Stories I happened across while wandering through the internet last week.
University Apologizes For Inaction After Student’s Antisemitic Abuser Pleads Guilty
[DailyWire] Nearly a full year since college soccer player Noam Nedivi came forward with his story of antisemitic abuse, his university is apologizing for not only its failure to protect the student, but also actions that derailed his college experience.
Lawrence Technological University actually kicked Nedivi off his team and declined to protect him from a roommate who subjected him to months of antisemitic verbal and physical abuse. The Michigan school has now formally apologized after his former roommate and teammate, Zavier Chimienti, pleaded guilty to ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor domestic violence in October.
The ordeal, first reported by The Daily Wire nearly a year ago, included Chimienti harassing Nedivi with anti-Jewish slurs, Nazi salutes, and full-on physical abuse.
“Last year, a Jewish student reported verbal and physical antisemitic abuse committed by another student on campus,” LTU’s administration wrote in a press release. “The student’s complaint should have been handled better. In that way, we failed him and the LTU community, and caused unnecessary pain to our student. We apologize to our student for the hurt caused him [sic].”
Nedivi told The Daily Wire that he is relieved the situation has come to an end, but he’s far from satisfied.
“I am glad that most of the truth has come to light, but LTU’s campus was a hostile environment for me for more than a year after I reported Zavier’s harassment in my own campus apartment,” Nedivi said. “He was never suspended at any point, even after he pleaded guilty in state court.”
Nedivi added that the lack of prioritization of his safety made him decide to finish his degree online. “LTU acted more like a criminal organization than a university trying to protect me,” Nedivi added. “LTU’s administration deliberately falsified evidence, made up lies to ruin my reputation and kept me from accessing critical student resources.”
Princeton Radicals Disrupt Event With Naftali Bennet, Yelling 'Genocide' and Pulling Fire Alarm
[WashingtonFreeBeacon] Anti-Israel activists at Princeton University disrupted a speech by former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, setting off a fire alarm and calling him "a fucking war criminal." The agitators joined a larger group after getting kicked out, where they told Jews to "go back to Europe" and flashed pro-Hamas hand gestures.
During Bennett’s Monday speech, which was sponsored by Princeton’s Center for Jewish Life, roughly a dozen agitators shouted, "We charge you with genocide! You’re a fucking war criminal!" and held posters with a red handprint as they marched out of the event, footage posted by the New Jersey chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) showed. Princeton students and faculty led the disruption, according to AMP. A video from the Princeton Palestine Liberation Coalition, meanwhile, showed a fire alarm going off. "GENOCIDE ALARM ACTIVATED," the group wrote. Princeton's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter also shared footage of the disruption on its Instagram story.
After school officials escorted the agitators out of the event, they joined several dozen more outside and continued protesting for nearly three hours, an attendee told the Washington Free Beacon. They shouted down Jews, saying, "go back to Europe." They also used their fingers to form upside-down triangles, a symbol Hamas uses to denote Israeli targets.
AMP’s national arm was recently accused of serving as Hamas’s "propaganda arm in New York City" and is facing a Senate committee investigation over its role in fueling anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses, the Free Beacon reported. Its founder and chairman Hatem Bazian, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has called for Israel’s dismantling and once argued that "it’s about time we had an intifada in this country."
On Saturday, AMP helped organize an anti-Israel march in Washington, D.C., that included speeches from Council on American-Islamic Relations executive director Nihad Awad, notorious anti-Semite Linda Sarsour, and Grant Miner, the Columbia University graduate student expelled for storming a campus building. It also featured murals honoring Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists.
The Daily Camera reports after entering the “Designing for Defense” class last week, one of the activists went to the front of the room and prepared to read a statement, whereupon a man who appeared to be the instructor said “No, you may not.”
He then grabbed the statement and said “Get out.”
Soon after, a video from the Buffs 4 Palestine Instagram page shows two men, one of whom “appeared to be [neither] an employee or student,” according to the Camera, dragging the activists from the room.
The pro-Hamas student organization has been in “bad standing” since October due to violations of university policy. These include “disrupting a career fair” and “using amplified sound.”
