[IsraelTimes] The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes on the Lebanon-Syria border a short while ago, saying its fighter jets targeted border crossings used by the Hezbollah terror group to smuggle arms.
The military says the attempts by Hezbollah to bring weapons into Lebanon “constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
[IsraelTimes] The Lebanese al-Mayadeen outlet reports Israeli airstrikes near the Syrian city of Homs and in the Aakar District of northern Lebanon, close to the border with Syria.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Amid the ongoing ceasefire in Lebanon, the IDF has carried out several strikes to prevent weapons from being smuggled to Hezbollah
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made several new demands in talks on the second phase of the current ceasefire and hostage deal, Channel 13 news reports.
The network says that as a precondition for the permanent end to the war, Netanyahu is demanding that the Hamas leadership be exiled abroad, that Gaza be demilitarized, and that Israel maintain security control over the Strip.
[IsraelTimes] During operations in the West Bank city of Salfit this morning, the IDF says it demolished the home of a Palestinian terrorist who murdered two Israelis last summer.
The terrorist, Amar Odeh, went on a stabbing spree in the central city of Holon on August 4, 2024, killing Rina Daniv and Avraham Somechi and wounding two others.
Odeh was shot dead by a police officer at the scene.
IDF troops demolished Odeh’s home in Salfit this morning. As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly attacks.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it fired warning shots at Palestinian suspects who approached troops and “posed a threat” in several areas in the Gaza Strip today.
In one incident in northern Gaza, the IDF says troops opened fire directly on a suspect who did not withdraw after warning shots.
Palestinian media reports that the man, who was in the Gaza City’s eastern neighborhood of Shejaiya, was killed in the incident.
[IsraelTimes] Lifshitz, among Nir Oz’s founders, defended expelled Bedouins, reported on infamous massacres of Palestinians by Israel-backed militias, and drove sick Gazans to Israeli hospitals
Oded Lifshitz, the hostage whose body was returned on Thursday to Israel, was a veteran journalist, long-time defender of Paleostinian rights, and a founder of the kibbutz where he lived and was kidnapped.
He was taken hostage, aged 83, from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz by Paleostinian snuffies during Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... ’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel alongside his wife Yocheved Lifshitz, 85.
They were among 251 people taken hostage that day, after thousands of Hamas-led snuffies invaded southern Israel from 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, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and sparking the subsequent war.
Yocheved Lifshitz was released 16 days later, for what Hamas called "humanitarian reasons."
Interviewed on Israel’s Kan public broadcaster on Wednesday, she said her husband had "fought for the Paleostinians his whole life — they betrayed him and took him to hell."
In a long career with the now defunct, left-leaning newspaper al-Hamishmar, which was associated with the kibbutz movement, he defended Paleostinian rights and advocated for peace.
In 1972, he defended Bedouins who were expelled from the Sinai Peninsula by Israeli authorities.
A decade later, during the Lebanese civil war and Israel’s invasion of 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.... , he was one of the first journalists to report on the Sabra and Shatila massacres in which Israeli-backed Christian militias killed between 800 and 2,000 Paleostinians in Beirut refugee camps.
More recently, Lifshitz, an Arabic speaker, had been actively involved for years with Road for Recovery, an organization that helps Paleostinians receive medical treatment in Israel.
According to his family, he would drive weekly to the Erez crossing on the Gaza Strip border to pick up sick Paleostinians and transport them to Israeli hospitals.
In his free time, the father of four, grandfather, and great-grandfather played the piano and looked after his garden, where he planted cacti, according to Kibbutz Nir Oz. Lifshitz was among the community’s founders in 1955.
Yizhar Lifshitz, Oded’s son, told Channel 12 on Thursday that the family had feared for the elderly hostage’s life for a long time before receiving final confirmation on Thursday upon his body’s return.
"Members of our community are still inside [Gaza], some of them dead, some of them chained and starved. We have to return all of them now," Yizhar added.
According to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, who identified the hostage’s remains on Thursday, Lifshitz was slain in captivity more than a year ago. He was held by the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... terror group.
In a radio interview, the hostage’s son said, "We knew from someone who was released from captivity in the first deal [in November 2023] that she was with him for two weeks, in an apartment in [the southern Gaza city of] Khan Younis, through Day 20 of the war.
"We know he was sick, and that he was shot in his arm when he was holding the handle of the safe room [on October 7]," Yizhar added, referring to the reinforced room in Israeli homes that is meant to keep occupants safe from rocket attacks. "He was not in a good state."
His grandson, Dekel, told Channel 12 that the family believes he died several weeks after being taken hostage and that his grandfather, who suffered from high blood pressure and needed daily medication, may have succumbed to the harsh conditions of his captivity and lack of treatment.
[IsraelTimes] Court says Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, jailed in 1982 for murdering US and Israeli diplomats, hasn’t shown proof he’s compensated his victims’ families, amid repeated refusals to pay
A French court on Thursday postponed a much-awaited decision on freeing pro-Paleostinian Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, jugged anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not 40 years ago for the 1982 killings of an Israeli and US diplomat.
The Gay Paree appeals court, which had been scheduled to deliver its verdict on Thursday, said it needed more time and would now revisit the case on June 19.
Abdallah, 73, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murders of US military attaché Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.
The United States, a civil party to the case, has consistently opposed his release but Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said he should be freed from jail.
In November, a French court ordered his release conditional on Abdallah, first detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over the murders, leaving La Belle France.
But La Belle France’s anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision which was consequently suspended.
One of La Belle France’s longest-serving inmates, Abdallah has never expressed regret for his actions, claiming he was a "fighter" and not a "criminal"
Wounded in 1978 during Israel’s invasion of 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.... , he joined the Marxist-Leninist PFLP, which carried out a string of plane hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s. It is banned as a terror group by the US and EU.
Then, in the late 1970s, Abdallah, a Christian, founded his terror group, the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF). It made contact with other extreme-left outfits, including Italia’s Red Brigades and the German Red Army Faction (RAF).
The appeals court said Thursday the delay was prompted by the unresolved question of whether Abdallah had proof that he had paid compensation to the plaintiffs, something he has consistently refused to do.
His lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, called the court’s motive "judicial pettiness."
He said imprisoned members of other krazed killer groups active in the 1970s and 80s — including "political prisoners" belonging to French group Action Directe, or Corsican and Basque Lions of Islam — had all been set free.
He added the court’s stance risked creating a "de facto life imprisonment."
Abdallah is one of the longest-serving prisoners in La Belle France- most convicts serving life sentences are freed after less than 30 years.
Several hundred people demonstrated on Thursday in Toulouse ...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France... , around 100 kilometers (65 miles) from Abdallah’s prison, demanding his release.
Police, however, banned any such protests in the Gay Paree region, saying they feared a disturbance to public order because of "a tense social and international context."
Abdallah still enjoys some support from public figures in La Belle France, including left-wing deputies and Nobel prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, but has mostly been forgotten by the general public.
[YouTube] In a new undercover video, a Department of Education official has revealed to Project Veritas that the department is operating as a rogue "sanctuary program" for illegal immigrants, misusing federal tax dollars in a way that would enrage Congress if the truth came out. As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) begins its audit, this official revealed to Project Veritas that employees are also evading oversight and hiding secrets on encrypted messaging apps.
[IsraelTimes] Mohammed Abu Warda, responsible for series of suicide bombings, vows to continue ‘resistance’ at Khan Younis ceremony; had reportedly been slated to be deported to Egypt
A Paleostinian terrorist responsible for killing dozens of Israelis who was released from prison just days ago was seen in media footage at the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... handover of bodies of four slain hostages Thursday.
Mohammed Abu Warda, a former commander in Hamas’s armed wing, was serving 48 life sentences in Israel for criminal masterminding multiple terror attacks that killed 45 people, including a 1996 bombing on a Jerusalem bus that left 24 dead.
He was released by Israel on February 8 along with other terror convicts as part of the ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror group.
According to Hebrew media, Abu Warda was the prisoner with the highest number life sentences to be released so far during the truce. He served 23 years.
Though he was reportedly slated to be deported to Egypt, Abu Warda was seen Thursday morning at a Khan Younis stage where the terror group held a ceremony marking the transfer of what is said were the bodies of four Israeli hostages: Shiri Bibas, her two young children Ariel and Kfir, and octogenarian peace activist Oded Lifshitz, all of whom were kidnapped alive by holy warriors on October 7, 2023.
He was seated in the front row alongside other Hamas dignitaries, apparently as a guest of honor. Abu Warda’s presence at the ceremony was first reported in Israel by the Kan public broadcaster.
Speaking to a news hound, Abu Warda vowed that Hamas’s "resistance" would continue "until we reach liberation of [Jerusalem] and all our lands."
Under the terms of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement, Israel is freeing some 2,000 Paleostinians in prison for security offenses, including hundreds serving life sentences, in exchange for the release of 25 living hostages and eight bodies.
Abu Warda was freed in the third round of the deal, in exchange for the release of hostages Gadi Mozes, Agam Berger, and Arbel Yehoud.
According to the Kan broadcaster, Egypt refused to grant entry to Abu Warda and 19 other released security prisoners and has demanded that other prisoners it has already taken in be deported elsewhere before it will accept new prisoners.
Hamas claims initial agreements have been received from Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... to accept released Paleostinian prisoners, but this has not yet been implemented, Kan reported.
Abu Warda was arrested by the Paleostinian Authority in 2002 in connection to bombings he organized for Hamas and had been in Israeli prisons until his release earlier this month.
When he was charged in 2004, the Israeli judges called the case "one of the most serious indictments ever filed in the State of Israel."
Throughout the ceasefire, Hamas has staged public ceremonies when releasing hostages in an attempt to bolster its claims of remaining in power 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... , after being pounded by Israel’s military for some 15 months in response to the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.
During the Khan Younis ceremony Thursday, Hamas displayed four black coffins on stage surrounded by banners, including a large one depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire.
Thousands of people, including large numbers of masked and armed members of terror groups, looked on as the coffins were loaded onto Red Thingy vehicles before being driven to Israeli forces.
Inside the coffins were thought to be the bodies of Shiri Bibas, her small children Ariel, 4 at the time, and Kfir, just 9 months old, and Lifshitz, all kidnapped from their Nir Oz homes.
After receiving the coffins inside Gaza, the IDF held a small military ceremony, led by IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Eyal Karim, who read psalms as the coffins were draped in Israeli flags.
Israelis, many somberly waving flags, lined roads as a convoy of vehicles brought the bodies to a forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.
[KhaamaPress] Media outlets reports have revealed that a Pak man used a fake Afghanistan passport to deceive Irish immigration authorities, obtain asylum, and fraudulently claim social welfare benefits amounting to 43,000 euros.
A court in Ireland stated that Faisal Akbar, a 60-year-old resident of Benburb Street, Dublin 7, used a fake Afghanistan passport to apply for social welfare benefits, receiving a total of 43,715 euros in his bank account until 2019.
Irish police said Akbar arrived in Ireland in 2008, falsely claiming to be an Afghan citizen and successfully obtaining international protection (asylum). He presented the fake Afghanistan passport to the social welfare office in 2013 and continued to receive funds until 2019. However,
a woman is only as old as she admits... when he requested a name change on his bank account, the bank reported the matter to the police, exposing the fraud.
Faisal Akbar was charged in January this year with 12 counts of theft and illegal use of two forged documents, including the Afghanistan passport.
The Irish court noted that the man revealed his true identity after more than a decade in Ireland, not out of remorse, but because his family would not have been notified of his death otherwise.
The prosecution suggested that if the defendant pleaded guilty, the case could be handled in a district court. However,
a woman is only as old as she admits... the judge rejected this suggestion, ordering that the case be sent to a higher court due to the need for more severe penalties.
Faisal Akbar was granted bail until April and is expected to appear in court again.
This case highlights the potential for fraudulent activity within immigration and social welfare systems and raises concerns over the effectiveness of identification verification procedures in preventing such crimes. The legal process is expected to hold Akbar accountable for his actions.
[KhaamaPress] Reports indicate that a group of migrants colonists, including Afghan citizens who had been deported from the United States, were transferred from a hotel in Panama’s capital to a center in the Darién jungle.
A local newspaper reported on Wednesday, February 19, that 170 out of 299 migrants colonists who had been staying in the hotel were moved to Darién.
Rooters also published a report citing Susana Sabalza, a lawyer for one migrant family in Panama, who confirmed the transfer of deported migrants colonists to Metti, a city in the Darién region.
Darién is a jungle area in southern Panama that has become a key passage for migrants colonists traveling to the United States in recent years.
Panamanian President José Raúl announced on Thursday, February 20, that 119 refugees, including Afghan, Pak, Chinese, and Uzbek citizens, had been deported from the United States.
He also mentioned the deportation of 360 additional "illegal" migrants colonists from the U.S. to Panama, following an executive order from President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... aimed at preventing taxpayer money from supporting illegal immigration.
According to Panama’s Minister of Security, more than half of the migrants colonists recently deported from the U.S. have agreed to return voluntarily to their home countries, mainly in Asia and the Middle East.
This move highlights the ongoing global issue of migration and the impact of stringent immigration policies. As governments like the U.S. and Panama tighten their immigration controls, the fate of these deported migrants colonists continues to raise humanitarian concerns.
[Garowe] The Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... Defense Forces seized major strategic areas in eastern parts of the Cal-Miskaad mountains, the military reported, highlighting its ability to conduct large-scale operations, with minimum aid from external actors key among them the US and UAE.
For over a month now, the regional troops have made noticeable gains on the battlefield, with the US Africa Command and the United Arab Emirates troops giving substantial air support, which has helped combat troops.
On Thursday, the military took control of Dhaqas, Qurac, and Damdamle areas in the Calmiskaad mountains, a security official said, adding that the final phase targets major hideouts within some caves in eastern Puntland.
The operation marks a significant advance against Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Lions of Islam in the Bari region. Details on the number of foreign ISIS holy warriors killed by the forces are expected to be released soon, the military officials said in an update on X platform.
"Today, Puntland’s Counter-Terrorism Forces have taken control of the areas of Dhaqas, Qurac, and Damdamle, which are part of #Calmiskaad mountains. Updates on the bodies of the foreign ISIS holy warriors killed by the forces will be released soon."
ISIS Lions of Islam have started relocating after dozens bit the dust in different encounters with the Puntland forces. The Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s carried out by Americans and the UAE have annihilated over 100 Lions of Islam within the last month according to those privy to the official data.
This comes in the middle of a snub by the federal government, whose only contribution has been acknowledging the progress made without duly recognizing Puntland’s effort. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is yet to visit the region since the offensive started.
Ms Burk’s thesis — as always, thought-provoking and well written. Go to the link to read the rest.
[TheBlaze] Iran, China, and Russia work together to weaken the US from within and abroad. Trump’s strategy targets key regions to turn the tide before it’s too late.
“Amateurs study tactics; professionals study logistics.” But winning wars requires both to support a larger, coherent strategy. President Trump’s push to extend U.S. control to Greenland and Gaza follows a calculated method, not madness.
To win a war, the first step is understanding the enemy and his strategic objectives. The post-World War II order and the Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union no longer pose the primary threat to U.S. interests. Today, China wages covert information and economic warfare while openly preparing for military action to seize Taiwan and dominate key shipping lanes in the South Pacific.
With Greenland, we gain strategic positioning and critical resources. With Gaza, we gain security leverage and economic opportunity.
Russia and Iran support China’s ambitions but play a secondary role. Tactics include sabotage, terrorism, Houthi-led attacks on shipping, and grinding attrition in Ukraine. Meanwhile, far-left movements work to undermine the U.S. from within, often using federal funding to do so. Decades of massive deficit spending have further weakened the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.
That is the threat. How can the U.S. effectively respond after years of economic decline, military stagnation, and the erosion of its workforce’s education?
Trump’s DOGE initiative and other efforts aim to rebuild America’s military and workforce by cutting wasteful spending and reforming domestic programs. But those steps alone do not address shifting global power dynamics or the role of rapidly advancing technology in shaping future conflicts.
That’s where Greenland and Gaza come in.
Urgent, evolving threats
For decades, most NATO countries have ignored their commitments to shared defense. Instead, they built welfare states while cozying up to Russia and China, sidelining Israel, and attempting to control U.S. and global policies through institutions like the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the European Union.
These nations felt secure in their defiance because the U.S. deep state, well entrenched within the bureaucracy, believed it could manipulate global geopolitics through unaccountable dark money. Often, this shadowy influence conflicted with the policies of elected leaders.
Those days are over — just in time.
A new and more urgent threat has emerged: China’s dominance in emerging technology and its implications for national security and defense. For decades, China has fast-tracked its most promising students into advanced science and technology programs. This strategy has fueled major breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, each posing serious risks to U.S. military capabilities, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.
China’s AI capabilities, applied to vast amounts of American personal and government data that it has stolen, provide key insights into U.S. vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, quantum computing threatens to break the encryption methods that currently protect critical systems and sensitive information.
The US must secure new strategic territory and key material sources while rapidly advancing technological capabilities at home.
Posted by: Vortigern Speaking for Boskone4685 ||
02/21/2025
09:56 ||
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[JustTheNews] A group of unions that represent government workers requested that the Trump administration be blocked from conducting mass layoffs to reduce the size of the federal government.
A federal judge has ruled the Trump administration can continue with mass government layoffs, in a ruling Thursday against a group of government employee unions.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper stated in his ruling that the unions by federal law have to bring their challenges before the Federal Labor Relations Authority, not the court.
“The first month of President Trump’s second administration has been defined by an onslaught of executive actions that have caused, some say by design, disruption and even chaos in widespread quarters of American society,” Cooper also wrote in his ruling.
Are you ready to Go Rogue with me? This is an introduction to my new weekly podcast…please join me! And thank on to all those who got me this far. I would not be here without all of you. https://t.co/RmmAQVbmKw
[American Thinker] The war machine is up and screaming. Zelenskyy is having a hissy fit for not continuing to be the absolute center of attention as Trump proceeds, diplomatically, to pursue perfectly legitimate routes to, firstly, engage the "aggressor" (Russia) in talks for peace.
For the first time since the current Ukraine/Russia war began—exactly 3 years less 4 days ago—the leadership of America is speaking for the people, those being killed, and all those paying for it.
Zelenskyy is furious that America, whose taxpayers have financed "his" war, did not yet include him in the first diplomatic efforts with Russia. But this is not all about Zelenskyy, fortunately. It most absolutely stands to reason that the peace talks, from the perspective of any historically successful diplomacy, must begin with the most powerful participant: Russia. This is Diplomacy 101.
Held in Riyadh, the diplomatic initiative initiated by Trump’s administration, was more than timely and correct in every important respect. That correctness is what the Western world fails, in its current chaos, to grasp. The MSM would prefer to trash Trump than to highlight the progress made.
From the reignition of the Ukraine war, the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress (in the main) has presented as routinely hostile to and dismissive of any diplomatic engagement to stop this bloody, terrible conflict. Ditto and more so, Zelenskyy himself. Biden stoked the war by allowing unregulated, unreported, and unchallenged billions in cash and munitions to flow to Mr. Zelenskyy, who repeatedly engaged in blatant grifting while circumventing a change in leadership. While Ukraine is at war elections are suspended and Zelenskyy can, "constitutionally," stay put.
Was no one in U.S. Bidenland remotely interested in why the Biden administration neglected (a) any war costs accountability and (b) any diplomatic initiatives for peace...for three years? Did no one tire of Zelenskyy’s obvious pandering and self-promotion in America, as the cash kept going from us to him? Did anyone notice that, despite the political theatrics from Britain, the EU, the UN, Germany, and France, it was and is the U.S., not Europe, primarily carrying the cash can for this war on another continent?
