Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/12/2025 12:03
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#4
Yes, she's very nice. But I can't help noticing that was a more genteel era when phonographs and radios were fine furniture and not plastic boxes. For a few decades, television sets were that way too. Now they're just flat black screens hanging on the wall.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/12/2025 12:25
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#5
I might add that they were Made in USA.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/12/2025 12:27
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Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/12/2025 14:30
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#7
JFK new docs reveal: "Rep. Anna Paulina Luna says her FIRST investigation will be the JFK assassination.“Based on what I've seen, the initial hearing held in Congress was FAULTY. I believe there were TWO SHOOTERS.”
#8
#4 it was wood to begin with, then plastic that was colored/textured like wood, the black or silver plastic. They cut out the labor involved in the wooden cabinets. The irony is you buy wooden cabinets to put the plastic TV in or on.
[IsraelTimes] The family of Hamas hostage Omri Miran, 46, says it received a sign of life from him, via a hostage recently released from Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Brothers Boaz and Nadav Miran say that the returned hostage told them he had been held with Omri until July 2024, and at that time he seemed to be physically fine. The two note, however, that his situation may have since deteriorated in the seven months that have passed.
Miran was taken captive on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, by terrorists who drove him across the border in his own car. His wife Lishay Miran was left behind with their two daughters, Roni, 2, and Alma, 6 months.
[IsraelTimes] The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) says that a staff member held captive by Houthi rebels in Yemen has died.
“WFP is grief-stricken and outraged about the death of a staff member while in detention in northern Yemen,” the agency says in a statement on X.
He was identified as a Yemeni staff member “arbitrarily detained by local authorities since 23 January,” though the circumstances of his death were not specified.
The employee, who WFP said had worked for the UN since 2017, left behind a wife and two children.
The United Nations announced the suspension Monday of its activities in Yemen’s Saada region, a Huthi stronghold, after the rebels detained multiple personnel there this year.
The Iran-backed Houthi have arrested dozens of staffers from the UN and other humanitarian organizations, most of them since the middle of 2024, as Yemen’s decade-long civil war grinds on.
In January alone, the rebels detained eight UN workers, including six in Saada, which adds to the dozens of NGO and UN personnel detained since June.
The Houthi claimed the June arrests included “an American-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN Human Rights Office.
[IsraelTimes] Several Palestinian officials denounce Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s decree ending the controversial “pay-to-slay” policy that conditioned welfare payments to Palestinian security prisoners on the length of their sentences in Israeli jails, in addition to providing stipends to the families of terrorists killed while carrying out attacks.
The decree, issued yesterday and expected to affect tens of thousands of people, states that families of prisoners and slain attackers who require welfare assistance will be eligible for stipends based solely on financial need, as is the case with other Palestinians.
Qadura Fares, head of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority’s committee overseeing prisoner affairs, calls for the decree’s immediate withdrawal, warning that it will impact “approximately 35,000 to 40,000” families.
He adds that such a significant decision should have been discussed at all levels of the Palestinian political leadership, arguing that “allowances for prisoners have always been a point of consensus” among Palestinian factions.
Also present at the press conference is Hilmi al-Araj, head of the Center for the Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights, who calls for the decree to be “rescinded as though it never existed,” condemning both “its timing and its content, as the prisoners are on the verge of freedom.”
Araj is referring to the ongoing ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, under which almost 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for hostages held in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The Hamas terror group has condemned Abbas’s decision and called for its “immediate reversal.” >
[IsraelTimes] During operations in the West Bank city of Jenin today, the IDF says it demolished the home of a Palestinian terror operative involved in the killing of a soldier in the summer.
Nidal Amer was part of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad cell that set off two explosive devices against army vehicles in Jenin on June 27, killing Cpt. Alon Sacgiu and wounding 16 other soldiers.
Amer was killed by Border Police officers in July.
IDF troops demolished Amer’s home in Jenin today. As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly attacks.
[IsraelTimes] The Dutch parliament withdraws an invitation to the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese.
Albanese has a history of antisemitic remarks and has caused repeated controversy for her anti-Israel vitriol.
The Dutch political party SGP says Albanese’s invitation to address lawmakers has been withdrawn. Albanese was scheduled to speak with members of parliament on Thursday.
Hillel Neuer, the director of UN Watch, a pro-Israel group that campaigned against Albanese’s visit, says the decision is made by the Dutch government’s foreign affairs committee.
Albanese, an Italian, is on a tour of northern Europe for a series of talks on international law and the Palestinians, she said last week.
[IsraelTimes] Appearing to justify a potential IDF resumption of fighting in Gaza, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Israel cannot allow Hamas to use the ongoing ceasefire to reconstitute.
“Part of the challenge here is that Hamas continues to use networks to smuggle in weaponry and aid for themselves to reconstitute themselves,” Rubio says during an interview with NewsNation.
“Israel can’t allow that to happen. You can’t allow Hamas to use the ceasefire to rebuild itself and recover strength,” he continues. “It’s a ceasefire, but it’s not a stupid ceasefire.”
Hamas in recent days threatened not to release the next three hostages set to be freed Saturday, claiming Israel has violated the ceasefire by restricting the flow of aid, an assertion rejected by Jerusalem.
Asked about the Hamas claim, Rubio responds, “You can’t believe anything Hamas says.”
In a separate interview with Fox News, Rubio says Hamas is “breaking the deal,” without elaborating.
He says US President Donald Trump lost patience after seeing the emaciated condition of the hostages released by Hamas last weekend. “He’s tired of waiting for one, two, three people at a time. It’s time for all of them to come home,” Rubio maintains.
“If these guys don’t go through with their deal on Saturday, then I think we’re back to where we were a few months ago, where Hamas is going to be eliminated and the Israelis are going to go in and take care of that problem,” he says. It’s unclear how long that would take, though, given that Hamas has managed to repeatedly fill vacuums created by IDF operations.
Rubio says Washington is open to hearing alternative plans from Arab allies who oppose Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza.
“If people don’t like the Trump plan for Gaza — right now it’s the only plan. It’s now incumbent upon the Arab countries… if they think they’ve got a better plan, we need to hear it,” the secretary says, reiterating a point made by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz last week.
“They want to play tough guy, but we’ll see how tough they are,” Trump says.
“Hamas is bullies. The weakest people are bullies,” he adds.
Cost of rebuilding Gaza will be at least $53 billion, UN estimates
[IsraelTimes] More than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the “humanitarian catastrophe” that has gripped the territory after some 15 months of war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, including $20 billion in the first three years, according to a United Nations estimate released today.
“While it has not been possible in the current environment to fully assess the totality of needs that will be required in Gaza, the interim assessment offers an early indication of the enormous scale of recovery and reconstruction needs in the Gaza Strip,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a report.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in southern Gaza’s Rafah this morning, saying it targeted two suspects who had gone to pick up a drone.
The drone had been flown from Israel into the southern Gaza Strip, and was being tracked throughout its flight, the military says. In recent months, the IDF says, it has identified several attempts to smuggle weapons and drugs into Gaza using drones. The drone was apparently being controlled by smugglers on the Israeli side.
An Israeli strike targeted the drone and the two suspects who taken possession of it. One was killed and the second was wounded, according to Palestinian media.
To be fair, they didn’t just say it quietly among themselves in a language no one else understood. They reared up on their hind legs and said it on video to an Israeli man after admiring his beautiful eyes..
[IsraelTimes] Two nurses in a Sydney hospital have been suspended from work for threatening to kill Jewish patients and refusing to treat them in a video on TikTok, triggering an investigation by police, authorities say.
The video was shared by a TikTok user named Max Veifer and shows him talking to a man and woman wearing medical scrubs. They were identified in media reports as Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh.
“I’m so upset that you’re Israeli … eventually you’re going to get killed and go to (hell),” Nadir said after Veifer mentioned he is from Israel in their video chat.
When asked why he would be killed, Abu Lebdeh said: “It’s Palestine’s country, not your country” and used a torrent of obscenity. Abu Lebdeh said she would not treat any Jewish patients and instead kill them. Nadir, with a threatening gesture, said he had already sent many “Israeli dog[s],” who visited the hospital, to hell.
New South Wales state Health Minister Ryan Park says the nurses have been “stood down immediately,” pending an investigation.
“Obviously, the investigative process now takes place. I do not want to leave a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think that they will ever work for New South Wales Health again,” Park tells reporters during a press conference with NSW Health Secretary, Susan Pearce.
A MUST SHARE: An Australian doctor, and a medical professional by his side, claim they have kiIIed Israeli patients — and will continue to do so.
They gleefully confess to murder. Then wish death upon the Israeli talking to them.
Due process investigation. Bankstown hospital’s preliminary investigation did not find evidence of bad behaviour — the nurses could have been talking smack to scare the Jooo, though that should also be a fireable offense. Even Australia’s anti-Israel prime minister was forced to get up on his hind legs to condemn their vicious idiocy, which he cannot have enjoyed after having had to repeatedly condemn attacks on local Jews.
The nurses will no doubt end up in a hospital with Lebanese/immigrant clientele, or possibly take their skills and go back home.
#7
I'm all for sending them both home. In my opinion, Australia is becoming Commiestralia. Where are the Diggers of old.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/12/2025 15:49
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#8
Skidmark’s Fox News link reports the two have been referred for criminal investigation, possibly under the new antisemitism law that just passed.
Hot Air informs us that Mr. Nadir, who wants to become a doctor, is a refugee from Afghanistan who arrived at the age of twelve and has only been an Australian citizen for four years.
They also have video from another phone chat by the very Israeli Mr. Veifer, who apparently makes a habit of this kind of thing, speaking with two sweet young ladies in Lebanon who claim to be good people but love Nasrallah. They showed a photo of him on their cell phone, so he suggested they call him. They didn’t think it was funny.
#Sudan’s Foreign Minister said Monday that the country’s war is nearing its end, citing military advances against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital, Khartoum. pic.twitter.com/kHrfXRxfTk
#BREAKING At least 5 people killed, 7 others injured in suicide bombing in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, local media reports pic.twitter.com/8E0WeIitfv
At least 52 people were killed in an alleged attack by the Cooperative for the Development of #Congo (CODECO) militia in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local media reported on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/Q9YWVV3XyJ
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2025
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#1
CODECO (French: Coopérative pour le développement du Congo) is a loose association of various Lendu militia groups operating within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
[IsraelTimes] While PM’s statement does not explicitly call for all captives to be returned by week’s end, as Trump has demanded, an unnamed senior official later says Israel wants ‘all of them’
The ceasefire will be over and Israel will resume "intense fighting" 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... if Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... doesn’t release "our hostages" by midday Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement Tuesday evening, after a four-hour security cabinet meeting.
"If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated," he declared.
The premier said that the security cabinet "welcomed [US President Donald] Trump’s demand for the release of our hostages by Saturday noon, and we all also welcomed the president’s revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza."
The meeting came a day after Hamas said it would delay Saturday’s hostage release until further notice due to what it claimed were "Israeli violations" of the truce.
Later on Tuesday evening, Hamas issued a statement claiming it was "committed to the ceasefire agreement that the (Israeli) occupation also committed to," and asserting that Israel was "the party that did not abide by its commitments and is responsible for any complications or delays." However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt... it did not say that it would release three hostages on Saturday as required by the deal.
On Monday, Trump called for all hostages to be released by the terror group by Saturday, but Netanyahu’s statement only called for Hamas to return "our hostages" without explicitly demanding the release of all 76 remaining hostages by the president’s deadline.
Before and after the prime minister’s video statement, Israeli officials made several contradictory and conflicting messages about the number of hostages that Israel is demanding be released by Saturday.
First, an Israeli official said that the security cabinet "unanimously" backed Trump’s call for hostages to be released Saturday, in carefully worded Hebrew comments that stopped short of a complete endorsement of the US president’s position, and notably did not refer to "all" hostages.
"All cabinet members expressed support for US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... ’s demand for the release of our hostages by noon on Shabbat," the key sentence specified.
Next, an Israeli official said that Jerusalem would not move forward with the hostage release-ceasefire deal unless Hamas released "all nine hostages... in the coming days." There are 17 hostages still set to return during the current first phase of the ceasefire, nine of whom are believed to be alive.
"Hamas violated the agreement," this official said, "and therefore there will not be progress in continuing to carry out the agreement or in negotiations on the second stage without the return of our hostages."
About 15 minutes after Netanyahu had released his video statement, an Israeli official told the Ynet news site that the security cabinet "partially adopted" Trump’s demands. "We are relying on the US president’s ultimatum and we want to see how Hamas reacts," the official said.
"Since we didn’t violate the agreement, but rather Hamas did, there is justification for our side violating the agreement. Israel is saying: ’Hold me back.’ We want to see how Hamas responds to this," this official said. "There’s a reason Netanyahu didn’t give a number" of hostages to be released by Saturday in his statement, said the official.
Finally, however, about an hour after Netanyahu’s had issued his video statement, a bigwig said that Israel is demanding that "all of them" be released by Hamas.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cabinet are sticking to US President Trump’s message about the release of hostages," this official said. "That is, that all of them will go out on Shabbat."
At the same time, even this bigwig did not use the actual phrase "all the hostages," potentially leaving room, at a stretch, for an interpretation according to which Israel is demanding all the three hostages slated to be released on Saturday, or all the nine living hostages to be released in the first phase.
The numerous statements from Netanyahu and the unnamed Israeli officials came after, earlier in the day, Channel 12 reported that Israel would continue to adhere to the ceasefire deal with Hamas if the terror group released the sixth group of hostages on Saturday in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
SECURITY CHIEFS: DON’T STOP THE HOSTAGE RELEASES
On Tuesday evening, Channel 12 reported that Israeli security chiefs have told the politicianship that Israel needs to try to see phase one of the Gaza deal through to its end, and get out as many hostages as possible.
"We need to show restraint right now, to completely finish phase one," the TV report quoted an unnamed security source as saying. "We must not cut off the dynamic of the hostage releases. The framework is working. The mediators are guaranteeing the agreement and there’s no real reason to stop the sequence right now."
The report also quoted an unnamed military source, adding: "We have very significant offensive tools and are giving [the politicianship] all the options. One has to understand how things develop and take President Trump’s ultimatum and leverage it effectively to secure the release of as many hostages as possible.
"If there is no progress that gets the deal back on track, decisions must be made," the source added. "Hamas is being faced with the massive scale of destruction [in Gaza], is counting the dead and publishing the list of its dead commanders."
"As regards the burly young men in the crisply ironed uniforms at the hostage release ceremonies," the military source sneered, "it’s likely that these are operatives who were too scared to get entangled with IDF troops, and hid out in humanitarian zones until the ceasefire started. And we will know how to go back and hit them."
Tuesday’s security cabinet meeting, which was called to discuss Israel’s response to the Hamas announcement that it would freeze future hostage releases until further notice, stretched for four hours. An Israeli official described the Hamas announcement as a decision by the terror group "to breach the deal."
The meeting was "thorough and in-depth," according to the official.
The statement added that the security cabinet "unanimously" supports Trump’s "revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza," referring to the president’s stated post-war plans for "voluntary" but permanent relocation of the entirety of the Strip’s population outside of the enclave.
Hamas said on Tuesday that Trump’s threat to "let hell break out" on Gaza if all hostages are not returned by Saturday "has no value and further complicates matters."
"Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri ...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest... told AFP, referring to the hostages.
The terror group justified its decision to freeze the hostage releases by alleging Israeli violations of the deal, claiming falsely that the military has obstructed displaced Paleostinians’ return to the northern Strip, and asserting that Israel has prevented the flow of some humanitarian aid items, such as trailers for temporary shelter, into the enclave.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement, reached last month, halted some 15 months of fighting triggered by the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, when Hamas-led holy warriors killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The deal requires Hamas to release all its hostages, Israel to release thousands of Paleostinian security prisoners — including hundreds serving life sentences — and a halt to fighting in the Strip, followed by negotiations for a "sustainable calm" and IDF withdrawal from the enclave.
Negotiations on the agreement’s second phase — to include the return of the remaining 59 hostages, the release of many more Paleostinian security prisoners, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire — were meant to begin last week.
However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt... after the premier’s visit to the US, Hamas’s decision to halt the hostage releases, Trump’s ultimatum and Netanyahu’s video statement on Tuesday vowing to continue fighting in Gaza if hostages are not released on Saturday has put the entire deal — not just its second phase — on the verge of collapse.
In line with these developments, the Israeli military announced Tuesday that it is "extensively" bolstering its forces in the Southern Command, calling up reservists and approving battle plans for the Gaza Strip in the event that the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas collapses.
[IsraelTimes] Families of the hostages and their supporters are blocking the Route 1 highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not jeopardize the hostage release deal.
Dozens of people hold up a sign reading “Abandoning the hostages is a war crime” and set off yellow flares as they block the road near the Hemed intersection.
In a statement ahead of the cabinet meeting set for this evening, they demand that Netanyahu “stop undermining the agreement and send a [negotiating] team to Doha that has a full mandate to negotiate the second phase, that will lead to the release of all the remaining hostages in one go.”
Syrian security forces launch a major operation in northern Hama to track remnants of the former regime. Arrests made, including a key militia leader accused of crimes against civilians. #Syria#Security#Hama#MiddleEasthttps://t.co/q1jt80sjT8
[IsraelTimes] Washington official confirms Jerusalem asked for extension but says administration planning on keeping to February 18 date for IDF exit
The alternative being to wait a few days until Hezbollah acts up again, then go back in with guns blazing.
Israel asked the Trump administration on Monday for another extension to the deadline for the IDF withdrawal from southern 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.... , but won’t get it, a US official told The Times of Israel.
The response from Washington is that for now, it plans to stick to the February 18 deadline, said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday to discuss the matter.
US deputy Mideast envoy Morgan Ortagus traveled to Lebanon, and then Israel, over the weekend to survey the progress of the US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that ended the war that spiraled from border attacks by the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group. Ortagus told news hounds that the Trump administration views February 18 as a "firm date" for the completion of Israel’s withdrawal.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked US President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... to support a further extension of the IDF’s deployment in Lebanon, Channel 12 reported Monday.
