and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said all water storage tanks in the Pacific Palisades area 'went dry' as flames continue to rage on.
If she’s newly appointed, she isn’t responsible for how it got that way, but she got left holding the bag anyway.
At least seven people have been killed and almost 180,000 forced to leave their homes amid the most destructive blaze in the county's history.
Quiñones, who previously worked for PG&E prior to being appointed in May,
May is not recent. So she is responsible.
said the third water tank ran out at about 3am local time Wednesday, after the first tank ran out around 4.45pm, and the second at approximately 8.30pm - each at about 1,000,000 gallons each.
'Those tanks help with the pressure on the fire hydrants in the hills of Palisades, and because we were pushing so much water in our trunk line, and so much water was being used before it can get to the tanks - we were not able to fill the tanks fast enough,' she explained.
'So the consumption of water was faster than we can provide water in our trunk line,' she continued, adding that there is water in the truck line, but it 'cannot get up the hill because we cannot fill the tanks fast enough.'
After someone asked her for the number of hydrants that cannot get water because of these issues, Quiñones started to stumble on her words.
'We, um, we were trying to keep water at all altitudes on the Palisades, and I think about three in the morning, that's when - uh - the hydrants went dry above the Brentwood area.'
#4
Given, LA is next to Ocean.
Why hasn't it already installed piping to use seawater instead of mainly using fresh/ treated Colorado River water to fight fires?
#7
Hydrants are just valves that tap into the existing potable water system. A full seawater system would require separate piping everywhere. You could design a system that could be connected and isolated for emergency use with seawater and/or untreated water use. Setting that up would require a lot of planning, technical competence and political will that isn’t available in the location of the disaster. It is not an alteration that can’t be done on the fly. Spending money on a firefighting project in LA could only happen if 90% of the money could be syphoned off through corruption. Look for that to be proposed by Newsom in the aftermath.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/10/2025 8:17
Comments ||
Top||
#8
If you ever wonder why CAL is so hosed?
There are Media reports indicating LA Mayor is or was in Africa when the LA area fires were in full bloom.
#10
There's an antisemitic conspiracy theory about how a single family bought up all the water bearing land in LA. It's bullshit, like all antisemitic conspiracy theories.
#13
Re #7: There are lots of good reasons NOT to use sea water for firefighting. Sea water is corrosive, so pipes and fittings would need to be hardened against it. Also, spreading salt water around the ground can contaminate it.
Ships can use seawater for firefighting because the firefighting pipes are separate.
#20
#1, Skidmark, who authorized Biden to tell the truth? Maybe he thought the need to cut off power was a good excuse for having no water for the fire hydrants but it's not. Those power lines should have been buried over a hundred years ago. If you have to cut off electricity when Santa Ana winds blow, then you will not have electricity at a time when it is absolutely critical that you do. Newsom knows that and did nothing about it so he must bear responsibility for this tragedy.
California is a big, highly complex enterprise. You can't just sit back, sip wine, put Dipity-Do in your hair and run for president if you want to avoid major disasters. You can't just put it on auto-pilot. If you're not paying attention, things like fire hydrants running dry during a fire will happen. It's like talking on a cell phone while driving a car. You need to be serious, responsible, realistic and pro-active. Newsom isn't.
Newsom has prioritized all the wrong things during his time in office. He's working to keep Trump from deporting illegal aliens. He's making sure illegal aliens are registered to vote and getting health care at the taxpayers' expense. He squanders billions of dollars on housing for hobos and high speed rail. But he will not bury power lines. There is no forest management. There are no fire breaks or green belts to minimize the impact of fires when they start, which they always will. He won't spend a dime to thin the brush in the canyons where the fires start. He will not incarcerate the hobos who camp in that brush and start fires to cook their beans.
Instead of doing an honest day's work, he'd rather blame climate change for all the problems that result from his incompetence and lack of integrity.
He pays attention to all the wrong things like being woke, hip, good looking and DEI. Meanwhile the state is going to hell.
Trump is right. Newsom should resign in disgrace.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/10/2025 13:56
Comments ||
Top||
#21
Scooper planes were dropping seawater
Cool planes! Once the wind died down, the air assets could go to work.
But how can you drop a thousand gallons of chloride and microplastics without filing an Environmental Impact Statement? It may be a life or death situation, but we cannot have our bureaucrats sitting around with nothing to do.
In other news, I don't have a link, but I saw a report that Oregon had sent firefighters and equipment to help out, but the Cali Dept. of Transportation was holding up the show by insisting the trucks be inspected before they would let them into the state.
[Lou Rockwell] There is something epoch-changing happening across the planet. What seems to be unfolding around us is nothing less than an ongoing collapse of the world’s globalist regime.
The first clear sign that something truly big may be happening was the historic comeback and victory of Donald Trump in last November’s election.
Eight weeks later the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation.
It now appears increasingly likely that in the coming weeks we will see the fall of ruling governments and coalitions in Austria, Germany, France, and Britain. Others, such as Romania, are likely to follow.
The globalist puppets and technocrats that run these western governments are losing their grip even as we speak. The pool of popular discontent filled to the brim by the self-serving actions of the globalist elite is boiling over. And now they are being roundly booted out by the populist movements across the world.
Here are some of the sufferings and depredations the global elites have inflicted upon the masses in recent years:
Covid lockdowns
Covid vaccine mandates
Unfettered immigration
Cronyism and government corruption
Inflation
Out-of-control government spending
Falling real wages
Endless warmongering
Imposition of LGBT and transexual agendas
Racism against native populations
Widening wealth disparities
Attacks on traditional western values and Christianity
Political correctness
Widespread censorship
Demonization and cancellation of those seeking redress of rightful grievance
Up until now the global elitists have been largely successful in keeping the lid on popular discontent stemming from the above. This they managed by demonization and cancellation of objectors and by imposition of a highly efficient censorship regime by means of which they controlled mainstream discourse.
More than 100 left-wing economists signed a letter in 2023 warning that Javier Milei's agenda would be disastrous for Argentina. Has any group of people... (1/2)
#6
Having guys buying cases of 3d printer spools, 80% lowers, discounted upper parts and etc. Any published "official" counts are a joke as to what is really out there.
[Zero] Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince revealed in a recent interview on the Sean Spicer Show that President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration was closer to securing a groundbreaking agreement with Denmark to take control of Greenland than previously known. Prince's comments come as Trump ramps up his calls to acquire the Arctic landmass, highlighting its strategic military and economic advantages.
[Free Press] The first job of the government is to keep people safe. Failing that, its job is to show that someone is in charge when crisis erupts. On 9/11, there was nothing then—Mayor Rudy Giuliani could do to keep the World Trade Center from falling. Yet he became, in that long-ago era, the most popular person in America by staying on the scene and leading at his city’s moment of greatest danger.
That brings us to the fires in Los Angeles—the most devastating in the history of the city, with a reported 27,000 acres burned and the fires mostly uncontained. There, authorities have failed not only at protecting its residents but at inspiring confidence that they had the situation in hand.
We start with Mayor Karen Bass. As the Palisades fire began to consume wide swaths of America’s second-largest city, she was in Ghana to watch the inauguration of that country’s new president.
Bass left Los Angeles on Saturday—two days after the National Weather Service warned that strong winds and "extreme fire weather conditions" would soon threaten the city. On Sunday, the NWS announced a fire weather watch. By Monday, the warnings had become much more urgent, with the NWS tweeting in all-caps that "A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm" would hit L.A. imminently.
#9
California wildfires: Police shoot down celebrities floating arson theories
Well there you go; arsonists.
Starting to hear trembles of casualties.
"Climate change exacerbates the issue."
It's like something they have to say, like in a hostage video. On the other hand, in a way, what was semi-arid desert has become sprawling urban. Like a few years back in Kansas City they opened a whole neighborhood up, tens of $millions in investments, and a couple years later one of those three year storms came through and flooded the whole place. Ends up they built in a historical flood plane.
#13
Gonna be wild watching those Always Blue celebrities come to terms with the consequences of their actions. Perfect opportunity for them to sack off to the UK where the filming is subsidized and groomer gangs are already established.
Box of doughnuts newsome shows his scum and exempts them from the red tape to try to keep the prestige. Everyone else, good luck.
#15
#12 viewing the images of Palisades with full developments of ashes, I suspect the entire district population will show up as voting Donk in the next elections.
#19
BREAKING NEWSLA Fire Chief is dismissed by Mayor Karen Bass after lashing out over department cuts as deadly blazes devastate city
READ MORE: LA's water chief 'knew about empty reservoir and broken hydrants
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:58 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 01/09/2025 to 00:00 01/10/2025.
A total of 32 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of a civilian being injured.
DAMAGED:
Seven residential buildings,
One car,
Two civil infrastructure facilities.