Why did no one in the moribund Biden media think to ask about the historic domestic corruption shared between political actors in the U.S. and Ukraine, corruption largely related to the Biden family and, quite possibly, many other American officials and legislators?
#1
"Did anyone notice that, despite the political theatrics from Britain, the EU, the UN, Germany, and France, it was and is the U.S., not Europe, primarily carrying the cash can for this war on another continent?"
That's not true. Europe has given more money to Ukraine than the U.S. And what the author calls "Diplomacy 101" is Munich 2.0.
Whatever you may think on Zelensky: He stood form 3 years ago when Russia wanted to kill him. And to call him a dictator is ridiculous. Was Churchill?
And why is "dictator" Zelensky good enough to sign over 50% of Ukraine's wealth (without any security guarantees given) but not good enough to participate in "peace talks"? You put aggressor (Russia) in scare quotes? Seriously?
It's not Zelensky's war, it's Russia's war.
Trump's posting about Zelensky on Truth Social was parrotting all of Russia's talking points. Shamefully so.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 8:14
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#2
EC
Don’t insult anyone or post a meme about germanys $18.1B contribution to the war.
#3
I don't get the mining and rare earth piece.
We missed the money away on a senseless Russo war. We are owed nothing for a poor investment in shi* disturbing. Why leave a trip wire to someday stumble over.
#5
According to the German Foreign Office, the German government has provided around 43.62 billion euros (as of December 31, 2024) for bilateral support for Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
That's just Germany alone, not Europe.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 9:22
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#6
Just spitballin' here, but might the 43.62 have been better spent on defense?
Si vis pacem, para bellum?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/21/2025 9:48
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#7
As this is battlefield Ukraine and not NATO, under current conditions, the EU can continue to bank roll Elenskyyy while the US finds a separate peace?
#9
You can argue all you want but this war started because Putin felt threatened by NATO encroachment into Russia's sphere of influence, places where the people speak Russian and do not feel the need for Western European chocolate, places where NATO has no business. Russians have always relied on buffer zones between themselves and Western European war mongers. Putin was never a threat to Western Europe until NATO started pushing into the buffer zone.
I don't care how much money Germany or anyone else has contributed to keep this bloody, stupid war going. Biden squandered way too much American money on it and the only result is the death of countless Ukrainians and Russians and the loss of Ukraine's eastern oblasts. If you want to keep pushing, you're on your own.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/21/2025 11:28
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#10
So, we are dismissing Putin's push and desire to recreate the USSR? I think not.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 11:34
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#11
If Germans want to keep killing Russians I am fine with it. I don't want the US funding a EU problem. For the record, according to Statista, Germany contributed $18.1B, the US $119.2B, the EU $52.1B, UK $15.4, Japan $11B, others lagging. As usual EC exaggerates everything German.
Here is the link: https://www.statista.com/chart/28489/ukrainian-military-humanitarian-and-financial-aid-donors/
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 12:20
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#16
And no German wants to kill Russians. As Sanna Marin, the former Finnish prime minister said so well: The end of the conflict is Russia leaving Ukraine.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 12:21
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#1 "Did anyone notice that, despite the political theatrics from Britain, the EU, the UN, Germany, and France, it was and is the U.S., not Europe, primarily carrying the cash can for this war on another continent?"
Posted by: European Conservative 2025-02-21 08:14
I've seen data showing the EU combined has contributed more to the war than the US. Don't care what they contribute, I just want the US out of the war effort. Ukraine will never win this war, they never could. As time passes it just gets worse for their people.
#18
I remember the crowing by our side that it didn’t matter whether Ukraine won or lost, because the war was weakening Russia, destroying the manpower and material they need to wage war.
President Putin definitely wants to reconstitute the Soviet Russian empire, but is the country physically capable of it?
#19
^ Not likely as the 2 week Special Debacle Military Operation has shown. However, I see too many gliding right over his underlying motivation. He's no innocent, just as Ukrainian Corruptocrats and thieves are not.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 13:14
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#20
With Europe's migrant problem, why bother.
As far as reconstituting the Eastern Block, with the EU mandating migrant settlement and overturning election results, one has to wonder how far a sales pitch, "Russian Trade Federation - like the EU, but not as intrusive and no migrants" would go.
#21
@tw
"...is the country physically capable of it?
Probably no, but Germany wasn't either back then. Didn't stop Hitler from trying.
And Putin is actually able to blow up the world if things go wrong.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 14:51
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#22
VP Vance comments on the reality now, not the reality wished for///
"For three years, President Trump and I have made two simple arguments: first, the war wouldn't have started if President Trump was in office; second, that neither Europe, nor the Biden administration, nor the Ukrainians had any pathway to victory. This was true three years ago, it was true two years ago, it was true last year, and it is true today.
And for three years, the concerns of people who were obviously right were ignored. What is Niall's actual plan for Ukraine? Another aid package? Is he aware of the reality on the ground, of the numerical advantage of the Russians, of the depleted stock of the Europeans or their even more depleted industrial base?
Instead, he quotes from a book about George HW Bush from a different historical period and a different conflict. That's another currency of these people: reliance on irrelevant history.
President Trump is dealing with reality, which means dealing with facts.
And here are some facts:
Number one, while our Western European allies' security has benefitted greatly from the generosity of the United States, they pursue domestic policies (on migration and censorship) that offend the sensibilities of most Americans and defense policies that assume continued over-reliance.
Number two, Russians have a massive numerical advantage in manpower and weapons in Ukraine, and that advantage will persist regardless of further Western aid packages. Again, the aid is *currently* flowing.
Number three, the United States retains substantial leverage over both parties to the conflict.
Number four, ending the conflict requires talking to the people involved in starting it and maintaining it.
Number five, the conflict has placed--and continues to place--stress on tools of American statecraft, from military stockpiles to sanctions (and so much else). We believe the continued conflict is bad for Russia, bad for Ukraine, and bad for Europe. But most importantly, it is bad for the United States.
Given the above facts, we must pursue peace, and we must pursue it now. President Trump ran on this, he won on this, and he is right about this. It is lazy, ahistorical nonsense to attack as "appeasement" every acknowledgment that America's interest must account for the realities of the conflict.
That interest--not moralisms or historical illiteracy--will guide President Trump's policy in the weeks to come.
#24
The end of the conflict is Russia leaving Ukraine.
Yes, but where does Ukraine begin and where does it end? Those borders have been in dispute for thousands of years. They might need to be re-negotiated, especially since the 1991 borders were drawn by Khrushchev in 1954 when it didn't matter since it was all part of the Soviet Union anyway. I think it is particularly unrealistic for Zelensky to insist on the return of Crimea. Ain't gonna happen. You might add Luhansk and Donetsk to that in light of the fact that Russia occupies them and Zelensky doesn't seem to have the wherewithal to get them back. I'd hate to see Americans, Britains, French and Germans dying for them. The Russian will to fight and the Russian ability to fight for historically Russian territory has a long and tragic history of being underestimated. Joe Biden being the most recent example.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/21/2025 15:44
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#25
Ukraine's borders are those internationally recognized, including by Russia in the 1990s.
Just as Germany's borders are today, regardless of what territories Germany once had.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 15:50
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#26
Ukraine's borders are those internationally recognized, including by Russia in the 1990s.
Just as Germany's borders are today, regardless of what territories Germany once had.
#29
We have an article on that cued up for tomorrow, Walking Unvaxxed, but it’s annoyingly sparse on details. Hopefully yours can add to the little revealed. Thank you.
#31
^One where the World Economic Forum is crying like (Senator) Chuck Schumer.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/21/2025 16:26
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#32
^One where EUROPE funds Europe's defense, rather than gamely trying to add up money pulled from couch cushions and then asserting "Hey, we've put in the same amount as the United States." The United States shouldn't be funding EUROPE's defense.
[ToSD] The Federal Railroad Administration initiated a review of California’s 400-mile high-speed rail project aimed at connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco following concerns voiced by the Trump administration, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday.
The review is expected to determine whether an estimated $4 billion in taxpayer money should remain committed to the proposed project to build a segment in the Central Valley between Merced and Bakersfield. The project was initially supposed to be completed by 2020 for a total of $33 billion; however, that timeline has grown as well as the cost.
"People were excited. They were thrilled to take people off the road, out of the air and put them on rail," Duffy said during a news conference at Union Station in downtown L.A.. "Where are we today? Well, today, we are severely — no pun intended — off track."
A recent estimate by the California High Speed Rail Authority of the Inspector General noted the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment has a funding gap of at least $6.5 billion — despite California being set to receive more than $4 billion from the Biden administration.
The segment is most likely to be completed by 2033, and the total estimate for the entire project is $106 billion, more than three times the original cost, according to the secretary.
"For too long, taxpayers have subsidized the massively over-budget and delayed California High Speed Rail project," Duffy said. "President (Donald) Trump is right that this project is in dire need of an investigation."
Duffy questioned whether the $4 billion promised by the Biden administration should be allocated to the transportation project.
"We’re going to look at whether California’s High Speed Rail has actually complied with agreements that they’ve signed with the federal government," Duffy said. "We can’t just say we’re going to give money and then not hold states accountable to how they spend that money."
Duffy said there are some high-speed rail projects they can support such as the Brightline West rail project, connecting Los Angeles to Las Vegas. But due to the slow progress and high overruns by the California High Speed Rail Authority, the 400-mile run requires a detailed review.
In a statement, CHSRA CEO Ian Choudri said, "We welcome this investigation and opportunity to work with our federal partners."
"With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project," Choudri added.
Update at 2:15 p.m. ET, courtesy of NoMoreBS:
[X] More California Incompetence:Hi-Speed Rail Fiasco-now 171 miles for $133 billion?
.@realDonaldTrump is investigating CA's high speed rail project. It is more than a decade behind schedule. To complete what was promised, would mean likely going $100 billion over budget.
…they are working to stop all federal funds for what they call "an absolute & complete failure."
@SecDuffy
told me wants more details about $4 billion in additional federal funds allocated by
@JoeBiden
.
This event was interrupted by loud protestors, and the
@USDOT Secretary fired back at them.
Here's our
@FOXLA profile from Union Station, featuring the protestors, reactions from
@CaHSRA
,
@GavinNewsom
& more:
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025
06:06 ||
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[11166 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
There are many Amtrak and State-funded passenger trains between San Diego, Stockton, Sacramento, and San Fran. Hair Gel could dumped $5-6 billion into upgrading those services, but wasn't glossy enough, and it would've involved working with freight railroads.
Could've been a model for public transportation. Instead, there is Brightline, Florida's privately funded fast trains from Miami to Canaveral and Mouse World - running now.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/21/2025 8:48
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#2
Hair Gel could dumped $5-6 billion into upgrading those services, but wasn't glossy enough, and it would've involved working with freight railroads.
Where's the graft in that?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/21/2025 10:35
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#3
the HSR was first proposed by Gov. Moonbeam. Our current POS Gov doubled down
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 10:58
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Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 11:25
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#5
You guys are looking at this all wrong. From an engineering perspective, you design it and build it. At the end of the day, you have a train. Definitely a failure from that viewpoint.
Instead, think of the High-Speed Rail project as a giant center-pivot irrigation system designed to spread life-giving fluid (money) over a wide area to a huge number of thirsty entities (constituents/donors). This it does really well, to the tune of ten billion dollars or so.
#6
Governor Wilson (R) was instrumental in forming a commission to recommend a railline and Gov Schwarzenegger (R) was a proponent of the proposition that funded it.
So it's not all Democrats involved.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/21/2025 12:30
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#7
An honest (!) Ballot argument with realistic numbers and assumptions wouldn't have passed, I believe. It was all lies
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 12:39
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#8
Arnold 'Fuck your freedom' S.
The purpose of a system is what it does.
Funny, was talking secondary school with wife yesterday and school counselor pushing eldest to go to Prestige $chool. "It's her job to push students to go to the most expensive school possible, regardless of qualification, motivation, or financial readiness, because she gets the kudos whether the kid fails or not, so many kids go and fail or get a useless education for big buck$ and go into a debt spiral and right into the hands of the debt mongers. The collapse of education and the explosion of student debt isn't because the system is broken, but because the system is working."
#9
Besides, even if it is too expensive to build (like Supercollider), there is still the engineering boodle.
[Retired Professional Civil Engineer Bobby]
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/21/2025 18:36
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The spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate stated that Pakistan is unable to tolerate Afghanistan's recent advancements. He added that Pakistan is attempting to launch international propaganda against… pic.twitter.com/lqTqDY4TWk
…international propaganda against Afghanistan and is trying to create obstacles to hinder its progress.
Reports suggest that Pakistan is particularly upset over projects like Qosh Tepa and other similar initiatives, as well as the new economic corridors such as Chabahar.
Posted by: 3dc ||
02/21/2025
05:59 ||
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#1
Wow! That's A first!
I've never seen a news segment where the anchor doesn't say a word while the guest is speaking!
[Breitbart] China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Wednesday unveiled a 20-point “action plan” to “stabilize foreign investment” – a tacit acknowledgement that the Communist nation’s tottering economy desperately needs the return of foreign investors scared off by dictator Xi Jinping’s authoritarian tactics and unfair trade policies.
MOFCOM’s action plan was drafted with the assistance of the National Development and Reform Commission, a high-ranking department of the State Council established in 2003 to streamline economic planning. The State Council is effectively Xi Jinping’s Cabinet, so the new action plan is roughly equivalent to a policy document from a Cabinet-level agency.
China’s state-run Global Times summarized the foreign investment stabilization plan on Wednesday:
Among the measures, the plan will encourage foreign companies to make equity investment in China and guide high-quality foreign capital toward long-term investment in China’s publicly listed companies.
China will allow foreign investment companies to utilize domestic loans for equity investment by removing restrictions, encourage multinational corporations to establish investment companies, and make it easier for foreign investors to conduct mergers and acquisitions in China, according to the plan.
These measures will broaden the channels for foreign investment, increase flexibility, and support larger-scale investment in the country, according to some experts.
Xi’s mouthpieces touted the action plan as a bold step forward in his “continuous effort to promote high-level opening up,” as Shanghai University of Finance and Economics professor Xi Junyang put it.
“Opening up” was actually the strategy of Xi’s predecessor Deng Xiaoping, who Xi was relentlessly working to minimize in the history books, casting himself as the most consequential leader since Mao Zedong – until China’s economy began to crumble after the triple shocks of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, a real estate crisis that wiped out billions of dollars in value, and Xi’s trade wars with the United States.
The suspicious death of Premier Li Keqiang in 2023 eliminated a popular rival who many Chinese saw as a much better student of Deng’s philosophy. The boldest of critics wondered aloud if China might not have been better off with Li in charge instead of Xi.
[Breitbart] A recent deadly collision over Washington, D.C. involving an Army helicopter has brought sudden national scrutiny to the service and its missions over the nation’s capital, but a master Army aviator told Breitbart News that they had been at risk for years.
In fact, the aviator said, the Army was so strapped for experienced pilots that up through 2023 it was sending its most junior pilots fresh out of flight school to fly these specialized missions. At one point, an estimated 40 percent of the pilots assigned to these missions, which can include evacuating leaders in the event of an attack, were on their first assignment, the aviator said.
And were WH perks offered as incentives? Why the delay in releasing her social media account? "Grooming" at another level ? IIUC, she batted for the other team - had a "partner"
#1
I have been told that pilots with senority have been opting to stay away from DC, because "they treat us like bellhops".
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/21/2025 7:30
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#2
Bellhop - Escort officers. Legend has it, during the Johnson era, the White House would call up to Quantico for an officer escort for one of Lydon's semi-beautiful daughters in attending a hosted event. Those Marine uniforms are indeed nifty. The duty officer dispatched an escort to the White House. Just because the officer happened to be black, probably wasn't why the duty officer never pulled that task again.
#3
The conflict between commercial aviation and military "emergency" operations & training missions in downtown DC was the proximate cause of the recent DCA collision, IMNSHO.
OTOH, an actual continuity-of-government crisis necessitating rapid evacuation of the elite from DC could well result in drastic shrinkage of the governing class.
#5
All of this is assuming the Army is at fault. Rules of a control zone, especially one like DC, are directed and the responsibility of the tower, approach control in particular. To say the hawk was 100' off and this caused the crash is silly. They have a ATC required spacing distance, one is in separation, I believe its 500' at the DC airport, I could be wrong, it might be more. Then you NEVER allow an aircraft on approach fly over another aircraft while on short final. And,"Hay get eyes on the aircraft on approach, is not a correct answer. The hawk was to be at 200' plus or minus 100', The radar and aircraft put it between 200 and 400'. possibly 100' out of its flight envelope. The jet needed to be at 800' plus or minus 100'. All of which should have made it ok, even with the ATC failure to properly space. Then they said the hawk was not on the correct flight lane, the deviation described, if true, put the aircraft on the other side of the river, further away from the airport, thus increasing the required altitude of the jet liner.
The PIC, Pilot in command, had enough hours to be where he was. The Captain was a low time pilot, but she was flying with an instructor pilot. There was nothing wrong with that mix, its how its done. Lastly, pilots ALL have extra duties. Hers was as liaison in DC. So what.
This is a major airline slandering a military crew to sway opinion before the NTSB get done in an effort to divert liability, or to only have to accept partial liability. They are being very good at picking things like hours, female, etc... in an effort, hoping, that this will be contributing factors in the crash. Again, to try to limit liability. I can only imagine how hard the airline is pressuring the NTSB leaders and congress, let alone the money they are spending in new articles like this...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/21/2025 15:46
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#6
Still nothing about the tower person (responsible for "separation"), hours on the job that day, other duties, comments, etc. Pan makes some very good points.
#7
We know that at the busiest airport in America, the tower controller was covering two chairs because the other guy was sent home early — that was one of the first things reported.
she batted for the other team - had a "partner"
“partner” could also mean a live-in boyfriend instead of a husband. Was there ever a name or a photo to inform the reading?
#11
@ TW #9 - It "probably" has no bearing on the incident, but she seems otherwise occupied in other capacities/DEI slot/Biden Social circle. Hence, the "Social Media clearance period" prior to ever releasing her identity
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 18:26
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[WebIndia123] Following US President Donald Trump's remarks on "taking back" the Panama Canal from China, the commander of the US military's Southern Command is visiting the country from February 19-20 to discuss security cooperation "safeguarding the Panama Canal area from China's influence and control."
China, meanwhile on Thursday said that Beijing has never been involved in the management and operation of the canal, nor has it meddled in canal affairs.
The Chinese Embassy in Panama on Thursday refuted the claim that China controls the canal is "nothing but a lie," as per a report in Chinese media Global Times.
The United States Embassy in Panama, on Wednesday, said that its Southern Command commander Admiral Alvin Holsey is in Panama to meet with the nation's leaders to strengthen cooperation and discuss critical regional challenges, including efforts to protect the canal area from Chinese Communist Party influence and control.
China said that it is the US that has been constantly threatening to "take back" the canal and attempting to regain control of it. The US' acts of sabotaging China-Panama relations are unpopular and will not succeed, said the Chinese Embassy in a statement as reported in the Global Times.
This comes amidst tensions between the United States and China post President Trump's inauguration.
On January 20 this year, Trump delivering his inaugural speech said "China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back."
The CNN explains that at the heart of Trump's contentions are a Hong Kong-based company that operates two key ports at either end of the 50-mile long waterway - and broader concerns about Beijing's expanding influence in a region of the world where the US has long been the dominant power.
Earlier this month, US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, held talks in Panama with its president, Jose Raul Mulino. Rubio told Mulino that Trump believed the current situation at the canal was "unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights" under a US treaty with Panama according to US State Department readout of the meeting.
After the meeting, Mulino said he would not renew Panama's belt and road initiative with China.
