[FOX] Victor Davis Hanson warned Tuesday that America is declining as a society into a danger zone, and one of the main culprits is a refusal to prosecute crime and equally execute the nation's laws.
Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, chided "woke" ideology and said that it needs to be redefined as an "evil" and "cruel" ideology in order to fight its spread on "Fox News Primetime."
"It's a very evil ideology because it's cruel. It's mean-spirited. And we haven't talked about that. But if that's what it is and it won't end until the people start identifying it like that ... It's cruelty because it has a history throughout the centuries, and it doesn't end well."
He specifically addressed the thefts from train cars that are occurring in Los Angeles, which are leaving scattered packaging all over the train tracks. "It's all unwinding," he said. "When you look at those train tracks and that trash, you say this is not a third-world country, but it is."
We knew about weakening rule of law. We predicted that inflation would spiral out of control. We identified Fauci as a liar and Brandon as a muppet and Pelosi, Brennan-Comey-Crapper-MilliVanilli-DaFerret and all the rotten Deep State crew as corrupt poltroons.
But now we're seeing the end of belief in the system itself.
The COVID fiasco has destroyed the great credibility that our public health and medical establishment had. The AFG fiasco and Milley-Austin's Woke lunacy have created the esteem which the military held in the public' eyes. The insane capitulation to race-warriors and violent black felons running rampant on our streets has destroyed any sense of security or safety for millions of Americans.,
#4
^ When we citizens revere the common soldier enough to no longer let jacklegs inhabit the upper ranks, that will be getting us somewhere.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 12:02
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#5
Prediction: Lots of solid, smart patriotic young would-be warriors in this country will turn away from ROTC and the academies in coming years.
Which means our officer ranks in coming years will become even more stunk up with self-promoting careerists and little virtue-signalers who have no interest in fighting and winning wars.
[Breitbart] A trial court in northern Pakistan’s Rawalpindi city sentenced a 26-year-old Muslim woman to death on Wednesday for blasphemy against Islam after finding her guilty of "sharing images deemed to be insulting to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and one of his wives" via the instant messaging application WhatsApp, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday.
"The blasphemous material which was shared/installed by the female accused on her status [on WhatsApp messaging platform] and the messages as well as caricatures which were sent to the complainant are totally unbearable and not tolerable for a Muslim," Judge Adnan Mushtaq wrote in his verdict in the case on January 20.
Rawalpindi’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) first filed charges including blasphemy against Aneeqa Ateeq in May 2020 based on the complaint of a man named Hasnat Farooq. Ateeq pled not guilty to the charges.
Farooq met Ateeq online while participating in a multiplayer video game popular in Pakistan and continued to communicate with her afterward via WhatsApp. Ateeq wrote in an evidentiary statement to Rawalpindi’s trial court that Farooq "deliberately pulled her into a religious discussion to frame her after she refused ’to be friendly’ towards him," Al Jazeera relayed on Thursday.
"So I feel that he intentionally dragged into this topic for revenge, that’s why he got registered [sic] a case against me and during [WhatsApp] chat he collected everything that went against me," Ateeq alleged.
"Farooq contends the accused shared the allegedly blasphemous material as a WhatsApp status and refused to delete it when he confronted her on that messaging platform," according to Al Jazeera.
Judge Adnan Mushtaq issued Ateeq a death sentence on Wednesday according to "Section 295-C [blasphemy]" of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPP), the Karachi-based newspaper Dawn reported on January 20. The Rawalpindi trial court additionally awarded Ateeq a 10-year prison sentence and a $283 fine according to "Section 295-A [insulting religious belief]" of the national penal code.
Judge Mushtaq further convicted Ateeq of "posing as [a] Muslim under Section 298 of the PPC and awarded [her a] three years sentence with Rs50,000 [$283] fine," Dawn reported. Ateeq received a separate seven-year prison sentence and another $283 fine on Wednesday for violating Section 11 of Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), which pertains to "hate speech."
[Breitbart] Computer chip maker Intel will reportedly be investing $20 billion to develop a new chip manufacturing site in New Albany, Ohio. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told TIME in an interview that the chipmaker expects the location to become “the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet,” adding that the plant could expand to 2,000 acres. Gelsinger said that the new site could become the “Silicon Heartland.”
The Verge reports that chipmaker Intel will be spending $20 billion to construct a new chip manufacturing site in New Albany, Ohio, close to Columbus. The 1,000-acre manufacturing plant will contain two chip factories and will employ at least 3,000 people and “tens of thousands” more across suppliers and company partners.
Pat Gelsinger builds stuff and builds companies. He designed the 80486 processor and was Intel's first CTO during its glory years.
Unlike our idiot oligarchs, Pat is selfless, humble and generous. He gives half his salary to charity and is probably the only Silicon Valley leader of his stature who's a devout Christian. He helped create William Jessup U. and he helps build dozens of churches across the Americas each year. The man is as down-to-earth as he is smart and successful.
"Silicon Heartland" is a fabulous idea and Gelsinger has the expertise and proven track record to make it a reality. He and Gov. DeWine, Sens. Portman and Brown deserve nothing but praise for bringing this about.
If we'd had more CEOs like this man, we wouldn't be in the deep hole we find ourselves in now.
Kalifornia's preening Brylcream Governor and idiot environmentalists have given the state such a retarded water policy that CA actually lets winter rainfall flow off into the Pacific each year.
Their policies actually create drought -- and use this self-inflicted crisis to push their gerbil worming agenda on the state's businesses and residents.
#10
AMD's an American company too. They just don't own any fabs. They did, but sold them off, and rely on TSMC for the bulk of their chip manufacturing now.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 13:38
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#11
By AMD fabbing their chips with TMSC, they went from 1 process generation behind to 1 process generation ahead of Intel. In those few years, AMD's stock price increased 60X for it. Intel's stock price barely moved.
#13
^ Well, as long as AMD has the IP and masks for the chips, they can be made anywhere the right process is in place. Since most of the chipmaking gear actually comes from the Netherlands, probably lots of fabs in America, Ireland, Germany and maybe even Israel could make them.
Of course, if China seizes Taiwan without a fight, they will still be able to make those
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 14:44
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#14
... after 2+ years ramping up, with even more disruption to our economy.
Foreign dependence for vital supplies is a bad idea. The gains to equity investors aren't worth the cost to our national security.
And yes, [semiconductor] chips are not equivalent to [potato] chips -- indifferent to orthodox free traders as per theory of comparative advantage. It was really stupid of our globalist geniuses in the 1990s to pretend otherwise. We're paying the price now.
#15
Distributed systems are best. Redundancy, resiliency, capacity that can respond to fluctuations in demand.