According to the report, Israel is seeking to keep an IDF presence at five key border points to enable the maintenance of a buffer zone.
The report said that Israel has reiterated to the US its claim that the Lebanese Army is not effectively deployed in south Lebanon, as the terms of the ceasefire said it would, and is not preventing Hezbollah from reorganizing. Israel has warned that Hezbollah aims to return to the border area as soon as IDF troops depart.
The ceasefire inked by the Biden administration in late November was originally supposed to see an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon by late January. Two days before that deadline, Netanyahu said that Israel would not be withdrawing by that date, accusing Lebanon of not meeting its obligations under the agreement.
Hours before the deadline was set to expire, the US announced an extension until February 18, maintaining that the southern Lebanese army had yet to sufficiently deploy in lieu of the IDF to ensure that Hezbollah could not regain a foothold along Israel’s northern border. Both Israel and Lebanon agreed to the new date.
Under the terms of the original deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside UN peacekeepers as Israel withdrew over 60 days. Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel’s military says its forces have continued to uncover and seize Hezbollah weapons in prohibited areas and that the Lebanese army is not keeping its part of the deal.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is entitled to act against immediate threats posed by Hezbollah but must forward complaints about longer-term threats to an oversight committee composed of representatives from the US, La Belle France, Lebanon and the international observer force UNIFIL.
The November 27 deal ended two months of full-scale war that followed months of lower-intensity exchanges. Hezbollah began near-daily attacks on northern Israel one day after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by its Paleostinian ally Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... , which triggered 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... . Tens of thousands of Israeli residents of the north were displaced by the attacks, with rocket fire eventually spreading to the center of the country.
Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group’s leadership and killing its longtime chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon aimed at securing the border and enabling the return of displaced Israelis.
Israel insists that Hezbollah be kept away from the boundary between the two countries in order to make the region safe for its northern border residents.
Like this patron Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all avowedly seek the destruction of Israel.
It’s a bad deal for Denmark, given they’d pick up all of California’s debt, illegals, and dysfunctional culture, but at this point I’d be open to persuasion.
[KTLA] In response to President Donald Trump’s continued musing about the U.S. acquiring Greenland from Denmark, Danish citizens have launched their own effort to purchase America’s most economically prosperous state.
An online petition seeking the “Denmarkification” of California has seemingly garnered nearly 200,000 signatures, with a pitch to Danish citizens that purchasing the Golden State would provide them with more sunshine, dominance in the tech industry, limitless avocado toast and easy access to Disneyland — which organizers say would be renamed to honor fairytale author and poet Hans Christian Andersen.
“Have you ever looked at a map and thought, ‘You know what Denmark needs? More sunshine, palm trees, and roller skates.’ Well, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make that dream a reality,” petition organizers write on the online page.
#6
If you do toss in Oregon and WA, then they have the three of a color group and can build their houses and hotels.
Not sure this is where Parker Bros. envisioned the game to go…..
#8
Actually a commentator on Insty pointed out that, as amusing as this is, we should remember all the resources that reside in CA. A better approach is to revoke their statehood for failure to provide a republic form of government and revert them to territory status.
Ya know, someone good at making deals could probably arrange a multi-party swap. Denmark buys California. They unload Greenland into its own independent country which signs a CoFA with the U.S.
Canada's Alberta and Saskatchewan become part of the United States of America and we drop the tariff on poutine.
Losing the provinces is a net gain for Canada because what they lose in territory, they make up in virtue. The Canadian west is about farming, mining, and oil and gas. While these activities power civilization, they are also extractive and oppressive and polluting and generally awful. Politically, they are more conservative than Ontario and Quebec, so the current government gets a lock on power and more virtue signaling than you can shake a hockey stick at.
In addition, Justin Trudeau becomes King and their national language is French. It's a win-win for everyone!
[IsraelTimes] Inna Vernikov, a Jewish Republican, says she quit the New York City Council’s women’s caucus due to its rhetoric on Israeli women held hostage by Hamas.
“I left the women’s caucus because I refuse to be part of a caucus that cannot come together to condemn the rape, murder and captivity of Jewish women without adding ‘context,'” Vernikov says in a video posted to X.
The City Council is New York City’s governing body. Vernikov, an outspoken supporter of Israel, represents part of south Brooklyn.
“We watched the footage of these young, 20-year-old Jewish girls get released from Hamas captivity and we watched this image of them being absolutely terrified,” Vernikov says. “The women’s caucus of the New York City Council, made up of 30 plus women, cannot come out and make a simple statement condemning the terrorists without adding context.”
The women’s caucus includes both supporters of Israel, such as Jewish co-chair Julie Menin, and harsh critics, like the far-left Shahana Hanif. The caucus does not appear to have made any recent statements related to international affairs.
Menin and caucus member Lynn Schulman criticized Vernikov in a joint statement.
“As was explained to Councilmember Vernikov, members decided to put out their own personal statements, given that some of us had actually visited with hostage families in Israel, which we felt was more personal and powerful,” Menin and Schulman told The New York Post. “It is unfortunate that the council member is seeking to politicize the lives of the hostages.”
Menin, Schulman and Vernikov are all part of the council’s five-member Jewish Caucus.
The New York City Council has 51 members who are overwhelmingly Democrats. Vernikov is an outlier as a Republican supporter of US President Donald Trump.
[IsraelTimes] Cops say arrest in Stockholm area unrelated to any previously ongoing cases; detainee suspected of being a member of terror group in case linked to Islamist extremism
Swedish police said on Tuesday they had apprehended one person in the Stockholm area on suspicion of preparing terrorist crimes in a case concerning violent mostly peaceful Islamist extremism.
The person was suspected of preparation for a terrorist offense, aggravated participation in a terrorist organization, preparation for attempted murder and preparing to violate legislation on the use of explosives, police said.
The investigation was not linked to any previously ongoing cases, police said in a statement.
Police conducted the operation in the capital area on Tuesday morning and the arrest unfolded calmly, they added, without identifying the suspect or giving detail on the potential target.
Sweden in 2023 raised its terrorism alert to the second-highest level and warned of threats against Swedes at home and abroad after public burnings of the Koran were met with outrage among Moslems and threats from jihadists.
In late January, Salwan Momika, the lead activist behind the Koran-burnings, was rubbed out, in an apparent retaliation attack for the demonstrations. Days later, a Swedish court convicted his partner, Salwan Najem, of hate crimes related to the men’s activism.
Some in Sweden have pointed fingers at 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... for Momika’s killing, following reports that the Islamic Theocratic Republic has recruited organized crime in the country to attack political opponents.
Trump to greet Marc Fogel on his return from Russia after being freed from prison
The White House said President Donald Trump will welcome formerly detained American Marc Fogel at 10 pm tonight when he returns from Russia.
'If you want to come over, you can say hello,' Trump told reporters.
Asked if the U.S. side gave anything in return him, Trump replied: 'Not much.'
He added: 'No, they were very nice. We were treated very nicely by Russia. Actually, I hope that's the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war, and millions of people can stop being killed.'
Trump bars AP from Oval Office after news outlet won't use 'Gulf of America'
President Donald Trump and his staff kept an Associated Press reporter out of an Oval Office event on Tuesday because the news organization didn’t use ‘Gulf of America’ in its coverage.
‘Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office. This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing,’ AP’s executive editor Julie Pace said in a statement.
News organizations around the world subscribe to the AP’s wire coverage of global events, including the White House.
Pace called the White House decision 'alarming,' a violation of the First Amendment and impeding the public's access to independent news.
Trump signed an executive order on Sunday renaming the Gulf of Mexico 'The Gulf of America.' The AP was banned from covering his Oval Office event with Elon Musk.
In its AP Stylebook, which is used by many news organizations in America, the AP outlines its use of the name: ‘The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.’
It points out ‘the body of water has shared borders between the U.S. and Mexico. Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.’
Trump names new DEA Administrator
Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he is picking Terry Cole to serve as the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
This agency is already helping conduct the Homeland Security raids rouding up illegal immigrants and drug traffickers.
Cole has worked for the DEA for 21 years and is currently Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.
Trump to sign executive order drastically cutting the size of the federal workforce
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday afternoon that will 'significantly' trim the federal workforce.
Semafor first reported details on the order, in which agencies are being directed to work with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency and only hire for 'essential positions.'
The directive will tell the agencies to hire 'no more than one employee for every four employees' who have left.
Trump ally Steve Bannon learns he won’t go back to prison after pleading guilty to 'build the wall' fundraising scheme
The prosecutor on the case said that the parties had 'worked out a plea agreement' and Bannon won't be serving any prison time.
'The parties have worked out a plea agreement. Mr. Bannon will plead guilty to count 5 of the indictment, which is scheme to defraud in the indictment. He will receive a conditional discharge,' attorney Jeffrey Levinson said.
Bannon already served time behind bars after being convicted of contempt of Congress.
[RT] Germany has launched an investigation into potential sabotage involving a newly commissioned warship after several dozen kilograms of metal shavings were discovered in its engine system, local media reported on Tuesday.
The issue with the corvette-class Emden was reportedly discovered during an inspection at a shipyard in Hamburg last month shortly before its first departure, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the broadcasters NDR and WDR.
The 89-meter-long warship, intended for deployment in the Baltic Sea, had not yet been delivered to the German Navy when the metal shavings were discovered. This could have caused significant damage to the vessel if not detected in time, the report said.
The German Navy has commissioned a total of five corvette-class ships, including the Emden, which is set to be used for maritime surveillance.
A shipyard spokesperson told the media that the Emden recently completed “a successful sea trial,” but declined to comment further.
The incident is now under investigation by the Hamburg regional prosecutor’s office and the local criminal police.
While the report did not provide evidence linking Moscow to the incident, it claimed that Germany, along with other NATO countries, suspects Russia could be behind covert actions targeting the West.
The article cited a recent police investigation into drone sightings over a northern German air base where Ukrainian forces are trained, claiming the incident is part of a growing trend of drones being spotted over military and industrial sites in Germany.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, German Navy Chief Jan Christian Kaack refrained from commenting on the sabotage allegations regarding the Emden, but stated that several German warships had previously sustained damage due to acts of sabotage.
“Our assessment: We are being tested,” he said, without specifying who the Navy suspects to be responsible for these acts.
“The growing threat from Russia is more pressing at the beginning of 2025 than it was two years ago,” Kaack said. “Experts and intelligence services agree that Russia will be in a position to seek conflict with NATO from 2029 onwards,” he added.
Russia has denied having any intention of attacking NATO states, with President Vladimir Putin describing warnings about Russian aggression as “nonsense” aimed at alarming citizens and increasing defense budgets in the West.
The warship case follows a string of incidents involving damage to critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, with speculation that Russia could have played a role. Western officials have refrained, however, from making direct accusations.
Moscow has dismissed allegations of its involvement as “absurd.”
Meanwhile, NATO has increased its Baltic Sea presence and stepped up patrols in the region on the pretext of an alleged Russian threat and protecting undersea infrastructure.
The Baltic Sea – a strategic area for Russian naval operations and energy exports – became, as Moscow put it, an “internal lake of NATO” after Finland and Sweden joined the alliance, which left Russia controlling only a small portion of the coastline.
They’re right to be afraid, though it’s a bit late to start taking precautions like switching over to pagers.
[IsraelTimes] Terror group claims it is still committed to ceasefire a day after it said it was halting prisoner releases, blames Israel for ‘complications’ threatening deal
Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... has reportedly instructed senior figures in the terror group to stop using cell phones amid concerns that the fragile ceasefire with Israel could fall apart, bringing with it a return of Israel’s military offensive.
Sources in Hamas told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat outlet on Tuesday that the group’s military wing and big shotship have instructed all senior political and military figures to stop using their phones, as many had returned to using the devices after the ceasefire began last month.
According to the sources, several bigwigs have already stopped using their phones over fears of attempts by the IDF to track them via the devices and assassinate them.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement, reached last month, halted some 15 months of fighting triggered by the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, when Hamas-led hard boyz killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The deal requires Hamas to release hostages, Israel to release thousands of Paleostinian security prisoners — including hundreds serving life sentences — and halt the fighting in the Strip, followed by negotiations for a "sustainable calm" and an IDF withdrawal from the enclave.
Hamas declared that it is still dedicated to the ceasefire, though a day earlier it had vowed not to release the next group of hostages until further notice, alleging Israeli violations of the ceasefire, in an announcement that shook the truce, sparked war preparations by Israel and prompted US President 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... to declare that if the captives aren’t released by noon Saturday the ceasefire should be ended.
"Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement that the (Israeli) occupation also committed to," it said in a statement on Tuesday evening, adding that "we affirm that the occupation is the party that did not abide by its commitments and is responsible for any complications or delays."
The Israel Defense Forces, meanwhile, announced that it was "extensively" bolstering its forces in the Southern Command, calling up reservists and approving battle plans for 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 in the event that the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas collapses.
The sources that spoke to Asharq al-Awsat also said that Hamas had recently uncovered spying equipment it claimed was found embedded in stones or ruins of buildings in Gaza. The equipment included cameras and listening devices that Hamas assessed as intended to identify bigwigs or hostages.
Hamas has broadened its sweeps to find such devices, which are being dismantled and examined to glean information, the sources said.
0Hamas is attempting its own monitoring operations to keep an eye on IDF movements in order to be ready to counter any incursions by special forces or other operations, the sources said.
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[FOX] President Donald Trump's team of zealous cost-cutters under Elon Musk will soon set their sights on the U.S.’s largest discretionary budget.
With an annual budget of $850 billion, the Pentagon has long been plagued by accusations of waste and inefficiency in its defense programs and recently failed its seventh straight audit.
"We’re going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse," Trump predicted in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier on Sunday.
Congress appropriates the Department of Defense (DOD) budget each year in great detail, and urging lawmakers to trim costs may be where Republicans publicly break with Musk and his burn-it-all-down style.
Here is a look at where the Department of Government Efficiency team could set their sights.
MUSK'S NEXT TARGET? TRUMP SAYS DOGE WILL LOOK AT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PENTAGON FUNDING
[DM] A controversial bid to break up 'ghettos' of 'non-Western' immigrant communities in Denmark is set to be challenged in the European Union's top court after residents accused the government of arbitrary and racial discrimination.
Twelve residents from Mjolnerparken, a neighbourhood of Copenhagen affected by the programme, are suing the government over its policy, intended to encourage integration by allowing the eviction of residents in so-called 'ghettos'.
“Back off, guys. We conquered these few blocks fair and square, and now it is forever part of the Ummah. If you didn’t want to be conquered, you shouldn’t have invited us.”
The case will be heard by the court tomorrow, with those affected receiving support from the Open Society Justice Initiative
…the international lawfare branch of the Soros Open Society Foundations since 2003…
and two UN special rapporteurs. The process is expected to last three to four months.
Susheela Math, senior managing litigation officer at the international NGO deemed the 'non-Western' label a 'racialised categorisation' based on 'generalisations, assumptions and stereotypes'.
Controversially, the legislation has focused on so-called 'parallel societies' housing large 'non-Western' demographics, but also targets communities with low income, education and employment.
Residents say a success in court could set precedent to overturn efforts to break up 'similar neighbourhoods' across the country.
The sweeping package of laws stands to affect Danish citizens who moved to such communities as children, as well as settled residents from rich nations including Britain, per the Times.
The government has floated selling, redeveloping or demolishing homes in low income areas for several years, aiming to reduce the number of non-profit flats in the 'hard ghetto' of Mjolnerparken to less than 40 per cent of the total housing stock by 2030.
Minorities argue that the government is treating them as second-class citizens and the law is to be challenged in the European Court of Justice.
But the sweeping package of laws continues to receive support from cross-party MPs who urge something be done to force integration.
Majken Felle, an ethnic Dane and schoolteacher, is among those who stands to be evicted from her apartment because of the drive.
She is among the 12 residents of Mjolnerparken fighting the legislation. In an opinion piece penned last year, she insisted the attack on the neighbourhood not only unfairly represented the community, but would affect her 'ethnic-Danish neighbours who moved here in the eighties'.
'Our community knows that it is the government which is living in a parallel universe, and it is their discriminatory behaviour that is ripping apart Denmark’s social fabric,' she wrote.
Eight out of 10 people in Mjolnerparken are deemed 'non-Western', with people from non-EU countries in the Balkans and Eastern Europe also falling into that category.
The 'non-Western' delineation excludes those whose families originate from places like the United States, Canada and Australia.
Successive Danish governments have backed the move since 2010, when it started compiling lists of housing estates marred by high levels of crime or non-Western residents.
The architect of the tough legislation, former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen warned that the so-called ghettos could 'reach out their tentacles onto the streets' by spreading violence, and that because of ghettos, 'cracks have appeared on the map of Denmark.'
While the language changed, under accusation of racism, residents say they remain subjected to a 'government-smeared smear campaign', and that some have already 'left or lost their homes' as 'victims of discriminatory law and creeping gentrification'.
The areas are typically those with social housing projects marked out - according to government figures - by low income, low school attendance, and low employment.
The plan is to reform them either by moving out residents and redeveloping the projects, or by demolishing some areas altogether.
Kaare Dybvad, the Social Democrat Minister for Immigration and Integration of Denmark, said previously that the existence of such estates risks undermining support for the welfare state.
When people lack solidarity with groups who have not integrated into Danish society, 'then it's very easy to be annoyed about paying 45 per cent in taxes,' he said, as reported by the Economist.
The policy change is an admission of failure on the part of the government, who encouraged guest workers recruited by Danish companies in the 1960s and 70s, as well as refugees arriving in the 1980s, to the neighbourhoods.
While the government insists that tenants affected will receive help to move into public housing in non-'ghetto' developments in the same city, residents have since described the voluntary flight of neighbours 'under pressure and uncertainty'.
With support from legal experts, residents in the so-called 'hard ghetto' of Mjolnerparken hope to set precedent that will help those in similar neighbourhoods.