A total of 32 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 97 units of various ammunition were fired.
21:35 As a result of artillery attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces of the city of Kamenka-Dnepropetrovsk in the Zaporizhia regiondiedtwo civilians. This was reported by the Chairman of the RF Public Chamber Commission on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects and Support for Veterans Vladimir Rogov in the Telegram channel.
21:10 Telegram channel "Pushilin D.V."
In the Nikitovsky district of Gorlovka, as a result of the enemy using barrel artillery of the cluster type, moderate injuries were causedreceivedA woman born in 1965 is receiving qualified medical care.
Seven residential buildings were damaged in the Central-City, Nikitovsky and Kalininsky districts of Gorlovka, as well as two civil infrastructure facilities (power lines) in the Central-City and Kalininsky districts of Gorlovka, and one car in the Central-City district of Gorlovka.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out more than 15 armed attacks. They used 155mm barrel artillery, including cluster munitions, and attack UAVs.
20:10 The enemy was defeated with the help of a quadcopter, –video.
19:42 Russian Ministry of Defense:
Crew of the 220mm BM-27 Uragan MLRS of the Vostok group of forces struck at the positions of barrel artillery and concentrations of enemy manpower.
18:21 During the assault on Kurakhovo, special forces destroyed stronghold of the 46th Airmobile Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, suppressing enemy firing points.
During the shooting battle, dozens of Ukrainian militants were killed, six were lucky and were captured.
17:56 Russian Ministry of Defense:
– Servicemen of the assault units of the 144th Motorized Rifle Division of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army of the West Group of Forces, supported by strike and reconnaissance drones destroyed the enemy in close combat near the settlement of Terny in the Donetsk People's Republic.
– The work of the attack aircraft in the wooded area was coordinated by UAV crews. Information about the discovered firing positions and the nature of the enemy troops’ actions was immediately sent to the commanders of the assault groups. Drops from UAVs did not give the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants the opportunity to return fire and move freely along the communication trenches.
17:15 Paratroopers of the 98th Airborne Division "burn out" temporary accommodation point for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the village of Chasov Yar – video.
16:35 Russian Ministry of Defense:
Prisoner of the Ukrainian Armed Forces called fellow soldiers to surrender into Russian captivity.
Mikhail Kostyuk was mobilized in Lutsk and then sent to Kamenets-Podolsky for training. Mikhail Kostyuk's "trained" unit was transferred to Sumy Oblast and sent to lay anti-tank mines.
"We were given the task of installing anti-tank mines. They showed us a video of how they were installed. We refused to carry out the task. We were told that refusals would not be accepted. When we were returning, there was heavy shelling. It turned out that we had been abandoned and had not returned. We decided to sit in a dugout. We sat there for about 2-3 hours. Then someone entered the dugout, we saw that they were Russians. They raised their hands, threw down their machine guns. We did not even take the machine guns off the safety catches or unfold them," said a captured Ukrainian serviceman.
16:23 Telegram channel "Colonelcassad":
RF Armed Forces advanced along the highway in the direction of Grekovka, –map.
15:40 Telegram channel "Vladimir Rogov":
Announced aviation-missile and bomb danger in Zaporizhia region. This also concerns the liberated parts of Kherson region. In addition, the threat concerns such cities as Melitopol, Primorsk, Berdyansk, Dzhankoy and the Republic of Crimea.
14:45 Russian Ministry of Defense:
A crew of FPV drones from the Rubicon center destroyed a self-propelled artillery unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk border area, –video.
13:50 Telegram channel "Real Gladkov":
UAVs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck the Belgorod region. One civilian was wounded.
– In the Shebekinsky District, in the village of Murom, a drone attacked a private house. As a result of its detonation, a man was injured. Self-defense fighters took the victim with a mine-explosive injury, barotrauma, shrapnel wounds to the head, neck, arms and legs to the Shebekinskaya Central District Hospital. All necessary assistance is being provided. The windows in the house were knocked out, the facade and the front door were damaged.
– In the Belgorod district, the village of Chaiki was attacked by FPV drones — a GAZelle was damaged. Another drone attack occurred in the village of Malinovka in the Belgorod district. There is damage to the power line — 5 streets are temporarily without power.
13:25 Telegram channel "Colonelcassad":
The self-propelled gun "Krab" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces unsuccessfully hid in the ground. As a result - a spectacular fire from the arrival of the "Lancet", -video.
12:40 Russian Ministry of Defense:
Tankers of the "Southern" group of troops help the advance of assault units, -video.
After the capture of Kurakhovo, tank crews of the "Southern" group of troops supported the further advance of our assault groups, destroying enemy strongholds and firing points.
11:30 Telegram channel "Colonelcassad"
The explosion of a Ukrainian armored fighting vehicle on a mine during an offensive in the area of the settlement of Berdin in the Kursk region, video.
11:00 Telegram channel "Real Gladkov"
Information on strikes carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on our region [Belgorod Region – ed.] over the past 24 hours:
In Belgorod, debris from a downed drone fell into an apartment buildingbroken throughThe roof and ceiling in one apartment are damaged.
In the Belgorod district, the villages of Oktyabrsky and Razumnoye, the villages of Krasnoye, Krutoy Log, Chaiki, Cheremoshnoye and Yasnye Zori were attacked by 14 drones, eight of which were shot down by the air defense system. Over the course of the day, four private homes, eight cars, three outbuildings, an agricultural enterprise and power lines were damaged in the district. Emergency services restored power supply to one street in the village of Razumnoye and to two houses in the village of Krutoy Log.
In the Valuysky municipal district, the villages of Borki and Kukuyevka, as well as the farmstead of Leonovka, were attacked by four drones, one of which was shot down. In the farmstead of Leonovka, as a result of an FPV drone attack on a moving passenger car, two civilians were injured. The woman was sent home for outpatient treatment after receiving medical assistance, the man was hospitalized in the regional clinical hospital. The victim is receiving all necessary assistance. Three cars and an outbuilding were damaged.
In Volokonovsky district, the village of Tishanka was attacked by one drone. There were no consequences.
In the Grayvoronsky municipal district, 17 rounds of ammunition were fired during four attacks and two drones were attacked in the settlement of Gorkovsky, the villages of Dronovka, Kozinka and Spodaryushino. There were no casualties or damage.
Two aircraft-type drones were shot down over the Gubkinsky urban district. No consequences.
In the Krasnoyarsk district, 35 rounds of ammunition were fired at the village of Prilesye, the villages of Grafovka and Terebreno during six attacks and strikes were carried out using one drone. Two private houses and a power line were damaged. Emergency services restored power supply to the village of Grafovka.
One aircraft-type drone was shot down by the air defense system over the Prokhorovsky district. No casualties or damage.
In the Shebekinsky municipal district, the villages of Voznesenovka, Murom and Nikolskoye, as well as the Maryino farm, were subjected to one artillery attack with one projectile and attacks by six drones, five of which were shot down. Two private houses and an outbuilding were damaged.
10:36 Telegram channel "WarGonzo":
Fire damage to the Ukrainian Armed Forces inflicted by Russian National Guard artillerymen in the Khar'kov region
The artillerymen hit the designated targets after identifying the enemy's position and receiving precise coordinates. The Rosgvardia artillery crews are destroying enemy manpower, armored vehicles, strongholds and ammunition depots in the special operation zone around the clock.
9:20 Telegram channel "WarGonzo":
Frontline report for the morning of 09.01.2025:
- Zaporizhzhya Front. There are battles here.continuebe mainly positional in nature. In some areas, Russian troops occasionally attempt local attacks, probing the Ukrainian defense, but there are no serious changes in the line of combat contact.
– Donetsk Front. The offensive of the Russian Armed Forces continues here in several areas. In the area of Velyka Novosyolka, Russian troops are putting pressure on the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, trying to take (and in some cases, hold) the most advantageous positions.
In the area of Kurakhovo, the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces to the west is developing, there are tactical successes in the area of ??the village of Shevchenko.
In the Pokrovsk direction, Russian troops attempted to advance to the Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka highway from Vozdvizhenka, but it is not yet known whether this attempt was successful. Fierce urban fighting continues in Dzerzhinsk.
- Chasov Yar direction. Urban fighting continues in Chasov Yar. Russian troops are attacking in several areas. There is progress in the northern part of the city. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are putting up serious resistance and conducting counterattacks, sometimes successful.
- Kursk region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to transfer reserves to the Kursk region. Apparently, new attempts are being prepared to push our troops back from the territories they had previously liberated. However, the initiative currently remains with the Russian troops. Fierce fighting continues in several areas. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are putting up fierce resistance.
9:07 No chance for the enemy: powerful 152mm 2S5 "Gyacinths" reliably support our infantry.