Oh, and, security from hostiles.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 14:52
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#16
Intel went from world fab process leader (along with IBM) to 2nd place wannabe in a few years. It was all self inflicted. In 2015-2020, they had a disastrous chief of manufacturing/engineering who screwed up the 10nm manufacturing process several times and delayed the transition to 7nm which AMD was able to exploit.
#18
#16 and then our greatest hi-tech manufacturing firm hired a bean-counter to carve itself up. Swan delighted investors. He nearly killed the company in the process.
Shareholder capitalism =/= national security. Sometimes they're compatible. Not always.
Areas in de-escalation zone in #Syria's northwest witnessed mutual shelling between government forces and opposition factions coinciding with intensive flight by Russian drones. #Russia#SNA#Turkeyhttps://t.co/zVBgInWW9n
Hannover, Germany: #Antifa protesters are forcibly moved when they tried to block a conservative march. Police picked up one person, who then kicks his legs. Police drop him to the ground & he hits his head. The incident is being condemned by leftists. pic.twitter.com/vQfC8AMZyN
#1
I almost got into a brawl in Hannover, early January 1987 when Reagan was deploying Pershing II missiles against the Soviets back then. The cops told me to get the fuck out and bullrushed me away about a block or so.
It's nearly impossible to find any references to this editorial by Professor Ehud Qimron, head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tel Aviv University, but it demolishes the Branch COVIDians' bullshit, bullying and rampaging incompetence of the last two years.
Prof. Qimron accuses the Israeli Ministry of Health of a “lust for power, budgets and control” entailing lockdowns, restrictions and vaccine mandates and alleges that health authorities had ignored established epidemiological science and pandemic plans at the outset – and then refused to adjust policies in the face of real-world data.
Prof. Qimron's comments calling on the Health Ministry to “admit failure” occur as Israel is swamped with an Omicron wave that PM Bennett says will infect up to 40 per cent of the population.
Take it away, Prof. Qimron:
“Two years late, you finally realise that a respiratory virus cannot be defeated and that any such attempt is doomed to fail.
“You do not admit it, because you have admitted almost no mistake in the last two years, but in retrospect it is clear that you have failed miserably in almost all of your actions, and even the media is already having a hard time covering your shame.
“You refused to admit that the infection comes in waves that fade by themselves, despite years of observations and scientific knowledge. You insisted on attributing every decline of a wave solely to your actions, and so through false propaganda ‘you overcame the plague’. And again you defeated it, and again and again and again.
“You refused to admit that mass testing is ineffective, despite your own contingency plans explicitly stating so.
“You refused to admit that recovery is more protective than a vaccine, despite previous knowledge and observations showing that non-recovered vaccinated people are more likely to be infected than recovered people. You refused to admit that the vaccinated are contagious despite the observations. Based on this, you hoped to achieve herd immunity by vaccination – and you failed in that as well.
“You insisted on ignoring the fact that the disease is dozens of times more dangerous for risk groups and older adults, than for young people who are not in risk groups, despite the knowledge that came from China as early as 2020.”
Prof Qimron predicted all this in Aug. 2020. He says the Israeli government should have adopted the Great Barrington Declaration approach laid out in 2020 by Sunetra Gupta of the University of Oxford, Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford and Martin Kulldorff of Harvard calling for an end to “devastating” lockdown policies around the world.
Qimron to the Usraeli authorities:
“You chose to ridicule, slander, distort and discredit them.
“The truth is that you have brought the public’s trust in you to an unprecedented low, and you have eroded your legitimacy.
“The truth is that you have burned hundreds of billions of shekels to no avail – for publishing intimidation, for ineffective tests, for destructive lockdowns and for disrupting the routine of life in the last two years.
“You have destroyed the education of our children and their future. You have harmed livelihoods, the economy, human rights, mental health and physical health. You slandered colleagues who did not surrender to you, you turned the people against each other, divided society and polarised the discourse.”
Prof. Qimron also attacks Israel’s “Green Pass” vaccine passport system, saying the government had branded, “without any scientific basis, people who chose not to get vaccinated as enemies of the public and as spreaders of disease.
“But you have been cultivating this situation for two years now because of lust for power, budgets and control.
“The only emergency now is that you still set policies and hold huge budgets for propaganda and psychological engineering instead of directing them to strengthen the health care system.”
#4
“The only emergency now is that you still set policies and hold huge budgets for propaganda and psychological engineering instead of directing them to strengthen the health care system.”
Administrators are perfectly positioned to suck up the money before it gets to practitioners. Same problem exists in education.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 9:18
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#5
Fail.
As of September 9, 2021 -- it's probably even worse now (for the COVIDian power freaks):
Indicator...........Israel...........Palestine.....Jordan
Population.......9,227,700....5,101,414....10,203,134
COVID Cases 1,140,000........393,777........805,214
% Pop. Infected......12.3%..........7.7%..........7.8%
“Dartmouth College canceled a planned in-person appearance by conservative journalist Andy Ngo Thursday night in response to threats of violence from the left-wing activists who call themselves Antifa.” https://t.co/bFJSrkoZva
Dartmouth canceled event featuring @MrAndyNgo over "security concerns." I.e. the thugs got their way. (The event went ahead online.) I was lucky to meet Andy this week in person, after talking to him by phone and online for a while. Brave man with a proper journalist's curiosity. https://t.co/ieRMn7dlNM
"People r going to end up dead & in prison" The @Reddit for the @SocialistRA has members discussing showing up armed for "pest control" & to "redact" me to stop me from reporting. They discuss leaving their phones at home to avoid incriminating themselves. https://t.co/EzaJoakoddpic.twitter.com/0gcjDPe2eL
After an #Antifa account tagged several armed leftist groups to bring their attention to my speaking event at Dartmouth College, one of them said it “called in the reserves so there will be a battalion of antifa super soldiers to greet him.” https://t.co/xOrBSSAzLIpic.twitter.com/RPp3wk9Kw8
#2
I just a saw a news report on TV about a guy facing fed charges for the same thing. Why not these assholes?
Posted by: Chris ||
01/23/2022 9:48
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#3
What a bunch of sissies
What happened to having the event and siccing the police and dogs and the sheriffs on these thugs
We have people in jail for taking selfies in the Capital rotund without bail and these unapologetically violet hooligans are burning this country down?
They accepted me back in 1966, but I turned them down. Now happier than ever not to be associated with them.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/23/2022 13:26
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#5
That kind of thing is at most schools nowadays, Tom, so you might want to check into yours. Even the third tier universities I’ve been associated with — U at Buffalo and U of Cincinnati — have recently made the news for various stupidities of this nature.
[HodhodYemenNews] The Yemeni army’s military media has on Thursday afternoon released scenes of the losses suffered by the UAE-backed forces in Shabwah province.