'A ruling in our favour would also have wider resonance for similar neighbourhoods across Denmark whose cases are currently on hold awaiting this decision,' Felle said last year.
Notably, the policy has influence beyond Denmark. Neighbouring Sweden has shown interest in Denmark's approach as a template for domestic policy, and in 2018 the Dutch governing party suggested adopting similar laws in the Netherlands.
Both face pressure from parties on the hard right to resolve perceived integration issues in migrant communities.
[DM] President Donald Trump revealed he has begun negotiations with Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
In a 90-minute phone call on Wednesday the two leaders also laid the groundwork for historic summits between them in the U.S. and Moscow.
Trump made the bombshell announcement in a lengthy post to his Truth Social account, declaring that 'the war must end.'
He also said the two leaders agreed to visit each other's countries soon. Trump would be the first U.S. President to visit Russia since Barack Obama in 2013.
Announcing the negotiations, Trump wrote: 'We want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, 'COMMON SENSE'.
'We both believe very strongly in it. We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other's Nations.'
He added: 'We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.'
Trump then phoned Zelensky and, afterwards, declared that the Ukrainian leader also wants an end to the war.
The U.S. President wrote: 'The conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.'
Trump said Zelensky would meet on Friday in Munich with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He wrote: 'I am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive. It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!'
Trump's pronouncement will send shockwaves around the world.
#3
I have no doubt Marco is listening in. He's just not driving the bus at this point
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2025 17:50
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#4
President Putin needs a peer-to-peer ego stroke from The Donald in order for this deal to happen. Bibi Netanyahu spent something like four hours in conference with President Trump on his recent visit to our shores before spending hours more with Secretary Rubio. That’s the way the game has to be played at the beginning of this particular presidency.
See, this is why when pop pop reaches that condition you have to put locks on the doors or he will wonder out, and have that necklace with the fall and location monitor. And take the car keys away.
[LI] Eco-activists protests are nearly non-existent. Meanwhile, Romanians may be getting the president they wanted after their country’s USAID-funded NGOs were gutted.
The last time we checked on El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, not only had he agreed to take back Salvadoran criminal illegal aliens, but also those from any country...plus violent Americans.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall my previous report on Bukele, which stated that he would open up the country to mining.
According to Bukele, El Salvador may be sitting on unmined gold reserves worth an estimated $3 trillion, approximately 8,800% of the nation’s current GDP. In a series of posts on social media platform X, Bukele projected that the country potentially has "the largest gold deposits per square kilometer in the world."
That was approximately one month ago. Since then, eco-activist agitators have organized massive protests against this economically sensible move. Here is a sample of that insanity from an "environmental NGO":
"It’s an absolutely disastrous decision," said Luis González, advocacy director for the Salvadoran Ecological Unit, an environmental NGO. "[The mining ban] was established after years of struggle, but also because it was technically and scientifically proven that mining is an unviable activity in Salvadoran territory due to the environmental, water and population conditions." Check the African diamond mines.
..."We have to continue resisting an activity that is detrimental to the environment, to water, to the health of the population," González said. "It’s truly regrettable, because this will further damage an ecosystem that is already damaged, already mistreated, already degraded, which will undoubtedly generate disasters in the medium and long term."
However, something happened while the activists plotted to work against Bukele’s plans for prosperity: DOGE.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2025
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So have the BBC hit pieces on detaining gang soldiers.
"We have to continue resisting an activity that is detrimental to the environment, to water, to the health of the population," González said. "It’s truly regrettable, because this will further damage an ecosystem that is already damaged, already mistreated, already degraded, which will undoubtedly generate disasters in the medium and long term."
[DM] A fast-acting Tennessee security guard unleashed a barrage of bullets at an attempted mass shooter who fired recklessly into a busy nightclub crowd.
The explosive shootout took place just before 2 am on January 26 in the parking lot outside of the Dream nightclub in Chattanooga, after a gunman started firing at a group outside the club.
Chilling surveillance footage showed one of the club's security guards - who appeared to be wearing body armor - calmly raising his weapon as he steps in front of cowering clubgoers diving to the ground below.
The graphic footage then showed the armed security personnel returning fire using an assault rifle, shooting what appeared to be about two dozen rounds, in just a matter of moments.
The guard paused shooting for brief second before tracking his target and resuming.
The gunman, who was later identified as a 24-year-old man, suffered a non-life-threatening injury to his hand in the shooting, LocalNews3 reported.
He was arrested after he turned up at a hospital, according to Chattanooga Police.
The club's head of security, Joe Reed, believes the attack was planned.
'You could tell it was plotted,' Reed said before commending the security staff on a job well done.
'The gun was given to the police department and everything. It was quick action by our licensed security guard who did what he had to do to protect innocent lives.'
One of the club's owners, JaMichael Smith, later confirmed the guard worked for him and commended his response to the shooting, telling LocalNews3 that the employee did what was needed to protect the customers.
Other surveillance footage showed the unidentified 24-year-old parking his car down the road from the club before the attack.
After exiting the vehicle, he then crossed the road and headed towards a fence lining the nightclub.
The gunman then ducked behind cars parked outside the popular club before opening fire.
'If any one comes down here with that foolishness, they know now that Dream security has zero tolerance,' Reed told LocalNews3.
The late January shooting was just the latest to happen at the Dream in recent months.
#5
The graphic footage then showed the armed security personnel returning fire using an assault rifle, shooting what appeared to be about two dozen rounds, in just a matter of moments.
The guard paused shooting for brief second before tracking his target and resuming.
The gunman, who was later identified as a 24-year-old man, suffered a non-life-threatening injury to his hand in the shooting,
[DM] Mark Zuckerberg has laid off 3,600 staff at Meta in a shock culling spree designed to target 'low performing' staff.
But impacted employees are coming forward to challenge the perception that Zuckerberg simply wanted to cut the dead weight, insisting that excuse was just a 'corporate facade.'
'This wasn't about performance; it was about workforce reduction in favor of AI initiatives,' former Meta content manager Kaila Curry said.
'Maybe I ''lacked masculine energy'' (to quote Mark Zuckerberg himself). Who knows?'
Curry said she received an 'exceeds expectations' result in her most recent mid-year review, and often asked for feedback about her performance.
'I was always told I was doing a good job,' she said.
'I was never placed on a PIP, never given corrective feedback, and never properly mentored or provided clear expectations. I simply put in the work - often on weekends - while being isolated in an empty office.'
“Did not display necessary people skills.”
In mid-January, Zuckerberg announced plans to 'raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster.'
In all, he hoped to wipe out about five per cent of his workforce.
'We typically manage out people who aren't meeting expectations over the course of a year,' he said in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg.
'But now we're going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.'
In a similar vein to Curry's experience, Meta product designer Steven S. shared his own experience of being let go in the cuts on LinkedIn.
'I was let go today - but not because I was a 'Low Performer',' he said.
'This morning, I found out I was part of Meta's latest round of layoffs - one of the 5% of employees impacted across the company.
'If you've seen the headlines, you've probably also seen how leadership is framing this: a move to 'raise the bar' by cutting so-called 'low performers.'
'Let's be clear: that label is misleading, and for many of us, it's flat-out wrong.'
“Insubordinate.”
Curry, who was employed at Meta for one year, said she managed weekend content operations from the hub in San Francisco, after initially applying for the role based in New York. "I was somebody! I was a weekend Censor!"
'I originally applied for a New York-based role, only to be given a last-minute ultimatum: relocate to San Francisco or lose the opportunity,' she said.
'Since the move was covered, I took the chance. When I arrived, I learned I was the only person on my team required to be in the office.'
She alleged that during her one year at the company, she had five managers and two 'reorgs' - in what she described as a 'whirlwind' in which she was 'not set up for success.'
”Rigid. Did not adjust well to change.”
'Perhaps I became too vocal when our shift to young adult (YA) content involved removing safeguards that protected LGBTQ+ users.
'I spoke up because I didn't want to contribute to a platform that could increase suicide rates among LGBTQ+ youth.'
“Not a team player. Did not align with corporate goals.”
Meta has focused on hiring machine-learning engineers this year as it continues to develop and build AI features.
A century ago, most everyone worked in agriculture. That "masculine energy" is what invented the 20th century and made us productive and prosperous. Secret Tip: girls can have it too.
When I arrived, I learned I was the only person on my team required to be in the office.'
Doesn't that sound like heaven! A clean, well-lit work environment without all those annoying co-workers. A great place to get stuff done.
'Perhaps I became too vocal when our shift to young adult (YA) content involved removing safeguards that protected LGBTQ+ users.
Ahhh, too woke for work.
I didn't want to contribute to a platform that could increase suicide rates among LGBTQ+ youth.
So getting laid off is good. Your virtue is intact and you get unemployment. Wins all around!
#4
I've seen enough women do this is my workday videos to know it was probably rather easy to cut them.
There less than a year, wanted New York, settled for San Fran....yeah, but she has a couple of those vanity videos out too.
Like, here we are at the cafeteria getting shrimp cocktail. I know they are, like, 15 count or whatever, but they come in fives which is not enough for a meal, and ten is, like, too many, so I'll order ten, and take three home to give to my, like, three oldest cats.
Senator Mitchell McConnell only dissenting Republican vote.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The Senate voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the country's top U.S. intelligence official despite some lawmakers sounding the alarm over her past actions.
Gabbard was considered one of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominees when he named her his pick for Director of National Intelligence.
The Senate voted 52 - 48 to confirm Gabbard to become the next DNI. Notably, the longtime former Republican leader Mitch McConnell
…the old turtle stands shakily athwart The Donald’s world, vainly screeching “STOP!” The poor man chose to stay in office long enough to go from the most powerful man there to the least…
voted against Gabbard's appointment to the role. He was the lone Republican 'no' vote on her confirmation.
Democrats slammed her judgement leading up to her Senate confirmation and raised doubts over her ability to keep information safe.
'Every single Democrat, I am really proud to say, will oppose this awful nomination, because we simply cannot, in good conscience, trust our most classified secrets to someone who echoes Russian propaganda and falls for conspiracy theories,' Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,
…he stands firmly athwart his world, vainly ditto…
proclaimed on the floor just before Gabbard's confirmation vote.
Schumer went on to note how Gabbard 'has said things like the Ukraine invasion was caused by the United States, not by Putin' and denied former Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad's 'use of chemical weapons despite all of the intelligence.'
Though Gabbard has countered those remarks, saying Putin is to blame for beginning the Ukraine-Russia war and admitting Assad committed heinous acts.
They also questioned whether allies would share intelligence with the U.S. if she were put in charge of the 18 agencies and organizations that make up the intelligence community.
McConnell, who sided with every Democrat to vote against Gabbard, released a scathing statement explaining his vote against her confirmation.
'The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is a key participant in the process that informs every major national security decision the President makes,' the Kentucky Republican wrote. 'The ODNI wields significant authority over how the intelligence community allocates its resources, conducts its collection and analysis, and manages the classification and declassification of our nation’s most sensitive secrets.'
'In my assessment, Tulsi Gabbard failed to demonstrate that she is prepared to assume this tremendous national trust,' McConnell shared.
Did his brain pause to reboot in the middle of that sentence?
The final vote came after Gabbard, a former Democratic lawmaker and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve,
…so she knew all their secrets even before her ascension…
had her nomination moved favorably out of the Senate Intelligence Committee along party lines last week.
Several Republican lawmakers who had expressed concerns with her past comments came around in the end and voted to advance her nomination.
But Gabbard's path to becoming U.S. chief intelligence officer faced a bumpy road before she squeaked through.
President Trump has made it clear to the Republicans in the Senate how he will respond to those who thwart him on this. He’s playing hardball this round.
On January 30, she was put under the microscope with a brutal grilling from Republican and Democratic senators in the Senate Intelligence Committee where she clashed with senators on both sides of the aisle.
Lawmakers took issue over whether she still believed Edward Snowden should receive a pardon after leaking highly classified information.
They also raised concerns over her comments blaming NATO when Russia invaded Ukraine and with her 2017 meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Even heading into last week's committee vote, Gabbard's confirmation was not assured as Senator Todd Young refused to say which way he planned to vote on her nomination up until the final hours.
During her confirmation hearing, he appeared irritated that Gabbard would not call Edward Snowden a traitor.
In the end, Young voted yes on Gabbard after receiving additional assurance from her, coordinating with Vice President JD Vance and even having a brief phone call with President Donald Trump. Young described the call with the president as 'very positive' and said Trump told him to 'vote his conscience.'
Two other senators also indicated they would vote for the nominee after not indicating which way they were leaning ahead of the committee vote along party lines. Senator James Lankford, R-Okla., said he was a yes on Gabbard after speaking with her directly. Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, released a lengthy statement before she moved to advance Gabbard out of committee. Collins said Gabbard addressed her concerns regarding her views of Snowden, and she looked forward to working with her.
On Monday, as the full Senate took a procedural vote to advance her nomination, Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced he would trust Trump's decision to choose Gabbard as his point person on foreign intelligence.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also noted she continues to have concerns about Gabbard's past positions but supported her.
'I appreciate her commitment to rein in the outsized scope of the agency, while still enabling the ODNI to continue its essential function in upholding national security,' Murkowski wrote.
Gabbard made it through the the procedural hurdle on Monday evening with the vote coming down along party lines.
In the end, the committee voted favorably for her nine to eight clearing the path for what was once considered one of Trump's toughest nominees to be confirmed.
Her confirmation indicates that every one of Trump's Cabinet level nominees will be approved by Republicans in the Senate even if a few GOP members vote against them along the way.
Gabbard served as a Democratic lawmaker from Hawaii from 2013 until 2021. She previously served in the state legislature and deployed to Iraq in 2004 with the Hawaii Army National Guard.
She ran as a Democrat in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary where she had a loyal group of supporters but never broke out as a top candidate.
Gabbard left the Democratic party to become an Independent in 2022 before joining the Republican party last year.
At the time, there was talk of her even serving as Trump’s running mate before he settled on Vance last July. Gabbard endorsed Trump for president the following month.
#1
Washington - CNN
The Senate voted Wednesday, to confirm former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
The vote was 52-48 mostly along party lines, though Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined Democrats in opposing the confirmation.
Gabbard, one of President Donald Trump’s more controversial picks, faced concerns from several Republican senators over her lack of support for Ukraine; her shifting position on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Section 702, a key surveillance and security tool; her 2017 meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; and her past support for Edward Snowden.
However, key swing Republican senators, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana ultimately decided to back her confirmation.
On Monday night, Murkowski acknowledged in a statement that she still had "concerns about certain positions (Gabbard) has previously taken," but added that Gabbard "brings independent thinking and necessary oversight to her new role."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended Gabbard’s nomination in a speech on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, in which he highlighted her military service and focused on her promise to "right-size" the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "I am glad that Ms. Gabbard plans to focus on identifying and eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies to restore the office to what it was originally designed to be," he said.
#2
Gabbard has the look in her eye of someone who has not a $hit left to give.
I wish her well, and hope that she doesn't get so absorbed in playing whack-a-mole that she can't move the job forward.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/12/2025 14:26
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[DM] A second American hostage is expected to be released from Russia today, following the release of teacher Marc Fogel, as President Donald Trump revealed what he had to give Vladimir Putin in exchange for his freedom.
Last night, Special Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler and Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN: 'We have another American coming in [Wednesday].'
Neither official would confirm the identity of the soon-to-be-released hostage, or where they were located.
Boehler added in a later interview with Fox News: 'It'll be unilateral as well, and I can't release until the person is released. Obviously, it could endanger a hostage release, and that I can't do.
'But I can say that we expect another one [Wednesday] and hopefully a lot more through that because the president has made it a priority to get all Americans home.'
Trump hosted Marc Fogel at the White House last night just hours after the teacher was released from Russian custody.
'I'm so excited,' Fogel told Trump of being back in the US after arriving at a snowy White House with an American flag draped around his neck, tearfully adding: 'I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now.'
Trump later claimed that Fogel's release did 'not [cost] much', adding that it was a show of good faith from the Kremlin.
But this morning the Kremlin claimed a Russia citizen was freed in an exchange for Mr Fogel.
Not related to jihad or the narco gangs or Black Bloc/Antifa organizations that use and are used by the jihadis, so moved to Page 3: Non-WoT, Lurid Crime.
— trailing wife for the moderators at 3:20 p.m. ET.
[GreyDynamics] 764, previously known as CVLT and “the com,” is a decentralised transnational sextortion network. With alleged ties to the right-wing Satanist terror network, the Order of Nine Angles, it is classified as a terror network by the US Department of Justice, FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and many others. Present in online group chat forums, the network has been known to target children in order for its victims to produce Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), inflict self-harm, and commit suicide.
1 HISTORY OF 764
764 is named after the last three digits of the zip code of its creator, 15-year-old Texas resident Bradley Chance Cadenhead, known by the moniker “Felix” on Discord. Bullied in school and showing signs of behavioural problems as early as the age of 13, Cadenhead learnt how to produce child pornography on a sextortion Discord server named CVLT before dropping out of school in 2021, the year he stood up 764.
CVLT, founded in 2019 by a French national known as “Rohan,” blackmailed victims into committing and recording acts of self-harm and producing child pornography, images that Rohan then sold.
CVLT inspired Cadenhead to start the 764 community, especially after meeting an individual online through a Minecraft server who deepened his interest in images of graphic violence.
2 IDEOLOGY OF 764
764 and the earlier CVLT are described as offshoots of an even older organisation known as Order of 9 Angles (O9A), from which the two later groups took ideological inspiration, including ideas and beliefs such as:
neo-Nazism
Western esotericism
Satanism
Wicca
Due to 09A’s Satanist position, the group often required members to make “blood oaths” to Satan.
2.1 IDEOLOGICAL CONNECTION TO THE O9A
O9A and 764 are not white supremacist organisations, unlike many online cult-like terror organisations with Satanist leanings. However, members of both groups have frequently been arrested or investigated for CSAM and another form of violent content known as Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content (TVEC). This includes possession of Nazi imagery, material praising mass killers, videos, and actual perpetration of animal abuse and also material alluding to the sexual abuse of children. Both groups also encourage interpersonal violence and abuse, as well as more public acts of violence, as a prerequisite for membership, according to an investigative report by the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET).