Crews of Giatsint-S self-propelled guns of the Zapad group of forces destroyed several camouflaged platoon strongholds and concentrations of enemy manpower.
"Our crew is well-coordinated. Everyone knows their task. We act as one well-oiled machine. The infantry is happy, we help the infantry, we hit the target. There is nothing better than gratitude from the guys for the work done," shared the gun commander with the call sign "Sulim".
8:10 Russian Ministry of Defense:
During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 15 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles.
Five UAVs were destroyed over the territory of the Belgorod region, one over the territory of the Bryansk region, and nine over the territory of the Krasnodar region.
8:03 Combat "Alligators" continue the hunt.
Ka-52m crews struck a concentration of personnel, armored vehicles, and a stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
[YahooFinance] As it looks to accelerate the pace of its AI development, Google is further streamlining the teams building its AI services, platforms, and tools.
On Thursday, Logan Kilpatrick, who leads product for Google's AI Studio developer platform, said in a post on X that Google's AI Studio team and the team developing the API for the company's Gemini series of models will be moving under Google DeepMind.
Google DeepMind, formed in 2023 from a merger of Google's DeepMind team and the Google Brain team from Google Research, is the AI R&D division behind many of Google's more recent AI product innovations, including Gemini.
"This move will allow us to double down on our already deep collaboration and accelerate the research to developer pipeline," Kilpatrick wrote in his post. "The mission for our team stays the same."
Jaana Dogan, an engineer on one of the teams moving to Google DeepMind, said in a post on X the reshuffling will help to make DeepMind's work "publicly available in ways that [weren't] possible before."
"Better APIs, more open source, more tools, you name it ... it is just the very small percentage of what’s coming next," she wrote.
TechCrunch reached out to Google for more information and will update this post if we hear back.
Google's folding of dev-focused AI teams into its Google DeepMind org comes after the company moved the team behind its Gemini-powered chatbot, also called Gemini, to DeepMind. At the time, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the reorg was intended to "keep increasing the pace of progress" of Google's AI development.
Google has also moved its models, research, and responsible AI teams to DeepMind in recent months.
In audio from a December Google all-hands meeting obtained by CNBC, Pichai described the company's Gemini chatbot as having "strong momentum," while also acknowledging "we have some work to do in 2025 to close the gap and establish a leadership position there as well."
"Scaling Gemini on the consumer side will be our biggest focus [in 2025]," Pichai reportedly said. “I think it’s really important we internalize the urgency of this moment, and [the] need to move faster as a company. The stakes are high."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] The figure of Empress Catherine the Great, first installed in Odessa in 1900 and restored in 2007, was demolished three years ago, as was the monument to the military leader Alexander Suvorov. As part of “decolonization” and “cleansing Ukraine of traces of its imperial past.” But, as in all such cases, the demolition left an ideological void.
Because the construction of the city of Odessa in 1794 became possible as a result of the Treaty of Jassy, which ended more than two hundred years of Russian-Turkish wars. Ukraine simply had nothing to replace the treaty concluded on January 9, 1792 between the All-Russian Empire and the Sublime Ottoman Porte following the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1791: a permanent Ukrainian population appeared in the Northern Black Sea region only with the beginning of Russia's development of this deserted land.
And the contribution of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, to whom a modern myth attributes the founding of a certain settlement "long before Catherine", consists primarily of participating in battles against the Turks in the Russian service. And nothing more, no matter what anyone says.
THE EMPRESS'S FIRST CAMPAIGN
For Catherine II, this was already the second war with the Turks, and it all began long before: the Ottoman Empire sought to repeat the success of the Roman Empire. The Black Sea was already internal Turkish, the Mediterranean and Red Seas almost became so, the Turks had access to the Caspian, under them was North Africa and part of Persia (including modern Syria and Iraq), Greece, the Balkans and, of course, the entire Caucasus.
The Porte was striving for Western Europe, and only the unsuccessful siege of Vienna, in the defense of which, by the way, the Zaporozhian Cossacks who served the Polish king took part, broke the Turkish onslaught. But still, not a single European power, including Russia, could single-handedly win a battle against the world's first army until the 1770s.
That is why there is a monument to Catherine, because only with her accession to the Russian throne was it possible to change the “tradition” of the invincibility of the Ottomans.
In general, only the victory of Russian arms in the first of Catherine's Turkish wars and the signing of the Küçük Kaynarca Peace Treaty in 1774 forced the Ottoman government to officially recognize the Russian ruler's title of empress, equal in status to the title of Ottoman padishah, something the Sultan's court had long refused even to Peter I.
The city of Azov, the steppe lands between the Southern Bug and the Dnieper (eastern Yedisan), including the fortress of Kinburn, passed to the Russian Empire, and ownership of Kerch and the nearby fortress of Yeni-Kale was confirmed. The weakened Crimean Khanate, which had drunk a fair amount of blood over the past centuries, was recognized as independent and not interfering in the affairs of either Russia or Turkey.
Russian ships were allowed free passage through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, as well as the Danube River. Yes, in fact, the Black Sea Fleet appeared under the decree of 1783, initially created as the Sevastopol squadron from the Azov and Dnieper military flotillas, participants in the First Turkish War.
At the same time, the Russian army left Bessarabia, the principality of Wallachia and the Principality of Moldavia, which for a time returned to the hands of Constantinople. And the war, full of brilliant victories, such as the Battle of Chesma and the Battle of the Fortress of Kagul, became the beginning of the brilliant career of Count Suvorov.
But the fruits of the first major victory did not last long. Moreover, inspired by it, Russia annulled the articles of the treaties concerning the independence of Crimea in 1783. The Crimean Khanate was annexed to the empire, which Turkey did not like at all. In Europe, an active offensive policy was also being conducted, the uprising of the lordly confederates in Podolia, who had promised Turkey its "historical lands" as a prize for support, was crushed, the first partition of Poland took place, which excited the English and French.
So the Second Turkish War, which began in 1787, was already a "joint product" of Anglo-French political intrigues with Turkish military power. Accordingly, on the other hand, a Russian-Austrian military alliance arose, which Turkey learned about too late.
THE BLOW THAT BROKE THE EMPIRE
During the campaign, which lasted for four years, Suvorov's military star flared up in the military firmament along with the commanders of the young Black Sea Fleet - Rear Admiral Nikolai Mordvinov, the Montenegrin Rear Admiral Marko Voynovich and the great Fyodor Ushakov, who has already been canonized in our time.
Russian troops took the fortresses of Ochakov and Izmail with great success, the Turkish campaigns on Bender and Ackerman failed, and a decisive battle was fought at Rymnik, for which Suvorov received the prefix Rymniksky to his surname.
The sailors smashed the Turkish fleet in battles in the Dnieper-Bug estuary, near Zmeiny Island, near Tendra Spit and Cape Kaliakra. Upon learning of the fall of Ochakov, the Empress wrote to the commander of the troops, Field Marshal Grigory Potemkin :
“Taking you by the ears with both hands, I mentally kiss you, my dear friend… With the greatest recognition I accept the zeal and diligence of the troops you lead, from the highest to the lowest ranks… I greatly regret the brave men who were killed; the illnesses and wounds of the wounded are sensitive to me; I regret it and pray to God for their healing. I ask everyone to express my recognition and gratitude on my behalf…”
The bodies of the Russian officers who died during the Ochakov assault were, by order of Prince Potemkin, transported to one of the new cities of the Russian Black Sea region - Kherson - and buried within the fence of the Church of St. Great Martyr Catherine. Here in 1791 the prince himself was buried, having also managed to found the city of Yekaterinoslav, conceived as the center of Novorossiya and the third capital of the Russian Empire after Moscow and St. Petersburg. Today it is known as Dnepr and the unrecognized capital of telephone scammers.
Well, Sultan Selim III, who replaced his predecessor who died from the upheavals, was forced to make peace: for Turkey this was a complete defeat.
The Treaty of Jassy secured Crimea and Ochakov for Russia and moved the border between the two empires to the Dniester River in the west and the Kuban River in the east. By the beginning of the 19th century, these borders would expand, having crossed the Dniester and annexed Bessarabia, Russia would reach the Prut and the Danube, and beyond the Caucasus Mountains, Orthodox Georgia would join it, claims to which Türkiye had renounced precisely under the Treaty of Jassy.
As for Iasi, now one of the largest cities in Romania and an important transport hub, in the old days the settlement belonged to the ancient Moldavian Principality and was closely connected with Russia. As early as the 14th century, there was a significant Russian community here, which is why it is mentioned in several chronicle documents as " Yasii Torg on the Prut River". In 1711, in Iasi, the Moldavian ruler Dimitrie Cantemir swore allegiance to our country and became the first Russian orientalist, an adviser to Peter I on eastern issues.