China's Foreign Ministry criticized the US for using "pressure and coercion" to "discredit and undermine" Belt and Road cooperation. CNN cited a spokesperson as saying that Beijing hoped Panama would "eliminate external interference" and "make the right decision."
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered his agency to work up a plan by Monday to slash 8 percent from the budget in each of the next five years – or $50 billion.
The cuts are styled after the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been reviewing a slew of federal government spending under the leadership of Elon Musk.
The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX boss has already completely dismantled USAID and has put FEMA under notice that they could be the next aid agency to go. He also has cut billions in spending on programs that do not align with President Donald Trump's priorities to crack down on illegal immigration and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The new Pentagon memo outlines a way forward to bring the DoD into compliance with Trump's executive orders after DOGE staffers were on site earlier this week collecting a list of those employees in their probationary periods.
DOGE is overseeing the Trump administration's order to fire thousands of the Pentagon's probation workers, which it started to carry out earlier this week.
The new cuts are entirely separate from the firings.
The target will be to scale back military programs created under President Joe Biden's administration that focused on climate change and energy policies among other 'woke' programs, Pentagon spokesman Robert Salesses said in a statement. NOT Mission-Critical
Other areas considered to be unnecessary spending will be cut, like DEI military practices and policies.
But Trump's plans for a so-called 'Iron Dome for America' would still forge forward as he seeks to create a missile defense system. Some of the money that is saved from cuts to other areas could be used towards replicating Israel's Iron Dome on a larger scale for the U.S.
Hegseth has stressed the importance of the U.S. reviving 'the warrior ethos' to the military.
'The time for preparation is over,' Hegseth wrote in his memo to the Defense Department. 'We must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence.'
The former Fox News host continued: 'Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.'
Salesses said in a statement on the review of the Pentagon budget that the audit will help 'ensure we are making the best use of the taxpayers' dollars.'
He continued: 'The Department will develop a list of potential offsets that could be used to fund these priorities, as well as to refocus the Department on its core mission of deterring and winning wars.'
'The offsets are targeted at 8 percent of the Biden Administration's FY26 budget, totaling around $50 billion, which will then be spent on programs aligned with President Trump's priorities,' Salesses concluded.
The audit comes as Trump vows to also target the Pentagon amid a slew of cuts at other agencies, including canceling billions of contracts at the Department of Education and National Institutes of Health.
#1
The biggest cuts are only found in cutting world wide commitments of American armed forces. Quit sticking your fingers into everything. If you are going to do something, f* "proportional response". Make sure everyone knows they don't want something similar to happen to them.
But then they corrected course and let them in, or so I read last night. Unfortunately, I can’t find the article.Updates from Gateway Pundit at 4:20 p.m. ET (yes, yes — get your giggles out, dear Reader, then let us go on):
LATEST UPDATE: CPAC Releases Statement- J6ers Allowed Back Inside Conference- Stewart Rhodes Responds
Feb. 20, 2025 5:00 am
Latest Update: On Thursday morning, CPAC announced they will allow J6 political prisoners inside the conference.
This comes after several J6ers were blocked from entering CPAC on Wednesday.
Here is the statement from CPAC:
It is untrue that we are not allowing people to come to CPAC because of their involvement with J6. In fact, CPAC has been a constant supporter of this persecuted community and we support wholeheartedly President Trump’s pardons of the J6 victims. The registration link is active and tickets will be sold out very soon.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes tells The Gateway Pundit, “I am very pleased that this was resolved. We are excited to attend the conference this year.”
“We are also looking forward to seeing President Trump speak.”
Stewart is currently in line for his press pass to work as a journalist for the event this weekend.
Original Report: One of President Trump’s first historic moves after assuming office in January was to pardon and commute the sentences of 1,500-plus January 6 political prisoners. President Trump did this on his first day back in office. Over 1,500 Americans were set free from their political prosecution by the Biden Regime and the tyrannical FBI that used nearly 5,000 members of their workforce to work on January 6 cases.
Trump made history once again.
Following President Trump’s courageous move, hundreds of pardoned and commuted January 6 hostages were talking all month on social media about meeting up at CPAC 2025.
The men and women were excited about coming together, reuniting, and meeting each other, as well as the amazing American patriots who fought for their freedom.
And, of course, the January 6ers also wanted to see the man who gave them their FREEDOM, President Donald Trump.
Former political prisoner Jake Lang was one of the J6ers who was excited about attending CPAC 2025. He rented a booth, paid for a room, and planned to live-stream his experience during CPAC weekend.
However, on Wednesday afternoon, while he was broadcasting from his booth, J6er Jake Lang was told he was not welcome at CPAC even though he reportedly purchased a booth and over 20 tickets for J6ers who wanted to attend.
The Gateway Pundit reported on this on Wednesday.
Jake Lang left the building and continued to live-stream video. After he was escorted from the Gaylord Hotel, Jake lashed out at several people who he believed were behind the decision to remove him from CPAC. The Gateway Pundit removed any video from our Rumble page of Jake accusing people of being behind his expulsion from the conference. We have no idea who was behind the decision to kick Jake out of the conference. We hope to learn more today.
Just after 6:00 PM on Wednesday night, several more J6ers received the news that they were also not welcome at this year’s conference. The list includes several prominent J6 political prisoners.
On Wednesday night, after Oath Keepers Founder and commuted J6er Stewart Rhodes, arrived in DC, he heard the news about Jake Lang being escorted from the conference.
Stewart checked into the Gaylord Hotel, where CPAC is being held, and after getting into his room, he went downstairs to pick up his general admission credentials. Stewart found himself in line with Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio, Dominic Pezzola, Ethan Nordean and a few other J6ers.
Once they got to the front of the line a few of them were told that they would not be receiving their passes. They were told, “You are not welcome at CPAC.”
These J6ers were given no reason other than “It’s because of legal.” When Stewart, an attorney by background, asked to speak to someone in charge, the woman who delivered this unexpected news let him know she was in charge. She then told him he could email them and that the email form is on the CPAC website. She did not provide any information on why Stewart was uninvited. However, she did provide security to escort them out.
As of Wednesday night, there were at least six former J6 political prisoners who were denied entry into CPAC. There is no rhyme or reason as to who CPAC chose to deny entry from this year’s event.
The list includes:
** One J6er who was pardoned and his charges dropped
** One J6er who was pardoned
** Two J6ers who were commuted
** An Oath Keeper
** Three Proud Boys
Other Proud Boys and Oath Keepers received entry as have numerous J6 hostages.
Stewart Rhodes had this to say after he was treated like a criminal and escorted from the premises,
“I was just kicked out of CPAC. I was pulled out of line and told I had to leave. I was told my press credentials had also been revoked (they were granted days ago). I asked why and all the female staff lady would say is “legal”. I was escorted out by security from there.”
“All animals are equal … but some animals are more equal than others.” George Orwell, “Animal Farm.”
Investigative journalist Julie Kelly, who has written numerous exceptional reports on January 6 over the past four years, posted this update on X on Wednesday night. Julie heard J6 members were attending CPAC “with the intention of causing problems… confronting guests.”
The Gateway Pundit has no evidence that any of the J6 political prisoners were attending CPAC to cause problems and/or confront guests and reporters. We certainly have not heard this from anyone in our circle of friends and associates.
More… Late on Wednesday night, The Gateway Pundit heard from one of the parents of the Proud Boys, who was sentenced to prison by a corrupt DC court and is now a free man thanks to President Donald Trump.
This is what we were told.
“Security surrounded my son when he as at CPAC in line to get his ticket and escorted him out. They did the same to Enrique (Tarrio), They let Joe and Zach in. Ethan hasn’t tried entering yet. None of this made sense. There is talk of a CPAC boycott tomorrow.
The Gateway Pundit plans to reach out to CPAC leadership today. We will update this post with any new information.
UPDATE: j6er Richard Bigo Barnett was blocked entry into CPAC on Thursday morning.
I just went down to pick up my preapproved #CPAC credentials and was kicked out. #J6ers are being denied entry! Here is the video @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/X6OMHm7RFe
— Richard Bigo Barnett (@BigoBarnett) February 20, 2025
UPDATE: A Gateway Pundit reporter spoke with Enrique Tarrio on Thursday morning. Enrique says CPAC told him they will reverse their decision in two to three hours. CPAC said the legal team made the decision to block the numerous J6ers who were blocked from entering the conference.
Posted by: Woodrow ||
02/21/2025
01:17 ||
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[11164 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#2
When the Mexican government couldn't/wouldn't stop Apache raiding in the southwest, the Army did cross the border in pursuit. As the cartels have been formally designated a terrorist organization, the are consider a belligerent. It's Mexico's responsibility to shut it down and if it can't, the US can take what ever action is necessary to do it.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is concerned about protecting the cartels from our military and Mexico's sovereignty. That's rich. She said little about U.S. sovereignty.
#5
Mexico, which has long rejected such a move by the U.S. to designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, was not consulted about the decision
No shit as you are in bed with the cartels Mexico. We are coming.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] Last night, the Russian Armed Forces launched a long-range high precision group strike by long-range air-, sea-, and ground-based weapons as well as attack unmanned aerial vehicles at the gas and power infrastructure that supported the Ukranian defence industry enterprises. The goal of the strike was achieved. All the targets were engaged.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of one motorised infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and one territorial defence brigade close to Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 45 troops, one tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, six motor vehicles, and three field artillery guns.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on formations of five mechanised brigades of the AFU, one territorial defence brigade, and one National Guard brigade near Kutkovka, Kupyansk, Kondrashovka, Zagoruykovka, Novaya Kruglyakovka (Kharkov region), Kolodezi, and Yampol (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were more than 180 troops, five pickup trucks, and seven field artillery guns, including four NATO-made ones. Two ammunition depots and one electronic warfare station were destroyed.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of three mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Seversk, Vasyukovka, Novomarkovo, Chasov Yar, Chervonoye, Karpovka, Konstantinovka, and Ulakly (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 175 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carrier, two pickup trucks, and seven field artillery guns, including three Western-made ones.
The Tsentr Group of Forces' units improved the situation along the front line. Russian troops hit six mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one jaeger brigade, three assault brigades, one assault regiment, and one National Guard brigade close to Shcherbinovka, Shevchenko, Gnatovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Zverevo, Udachnoye, Kotlino, Uspenovka, Nadezhdinka, and Andreyevka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 280 troops, five tanks, four armoured fighting vehicles, including two U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carriers, three motor vehicles, eight field artillery guns, including one U.S.-made 155mm M-777 howitzer.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on units of two mechanised brigades of the AFU and three territorial defence brigades close to Novopetrovskoye (Dnepropetrovsk region), Zelyonoye Pole, Rovnopol, Dneproenergiya, and Razliv (Donetsk People's Republic)
The AFU losses were more than 130 troops, one German-made Leopard tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, and one motor vehicle. The Russian Armed Forces eliminated four field artillery pieces, including one 155mm French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces engaged manpower and hardware of two coastal defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Primorskoye, Novoandreyevka, Pyatikhatki (Zaporozhye region) and Antonovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were up to 40 troops, four motor vehicles, and one electronic warfare station.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged the infrastructure of military airfields, storage and training sites for the launch of unmanned aerial vehicles as well as clusters of manpower and hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 156 areas.
Air defence systems shot down 10 U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and 108 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 652 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 42,095 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20,984 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,511 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,100 field artillery guns and mortars, and 31,097 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.
During offensive actions, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted strikes on one tank brigade, one heavy mechanised brigade, six mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade, four air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, three territorial defence brigades, and three assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Bondarevka, Gogolevka, Goncharovka, Guyevo, Kazachya Loknya, Lebedevka, Loknya, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Nikolsky, and Suja. Four enemy counter-attacks were repelled.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and artillery strikes engaged AFU manpower and hardware close to Agronom, Viktorovka, Zamostye, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Kubatkin, Kurilovka, Martynovka, Melovoy, Novaya Sorochina, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, and Basovka, Belovody, Zhuravka, Mirlogi, Miropolye, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.
During the day, the AFU losses were more than 160 troops, two tanks, two U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, one armoured personnel carrier, 10 armoured fighting vehicles, eight motor vehicles, five artillery guns, four mortars, and three UAV command posts.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 62,200 troops, 373 tanks, 279 infantry fighting vehicles, 229 armoured personnel carriers, 1,947 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,096 motor vehicles, 461 artillery guns, 49 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 22 anti-aircraft missile launchers, nine transport-loading vehicles, 111 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, seven air defence radars, 49 units of engineering and other materiel, including 19 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers, one engineering reconnaissance vehicle as well as 14 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
[NYPOST] One of President Trump's objectives over the next four years is to have US revenues from tariffs become so massive that the Internal Revenue Service is no longer needed, his commerce secretary revealed Wednesday.
That seems a stretch, but it would be good to reduce the need for the IRS, and its power.
''His goal is to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay,'' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during an appearance on Fox News Channel's ''Jesse Watters Primetime.''
The former CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald expanded a day later on his belief that Trump's sweeping tariff plan will be a boon for the US economy.
''As the president said, reciprocal tariffs, either you bring yours down or we're going to bring ours up. If we go to their level, it will earn us $700 billion a year to be equal to everybody else,'' Lutnick said Thursday, during an appearance on FNC's ''America's Newsroom.''
''And there goes our deficit. And interest rates come smashing down, and the whole economy explodes higher.''
Trump, 78, announced ahead of his inauguration last month that he plans to create an external revenue office tasked with collecting all foreign-sourced revenue, such as income from tariffs.
''For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS ...the Internal Revenue Service; that office of the United States government that collects taxes and persecutes the regime's political enemies... ),'' the president wrote in a Jan. 14 Truth Social post. ''Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the World, while taxing ourselves.''
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly boasted that his tariff plan would bring the American economy back to a ''golden age,'' noting that before 1913 — when the 16th Amendment gave Congress the power to levy federal income tax — the government was primarily funded from tariffs. The 16th amendment was necessary to override the Constitutional prohibition of a head tax.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2025
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#1
If a person were to dig a little into IRS history a little.
Looking at the 16th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913. It was sold on taxing the FILTHY RICH and not the working class, given the original initial tax brackets.
1913 Tax Table
Note: With a 1% tax starting at $20,000 (1913) or more on wages.
Adjusted for inflation, that 1913 $20,000 is equal to over $600K in 2025 dollars.
Meaning only around 1% to 3% of all US households, out of 130 million, would be paying Income Tax today.
BUT!
The Rich saw a Congress that like to spend $$$$$ and open to a lot of donations to create Tax Loopholes.
#3
Somehow Income Tax and Federal Reserve Banks became a thing in every single western country btwn 1913-1915. Same lies were recycled in each country to build support for it. So unnatural, taxation is theft.
For perspective, the Christian bible says the Egyptian Slaves only tithed the Pharoah 20% of their labor.
#4
Like tariffs just have each state collect and pay their ‘fair’ share of taxes to the Feds. Somehow an entire state can run on 5-10% but the feds need 20-35%.
[GEO.TV] Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to step up its offensives across the occupied West Bank after a series of bomb blasts involving buses rocked central Israel on Thursday.
"In light of the serious attempted attacks in the Gush Dan (central) area by Palestinian terrorist organisations against the civilian population in Israel, I have instructed the IDF (military) to intensify operations to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp and in all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria," Katz said in a statement, using the biblical term for the West Bank.
There were no immediate reports of injuries in the blasts.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2025
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#1
FAFO in practice
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 6:15
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[TWZ] Satellite imagery shows the dramatic restoration of Tinian Island's historic North Field, a site that also presents targeting challenges for China.
Satellite imagery shows the extent of the massive amount of work that has been done in the past year to restore more than 20 million square feet of runways and other World War II-era infrastructure at historic North Field on the U.S. island of Tinian in the Western Pacific. The airfield was originally established as a launchpad for B-29 bomber raids on Imperial Japan, including the ones that saw atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The facility has been refurbished to again offer a critical power projection node with its original grid-like layout presenting targeting challenges for a modern opponent, all of which could be especially valuable in a future high-end fight in the region against China.
A series of satellite images of North Field taken between Dec. 3, 2023, and Jan. 29, 2025, by Planet Labs starkly illustrates just how extensive the reconstitution of the derelict airfield has become. The images, as can seen below, show the progressive clearing of the previously overgrown runways, taxiways, and other infrastructure.
Additional satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows the ongoing work to expand Tinian International Airport further to the south of North Field, which is also to support U.S. military operations in the region. As seen below, a very large new apron and adjacent taxiway are being built to the north of the airport’s existing runway. Additional infrastructure, including new fuel storage facilities at Tinian’s main port at the south end of the island, is also included in the divert field project, as you can read more about here.
#4
Wouldn't that be something, if this was a political exile post, and everyone who were sent there got together and were the competent go getters and were like, hey, since we're here, let's rebuild this thing.
[GatewayPundit] Acting US Attorney for DC Ed Martin launched an investigation into threats against DOGE workers on Wednesday and revealed Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer as the target.
Earlier this month Ed Martin announced his office would be charging and arresting individuals who threatened Elon Musk’s DOGE team.
“Our initial review of the evidence presented to us indicates that certain individuals and/or groups have committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting DOGE employees,” Ed Martin said.
“We are in contact with the FBI and other law-enforcement partners to proceed rapidly. We also have our prosecutors preparing,” Ed Martin added.
Ed Martin said his investigation on Wednesday was launched after he spoke to a DOGE worker last night about the ongoing threats.
“Late last night I took a call from a senior DOGE staffer. We spoke about some pressing tech issues and then he told me about threats against DOGE workers. It is despicable that these men and women are being threatened,” Ed Martin said in an email reviewed by Reuters.
Ed Martin named the investigation “Operation Whirlwind” after Schumer’s threats to conservative Supreme Court justices.
Last month The Gateway Pundit reported the Department of Justice opened an investigation into Chuck Schumer for threatening Supreme Court justices during a pro-abortion rally back in 2020.
Chuck Schumer previously threatened conservative Supreme Court justices when he shouted, “You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.” He continued, “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
“At this time, I respectfully request that you clarify your comments from March 4, 2020. Your comments were at a private rally off the campus of the U.S. Capitol. You made them clearly and in a way that many found threatening,” Martin’s letter states.
Ed Martin said Chuck Schumer has not responded to him.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
02/21/2025
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#1
Make the arrogant Schmuck grovel
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 5:37
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#2
If this administration can remove enough sitting senators and congress critters due to their adversarial tactics, that "may" result in more solid majorities in both houses to pass legislation.
[Jfeed] Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, emphasized that the violence and terror witnessed in Gaza are entirely contrary to the teachings of Islam, stating, "What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah, and a sin that does not represent the followers of the Prophet, peace be upon him, or the honorable religion of Islam." [I think he was referring to the dancing and singing around the caskets of the murdered hostages - not to the fact that they were murdered, but I'm not sure]
One hopes he was not actually condemning Hamas posting videos of their actions on the internet that brought Islam into ill repute, rather than either the murders of a mother and her small children and an old Israeli Jew who spent his days driving the sick of Gaza to and from Israeli hospitals or the singing and dancing with glee around the caskets of the murdered marked Arrested on 10/7/2023. The Grand Mufti spoke before Israeli forensic scientists discovered that the corpse in mother Shira Biba’s designated casket was not her, but rather a Gazan of unknown provenance. Someone in Hamas got a little too clever, because Israel announced repeatedly that they had a team prepping to do forensic identification and examination of the bodies. It will be interesting to discover why this happened.
The Saudi Grand Mufti is not the only Big Turban to be appalled:
[X]
The Grand Mufti of Dubai, Ahmed al-Haddad, reportedly stated after watching the scenes of dead Israeli babies being paraded in coffins in Gaza:
‘Hamas has brought shame to Islam on a level never seen before.’