Media attention on CSAM overshadows the larger, ultimate goal of these groups, according to GNET. The 764/O9A’s primary goal is to recruit young members to ultimately become terrorists who are motivated by accelerationism.
2.1.1 ACCELERATIONISM
The purpose of 764/O9A members becoming terrorists and committing such attacks is to further an idea known as accelerationism. This ideology is heavily present in both left and right-wing political and philosophical ideas. However, the O9A and its associated groups have been known to advocate for accelerationism in order to ‘accelerate’ society towards a total collapse, one in which their ideal form of governance can rise out of the chaos.
Accelerationism would involve the “acceleration” of racial conflict through violent means such as assassinations, murders, terrorist attacks and eventually, societal collapse, to achieve the building of a White ethnostate.
3 ORGANISATION OF 764
The decentralised nature of 764 means that it is not organised like other, more traditional groups. This has led to the creation of an ‘organisation’ of many sub-groups, all of which act, in effect, the same.
3.1 NAMES OF 764 SUB-GROUPS
There are a multitude of groups that have been identified as either literal offshoots of 764 or inspired by and essentially the same as the original 764 and CVLT groups. This includes but is not limited to:
764
CVLT
Course
Kaskar
Harm Nation
Leak Society
7997
6996
8884
2992
555
Slit Town
545
404
NMK
303
SR1
XVN
H3ll
When the groups are ‘collected’ together they are commonly referred to as “the com” which is shorthand for “the Community”.
3.2 CONNECTIONS TO MANIAC MURDER CULT
The 764 network entered into a “partnership” with the neo-fascist Ukrainian “Maniac Murder Cult” (М.К.У/M.M.C). This group gained notoriety for attacks against homeless individuals. The alleged leader of MMC, Michail Chkhikvishvili, was arrested in Moldova and extradited to New York to face federal hate crime charges for plotting to poison Jewish children.
[DM] When the Biden administration launched its strategy to tackle "root causes" of migration at the southern border during a time of rapidly rising and historic illegal immigration, the now-frozen United States Agency for International Development (USAID) played a significant role.
During the Biden administration, Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked with leading diplomacy in Latin America to tackle the root causes, identified as issues like gang violence, climate change and poverty. It consisted of both government initiatives and funding from private organizations.
USAID, which was frozen in recent days over concerns about misspending, played a key role in the distribution of funds. While certain operations have been halted to get a full picture of USAID funding to the region, it is possible to get a glimpse of the help it provided.
In 2021, the first year of the Biden administration, USAID announced Centroamérica Local, a 5-year, $300 million initiative that funded organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address the root causes of migration to the U.S.
"Under this new initiative, Centroamérica Local, USAID intends to invest
…more properly “invest”, defined as giving, without vetting or strings attached, money taken from the American taxpayer to all the wrong people in order to cause the greatest harm to America…
up to $300 million, subject to the availability of funds, toward engaging, strengthening, and funding local organizations to implement programs to advance sustainable and equitable economic growth, improve governance, fight corruption, protect human rights, improve citizen security, and combat sexual and gender-based violence," USAID said in a statement at the time.
Oddly enough all of the Biden-[Harris] administration’s investments accomplished the exact opposite…
"These programs are being carried out under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Root Causes Strategy and deliver on the Agency’s goal to foster greater engagement with local organizations and communities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and advance stability in the region."
More was still to come.
In 2022, USAID announced programs in Central America to end gender-based violence, including a $6.5 million program in Guatemala and a $2.7 million program in Honduras. That built off a program announced in El Salvadaor. Now about those mining protests.
In March last year, Harris met with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and announced a planned investment of $135 million in USAID funding, alongside $170 million to aid development, economic health and security assistance.
Included in the announcement was an expansion of the Central American Service Corps, which was created in 2022 at the Summit of Americas. The expanded program was funded by USAID and aimed to reach 2,800 people seen at most risk of migrating by engaging them with volunteer work, employment and training.
Also announced for Guatemala was a USAID-implemented "Feed the Future" program to strengthen the capacity of research and education entities to scale agricultural technologies and to support research and education related to "climate smart" agriculture.
USAID was also to implement a new "Guatemala Biodiversity Conservation" program to promote the conservation of biodiversity and strengthen protected areas and other areas of ecological importance.
In September, USAID announced an additional $10.75 million in funding for Guatemala.
That came after USAID invested over $153 million in Guatemala in 2023 to allegedly support the government in efforts to strengthen democracy and improve opportunities. According to a release, funded activities included "integrated rural and agricultural development, sustainable economic growth, support for the construction of climate-resilient infrastructure, and digital development and e-governance."
What was our return on that investment?
In his first week in office, Trump also rescinded Biden's 2021 executive order creating a "comprehensive regional framework to address the causes of migration, to manage migration throughout North and Central America and to provide safe and orderly processing of asylum seekers at the United States border."
He also revoked an executive order to rebuild and enhance programs to resettle refugees and plan for "the impact of climate change on migration."
#1
The root cause of migration at the southern border was Joe Biden's invitation to all those people to come. You can spend all the money you want on Mexico and Central America but it won't make any difference. Crooked politicians will pocket the money and the people will remain in poverty until the people of those countries decide they've had enough and do something about it themselves, which may well be never. As long as people have lived in Latin America it has be wracked by poverty. Maybe it started with the Spanish, I don't know. Maybe it's just the way those people are and there's nothing we can do about it. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would only make things worse for everybody.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/12/2025 13:07
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[FoxBusiness] A whirlwind two weeks for the Trump administration’s negotiations on tariffs has left economists forecasting the good and the bad that lies ahead for America’s financial health.
One such economist and senior fellow from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) – where National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett previously worked – expressed concerns that President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy could work against what fortitude he brings to the economy.
"I don't think there's any doubt, at least in my mind, that a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada would have severe negative economic consequences," AEI’s Michael Strain told Fox News Digital.
The purpose of the tariffs is primarily to get the two countries to control who crosses their borders into the U.S. Without a strong threat they have no reason to change their behaviour, since both actively resent America and wish it harm. Note that as soon as the president of Mexico promised to move guards to the border, President Trump suspended the threat for a month to let her prove that her promise is a real commitment.
"The economic effects of these tariffs are pretty clear that they would hurt workers, that they would hurt households, that they would hurt businesses and that they would hurt the economy overall," he added,
… but the economies of Mexico and Canada would be hurt considerably more, right?
before acknowledging some optimism ahead with "a number of aspects of President Trump's agenda."
"Including his plans to increase domestic energy production, including his goals to make the United States solidify its position as a global leader in artificial intelligence technologies. So these are all things to be excited about. If President Trump launches a trade war with Canada and Mexico, if he launches a trade war with the European Union, then that will work against his goals. That will weaken the American economy, that will increase the cost of living facing Americans, and that will make American businesses less competitive."
[FoxNews] Mexican drug cartels have outfitted dozens of tunnels with rail and cart systems to whisk drugs beneath the U.S. border, posing a major challenge for the Trump administration as it works to curb the flow of illegal narcotics into the country.
The U.S. Drug and Enforcement Agency (DEA) reports that most illicit drugs in the U.S. are smuggled via vehicles at southern border entry points, but some enter through cross-border tunnels and subterranean passageways. Been a bunch in Otay Mesa/San Diego Sector with all the warehouses serving cross-border trade
President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to stop the flow of illegal drugs in the U.S., introducing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 107,941 people in the U.S. died from a drug-involved overdose in 2022.
Former DEA Senior Special Agent Michael Brown, who is the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, told Fox News Digital that the agency blows up the drug trafficking tunnels to make them impassable.
Brown said DEA and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) personnel must intensify their investigations into underground tunnels to discover "cover-ups" of the tunnels' U.S. exits.
"Cover-ups" are seemingly normal storefronts or warehouses used to hide tunnel entrances and exits.
"They (the cartels) move hundreds of kilos out and build a warehouse over the tunnel and call it Joe's Pizza shop or Jose's mechanic shop," Brown said. "It's hard to identify that in Eagle Pass or Brownsville [in Texas]."
The former DEA agent said that if properly managed, federal authorities can identify sources to reveal the tunnels' locations and possible U.S. connections.
Brown said he doesn't believe the U.S. would go to the same length as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did when destroying the tunnels.
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the IDF set its sights on dismantling the terrorist group's web of tunnels. In one instance, the IDF said they pumped water into the tunnels and flooded them.
"The U.S. would never blow up a school under any circumstances," he said. "But if we had a 9/11 every day like Israel, I think American attitudes would change."
Seismic sources may be used to investigate shallow subsoil structure, for engineering site characterization, or to study deeper structures, either in the search for petroleum and mineral deposits, or to map subsurface faults or for other scientific investigations.
[ZERO] The announcement - which came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to work with DOGE, follows a bombshell report that Samantha Power, former head of USAID, saw her net worth explode to $30 million despite an annual salary under $250,000.
We don't know why. Where did it come from? I think the reality is that they're getting wealthy at the taxpayer expense," Musk said on Tuesday.
Power, a former ambassador to the United Nations under President Obama, and was sworn in as head of USAID in May of 2021, reported a net worth between $6.7 million-$16.5 million in January of 2021 on a disclosure form. Her net worth is now estimated as high as $30 million, according to the website Biden's Basement.
“there are quite a few people in the bureaucracy who have ostensibly a salary of a few hundred thousand dollars but somehow managed to accrue tens of millions of dollars.”
[AI Translation from Delfi.ee] Last Monday, the winter camp of the anti-tank company in Rõhv took place, where a group of soldiers were ordered to cross the river. Several young men suffered a cold damage and were handed over to the doctors. However, the management of the Defense Forces was provided with an inaccurate and concise version of what had happened.
During the winter camp exercise, a group of soldiers had to cross the White River. Delfile was described that although the Defense Forces said it was a schooling, however, icy water reached at least a belt for soldiers. When young men had climbed ashore, they had to wait three hours of armored vehicles in wet clothes. Then they were told to set up tents where they sat for about four more hours.
The soldiers were then ordered to take down the tents and relocate. According to the source, the underced conscripts drove in truck boxes along the polygon for seven hours. The cooling became very strong, some soldiers fainted, some sonis. The toes of several young men became blue and lazy black due to the cold. One young man was damaged by his leg nerve, added to Delf.
[ALESTIKLAL.NET] Amid the escalating crisis between the so-called "Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance" 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 Presidential Leadership Council (the highest body of the internationally recognized government), questions have arisen about the nature of the tribal formation and the influence it wields on the ground in Yemen.
The Alliance comprises the majority of Hadhramaut's tribes, a governorate in eastern Yemen that covers 36 percent of the country's territory. It consists of 28 districts, with its capital and largest city being al Mukalla.
The governorate is bordered by Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... to the north, the Arabian Sea to the south, the governorates of Marib and al-Jawf to the northwest, and al-Mahra and Shabwa to the east and west.
The Root of the Crisis
The current problem between the two parties lies in the decision by the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance to halt the supply of crude oil to Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen's internationally recognized government, in order to sustain electricity services.
Since February 3, 2025, the security committee affiliated with the Alliance has stopped the flow of crude oil to Aden, in an attempt to pressure the Presidential Leadership Council to implement a plan for normalizing the situation in Hadhramaut, which was announced by the council on January 7, 2025.
The Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance ignored a plea made by the General Corporation for Electricity in Aden on February 1, requesting continued fuel supply to ensure electricity service.
The plea warned that the city would face a "catastrophic situation that cannot be avoided" and that all vital services would be halted.
On January 7, the Presidential Leadership Council approved what it called the "Normalization Plan for Hadhramaut," aimed at addressing what it described as the "legitimate demands" of the region's residents and their political and social components.
The plan was approved after tensions rose in the governorate, with the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance declaring that some of its positions near the western city of al Mukalla were targeted by artillery in the context of a military campaign.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the second military region (affiliated with the legitimate government) denied conducting any attacks or military campaigns.
The presidential statement outlined the allocation of revenues from crude oil sales stored in the Dhabba and al-Masila terminals to build two new power stations in both the coastal and valley regions of Hadhramaut.
It also aimed to support efforts to unify and mobilize the region's people, strengthen their equitable partnership with the state, and address any future political entitlements.
The plan also included provisions to "integrate the people of Hadhramaut into the armed forces and security services according to the law and established recruitment standards," as well as the establishment of a general hospital in al-Hadba (Ghayl Bin Yamin) funded by diesel revenues from the state-owned PetroMasila company.
The statement also vowed to investigate the corruption allegations levied against PetroMasila—the government-run company responsible for the main oil production sector in Hadhramaut.
In the days leading up to the presidential statement, a campaign was launched against PetroMasila in response to allegations of corrupt practices.
Furthermore, the statement affirmed the need for "all local and central revenues to be managed in support of the governorate's development and reconstruction in line with a joint development plan with the government and regional and international donors."
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... it stressed that these actions required "the local authority and all Hadhrami components to welcome the agreed-upon decisions and end protest movements" (referring to the armed militias of the Tribal Alliance), paving the way for comprehensive reforms that would restore the governorate's status as a driver of development, stability, and peace.
The armed security committees of the Alliance have since taken control of the entrances and exits of the Wadi Hadhramaut (Hadhramaut Valley)region, including the movement of oil tankers.
On January 11, 2025, the Alliance allowed the provision of crude oil to Aden's presidential power station for a period of two weeks, which was then extended by another week until early February.
While the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance initially welcomed the Presidential Leadership Council's initiative and allowed crude oil to flow for Aden's electricity, it emphasized that "self-governance is the best option to fulfill the aspirations of the region's people in managing their affairs, free from centralization and exclusion."
The Alliance also demanded clear, transparent guarantees to build citizens' trust in the plan's credibility, asserting that the failure to meet these demands by the Presidential Leadership Council had reignited the crisis, with the deadline having passed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2025
02:10 ||
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[11174 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Director General of the Paleostinian Ministry of Health 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... , Dr. Munir al-Barsh, stated that the total number of new deaders due to direct ''Israeli'' targeting has reached 92, in addition to 822 injured civilians, since the ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip on January 19 of this year.
Dr. al-Barsh also noted that two individuals were martyred due to remnants of the ''Israeli'' occupation in Gaza, and the number of deaders who shuffled off the mortal coil has risen to 24, bringing the total number of deaders to 118 since the ceasefire took effect.
Furthermore, Dr. al-Barsh pointed out that health teams have recovered the bodies of 641 deaders, including approximately 197 who remain unidentified.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2025
02:00 ||
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[11173 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Five civilians, including African migrants colonists, were maimed in Saudi attacks on border areas in 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 Saada province on Monday.
Local sources reported that four civilians were maimed in Saudi army shelling on the al-Raqu and al-Sheikh areas in the Monabbih district, while another civilian was injured by Saudi gunfire in the al-Thabet area of the Qatabir district.
The border regions of Saada have been witnessing continued attacks by the Saudi military, resulting in thousands of casualties and widespread destruction of residents' properties.
Saada's police department announced that 1,117 non-combatants were killed in 2024 due to 1,015 violations by the Saudi military, despite the agreement on de-escalation and a ceasefire.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2025
02:00 ||
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[11161 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
#1
1,117 non-combatants were killed in 2024 due to 1,015 violations by the Saudi military
[NPASYRIA] The Iraqi government has denied reports that it has granted temporary residency to former officers and commanders of the fallen Syrian regime, following claims circulating on social media and in some media outlets.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Brigadier General Muqdad Miri, spokesperson for Iraq's Interior Ministry, refuted the allegations, emphasizing that no such measure had been taken.
''Some social media platforms have reported that the Iraqi government has granted temporary residency on humanitarian grounds to dozens of officers and military commanders from the former Syrian regime who sought refuge in Iraq on December 7 and 8,'' Miri said, as quoted by the Iraqi News Agency.
''We categorically deny these claims and stress the importance of obtaining information only from official sources, avoiding the spread of misleading rumors,'' he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2025
01:52 ||
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[11165 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
"We only grant asylum to people who can pay us the going rate".
[NPASYRIA] Fifty-eight families, totaling 305 individuals from Deir ez-Zor departed on Tuesday from the Arisha camp in the countryside of Hasakah city in northeastern Syria after 8 years of displacement.
Salwa Jejo, co-chair of the camp, told North Press that these families return to their homes after the fall of the Syrian regime, a decision further driven by the dwindling support from relief organizations.
The voluntary relocation efforts for the displaced will continue until a full return is secured, Jajo added.
She also acknowledged the deep-seated fears among returnees, noting that many of their homes have been destroyed in the war or lie too close to dangerous minefields.
According to camp administration, Arisha camp currently shelters around 14,000 displaced people from various regions of Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2025
01:49 ||
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[11158 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
'DOGE has found massive amounts of FRAUD, WASTE, INCOMPETENCE, AND ABUSE, but even knowing this, a highly political, activist Judge wants us to immediately make payment, anyway'
#6
The scurrying after a rock is turned over, most looking for a hiding place, some turning to face the danger after being exposed, all trying to imagine how they can put the rock back...
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] There have been 15 combat encounters in the Kursk direction since the beginning of the day.
The Russians also stormed the positions of Ukrainian units in the Toretsk direction thirteen times.
The situation in the Pokrovsk direction and in the Kursk region remains hot. In total, 90 combat clashes took place on the front as of the evening of February 11. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its Facebook page.
In the Kupyansk direction, the aggressor carried out offensive actions in the areas of Kondrashovka, Petrovpavlovka, Novaya Kruglyakovka and Zagryzovoye, where the Ukrainian defenders stopped all seven enemy attacks. The enemy dropped a KAB on Osinovo.
In the Liman direction, Russian invaders, with air support, attacked the positions of the Defense Forces nine times near the settlements of Novosergeevka, Novoye, Zelenaya Roshcha, Novolyubovka and Yampolevka.