Before the start of the "Potemkin" Russo-Turkish War, there was a Russian vice-consul in Iasi; during the war, Potemkin made Iasi his "campaign capital", and after the end of the hostilities, the Russian consulate was again located in its usual place; the city became part of Romania only in the middle of the 19th century.
The long struggle for access to the Black Sea ended with an intermediate major success - Russia will have to prove its right to own these lands more than once, including in our days. But one thing is unshakable and indisputable: if not for almost 350 years of efforts, there would be no Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia or Armenia on the world map. Bulgaria and Romania would probably remain Turkish possessions, and the fate of Serbia, Montenegro and Greece would be very controversial.
But if in most cases we are talking about long-inhabited lands that had their own statehood, then the wild Black Sea steppes were conquered and first developed by Russia, which founded cities here and built a new economy. And the right to own them was paid for in full with the blood of Russian soldiers and sailors.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngamilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces hit formations of one motorised infantry brigade of the AFU close to Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 45 troops and one motor vehicle.
The Zapad Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades of the AFU, three territorial defence brigades, and one national guard brigade near Dvurechnaya, Novaya Kruglyakovka, Kovsharovka, Ivanovka, and Zapadnoye (Kharkov region). Six counter-attacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled.
The AFU losses were up to 480 troops, one tank, three armoured fighting vehicles, including one infantry fighting vehicle, one Polish-made Rosomak armoured personnel carrier, and one Kozak armoured vehicle. Three motor vehicles, three artillery guns, two electronic warfare stations, and five ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Yug Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation along the front line and defeated formations of two mechanised brigades and two airmobile brigades of the AFU near Belogorovka, Orekhovo-Vasilevka, Chasov Yar, Vasyukovka, and Yantarnoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Two counter-attacks launched by AFU units were repelled.
The AFU losses were up to 245 troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, including two infantry fighting vehicles, and one Patriot armoured vehicle. Five pickup trucks, one electronic warfare station, and one ammunition depot were wiped out.
The Tsentr Group of Forces' units captured more advantageous lines and positions and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of five mechanised brigades, one jaeger brigade of AFU, and one brigade of the National Police of Ukraine near Dzerzhinsk, Shcherbinovka, Shevchenko, Sribnoye, Petrovka, Vozdvizhenka, Novovasilevka, Petropavlovka, and Novoyelizavetovka (Donetsk People's Republic). In addition, 12 counter-attacks of AFU assault detachments were repelled.
The AFU losses were up to 510 troops, five armoured fighting vehicles, including one infantry fighting vehicle, one U.S.-made M-113 and one French-made VAB armoured personnel carriers, six motor vehicles, and five howitzers.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces advanced into the depth of the enemy's defences and inflicted losses on formations of two mechanised brigades of the AFU, one naval infantry brigade, and one territorial defence brigade close to Bogatyr, Konstantinopol, Velikaya Novoselka, Razliv, Komar (Donetsk People's Republic), and Temirovka (Zaporozhye region).
The AFU losses were more than 155 troops, one tank, seven motor vehicles, five field artillery guns, including one U.S.-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery system, and one U.S.-made 155mm M-198 howitzer. One ammunition depot was wiped out.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces engaged manpower and hardware of one infantry brigade, two coastal defence brigades of the AFU, and one national guard brigade close to Stepnogorsk, Novoandreyevka (Zaporozhye region), Ponyatovka, Antonovka, and Pridneprovskoye (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were up to 45 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, and seven motor vehicles. Four electronic warfare stations and two ammunition depots were destroyed.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces struck infrastructure of military airfields, UAV workshops and depots, as well as engaged manpower and hardware clusters of the AFU formations and foreign mercenaries in 163 areas.
Air defence units shot down one French-made Hammer guided aerial bomb, 14 U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, and 71 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 652 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 39,794 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20,307 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,507 MLRS combat vehicles, 20,352 field artillery guns and mortars, and 30,012 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.
Units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of one tank brigade, two mechanised brigades, two air assault brigades, and two territorial defence brigades of the AFU near Aleksandriya, Viktorovka, Daryino, Zazulevka, Kazachya Loknya, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Leonidovo, Malaya Loknya, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolayevka, Novaya Sorochina, Sverdlikovo, and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Bondarevka, Veselovka, Goncharovka, Guyevo, Kruglenkoye, Kubatkin, Loknya, Martynovka, Mirny, Nikolsky, Pogrebki, Russkoye Porechnoye, Yuzhny as well as Basovka, Belovody, Bogdanovka, Vodolagi, Zhuravka, and Miropolye in Sumy region.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses were up to 190 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, one armoured personnel carrier, two armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, one artillery gun, four mortars, one electronic warfare station, and one ammunition depot.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 50,310 troops, 294 tanks, 218 infantry fighting vehicles, 161 armoured personnel carriers, 1,517 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,435 motor vehicles, 348 artillery guns, 44 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 16 anti-aircraft missile launchers, eight transport-loading vehicles, 90 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 29 units of engineering and other materiel, including 15 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, seven armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Russian army is increasing the pace of its offensive in Donbass: fighting in the region continued without breaks for the holidays throughout the first week of 2025. Moreover, the beginning of January was almost the most difficult period for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the past two years.
The main success of the Russian troops was the liberation of the city of Kurakhovo, a large settlement west of Donetsk. The fighting for it lasted for several months, with Ukrainian troops trying in every way to prolong the battle by digging in residential areas. But at the end of December 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces left the city and consolidated their position in the area of the Kurakhovskaya Thermal Power Plant, outside the city, trying to turn the industrial zone into a new defensive hub.
The editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian publication Censor.net, Yuriy Butusov, stated that the defense of the city was not planned properly, so the Ukrainian Armed Forces units had to fight in extremely difficult conditions. The only supply route for the Ukrainian garrison was constantly under fire control of Russian troops.
"Defense in such conditions is disadvantageous for us: the tactical advantage is on the enemy's side. We are losing people in battles with an enemy that has an overall superiority in forces," Butusov said.
In the battles for Kurakhovo, the Ukrainian Armed Forces command used the same strategy that had been previously tested in Severodonetsk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Ugledar and a number of other cities. When the defense of a city becomes inexpedient, the troops receive orders to prolong the fighting and hold out in ever-worsening conditions. Ultimately, this only leads to major losses and a forced retreat. The same thing happened in Kurakhovo, according to front-line sources at Regnum.
"In recent weeks, all this has become meaningless: defending the thermal power plant when they had already lost control of the city was simply pointless. According to rumors, they reported this to the command every day, but there was an order to hold on. Last week, they began to gradually retreat and suffered serious losses. They repeated the history of Ugledar, in general," the source notes.
According to observers from the Ukrainian analytical portal DeepState, the retreat from the city had a "very severe" effect on the morale of the units holding the defense. At the same time, the retreat had to be carried out under the blows of Russian aviation and artillery, which led to heavy losses, analysts note. In addition, the Ukrainian military is extremely negative about the reports of official speakers about "control over the city", which simply demoralize the personnel.
Indeed, officials in the military and political leadership of Ukraine are not commenting on the situation in the Kurakhovo area, even though the loss of control over the city creates serious problems for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Firstly, with the liberation of the city, Russian troops managed to push the front line almost 40 kilometers away from Donetsk, depriving the enemy of even a hypothetical opportunity to launch a counteroffensive on the capital of the DPR.
Secondly, the liberation of Kurakhovo opens up the possibility for Russian troops to launch a strategic offensive to the west. The Russian Armed Forces can advance in the direction of the settlements of Bogatyr and Velyka Novosyolka and create a bridgehead for an offensive on the Zaporizhia region along the Zaporizhia-Donetsk highway.
However, the problems for the enemy do not end there.
DIRECTION - TO POKROVSK
While the advance of the Russian army in the Kurakhovo area generally fits into the logic of military operations and does not yet pose a strategic threat to Ukrainian defense, in the Pokrovsk area the situation is getting out of control for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops have liberated the settlements of Dachenskoye, Novy Trud and Volkovo near this city. The Russian army is also advancing in the area of the settlements of Zelenoe, Vozdvizhenka, Novovasilyevka, Yantarnoye and Solntsevka.
In turn, German military expert Julian Röpke reports that the Russian army has liberated eight settlements south of Pokrovsk and continues its offensive, bypassing the city. Due to a lack of reserves, the Ukrainian Armed Forces cannot stop the offensive and are constantly rolling back.
According to the expert, in a few weeks the fighting may spread to the Dnepropetrovsk region, to the borders of which the Russian army has about seven kilometers to go. However, it is unlikely that the neighboring region can be considered the target of the offensive, while there remains a powerful enemy defense node in Pokrovsk in the rear.