The United Nations human rights chief said on Thursday that the parading of the bodies of hostages in Gaza before they were handed over to Israel is abhorrent.
“The parading of bodies in the manner seen this morning is abhorrent and cruel, and flies in the face of international law,” said the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “We urge that all returns are conducted in privacy, and with respect and care.”
In the statement, UN rights chief Volker Turk added that “under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.”
Hamas said that it returned on Thursday the bodies of hostages Shiri Bibas and her two young redheaded boys, Kfir and Ariel, as well as that of Oded Lifshitz, who was kidnapped at age 83.
Three are true. One was an additional cruelty of a deliberate lie.
Before they were handed to the Red Cross, the coffins were placed on a stage, with armed Hamas gunmen wearing black and camouflage uniforms surrounding the area, and cruel psychological propaganda adorning the stage, including plaques on the coffins declaring the dates of their “arrest” and slogans blaming Israel for their deaths.
In a statement about its role in the handover on Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the operation should have been done “privately” but stopped short of blaming Hamas.
The ICRC, which has itself faced criticism for its position of neutrality, said that it took part in the return of “the remains of those who should have been reunited with their loved ones in life, not in death.”
The Red Cross said its role was “to fulfill a vital humanitarian duty to allow families to mourn with dignity.” The statement added that “these operations should be done privately out of the utmost respect for the deceased and for those left grieving. We have been unequivocal: every release — whether of the living or the deceased — must be conducted with dignity and privacy.”
The day before the handover, the ICRC issued a statement saying that “any degrading treatment during release operations is unacceptable.”
But they sat there and accepted it anyway. So actually it’s quite acceptable to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday condemned Hamas’s “limitless terror” after the handover.
“Four coffins, presented on stage — images that are unbearable,” she wrote in a message on X. “Until the very end, the families of the hostages are exposed to Hamas’s limitless terror. My thoughts are with them. Hopefully they are soon able to mourn their loved ones and bury them with dignity.”
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/21/2025
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#1
There's been almost no general media coverage of what the Grand Mufti is alleged to have said. All I was able to find was this same source, and some mentions on X.
There were 2 comments to the source article asking for a citation or a source of this news.
#2
This is an old Muslim practice. The Emir regrets "bandits" attacks on infidel neighbors, denies any responsibility, and promised to punish the guilty.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 9:50
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#5
the classical position
That’s aspirational, Procopius2k. Historically and even during the recent ISIS and Boko Haram expansions there were so many captives that they were treated as disposable rather than reusable.
[GatewayPundit] The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is causing an earthquake as it exposes the astonishing level of corruption and waste hidden in the US government agencies’ financials.
And, cry as Democrats might, Elon Musk’s DOGE is set, by order of President Donald J. Trump, to audit everywhere, even in space.
During the Commerce Space Conference held in Washington DC last Wednesday (12), NASA’s acting administrator confirmed that the agency is expecting a visit from the cost-cutting unit that Trump called ‘the force of super-geniuses.’
Business Insider reported:
“’So, we are a federal agency. We are going to have DOGE come. They are going to look — similarly to what they’ve done at other agencies — at our payments’, said Janet Petro, in comments reported by Bloomberg.”
In less than a month, DOGE has already shut down USAID and targeted the Treasury, the FAA, and FEMA.
But NASA does extensive business with Musk’s SpaceX.
“NASA has struck around $14.5 billion in contracts with the billionaire’s rocket company. SpaceX is set to carry astronauts to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis missions, and was awarded an $843 million contract to deorbit the International Space Station last year.”
[NYPOST] A boat loaded with 20 migrants colonists from Mexico and China was intercepted on the high seas while trying to make it to the Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, shoreline, the US Coast Guard said in a release.
The 30-foot ''panga-style'' boat was about 21 miles off the coast of Point Loma near San Diego when it was spotted around 4 p.m. on Tuesday — and cut off by Coast Guard Cutter Haddock. They (USCG) seems to have upped their intercept game lately.
Photos and videos released by the guard show crews rushing to the vessel in the dark of night and taking the migrants colonists into custody — before the passengers were taken to San Diego and turned over to the Border Patrol.
The 20 migrants colonists — 17 men and three women — identified themselves as Mexican and Chinese nationals.
The operation is the latest in the Coast Guard's beefed up efforts to intercept immigrants colonists trying to enter the US in keeping with President Trump's call for mass deportations.
No word yet on cause of death.
[NYPOST] Israeli officials revealed hostage Shiri Bibas' remains were not in any of the four caskets released by Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... early Thursday in a ''serious violation'' by the terrorist group.
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were kidnapped from their home during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were kidnapped from their home during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack. Obtained by The New York Post
The Israel Defense Forces told the Bibas family that while the bodies of young hostages Ariel and Kfir were positively identified Thursday, the third body was not that of the children's mother Shiri.
The mother's body was supposed to be released along with the remains of her two kids as part of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal.
The IDF slammed Hamas in a statement Thursday and demanded Shiri's body be returned to the Jewish state.
''This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is required by the agreement to return four dead hostages,'' the IDF reportedly said. ''We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all of our hostages.''
[IsraelTimes] In addition to the gleeful ceremony ridden with propaganda in which Hamas this morning paraded the caskets of four Israeli civilian hostages, including two young kids, the terror group inserted additional propaganda material into the coffins it handed back to Israel, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
After Israeli officials found the material inside, Jerusalem reportedly contacted the mediators of the current ceasefire and hostage deal — Egypt, Qatar and the United States — and demanded stern action against what it says was a desecration of the sanctity of the dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2025
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#1
The way Hamas has handed over the coffins of infants they killed in cold blood tells a lot about them. Nothing we didn't know already, of course.
Wipe them from the face of this earth.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 5:45
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#2
Hear, hear!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/21/2025 6:22
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#3
By 1947 the diabolical, murdering Schutzstaffel were "wiped out." Why not Hamas ?
I don't think "international human rights" will ever recover from the self-inflicted damage since October 7th on the part of its self-proclaimed champions. pic.twitter.com/zy200ZvbR8
#6
I think they didn't return her because they couldn't.
AFAIK the tunnels to Sinai were open for months after 10/7.
My hypothesis is that after Hamas murdered the children she was sold/loaned as a trophy slave to some affluent party outside Gaza and transported there via Sinai.
As Israel took control over the Gaza/Sinai border she couldn't be returned clandestinely.
#7
A strong possibility, Elmerert Hupens2660. It needs to be met with a strong statement of what will happen to all involved including the final owner if she is not returned within 48 hours, including well beyond Egypt if necessary. Because I imagine Mossad already has a pretty good idea of the ratlines and personalities involved — in general, at least — and the teams would no doubt enjoy being sent out “weapons free”.
(Yes, I am livid. I spoke sharply to poor Mr. Wife yesterday, who’d done nothing to deserve it except loathe the very idea of Donald Trump. As usual, this upset me considerably more than it did him.)
#8
^^TW
The whole TDS thing is a marvel and a mystery. It has turned otherwise kind and intelligent people (my whole family) totally unapproachable on the subject.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] An unknown object from space has fallen on Polish territory for the second time in the last two days. This was reported on February 20 by the Polish publication Fakt. Fakt? Really? I guess it's in how you pronounce it
A resident of Czersk in the Pomeranian Voivodeship reported a suspicious object to the police. It fell into a small pond on the outskirts of the city. Law enforcement officers cordoned off the area.
There is no official information yet about what kind of object it is. The Polish Space Agency and the Polish Aeronautical Agency have also been involved in investigating the incident.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the day before an unidentified object about 1.5 m long fell in the Polish village of Komorniki near Poznan. The fall caused a powerful impact, but no one was hurt. Astronomer Karol Wójcicki suggested that it was a fragment of the Falcon 9 rocket, produced by the American company Space X.
On February 3, Poland reported the fall of a Russian meteorological balloon. Cyrillic markings were found on it. An examination showed that the object was not dangerous.
[NY Post] The hammer falls
The commanding officer of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that slammed into a ship near Egypt last week was yanked from the position "due to a loss of confidence in his ability," the Navy said Thursday.
Capt. Dave Snowden was "relieved" of his job at the helm of the USS Harry S. Truman and temporarily reassigned following the wild crash in the Mediterranean Sea on Feb. 12, according to the military branch.
"The U.S. Navy holds commanding officers to the highest standard and takes action to hold them accountable when those standards are not met," the Navy said in a statement.
Snowden was replaced by Capt. Christopher Hill, and temporarily assigned to Naval Air Forces Atlantic.
No injuries were reported during the crash, which unfolded near Port Said at 11:46 p.m.
#2
I read somewhere that the Navy had gone to an ecologically clean paint or something politically correct, and it just doesn’t wear nearly as well as the stuff they used to use. I imagine they’ll be switching back under the new priorities.
#3
One of the by products of "optimized manning", i.e. cutting down on extra personel, is that you don't have extra bodies around to do extra maintenance.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/21/2025 7:27
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#5
Regarding paint and appearances: Was in an outfit where the skipper mandated complete repainting of our aircraft every ‘corrosion inspection,’ but gave no time to address said corrosion. And the standard Navy dark green (part of squadron insignia) wasn’t good enough for him; did an ‘open purchase’ of 50 gallons of a Peterbilt green.
Pretty airplanes, from 25 feet, up close they were ate up.
Yeah we failed post cruise corrosion inspection.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[[Regnum] Prosecutors of the Arkhangelsk region demanded that the court recognize the crimes of the fascists in the region as genocide. This was reported on February 20 on the official website of the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia.
During the Great Patriotic War, Nazi aviation and navy attacked the cities and villages of the region. Fishing factories, polar stations and ships of the Northern Transport Fleet also suffered from bombing and shelling. At least 19,000 people fell victim to air raids and starvation.
The bombing of transport, railway infrastructure and residential areas of Arkhangelsk and Molotovsk (Severodvinsk) region caused damage, which, translated into the current exchange rate, exceeds 700 billion rubles.
It is noted that the prosecutor's office prepared the statement together with law enforcement agencies, archival and educational organizations of the region. In support of the stated facts, an evidence base was presented, including archival documents.
“The application was filed with the Arkhangelsk Regional Court in order to protect the national interests of the Russian Federation, the rights of the relatives of the deceased, as well as the subsequent dissemination to the world community of information about the victims of the invaders during the Great Patriotic War, and the restoration of historical justice,” the Prosecutor General’s Office states.
As previously reported by the Regnum news agency, on February 18, the North Ossetian prosecutor's office demanded that the crimes of the Nazis in the region be recognized as genocide.
During the occupation of Ossetia, which lasted from October to December 1942, the Nazi invaders tortured and killed civilians, simultaneously destroying the republic's infrastructure. More than 2,300 people fell victim to the crimes of the Nazis in Ossetia, shot by the occupiers and killed by enemy air raids and artillery fire. More than 1,600 people were forcibly deported to Germany. The total material damage to the republic is equivalent to 2 billion rubles.
[GEO.TV] Police on Thursday arrested a 20-year-old suspect in connection with the brutal rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Bajaur's Mamond tehsil with the suspect, who is a close relative of the victim, reportedly confessing to the crime. "She dressed a lot older. Like an 8 yr old"
Addressing a presser at his office, District Police Officer (DPO) Waqas Rafiq revealed that the suspect lured the child with the promise of samosas, sexually assaulted her, and then strangled her to death.
The DPO was flanked by the Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigation Naveed Iqbal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Hunar Khan, and Station House Officer (SHO) Ehsanullah.
''To conceal the crime, the suspect also tried to bludgeon her body with stones, attempting to deface it beyond recognition,'' the police official told news hounds.
DPO Rafiq said that the arrest was made within 12 hours of the incident — thanks to the cooperation of local residents.
''The suspect admitted to perpetrating the heinous crime during interrogation," the police official said, adding that explicit content was also found on his mobile phone, while forensic evidence had been sent for further analysis.
The tragic incident outraged the community, with locals grieving and demanding justice for the brutal killing of the young minor amid police assurances. The police further said that the investigation was ongoing, and authorities were committed to ensuring that the perpetrator faced the full force of the law.
The arrest has sent shockwaves through the local community, with authorities vowing to ensure justice for the victim and her family. This is not the first time Bajaur police have acted swiftly in such cases. Last year, they arrested the murderer of a seven-year-old boy in Khar within 24 hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] … while Beijing navy chopper buzzes within TEN FEET of Philippines coastguard plane.
China has flexed its military muscles after a fleet of warships were spotted close to Australia and a Beijing navy helicopter was seen flying within 10ft of a Philippines coastguard plane.
Chinese warships were discovered just 150 nautical miles east of Sydney, marking the furthest south Beijing's navy has ever ventured along Australia's eastern coastline.
The Australian Navy has since deployed two vessels to shadow the Chinese naval task group, which consists of a frigate, a cruiser, and a supply ship.
The fleet was first detected off Australia's north-east coast a week ago, raising concerns over China's expanding military presence in the Pacific.
A defence expert described the situation as 'unprecedented,' warning that Beijing is increasingly normalising its military reach beyond the first and second Pacific island chains, which stretch from Japan through Indonesia, Guam, and Micronesia.
It comes after China was slammed for its 'dangerous, unprofessional, and reckless' actions after a Chinese navy helicopter flew just 10ft from a Philippine coastguard plane on Tuesday.
'As the Chinese test their ability to project power further south, in addition to east and west, the question becomes how much they can hold at risk - how much they can signal to the Australians that they can threaten them,' Charles Edel, a specialist in Australian security at Washington-based think-tank CSIS, told the FT.
The Australian Defence Ministry confirmed the Chinese ships were operating in international waters, but their presence has been met with suspicion.
#2
^ Concur - at the same time I reckon there’s some of ours below conducting some good training. Aussie boats can’t get it done.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
02/21/2025 1:02
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#3
The Aussie government locked down its people during Covid, after the people long ago gave up its guns. I hope NONE of them are sleeping well tonight--they all brought this on themselves.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 6:48
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#10
Uhmm, I note in Billy's link that the Chinese ships claimed they were doing live firing and issued a warning to stay away from the airspace, then ended up not doing any actual live firing.
Right over the area of one of the underwater internet cable!
Instead of 'anchor dragging', I wonder if the Chinese had some kind of submarine or something instead, thus the need for the "supply ship (in reality a secret ship with an underwater hatch) and they wanted to make sure there's no aircraft around to observe what they really are doing.
Responding to this release from Project Veritas last December.
[GatewayPundit] Elon Musk’s DOGE discovered that Joe Biden’s EPA awarded $2 billion to a firm linked to large failed Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams ...sour grapes lo-o-o-o-o-ser (Loser! Loser! Loser!) of the 2018 Georgia governor's race. Then she wanted to be Joe Biden's vice president, so now she can sour grape about that too... Even worse, the firm only reported $100 in revenue in its first three months in business in 2023.
How did a brand new firm that only reported $100 in revenue get awarded $2 billion??
Earlier this month Lee Zeldin, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), provided an update to the money wasted on Biden’s watch in response to undercover video posted by Project Veritas in December.
EPA Advisor Brent Efron admitted on undercover video to an ‘insurance policy’ against the Trump Admin and said the agency was funneling billions to climate organizations in a last minute heist.
“We’re throwing gold bars off the Titanic,” Efron told a Project Veritas undercover journalist.
Last week Lee Zeldin said his team at the EPA ‘found the gold bars.’
“Fortunately, my awesome team at the EPA has found the gold bars. Shockingly, roughly $20 billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution by the Biden EPA. This scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history and it was purposely designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight,” Zeldin said.
It gets worse.
Zeldin said the $20 billion was “awarded to just 8 entities that were then responsible for doling out your money to NGOs and others at their discretion with far less transparency. Just under $7 billion was sent to one entity called the Climate United Fund.”
Now this…
It was revealed that $2 billion of the $20 billion recovered by Lee Zeldin was awarded to Power Forward Communities, a brand new nonprofit linked to Stacey Abrams, according to the Free Beacon.
EPA Chief Lee Zeldin responded to the Free Beacon’s report.
“It’s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023 was chosen to receive $2 billion. That’s 20 million times the organization’s reported revenue,” Lee Zeldin told the Free Beacon.
The Free Beacon reported:
DOGE discovered $2 billion in taxpayer funds set aside for a fledgling nonprofit linked to perennial Georgia Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams.
The Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration awarded Power Forward Communities the grant in April 2024 as part of the agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program. Power Forward Communities received the green energy grant despite the fact that it was founded months earlier in late 2023 and never managed anywhere near the grant’s dollar figure—it reported just $100 in total revenue during its first three months in operation, according to its latest tax filings.
Power Forward Communities’ grant was one of just eight Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants that the EPA doled out in April 2024 and that, altogether, totaled $20 billion. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced on Feb. 13 that his staff and Department of Government Efficiency officials discovered that the Biden administration parked that same $20 billion at an outside financial institution before leaving office, limiting the federal government’s oversight of the program.
#4
It is truly amazing how blatantly they have stolen so much.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/21/2025 10:48
Comments ||
Top||
#5
From Kunstler today-Planet Abrams is the focus of much of the article:
"The key to understanding how the Democratic Party works is how it uses federal grants to redistribute taxpayer money into jobs programs for its rank-and-file. As seen in the recent USAID scandal, the action revolves around the creation of countless NGOs (non-governmental orgs). They are easily created, poorly supervised, and assembled into large networks of self-serving, inter-dependent organisms whose main mission is paying staffers — and secondarily pretending to do good works, as suggested by a given group’s name is. These staffers make up the matrix of Democratic Party activists, well-paid foot-soldiers in do-nothing jobs who can be called upon to cheer-lead for the party, organize street protests and, most critically, harvest ballots when the time comes."
"Stacey Abrams became a kind of field marshal for setting up NGOs around her campaigns for office and then later turned them into money laundromats for the trillions of dollars fire-hosed out of the US Treasury during the Covid-19-darkened “Biden” years. Here are some of Stacy’s NGOs:
· The New Georgia Project and its affiliated NGP Action Fund — set up for her 2018 run for governor. It was eventually fined $300,000 for failing to disclose millions in contributions, failing to register properly, and sixteen violations of campaign laws. Its main purpose was providing jobs for an army of activists. One question that might have been asked: how many of Stacey Abrams’ books were purchased by The New Georgia Project, juicing her royalties?
· The Southern Economic Advancement Project, founded in 2019 to “promote equity” in twelve southern states, paid Stacey a $700,000 annual salary.
· The Fair Fight Action group raised nearly $62 million in dark pool donations by 2022, with 96-percent from 252 large, unidentified donors.
· The Fair Count Project was created to lobby for counting illegal aliens in the 2020 US Census, in order to pad state congressional districts.
· The Third Sector Development group, created as an “incubator” for other groups (including the New Georgia Project).
· The Fair Fight 2020 group, created to “train voter protection teams” in twenty “battleground states.” That is, ballot harvesting.
Out of the $27-billion from “Joe Biden’s” Inflation Reduction Act sent to EPA in 2024, $2-billion from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) ended up in the Stacey-associated Rewiring America org and its offshoot the Power Forward Communities org. Stacey was listed as “senior counsel” to Rewiring America, which also happened to “partner” with her prior NGOs Fair Count and Southern Economic Advancement Project."
[HotAir] Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you... progressive 'leadership' in a nutshell. Said nutshell provided by Southern California's leading progressive nut, in fact.
Elex Michaelson, a reporter for Fox's Los Angeles affiliate, sat down with Mayor Karen Bass to discuss the many failures around the devastating wildfires that left thousands homeless. Bass insists that she is investigating all of the failures, including why she was "allowed" to go to Ghana as weather services and the LA Fire Department sent out warnings of potential disaster:
Michaelson asked specifically about her decision to leave for Ghana, even with warnings about the dangerous situation developing. Bear in mind that Bass had pledged during the 2022 campaign never to leave the state during her time in office, let alone the country. She broke that pledge while receiving warnings about the potential for disaster, which Bass acknowledges while attempting to downplay it.