In the Seversky direction, our defenders repelled one assault by occupation forces near Belogorovka.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the enemy stormed the positions of our defenders near Vasyukovka, Grigoryevka and Vremenny Yar. The defense forces repelled one attack by the invaders, and currently battles are being fought in three more locations. Stupochki and Druzhkovka were subjected to air strikes. Thirteen times, the Russians stormed the positions of Ukrainian units in the Toretsk direction in the areas of Toretsk, Dilievka and Shcherbinovka.
In the Pokrovsk direction, since the beginning of the day, the enemy has attacked in the areas of the settlements of Vodyanoye Vtoroye, Peschanoye, Pokrovsk, Uspenovka, Ulakli, Tarasovka, Elizavetovka, Luch, Lisovka, Kotlino, Molodetskoye, Udachnoye, Nadezhdinka, Alekseyevka, Dachnoye and Shevchenko. Our defenders have stopped all 30 assault actions of the enemy. Pokrovsk, Grodovka, Zverevo, Leontovichi and Muravka received air strikes. Today, 261 infidels were neutralized in this direction, 116 of them irretrievably. Ukrainian soldiers destroyed a tank, one combat armored vehicle, three MT-LBs, twelve vehicles, three UAV control points, two trench electronic warfare systems, and one UAV antenna.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the enemy tried to break through the defense of our defenders in the Constantinople area eight times. One combat clash is currently ongoing.
In the Gulyai-Polye direction, three clashes with the enemy took place in the area of the settlements of Novosyolka and Volshebnoye.
In the Kursk direction, there have been 15 combat contacts since the beginning of the day, and the invading army has also carried out 28 airstrikes, dropping 39 KABs and carrying out 532 shellings.
As already written, Ukrainian defenders destroyed a column of Russian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles that tried to break through the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkiv region.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] Last night, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a long-range high-precision ground-, air-, and sea-based group strike as well as unmanned aerial vehicle attack, destroying gas and power infrastructure facilities that support the work of the Ukrainian military industry, infrastructure of military airfields, storage and training areas for the use of UAVs.
The goals of the strike were achieved.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces hit manpower and hardware of one tank brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and one territorial defence brigade close to Veliky Burluk and Olkhovatka (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 20 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, one artillery gun, and one ammunition depot.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation. Russian troops delivered strikes at manpower and hardware of three mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade, one jaeger brigade of the AFU, and one territorial defence brigade close to Druzhelyubovka, Zelyony Gai, Petropavlovka, Boguslavka (Kharkov region), Novolyubovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Yampolovka, and Zvanovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 215 troops, two tanks, two U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carriers, and two motor vehicles. Three field artillery guns, four ammunition depots, and two electronic warfare stations were eliminated.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on units of three mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade near Katerinovka, Seversk, Chasov Yar, and Predtechino (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 210 troops, two U.S.-made HMMWV armoured fighting vehicles, two field artillery guns, and three motor vehicles.
As a result of decisive actions, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces liberated Yasenovoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian troops hit formations of four mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one jaeger brigade of the AFU, one territorial defence brigade, and two National Guard Brigades near Belitskoye, Rodinskoye, Novosergeyevka, Andreyevka, Uspenovka, Dimitrov, and Udachnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 505 troops, one tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, four artillery guns, and seven motor vehicles.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. Russian troops launched an attack on manpower and hardware of one tank brigade, three mechanised brigades,one territorial defence brigade close to Bogatyr, Skudnoye, Shevchenko, Burlatskoye, Novosyolka, Novopol (Donetsk People's Republic), and Gulyaipole (Zaporozhye region).
The AFU losses were up to 155 troops, two motor vehicles, six field artillery guns, including two NATO-made ones.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces defeated formations of two mechanised brigades, two coastal defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and one territorial defence brigade close to Novodanilovka, Kamenskoye (Zaporozhye region), Pridneprovskoye, and Antonovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were up to 55 troops, two artillery guns, and seven motor vehicles.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged AFU manpower and hardware clusters in 137 areas.
Air defence facilities destroyed three French-made Hammer guided aerial bombs, one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectile, and 128 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 653 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 42,979 unmanned aerial vehicles, 592 anti-aircraft missile systems, 21,287 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,514 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,495 field artillery guns and mortars, and 31,459 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region.
In the course of offensive actions, the Sever Group of Forces' units inflicted fire damage on formations of two tank brigades, one heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, three air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, one assault brigade, one territorial defence brigade, and three assault regiments of the AFU near Gogolevka, Goncharovka, Guyevo, Zaoleshenka, Kazachya Loknya, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Melovoy, Nikolayevka, Nikolsky, Oleshnya, Sverdlikovo, and Sudzha.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, artillery inflicted fire damage on AFU manpower and hardware close to Viktorovka, Pervy Knyazhy, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Loknya, Martynovka, Rubanshchina, Sverdlikovo, Staraya Sorochina, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as Basovka, Belovody, Vodolagi, Zhuravka, Miropolye, Pisarevka, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.
Over the course of the day, the AFU losses were over 300 troops, two tanks, one armoured personnel carrier, 11 armoured fighting vehicles, 16 motor vehicles, one artillery gun, two mortars, and six UAV command posts. Two AFU servicemen surrendered.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 59,550 troops, 359 tanks, 260 infantry fighting vehicles, 208 armoured personnel carriers, 1,844 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,924 motor vehicles, 424 artillery guns, 48 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 18 anti-aircraft missile launchers, eight transport-loading vehicles, 106 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, six air defence radars, 38 units of engineering and other materiel, including 18 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, one bridge launcher as well as nine armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 02/11/2025 to 00:00 02/12/2025.
Eight facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of three civilians being injured.
DAMAGED:
One city bus.
Eight armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 24 units of various ammunition were fired.
19:40 In the period from 16:40 to 17:45 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles:
three UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region and
one over the territory of the Kursk region.
19:07 Calculations of the 122mm BM-21 MLRS "Grad" of the group of forces "South" beat at places where enemy manpower and equipment are concentrated, strongholds and observation posts, as well as along the routes of movement of mobile fire weapons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
18:03 Russian Armed Forces advance near Sverdlikovo and Nikolayevo-Daryino –MAP.
16:56 Servicemen of the "Center" group told about the liberation of Druzhba DPR.
Reconnaissance UAV crews identified enemy firing positions, which were destroyed by artillery and FPV drone crews. Small groups of attack aircraft cleared basement after basement, house after house, driving the Ukrainians out of the settlement.
16:32 Operators of fiber optic FPV drones "KVN" destroyed M-113AS4 armored personnel carrier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the village of Constantinople, DPR.
15:20 Pokrovskoe (Krasnoarmeyskoye) direction. Left flank:
The enemy's advance southeast of Kotlino has been blocked.
The enemy was unable to break through to Zverevo.
In Peschanoye, the Ukrainian Armed Forces broke through to the western part. But the statements of Ukrainian soldiers about the complete transfer of Peschanoye under their control do not correspond to reality.
In the area of Zverevo and Peschanoye, the enemy used ground drones with remotely controlled machine guns.
Our units counterattack and destroy the enemy that has broken through.
In Udachny our assault forces broke through to the station.
South of Udachny, north of the Solyonaya River, our units advanced in the eastern part of Novosergeevka.
15:09 Bogatyrskoe direction:
The Russian Armed Forces units have increased pressure in this direction. There is progress in almost all areas.
The enemy is demoralized by the fact that Andreyevka, with the exception of a few houses in the northwestern part, has come under the control of the 114th Motorized Rifle Brigade.
Our assault groups begin to tighten the "pincers" from the north and southeast of Constantinople. Its defending units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffer heavy losses. The enemy in the pocket finds itself in operational encirclement.
At the same time, the units of the Vostok Group of Forces increased pressure on Bogatyr and Razliv, which threatens a physical blockade of the supply route to Constantinople from the west as well.
The situation for the enemy east of Bogatyr is becoming critical.
In addition, our troops are striking at Alekseyevka, which is beyond the Volchya River north of Bogatyr.
In Zelenovka, our units are carrying out assault operations.
Units of the Russian Armed Forces are attacking west and east of Zelenovka in the direction of Ulakly.
West of Slavyanka, our assault forces broke through the T-0515 road.
14:52 As part of the counterbattery warfare, a group of an officer with the call sign "Berkut" of the strike and reconnaissance division of the 238th Artillery Brigade of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Russian Armed Forces began hunting for new targets in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
In the area of the village of Dachnoye, they were detected and successfully destroyed by an UAV crew a minibus and expensive Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment.
14:49 FPV drone operators of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the West Group of Forces destroyed three units of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov region.
13:59 FPV drones calculations of the "West" group of forces destroyed two Western-made armored personnel carriers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov region.
13:35 Calculations of 122mm BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems of the naval infantry of the North Guard daily applied strikes on strongholds and concentrations of manpower and equipment of Ukrainian soldiers in the Sudzhan border area.
12:18 In the Khar'kov region, FPV operators GV "Sever" from the "Tilta" group are actively are destroying equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
12:11 Decisive actions by units of the Center group of forces released settlement of Yasenovo, Donetsk People's Republic.
11:47 FPV drone operators of the Vostok group are hitting the enemy and supporting the advance of our attack aircraft into the depths of the enemy’s defense in the South Donetsk direction –Ministry of Defense.
11:05 Detection and destruction by FPV drone operators of the "Southern" group of 105mm M101 guns of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in the area of the settlement of Dyleevka.
10:15 Another target destroyed by drone operators of the Rubicon Center. This time, FPV drone operators caught up with an armored vehicle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Pokrovsk direction.
09:39 Destruction by Russian artillery 122mm towed howitzer D-30 "Molot" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the settlement Burlatskoye in the Vrem'yevsk direction.
08:29 Powerful 122mm BM-21 Grad fire fell on the enemy.
Crews of the Grad multiple launch rocket systems of the separate guards naval infantry brigade as part of the North troop grouping during the performance of fire missions destroyed military equipment and concentrations of Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower in the border area of the Kursk region.
07:06 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 40 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles:
18 UAVs over the territory of the Saratov region;
13 UAVs over the territory of the Rostov region,
six over the territory of the Bryansk region,
two over the territory of the Volgograd region and
one over the territory of the Belgorod region.
05:11 Productive hunting.
Crews of strike UAVs of the reconnaissance battalion of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army of the "West" group of forces destroyed automobile and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Alexander Semchenko
[REGNUM] The negotiations on Ukraine and the conditions for ending the military conflict have very symbolically become one of the main topics on the news agenda for the 10th anniversary of the "Second Minsk Agreements". And they are somewhat similar to the current situation, only now, instead of the heads of European powers, Donald Trump is on the front pages, persistently talking about the desire to stop the war by seating Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky at the negotiating table.
The US president is threatening new sanctions against Russia and the end of US aid to Ukraine if they leave the negotiating table without signing an agreement that Trump could present to the Nobel Committee as a decisive argument for awarding the peace prize. But just like ten years ago, foreign-sponsored military formations under the Ukrainian flag are in continuous retreat. Only in 2014-15 they were beaten by militias from the still unrecognized republics of Donbas, and now the Russian army is advancing.
And in this permanent defeat, which threatens the West with the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars invested in the war, the same reason for peace initiatives can be traced: Ukraine needs a respite, which will certainly be used to strengthen its military potential. In the same way, after the heavy defeats of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Ilovaisk, Izvarino and Debaltseve, Petro Poroshenko, who had settled in Kiev, suddenly developed a burning desire to negotiate, rather than crush the rebellious people's republics with shells, bombs and missiles.
The successes of the Donetsk and Luhansk militias near Debaltseve led to the signing of the “Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements” on February 12, 2015. But it did not bring peace because neither the ideology of war nor its active supporters had disappeared in Kiev, and the situation itself did not contribute to a change in the course of post-Maidan Ukraine. It only gained time to reorganize the paramilitary formations under its control and reformat the consciousness of the majority of the Ukrainian population towards greater radicalism.
And this is exactly the case when a good knowledge of history allows you not to repeat mistakes when its wheel makes its next turn.
FALSE TRUCE
The "second Minsk" received a serial number because the first peace plan failed - neither Ukraine nor those who stand behind it were going to make peace. On June 27, 2014, an agreement on a ceasefire and political settlement of contradictions between Donbass and the Kyiv regime was signed in Donetsk.
In particular, the discussion was about a ceasefire, as well as amnesty and protection of the rights of the Russian-speaking population. However, literally a few days later, the "patriots of Ukraine" as part of the volunteer battalions resume military operations, and on July 17, the Malaysian Boeing flight MH-17 crashes in the skies over Donetsk Oblast. Accusations are immediately made against Russia and the Donetsk rebels, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the "volunteers" increase their pressure.
Amnesty and the Russian language immediately fall off the agenda.
This technique was subsequently used many times, as it worked flawlessly, until 2022, when the Istanbul agreements were followed by a provocation in Bucha. Zelensky's regime used it as an excuse not to fulfill its obligations.
While openly crying over the victims of the air crash, Kyiv's armed forces did not hesitate to choose their targets and means of destruction. For example, in August 2014, a ballistic missile "Tochka-U" with a cluster warhead was launched at the Kirovsky district of Donetsk. Even earlier, similar missiles hit Lugansk, Snezhnoye, Shakhtyorsk.
However, at the end of August, military fortune turns away from Kiev, and as a result of several defeats, the nationalist army actually falls apart. The Izvarinsky and Ilovaisk cauldrons force Poroshenko to seek salvation in negotiations. On September 5, the first Minsk agreements were signed, which received a very remarkable official name : "Protocol on the results of consultations of the Trilateral Contact Group regarding joint steps aimed at implementing the Peace Plan of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the initiatives of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin."
The People's Republics were very skeptical about this protocol; the June "peace" was enough for them to understand who they were dealing with. But Moscow, on whose support Donetsk and Lugansk relied, had a different opinion. As a result, the DPR and LPR stopped their offensive operations, and even the process of liquidating the People's Militia began. Some of the volunteers were disarmed, but most joined the newly created People's Militia.
This is fully consistent with the letter of the "Protocol...", which provides for decentralization in the sphere of public order protection - Russia, which controlled the implementation on its part, acted scrupulously. But Kyiv again distinguished itself with a "creative" approach. Instead of withdrawing troops, the Ukrainian Armed Forces occupied the territory of the Donetsk airport, which was actively used to strike directly at the capital of the DPR.
The militias were forced to engage in armed confrontation, regaining control of the airport only in January 2015, while Ukraine was actively promoting the myth of “cyborgs” and “heroic defense,” which in principle should not have happened.
Needless to say, the Ukrainian side did not even try to fulfill the points of the agreement on amnesty for the participants in the conflict and the release of hostages.
The situation with the eighth point of the Protocol, “Take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Donbass,” looks most mocking: from December 1, 2014, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk, stopped paying pensions to residents of territories not controlled by Kiev.
And just after getting out of the cauldrons, the remnants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and national battalions again tried to organize an offensive on the DPR and LPR.
It all started again with a provocation. On January 22, 2015, at a checkpoint in the Volnovakha district, passengers of a scheduled bus rushed into a roadside shelter to take cover from a sudden Grad strike on a nearby field. A directional mine went off in the bushes, literally riddling both the people and the car.
Poroshenko immediately took a piece of bus paneling to Davos, Switzerland, telling about the treachery of the Donetsk militia - the tag Je suis Volnovakha was widely promoted on all social networks. And this became the basis for once again whipping up the militaristic hysteria.
The then head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, responded quite decisively. In particular, the DPR People's Militia launched a missile strike on the headquarters of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Kiev-controlled Kramatorsk. In addition, two offensive operations were launched - Mariupol and Debaltseve, and the success of the latter again forced Poroshenko to ask for negotiations.
In fact, during the course of 24 hours of consultations, in which, in addition to the Ukrainian president, the presidents of Russia and France, as well as the chancellor of Germany, took part, the aforementioned “Complex…” was developed and signed on February 12, 2015.
"WORKING SCHEME" FOR PROVOCATIONS
The agreement stipulated that by the end of 2015 the war would cease, and Ukraine's sovereignty over Donetsk and Lugansk would be restored with some reservations. Donbass would retain preferences in the socio-cultural sphere, as well as in the sphere of public order protection. But the Ukrainian side did not want to agree even to such a trifle as the "right to linguistic self-determination".
From the first days after the signing of the "Complex..." it was clear that the regime that came to power as a result of the coup d'etat on February 22 and legitimized in the elections on May 25, 2014, was not interested in implementing it. The peace treaty was simply an opportunity to continue doing what "Maidan stood for."
After the start of the SVO, this was confirmed by the participants in the 2015 negotiations.
"The Minsk agreement of 2014 was an attempt to give Ukraine time. It also used this time to become stronger, as we can see today. The Ukraine of 2014-15 is not today's Ukraine. As we saw during the fighting in the Debaltseve area in 2015, Putin could have easily won then. And I very much doubt that NATO countries would have been able to do as much as they are doing now to help Ukraine," former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was an active participant in the negotiation process on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict in February 2015,told Die Zeit in December 2022
Her words were confirmed by former French President François Hollande, who, like Merkel, participated in the Minsk talks in February 2015. “Yes, Merkel is right. The Minsk agreements stopped the Russian offensive for a while,” he said in an interview with the Kyiv Independent. According to him, it was important “to know that the West would take advantage of this respite.” In December 2022, he acknowledged the success of this strategy, emphasizing that “the Ukrainian army is now not at all what it was in 2014, it is better equipped and trained - and this is due to the Minsk agreements.”
Their very essence was fundamentally at odds with Kyiv's new political agenda. Opponents from the nationalist camp blamed Poroshenko for literally every point - from the withdrawal of troops to the special status of rebellious regions, which "contradicts the constitution" - which was subsequently "put on hold" without any embarrassment.
And in order to block the very possibility of changing something, the puppeteers again resorted to murder according to the working scheme.