"The pace of the offensive has been growing lately, that's a fact. And the enemy either barely resists, or counterattacks, but only locally. And mostly rolls back. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have a very low morale, there is almost no rotation, so our pace of advance has accelerated. But the fighting continues, the enemy will not disappear on its own. In order to advance further, we need to take Pokrovsk," notes the interlocutor of IA Regnum.
As in previous weeks, the key task in the Pokrovsk direction remains the consistent cutting of supply routes for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the encirclement of the city. As of January 9, Russian troops are several kilometers from the Pokrovsk-Mezhevaya highway and approximately ten kilometers from the M-30 highway, which connects Pokrovsk with Pavlograd and the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
At the same time, the Ukrainian troops fighting in the Pokrovsk direction are left without reserves. All combat-ready reinforcements are sent to the Kursk region, where Kyiv again and again throws troops into suicidal attacks.
CEMETERY OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES RESERVES
Against the backdrop of defeats in Donbass, the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Command in other areas are, to put it mildly, puzzling. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army not only exposed the front in the area of Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo, leaving it without reinforcements, but also withdrew some forces from other areas in Donbass and transferred them to the Kursk region.
The 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was spotted in the Sudzha area, which had previously fought in the Avdiivka, Novogrodovka and Toretsk areas. The brigade suffered heavy losses, but instead of being rotated, it was given a new direction.
Units of the 47th Brigade were involved on January 5 in a counterattack by the enemy in the area of the settlements of Berdin and Bolshoye Soldatskoye. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, as a result, the enemy lost up to 150 people and a large number of armored vehicles. In total, during the military actions in the Kursk Region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost about 300 tanks, more than 200 infantry fighting vehicles and 160 armored personnel carriers, the department added.
Attempts to advance further deprive Kyiv not only of its last human reserves, but also of the armored vehicles supplied by NATO countries. Such wastefulness looks especially strange against the backdrop of rumors that the new US administration may stop military support for Ukraine altogether.
The day before, the Pentagon announced the formation of the latest military aid package worth $500 million. The remaining $3.8 billion, previously approved by Congress, will be transferred to the Trump administration. Earlier, the US president-elect refused to answer the question of whether his administration would continue to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Thus, the military and political leadership of Ukraine is gradually depriving itself of the last opportunity to change the situation at the front in its favor. Meanwhile, the situation in Donbass is finally getting out of Kyiv's control, which creates an opportunity for the Russian army to completely liberate the region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] After several years of political vacuum, Lebanon's parliament has elected a new president. The post was taken by former Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun. He replaced his namesake, General Michel Aoun, who left the post in October 2022.
“Aoun the Second,” as some regional publications jokingly call him, is considered a creature of Washington and a “living instrument” with which the White House plans to unravel the protracted crisis in the Middle East.
ATTEMPT NUMBER 13
For more than two years, Lebanon has been in a state of crisis, both economic and political. Since General Aoun's retirement, members of the Lebanese parliament have met more than a dozen times to approve a successor, but behind-the-scenes disagreements have prevented the government vacuum from being overcome each time.
Some complications were added by the fact that, according to the National Pact adopted in 1943, the president is elected from among the Maronite Christians. The position of prime minister is invariably occupied by a Sunni, and the speaker of parliament by a Shiite.
This is done in order to balance Lebanon's motley ethno-confessional palette and keep the country from sliding into another period of fragmentation. Although Muslims have served as president at least five times since the pact was adopted, no one has dared to completely upset the balance of power.
By February 2023, the "final list" of candidates for the presidential post had been formed. In addition to Commander-in-Chief Aoun, it included the director of the International Monetary Fund's branch in the Middle East and Central Asia, Jihad Azour, and former MP Salah Hannin.
However, Aoun quickly became the unofficial leader, especially after his candidacy was publicly supported by the heavyweight of Lebanese politics, the leader of the Christian center-right Marada party, Suleiman Frangieh. By giving up his presidential aspirations in favor of Aoun, he gave him a serious advantage in the race.
At the same time, Aoun, even being the only real candidate for the presidential seat and the absolute leader of the "final list", was able to win only on the second attempt. In the first round, he collected only 71 parliamentary votes out of the 86 required. The remaining parliamentarians either submitted blank ballots (which symbolizes a public expression of no confidence in the candidate) or spoiled them.
Only the thirteenth session put an end to the protracted presidential race, but this did not reduce the political differences.
A FRAGILE BALANCE OF INTERESTS
Since Aoun is considered a Western-oriented figure, his appointment to the presidency is expectedly not to the liking of pro-Iranian forces. The Shiite parties Hezbollah and Amal demonstratively submitted blank ballots, thus emphasizing their contempt for the “pro-American figure.”
The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), led by Aoun the First (Michel Aoun), acted in a similar manner. However, in the case of the FPM, the hostility towards the commander-in-chief is connected with his excessive focus on cooperation with Saudi Arabia. The Lebanese, not without reason, consider the Saudis their regional competitors and are suspicious of Riyadh's "excessive involvement" in the country's affairs. In this sense, the FPM and the Shiite parties acted as tactical allies.
However, Washington managed to overcome the resistance of Aoun's opponents rather quickly. Especially since big stakes were placed on the figure of the commander-in-chief.
The US hopes to use Aoun’s hands not only to weaken Iran’s influence in a single Arab country, but also to push Lebanon toward a gradual “détente” with Israel according to a scenario that is advantageous to Washington; to try to drive a wedge into the weakened “Axis of Resistance.”
Considering that Aoun bases his rhetoric on the theses “Lebanon is for the Lebanese” and “the army is the country’s support,” ending the confrontation with Tel Aviv could well be presented as a contribution to national security and a step toward fully normalizing relations. Even considering that Lebanon’s status as a “hostile state” is enshrined in Israeli law.
In a sense, the new Lebanese president may repeat the trajectory of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who was the first to decide to normalize relations with the Jewish state, even against public opinion. In exchange for such steps, Washington is ready to multiply investments in Lebanese state institutions and the economy.
Aoun's appearance on the political map of Lebanon is partly to Israel's advantage.
Moreover, the former commander-in-chief had previously, willy-nilly, played along with Tel Aviv by slowing down the deployment of government troops in the south of the country during the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel. Israeli forces, in turn, took advantage of Beirut's delay and strengthened their positions, which subsequently forced Hezbollah units to retreat deeper into Lebanese territory.
Now Aoun is ready to move forward and seek the disarmament of Shiite militias. In his first statement, he hinted at an intention to seek “the exclusive right of the state to bear arms,” indicating a desire to limit the military activity of Hezbollah and its allies.
The ambitious plans of the former commander-in-chief have already met with the support of high-ranking Israeli officials, in particular, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
On the other hand, given the strong polarization of Lebanese society, Aoun's initiatives could have the opposite effect. Limiting the freedom of action of Shiite forces, coupled with rapprochement with Israel and the United States, could provoke a deepening of the domestic political crisis, which would push forces "offended" by the results of the last elections to change the balance of power in their favor.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] The wife of the former Syrian president, Asma Assad, is suspected of having ties to British intelligence before her marriage to Bashar al-Assad. This was reported by the Sky News Arabia TV channel, citing documents presented by an opposition Syrian journalist on January 8.
According to the TV channel, Asma's mother, Sahar al-Akhras, could have organized secret meetings with representatives of British intelligence and special forces for her future son-in-law, and Asma herself could have cooperated with MI5 and MI6.
"Journalist Nizar Nayouf has published documents that he says... contain further details about British intelligence links to Asma al-Assad, as she was hired by the American bank JP Morgan in London with the support of British intelligence officer Eliza Bowler, who secured her the job," the publication notes.
In addition, the authors of the article specify that the former president of the country, Hafez al-Assad, could have known about the contacts with foreign intelligence and was against such a marriage. It is also noted that the publication was unable to verify the authenticity of the documents.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 8, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Bashar al-Assad had resigned as president of Syria and left the country, ordering a peaceful transfer of power. He arrived in Russia, where he and his family were granted asylum. Asma al-Assad arrived in Russia before her husband for treatment.
On December 25, The Telegraph reported that Asma was experiencing a relapse of acute leukemia. It was specified that the former president's wife was isolated to prevent the infection from being transmitted to her, and is now prohibited from being in the same room with other people.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22.19 The Defense Forces are directing their efforts to disrupt the Russian invaders' plans for an offensive and to exhaust their combat potential. Since the beginning of the day, 144 combat clashes have occurred on the front. This was noted in the General Staff's report on Thursday, January 9.
21.37 Norway will send the largest military aid in its history in 2025 – more than 2 billion euros for Ukraine. This was announced by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov after a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Bjorn Arild Gramm.
19.43 The number of victims as a result of yesterday's air strike on Zaporizhia has grown to 120 people. This was reported by the head of the Zaporizhia OVA Ivan Fedorov.