So why did she leave? Apparently, Bass won't answer that herself, but claims to be investigating why she was 'allowed' to do so:
[Breitbart] No new water storage infrastructure has been built in California, more than a decade after voters approved a $7.5 billion water bond in Proposition 1 of 2014.
The San Jose Mercury-News reported Wednesday that officials are deciding what to do with nearly half a billion dollars of available cash after the “collapse” of a project to expand the Los Vaqueros Reservoir, which is east of San Francisco.
Other projects have received funding for planning and permitting, but nothing has been built.
The newspaper noted:
A majority of the seven board members of the California Water Commission, a state agency that distributes funding to build reservoirs and other water projects, indicated they are leaning toward dividing up the $453 million left over from the Los Vaqueros project and giving it this year to six other major new reservoir and groundwater storage projects currently on the drawing board around the state.
…
The bond can provide up to half the costs of projects, which are designed to store more water in wet years to offset shortages in cities and farms during droughts. But they have been slowed by the COVID pandemic, cost increases due to inflation, permitting delays and other problems, including the inability of local water agencies sponsoring them to come up with all of the matching funds.
…
Only one of the six projects the commission has approved is currently under construction.
The only project under construction, the Harvest Water Program in Sacramento, will recycle wastewater to provide 50,000 acre-feet (16 billion gallons) of water for agricultural purposes.
California’s failure to store and transport water to places where it is needed was highlighted by President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles last month. A 117-gallon reservoir atop the Pacific Palisades, operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, was largely empty at the start of the fire season because it was down for maintenance.
Trump ordered more water to be released from dams for downstream use, but that is only part of the problem. The state has moved at a glacial pace to build new water storage facilities, thanks to environmental concerns and bureaucratic obstacles, and no major dams have been built by the state in over 40 years.
That's what happen when you put democrats in charge.
They'll pay a guy or two to go out and look at the property in question amd come back and file a report that basically says "yep we can dig a hole there and ;ine it with something and it's done!
In the meanwhile the money gets frittered away in various studies, etc (the etc part is mostly people pocketing the money without actually doing anything) resulting in no money left or accounted for.
[TWZ] US Air Force F-16s are expanding their ability to engage enemy drones with low-cost guided rockets.
New pictures show U.S. Air Force F-16C Viper fighters on patrol in and around the Middle East with loadouts that include two seven-shot 70mm rocket pods, and both on the same pylon, rather than just one as has been seen previously. The same images also show an F-16C armed with a mix of AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and sporting a drone kill marking. TWZ first reported last month that Air Force Vipers have been using laser-guided 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rockets, originally designed as air-to-ground munitions, as a lower-cost way to down Houthi drones.
The U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT), the service’s top command for operations in the Middle East, released two sets of pictures of F-16s flying in the region earlier today. The photographs were all taken earlier this month.
The image sets show pairs of F-16Cs flying together and, in both cases, one of the Vipers has a pair of seven-round 70mm rocket pods on a single pylon under its right wing with the help of a triple ejector rack (TER), as seen below. Each of the rocket-armed jets also are seen carrying two AIM-9X Sidewinders, two AIM-120s, a LITENING targeting pod, a HARM Targeting System (HTS) pod, and two drop tanks. As noted, pictures AFCENT has previously released have shown F-16s with one rocket pod instead of two, but otherwise similar load-outs. A version of the single rocket pod loadout has also been observed on Vipers forward-deployed in Japan.
The other Vipers seen in the new pictures are armed with four Sidewinders each – a mixture of AIM-9M and AIM-9X variants – and two AIM-120s, as well as the same array of pods and drop tanks. One of these jets also has a drone kill marking, as well as six others that are silhouettes of a revolver, on the left side of the fuselage right under the forward end of the cockpit canopy. What the revolvers signify is unknown, but they might reflect the destruction of targets with the jet’s 20mm M61 Vulcan cannon, a six-barrel Gatling-type design. This particular aircraft also has three large rows of badly worn air-to-ground mission marks.
Other U.S. military combat jets, as well as American and other foreign warships, have previously emerged with drone and missile kill markings in relation to operations against the Houthis in and around the Red Sea. A Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jet also now has a silhouette of a Hind attack helicopter painted on its fuselage after blowing one up on the ground in Yemen with an AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), which TWZ was first to confirm.
The appearance of F-16s in the Middle East with larger rocket loads is not surprising. As TWZ highlighted in January in our first report on the use of APKWS II in the air-to-air role, even a single seven-shot pod of the laser-guided rockets dramatically increases the Viper’s total magazine depth. As seen again in the newly released pictures, an F-16 with a more typical air-to-air loadout carries just six missiles.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] Regarding the discussion of issues of a potential offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Bryansk and Belgorod regions.
1. Since autumn, the enemy has been accumulating additional forces in the Chernigov, Sumy and Kharkov regions in the interests of active offensive actions on our territory. The movement of units and formations was recorded by our intelligence. Strikes were carried out on the concentrations of forces since autumn.
2. In winter, the enemy made two fairly serious offensive attempts on our territory - an offensive on Ulanok and an offensive on the farm of Berdin. Both did not bring tangible results to the enemy. But the enemy certainly has reserves for active actions, otherwise the Russian Ministry of Defense would not periodically show strikes on troop concentrations in the Sumy region (not to mention the meat grinder in the Kursk region).
3. At the present time, the Russian Ministry of Defense officially states that there is no threat of a direct offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Bryansk region. At the same time, the enemy certainly has the option of building up a group near our borders for potential strikes end-to-end in the Bryansk and Kursk regions or attempting to invade the Belgorod region.
4. Here, much depends on our agent-technical intelligence, which in such cases must uncover the enemy's offensive plans and concentration areas, so that in the event of a transition to preparation for a strike, it will not be missed. At the same time, the enemy carries out active disinformation measures in order to mislead our intelligence and our command, throwing in various potential options for active actions in order to complicate our General Staff's operational response.
Information about an attempt by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to break through to the Kursk and Bryansk regions has not been confirmed. This was reported on February 20 by a source of Izvestia close to the Russian Defense Ministry.
It is noted that all movements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are under the control of Russian troops. In addition, artillery and aviation strikes are carried out on enemy personnel and equipment.
Earlier on February 20, the SHOT Telegram channel, citing a source, reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were preparing an offensive on the Bryansk region, and the movement of armed formations was recorded in the area of the villages of Gremyachka and Palievka in the Sumy region. According to the source, Ukrainian units are concentrated in the area of the Troebortnoye customs post. Russian troops are in control of the situation and are striking the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
At a briefing on February 20, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, referred the question to the Ministry of Defense about the alleged preparation of an offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Bryansk region.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on February 20, the Russian Armed Forces repelled four counterattacks by Ukrainian formations in the border areas of the Kursk region in one day. Over the course of one day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 160 servicemen, two tanks and two US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed.
On February 20, the Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, stated that the Russian military had liberated 75% of the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions, and less than 1% remained to be liberated in the Luhansk People's Republic. He also reported that the Russian Armed Forces had also liberated 64% of the border territory of the Kursk region, initially captured by the enemy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reported on February 19 that Russian troops had crossed the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region and entered enemy territory. The head of state stressed that the Russian army was conducting an offensive along the entire front line.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] Researcher of Podolsk cuisine, Vinnytsia resident Elena Pavlova offers tourists to try Trypillian borscht. She says that it is important to experience the taste of beef broth with quinoa and nettle, because Ukrainians are spiritual descendants of Trypillians, and the recipe for the dish was determined during research work. How can that be? Quinoa is from the Andes in South America.
There is no point in laughing and trying to prove anything here. After all, since the mid-2000s, when the topic of the Trypillian archaeological culture became mega-popular in Ukraine thanks to the collecting hobbies and "messianism" of President Viktor Yushchenko, painted pots made of orange clay and female figurines have moved from the plane of interesting antiquities to the "center of the most ancient agricultural civilization on the planet."
Patriotic Ukrainians are quite serious in arguing that they are two thousand years older than the civilization of Ancient Egypt, and the direct connection between the Trypillians and the current inhabitants of the village is confirmed by the traditional agricultural way of life. As it began in the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age, so it continues to this day.
During this time, the Trypillian Culture Reserve was created in the village of Legedzino in the Cherkasy region, two-story "hut copies" were built there, and many stories and publications about "highly developed cities" were created. A direct line was drawn from the Dnieper villages to the island of Crete, since it is now accepted that the most ancient civilization of Greece, the Cretan-Mycenaean culture, originated in Ukraine.
In addition to borscht, an excited tourist can try “Trypillian bread” in a themed restaurant near Kyiv, buy an embroidered shirt with “ancient Trypillian motifs” and jewelry that “conveys the spirit of our ancestors.” Countless master classes on pot painting are held, including in places where Ukrainians currently live abroad.
In the Kiev region, the winery "Trypillian Nuvo" has opened (albeit with Italian grape varieties), because the "independent wine expert" Anna-Evgeniya Yanchenko passionately proves in her books and lectures that Ukrainian wine culture comes from the Trypillians and Scythians.
Right now, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine is hosting an exhibition called “The Unfading Flower of Trypillia,” dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding researcher of archaeological monuments, museologist, and artist Vikentiy Khvoyka.
Born on February 20, 1850 in Bohemia and living in Kyiv, the Czech businessman, who holds the honor of discovering the right flank of the generally Romanian-Moldavian Cucuteni culture, did not even suspect what consequences his keen interest in antiquities and excavations would have, during which ceramics were found, which a hundred years later drove the Ukrainians crazy.
THE LOVER OF POTTERY
The young Austrian citizen Czech was brought to Kiev by personal affairs. His mother wanted him to marry profitably and become rich, but he had plans for the youngest daughter of the Kiev burghers Aleksandrovsky, for whom he worked as a teacher. But in the end he remained a bachelor and was engaged in growing Czech hops, which were bought by the "Kiev Brewery Society", founded in Podol by the Kiev merchant Nikolai Khryakov to make beer using European technologies.
It was on the site in the village of Petrushki in the Kiev province, where Khvoyka's agrolaboratory was located, that he made his first archaeological find - glass bracelets from the time of Kievan Rus. He successfully sold the "Khabar" to the industrialist and major collector Bohdan Khanenko (his collection formed the basis of the art museum that currently exists in Kiev), who became the main sponsor of further excavations.
For the Khanenko-Tereshchenko family, the Czech was engaged in the selection of more sugary varieties of beet, but the pursuit of antiquity became his passion. In the 90s of the 19th century, the quickly rich provincial capital was shaken by construction fever. Sugar nouveau riche invested in construction, apartment buildings grew here and there, and treasures were constantly found in foundation pits and in clays from which they took material for white-yellow Kyiv bricks.
For example, the honored cavalry general Alexander Baggovut, a participant in the Caucasian and Crimean wars, who lived after retirement in an estate in Kiev's Lukyanovka, was so obsessed with this topic that his fellows dug up literally everything around.
The same Khvoyka in his report on his findings “The Stone Age of the Middle Dnieper Region” for the 11th Archaeological Congress constantly mentions how he came across the barbaric Baggovutov excavations. And there he also tells how the Ukrainians treated the artifacts of “their ancient history” found on Kirillovskaya Mountain – a site of primitive people of the late Paleolithic was discovered there, later named after the place – Kirillovskaya.
“The excavation site, in view of the enormity of the bones and the depth at which they were found, took on some kind of fantastic character in the eyes of the local residents, and the rumor that spread about the dug up mammoth, stone knives, arrows, etc. interested the crowd so much that on the next holiday, a multitude of idle people gathered at the excavation site, wanting to see the unearthed wonders,” a Czech businessman describes his meeting with the natives.
Since the viewing was not limited to just contemplating the objects, but they began to pick them up and pass them from hand to hand without any ceremony, despite the guard's objections, the latter decided to throw out the uninvited visitors and lock the gates. Then "the irritated crowd burst into the estate, destroying everything that came to hand along the way."
For some reason, ordinary Kiev residents decided that the excavations and collection of the bones found had some medical reasons, so they should take the healing things for themselves. There is even a separate description of an old woman who collected mammoth bones in a bundle and assured everyone that she knew well how to treat patients with them, since she herself does this.
Not far away, on the territory of the estate of the outstanding artist Sergei Svetoslavsky on Kirillovskaya Street, the first roughly ornamented objects made of baked clay and pottery kilns (at first mistaken for dugouts) were discovered, which gave the amateur archaeologist a valuable idea: he should look in other similar places along the Dnieper.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE CENTURY
During archaeological work near the villages of Stayki, Khalepye, Veremye, Zhukovka and Tripolye in 1897, finds came in a stream. Dugouts, sites with structures made of baked clay, and a large number of painted clay dishes, figurines, and even burials were found.
Often, archaeological work was carried out on the territory of someone's estates; for example, on the plot of a certain Yakov Klyon, a site of a former settlement measuring 10x13 meters was discovered, and the finds were at a depth of 20–30 centimeters.
That is, Ukrainian villagers walked on ancient history for generations without noticing it at all. And when city barons with workers arrived, all that interested the locals was money for their trouble.
“For example, in the village of Veremye, where I discovered sites for the first time, I had to, in addition to a lot of work, also make very significant material expenses for remuneration in money from all the owners without exception, in whose estates I carried out not always successful searches,” complained Vikenty Vyacheslavovich on the first pages of the book “Excavations in the Region of the Trypillian Culture,” published in 1901 by order of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society.
In his report, agronomist Khvoyka summarizes the characteristic features that are understandable to his agricultural heart: a clearly sedentary people who grew grain crops, lived in semi-dugouts, molded pots, and had “various types of porridge, salamat, and, finally, bread, which have almost invariably survived to the present day in their primitive form among both cultured and uncultured humanity.”
In the final part of the report, the former beetroot hop grower, who suddenly became a scientist, authoritatively discusses the Aryan people, who moved over a huge area and spread various kinds of cultural achievements. Making an unsubstantiated conclusion that the "Trypillian culture" (this name was first introduced into scientific circulation at the 11th Archaeological Congress in Kyiv) is Proto-Slavic.
"I can only repeat the opinion I have already expressed earlier, that the people who left them were a peaceful, sedentary agricultural tribe of undoubtedly Aryan origin, in which one can see only our ancestors, the Proto-Slavs, who preceded and survived in our area all the hitherto known movements and invasions of other foreign tribes, and whose descendants retained in their possession the land of their ancestors to the present time" - this quote subsequently formed the basis of quite serious convictions that the Ukrainians trace their ancestry from the Trypillians, thus being Aryans.
Even more or less serious scientists who study the topic professionally, although they try to meet the demands of socio-political hysteria, still admit: this Mediterranean people has disappeared to who knows where.
All Trypillian settlements were burned down, what happened to them there - no one knows and will never know. And their journey to the banks of the Dnieper from the center of culture, located between the Carpathians and the Dniester, took a thousand years - in the modern sense, Trypillians are more "Romanians" than "Ukrainians".
Well, Khvoyka was not the discoverer - ironically, he was preceded by representatives of his former homeland. The first monuments of this type were found in Galician Podolia by Lviv regional historian Anton Schneider in 1845.
About 20 years before the Kiev discoveries, a systematic survey of the newly discovered gypsum cave Verteba in the south of Ternopil region was carried out by the Pole Adam Kirkor, a representative of the Vilnius Archaeological Commission. And in 1890, members of the Anthropological Commission of the Krakow Academy Gottfried Ossowski and Leon Sapieha made the first finds there, including a burial with cult dishes - later they were sent to the museums of Krakow and Vienna.
Later, a real archaeological paradise was discovered in the cave, which was a cult structure, excavations were conducted simultaneously with Khvoykina's activities and Verteba was called "Pompeii of Naddnistrianshchyna". Now there is an underground museum of the "Trypillian culture" there.
The fact that something original had been discovered became clear at the site of the first settlement discovery near the Romanian village of Cucuteni in 1876 by the same amateur as Khvoika — folklorist and musician Theodore Burada — who found interesting figurines. However, years passed before the moment when the commonality of all these finds was understood, different types of settlements were identified and the older center of the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture was localized — the lack of communication between researchers from different countries had an effect.
However, modern Ukrainian society prefers not to notice inconvenient facts, but to cling to the fantasies of an agronomist who became the founder and first chief curator of the museum of the Kyiv Society of Antiquities and Arts. Because it is more pleasant to consider oneself an Aryan than to honestly admit that the Ukrainian ethnic group was formed in the 17th-18th centuries and lives on legendary ruins just like the Arabs in Egypt, who have no relation to the ancient Egyptians.
Although Vikenty Vyacheslavovich himself is hardly to blame for this.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 20.02.2025 to 00:00 21.02.2025.
A total of 31 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of three civilians being injured.
DAMAGED:
Six residential buildings,
Four cars,
Seven civil infrastructure facilities.
A total of 31 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 98 units of various ammunition were fired.
19:30 Kupyansk direction: Advancement of Russian troops and pressure on the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, –MAP.
The units of the Russian Armed Forces continue their offensive, consolidating their positions on the approaches to Kondrashovka and developing combat operations in the direction of Tischenkovka and Radkovka. These settlements are of strategic importance for control over the adjacent communications that provide supplies to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kupyansk.
Units of the 1431st Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces suppressed the resistance of Ukrainian forces in the area of a fortified stronghold west of Orlyanskoye. This area was of tactical importance, as it allowed the Ukrainian Armed Forces to control the approaches to a number of positions. As a result, Russian troops occupied more advantageous positions, which increases the pressure on the enemy's defense.
18:20 Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is pouring down under pressure from Sakhalin attack aircraft
In the SVO zone, servicemen of the assault group captured four strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during an active offensive in the South Donetsk direction.
17:35 Chasovoyarsk direction: Russian flags in Grigorovka situation as of 16:00 February 20, 2025
On the northern flank of the Chasovoyarsk direction appeared evidence of the advance of the Russian Armed Forces in the Grigorovka area – MAP.
16:40 An FPV drone crew from the North group of forces destroyed a CV90 infantry fighting vehicle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkiv region, –video.
16:22 Development of offensive actions near the settlement of Sverdlikovo
Today, the airborne assault units of the 106th Tula Airbrone Division overcame about 1.5 km from the north-eastern outskirts of Sverdlikovo to Lebedevka, having advanced along the Loknya River and taken a height of 177 m, with access to the streets of Dyakovka and Zagrebelye. Fire contact with the formations of the 116th Territorial Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is also observed in Lebedevka itself.
15:05 The Ukrainian Armed Forces' combat armored vehicle was destroyed using the Lancet loitering munition in the border area of the Kursk region.
13:25 UAV operators of the NBC protection units and special forces of the 29th Guards Army of the Vostok group are working against enemy strongholds and military equipment in the South Donetsk direction.
12:50 Tonight the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation inflicted a group strike with high-precision long-range air, sea and land-based weapons, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles, against gas and energy infrastructure facilities that support the operation of Ukraine's military-industrial complex. The strike's objective has been achieved. All facilities have been hit.
12:15 Crew of TOS-1A "Solntsepek" incinerated fortified positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
In the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region, crews of the heavy flamethrower systems "Solntsepek" of the Tula Guards Airborne Unit carry out daily fire missions to destroy fortified long-term strongholds, positions and dugouts with enemy manpower.
10:50 Operators of attack drones destroyed an armored vehicle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Ugledar direction, –video.
10:32 Security forces prevented a terrorist attack by Ukrainian special services in Saratov region — UFSB
A Russian citizen, he was recruited in 2024 in Ukraine and underwent special training in Kyiv.