The Yemeni army’s military media has on Thursday afternoon released scenes of the losses suffered by the UAE-backed forces in Shabwah province.
The scenes show the destruction and burning of several armoured vehicles and military patrols, as well as the human losses suffered by the coalition forces in the Harib district of Shabwah.
The army spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e, announced Wednesday that a wide movement of the UAE-backed forces had been repelled in the Harib and Ain districts, without them having made any progress.
The black man charged over the killing of an NYPD officer & the critical injuring of another in Harlem is a career criminal with multiple felony convictions. Lashawn McNeil’s social media featured #BLM & black nationalist content. https://t.co/jMeUTfB4Xppic.twitter.com/xZ7zTOWrN7
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. By Aleksandr Kots
[KP] Two experts, Alexander Kontorovich, a criminologist with 30 years of experience and a specialist in small arms, and his colleague, an expert in weapons and ammunition from NATO countries, worked in Abkhazia at the invitation of local special services. For almost a month they studied numerous trophies taken in the conflict zone. They shot weapons that were exotic for our region, such as Negev machine guns and Bushmaster automatic rifles. They blew up Georgian-made grenades and tested vaunted, allegedly American bulletproof vests.
#1
These were the guys who attacked Russia (South Ossetia), right? And got their asses handed to them?
Say, remember when our elites were hell-bent on adding them to NATO, despite the fact they're way the hell away and there is no possible upside for being responsible for their defense?
[AEIR - HT Insty] In “Who killed L.A.’s streetcars? We all did,” (Los Angeles Times, 11/2/21) Patt Morrison rehearsed a famous question about an iconic Angelino transit institution stretching back more than a century—“Who killed the Red Cars?”
Amid lengthy movie and conspiracy theory references, the most important point for understanding modern as well as historical transit developments was that “The victim was already dying, losing passengers.” Morrison then cites Martha Bianco’s conclusion that the enemy was “the consumer.” However, she erroneously attributed that fact to “our besotted fondness for our cars.” In fact, our fondness for our cars is based on cold, hard facts that continue to make an overwhelming case for automobiles over mass transit, and show why all the attempts to rescue transit by making it “work better” for Angelinos are doomed.
As the UCLA Institute of Transportation found, rising car ownership makes transit usage plummet. Once a household has access to a car, they almost universally prefer driving to mass transit. That is why planners’ attempts to browbeat residents into walking, cycling and using mass transit, supposedly improving their quality of life, attracts so few away from driving.
Cars are simply vastly superior to transit alternatives for the vast majority of individuals and circumstances.
Automobiles have far greater and more flexible passenger- and cargo-carrying capacities than transit. They allow direct, point-to-point service, unlike transit. They allow self-scheduling rather than requiring advance planning. They save time, especially time spent waiting, which transit riders find the most onerous. They have far better multi-stop trip capability (which is why restrictions on auto use punish working mothers most). They offer a safer, more comfortable, more controllable environment, from the seats to the temperature to the music to the company.
Autos’ superiority doesn’t stop there, either. They expand workers’ access to jobs and educational opportunities, increase productivity and incomes, improve purchasing choices, lower consumer prices and widen social options. Trying to inconvenience people out of their cars undermines those major benefits, as well.
Cars allow decreased commuting times if not hamstrung, providing workers access to far more potential jobs and training possibilities. That improves worker-employer matches, with expanded productivity raising workers’ incomes as well as benefiting employers. One study found that 10 percent faster travel raised worker productivity by 3 percent, and increasing from 3 mph walking speed to 30 mph driving is a 900 percent increase. The magnitude of such advantages is seen in a Harvard analysis that concluded that for someone lacking a high-school diploma, owning a car increased their monthly earnings by $1,100.
Cars are also the only practical way to assemble enough widely dispersed potential customers to sustain large stores with affordable, diverse offerings. “Automobility” also sharply expands access to social opportunities.
Those massive advantages explain why even substantial new restrictions on automobiles or improvements in alternatives leave driving the vastly dominant choice. They also reveal that policies which will punish the vast majority for whom driving remains far superior cannot effectively serve all residents’ interests.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2022
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[19 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Flexibility vs regimentation. Your schedule instead of someone else's. In a word, freedom.
Lefties hate freedom. Full stop.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 8:47
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#2
We have street cars in ATL. Seems like the lefties would love them, just like pouring money down a hole.
Posted by: Chris ||
01/23/2022 10:08
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#3
We got something similar in Cincinnati — the local elites fussed for two decades until it was built, over budget and behind schedule — and as some of is predicted it hemorrhaged money from Day 1. Even poor people who live in the city prefer driving their personal junkers to take public transport.
#Ethiopia’s military is planning to enter the #Tigray regional capital of Mekelle and “eliminate” rebellious forces, a top military official says amid diplomatic efforts to end conflict in the country’s north.https://t.co/5L3awoOaWa
[DefenseNews] WASHINGTON — A multibillion-dollar missile defense system owned by the United Arab Emirates and developed by the U.S. military intercepted a ballistic missile on Monday during a deadly attack by Houthi militants in Abu Dhabi, marking the system’s first known use in a military operation, Defense News has learned.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, made by Lockheed Martin, took out the midrange ballistic missile used to attack an Emirati oil facility near Al-Dhafra Air Base, according to two sources granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the UAE’s activities. The Emirati base hosts U.S. and French forces.
The attack, which used cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones, killed three civilians and wounded six others, UAE’s ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, said earlier in the week.
"Several attacks, a combination of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones, targeted civilian sites in the UAE. Several were intercepted, a few of them [weren’t], and three innocent civilians unfortunately lost their lives," Al Otaiba said at a virtual event sponsored by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022
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#1
...May not have been a terribly impressive kill, but it does introduce a little uncertainty into malicious minds..
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/23/2022 14:11
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#2
It would have been a debacle if it missed.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 14:27
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More on the four of the five being released — describing Suhayl al-Sharabi, Moath Hamza al-Alwi, Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, Guled Hassan Duran — expanding on this and this from a week ago.
[FrontPage] Is there any Islamic terrorist too evil for Biden to release?
After Obama’s obsession with freeing as many Islamic forces of Evil from Gitmo as possible, the ones who remained were the absolute worst of the worst. Now Biden is setting them loose too.
5 Islamic terrorists, Al Qaeda and allies, have been scheduled for release from custody.
Continued on Page 49
[AlAhram] Four people died after a boat carrying Europe-bound migrants colonists on the Mediterranean Sea sank off Tunisia's coast, the Tunisian Defense Ministry said Friday.
Defense Ministry front man Mohammed Zekri said navy divers rescued 21 people on Thursday night and seven were still missing. The boat was heading to Italia, Zekri said.
Local media reported that a 10-year-old girl was among those who died.