18:20 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as part of a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format in Germany. They discussed the situation in Donbas and the Kursk region, as well as a number of other important issues.
18.18 In Ukraine, more than 500 thousand men liable for military service were put on the wanted list during the full-scale invasion. This was reported by the representative of the Ground Forces Command Natalia Kindrativ.
18:11 Russian troops dropped four bombs on Kherson on January 9. The airstrike damaged 39 residential buildings. The number of victims has risen to ten people. This was reported by the Kherson regional police.
16:56 Since the beginning of the day, 101 combat clashes have occurred on the front. Half of the battles are taking place in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhovsky directions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational report as of 16:00.
16:25 The new $500 million US military aid package for Ukraine includes air defense missiles, equipment for F-16 aircraft, and other weapons. The Pentagon has published the full list .
15:55 Ukraine to receive 30,000 drones from UK and other NATO allies. Drone Capability Coalition has signed new contracts worth £45m.
15:10 Ukrainian military personnel have received the latest German Lynx armored vehicles for the first time. We are talking about 10 units of modern equipment.
14:55 Head of the Zaporizhia OVA Ivan Fedorov named the reason for the large number of victims in Zaporizhia after the strike of Russian UABs on Wednesday, January 8. According to the latest data, 13 people were killed, 113 were injured.
14:40 The North Korean army has already lost 4,000 soldiers in Russia's war against Ukraine. New data was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format.
14:35 Russian occupation authorities have for the first time carried out forced conscription for military service among residents of the temporarily occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. From October 1 to December 31, 2024, about 300 people were called up for military service. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate.
14:20 Ukraine is looking for tools that can force Russia to peace . The initiative to introduce Western troops into our country is one of the best. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine in the Ramstein format.
14:13 The Armed Forces of Ukraine received weapons worth almost 538 million euros in 2024 under the "Danish model" of supporting the defense industry. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense.
13:50 President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at a meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine in the Rammstein format and called on participants to be more involved in the production of drones in our country. According to him, this year it is planned to achieve a record in the number and quality of UAVs that Ukraine produces and receives from partners.
13:48 The Rada extended the period for voluntary return to service after the first unauthorized departure from a military unit until March 1. Previously, the corresponding opportunity for military personnel to return after the first unauthorized departure from a military unit without criminal liability was until January 1, 2025.
13:35 The United States has allocated another package of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of 500 million dollars. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will receive additional missiles for air defense, various ammunition, including air-to-ground, equipment for F-16 fighters and more.
12:39 The Russian army carried out an airstrike on Kherson - it launched three guided bombs. One of them hit a private house, destroying it. There are victims in the attack, according to preliminary data, there are five of them. An enterprise and a kindergarten were also hit.
12:02 Choreographer and winner of the sixth season of the show Dance Everybody! Volodymyr Rakov died at the front. He was 30 years old. Volodymyr served in the 2nd rifle battalion of the 24th separate mechanized brigade named after King Daniel.
11:51 The Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on basic military training . The document allows young people who are currently turning 18 abroad to register without coming to Ukraine.
11:30 On Thursday morning, Russian aggressors launched another attack on the Kherson region and killed two civilians - a 54-year-old man in Berislav and a 60-year-old woman in the village of Nezlamne.
11:27 Magur's brigade, together with allies of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, repelled a massive assault by Russians in the Kursk region. The enemy used a large number of vehicles and personnel during the attack.
9:45 Russia launched 70 Shahed-type attack drones and drone imitators against Ukraine on the night of January 9. This was reported by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
9:26 The situation around Kupyansk is very difficult. The front line is now two kilometers from the city. This was stated by the head of the Kupyansk city military administration, Andriy Besedin.
8:57 The Russian army has intensified its assaults in two directions. In the Seversky direction, fortifications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were attacked in Belogorovka. This was reported by the OSGV Khortytsya.
8:48 The enemy attacked most in the Kursk region. Over the past 24 hours, January 8, 192 combat clashes occurred on the front line. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
7:59 The Russian airstrike with guided bombs on Zaporizhia resulted in a large number of wounded. At present, 113 people are known to have been injured, as well as 13 killed.
7:47 The Russian Federation has lost 1,430 soldiers on the front over the past 24 hours. This is evidenced by data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
05:00 Russian troops have advanced near nine settlements in the Donetsk region, the analytical project DeepState reported. Most of them are in the Pokrovsk direction. This includes advances in Toretsk, Peschanoye, near Vozdvizhenka, Baranovka, Solenoe, Slavyanka, Petrovpavlovka, Novolizavetovka and Kurakhovo.
01:57 The United States plans to transfer $500 million in weapons to Ukraine. This package will be announced during a meeting in the Rammstein format on Thursday, January 9, AP reports, citing its own sources.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Since the beginning of the day, 144 combat clashes have occurred on the front.
Our soldiers eliminated 197 and wounded 205 Russians in the Pokrovsky direction; destroyed three tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, two cars, and also significantly damaged one armored fighting vehicle, a tank and three vehicles of the invaders.
The defense forces are directing their efforts to disrupt the Russian invaders' plans for their arrival and to exhaust their combat potential. Since the beginning of the day, 144 combat clashes have occurred. This was noted in the General Staff's report on Thursday, January 9.
In the Kharkov direction, our troops repelled two enemy attacks in the Staritsa and Volchanskaya areas. The enemy attacked Volchanskye Khutors with NARs.
The aggressor carried out eight attacks on our fortifications in the Kupyansk direction near Zapadnoye, Kucherovka, Novaya Kruglyakovka, Petropavlovka and Zagryzovoye. Our defenders successfully repelled five attacks, three more clashes are ongoing.
In the Liman direction, Russian troops stormed the positions of Ukrainian defenders 17 times a day in the areas of the settlements of Zelenaya Roshcha, Borovskaya Andreyevka, Kopanki, Tverdokhlebovo, Makeyevka, Grekovka and Ivanovka. Two clashes are still ongoing. The enemy attacked Zelenaya Gai with NARs.
In the Seversky direction, our troops repelled one enemy attack in the area of the settlement of Belogorovka. At the same time, the enemy dropped three KABs on Verkhnekamenskoye.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the enemy attacked seven times near Chasovy Yar and Stupochki, all attacks have already been repelled. Mayskoye suffered an air strike with guided aerial bombs, the enemy attacked with unguided rockets near Kleshchyivka.
In the Toretsk direction, the occupiers stormed our defenders' positions 11 times today in the areas of the settlements of Toretsk, Belaya Gora and Shcherbinovka. In addition, three KABs were dropped on Konstantinovka and Toretsk, Druzhba was attacked by NARs.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy carried out 37 assault and offensive actions during the day. The greatest activity of the Russian occupiers remains in the areas of the settlements of Baranovka, Mirolyubovka, Elizavetovka, Luch, Lisovka, Zelenoe, Zverevoye, Novy Trud, Pokrovsk, Kotlino, Uspenovka, Novovasilovka, Novoandreyevka and Novoelizavetovka. Seven combat contacts are still ongoing.
According to preliminary estimates, today our soldiers eliminated 197 and wounded 205 invaders in this direction; destroyed three tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, two cars, and also significantly damaged one armored fighting vehicle, a tank and three vehicles of the invaders.
The enemy is also attacking intensively in the Kurakhovsky direction. By now, there have been 23 combat clashes. Our soldiers repelled attacks near Serebryanoye, Andreyevka, Petropavlovka, Kurakhovoye and Dachnoye. One combat clash is currently ongoing.
In the Vremivsky direction, the enemy tried to break through 11 times near the settlements of Yantarnoye, Konstantinopol and Razliv, one combat contact continues to this day. Temirovka and Bolshaya Novosyolka received KAB air strikes.
The enemy did not undertake any active actions in the Gulyai-Polye and Orekhov directions.
In the Dnieper direction, the enemy twice unsuccessfully attempted to push back the Defense Forces in the area of the islands of Kazatsky and Zabych. The enemy dropped four KABs on Kherson.
In the Kursk direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled 25 attacks by the invaders, one combat contact is still ongoing. In addition, the enemy carried out 19 air strikes, using 31 KAB, carried out 294 artillery shellings, including 11 from multiple launch rocket systems.
While in other areas there were no significant changes in the situation.
The General Staff recognized the Ukrainian soldiers of the 25th separate Sicheslav airborne brigade, the 3rd separate assault brigade, the 14th operational brigade named after Ivan Bogun of the NSU, the 31st separate mechanized brigade, the 406th separate artillery. General-ensign Alexey Almazov, who steadfastly held back the invasion of superior enemy forces.
Let us recall that fighters from the 80th Galician Brigade of the Ukrainian Airborne Assault Troops used an armored personnel carrier to crush Russian soldiers in Kursk region after they ran out of ammunition.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] As for the Syrian energy sector, on which the Americans eased sanctions, the situation has predictably worsened in the month since Assad fled.