On instructions from his supervisor, he took an explosive device with striking elements from a previously prepared hiding place in order to blow up the car of a Saratov official
During the arrest, the saboteur resisted by opening fire, but was neutralized by return fire.
9:55 A reconnaissance UAV was in a forest plantation in the Kursk region discovered a dugout with two Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers. FPV operators of the naval infantry "North" decided to strike the target with a kamikaze drone on fiber optics.
9:05 The 152mm Msta-S cannon destroyed an enemy drone control point and a military vehicle on the right bank of the Kherson region, –video.
8:10 Frontline report for the morning of 20.02.2025
Zaporizhzhya Front. An attempt of counterattack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kamenskoye is reported. The approaching enemy forces were destroyed, –MAP.
Donetsk Front. Russian troops continue to develop the offensive in the Novoselka area. There are also tactical successes in the Constantinople area, where the Russian Armed Forces have secured the outskirts of the settlement and continue to develop the offensive on the flanks,
Chasov Yar direction. Russian troops continue to put pressure on the enemy's defense in Chasov Yar and develop an offensive on the flanks. Tactical successes of our troops in the direction of Kurdyumovka are reported.
Kursk region. Heavy fighting continues in Pogrebki. Also, the Russian Armed Forces are putting pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces defense in the Sverdlikovo area. It is reported that our troops are advancing in one of the areas on the territory of the Sumy region.
7:05 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles:
three UAVs over the territory of the Republic of Crimea and
one UAV over the territory of the Bryansk region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The remnants of the enemy landing force that managed to land were finished off by artillery fire and FPV drones.
The enemy used two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles and six armored combat vehicles to break through the Ukrainian defense.
Naval infantry repelled an assault by occupiers with armored vehicles in the Pokrovsky direction. This was reported by Khortitsky Veter, which also posted a corresponding video on its Telegram channel on Thursday, December 20.
"The occupiers tried to break through the defense in the zone of responsibility of the naval infantry. However, another attempt to "push through" the defense resulted in the loss of 10 armored vehicles in a couple of hours," the report says.
The enemy deployed two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles and six armored combat vehicles to break through and conduct assault operations.
"Thanks to the coordinated work of the units, the enemy equipment, together with the landing force, was destroyed while still approaching the defensive fortifications. The occupiers' armored vehicles were blown up by minefields," the military stated.
The damaged armored vehicles and the remnants of the enemy landing force that had managed to land were finished off with artillery fire and FPV drones.
"The enemy offensive has been repelled, and our positions have not been lost," they added.
As we have already written, the Defense Forces routed a column of Russian marines who advanced under red flags to storm from behind a minefield under a hail of Ukrainian drones in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 22.32 The sounds of vibukhs sounded at the Kiev evening of the 20th of February due to the sound of alarm due to the threat of an attack by the “martyrs”. The head of the city, Vitaliy Klitschko, told us about this on Telegram.
19.16 Russians attempted to enter Sumy Oblast on two BMD-2s, but the attempt was unsuccessful. This is evidenced by a video posted by Ukrainian military correspondent Andrey Tsaplienko on his Telegram channel.
18.54 A group of Ukrainian paratroopers in a Husky tactical armored vehicle approached an enemy position and blew it up. This was reported by the Operational-Strategic Group of Forces (OSGV) Khortytsia on its Telegram channel on Thursday, February 20.
18.39 The Ministry of Defense presented new rules for interaction with drone manufacturers. The military will receive drones faster, and companies will be able to plan production. This was reported by the head of the defense department Rustem Umerov on Thursday, February 20.
The announced DOT-Chain Defense System gives teams the ability to independently determine which drones they need according to the situation, while manufacturers will get a clear picture of demand and be able to plan production more effectively.
18.25 The current administration in the White House believes that the continuation of Russia's war against Ukraine is not beneficial to anyone. Therefore, it is necessary to strive for peace now. US Vice President J.D. Vance wrote about this on the social network X. According to him, President Donald Trump "deals with reality and facts," so it is necessary to strive for peace now.
17.20 In Kiev, a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg began. At the request of the American side, communication with journalists is not provided. Only protocol filming was conducted.
17.01 Since the beginning of the day, 59 combat clashes have occurred on the front in 11 directions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the details in the operational summary as of 16.00.
16.46 Frontliner has shown a photo of an F-16 fighter jet in action, taken in one of the directions of the front. This was reported by Frontliner founder and editor-in-chief Andrey Dubchak on his Facebook page.
16.33 Russian actor and State Duma deputy Dmitry Pevtsov was sentenced in absentia to ten years in prison for anti-Ukrainian propaganda. He openly supported the Russian war, called for the seizure of Ukraine and denied war crimes.
16.30 On the morning of February 20, a grey Renault Duster exploded on Vostochny Avenue in the temporarily occupied Berdyansk. Inside the car was war criminal Yevgeny Bogdanov, a Russian citizen who formally held the position of the so-called deputy head of the occupation administration of Berdyansk. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate.
16.24 Russian occupiers have launched a full-fledged railway connection between Rostov and Mariupol in order to speed up their military logistics. This was reported by the Mariupol City Council on Telegram, citing the Center for the Study of the Occupation .
15.57 Russian shelling destroyed a local architectural monument - the wooden Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the occupied village of Andreyevka in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk Oblast. This was reported by the Donetsk Oblast State Administration.
15.39 Russian invaders have once again attacked the city of Konstantinovka. At least four people have been killed. The city has been subjected to four air strikes and artillery shelling. There is extensive destruction.
14.47 A State Duma deputy and the wife of a party leader, close to the Russian leadership, will be tried for the deportation of Ukrainian children. This was reported by the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
According to open sources, we are talking about State Duma deputy Yana Lantratova and the wife of the head of the A Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov, Inna Varlamova. They organized the deportation of two children from Kherson - an 11-month-old girl and a boy of almost two years.
The Ukrainian children were issued Russian-style birth certificates. The accused and her husband, the leader of A Just Russia, adopted the girl and changed her personal information. The boy was given to guardianship authorities due to psychological developmental disabilities; his whereabouts are still unknown.
14.22 The Security Service and the National Police detained four more arsonists who, on orders from the Russian FSB, were operating in the Kiev and Volyn regions.
The enemy's priority targets were government buildings and the homes of Ukrainian military families. To carry out enemy tasks, the Russians remotely recruited local residents who were looking for easy money on Telegram channels.
14.20 In Kherson, rescuers are extracting a man's body from under the rubble of a multi-story building destroyed by a Russian air strike. This was reported by the head of the Kherson OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin.
14.00 Russian aggressors shelled the city of Nikopol with heavy artillery. Two men were killed, a 39-year-old woman received shrapnel wounds. As a result of the attack, industrial and private enterprises, cafes, shops, garages, and cars were damaged in the city. A private house was damaged. A fire broke out, which rescuers quickly extinguished.
13.53 The Ministry of Defense has codified and approved for operation in the units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine the Tesla ground-based logistics robotic complex . The Ukrainian Tesla hexodron is designed to transport various cargoes on the front lines.
13.40 Ukraine and Russia may reach a ceasefire in 2025. This was stated by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov. At the same time, he is skeptical about the deployment of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine as security guarantees.
13:13 The Main Intelligence Directorate carried out another special operation: dozens of FPV drone goggles were remotely detonated while they were being used by Russian pilots. This was reported by a source in the special services in a comment to Suspilny .
12:27 Financial Times journalists have identified the Russian soldier who likely executed six Ukrainian prisoners. Earlier, the Russian posted a video of the execution on his YouTube channel, but later deleted it. This is stated in the FT investigation.
12:09 Seven more children from the temporarily occupied Kherson region have been returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine. This was reported by the head of the Kherson OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin, on Thursday, February 20.
11:10 In 2025, the Ukrainian military will receive FPV drones worth 44 billion hryvnia. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense. According to the department, last year the main financial resource was directed to the purchase of long-range drones, but now the priority has changed.
10:30 On the night of February 20, Russian aggressors attacked Ukraine with 14 missiles and 161 Shahed-type strike UAVs and other types of drone imitators. The details of repelling this attack were reported by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
10:26 Russian troops attacked Ukraine with Shahed-type attack UAVs. The Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neyezhpapa, published a video of the night air battle over Odessa.
10:20 The Security Service prevented a terrorist attack in Dnipro and detained an agent group of enemy special services, which, on orders from Russia, tried to blow up a veteran law enforcement officer.
To commit the crime, the Russians recruited three agents: a 52-year-old nurse from the Vinnytsia region, as well as a 26-year-old unemployed Kharkiv resident and his 20-year-old girlfriend. They were recruited through a Telegram channel looking for "quick money".
The Ukrainian veteran was going to be eliminated using a homemade explosive device (IED), which a resident of the Vinnytsia region was supposed to activate when the man approached his garage.
08:38 US President Donald Trump estimates Russia's losses in the war with Ukraine at 900 thousand soldiers, Ukraine lost in the war, according to him, about 700 thousand.
"I think Russia has lost 900,000 soldiers, I think Ukraine has lost probably 700,000, and it's horrific, you can see body parts, all over the fields, all over. We can see them all very clearly via satellites," the American leader said.
08:13 Over the past 24 hours, missile forces and artillery have hit 13 areas of concentration of personnel, weapons and military equipment, one air defense system, six artillery systems, a command post and one important Russian facility. There have been 122 combat clashes on the front.
07:45 The number of victims as a result of a guided bomb hitting a multi-story residential building in the center of Kherson has increased to six.
"Two more people were injured as a result of a UAB hitting an apartment building in the center of Kherson. A 60-year-old man has abrasions. A 36-year-old man received an acupuncture injury," said the head of the GVA, Roman Mrochko.
Earlier, it was reported that two children and two more injured men were saved from the rubble.
07:19 As of February 20, 2025, the total combat losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine were approximately 863,580 people (+1,190 per day).
04:45 US President Donald Trump said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly did nothing to end the war in three years, since he did not organize any negotiations. Trump also announced the losses of Ukraine and Russia based on his own data. According to him, Ukraine allegedly lost 700 thousand people, and Russia - 900 thousand.
03:17 Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski spoke about the possible dispatch of a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine as one of the security guarantees. He stressed that this is only Ukraine's business, and Russia has no right to decide whether foreign troops will be present on Ukrainian territory.
02:30 Next week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the United States of America. A British politician will present a plan for the deployment of European troops to Ukraine to US President Donald Trump. The plan is to deploy fewer than 30,000 European troops. The British Prime Minister is expected to detail how European troops will be able to ensure that any ceasefire agreement brokered by the US President is respected. At the same time, Starmer calls on Trump to keep US fighter jets and missiles in Eastern Europe on standby to "respond with lethal force if Russia violates the terms of any ceasefire."
00:17 Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda offers European states his action plan to support Ukraine. He stressed that the necessary real security guarantees for Ukraine - NATO membership - should remain on the table. Ukraine's accession to the EU should also be accelerated, with the target date of accession being 2030. In addition, Russia should be held accountable for war crimes, and sanctions should remain in place until the aggression stops. It is also necessary to urgently finance weapons and allocate 10 billion euros for the Ukrainian defense industry. Frozen Russian assets should be seized and tariffs imposed on imports from Russia/Belarus.
Frozen in photographs, they look out — smiling and innocent. Curious about the future. Hours and days, weeks and years they will never see.
The boys will never get married. Get kissed by lovers. Hold jobs.
Celebrate Bar Mitzvah. Read and write with authority. Ride bikes.
Climb trees. Get old.
I can’t look at the adorable faces of Kfir and Ariel Bibas without crying.
These tiny, ginger-haired children were snatched from the world on Oct. 7, 2023, by terrorists furious that the boys were Jewish. They were seized along with their mother Shiri Bibas.
Ariel was just 4 years old and Kfir was a mere 9 months when they were murdered by Hamas.
Israel vows revenge against Hamas for parading bodies of hostages: ’We will settle the score’
Their bodies were paraded by Hamas on Thursday in a disgusting display of bloodlust and lies.
It was a day of mourning in Israel for the returned innocents.
But in New York City this week, after the release of the tots’ dead bodies and two others’ was announced, a gang of terrorist-supporting Jew-haters protested through Borough Park, Brooklyn, a neighborhood with a predominantly Jewish population.
"Zionists go to hell," they sang.
Have they no shame? Have they no soul?
Hamas showed the world exactly who they are. They are monsters who kill children and use their coffins as props.
The have committed unspeakable crimes and must be hunted down, by any means necessary. Our patience is gone.
If it takes sending the people of Gaza elsewhere, to live in the countries that supported these terrorists, so be it.
There can be no more little children slaughtered to the sound of cheers.
Never again.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025
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#1
Absolutely correct.
Destroy Gaza sooner rather than later. These aren't "kids"--they are young demons who will only grow older and stronger and more determined to kill.
God may have mercy on them, but Israel owes them none.
Melinda Katz (D, former mistress of Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, with whom she has two children) is the Queens district attorney. She took office in 2020 after beating a Progressive darling endorsed by AOC and Bernie Sanders. Is she a member of the George Soros collection, or is she just obeying the letter and spirit of New York City’s and New York State’s Soros-inspired protection of criminals?
[FoxNews] The charges could all be dismissed should they not commit further crimes
Two suspected members of the violent Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang who live at New York City migrant shelters were busted in a gun and drug raid earlier this month – and have since been cut loose on lesser charges that may end without prosecution, according to police, court documents and the New York Post.
Police tell Fox News Digital that Jose Tamaronis-Caldera, 27, and Richard Garcia, 33, were arrested in the Feb. 5 raid on a Big Apple auto repair shop where a Glock handgun, two imitation pistols, and a large quantity of drugs were found.
Both are reputed members of the Venezuelan migrant TdA gang, which has been terrorizing cities across the nation, the New York Post reports, citing sources. The NYPD was unable to confirm their purported gang membership to Fox News Digital.
Rafael Nieves, 54, who prosecutors said is the auto shop’s owner, was also arrested. Police said the raid took place at V&R Auto and Collision in Woodside, Queens.
All three were hit with felony drug and gun charges, but documents reveal that Tamaronis-Caldera and Garcia faced lesser charges when the case went to court.
Tamaronis-Caldera and Garcia are currently each charged with two misdemeanors; possession of an air pistol or air rifle and possession of an imitation firearm which let them walk without bail, prosecutors said.
Furthermore, the charges against Tamaronis-Caldera and Garcia will be dismissed after Aug. 5 if they do not commit further crimes as part of an adjournment in contemplation of compliance (ACD) issued by the judge, prosecutors said.
Nieves, who faced the most serious charges, had his drug and gun possession charges knocked down as well, with the new counts not eligible for bail. His new charges included criminal possession of a firearm and imitation handgun as well as criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.
The Queens DA's office said the charges are not bail-eligible because the gun was unloaded and there was no ammo nearby. The DA's office added that the drugs found on the premises were in an office area and consisted of cocaine and oxycodone pills.
"The DA's office reviews all evidence and charges as warranted," the Queens DA's Office said in a statement. "In this case, the weapon charge against defendant Nieves is for an unloaded firearm and is not bail-eligible. Our office asked for supervised release and the judge granted supervised release."
"The charges against the other two defendants, Garcia and Tamaronis-Caldera, are for possession of an air pistol and are not bail eligible."
Police said that Tamaronis-Caldera and Nieves live at the Crowne Plaza JFK Airport hotel-turned-migrant shelter, while Garcia’s address was given as the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, which also operates as a migrant shelter.
Tamaronis-Caldera and Garcia crossed the U.S. border illegally in 2023, but were then released, federal immigration sources told the Post. Fox News has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more information.
A law enforcement official was roiled that the trio are facing lesser charges.
"These are not misguided individuals," the official told the Post. "They’re documented members of a known violent criminal enterprise, a gang who has planted their flag here by entrenching themselves in narcotics, gun and human trafficking — and the best we can do is let them out?"
"If we did our jobs with criminals, we wouldn’t have ICE scouring our streets for detainees."
Migrant-related crime spiked under the Biden administration amid unprecedented levels of border-crossers streaming into the country, mostly via Mexico.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News late last month that a TdA ringleader was busted in an immigration raid in the Bronx and was trying to buy grenades.
"He had just been a part of a gun weapons exchange and was trying to buy grenades," Noem said. "Why would anybody in this country need to buy a grenade and go out and perpetuate violence?"
#3
Guns and drugs and immigration violations seem to be something that the FEDS could charge. Are there circumstances with these suspects that should allow the Feds to intervene?
#4
The new MAGA DOJ, FBI, & ICE should have this taken care of with federal charges and arrests. Within a few mins, after the gang is released, by the SOROs DA & Judge.
Heck, maybe even charge the NYC DA & Judge for Aiding and abetting.☺
[Townhall] Democrats in Congress, led in large part by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have been throwing all kinds of bizarre tantrums over President Donald Trump and Elon Musk looking to get to the bottom of government waste and fraud. It's no wonder that poll after poll, including today's latest Quinnipiac University poll, shows Democrats are facing record lows in their favorable/approval ratings. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats spoke to the press, where the minority leader was fittingly confronted about what Musk is finding, and what Democrats are crying about.
A reporter asked about "wasteful spending in the government that needs to be cut," specifically if senators "agree with DOGE in that sense," which resulted in quite the curious response from Schumer. "Of course there's some wasteful spending," Schumer promptly insisted, tellingly adding the word "some." As he continued, though, "but you don't use a meat axe and cut everything! We need to look at each program, and go through Congress and see what's wasteful, and move to eliminate it, and what's very not wasteful, but very much needed!"
Pardon us for not having much confidence in Schumer's assurances.
⏹️It's not happening. ⏹️It is happening and it's good that it is. ➡️You were right that it's bad that it's happening, but I don't like how you're fixing it. https://t.co/mAb8PEbEtO
#2
How many years has Schumer been in the Senate? And how many as majority leader? And all that time he could have used a scalpel but he didn't and now he's crying about the meat axe. Oh, boo hoo, Chuckie.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/21/2025 10:53
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#3
Seems like Chuck has had a career’s worth of time to make cuts with his whittling knife. We are out of patience. Time for the meat axe and indictments.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/21/2025 17:31
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[NIUS.de] When the guard comes, Munich terrorist Farhad Noori wants his cell to be cleaned – to clean it of Christians.
Who was Farhad Noori, the Munich attacker? At first, the 24-year-old Afghan who drove a Mini Cooper into a Verdi rally last Thursday, killing two people and injuring 37, puzzled investigators. But initial impressions that security circles were able to gain from Noori's statements during interrogations and his behavior in Munich prison paint a picture of a radical Muslim who shows no remorse and exhibits signs of religious delusion. NIUS learned this exclusively from Bavarian police circles who had insight into his detention in Munich prison.
According to them, Noori, who is said to have been born in Kabul on January 9, 2001, is said to have made fundamentalist-religious references to prison staff in dialogues over the past few days. For example, when a doctor came to examine Noori's mental state, the bodybuilder is said to have repeated several times that "only Allah decides about him." This is another reason why he refuses to go to the doctor. If he were to die, it would be “Allah’s decision” – and he would not feel any fear because he would be resurrected and return to this world anyway.
After the crime, the senior public prosecutor, Gabriele Tilmann, announced that she would dare to "speak of an Islamist motivation for the crime." The 24-year-old, whom the Federal Prosecutor General now accuses of attempted murder in 39 cases, is said to have prayed after the crime and shouted "Allahu Akbar." During questioning, Noori also gave insights into his motives, "which I would summarize as religious motivation," said Tilmann. Research by NIUS also concluded that, in addition to pictures of Noori posing in the gym or in designer clothing, he repeatedly used Islamic references on social media, including the tauhid finger, Kaaba emojis, and sermons that at least showed an interest in pious Islamic content.