Survivors told authorities that the boat had left the island of Kerkennah, near the port city of Sfax, carrying 32 Tunisians.
The U.N. has estimated that 20% of about 115,000 migrants colonists who reached Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... by sea last year started the journey from Tunisia. Social unrest has gripped the North African country has for years as the economy worsened and unemployment reached 18%.
The central Mediterranean route, which runs from North Africa to southern Italia, is the busiest and deadliest migration route to Europe. People travel from Libya and Tunisia in crowded boats and at the mercy of the smugglers, they pay to get them across the sea.
About 60,000 people arrived in Italia by sea last year, and some 1,200 died or disappeared on the journey, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
On Wednesday, an amphibious unit of Tunisia's navy rescued 23 people from a sinking boat as they left Tunisia for Italia, according to the Tunisian Defense ministry. It said 13 of the passengers were from Mali and 10 were from the Ivory Coast.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/23/2022
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[15 views]
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Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] The Saudis and Emirates, in retaliation for the Houthis strikes on Abu Dhabi, organized a great revenge, killing more than 100 civilians.
1. The prison in Saada was bombed - 86 killed and 286 wounded (almost all prisoners).
2. They bombed the stadium in Hodeida, where the match of children's football teams was held - 4 children were killed, 13 children and adults were injured.
3. They bombed the building of the main Internet operator in Yemen, as a result of which the country was left without the Internet. They bombed the Baby Milk Faktory!
The UN Secretary General gurgled listlessly something about condemning such massacres of civilians.
The Houthis have already promised to respond to these war crimes of the interventionists exterminating the people of Yemen. The Houthi command recommends that foreign companies operating in the UAE leave this country so as not to accidentally suffer during retaliation strikes. We are waiting for new missile strikes on the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
As of January 22, most of Yemen is still without the Internet, it works stably only in Aden, where there is a separate provider under the control of the interventionists.
The rest of the population of Yemen is deliberately denied access to the network.
.@RazSimone, the self-appointed warlord of CHAZ who patrolled the occupied BLM-Antifa zone in Seattle in 2020 & handed out weaponry, is being sued by 5 women for sex trafficking & abuse. He has previously admitted to pimping women. #BLM#Antifahttps://t.co/OL8alJ7TD3
[Washington Examiner] Former President Donald Trump conveyed a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin through a Senate intermediary Friday against an invasion of Ukraine.
Sen. Lindsey Graham shared a "pretty stunning and, I think, appropriate" comment from Trump following what Fox News host Sean Hannity said was a "lengthy" meeting.
"He said Putin is realizing that Biden's weak, but he doesn't realize that Biden won't be around in 2024. So President Trump said today if they invade Ukraine, the Russians, it will make it impossible for any future president to have a normal relationship with Russia," the South Carolina Republican said.
#1
Obama was the first modern-day president to break the unwritten rule about criticizing current sitting presidents once they were out of office. Trump's taking it to another level. Bet Bathhouse Barry's regretting it now, or what?
#2
Apart from Wilson, Trump is the only president after Red October to have authorized defensive measures against Russian troops that resulted in significant Russian deaths. I'd say Putin doesn't doubt Trump's willingness to act against Russian troops when he deems it necessary. Trump's willingness to strike hard is precisely why no one tested him in a significant way.
#5
At any time before or after the Cold War, the US and Russia could have joined forces to dominate or even enslave the entire planet. Whether the rest of the world realizes it or is grateful it didn't happen, we will never know.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 11:07
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#6
Dale, we never really got anything out of cooperating with Russia but a space station in the wrong orbit to transfer cargo to outbound craft.
And Russia, Iran, and China have been working together for about 27 years, at least. The rest of y'all have just been doing your "deign not to notice" act that whole two + going on three decades.
"Look away, look away, look away... " but I ain't whistling Dixie.
#2
You must be new to the Climate Game. Ice and snow are a sure indication of global warming. Along with heat, rain, drought, floods, tsunamis, meteors, and weather in general.
#4
We'', Leonardo DiCaprio said we only had 9 years left yesterday. This must be the beginning of the end.
Posted by: Chris ||
01/23/2022 10:00
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#5
...I was in the Magic Kingdom Jan - Jul 95, for what was called the 'Spring Break Rotation' - a full WEEK of rain and hail that pretty much paralyzed the place.
Best part was one fire-breather who was determined to show that we could, in fact, get to work. Now, this involved taking the only direct road from al-Kharj to Prince Sultan AB...which traversed a hundred-acre sewage lagoon that was pumped full daily by the city of al-Kharj. Fella found out that there was more than sufficient effluvia to float his Land Cruiser...and since he ended up (mostly) submerged in it, he was awarded a series of gamma globulin shots, a letter of reprimand, and an early trip home.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/23/2022 14:20
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1. Rising Sea Levels – Why did Al purchase an beachfront mansion!
2. Increased Tornadoes – Actually activities are declining for decades, according to Weather.gov data
3. New Ice Age in Europe 2015 – it never happened.
4. Melting Arctic – false – 2015 alone represents the largest refreezing in years.
5. Polar Bear Extinction – actually their numbers are increasing! Plus we now have Brown(Griz?) / Poplar Bear hybreds
6. Temperature Increases Due to CO2 – Opps no significant rising for over the last 18 years.
This hysteria and apocalyptic fear mongering started back with the 1970 Earth Day predictions:
End of civilization in 15-30 years $$$$$ maker. No matter how you count we are still here beyond the predicted end of the world.
A new ice age by 2000 or the recent 180 opposite. Where all the of the East Coast is under water, due melting polar ice caps gone by 2010 (yep! missed that one also.)
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Aleksandr Kots
[KP] In the bacchanalia unfolding in Ukraine around the upcoming “invasion” of Russia (they say on TV that this matter is practically solved), one thing is missing. important. And what, in fact, do Ukrainians themselves think about this ?
#1
I think one of the things that we see going on now with Russia in Ukraine is that Russia is a country with great martial traditions – even the Revolution did not completely break those traditions. There were European countries (e.g. Prussia) that also had martial traditions but these were largely broken while the Russian ones have survived. So Russia is the last remaining country in Europe that sees war as diplomacy by other means. Combined with the Chinese and the Persian hankering for the glory years of yore, when their armies swept all before them, I expect the next few decades to be rife with headlines of (hopefully) distant battles.
#2
I don't expect any military action until after the Nord Stream pipeline is in operation.
Once that happens, Russia can cut off the pipeline through the Ukraine and probably get some concession of some kind, either a slice of territory near the existing russia influenced zones or an acknowledgement of autonomy for those zones or both.