Expectedly, for those in the know. Although in the first days, enthusiastic supporters of HTS (banned by the Russian Federation and elsewhere) wrote to me in the comments about generators brought to Aleppo, not understanding (or understanding) that the effect is purely advertising, and that it is impossible to provide a city of 2 million even in partial supply mode, even in certain areas for more than a week, without payment.
What is he, some kind of bloody-handed capitalist??
For information, according to official data for 2021, the deficit was 1 GW in Latakia alone! And this is Latakia with a population of less than 700 thousand, and not industrial Aleppo.
In general, the situation has worsened even where the supply was 3 hours to 3 hours, it became an hour to 10 without power, and on average in the country and even worse.
What happened? After all, the power plants were not bombed by Israel, there were no military actions around them, and the "Assad underground" did not sabotage them. Moreover, after the dissolution of the Syrian army, as well as the capture of all bases and special government facilities that were supplied with priority, these capacities also disappeared somewhere!
It is quite funny at the same time, the rhetoric of the new authorities to the population that the criminal regime has ruined everything so much that now we must be patient, although Assad, when he fled, did not take a single turbine or power plant with him, not to mention beach and wedding photos.
Therefore, it is not enough to have power plants and substations - you also need to have fuel (gas and fuel oil) for them, which Iran previously shipped to Assad on credit (the lion's share in the form of oil).
Partially, Iranian oil still covered the need for automobile fuel.
A simple calculation will show that it is necessary to purchase at least 2 million barrels monthly - and this is a billion dollars, well, or sit on the neck of Qatar and other bay guys, while simultaneously canceling subsidies for electricity prices.
So now Qatar and Turkey have driven 2 floating power plants with a capacity of 800 MW (which also need fuel, but okay, a little - they will give it, as humanitarian aid for now), it was announced that they plan to increase the supply by almost 50 percent (!).
And again I see a wave of delight in the networks, tears of gratitude, etc.
Well, and I, as in the story with the generators in Aleppo, again cannot help but note the main emphasis on the media, because in practice - this is a pea for an elephant, and even then, to return the energy supply, at least to the times of the criminal regime.
This is one of the reasons why Turkey is planning a military operation in Syrian Kurdistan to take control of Syrian oil from the Kurds and the US, which could at least partially solve the above-described problems. Hence the rhetoric in the style of "Al-Shaddadi in 3 days". Hence the continuing hypothetical option in relations with Russia - oil in exchange for bases.
Of course, this will not solve all of Syria’s economic problems.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The Ukrainian Armed Forces are engaged in heavy fighting in the east and south of Ukraine.
The enemy is attacking most actively in the Pokrovsky direction. Clashes began in the areas of 13 settlements.
Since the beginning of the day, 101 combat clashes have occurred on the front. Half of the battles are taking place in the Pokrovsky and Kurakhovsky directions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational report as of 16:00 on Thursday, January 9.
"Ukrainian troops are exhausting the enemy along the entire line of combat engagement and in the rear," the statement said.
Thus, in the Kharkov direction, one assault by enemy troops near Staritsa was repelled.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy attempted to advance five times during the day in the areas of Zapadnoye, Kucherovka, Petrovpavlovka and Zagryzovo.
In the Liman direction, 12 Russian attacks were recorded near the settlements of Zeleny Gai, Borovskaya Andreyevka, Kopanki, Tverdokhlebovo, Makeyevka, Grekovka and Ivanovka. Nine clashes are still ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, three attacks by the occupiers have been repelled in the area of Chasovy Yar. Not far from Belaya Gora, another clash continues.
In the Toretsk direction, the enemy tried to advance nine times in the areas of Toretsk and Shcherbinovka. Six combat clashes are currently ongoing.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy initiated clashes of varying intensity 31 times. 20 attacks were repelled in the areas of the settlements of Baranovka, Mirolyubovka, Elizavetovka, Promin, Lisovka, Zelenoe, Zverovoe, Novy Trud, Pokrovsk, Kotlino, Uspenovka, Novovasilovka and Novoelizavetovka. Eleven combat clashes are still ongoing.
Fierce fighting continues in the Kurakhovsky direction near Serebryanoye, Andreyevka, Petrovpavlovka, Kurakhovo and Dachnoye. Our defenders repelled 16 enemy attacks, four more clashes are ongoing.
In the Vremovsky direction, the aggressors attacked seven times in the areas of the settlements of Yantarnoye, Konstantinopol and Razliv, one clash is still ongoing.
In the Dnieper direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled one enemy assault in the area of Kazatsky Island.
In Kursk region our defenders repelled 11 attacks by the invaders, five clashes are still ongoing.
Let us recall that in the course of 24 hours on January 8, Russia lost more than 1,400 soldiers killed and wounded. The total losses of the aggressor country exceeded 800,000 people.
[NY Post] US longshoremen reached a contract agreement with ports and shippers Wednesday, averting a potential strike that could have damaged the American economy.
The International Longshoremen’s Association union and the US Maritime Alliance of ports and shipping companies said they had reached a tentative agreement for a six-year contract, a week ahead of a Jan. 15 deadline.
In a joint statement, the two sides said the agreement protects union jobs and allows ports on the East and Gulf coasts to modernize with new technology, " making them safer and more efficient, and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong.’’
They said they were not releasing details of the agreement publicly to give union and alliance members a chance to review and approve the document.
The longshoremen staged a three-day strike in October, suspending the walkout after agreeing to a 62% pay increase over six years. But that truce was contingent upon reaching an agreement over automation: The union worried that machines — especially semi-automated cranes — would replace human workers.
"This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports — making them safer and more efficient, and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong.
"This is a win-win agreement that creates ILA jobs, supports American consumers and businesses, and keeps the American economy the key hub of the global marketplace."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Oleg Khavich
[REGNUM] The key Central European country of Austria is entering the new year of 2025 with a clear prospect of Herbert Kickl, the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which opponents call both “fascist” and “pro-Russian,” coming to power.
On the afternoon of January 8, the new chairman of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), Christian Stocker, announced that he had accepted the offer to form a government coalition with the FPÖ. Two days earlier, Kickl had received the mandate to do so from Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.
Of course, Stocker’s agreement was accompanied by reservations such as “a strong, albeit more perfect, European Union is needed to overcome the current crises” (a reference to the Eurosceptic position of the FPÖ) or “partners must clearly and honestly state whether they want to orient themselves towards the free world or towards dictatorships” (a traditional complaint by the Austrian and European establishment about the “pro-Russian” nature of the FPÖ).
However, the speech of the new ÖVP leader was radically different from his behavior in parliament in October 2024, when Austrian politicians formed a united front against the FPÖ, which had won first place in the parliamentary elections. “Nobody needs you!” Stocker shouted at Kickl from the parliamentary rostrum. But three months later, the situation had changed noticeably.
The elections to the National Council (the lower house of the Austrian parliament) took place on September 29, 2024. The FPÖ won the election, receiving 28.85% of the vote. The ruling ÖVP came in second with 26.3%, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) secured the support of 21.1% of voters, the liberals from the New Austria and the Liberal Forum gained just over 9%, and the Greens 8.2%.
None of the parties that entered parliament expressed a willingness to enter into a coalition with the FPÖ, calling the party at best right-wing populists. Therefore, in violation of the tradition that had been established over the decades, Van der Bellen instructed the current chancellor and ÖVP chairman Karl Nehammer to form a government, rather than the leader of the winning party. In November, he began negotiations with the Social Democrats and the Liberals, but on January 4, he admitted that it was not possible to form a coalition due to the position of the "S-Democrats".
"It is impossible to reach an agreement with the SPÖ on key issues. The People's Party is sticking to its promises: we will not agree to measures against social benefits and business, or to the introduction of new taxes. Therefore, we are ending negotiations with the SPÖ and will not continue them," Nehammer said and announced his resignation as Chancellor of Austria and leader of the ÖVP, which is headed by Christian Stocker.
Two days later, the Austrian president finally entrusted the formation of a new coalition to Herbert Kickl.
"Mr. Kickl is confident that he can find viable solutions in government negotiations and wants to take on this responsibility," Van der Bellen, the former longtime leader of the Austrian Greens, said on January 6. According to the president, the decision was "not easy" for him. At the same time, he will continue to ensure that "the principles and rules of our constitution are respected and implemented."
And on January 8, the president entrusted the temporary leadership of the current cabinet to the ÖVP politician Alexander Schallenberg. He has headed the Austrian Foreign Ministry since 2019 and has already announced that he will not be part of the new government. Schallenberg has already been the interim chancellor of Austria for several weeks - after the resignation of Sebastian Kurz as head of government in 2021.