On August 31, 2015, members of the Verkhovna Rada gathered for an extraordinary session to amend the constitution to implement the Minsk agreements. A protest of "patriots" gathered in the street in front of the parliament, during which a representative of the Nazi party "Svoboda" threw a grenade at the Ministry of Internal Affairs officers. Four National Guardsmen were killed.
No one was held accountable for the murder, but the incident served as a pretext for removing the issue of special status from the Verkhovna Rada's agenda altogether.
The second thing that opponents of Minsk in Ukraine categorically opposed was holding free elections outside the control of Kiev, which was proposed in 2016 by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. A plebiscite under the control of the OSCE was to be held before the transfer of the territory of Donbass to the control of the armed forces of the Kiev regime. And this was the problem - the elections guaranteed that the Nazis would not gain any influence in the local governments of the regions outside their control.
Moscow assumed that the actual return of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the political life of Ukraine would fundamentally change it, restoring the balance lost in 2014. Without Crimea, the influence of the “Russian” party, of course, would not have reached the pre-Maidan level, but it would have threatened the political monopoly of the nationalists. Therefore, they talked about the need to limit civil rights in the uncontrolled territories after their inclusion in the orbit of the Kyiv authorities.
It is this narrative that has become one of the main ones in discussing the prospects for Ukraine's post-war development. And the demonization of Donbass residents, their dehumanization, has become mainstream in the media. A huge number of experts in various fields have started talking about the same thing: "Donbass needs gallows, not schools."
Incitement of hostility and hatred became the norm, any appeals to the inadmissibility of propaganda of discrimination were interpreted as "Kremlin narratives". The information war against Donbass became part of a large psychological special operation aimed at preparing Ukrainian society for war against Russia.
The Minsk agreements were initially based on the shaky foundation of unresolved fundamental problems. That is why Kyiv had no intention of implementing them, and Donbass, although it did so with gritting teeth, did not want to end up under the rule of people who had carried out a coup d'état and were guided by greed and hatred.
So, conditional new peace agreements are possible only when we clearly understand that we will not have to repeat them in another ten years.
[FoxNews] The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday that some Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) employees who worked on "mis-, dis-, and malinformation" were put on administrative leave.
In a statement to Scripps News, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote CISA needs to "refocus on its mission," starting with election security.
Isn’t election security a DoJ or FBI responsibility?
"The agency is undertaking an evaluation of how it has executed its election security mission with a particular focus on any work related to mis-, dis-, and malinformation," according to the statement.
As first reported by Fox News Digital, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified in April 2022 that the Department of Homeland Security was creating a "Disinformation Governance Board" to combat misinformation ahead of the 2022 midterm election.
Oh. A Biden administration initiative. That explains it.
During an appearance before the House Appropriations Subcommittee, Mayorkas said a "Disinformation Governance Board" was created to address misinformation campaigns targeting minority communities.
While the agency conducts the assessment, personnel who worked on the alleged "mis-, dis-, and malinformation," as well as foreign influence operations and disinformation, will remain on administrative leave, according to the statement.
The board was allegedly led by Undersecretary for Policy Rob Silvers, co-chair with principal deputy general counsel Jennifer Gaskill.
Nina Jankowicz, who previously served as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, reportedly served as executive director, Politico reported.
#5
In one of my better professional trolls - I was engaging with the Former Director of CISA on twitter, C.Krebs, and telling him what a failure he and his department was, and that he needed to resign or be fired. A week later he was fired.
CISA was turned against Americans, the department needs to be dissolved. All Homeland Security works against us. They fly illegals around, murderers, no ID; we on the other hand, we now have to buy a special ID to fly, or a passport. All DHS needs to go.
#8
Isn’t election security a DoJ or FBI responsibility?
We also have Federal Elections Commission.
I thought homeland security should be an FBI responsibility. But then, the FBI dropped the ball on 9/11. So now we have the DHS, not only to drop the ball but to make sure whichever information they deem, for whatever reasons, to be mis, dis or mal. It's all about more jobs for more crooked bureaucrats, more of the taxpayers' money and, if you hear about it, it's mis, dis or mal information.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/12/2025 14:06
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48 Hour Rule. Was it an electric vehicle, because they do that, or a VBIED, because El Paso is near the border and until recently full of illegal aliens, including jihadis and narco gangsters criss-crossing unopposed…
[FoxNews] More than half a dozen people were injured after a reported vehicle explosion ignited a large inferno Tuesday afternoon near El Paso International Airport.
Just before 4 p.m., El Paso Fire Department posted on X confirming crews were responding to a condition 4 fire at the Sun Metro Transit Operations Center.
It looks like that might be a large bus station for illegals heading to the rest of the country, though I could be misinterpreting.
More than 100 firefighters and more than 40 fire units responded, according to El Paso strategic communications director Laura Cruz Acosta.
The fire was later upgraded to a second alarm, which means the fire escalated and more firefighters were needed to battle the blaze.
Seven patients were assessed, and four were taken to area hospitals, according to the fire department. No fatalities were reported.
KFOX14 reported a vehicle exploded, possibly inside the Sun Metro center, igniting the fire.
The roof and walls of the building collapsed in the fire, FOX 4 reported.
As of 7 p.m., the fire was knocked down, and crews were checking for hot spots, according to EPFD. Fire investigators are at the scene.
El Paso Police Department confirmed it is assisting and asked locals to avoid the area.
Acosta released a statement noting details about the fire and its cause are "limited."
"Our primary focus is on containing the fire and the safety of our staff," according to the statement. "We want to extend our sincere gratitude to our first responders for their swift action in addressing the situation."
El Paso International Airport operations are unaffected, according to Acosta.
Traffic is closed until further notice at Montana Avenue and Wedgewood Drive, according to police and the Texas Department of Transportation.
A category 4 fire carries a "very high" level of danger, according to the US Forestry Service. They can spread rapidly and become long-lasting.
[EKO] When DOGE found empty fields in Treasury's payment system, they uncovered more than missing data.
They found a mechanism.
Long, wonderful. Excerpts here, go to the link to read the rest.
Simple things were left blank:
Payment categories
Payment rationales
Basic audit controls
The kind of fields any small business would require. The kind that let you track where money goes. The kind that stop a billion dollars of fraud. Every week.
Here's what Treasury didn't want exposed:
Over $100 billion flowing annually to accounts without Social Security numbers. No temporary ID numbers. No verification. Nothing.
Let that sink in.
$50 billion per YEAR.
A billion dollars every SINGLE week disappearing into accounts that shouldn't exist.
The kind of fraud that would shut down any bank in America.
The kind that would land any business owner in federal prison.
But Treasury had perfected its system:
Process payments
Ignore controls
Keep the machine running
Yesterday, something shifted. A judge's order appeared, ex parte—meaning only one side could speak. No warning. No defense allowed. Just a wall erected between Treasury officials and their own department's data.
When Musk asked Treasury officials how much was "unequivocal and obvious fraud," the answer revealed decades of corruption: HALF
… The system's response was swift.
Coordinated.
Precise.
Nineteen Democratic state attorneys general filed suit. Not about the fraud. Not about the waste. Not about billions vanishing into accounts without SSNs. But about "protecting" the Treasury Department from its own Secretary.
A judge in New York responded with something unprecedented: an ex parte order blocking Treasury officials from accessing their own department's data. No warning. No chance to respond. No opportunity to present evidence. Just a wall between the people elected to fix the system and the system itself.
Think about what that means: The Secretary of the Treasury—effectively the CFO of the United States government—legally barred from seeing how money moves through his own department. The people's appointee blocked from viewing the people's accounts. Young coders mapping the missing controls ordered to stop looking.
The MACHINE (that’s what I’ll be calling the DS from now on) has judges. Has lawyers. Has media. Has entire states moving in coordination.
But here's what makes this time different: The DOGE clock keeps ticking.
$74 billion saved and counting.
Each number representing not just dollars, but holes in the machine.
Gaps in the armor.
Places where light gets in.
… The machine is fighting back.
But this time, it's fighting years and years and years of gathered light. Now activated.
[Daily Mail, wherre America gets its news] Bolting billionaires. Ballooning budgets. A racial discrimination suit from a thwarted subcontractor.
Who needs Jussie Smollett? The Obama Presidential Center (OPC) is turning out to be Chicago's greatest hoax.
Sprouting up on the city's South Side in 2021 like an Egyptian funerary complex, the Taj Barack has already taken nearly twice as long to build as any presidential library in history. And at an estimated cost of $830 million, it's the most expensive... by hundreds of millions.
That's enough to make King Tut's mummy blush, but it's pretty standard when it comes to the modern gods of the Democratic party.
$1.5 million to 'advance DEI in Serbia's workplaces,' $70,000 for an Irish DEI-centric musical, $47,000 for a 'transgender opera' in Colombia and $32,000 on a 'transgender comic book' in Peru is just some of the spending from the now-shuttered US Agency for International Development (or as President Biden called it: The Taxpayer Cash Disposal Department).
Never forget that Biden's White House took a $7.5 billion investment and built a grand total of eight electric vehicle charging stations over two years, which is just a hair-plug shy of his target of 500,000 EV stations by 2030.
Hold my Chardonnay, said Kamala. She burned through $1.5 billion in 15 weeks on her way to electoral disgrace.
But who needs results when you're playing with someone else's money?
Well, now that Demolition Don is taking a sledgehammer to the federal bureaucracy the gig is up. And not just for taxpayer-funded sex changes in Guatemala.
In the sweetest piece of irony ever, Barack's Chicago Shrine is turning out to be a near-perfect metaphor for the entire Democratic party.
A black-owned concrete subcontractor is suing the structural engineering firm behind the project for $40 million claiming that they were discriminated against.
Left lawyers have sought injunctions to halt the constructions after they uncovered plans to cut down 1,000 old-growth trees.
And uncomfortable questions were raised over revelations that ex-White House flunky turned CEO of the Obama Foundation, Valeria Jarrett, raked in a cool $740,000 in a single year, to run the OPC straight into the ground.
For a guy who once branded himself 'No Drama Obama', this has turned into a soap opera. And disillusioned Democrats are rethinking whether to toss more money on this presidential money pyre.
Contributions first started drying up back in 2023 when donations plummeted by 50 percent from the year before – and the evacuation from the USS Obama seems to be accelerating.
'He's arrogant,' one erstwhile backer reportedly said of Obama last week. 'There's no quid pro quo because it's a one-way street.'
Of course! It's the Chicago way... I scratch your back and you scratch mine. It's the American way, in fact.
Is there any real mystery why Bill Clinton's presidential library reportedly raised more than 10 percent of its $165 million cost from foreign sources or why the royal family of Saudi Arabia gave $10 million to George H.W. Bush's library? The private tours can't be that good.
These presidential vanity projects are just vehicles for ex-presidents to keep the party going long after they leave the White House.
It should surprise no one that the money spigot is being turned off as Trump rescues the country from the sinking into the swamps of Washington DC.
#7
^ Two-holer: "The George Michael/Barack Obama Friendship Station"
IYKWIMAITYD
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2025 13:48
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#8
This monstrosity is NOT a presidential library, it is merely a presidential center. The One didn't want to use up his 'library' in a failing city that can't support it.
Commentary by Russian military journalist is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that Ukraine should guarantee the safety of American investments, as it may one day "become Russia." According to him, Ukrainian soil has significant reserves of rare earth metals, oil and gas, and the United States, which has already invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the country, would like to get their equivalent back.
"I want our money to be safe. Because we spend hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars. They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may become Russia someday. They may not become Russia," the president said (quoted from ).
Donald Trump noted that Washington has allocated more than $300 billion to Ukraine, while Europe has allocated about $100 billion. Now he intends to return these funds. "I told them I wanted the equivalent of $500 billion in rare earth metals, and they essentially agreed to do it. So at least we won't feel stupid. Otherwise, we are stupid," the president stated.
Last week, Donald Trump said he planned to sign an agreement with Kiev that would pay for American aid with rare earth metals. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to make a deal in exchange for security guarantees.
According to estimates by the Ukrainian magazine Forbes, as of April 2023, the total value of Ukraine's mineral resources is approximately $15 trillion. At the same time, more than 70% of the mineral reserves are in the DPR and LPR, which became part of Russia, as well as in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
1. You invest in a network of grant eaters for a couple of billion dollars + sponsor neo-Nazis.
2. You organize a coup d'etat and bring neo-Nazis to power.
3. You unleash a civil war and establish a Nazi dictatorship.
4. You sponsor this war by making money from arms sales.
5. You demand payment for arms deliveries by transferring all the mineral resources to yourself. As a result of the operation - the country is captured by neo-Nazis, who have transferred the mineral resources of the captured country to you.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Eli Feldstein, a former employee of the press department of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office who was taken into custody in November 2024, risks becoming a defendant in a new high-profile case. This time, Feldstein is accused of secretly helping Qatar.
Although the evidence base for the new case is somewhat shaky in places, it could cause far more damage to the prime minister's reputation than the situation with controlled leaks to the press from high offices.
PART-TIME FRIEND
As a press officer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, Feldstein spent several years combining government work with private practice, providing political consulting and branding services.
Qatar was also among his clients.
In particular, in the interests of Doha, Israeli consultants led by Feldstein developed a reputational protection strategy in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. And later, they helped partially regain the positions of Qatari brands in the Gulf market, lost as a result of the diplomatic crisis of 2017-2021.
It is noteworthy that with the beginning of the conflict with Hamas, Feldstein, using his official position, actively broadcast to the journalist pool the idea of Qatar’s “exceptional role” in resolving the crisis in Gaza.
And he did this so successfully that at some point the Israeli press itself began to put Qatar in the foreground, emphasizing its decisive contribution to the negotiations, compared to Egypt and Jordan.
Doha, for its part, only further multiplied positive news items, using for these purposes the capabilities of its own “pocket” media holding “Al Jazeera”.
However, the contract had to be hastily terminated in the fall of 2024, immediately after Feldstein’s arrest by Israeli security forces.
"EMPTY SPECULATION"
The first appearance of the "Qatar dossier" in the Israeli press raised questions rather than outrage.
Moreover, Feldstein, like the two other defendants in the “Qatar dossier” – Yonatan Urich (creative director of the Likud party’s campaign headquarters) and Srulik Einhorn (former Likud press secretary, adviser to the prime minister) – was active in international work and consulted not only Qatar, but also other potential partners of Israel in the Middle East and beyond.
If they had not used confidential materials from the Prime Minister's office for these purposes, such work could well have become part of the "backroom diplomacy" of the Jewish state.
However, the Hamas factor has made its own adjustments to the perception of the situation.
It quickly became clear that Qatar’s status as an “equidistant force” in the dialogue between Hamas and Israel was not just a coincidence and was “greatly exaggerated.” For example, Doha’s decision not to put pressure on Hamas’s “political office” was presented as “an act of flexibility and diplomacy.”
Also, by a strange coincidence, the scandal surrounding the Hamas training camps in the Syrian region of Afrin, in the construction of which Qatari contractors were allegedly involved, was very quickly hushed up.
A series of such coincidences only strengthened the conviction of the prosecution's supporters that the figures in the "Qatar dossier" helped Doha to nip international scandals "in the bud" until the very end, using documents from the prime minister's office for these purposes, among other things. Especially since all three could theoretically have used the corresponding access.
And although Feldstein’s lawyers call such conclusions “empty speculation,” the accused are still unable to explain how Qatar managed to respond to unpredictable crisis situations with minimal image losses.
An additional touch to the case is the fact that Urich and Einhorn are simultaneously suspects in the case of intimidation of official Shlomo Filber. The latter was allegedly forced to withdraw testimony about Netanyahu's corrupt ties after "many days of psychological pressure" from Likud functionaries.
DID THE PRIME MINISTER KNOW EVERYTHING?
At first glance, the emergence of the “Qatar dossier” in the case of leaks from the Prime Minister’s Office does not bring any significant revelations. The arguments about the use of confidential documents in advising Qatar are very shaky and have no evidentiary basis.
In search of confirmation, the prosecution partially even relies on statements from “anonymous journalists” who previously worked with Feldstein.
Moreover, the consolidation of the two cases into one is a logical step, especially since the key figures in both cases are the same, and most of the charges can be reduced to one - abuse of office.
However, the long-term impact of the “Qatar dossier” on international politics should not be underestimated.
It gives Netanyahu's opponents a good and, more importantly, long-lasting trump card. The opposition has effectively gained the opportunity to say that the "strong Hamas", which Israeli troops have been unable to completely destroy in a year and a half of military action, was nurtured with the direct participation of the prime minister's close associates.
More broadly, there may have been “criminal negligence,” since Qatar’s consultants were aware of the risks of leaking information from Doha to Hamas officials and went ahead with the dangerous deal anyway. And what’s more, Netanyahu himself was aware of the risks and was likely aware of the actions of his spokesman and his partners.
This formulation of the question already allows us to “throw a bridge” to the convening of a special commission to investigate the reasons for the unpreparedness of Israeli structures for a Hamas attack, the establishment of which Netanyahu has successfully torpedoed time and again.
And the "Qatari dossier" in this case may become an argument against the prime minister. Especially considering that the long-awaited exchange of hostages did not bring relief to Israeli society.
On the contrary, the Israelis saw hundreds of new fighters on the ruins of Gaza, ready to continue the confrontation if necessary. And the very idea that the first person of the state could be involved in strengthening Hamas, even if only very indirectly, is capable of provoking a new round of political crisis in Israel.
Especially when Netanyahu is studiously keeping quiet.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The High Qualification Collegium of Judges has allowed a criminal case to bem: opened against Ingushetia judge Alikhan Yalhev, who released members of a group involved in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, the bombing of the Nevsky Express, and the murder of the head of the Russian Armed Forces' NBC Protection Troops, General Igor Kirillov.
The board made this decision at a meeting on February 11.
“The board examined the submission of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin <…> and decided to give consent to the initiation of a criminal case,” the board’s chairman, Nikolai Timoshin, read out the board’s decision.