I don't know how much natural gas storage Ukraine has but I doubt it is more than a few weeks worth and after that they are in a lot of trouble.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/23/2022 9:25
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A security source told Shafaq News Agency that the artillery of the army and the PMF bombed ISIS targets and sites in preparation for major security operations "in Dire Revenge for the victims of the al-Azim massacre."
Eleven Iraqi soldiers were killed on Friday when ISIS Death Eaters attacked their base in Diyala Governorate.
[Garowe] The United States military has significantly reduced Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Somalia, something which analysts relate to the withdrawal of the troops from the Horn of Africa nation in 2021, following an order from the Pentagon.
Former US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... ordered the withdrawal of US Africa Command troops before redeploying them to Djibouti and Kenya in 2021. The US argued that the troops were "strategically repositioned".
Data obtained from the US Africa Command indicate that in 2021, the US carried out only 10 airstrikes in Somalia compared to 72 in 2020. The airstrikes mainly target al-Shabaab ...... Somalia's version of the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... , functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... Death Eaters besides helping allied forces with air surveillance.
Dozens of senior al-Shabaab gunnies have been killed in various airstrikes including Ahmed Godane, the former al-Shabaab leader who was killed by a dronezap in 2015. The US has been targeting dangerous gunnies after doing due diligence.
But throughout 2020, there were complaints of the US military targeting innocent civilians, leading to the establishment of the Civilian Casualty Report which is now being issued quarterly. A few cases which have been confirmed, have since been lined up for compensation.
After Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. An incredibly corrupt version of Jar-Jar Binks, only well into his dotage. The dumbass who abandoned Afghanistan.... took over, there have been deliberate efforts to reinstate the US army in Somalia. General Stephen Townsend and a host of the top military from the United States Army recently visited Somalia where discussions were held.
To mitigate frequent al-Shabaab attacks, the US deployed Special Forces to Wajir in Kenya where they are closely working with the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF]. The US presence in Kenya has increased following the unprecedented attack in Manda Bay, 2020.
According to data obtained by VOA, U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, 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... , and Somalia totaled 852 last year, which was 42% fewer than the 1,459 U.S. airstrikes carried out in the same war zones in 2020, VoA reports.
More than a third of the strikes in the Middle East in 2020 and 2021 were carried out by a special counterterror joint task force, whose 2021 airstrike numbers are being disclosed for the first time in this report.
Two weeks after Inauguration Day, President Joe Biden announced his administration would take steps to "course-correct" U.S. foreign policy to "better unite our democratic values with our diplomatic leadership." He tasked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to lead a review of U.S. forces around the world, so that America's military footprint was, in his words, "appropriately aligned with our foreign policy and national security priorities."
Somalia is struggling to contain violent mostly peaceful extremism and the US Africa Command has been a close partner. The United States has often insisted that the stability of the East Africa region depends on the elimination of the al-Shabaab bully boys.
[Rudaw] Three Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) suspects, including two leaders, were killed in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... south of the ancient city of Hatra, Iraqi Security Media Cell announced on Saturday.
"In response to the recent cowardly, treacherous terrorist activities, and through field follow-up and intensification of intelligence efforts of the Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency in the Ministry of Interior, as well as the Joint Operations Command, two leaders of the ISIS terrorist gang were followed up," Iraq's Security Media Cell said in a tweet.
"The terrorist gangs of ISIS, namely the terrorist named Abu Issam, who holds the position of the so-called official of the Tigris sector, and the criminal terrorist Abu Mahmoud, were riding a pickup truck and wearing two boom belts, accompanied by a third terrorist," noted the statement, as it described who the members were.
The air force was provided with the information, which in turn directed a precise airstrike on their location south of Hatra between the districts of Hawija and Baiji, killing the members and destroying the vehicle.
The attack come a day after a deadly ISIS attack on an Iraqi base in Diyala province that killed 11 soldiers. The terror group grabbed credit for the attack.
In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 6 attacks in Iraq from January 13 to January 19, killing and injuring 17 people.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 7:45
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#2
Yet another foreign military misadventure with financial origins gone terribly bad. Yes, the US was involved in logistical support. England had run out of horses, and those which were available were unsuited to the task.
#3
Despite the ending (Which is true) it's still a great movie about the way in which governments speak out of both sides of their mouths and shaft those they have on the sharp end.
#4
Summary executions were common on both sides. Spies were shot. Farmers wearing pieces of British Army uniforms or boots were shot. Farmers found to have 'dum dum' ammo were shot (cartridges with the tips cut off).
#5
Can't remember which well-known Clausewitz-grade war scholar said it, but the quote sticks with me: "Killing is the sine qua non of war." As soon as the political authorities get queasy about the optics of this or that killing, the spiral continues until you get the US in Afghanistan, where almost all killing was considered icky to the point there was no longer any chance of a decisive outcome other than the pathetic surrender that actually occurred.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 12:00
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#6
"Killing is the sine qua non of war."
More like, destroy the enemy's ability to make war. That's the sine qua non of victory in war.
We'll never kill all the Taliban. We should have focused a strategy on working with their neighbors incl Russia and India to contain the Taliban in their caves and mountain lairs
#9
You poor fools. Nobody was ever trying to win in Afghanistan. They let Bin Laden get away at Tora Bora and then began the forever war. Victory would have meant pulling out. You think they could have squeezed $2 trillion out of us with a win? No, the goal was to continue the war indefinitely. There were generals furious at the withdrawal, saying we must stay in Afghanistan for another 50 years.
[NY Post] Families of US embassy personnel in Ukraine will be ordered by the State Department to evacuate as soon as Monday, according to reports, as Russian belligerence continues to mount.
Other Americans in Ukraine will be urged next week to flee the threatened country via commercial flights, federal officials told Fox News on Saturday — "while those are still available," one said ominously.
The looming evacuation orders came as Ukraine accepted 200,000 pounds of American small arms and ammunition Friday night — the first installment of up to $75 million of lethal aid pledged by the US to counter Russia’s threatening buildup of troops along Ukraine’s eastern border.
"The shipment — and $2.7 billion USD since 2014 — demonstrates U.S. commitment to helping Ukraine bolster its defenses in the face of growing Russian aggression," the US Embassy in Kiev tweeted late Friday — along with photos of large pallets of military-green containers being unloaded at an airport.
The delivery came amid a series of tweets from Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledging American support for its beleaguered ally — just days after President Joe Biden set off alarms with offhand comments that minimized a possible Russian invasion.
"I #StandWithUkraine," Blinken tweeted Saturday. "@StateDept stands with Ukraine. The United States stands with Ukraine."
Blinken also thanked the three Baltic nations that plan to send their stocks of American-made Javelin anti-tank weapons and Stinger air-defense systems to Kiev to assist in Ukraine’s defense efforts.
"I expedited and authorized and we fully endorse transfers of defensive equipment" from NATO allies Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Blinken tweeted. "We salute them for their longstanding support to Ukraine."