However, Noori's behavior in the Munich prison can hardly be described as pious in the literal sense: According to police sources, the Afghan is said to have behaved "impudently" at times - and showed no signs of remorse or scruples. In contact with investigators on site, the Afghan is said to have repeatedly displayed "aggressive behavior" and a "loud, demanding tone." Noori is also said to have repeatedly changed language and started speaking in Urdu.
When food was supposed to be brought to him through the food hatch, an attempt at communication is said to have failed immediately because Noori repeatedly interrupted and aggressively interrupted staff. Within a few days, the attacker is said to have also triggered the emergency call several times, even though he had been made aware that it was only intended for emergencies. On one occasion, the Afghan is said to have instructed a guard that he "had to throw away his garbage immediately"; this was "his will."
The senior public prosecutor, Gabriele Tilmann, spoke on Friday of an Islamist motive for the crime - in the meantime, the Federal Prosecutor General has taken over the investigation.
But there is more: Noori is said to have explicitly asked prison staff to clean his cell, "because the Jesuits who had been housed before him had soiled everything." According to police sources, it seems likely that by "Jesuits" he meant Christians in the sense of the German majority society. When food was brought to his cell, he refused to accept it, "because it was not halal and had been soiled by the prison." Everything he really needed came from Allah, he said, "because Allah sits next to him when he prays." The act the accused is accused of was also ordered by Allah. The attempts at communication paint a picture of a radically religious and simultaneously delusional perpetrator, according to the source.
This matches a click counter that Noori is said to have had with him when he committed the crime last Thursday. Welt had reported exclusively on the object. Investigators are said to have puzzled over the meaning of the click counter, the report said, perhaps the gadget was intended to record the number of people hit or killed. According to NIUS information, however, it seems more likely that the analog counter is more of an indication of Noori's Islamist worldview. For example, devout Muslims in the Near and Middle East are said to carry such click counters with them again and again in order to count their prayers to Allah. A New York Times article from 2022 is entitled: "Some Muslims Are Using Digital Rings to Track Their Praises to God". It seems likely that the mysterious click counter was more of an expression of Noori's connection to Allah - than a kind of body counter.
Noori is said to have had such a hand counter with him at the time of the crime.
The Afghan came to Germany in 2016. His asylum application was rejected, but due to the situation in Afghanistan, Noori could never be deported - and was therefore granted a temporary residence permit. In 2021, he was also granted a so-called "lane change". This allows rejected asylum seekers who are considered well integrated to receive a residence permit. Last weekend, Der Spiegel revealed that he had lied about his escape story. A judge at the Munich Administrative Court had concluded that Noori's statements were "not credible" because they seemed "lacking in detail and unrealistic". There were also "inconsistencies" in his statements. A serious threat in Afghanistan was therefore "unlikely".
#4
"to have explicitly asked prison staff to clean his cell"
It doesn't work this way in Stadelheim prison, as others have found out. And if you don't like the food, you are not required to eat it.
As for the garbage to be taken out: I think the general population of the prison will be delighted to take care of it. Child killers are especially "popular" here.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2025 5:32
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#5
He asked to have the power, heat, and plumbing turned off.
[BREITBART] 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... suggested that the federal government ''should take over Washington, D.C.'' and govern it, citing how there was ''too much crime, too much graffiti'' and too many homeless encampments, according to several reports.
Jake Sherman, the founder of Punchbowl News shared words that Trump had told news hounds while on Air Force One, citing Tarini Parti, a White House news hound with the Wall Street Journal as a source.
''I think that we should govern the District of Columbia — I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawless,'' Trump was reported as having said, according to the press pool. ''And I think we should take over Washington, D.C. We could save people from getting killed. They have a great police department there. Somehow they're not utilized properly. We should govern D.C. The federal government should take over the governance of D.C. And run it really, really properly.''
Trump also shared that while he liked Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), gets ''along great with the mayor,'' the government of D.C. was ''not doing the job,'' according to the press pool.
''I like the mayor, I get along great with the mayor, they're not doing the job — too much crime, too much graffiti, too many tents on the lawns, there's magnificent lawns and there's tents. It's a sad thing, homeless people all over the place, we've gotta take care of the homeless,'' Trump added, according to the press pool. ''But we can't have that in Washington, D.C.''
#4
It belongs to Congress. They decided to 'out source' it to avoid accountability. Anything that isn't federal or foreign should revert back the Maryland just as the land was returned to Virginia across the Potomac.
#5
Well there wasn't supposed to be a city there - just government buildings... the city just grew (much like mushrooms in a manure pile). Rather than trying to govern it, remove it - no non-governmental buildings or activity within the DC boundaries. That'll have the advantage of making the congresscritters have to drive out of town for their chardonnay and hookers.
#7
As we walk this path, centralization of power and exec orders is something the bad guys druel over. We must bear in mind the precendent being set AND the clock is ticking from JAn 20. I do not fear the next 4 years, I fear what follows. "Dem's" don't have a strategy, but i doubt "Dem's" have been running the show since at least 2008. Behind the curtains you might find someone(s) feeding this machine as part of a Bond villian-esque larger plan.
#8
Having so much of the federal government concentrated in DC has turned into a very bad system. It may have made sense in 1790, but modern communications, air & space travel, etc. have rendered such concentration more trouble than it's worth. Why not disperse federal functions all around CONUS?
[NYPOST] CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... anchor Pamela Brown insisted she knows absolutely nothing about Sam Brinton, the infamous, nonbinary former Biden administration official who was famously charged with multiple thefts of suitcases filled with women's clothing from airports.
Brinton first made headlines in mid-2022 after being appointed to lead nuclear waste policy at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy as a nonbinary gender-fluid person who uses they/them pronouns. Brinton stayed in the news as the luggage theft scandal played out, but Brown apparently missed the entire ordeal.
During a heated segment on Tuesday, Brown said the Trump administration was ''trying to claw back several employees who oversaw nuclear weapons,'' when Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., reminded her about Brinton.
''You talk about nuclear secrets, you had a person who was in charge of nuclear secrets, a man, who dressed up as a woman, would go into the airport and steal women's luggage, was overseeing those nuclear secrets under the Biden administration and I never heard y'all say a peep about that,'' Burchett said.
Brown shot back, ''I don't know anything about that, I'll be transparent.''
Burchett told the CNN anchor she should ''look up'' the Brinton story.
Brown might be in the dark because CNN largely ignored the Brinton story, publishing an online story headlined ''Top Energy Department official no longer employed after luggage theft accusations,'' in December 2022.
The story was covered on-air by CNN only once, according to a search of Brinton's name via Grabien Media, when a December 2022 report on ''The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer'' downplayed his ties to Biden.
''Several House Republican politicians jumped on the case to claim this incident in the case of the Biden administration prioritized wokeness over competence hiring Brinton in the first place. But we should note, Brinton was not a Biden appointee instead hired as a senior civil service official,'' CNN's Jeremy Diamond told viewers.
#3
I was watching a Black conservative channel on YT. The host was talking about people saying that if Harris won she would be the first black female President. "We already had the first black female President", the host said with a wry smile.
Published on Wednesday, the day before Hamas handed over a casket that contained the body of some random Gazan instead of the promised body of Shiri Bibas, when it was learnt that her two little sons were brutally murdered only a month after Hamas civilians kidnapped all three during the 10/7 invasion.
[IsraelTimes] I await orders, clarity, and the new, broad, evolving strategy that will follow the 'intermission' that is this ceasefire - for Israel must define its real endgame, and soon.
The ceasefire 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... has brought a temporary halt to combat operations, but for those of us in the field, uncertainty lingers. As a combat engineer in the IDF and an immigrant to Israel, I find myself reflecting on the evolving nature of this conflict. I don’t just see this conflict from a geopolitical standpoint; I live it. The dust from the battlefield hasn’t even settled, and yet, I find myself reflecting. We’ve fought, we’ve sacrificed, but what have we actually achieved? If Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... remains operational despite the first round, what are the strategic lessons to be learned, and how do we recalibrate to achieve lasting security?
Historically, ceasefires in the Middle East rarely mean the end of conflict. From the Geneva conferences regarding Syria, the Iraq war peace proposals, the 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... i crisis talks to the Lebanese reconciliation efforts, ceasefires aren’t endpoints, they are moments of reorganization. As from an Israeli perspective, Hamas, after 15 months of war has emerged battered by endless battles but not broken. Their strategy is clear: absorb the initial blow, regroup, and leverage international pressure to remain intact. This cycle raises a critical question—how does Israel ensure that any future operation leads to a more stable security reality?
The roots of Hamas’s resilience go beyond battlefield tactics; they lie in a deep ideological foundation shaped by the Moslem Brüderbund, founded by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt in 1928. al-Banna’s vision was not just a political movement but a total Islamic revival, blending religion and social services. This quiet Jihad would eventually garner support from its benefactors and turn Egypt and its surrounding countries into a Sharia-led state. After al-Banna’s liquidation, his successor, Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... Qutb, radicalized this vision, arguing that all non-Islamic societies—including secular Arab regimes—were illegitimate and must be tossed. Slow and quiet Jihad by education and social services wasn’t enough; force must be used to speed up the process. Hamas, which originally started as the Gazook branch of the Moslem Brüderbund, carries these ideological pillars into its doctrine, seeing itself as the vanguard of an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.
This historical lens explains why Hamas is not easily dismantled through military means alone. While their leadership operates like a government, their identity is rooted in an ideological struggle that views any ceasefire as a temporary pause in a larger conflict. Past references by the Paleostinian leadership to the al-Hudaybiya truce and the 1967 Khartoum Resolution only affirm the point. The ceasefire, no matter how long it lasts, is just a crossroad of this everlasting conflict. As the counterpart of this long-awaited armistice, the question for Israel is how to balance military operations with broader strategic measures to weaken Hamas’ hold on Gaza in the long term.
THE BROADER REGIONAL PICTURE
The war in Gaza cannot be viewed in isolation. It exists within the dynamic geopolitical landscape that is the Middle East, where new alliances and old rivalries are reshaping the region. The Abraham Accords, brokered under the previous Trump administration, opened doors for Israeli cooperation with the UAE and Bahrain, but the true prize was always 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... . It is no secret that quiet intelligence and security cooperation between Israel and the Saudis has been going on for years, and a formal normalization agreement—potentially brokered by the US—was on the horizon. Then came October 7th, and everything changed.
Hamas’s unprecedented murderous attack had a hidden strategic message to the Arab world. The group, backed by Iran, sought to derail any grinding of the peace processor between Israel and its Sunni neighbors. And to some extent, they succeeded—Saudi normalization talks were put on hold. However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... this does not mean the process is dead. If anything, it highlights the growing sectarian divide: the Iranian-led axis (Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s) versus the Sunni bloc, which—despite public rhetoric—sees 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... as the greater long-term threat.
THE SYRIAN AND NORTHERN FRONTS
While the world’s attention remains on Gaza, Israel needs to keep their eyes open on all their borders. Recent Israeli military success in the swift defeat of Hezbollah has altered regional dynamics. Hezbollah, once Iran’s most formidable pawn in their army of proxies, suffered a significant blow in the latest confrontation, weakening Tehran’s influence in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... . This victory not only enhances Israeli deterrence but also reshapes the strategic equation, demonstrating that Iranian-backed militias are not invincible. But Hezbollah’s return to Lebanese government under the newly formed Salam coalition needs to keep Israeli eyes peeled. The ceasefire agreement is over, Israel wants to stay in certain Lebanese positions, how much American support is there, can we trust the "real" Lebanese army, and what are Hezbollah’s plans? Questions that need to be answered quickly.
At the same time, Syria is no longer what it was. The recent collapse of the Assad regime has left a power vacuum, Ottoman Turkish-backed rebel leader al-Julani has taken charge of the war-torn country, trying to convince the West he is the man for the job. Israel now faces a new Syrian regime, one that is fragile and uncertain, with a double question. Who is al-Julani, is he the Ahmad al Sharaa he claims to be, or is he just a bandit in a suit? On the other hand, what does this shift of power mean about Iranian influence in Syria? Is it still an extension of the Iranian border across the Golan Heights? Is it still an umbilical cord for Hezbollah and its warehouses of ammunition? These are more not-yet-answered questions that add more complexity to the mix.
Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, a little lightbulb figuratively appeared over Bossy's head... Iranian proxies in Iraq and Yemen have escalated their actions. The Houthis, emboldened by Iranian support, have targeted Red Sea shipping routes, disrupting global trade. As Israel focuses on Hamas, the so-called seven-front-war still breathes down our neck with new questions. Is Israel prepared for this next stage, one that may even involve Iran directly?
THE HOSTAGES AND PUBLIC TRUST
Beyond the battlefield, there is also the human cost of this war—the hostages still held in Gaza. The joy of seeing released captives reunited with their families is tempered by the knowledge that many still remain in captivity. Their fate weighs heavily on Israeli society, reinforcing the urgency of a decisive strategy.
Public confidence is another critical issue. The Israeli people expect a security policy that delivers long-term deterrence. The sickening weekly parade of hostages before their release, with other efforts been made by Hamas showcasing their power, are just acts of propaganda. I have walked the streets of Gaza, there is nothing these monsters can be proud of. But still the few of them that have crept out of their tunnels or UN humanitarian zones have soured the aftertaste of this round of fighting among the Israeli public. That being said, the IDF’s role is not just to fight but to reassure the public that security measures are effective and sustainable. Any future engagement must be based on clear objectives and a well-defined post-conflict strategy. Otherwise, there is a risk of repeated operations without a decisive outcome.
THE "GAZA RIVIERA" AND THE NEED FOR A BROADER STRATEGY
Recently, the Trump administration proposed a new vision for Gaza’s future—the so-called "Gaza Riviera"—a plan to transform the strip into a thriving economic hub, potentially involving the relocation of Gazooks to other areas. While this concept presents an ambitious end goal, it remains unclear how it could be implemented in the current reality. The mere discussion of such a vision highlights the need for a clearly defined, broad strategic framework. Without first dismantling Hamas’ control, ensuring long-term security, and securing international cooperation, such plans remain theoretical. Before we talk about grand solutions, we must first address the fundamental challenges on the ground.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
As I sit in this ceasefire-induced limbo, I, like many soldiers, am left waiting. Waiting for orders. Waiting for clarity. Waiting to understand the broader strategy. The waiting itself is its own kind of battle, one fought in the mind rather than in the field. Yet, it is in this space that reflection happens—where questions about strategy, history, and geopolitics come to the forefront. The fact that I even have time to write this post suggests that Israel is at a moment of recalibration, not hesitation.
The ceasefire is not the end; it is an intermission. Whether we return to combat or not, Israel’s strategy must evolve. Tactical victories will not be enough—we need a broader vision that addresses the political and military realities shaping this conflict. The Middle East does not reward indecision. If Israel is to ensure lasting security and regain public trust, it must define the real endgame in Gaza with both military clarity and long-term strategic depth.
Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, a little lightbulb figuratively appeared over Bossy's head... beyond Gaza, the broader Middle Eastern chessboard continues to shift. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hezbollah, and even Syria are all watching Israel’s next move. The decisions made in the coming weeks will not only determine the fate of Hamas but will shape the region for years to come.
As a soldier, I am ready to do my part. But as events unfold, one question remains: will Israel’s next steps lay the foundation for lasting security, or will we find ourselves trapped in another cycle of uncertainty?
[PJMedia] FBI director nominee Kash Patel has often joked that on day one in office he would shut down FBI Headquarters and reopen it the next day as a Museum of the Deep State. Rueful joke aside, he may not know how close to the truth he really is. The FBI has a sneaky little secret that has probably escaped the attention of its most ardent fans at DOJ. It's even possible that the cloistered and suited gangsters on the 7th Floor don't even know how easy it could be to topple the entire enterprise.
The FBI has been in the middle of countless scandals, illegal behavior, lying on warrants, spying on people when they have no basis, making up charges, setting perjury traps, bungling Ruby Ridge and Waco with deadly results, and investigating people like President Trump.
We've come a long way from this gauzy memory of the FBI, America.
The law enforcement agency turned Stasi sends entire SWAT teams to targets' homes at 5 in the morning, even after those same subjects offer to turn themselves in in a business suit accompanied by an attorney. They've been ordered to use "shock and awe" methods for trespassing at the Capitol. And those are just some of the dangerous shenanigans the nation's foremost law enforcement agency has pulled.
If so inclined, however, the Trump Administration could shut the FBI down more easily than Steven D'Antuono set up a sucker who lives in a vacuum store to "kidnap" a governor. In other words, really, really easy—on paper, anyway.
J. Michael Waller notes in his excellent book "Big Intel: How the CIA and FBI Went from Cold War Heroes to Deep State Villains" that the FBI was created from one memo by the attorney general in 1908.
One memo. And it wasn't even signed by the president. It was signed by the attorney general in 1908.
The memo reads:
All matters relating to investigations under the Department [of Justice], except those that be made by bank examiners, and in connection with the naturalization service, will be referred to the Chief Examiner for a memorandum as to whether any member of the force of special agents under his direction is available for the work to be performed. To authorization for expenditure for special examinations shall be made by any officer of the Department, without first ascertaining whether one of the regular force is available for the service desired, and, in case the service cannot be performed by the regular force of special agents of the Department, the matter will be specially called to the attention of the Attorney General or Acting Attorney General, together with a statement from the Chief Examiner as to the reasons why a regular employee cannot be assigned to the work, before authorization shall be made for the expenditure of any money for this purpose.
Charles J. Bonaparte
Attorney General
Waller believes the FBI could be dispatched with the stroke of a pen by issuing a similar memo signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Waller, who's with the Center for Security Policy, has gamed-out how the FBI's functions could be absorbed into other parts of the massive law enforcement apparatus in the U.S. We discussed it in a recent "The Adult in the Room" podcast and in our prior discussion.
He suggests that the FBI be transformed from a domestic intelligence unit into one that looks into foreign espionage threats on our soil. Nobody's saying it would be easy, but then again, nothing the Trump Administration has undertaken in his this second term has been easy.
It's a delicious thing to consider that it could be much easier than anyone ever thought.
Born by the memo, live by the memo, die by the memo.
#1
The USA needs a clearly defined FBI enforcement arm.
It is clear, it MUST have strict operating rules and punishments for violating them.
It can NEVER BE USED like the Democrats have shown a history of doing.
NO Political agenda enforcement use, and it must obey the Bill Of Rights & Civil Rights.
It must respect local law enforcement issues and stick to NATIONAL issues. Unless local or State LE is violating Federal law... eg NYC DA's and Illegals.
#2
Keep the US Marshalls Service - they should be the primary US law enforcement agency period. Audit, purge and preserve the crime lab. Fire every FBI agent with the rider that none can work in law enforcement, the court or prison system for 5 years after termination. That'd be "a good start."
Better to enjoy his remaining time in peace, without feeling the need for more botox.
[NYPOST] Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in the upper chamber's history, announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2026.
In a parting floor speech, McConnell (R-Ky.) recounted how his journey from interning for former Sen. John Sherman Cooper (R-Ky.) to leading the Republican conference for 18 years fulfilled ''a childhood dream.''
''Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate. Every day in between I've been humbled by the trust they've placed in me to do their business right here,'' McConnell said in the address, which coincided with his 83rd birthday.
Within minutes, former Kentucky GOP gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron,
… Trump-endorsed Kentucky attorney general (12/2019 to 1/2024), during which time he chose not to prosecute the police officers who’d killed gangster moll Breonna Taylor, he was on President Trump’s first term back-up list of potential Supreme Court justices, all of which sounds promising…
an ex-McConnell aide, announced he was running for his former boss’s seat in the Senate.