According to Austrian political analysts, the main reason for what is happening is the growing rating of the "Svoboda" party: at the moment, according to the results of opinion polls, about 35% of Austrians are ready to vote for the APÖ. Herbert Kickl also understands this: he said that he is "extending his hand to the new leader of the ÖVP", but the extended hand must be answered with "trust and honest negotiations", and if this is not guaranteed, then "new elections can be imagined".
In turn, Christian Stocker stated on January 8 that he is not afraid of such a scenario, but is not a supporter of announcing new parliamentary elections, “since they will not move the country forward.”
There were also opinions that Kickl received a mandate to form a government thanks to Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. However, as political scientist Kost Bondarenko, who now lives and works in Vienna, said in an exclusive commentary to IA Regnum, this hardly influenced the decision of the President of the Republic of Austria.
"It can be assumed that the general "rightward" sentiment in Europe could only partially influence the mood of the Austrian politicians, who until recently considered the first place of the "fascists" a political tragedy. Now they are more relaxed about Kikl and his party - the psyche of ordinary people has become accustomed to new trends in the world, and therefore the victory of the "Svoboda" members does not look so incredible," the expert notes.
He also rejects another conspiracy theory: that former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who has been working for the last three years for Peter Thiel, a close associate of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, will gain significant influence on the new Austrian government.
"The return to politics of former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is now perceived as a fantasy: he did not make any hints about returning to Austria. According to the official version, he got tired of politics and said that he would not return to it. Moreover, in February 2024, he was sentenced to 8 months probation for giving false testimony, which significantly undermined his ratings.
I am sure that Kurz's figure in Austrian politics is seriously overestimated: he was influential as long as his "grey cardinals" were influential, one of whom left this world in March 2022. I mean the former chairman of the AVP, former Vice-Chancellor Erhard Buzek," says Bondarenko.
And Herbert Kickl himself has to regularly disavow Russian influence on the APS.
The fact is that in 2016, this party signed an agreement on interaction and cooperation with the United Russia party (UR). And in 2018, the Austrian Foreign Minister from the APS, Karin Kneissl, drew sharp criticism by inviting Vladimir Putin to her wedding. Since June 2021, Kneissl has been a member of the board of directors of the Russian oil company Rosneft and now lives in Russia.
Kikl, who headed the APS in 2021, refused to extend the agreement with United Russia, stating that “we simply don’t need it.” However, this still didn’t save the APS from accusations of being “pro-Russian,” since the party publicly advocated ending armed support for Ukraine at the EU level, lifting sanctions against Russia, and immediate peace talks with Moscow.
The party called the rupture of economic relations with Russia one of the main reasons for the economic troubles of the Austrians, and now Ukraine has given the APS another trump card by blocking the transit of Russian gas, which Austria has recently been buying through Slovak intermediaries.
One cannot help but recall another accusation against Herbert Kickl personally – that he is a fascist. For example, the above-mentioned speech by Christian Stocker was effectively disrupted by a protest in front of the headquarters of the Austrian People's Party. Left-wing activists wrote on the wall of the building "It stinks of brown shit here", and the party logos were smeared with excrement.
The leader of the APÖ is constantly reminded that the party made “remigration” (a controversial term meaning the expulsion of migrants) one of the cornerstones of its campaign; Kickl himself promised to turn the country into “Fortress Austria,” and in 2018 proposed creating “migrant concentration centers.”
But the main complaint is that the politician built his campaign on the promise to become the "people's chancellor" - as Adolf Hitler called himself before the term "Führer of the German nation" became generally accepted. At the same time, the APÖ has repeatedly distanced itself from National Socialism, and a month before the parliamentary elections, it even filed a lawsuit against a public organization that widely disseminated information about the history of the term "people's chancellor".
"Without a doubt, with Herbert Kickl's arrival as Austrian chancellor there will also be some change of power in the European Union," political analyst Peter Hajek told Euronews. Kickl's opponents fear that, as chancellor, he will orient his policies towards the Russian-leaning Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and even try to rebuild Austria along Hungarian lines.
Orbán and Kikl have a really good relationship, and in the summer in Vienna, together with former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, they founded the Patriots for Europe faction, the third largest in the European Parliament. At the same time, Babiš's party ANO is the highest rated in the Czech Republic ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2025.
In this regard, Europe is once again talking about the “revival of Austria-Hungary” in the format of some kind of interstate association of Austria, Hungary, Slovakia (the Prime Minister of this country Robert Fico also has excellent relations with Viktor Orban), and in the future – the Czech Republic. However, according to Kostya Bondarenko, the idea of “New Austria-Hungary” so far exists only in the imagination of certain political experts.
"It will be possible to talk about an alliance of "pro-Trump" forces no sooner than in six months. During this time, both an "anti-Trump coalition" and a "coalition in support of Trump" may indeed form in Europe. But in the case of Austria, if Kickl and Stocker manage to form a coalition, the Trump factor may become a factor in its destruction and a government-parliamentary crisis rather than in the consolidation of parts of the former Austria-Hungary as a single political field," he is sure.
#5
With few exceptions, nowadays, European and British politicians (and Democrats) are so statist that we in America would define them as fascist/communist, so that can’t be held against any particular politician. Many are also so anti-Israel as to be Jew-haters, so again, not much of a difference. Pro-Russian vs pro-Ukraine? They’re both corrupt and, since both are having babies at well below replacement numbers, the question is only who hits zero first.
🎮 As one of the creators of Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, I grew up under the regime this story describes.
⏳ Now, watching hundreds of thousands of players experience a fictional Cold War Czechoslovakia-inspired conflict in Arma Reforger, I feel compelled to share something deeper than just videogame remarks.
🤔 Please take a moment to read this story that captures a haunting historical irony that I hope resonates powerfully today. While players explore our carefully recreated 1980s warfare, here's an honest tale directly related to that era that shows how the past echoes unexpectedly in our actual times.
The extreme left's ideology of progressive socialism has managed to dominate the West. The watermelon comparison is absolutely accurate—beneath the green and rainbow exterior lie the old bad red ideals. And sometimes, life writes unbelievable stories.
There, at the helm of Great Britain, once the cradle of modern democracy and personal freedom, stands a cold-blooded figure who continues to lead his country into leftist hell, even though a socialist multicultural intersectional paradise was promised.
In his youth, he was active in SSM. His SSM Socialist Self-Management (SSM) was a small ultra-left Trotskyist group that operated in the 1980s on the borderline of libertarian left, eco-socialism, feminism, and the "official" Trotsky legacy, publishing the Socialist Alternatives magazine. In 1986, he even became close with the Czechslovak's very own SSM, the Socialist Youth Union.
SUMMER 1986
A hot summer evening in Cheb. A group of young people laughs over a beer in a garden restaurant. Among them sits young Keir Starmer, hair dishevelled, shirt unbuttoned, his third pint of Pilsner in front of him. Czech girls from the local SSM branch teach him basic Czech phrases, which he then comically mangles while they giggle and cling to him. Catching a Westerner would be something...
"Comrade from Britain, how do you like it here?" asks one of the SSM functionaries, a State Security agent, putting an arm around his shoulders.
The whole table erupts in laughter. The official program of the visit is cleaning the memorial in Lidice, which has long been forgotten.
Later that night, the whole group moves to an SSM member's apartment. Forbidden Lou Reed plays on the record player. Someone pulls out a guitar. In drunkenness, Keir even attempts to listen to a Czechoslovak song he learned that afternoon.
"This is socialism," young Starmer thinks through an alcoholic haze, watching his new friends dance to Western music in an apartment full of official socialist posters. "Young people enjoying life."
AUTUMN 2024
A foggy morning in London. Sir Keir Starmer, in a perfectly fitted suit, walks past a row of security cameras into his office, importantly carrying papers. On his desk is a report about the latest arrests for "harmful posts" on social media.
"How many this week?" he asks his assistant. "Seventy-three, sir."
Starmer nods. The system works exactly as it should. Britain in 2024 is a country of perfect surveillance: cameras on every corner, social media monitoring, and preventive arrests of potential "disturbers of order."
The TV shows news about another protest, which was quickly "calmed" by the police. Footage shows young protesters being dragged into police vans. Some are the age he was during that summer in Prague.
In the evening, he sits at home with a glass of whisky. For a brief moment, he remembers that night in the Cheb apartment, Lou Reed on the record player, the laughter of Czech girls, that freedom of pretense when everyone knew they were playing a game but enjoyed it.
Now, there's no pretending anymore. The system is efficient, direct, and uncompromising. There is no pretence, no double lives, just pure, cold, omnipresent digital control.
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.
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
.jpg "Kashmir")
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
[Bee] President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama were just separated from their seats together at the Carter funeral for goofing off, snickering, and generally disruptive behavior.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