Blinken’s posts came just hours after his 90-minute meeting in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ended in a stalemate, as Lavrov continued to insist that Russia has no plans to attack.
The Kremlin has warned against NATO attempts to boost Ukraine’s arsenal — but has continued to mass up to 100,000 troops in the region.
The Russian military has positioned advanced fighter jets in Belarus, just north of Ukraine, stoking fears within the Pentagon that Kiev is "now in the crosshairs," a US official told Fox News. Russian troops have been drilling with allies there — and the Belorussian border is just 56 miles from Kiev at its nearest point, the Sunday Times of London reported.
Russia’s military so overpowers Ukraine’s that the arms provided are mostly symbolic, the outlet reported, citing Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s late advisor who once said, "Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be an empire, but with Ukraine suborned and then subordinated, Russia automatically becomes an empire."
#1
The Russian military has positioned advanced fighter jets in Belarus, just north of Ukraine, stoking fears within the Pentagon that Kiev is "now in the crosshairs,"
January 1945 Vistula–Oder Offensive (limited incursion to Berlin) redux. Also approved at the highest levels.
A bit of irony, lst Ukrainian Front under Marshal Kovev (a couple of million men - plus or minus), covered themselves with glory in the 1945 push to Berlin and elsewhere. Perhaps the German reluctance to assist Kiev is somewhat understandable ?
[Breitbart] Mark Levin said on Thursday’s edition of the Mark Levin Show that he was “really hyped up” about revelations of corruption among prominent political elites in Peter Schweizer’s Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win.
He invited his audience to watch a long-form interview between himself and Schweizer scheduled for Sunday on Fox News Channel’s Life, Liberty & Levin.
Red-Handed profiles many political elites’ financial links to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s head of state Xi Jinping, Levin stated:
You will be shocked to learn – shocked – even though at this point you’re probably thinking to yourselves, ‘Nothing will shock me anymore.’ You will be shocked to learn the extent to which Big Tech – Silicon Valley – is in the back pocket of Xi [Jinping] – not just China, but Xi – and how they slobber all over him and that regime, as if this is some kind of religious cult. Absolutely incredible.
You’re going to learn the extent to which Nancy Pelosi, her husband, John Boehner – these are two speakers, one a former speaker and this speaker – [Dianne] Feinstein and others are up in the grill of Xi [Jinping] and communist China, the kind of money that they earn.
You’re going to learn far more than that, you’re gonna learn the extent to which the corporatists in America are compliant with this regime, you’re going to learn about the Bush and Trudeau dynasties – with our focus on Bush – and how they’ve profited, and you’re going to learn things about the Bidens that you didn’t know – upwards of $31 million dollars transferred to the Biden family in one way or another, to one or another. Unbelievable, and it goes on and on.
#2
Now, I know bacteria is a different thing, but were we not told a long time ago that misuse of antibiotics would lead to antibiotic resistant superbugs? Could there be something similar happening here?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 7:44
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#3
^I agree. More illness among people of all ages being seen in my area. Vaxed, several boosters and more illness. Being seen in prisons, guards, hospitals, nursing homes, and mental health treatment centers. Worst year that I can recall.
#4
The actual purpose of the vaccines is to make up for the fact COVID was not as virulent as expected when released from Wuhan.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 8:42
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#5
"The U.S. will close its borders to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Canadian and Mexican truck drivers on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday." More fun and games.
[NTD] The U.S. government on Thursday sanctioned four Ukrainian officials it accuses of being involved in activities backed by the Russian government to destabilize Ukraine.
It comes amid the United States warning of further action if Russia invades Ukraine. Russia has massed some 100,000 troops on its borders with Ukraine, but denies it is planning an attack. Russian officials are demanding written guarantees that NATO will give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, but members of the alliance have refused to issue such promises.
In a release, the U.S. Treasury Department alleges that four Ukrainian officials have "played various roles in Russia’s global influence campaign to destabilize sovereign countries." The sanctions name two current members of Ukraine’s parliament, Taras Kozak and Oleh Voloshyn, as well as two former government officials, Volodymyr Oliynyk and Vladimir Sivkovich.
All four have been involved in disinformation efforts by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) to set the pretext for a potential further invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government alleges.
Kozak, who controls several news channels in Ukraine, allegedly amplified false narratives to denigrate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inner circle and falsely accused him of mismanagement, according to the Treasury.
Meanwhile, Voloshyn allegedly worked with Russian actors to undermine Ukrainian government officials, and also allegedly worked with Russian national Konstantin Kilimnik, who was previously sanctioned for attempts to influence the U.S. 2020 presidential election, the Treasury said.
Kozak and Voloshyn are members of the political party of Viktor Medvedchuk, the Kremlin’s most prominent ally in Ukraine. Medvedchuk was put under house arrest last year in a treason case. Prior to that, the United States sanctioned Medvedchuk in 2014 for his role in undermining Ukrainian sovereignty.
Sivkovich, who previously served as Ukraine’s deputy secretary for national security and defense councils, is accused of having worked in 2021 with Russian intelligence activists in influence operations to support Ukraine to officially cede Crimea to Russia in exchange for a drawdown of Russian-backed forces. Russian troops seized the Crimea region from Ukraine in 2014 and then annexed the Black Sea peninsula.
Oliynyk, who fled Ukraine to seek refuge in Russia, last year allegedly worked with the FSB to gather information about Ukrainian critical infrastructure.
"The United States is taking action to expose and counter Russia’s dangerous and threatening campaign of influence and disinformation in Ukraine," Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. "We are committed to taking steps to hold Russia accountable for their destabilizing actions."
Fighting raged for a third day Saturday between the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group and Kurdish forces in Syria after IS attacked a prison housing jihadists, in violence that has claimed over 70 lives, a monitor said.
The assault on the Ghwayran prison in the northern city of Hasakeh is one of IS's most significant since its "caliphate" was declared defeated in Syria nearly three years ago.
"At least 28 members of the Kurdish security forces, five civilians and 45 members of IS have been killed" in the violence, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
IS launched the attack on Thursday night against the prison housing some 3,500 suspected members of the jihadist group, including some of its leaders, said the Observatory.
The jihadists "seized weapons they found" in the detention center, said the Britannia-based monitor, which relies on sources inside war-torn Syria for its information.
Hundreds of jihadist inmates had since been recaptured but dozens were still believed to be on the loose, the Observatory said.
The prison was surrounded by Kurdish forces with the support of the international coalition, it added.
"Fighting is taking place on the northern side of the prison," Farhad Shami, front man for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said, calling the situation "exceptional".
The jihadist group said in a statement released on Friday by its Amaq news agency that its attack on the jail aimed to "free the prisoners".