#4
^ My worries as well til I heard the Legislature (GOP controlled) pushed through a bill over Beshear's veto that requires the Gov appoint a member of the same party. Still a chance for mischief.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 10:53
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#5
^Would you trust a Republican appointed by a Democrat?
#7
The KY legislature overrode the governor’s veto and passed a bill into law requiring a special election to replace a Senator. Best if Mitch steps down immediately , while the GoP has momentum. Can’t see it happening. Mitch will leave office on a gurney with a sheet over him.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/21/2025 17:42
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[GEO.TV] A Sri Lankan passenger train derailed Thursday after smashing into a family of elephants, with no passengers injured but six animals killed in the island's worst such wildlife accident, police said.
The express train was travelling near a wildlife reserve at Habarana, some 180 kilometres east of the capital Colombo, when it hit the herd crossing the line before dawn.
"The train derailed, but there were no casualties among the passengers," police said, adding that wildlife authorities were treating two elephants who survived the crash.
Videos shot after the accident showed one elephant standing guard over an injured youngster lying beside the tracks, with the tips of their trunks curled together.
Killing or harming elephants is a criminal offence in Sri Lanka, which has an estimated 7,000 wild elephants, with the animals considered a national treasure, partly due to their significance in Buddhist culture.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2025
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[NYPOST] Chinese social media is lighting up with love for Melania Trump as she returns to the White House — with users praising her ability to stay stylishly unattached yet supportive of her powerful husband.
The two-time first lady is winning thousands of female fans in the authoritarian country — where women must strike a balance between modern and traditional — for her stoic loyalty and fashion taste, according to users and experts.
''She looks heroic, elegant and resolute, so powerful and majestic, loving it so much,'' Joyce Yip, a 39-year-old entrepreneur wrote on Xiaohongshu — China's equivalent of Instagram — after husband Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... 's presidential inauguration last month.
''Melania is a woman who is low-key, very real, supports her husband in the back and stands with him when he needs her,'' said Yip.
[Rudaw] Germany is home to millions of Moslems, but they are a diverse group. Some are influenced by their religious backgrounds, while others are more focused on voting for parties that promise better living conditions for immigrants colonists in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Germans will go to the polls on Sunday.
Inside the Brotherhood Mosque in Gelsenkirchen, Imam Ibrahim speaks in Arabic and German about the importance of participating in the election for the future of their religion in this country. The mosque is fundamentally Kurdish, but Arabs regularly come to pray alongside Kurds. Imam Ibrahim himself was born to a German mother and a Paleostinian father. He believes voting is a right and Moslems should not be indifferent to it.
"It is like history repeating itself. Our situation is like 1933 before [Adolf] Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like... came to power. The situation is nearly the same from a political perspective, and the media topics they discuss are almost identical. The only difference is that in the past, it was against Jews, now it's against Moslems," he told Rudaw on Monday.
Riyadh Bakr is a young Syrian who has been in Germany for ten years. He is waiting for the Islamic Association in Dusseldorf to decide which political party is suitable for Moslems so he can vote accordingly.
"There is not an ideal political party that meets all Moslem demands. We are in a Western country with its own laws, but we try our best to support the party that aligns with our goals and implements our objectives to a large extent," he said.
Along with the harsh rhetoric against immigrants colonists from Germany's right-wing parties, Moslems are sometimes directly and indirectly implicated. Moslems, like any other component of this country, believe the election results will affect their religious freedom in Germany.
Rawa Qaradaghi, a Kurdish-Moslem voter, said the upcoming election in Germany is "very important," adding that "For people like us who are not fully German, it is very important to go vote so we can have some power here in Germany."
Herish Hamakhan has been in Germany for 30 years. He has participated in most elections and even goes to vote wearing Kurdish clothes with his children.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD), the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and the Greens "are all the parties that are at the forefront, truly at the front of the stage. There are other smaller parties too, but honestly, until now, although people don't usually share their voting preferences, I might vote for CDU perhaps," Hamakhan told Rudaw.
After Christians, Moslems are the second-largest population group in Germany, numbering over five million people.
[Rudaw] Serdar Yuksel, the prominent Kurdish member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), is running for the federal parliamentary elections after 14 years of serving in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament.
"It is important for Kurds... to have representatives in the German parliament, so that Kurdish demands, especially from Kurdistan and northern Iraq, can be heard and the bridge we have built over the past 15 years can now be represented in Berlin," he told Rudaw on Monday.
Germans will go to the polls on Sunday.
The parents of the 51-year-old Yuksel are from Kurdish areas in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... . His family migrated to Germany in 1964, and he was born in Essen. He has been a member of the Social Democratic Party for 36 years. For this election, he campaigns tirelessly because he believes democracy is in danger.
He said his party "works to strengthen democracy," adding that "democracy in Germany has not been this endangered in the 75 years since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany."
He warned against a potential win by far-right parties and called on people to go to the polls.
"We have a far-right holy warrior and fascist ...anybody you disagree with, damn them... party that wants to destroy democracy here. This must be taken very, very seriously. In other countries, people take to the streets and sacrifice their lives to live in a democratic society and vote. But we see that many people unfortunately stay at home. I call on all Kurds to exercise their rights, go vote, and not leave this democracy to the enemies of democracy," he said.
Yuksel highlighted three key goals for his electoral campaign: preserving the right to dual citizenship for asylum-seekers, keeping borders open for refugees fleeing violence and instability, and facilitating the legal migration process for skilled individuals.
Serdar has been a parliamentarian for North Rhine-Westphalia since 2010 and has won the trust of voters in Germany's largest state in four consecutive elections, representing the voices of immigrant communities, particularly the Kurdish diaspora.
[GatewayPundit] Scientists from one of America’s most highly respected institutions have proven that the so-called conspiracy theorists were right once again regarding the COVID-19 shot.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that scientists from Yale University have linked the COVID-19 shot to rare and alarming syndrome referred to as “post-vaccination syndrome.” This condition was previously unknown to almost the entire country.
The syndrome can cause severe symptoms including brain fog, dizziness, tinnitus, and exercise intolerance. Moreover, sufferers have experienced distinct biological changes in their bodies, including differences in immune cells and coronavirus proteins, years after taking the shot.
In addition, scientists also discovered the vaccine can re-awaken a dormant virus in the body called Epstein-Barr. This virus can cause symptoms such as an enlarged spleen, swollen liver, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, and a rash.
Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University who led the study, tried to tamp down any concerns the general public may have.
“I want to emphasize that this is still a work in progress,” Iwasaki told The New York Times
“It’s not like this study determined what’s making people sick,” she added. “but it’s the first kind of glimpse at what may be going on within these people.”
The researchers’ next step will be to determine how many people have been afflicted with this syndrome and those most vulnerable.
This is the latest example of serious medical health problems potentially caused by the COVID-19 shot. For years, people have said they have suffered life-altering injuries including brain damage, heart failure, and partial paralyzation following ‘vaccination.’
The Gateway Pundit also reported back in January about an absolutely shocking biological change to a 19-year-old woman’s body after getting ‘vaccinated’ for COVID.
She experienced rapid breast enlargement just one week after receiving her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in September 2022. Then, her condition worsened following the second dose, with her breast size increasing dramatically from a B cup to a triple G over six months.
The article at the link hotlinks to GP’s report on this, and adds the follow-up that the young lady’s problem was diagnosed as pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH), a rare condition involving idiopathic fibrous mammary tissue growth, and that breast-reduction surgery six months later was successful.
Members of the military have also revealed injuries resulting from getting the shot forced on them by the Biden regime. These members could now receive medical compensation as a result.
#4
Do we think any of us all who were abused, threatened and maligned by our governments (Federal, State, and Local), our employers, and our family and friends will get so much as an acknowledgement? An apology? Hah.
One word: Justice.
Posted by: Chicago Lurker ||
02/21/2025 8:08
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#5
"It wasn't a thing until they made it a thing."
#7
Day after first shot resting heart beat went from 64 to 38…2 weeks later it went back to 44, after the second shot it dropped back down and took almost two months before it reached 74. Dentist next door died of blood clots after shot. F the science!!!!!
Posted by: Old Salty ||
02/21/2025 9:41
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#8
/\ If it wasn't designed as a population reduction tool, a new 'duel use' Chem-Bio technology was certainly discovered.
[ShabelleMedia] Somali National Army forces, supported by local fighters, clashed with al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... holy warriors early Thursday in the Middle Shabelle region, military officials said. The fierce fighting centered on the areas of Ceel Cali Axmed and Cali Fooldheere, where Somali troops and militias launched significant operations.
The Somali forces successfully drove al-Shabaab from the areas, inflicting heavy casualties on the turban group, according to officials.
Local sources reported that the bodies of several al-Shabaab fighters, including commanders, were found scattered in Ceel Cali Axmed, dealing a major setback to the krazed killers.
Somali troops also seized a large cache of weapons and equipment from the turbans, further disrupting their stronghold in the region. Authorities said the operation has bolstered security in Shabelle Dhexe and vowed to continue efforts until al-Shabaab is expelled from southern Somalia.
Further details on the operation are expected to be released soon, with state-run media providing updates on the security situation and military progress.
Thursday’s success underscores the increasing coordination between Somali forces and local militias in their campaign to dismantle al-Shabaab’s presence in key areas.
A pre-dawn attack launched by the Al-Shabaab militants was successfully repelled by the Somali National Army (SNA) on Thursday, officials said, following intensive fighting between the two groups in central regions of the country.
The militants were forced to retreat after making entry into several villages within Middle Shabelle, amid an ongoing crackdown against the group, which is struggling to topple the fragile UN-backed federal government of Somalia.
A statement by the Ministry of Information confirmed that the militants faced off with the military within the newly liberated El-Ali, Daaru Nicma, Ali Fooldheere, and Al Kawthar villages, inflicting losses of 130 militants.
The attack comes as Somali forces intensify military operations against Al-Shabaab in central and southern regions, with the backing of African Union troops and international allies. The forces have been targeting central and southern regions.
[NYPOST] Three buses in Israel detonated Thursday in what police are investigating as a suspected terror attack, according to multiple reports.
Two empty buses went kaboom! simultaneously in different parking lots in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, before a third one went up in flames, according to Israeli media reports.
Additional bombs were also planted on two other buses in Bat Yam and Holon but failed to explode. They have since been disabled, police said.
Videos circulating on social media show the vehicles engulfed in flames, with large plumes of smoke blackening the sky. Images also show the charred frame of one bus following the earth-shattering kaboom.
No casualties have been reported.
''Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving several buses at different locations in Bat Yam,'' the Israeli Police Spokesperson's Unit said, ABC News reported.
''Large police forces are at the scenes, searching for suspects. Police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects.''
In total, five bombs were planted on five different buses in Central Israel, Tel Aviv District Police Chief Haim Sargarof told reporters, according to The Times of Israel.
He said the explosives appear to be makeshift with timers attached.
One of the unexploded devices included a message saying “Revenge of Tulkarem” – referring to a recent Israeli military counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank, local outlets reported.
Authorities halted all buses, trains and light rail trains in the country to search for additional bombs, according to Israeli media reports.
Bus drivers throughout the country have also been advised to search their vehicles before traveling, several Hebrew media outlets reported, with security also reinforced at Ben Gurion Airport.
Each of the devices contained 5 kilograms of explosives, Hebrew media reports said.
"The Dire Revenge of the deaders will not be forgotten so long as the occupier is present on our land... This is a jihad of either victory or martyrdom," said a statement on a Telegram channel claiming to represent Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... ’s so-called Tulkarem Battalion, which did not directly claim responsibility for the blasts.
According to a Channel 12 news report, the devices were slated to explode on Friday morning, when the buses were in use, but were set off early. Giora Eiland, a former IDF operations chief, speculated that the timers were incorrectly set.
The network also reported that one of the undetonated devices was found due to an alert from a passenger, who notified the driver of a suspicious bag, and that police believe several suspects were involved in planting the bombs.
In a statement, the Bat Yam Municipality said that "miraculously, the buses arrived at the parking lots a moment before the earth-shattering kaboom," and were already empty of their passengers.
Defense Minister Israel Katz had said that he instructed the IDF to ramp up its operations in the West Bank.
"In light of the severe terror attack attempts [in the Tel Aviv area] by Paleostinian terror organizations against the civilian population in Israel, I instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of the counterterrorism activity in the Tulkram refugee camp, and all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria," he said in a statement.
"We will hunt down the bandidosLions of Islam to the bitter end and destroy the terror infrastructure in the camps used as front line posts of the Iranian evil axis," Katz added. "Residents who give shelter to terror will pay a heavy price."
The IDF has been carrying out a major offensive in the northern West Bank, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, since January 21.
Following Katz’s statement, the military said it was investigating the bus bombings jointly with the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police, adding that after a fresh assessment, the IDF’s ongoing counterterrorism operation in the West Bank would be focused on specific areas per the findings of the probe.
Additionally, the IDF said it has blocked several checkpoints leading into the West Bank in specific areas, and will ramp up activities in the so-called seam zone, the area between the Green Line and Israel’s West Bank barrier.
It also announced that three more battalions will be deployed as reinforcements to the West Bank, after holding a situational assessment.
[NYPOST] Kash Patel was confirmed to be FBI director Thursday — unleashing a transition in which President Trump's longtime adviser is expected to overhaul the bureau.
The Senate voted 51-49 to approve Patel to serve a 10-year term, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Daddy, can I be a senator? Murkowski ... representing K Street ... (R-Alaska) breaking ranks and voting with 47 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... against the nominee.
Trump has said that Patel, 44, will shake up the bureau and attempt to depoliticize decision-making after a series of controversies involving either alleged or proven bias against Republicans.
''I think Kash is going to do great,'' Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Tuesday. ''I think they have to do great or we have a problem. But when you look at what they did, the raid of Mar-a-Lago — you look at what they did, their reputation is shot.''
Patel emerged unscathed from his confirmation hearing last month as Democratic senators focused much of their time accusing him of being sympathetic to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
At that hearing, Patel pledged to reform rather than unravel the bureau — after some close Trump allies called for the FBI to be disbanded after the August 2022 raid on Trump's Florida residence.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2025
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Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2025 16:55
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#7
In related news, I was listening to radio from Oklahoma where the governor had ordered all state workers to no longer remote work and show up at the office.
What was interesting is the tack used by the opposition is exactly the same trope used nationally to supposedly usurp Trump, "253 years ago, we got rid of King's rule in this country" or something.
Too much NPC Download Fail to unpack in a simple post.
[GEO.TV] In a tragic incident in Sindh's Badin district, a father brutally tortured his daughter to death for wishing to marry a man of her choice, committing Karo-Kari — an act of so-called honour killing prevalent in the rural and tribal regions of Sindh.
The victims of such killings are predominantly women, accused of bringing shame to their families for having relationships outside marriage, before marriage, or seeking to marry of their own free will.
In some cases, victims are killed merely based on rumours or hearsay.
The police arrested the murder suspect, a resident of Lanwari Sharif Town, who was identified as Dodo Bheel, while the victim's name was Indirah Bheel.
Speaking to news hounds, the suspect admitted to killing his daughter after she allegedly threatened to leave the family to marry a man she liked.
Dodo claimed that such marriages went against his family's tradition, where girls are not allowed to wed of their own free will.
"Dodo Bheel fatally struck his daughter, Indrah Bheel, on the head with sticks," said Anwar Laghari, Station House Officer (SHO) of Badin Model Police Station.
[ShabelleMedia] The Minister of Ports and Marine Transport of Somalia, Mr. Maxamuud Aadan Geesood, hosted the Ottoman Turkish Ambassador to Somalia, Amb. Alper Aktas, at his office on Tuesday.
The two officials discussed plans to support the reconstruction and development of Somalia’s ports, particularly those recovering from the damage caused by decades of conflict and difficult conditions.
Ambassador Aktas assured that the Ottoman Turkish government is ready to assist Somalia in achieving its port development goals by utilizing The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... ’s experience and expertise in port management.
During the meeting, it was also agreed that the Ministries of Ports in both Turkey and Somalia would strengthen cooperation to enhance the country’s port infrastructure, including modernizing port equipment, training personnel, and providing technical support for port operations and management.
The meeting also included Ahmet Sami, a representative of Albayrak Group, a Ottoman Turkish company responsible for the development of the Mogadishu port.
Minister Geesood welcomed Turkey’s support and commitments toward improving Somalia’s ports, noting that this assistance is vital for the country’s economic recovery and the rebuilding of crucial port infrastructure, which plays a key role in regional trade and economic growth.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/21/2025
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[Garowe] Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , a federal state in northeastern Somalia, banned undocumented foreigners from entering its territory on Thursday after its troops killed dozens of foreign ISIS fighters in an ongoing military operation in the al-Miskaad mountains of Bari region.
Puntland security forces reported heavy losses among the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... bad boys, many identified as non-Somali combatants, in the offensive targeting holy warrior strongholds in the rugged al-Miskaad area. Officials said the operation has ramped up in recent weeks.
According to a statement from the Puntland administration, President Said Abdullahi Deni ordered the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Security, and Immigration Agency to enforce the ban. The measure aims to bolster border security and curb infiltration by foreign bad boys.
In recent days, thousands of Æthiopians were detained in major cities, with most deported back to their country, the statement added. Further details on enforcement plans were not immediately available.
Puntland forces are pressing their campaign in al-Miskaad to dismantle ISIS networks, with officials vowing to sustain pressure on the group. The operation underscores the enduring threat from holy warrior factions in Somalia, including ISIS and al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... .
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/21/2025
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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.
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...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....
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
...
[ToSD] The Federal Railroad Administration initiated a review of California’s 400-mile high-speed rail project aimed at connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco following concerns voiced by the Trump administration, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday.
[Breitbart] A recent deadly collision over Washington, D.C. involving an Army helicopter has brought sudden national scrutiny to the service and its missions over the nation’s capital, but a master Army aviator told Breitbart News that they had been at risk for years.
[NYPOST] One of President Trump's objectives over the next four years is to have US revenues from tariffs become so massive that the 
[Jfeed] Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, emphasized that the violence and terror witnessed in Gaza are entirely contrary to the teachings of Islam, stating, "What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah, and a sin that does not represent the followers of the Prophet, peace be upon him, or the honorable religion of Islam."
[GatewayPundit] The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is causing an earthquake as it exposes the astonishing level of corruption and waste hidden in the US government agencies’ financials.
[NYPOST] A boat loaded with 20 
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
[GEO.TV] Police on Thursday arrested a 20-year-old suspect in connection with the brutal rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Bajaur's Mamond tehsil with the suspect, who is a close relative of the victim, reportedly confessing to the crime.
...sour grapes lo-o-o-o-o-ser (Loser! Loser! Loser!) of the 2018 Georgia governor's race. Then she wanted to be Joe Biden's vice president, so now she can sour grape about that too...
[HotAir] Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you... progressive 'leadership' in a nutshell. Said nutshell provided by Southern California's leading progressive nut, in fact. 
[Townhall] Democrats in Congress, led in large part by Senate Minority Leader 
...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...
[NYPOST] 
...Arabic term meaning 
[NYPOST] Sen. 
[GEO.TV] A Sri Lankan passenger train derailed Thursday after smashing into a family of elephants, with no passengers injured but six animals killed in the island's worst such wildlife accident, police said.
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like...
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
[GatewayPundit] Scientists from one of America’s most highly respected institutions have proven that the so-called conspiracy theorists were right once again regarding the COVID-19 shot.
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
[NYPOST] Three buses in Israel detonated Thursday in what police are investigating as a suspected terror attack, according to multiple reports.
...every time you hear the phrase 
[GEO.TV] In a tragic incident in Sindh's Badin district, a father brutally tortured his daughter to death for wishing to marry a man of her choice, committing 
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