The judge of the Nazran District Court is suspected of collusion with members of the Batalkhadzhin extremist group
… a Sufi Ingush clan estimated 5,000 to 20,000, which at the moment are fighting alongside Ukraine. For some reason Chechen big turban Ramzan Kadyrov declared them his brothers …
(the movement is recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation). According to the Telegram channel Mash, Yaryzhev previously sentenced relatives of radicals involved in the explosion of the Nevsky Express to suspended sentences, when a grenade launcher, a grenade, and a Makarov pistol were found on them during their arrest.
According to one version, Yaryzhev acted at the request of the Chairman of the Council of Judges of the Republic of Ingushetia, Magomed Aushev. After the prosecutor's office intervened, Aushev was stripped of his status as a judge and was put under investigation. Now Yaryzhev may also be held accountable, the channel noted.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on March 22, 2024, terrorists broke into the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, and opened fire on visitors and employees of the concert hall. In addition, the terrorists started a fire. As a result of the terrorist attack, 145 people were killed, and another 551 people were injured. The Investigative Committee opened several criminal cases, including under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist attack").
In December 2024, law enforcement officers detained four Batalkhadzhin terrorists who helped carry out the attack at Crocus City Hall. During a search, they were found to have weapons, and in their mobile phones, correspondence with the leaders of the organization hiding abroad.
The company Crocus International was recognized as a victim in the case of a terrorist act that occurred during the performance of the group Piknik in the Crocus City Hall concert hall in March 2024. This was stated in court, TASS reports.
“To recognize the joint-stock company Crocus International as a victim in a criminal case initiated under Articles 205, 205.5, 222, 223.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Terrorist act”, “Illegal circulation of weapons and explosives”, “Participation in the activities of a terrorist organization”),” the court documents noted.
The Crocus City Hall concert hall, which burned down during the terrorist attack, is currently closed.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the Investigative Committee of Russia has completed its investigation of the criminal case on the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Oleg Vlasov, a lawyer for one of the accused, said on February 6. The victims will be the first to get acquainted with the materials. There are at least a thousand of them, so it is unlikely that the case will be sent to court in the near future, the lawyer explained.
On March 22, 2024, terrorists broke into Crocus City Hall and opened fire on visitors and employees of the concert hall, setting a fire. More than 140 people were killed and over 500 were injured as a result of their actions. The Investigative Committee opened several criminal cases, including under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist attack"). In January, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported that 27 people had been charged in the case of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall.
#1
The High Qualification Collegium of Judges has allowed a criminal case to bem: opened against Ingushetia judge Alikhan Yalhev, who released members of a group involved in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, the bombing of the Nevsky Express, and the murder of the head of the Russian Armed Forces' NBC Protection Troops, General Igor Kirillov.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] New calculations have shown that the asteroid 2024 YR4 , which is potentially threatening the Earth, may not reach the planet and crash into the Moon. This is the conclusion reached by a group of asteroid hunters from the University of Arizona and NASA, the British publication The Independent reported on February 11.
Earlier, NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (Cneos) estimated the probability of this asteroid colliding with the planet in 2032 at 2.3% instead of the previous 1%. At the same time, astronomer David Rankin, an engineer with the Catalina Sky Survey, estimates the probability of its collision with the Moon at about 0.3%.
"There is a possibility that it could eject some material that could fall to Earth, but I highly doubt it would pose a serious threat," the publication quoted Rankin as saying.
If a large asteroid collides with the Moon, which has no atmosphere, a crater hundreds of meters wide could form on its surface. Debris from it would be thrown into space, the article says.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the asteroid with the designation 2024 YR4 was discovered in December by specialists from the ATLAS observatory in Chile. Its diameter is presumably between 40 and 90 m, which roughly corresponds to the Tunguska meteorite.
This object topped the list of asteroid risks of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The probability of the Earth colliding with all other celestial bodies included in this list does not exceed 1%, while for this one the figure varies from 0.5 to 6%.
According to Stanislav Korotky, scientific director of the Ka-Dar observatory and the Astroverty astrofarm, the range of estimates of the threat of YR4 colliding with Earth is due to the short period of observations of this cosmic body. So far, the supposed area of the object's fall is considered to be Central Africa or the Atlantic Ocean.
In China, YR4 has prompted the formation of a planetary defense team.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/12/2025 2:01
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#2
OK, the 1st thing that popped into my mind was.
Did I miss a new Hollywood Disaster Movie up for release?
But now, somewhere I am sure, given this 6-year window.
There are sudden Self-Made Experts and Doomsayer Pimps already scripting, planning and rehearsing their overhyped narratives of an Asteroid Moon impact inducing a Climate Change.
All of which will grease the way, so that the DC Talking Heads and UN can waste $$$ Billions claiming to take steps to prevent it.
Any bets, around year 4, they just happen to update the claim so that the impact area will be on the Dark Side of the Moon?
#3
"There is a possibility that it could eject some material that could fall to Earth, but I highly doubt it would pose a serious threat," the publication quoted Rankin as saying.
I am going to use that line in my next movie. It is called "Postcard from Tunguska".
#7
by 2032 we should have adequate technology to take care of this in the very unlikely case that the asteroid actually is on a collision course
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/12/2025 19:39
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#8
There are two parts to the problem of stopping or deflecting an asteroid. The first is getting there. SpaceX has solved that part and unlike NASA, they will not need 2 years lead time to schedule a launch.
The second part is what to do when you get there. Sometimes asteroids are big chunks of busted-up planet, but more often they are just flying piles of gravel and rocks. A big chunk can be deflected by pushing on it. Pushing a gravel pile just spreads it out. No doubt clever solutions exist, but the time to start thinking about them is now.
#9
Yes, SteveS, but a bunch of gravel will break into its constituent pieces when it hits the atmosphere, resulting in mostly meteorites that will burn up before they reach the ground — impossible to deflect but mostly not a risk to life at the bottom of the gravity well, and even the larger chunks are less of a threat than Daily Mail hysterics are going on about.
#10
I am not so sure about the physics of that, tw. I think the answer is "It depends".
When a meteor enters the atmosphere at high speed, friction with the air quickly heats the surface above the vaporization point of rock and makes that pretty streak of light in the sky. A small chunk will burn up in the atmosphere. A big chunk will continue to ablate until it hits the ground and vaporizes explosively, leaving a characteristic round crater, like Barringer Crater in Arizona.
The pile of gravel scenario is more like a dust explosion in a flour mill. You have lots of little bits with a whole lot of surface area compared to a chunk. Air friction being a surface phenomena, the little bits all vaporize at once and you get an air burst like the Chelyabinsk event in Russia in 2013 where the blast wave caused a lot of property damage.
If you could break up the gravel pile far enough from Earth so it did not enter the atmosphere all at once, I would expect it to behave as you describe.
The Tunguska meteor in 1908 was another airburst that make a big mess without ever hitting the ground.
#11
Pttttttthhhhhp! You’re better at the physics stuff than I, SteveS. Bummer. I was enjoying not worrying about even the tiny probability of likelihood.
#12
Disaster! Vast, swole up on 'roids,
Are our tabloids just fit for da boids?
Could DM's hysterics
Not be ink-stained clerics
Or mass-manufacturing Freuds? ;-)
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] President Donald Trump said that his plan to take over the Gaza strip is 'going to work out' alongside King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House.
However, Abdullah demurred when he was put on the spot about Trump's Middle Eastern Riviera plan, saying 'let's wait until the Egyptians' have a chance to respond when asked about the president's ideas.
Abdullah did commit to accepting 2,000 sick Palestinian children into Jordan.
Last night, Trump threatened to cut off aid to Jordan and Egypt if the countries don't accept Palestinians from Gaza.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Workers have discovered 176 bombs from World War II
…oh thank goodness! The idea that there might be a modern reason was briefly very upsetting…
under a playground in the British city of Wooler (England).
…somewhere in Northumberland…
This was reported on February 11 by the Daily Mail (DM).
The discovery was made during the reconstruction of the facility. The police officers who arrived on call cordoned off the area within a radius of 50 meters. Experts who examined the ammunition found determined that they were training bombs containing explosives.
The shells were removed for safe disposal. Local authorities clarified that the site of the playground had previously been used as a training ground.
Experts continue to clear the area and do not rule out that other ammunition, including grenades and cartridges, may soon be discovered.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, in February 2018, London City Airport temporarily suspended operations due to the discovery of an unexploded bomb from World War II. The munition was found in the River Thames. It was located in the King George V Dock.
In February 2020, much of the bustling Soho area of central London was cordoned off after a World War II bomb was discovered at a building site near a hotel.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The leader of the Shiite movement Ansar Allah (Houthis) ruling in northern Yemen, Abdel Malik al-Houthi, said that strikes on Israeli territory could be resumed if the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon ends. His words were quoted on the movement's Telegram channel. That is to say, missiles and drones aimed in the general direction of Israel, relying on Allah to ensure — or not, as the case may be — the actual impact. Almost all have landed in the sea or been shot down, the total number that actually arrived since 10/2023 being in the single digits. Allah’s opinion in the matter is clear.
"We reaffirm our position in support of the Palestinian people, keeping our hand on the trigger, and we will be present if the Israeli enemy returns to escalation against the Gaza Strip," he said.
The Houthi leader clarified that the movement is also monitoring the situation in Lebanon and will continue to provide support to the local population and the militia.
Speaking about US President Donald Trump's plans to evict Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and turn it into an international resort under Washington's control, al-Houthi called them irrational and said there was no point in responding to such a proposal.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, an agreement on a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip was reached on January 15. It is to be implemented in three stages. The first is the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza and the release of 33 hostages by Hamas. The second is the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners and a permanent ceasefire. The third stage involves the exchange of bodies of the dead. Then, reconstruction work will begin in the Gaza Strip under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Two drugs prescribed to millions of Americans could have deadly effects when taken together, doctors warn.
People prescribed both opioid painkillers and benzodiazepines such as Xanax have a 71 percent increased risk of dying from any cause, according to a new study.
Both classes of the drugs slow a person's breathing and taking them at the same time, a combination that led to the deaths of actors Heath Ledger and Philip Seymour Hoffman, raises the risk of lowering respiration so severely that a person completely stops breathing.
The new report - which looked at veterans affairs records - found patients were also 42 percent more likely to die by suicide.
Despite the heightened risks, researchers found, despite the known risks of taking both classes of drugs, 27 percent of veterans taking opioids were also given benzodiazepines.
According to the CDC, about 125million opioid prescriptions were dispensed to Americans in 2023 and the FDA reports approximately 92million benzodiazepine prescriptions were dispensed in the US in 2019 - the latest data the agency has available.
And in 2021, nearly 14 percent of all overdose deaths involving opioids also involved benzodiazepines, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
#2
"slow a person's breathing"
Well, when you reach zero, ...
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/12/2025 14:39
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#3
Statins and Grapefruit
Pretty much any prescription meds and grapefruit, sadly. The list gets longer every time I look, whether making the medical effect stronger or weaker. A shame — I always loved the things and now I can’t have them.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have simulated the instantaneous end of the world for the first time on a quantum computer. In the scientific journal Nature Physics, this process was defined as false vacuum decay.
The paper says the study used a 5,564-qubit quantum system to study the decay of a false vacuum that could threaten the existence of the universe.
Scientists have suggested that the Higgs field may exist in a false vacuum state and, when decaying, create "bubbles" of true vacuum that travel at the speed of light. As a rule, "bubbles" of true vacuum destroy everything in their path. Physicists have previously discussed this possibility, but it has been impossible to generate the process for a long time.
According to one hypothesis, the vacuum can exist in a "false" state, like a marble stuck on a mountainside. If it breaks, a "bubble" of true vacuum will form, which will then begin to expand at the speed of light, destroying everything in its path. This experiment is theoretical and does not pose a threat to humanity in the foreseeable future. Modeling this process became possible thanks to the use of D-Wave quantum annealing.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, in 2024, Austrian scientists from the University of Innsbruck managed to stir a supersolid body for the first time - an exotic form of matter that exists in ultra-cold dipole quantum gases. Previously, it was possible to visualize the crystalline structure of the "solid" essence of quantum bodies, but their superfluid properties remained elusive. In the new study, experts combined theoretical models with advanced experiments. This made it possible to create vortices in supersolid bodies.
A model is only a mathematical hypothesis until proved or disproved by real world events.
#6
When I become King of the Forest, part of the citizenship test will be basic algebra. You don't have to be good at it, you just have to know it exits. Part of the problem with stupid people is they don't know there is such a thing as smart.
[NYPOST] A federal appeals court on Tuesday dismissed indictments against two former co-defendants of President Trump, ending the classified documents case that began almost two years ago in south Florida.
The Atlanta-based US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit threw out the charges against Trump's valet Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, an employee at Mar-a-Lago who was accused of conspiring with the 45th and 47th president to conceal classified files.
The unsigned order to dismiss was filed nearly two weeks after the Justice Department had requested an end to the legal challenge soon after Trump took office Jan. 20.
Malicious prosecution is the filing of a lawsuit for an improper purpose, and without grounds or probable cause . The improper lawsuit may either be civil or criminal in nature. To remedy an act of malicious prosecution, an alleged victim files a malicious prosecution action .
A malicious prosecution action is a civil tort claim for damages caused by malicious prosecution. To prove malicious prosecution in California , the plaintiff must show:
The defendant was actively involved in bringing or continuing the lawsuit;
The lawsuit ended in the plaintiff’s favor;
No reasonable person in the defendant’s circumstances would have believed that there were reasonable grounds to bring the lawsuit against the plaintiff;
The defendant acted primarily for a purpose other than succeeding on the merits of the claim;
The plaintiff was harmed; and
The defendant’s conduct was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s harm.
Most jurisdictions follow these elements but may vary on what constitutes each element.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] A specific example of USAID's work. A certain Babinets complains that American grants made up 80% of the budget, and only $500 in donations were collected. Now let's read what kind of media outlet this is.
Investigation. Info is an independent Ukrainian investigative journalism agency specializing in investigating corruption in government bodies and high-profile criminal offenses. It was created in 2012 by Dmytro Gnap and Anna Babinets.
From 2014 to 2017, the editorial board produced a weekly television program of investigative journalism that aired on two national TV channels, UA: Perviy and 24 Kanal, as well as on the Internet TV channel Public Television. Since 2018, the format of "Investigation. Info" changed, and the team began to create full-length documentaries (4 per year) and text investigations.
This is how USAID worked. For a long time, for years and decades. And they had thousands and thousands of such media. Including in Russia.
"Independent" Ukrainian "journalism" turned out to be very dependent on American money. The population is not eager to support it at their own expense.
Russia and its predecessor the USSR never did anything like this, of course. Pure as the driven snow, they were, never engaging in anything remotely resembling propaganda.
#3
The world over, everything normal people hated, was funded by USAID. The nexus of global marxism. Everything, it was all gaslighting. Nothing was organic. All the opposition groups were funded by USAID. Take Central America, the big anti-mining coalitions that have been protesting and throttling govt down there, no one is showing up now that USAID is shutdown.
Text taken from the Telegram channel of @neinsider.
Commentary by Russian military journalist is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] The US Navy has begun implementing a transition of warships from the classic hardware to the software-defined paradigm, where the main focus is on improving their ability to quickly and autonomously update software via a wireless connection using low-orbit communication satellites. This approach is already successfully used in the commercial sector (for example, Tesla) and is expected to significantly increase the combat effectiveness of the fleet.
In 2024, US warships received wireless software updates in combat for the first time. In the Red Sea, this improved the capabilities of the Aegis system against Houthi cruise and ballistic missiles. Software-defined platforms allow for more efficient management of sensor systems, computing power, and weapons. The advantage of such systems is the speed of updates, while the use of physical media becomes unnecessary. This will also allow the implementation of new functionality directly on the battlefield.
The security of these systems will be based on zero-trust technology, on which almost all US government cybersecurity is built. The warship modernization program also includes a reduction in the number of crews whose tasks can be performed by special software. Previously, the Chinese successfully tested and adopted unmanned warships (not boats) that have the ability to change their combat characteristics and purpose using wireless software updates. In 2022, China introduced the first software-defined architecture of the combat system for ships (JARI).
As part of this concept, it is assumed that "software-defined warships" will have powerful computing and networking equipment such as graphics processors, central processors, routers, switches, etc. These hardware components must be easy to install and update given the pace of change in commercial technologies. Moreover, onboard computing equipment will have commercial architectures such as x86 or ARM, instead of specialized chipsets, so that any American company can create software and hardware for American warships.
Currently, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing large and medium-sized software-oriented unmanned surface ships. Initially, it is planned to convert one of the Tikanderoga-class missile cruisers into an unmanned vehicle, the first tests of such a ship should begin by the end of 2027, in parallel with this, concepts of unmanned ships are being developed from scratch.
They will come to this too, but not right away. First, there will be a mass introduction of small-sized drones and vessels. And the big ones are more likely to happen in the 30s-40s.
#3
Like to read a scenario featured a submarine drone swarm attacking a large manned sub.
"Splash! The Wabbler plunged into the water with a flare of luminescence and a thirty-foot spout of spume and spray rising where it struck... It dived swiftly for twenty feet... Then its falling checked. It swung about, and its writhing tail settled down below it... and then slowly, it settled downward. Its ten-foot tail seemed to waver a little, as if groping.
Then it made small sounds from inside itself. More bubbles came from the round place like a mouth. It settled one foot, two feet, three...
The Wabbler leaned infinitesimally toward the shore. Presently its flexible tail ceased to be curved where it lay upon the ooze. It straightened out. Then the Wabbler moved. Shoreward..." Murray Leinster 1942
[NYPOST] Four Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees have been fired for sending $59 million to New York City to house and care for illegal migrants colonists, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
''Effective immediately, FEMA is terminating the employment of four individuals for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants colonists,'' DHS officials said in a statement obtained by The Post.
The firings, first reported by Fox, include FEMA's Chief Financial Officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist.
''Under President Trump and Secretary Noem's leadership, DHS will not sit idly and allow deep state activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people,'' the statement added.