- 'FAT TARGET' -
IS has carried out regular attacks against Kurdish and government targets in Syria since the rump of its once-sprawling proto-state was overrun in March 2019.
Most of their guerrilla attacks have been against military targets and oil installations in remote areas, but the Hasakeh prison break could mark a new phase in the group's resurgence.
It was not immediately clear Friday whether the prison break was part of a centrally coordinated operation -- timed to coincide with an attack on a military base in neighboring Iraq -- or the action of a local IS cell.
Analyst Nicholas Heras of the Newlines Institute in Washington said the jihadist group targeted the prison to bolster its numbers.
The Islamic State group "wants to move beyond being the terrorist and criminal network that it has devolved into, and to do that it needs more fighters," he told AFP.
"Prison breaks represent the best opportunity for ISIS to regain its strength in arms, and Ghwayran prison is a nice fat target for ISIS because its overcrowded," he said, using another acronym for IS.
The prospect of a repeat of the attack remains very real, said Colin Clarke, research director at the New York-based Soufan Center think-tank.
"The SDF needs a comprehensive strategy to deal with this threat," he said.
The Kurdish authorities have long warned they do not have the capacity to hold, let alone put on trial, the thousands of IS fighters captured in years of operations.
According to Kurdish authorities, more than 50 nationalities are represented in a number of Kurdish-run prisons, where more than 12,000 IS suspects are now held.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced that about 90 ISIS members had been killed so far in the festivities at Ghweran prison in al-Hasakah of Syria.
Five civilians, 56 ISIS Death Eaters, 28 of Asayish, prison guards, and counter-terrorism forces were killed during the violent mostly peacefulfestivities in the surrounding areas of Ghweran prison." SOHR said.
The number of fatalities would likely rise because the fate of many remains unknown, and many of the injured are at death's door.
"Six ISIS members were apprehended, to bring the total number of arrested to 136 ISIS prisoners. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the exact number of prisoners who beat feet from Ghweran prison is unknown." SOHR said.
Sources told the Observatory that "a military convoy of the Global Coalition arrived in the vicinity of Prison, supported by the air forces," confirming that the situation will be under control within a few hours."
"Clashes continue between ISIS members on the one hand, and the Asayish and the Counter-Terrorism forces on the other, and the US aircraft continues to target ISIS members areas."
It is noteworthy that there are about 3,500 prisoners of ISIS members and leaders in "Ghweran" prison. It is the largest prison for ISIS in the world.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/23/2022
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At least Israel will now be paid for what Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, previously got for free.
[IsraelTimes] Weeks after pledging cash to build pipeline connecting Israeli gas facilities with Strip’s only electrical plant, Doha agrees to set up escrow account with electricity company.
Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... ’s Foreign Ministry said Friday it had signed an agreement with Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith 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 electric company that will establish an escrow account for the costs of supplying gas and generating electricity at the Strip’s sole power plant.
The statement said that Qatar will be the owner of the account and will organize and manage payments through it. The Gaza Electricity Distribution Company will deposit $5 million per month when the planned gas-powered plant starts operating, the statement said.
Doha did not say how many years the Gulf nation was committing to the plan.
Qatar, the Paleostinian Authority and Gaza’s electrical company signed a deal last month advancing a long-term project to supply Gaza’s only power plant with Israeli natural gas.
Qatar’s envoy to the Gaza Strip, Mohammad al-Emadi, said at the time that Doha had signed a memorandum containing a pledge to invest $60 million in laying the pipeline for the proposed project.
But a final deal on the initiative, which has been in the works for years, has yet to be reached and could still be months or years away.
The so-called "Gas for Gaza" initiative is a complex diplomatic dance, involving Israel, Hamas, the PA, Qatar, Egypt and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , among other players. The project seeks to replace the diesel fuel that currently powers Gaza’s electrical plant with Israeli gas.
Gaza has suffered from a chronic electricity deficit for more than a decade. The coastal enclave has only one power plant — which runs on imported diesel fuel — and experiences daily blackouts of between eight and 12 hours.
With Israel’s approval, Qatar since 2018 has periodically provided millions of dollars in cash to Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers to pay for fuel for the Strip’s power plant, fund infrastructure projects and provide aid to tens of thousands of Gazook families.
Transitioning Gaza from diesel fuel to natural gas is widely viewed as an important solution to the enclave’s electricity crisis. Talks on a natural gas pipeline have been in the works for years, without a clear timeline for success.
Under the proposal, natural gas would flow from Israel’s Leviathan gas field, which lies off Gaza’s coast, to southern Israel. The EU and Qatar would then fund extensions to the pipeline to Gaza’s power plant.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] A total of 56 militants of the terrorist group "Islamic State" (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation) were eliminated as a result of ongoing battles with the formations of the SDF ("Syrian Democratic Forces") in the city of Al-Hasakah in northeast Syria, reports Al Arabiya .
On January 22, SDF units launched another assault on the Al-Hasaka prison, where the militants continue to hold part of the buildings, “56 terrorists were destroyed” in several days of fighting.
The death toll among SDF fighters has risen to 33.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/23/2022
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[Hot Air] Referring to Marilyn Mosby, our favorite Soros Grrrl/Racial Power Atty
If a few billion dollars get carted off by bandits, or chewed into confetti by squirrels, or blown into the nearest river, after a brief chastened look, the Democrats always come back with: "Hey, we think we have a new solution: Spend more money again!" Their latest idea is to upchuck $1.9 trillion (not $2 trillion — they’re not crazy or anything) on yet another COVID relief package.
They’ve already appropriated some $6 trillion in fighting COVID, though. That’s more than we spent fighting WWII, which cost about $4.1 trillion in inflation-adjusted dollars. Unlike in the ’40s, though, we’ve pretty clearly lost World War C. COVID has killed way more people than Hitler and Hirohito did, and unlike the Third Reich, it’s never going to go away. So while we’re getting used to the Forever Virus, we might as well pause for a sec and wonder: What the heck did all that spending buy us?
[Jpost] Iran rejected Russia's proposal and the US distanced itself from Russia's attempts at an interim agreement, according to a report.
Iran was offered an interim nuclear agreement by Russia with the knowledge of the US, NBC revealed in an exclusive report on Saturday.
Citing numerous former and current US officials, NBC reported that Iran rejected Russia's interim proposal, which was reportedly given the go-ahead by the Biden administration.
One draft of Russia's proposed interim agreement would have seen the Islamic Republic forced to stop enriching uranium up to 60%. In addition, Iran would have had to dispose of its existing stockpile of enriched uranium.
Earlier in January, the Islamic Republic denied a report it had reached a two-year interim agreement with world powers. An interim arrangement is not under serious discussion, NBC reported, citing a senior Biden administration official.
"Though we cannot speak for any discussions that may have taken place between Russia and Iran, at this stage we are certain that no such interim arrangement is being seriously discussed," the official reportedly said.
Russia's attempt at reaching an interim deal with Iran comes a day after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with his American counterpart Antony Blinken, when the latter warning that talks with Iran have reached "a decisive moment."
Blinken said that, while the window of opportunity to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) still exists, Iran's nuclear advancements would foil any return to the accord if a fresh pact was not reached in the coming weeks.
Other voices around the negotiation table seem more optimistic, with a European Union official saying on Friday that the Vienna talks are moving in the right direction and a final agreement may be within reach. Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the deal resumed almost two months ago.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
01/23/2022
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
In the Rostov region will freeze up to -15 degrees
[REGNUM] In the Rostov region on the night of January 23, the air temperature will drop to -15 degrees. This follows from the daily forecast published on the website of the Don Department of the EMERCOM of Russia.
According to the weather forecast, snow and sleet are expected in most areas of the Rostov region at night and during the day. In some places, wet snow may stick to wires and trees, a snowstorm is expected in some areas in the morning and afternoon, and sleet on the roads. The wind speed will be 5-10 meters per second, in the morning and afternoon gusts will reach 12-14 meters per second.
The air temperature at night will drop to -3 to -8 degrees, with clearings up to -15 degrees. In the daytime, the street thermometers will rise to -1 to -6 degrees, in the southern regions - up to +1 degrees.
Wind will increase in Kalmykia
[REGNUM] In Kalmykia on January 23, snow with rain and strong winds are expected. This follows from the forecast published on the website of the regional department of the EMERCOM of Russia.
According to the Kalmyk hydrometeorological center, during the day in the republic there will be light precipitation in the form of snow, sleet and rain. Fog will fall in some areas, ice will form, wet snow may stick. The wind speed will be 7-12 meters per second, in some places gusts will reach 18 meters per second.
The air temperature at night will be 0 to -5 degrees, during the day the outdoor thermometers will rise to 0 to +5 degrees.
There are several storm and emergency warnings in the Krasnodar Territory due to heavy precipitation, rain and snow, ice, rising river levels and avalanches in the mountains.
Due to bad weather, automobile traffic was suspended at the Shahumyan Pass, a lot of cars and trucks have accumulated. The road is being cleared.
Rescuers deployed three mobile heating points. Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are on duty around the clock, the interdepartmental operational headquarters of the department is working. The Crisis Management Center continuously monitors the hydrometeorological situation.
It should be noted that 247 combined road machines, 110 tractors, 61 motor graders, one loader, 226 road workers worked on the roads during the day. It snows in some parts of the region all day long.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] The end of January is rapidly approaching and it is necessary to somehow explain why the ultra-accurate intelligence data about Russia's attack on Ukraine at the end of January diverge from reality and Russia still does not attack.
"Russia did not attack because Xi Jinping may have asked Putin not to attack while the Olympics are in China."
So he took it, called, and said like this, "Vladimir, we have the Olympics here, hold the tanks until the end of February, and then you can even heat up to Lvov."
The key word in this bike is "maybe". Perhaps he spoke, perhaps he did not, anonymous sources heard something somewhere. In general, so far here are the explanations.
PS. And about the position of Germany.
1. Germany opposed the transfer of German weapons to Ukraine. Both their own and through third countries.
2. The commander of the German Navy announced that Ukraine has lost Crimea forever and that "Russia deserves respect."
3. The German leadership believes that Nord Stream 2 should be completed.
4. Somewhat earlier, Germany actually prevented the delivery of military cargo to Ukraine through its territory.
Germany is already being accused of cynical opposition and undermining the united anti-Russian bloc in Europe.
The Germans, in fact, are trying to prevent financial losses associated with a break with Russia and drawing themselves into a conflict with Russia at a level where they will be doomed to remain in the convoy of American politics without any chance of gaining a real military-political subjectivity.
Therefore, little by little they spoil the Americans, but this is exactly what frondism, and not a willingness to go to the end. Nevertheless, the squealing about the German figs in your pocket is worth a fair amount - Scholz is already being accused of continuing "Merkel's criminal policy associated with indulging the Kremlin's aggression."
#6
...Mussolini also offered to mediate the German invasion of Poland.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/23/2022 7:58
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#7
Thanks to green policies across Europe, electricity prices have soared. They're up 500 percent in Sweden, for example. Consumers are being hammered and many small business are facing ruin.
How much European popular support do these jokers think there will be for policies that cause Russian gas exports to be slashed -- and European energy costs to rise not just five fold but TENfold?
#8
Just declare that shithole-Ukraine will never ever be part of NATO.
We gain absolutely nothing by avoiding such a declaration, and if we resolve this crisis by addressing Russia's legitimate security concerns about NATO expansion, we can finally start to pull Russia away from China.
Kissinger and Nixon knew how to do this. Does anyone today know how to play this game?
#9
If Trump was president right now, it would be fun to watch him do just that and ask Putin for a favor along the way: "Vlad, could your people come pick up every one of the Ukraine mafia (Nuland, Vindman, Farkas, ect.) and send them to Siberia?"
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/23/2022 8:40
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#10
I am still leaning more to the old DC Playbook.
When your failing at home, start a mini-war or conflict to draw attention away from a totally screwed up Economy, over spending and/or a politically mess.
How many years has The USA been at war since 1776?
Depending on who you ask and how they defined it.
The US has been engage US Troops about 92+/-% of every year we have existed.
On Saturday, the mayor of al-Qaim district of al-Anbar announced that the Iraqi government had formed a joint committee to "rehabilitate" ISIS families moved from al-Hol camp in Syria to al-Jada'a camp in Nineveh.
Ahmed Jedian told Shafaq News Agency that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi, directed to form a committee that includes representatives from the National Security Adviser, the National Security Apparatus, the Joint Operations Command, and the Ministry of Migration and Displacement, to meet the 500 ISIS families.
"These families cannot pose a threat to Iraq as they are only women and kiddies." He confirmed.
"All those who have been transferred are currently receiving educational and rehabilitation courses for returning them home and integrating them into society, but so far they are still in al-Jada'a camp receiving lessons to getting rid of ISIS ideology." He added.
[BenarNews] A dozen international human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. groups, in a letter made public Thursday, called on the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... to ban Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion from U.N. peacekeeping operations, citing allegations that it commits torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Continued on Page 49
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.
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
[Washington Examiner] Former President Donald Trump conveyed a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin through a Senate intermediary Friday against an invasion of Ukraine.
...46th president of the U.S. An incredibly corrupt version of Jar-Jar Binks, only well into his dotage. The dumbass who abandoned Afghanistan....
...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