The massive payment was blasted by Elon Musk, whose new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, highlighted the transaction on Monday.
''That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high-end hotels for illegals,'' Musk posted on X on Monday — and promised DOGE would be making ''a clawback demand — to recoup those funds.''
Cameron Hamilton, FEMA's acting administrator, said in response that FEMA had suspended payments sent to New York City to house migrants colonists beginning on Monday.
New York City Hall officials have said they have not been notified of any pause in funding and that no one has contacted them regarding Musk's clawback demand.
2024: Biden's FEMA took over a luxury casino resort in North Carolina for employees after Hurricane Helene, and ran out of money to help victims living in tents.
2025: Trump's DOGE ordered mattresses to the office so they can sleep on the floor and work... pic.twitter.com/05LbM2pzGz
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 21.30 In the Kiev region, sappers have defused an air-to-ground cruise missile Kh-69. This was reported by the press service of the State Emergency Service.
The State Emergency Service specialists identified the find as the latest Russian high-precision air-to-ground cruise missile Kh-69. The sappers successfully neutralized the missile and then handed it over to specialists for further study.
In the Kyiv region, sappers have defused the latest Russian cruise missile Kh-69
18:55 The new US administration is not going to send troops to Ukraine. This was stated by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at the headquarters of the US Africa Command in Germany. At the same time, he confirmed that President Donald Trump is committed to quickly concluding an agreement to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.
18.29 Private hacker groups have begun working on the Russian side, attacking Ukrainian information systems. This was reported by the head of the State Special Communications Service, Oleksandr Potiy, in an interview with Ukrinform.
18.01 In Sumy Oblast, two people were killed as a result of an enemy airstrike on the Krasnopolskaya community. An investigation has been launched. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General on Tuesday, February 11.
17.48 Russians accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of attacking two customs points in the Bryansk region, where the Russian Armed Forces were based.
The Russian Federation claims that on February 9, the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly attacked the administrative building at the Troebortnoye checkpoint in the Sevsky District of the Bryansk Region, which is located on the border with Ukraine. The attack was allegedly carried out with two guided aerial bombs.
As a result, the second floor of the building where Russian soldiers were based was destroyed. One of them was killed and eight more were injured.
On the same day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly used drones to strike another customs point in the region - Pogar. As a result, the driver of the aircraft platoon was killed.
17.33 In January 2025, short-range drones were the main cause of civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), such drones resulted in the deaths of 38 people (27% of the total number of victims) and the injury of 223 people (30% of the total number of victims).
16.55 A soldier, journalist and director Yaroslav Shapochka died in the war, he was considered missing for almost two years. This was reported by director Alina Khoroshilova on Facebook.
Shapochka died on March 20 or 21, 2023, in the Bakhmut area of Donetsk region.
16.15 Drone operators from the Phoenix strike unmanned aerial systems unit hit three long-range Russian Giatsint-B cannons in the Kharkiv region.
The military destroyed the guns by burning holes in their barrels. After this, the gun is no longer capable of firing, the barrel needs to be replaced, and this part is in very short supply.
15.33 As part of the initiative of the President of Ukraine Bring Kids Back UA, four children who were under Russian occupation were brought home. This was reported by the head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak.
15.06 In Belozerka in the Kherson region at 13.30 Russian troops attacked a local utility vehicle with a drone, as a result of which two workers were injured. This was reported by the Kherson OVA on Tuesday, February 11.
14.43 The Cabinet of Ministers has approved mandatory polygraph testing for foreigners wishing to serve under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard and the State Special Transport Service. This was reported by MP Oleksiy Goncharenko on Tuesday, February 11.
13.53 Russian troops dropped three FAB-250 on Konstantinovka in Donetsk Oblast. As a result, three people were wounded. This was reported by the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin on Tuesday, February 11.
13.45 All children have been evacuated from 90 settlements in the border area of Sumy Oblast. This was reported by the head of Sumy OVA Vladimir Artyukh on air during a telethon. We are talking about 777 children.
13.20 The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced five members of the Ukrainian assault battalion in the case of "participation in a terrorist organization." This is reported by Russian media. The prisoners of war in question are Ukrainian citizens Ivan Bezlepkin, Yuriy Makarenko, Dmitry Reyvakha, Gleb Petruk and Vladimir Puzanov.
12.49 Ukrainian military discovered and destroyed a rare Smerch-2 naval mortar launcher installed by the Russians on a Ural truck. The corresponding video was released by the press service of the operational-strategic group of forces Khortytsia on Tuesday, February 11.
12.01 On February 12, Russians will conduct anti-sabotage exercises in the north of occupied Crimea. In the morning, for an hour, cellular communications will be disconnected in the area where the exercises are taking place. This was reported by Russian media.
11:35 North Korea has sent about 200 long-range artillery pieces to Russia and is likely to send more troops and weapons to support its war against Ukraine, Yonhap News reports, citing the South Korean Defense Ministry.
11.28 Emergency power outages introduced due to the massive Russian attack have been cancelled in Ukraine, Ukrenergo reported.
11.22 On Tuesday night, Russian aggressors launched a combined attack on Ukraine with missiles and drones. Most of the targets were either destroyed or suppressed by electronic warfare. The details were reported by the Ukrainian Air Force.
11.15 A Russian drone without a warhead was found in the Romensky district. This was reported on February 11 by the Main Directorate of the National Police in Sumy Oblast. At the scene, police bomb disposal experts examined the UAV and established that, most likely, it was used by the enemy as a false target to distract the Air Defense Forces.
11.05 On Tuesday night, the Saratov Oil Refinery was hit in Russia. Units of the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Special Operations Forces were involved in cooperation with other components of the Defense Forces, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.
11.02 Russian troops attacked the territory of Cherkasy Oblast at night. This was reported by the head of Cherkasy OVA Igor Taburets. According to him, two men were injured by debris. They were taken to hospital. The condition of both is moderate. It is noted that 17 Russian UAVs were destroyed within the region.
10:45 Soldiers of the 82nd separate Bukovina airborne assault brigade of the Ukrainian Airborne Forces successfully carried out offensive actions in one of the areas of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. This was reported by the communications department of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces command, which published a video. The footage shows how the offensive actions of the Airborne Assault Forces units and other components of the Ukrainian Armed Forces took place.
10.33 The Russian army has become more active in several directions of the front in eastern Ukraine, but the situation around Pokrovsk remains the most tense. As a result of assault actions and fire impact, some positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units were destroyed, OSGV Khortytsia reports.
10:25 In Kirovograd Oblast, a Russian agent and his minor henchman were detained for attempting to install a GPS tracker on a special transport escorting Ukrainian Armed Forces columns to the front. The SBU reported this on February 11.
9:24 On the night of February 11, Russian troops used drones during a massive attack, and air defense was in operation. As a result of the attack, a kindergarten and a school in the Boryspil district were damaged. This was reported by the acting head of the Kyiv OVA Mykola Kalashnik.
8:52 Over the past 24 hours, the missile troops and artillery of the Defense Forces hit six areas of personnel concentration, six artillery systems and four other important objects of the Russian invaders. This was reported on February 11 by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the front, over the past 24 hours, on February 10, 139 combat clashes were recorded.
8:30 As a result of falling debris from downed drones in the Voznesensky district, the building of an out-of-service lyceum was damaged. This was reported by the Mykolaiv OVA. It is noted that on the night of February 11, air defense forces and means destroyed six Shahed 131/136 UAVs in the Mykolaiv region.
8:07 The Russians launched a missile strike on Poltava region. This was reported by the Poltava OVA on February 11. As a result of the shelling, nine settlements in the Myrhorodsky district were left without gas supply.
7:45 The Ukrainian military destroyed 1,390 Russian occupiers in 24 hours. The enemy's total combat losses from 24.02.22 to 11.02.25 were approximately 851,880 people. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
7:20 The Russians attacked gas infrastructure at night, as of this morning, the energy sector remains under attack. This was reported by Energy Minister German Galushchenko. According to Ukrenergo, emergency power outages are being implemented in Ukraine due to a massive ballistic attack.
Another Deep State judge attempting to hobble the Trump-Musk juggernaut.
[THEGATEWAYPUNDIT] A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump Administration to restore the gender ideology webpages it deleted. "404 Page Not Found" - Happy?
US District Judge John Bates
…age 78, appointed by President George W, Bush in 2001 then for some years presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court …
of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, a George W. Bush appointee, ordered Trump to restore the pages by midnight tonight.
Last month, President Trump scrubbed public health websites of all things related to ''gender ideology.''
A group dubbed Doctors For America
…astroturf founded in 2008 as Doctors for Obama to lend his presidential campaign an air of gravitas. As Doctors for America they campaigned for Obamacare, which showed exactly what they were. We haven’t heard from them since, so it’s interesting that the name was resurrected now…
sued the Office of Personal Management and numerous government agencies, claiming the removal could prevent doctors from helping patients.
Judge Bates agreed with Doctors for America and ordered the bully boy ideology to be restored.
''Defendants shall, in consultation with Plaintiff, identify any other resources that DFA members rely on to provide medical care and that defendants removed or substantially modified on or after January 29, 2025, without adequate notice or reasoned explanation; and defendants shall, by February 14, 2025, restore those resources to their versions as of January 30, 2025,'' Judge John Bates wrote in an order reviewed by The Gateway Pundit. Added from Rantingly:
🚨 EXC - I've unearthed footage from 2021 where the judge blocking the Trump spending freeze accuses Trump of being a "tyrant," claims racism is a "white people problem," and insists transgenders need special sentencing privileges.
#2
Put Big Balls in charge of recreating a really special website.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/12/2025 5:59
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#3
If you think being a federal judge makes you wise, you're in for a big disappointment. There's a constitutional crisis but its not Trump, but the unelected branch with life terms of government trying to shut down what the elected government branch is doing. They really do want to burn the place down than lose power.
#5
Granted, DOGE is focused on the Executive branch, but the Judiciary IS a part of the Government and there are bound to be overlaps between the executive and judiciary. One wonders what a deep dive into those relationships might show.
#11
Theoretically, judges can be removed using Article III Section I and the Good Behavior Clause. Admittedly it has never been attempted. Now might be a good time.
Posted by: Gluter Spawn of the Algonquins6504 ||
02/12/2025 19:23
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[FoxNews] …including over $100 million for DEI funding.
The Department of Education (DOE) is canceling more than $100 million in grants to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sweep of "wasteful" spending.
DOGE, the department led by Elon Musk to cut costs within the federal government, announced the termination of 89 DOE contracts totaling $881 million in a post on X Monday night.
Of the nearly $1 billion, DOGE identified $101 million that was being used for DEI training, including teaching educators to "help students understand/interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression, and help students recognize areas of privilege and power on an individual and collective basis."
"Your tax dollars were spent on this," Musk wrote of the DOE spending.
According to DOGE, the education department spent another $1.5 million on a contractor to "observe mailing and clerical operations" at a mail center, which was also terminated in the recent spending sweep.
"DEI was never about ‘equity’—it was about enforcing ideological conformity and institutionalizing discrimination. Shutting down these wasteful, divisive programs is a win for every student," Nicki Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education, said in response to the spending cut.
"More states need to follow suit," Neily said.
DOGE has been leading efforts to vacuum spending within the DOE, announcing in early February the termination of three grants including one funding an institution that had reportedly "previously hosted faculty workshops entitled 'Decolonizing the Curriculum.'"
In his first slew of executive orders, President Donald Trump launched a federal review of DEI teachings and practices in educational institutions receiving federal funding.
Amid the Trump-Vance crackdown on certain teachings, several colleges, such as Missouri State University and West Virginia University, have begun closing their DEI offices.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Elon Musk's nerd army stormed into the Department of Education on Tuesday and saved over $900 million.
Musk's DOGE lieutenants Akash Bobba and Ethan Shaotran, both 22, already have access to the department, NBC News reported.
And as many as 16 DOGE team members have entered the premises as the agency begins to be ripped apart.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, (D-MD) described the terror agency staff are feeling after Musk's team entered to 'actively dismantle' the institution.
'They are in the building, on the 6th floor, canceling grants and contracts,' she said in an interview with HuffPost.
'It's not legal. They know it's not legal. But they're doing it anyway,' Stansbury went on. 'The only recourse we have right now is to to go the courts.'
She added that she expects the agency to be 'dissolved in the coming days.'
The Department of Education was targeted by Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... during his campaign, He is keen to dismantle the so-called 'Deep State' constantly working against conservatives.
Most Republicans believe the department employs some of the most activist liberal babus bureaucrats in the federal government.
Trump plans to sign another executive order on Tuesday to order all agencies to work with DOGE, according to Semafor, including with the 'workplace optimization initiative.'
The order is the latest sign that Trump is fully on board with Musk's efforts amidst protests from 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... that he is an unelected billionaire.
The department has already terminated 89 Education Department contracts worth $881 million.
And over 29 training grants for DEI have been eliminated saving $101 million, according to the DOGE X account.
President Donald Trump campaigned on shutting down the Department of Education and sending the funding back to the states to fund their schools as they see fit.
He also said last week that it's a goal to put his Education Secretary Linda McMahon ...business executive, and former professional wrestling performer. She was the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. McMahon has been nominated to lead the Department of Education under the second Trump administration. McMahon, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, founded sports entertainment company Titan Sports, Inc. (later World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) where she worked as the president and later CEO from 1980 to 2009. During this time, the company grew from a regional business in the northeast to a large multinational corporation. She made occasional on-screen performances, most notably in a feud with her husband that culminated at WrestleMania X-Seven. In 2009, she left World Wrestling Entertainment to run for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut as a Republican, but lost to Richard Blumenthal in the 2010 general election. She was the Republican nominee for Connecticut's other Senate seat in the 2012 race, but lost to Chris Murphy because that's the kind of guy people in Connecticutt like best. ... 'out of a job.'
Government workers and sympathetic activists rallied on Tuesday at a 'Save the Civil Service' rally hosted by the American Federation of Government Employees in Washington, DC.
Democratic politicians were denied entry to the Department building in Washington, DC on Friday.
Democratic members of congress raged at an unnamed individual blocking their way, demanding to see his identification and answer their questions.
Rep. The Ageless and Downright Brilliant Comrade Maxine Impeach 45! Waters ...U.S. Representative for life from California's 43rd congressional district, serving since 1991, a total of 33.20198 years. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the most senior of the twelve black women currently serving in the United States Congress, and a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Before becoming a member of Congress she served in the California Assembly, to which she was first elected back when Disco was in flower, in 1976, which would make it 48.19992 years. She has been a politician for virtually all her adult life. If she was a little brighter she'd be a Communist... of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, demanded the individual blocking her access to reveal his name, but he refused.
The White House on Tuesday reacted to Waters' aggressive behavior, calling her 'annoying AF.' LOLz
'This deranged behavior is like a scene ripped straight out of Flowers in the Attic,' White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung wrote on social media.
DOGE employees continue to fan across federal agencies as the group looks to cut wasteful spending.
Democrats have rallied behind activists protesting Musk's efforts to cut costs, announcing Monday his decision to launch a special task force to combat Trump's actions to cut government.
The group is co-chaired by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), along with Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), two members of Congress from states bordering Washington, DC.
'We are engaged in a multifaceted struggle to protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration,' Jeffries wrote in a letter announcing the group.
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed Musk’s efforts during a presser on Tuesday.
’What Elon and the DOGE effort is doing right now is what Congress has been unable to do in recent years because the agencies have hidden some of this from us,’ he said, calling their efforts ’good, and right for the American people.’
’Stay tuned, there is a lot more to come,’ he added.
#8
In 2001 the total approriated to the DOEd was about $27 B.
By 2017 this was about $37 B.
By 2021 this was about $41 B (although Trump's budget request was only $18 B).
By 2023 it was about $174 B, much of which came from post Covid stimulus legislation. A budget request of about $250 B for 2024 was made but I can't figure out what the actual appropriation was.
During this time, Student achievement on standardized tests went DOWN, not UP
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/12/2025 11:52
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#9
I would like to acknowledge that Public Education has taught mine about Communism is evil. In group projects and even general classroom, mine do their work, others steal their work, mine get the same grade as the ones who didn't work.
Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been combing through the embattled agency and has cut $982 million in spending so far.
The bulk of that - $881 million - was saved by ditching 89 contracts dished out by the department’s Institute of Education Sciences.
Many of those contracts were for special studies tracking student learning, evaluating teaching strategies, and tracking educational trends.
Training grants for DEI programs have also been canceled, saving $101 million.
'Any contracts to preform statutory functions will be rebid,' a notice to staff read, noting that the College Scorecard would not be affected by the cuts.
#11
Pining for the romance of the Civil Rights movement heydey:
Federal workers just want the dignity and privileges all normal American workers have, like taking a Tuesday off to sing about throwing their boss in jail, without fear of repercussions. Is that not what your Tuesday looked like? https://t.co/Rbkoch1PG2
#12
Federal workers just want the dignity and privileges all normal American workers have,
Oh, you mean like having to worry about get laid off when customers are no longer buying what you produce? Or actually getting laid off? Like worrying about competition from other companies and competition from workers in other countries who are no better than slaves? That kind of dignity? I could agree to that.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/12/2025 16:22
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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 braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...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 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
[FoxNews] …including over $100 million for DEI funding.
...business executive, and former professional wrestling performer. She was the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. McMahon has been nominated to lead the Department of Education under the second Trump administration. McMahon, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, founded sports entertainment company Titan Sports, Inc. (later World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) where she worked as the president and later CEO from 1980 to 2009. During this time, the company grew from a regional business in the northeast to a large multinational corporation. She made occasional on-screen performances, most notably in a feud with her husband that culminated at WrestleMania X-Seven. In 2009, she left World Wrestling Entertainment to run for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut as a Republican, but lost to Richard Blumenthal in the 2010 general election. She was the Republican nominee for Connecticut's other Senate seat in the 2012 race, but lost to Chris Murphy because that's the kind of guy people in Connecticutt like best. ...