In a statement, the university said it “condemns acts of violence and does not tolerate classroom disruptions, both of which violate state law and university policies.”
12 anti-Israel protesters charged with felonies for barricading themselves in Stanford president’s office
[IsraelTimes] Twelve protesters are charged with felony vandalism for their actions during a June 2024 pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protest at Stanford University in which demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the office of the school president. Those charged, ranging in age from 19 to 32, entered the building and demonstrated a “conspiracy to occupy” it, prosecutors say, adding that at least one suspect entered the building by breaking a window. All suspects wore masks, they say. Dozens of other protesters surrounded the building and chanted: “Palestine will be free.”
At the time, the university said 13 people were arrested during the protest, one police officer was injured, and the building suffered “extensive” damage.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from universities, including Stanford, over allegations that they failed to stop antisemitism and intimidation of Jewish students.
Northwestern SJP Chapter, Quoting PFLP Terrorists, Urges Members to 'Build an Intifada' and 'Destroy Amerika'
[WashingtonFreeeBeacon] Northwestern University's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter held an anarchist training session for its members at which it cited propaganda from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group urging U.S. students to "build an Intifada" and "destroy amerika."
Northwestern's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter featured two radical pamphlets as part of its materials for the Thursday training, titled "Organizing Safety 101." One of those, an anarchist pamphlet, quoted a PFLP leader and called on students to "build an Intifada" so they could "destroy amerika." The other, crafted by the SJP chapter, featured a PFLP cartoon on the cover and encouraged students to "channel [their] anger" so they could "aid in the fight" against Israel.
a mob of Yale students shouting "VIVA VIVA PALESTINA" as they tear down an American flag on campus, and cheer as it hits the ground.
US administration seeking consent decree on Columbia over campus antisemitism — WSJ
[IsraelTimes] The Trump administration is working to force Columbia University into a consent decree that would legally bind the school to follow federal guidelines in how it combats antisemitism, the Wall Street Journal reports. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reports that the potential consent decree is part of the administration’s negotiations with the university over freeing up $400 million in federal funding that has been blocked.
Columbia University says in an emailed statement that it “remains in active dialogue with the Federal Government to restore its critical research funding.”
Any consent decree with Columbia could last for years and would give a federal judge oversight powers for ensuring that the school adheres to any agreements it meets with the federal government on how it addresses antisemitism, the Journal says.
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A video from the Princeton Palestine Liberation Coalition, meanwhile, showed a fire alarm going off. In a sane world this act of documenting their action would result in university and civil charges for ..."shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded theater".
[CityJournal] Last month, a wave of more than 200 protests targeting Tesla properties erupted across the United States. The media portrayed this movement, officially branded the “Tesla Takedown,” as a spontaneous grassroots backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s role in dismantling waste and fraud in the U.S. federal bureaucracy. Each of these demonstrations appears to have been sparsely attended, but both the number of protest sites and the timeline of events suggest a coordinated effort.
On February 21, Rolling Stone published an article by activist-filmmaker Alex Winter describing the genesis of the Tesla Takedown protest campaign. Within two weeks of its publication, multiple Tesla properties were attacked with incendiary devices, and three men were arrested for separate attempts to firebomb Tesla locations in Salem, Oregon; Loveland, Colorado; and Charleston, South Carolina.
If the mainstream press accounts—as well as Winter’s own description—are to be believed, the fire-bombings and protests were unrelated. When mentioning the protests at all in the context of the violence, some outlets described them only as “dozens of peaceful protests at Tesla dealerships and factories.” Stories did not touch on how, more often than not, violent and nonviolent tactics reinforce one another and work toward the same ends.
A closer look suggests that Tesla is the latest target of an activist and organizing ecosystem that the Left has built over decades. That infrastructure manufactures, amplifies, and strategically uses protests and “direct actions” to force concessions or policy change. These direct actions range from nonviolent (sit-ins or flash mobs) to violent (arson, harassment, or even assassination), all meant to focus attention through the drama of real-world confrontation. The goal is to bypass the normal channels of democratic decision-making, obtaining desired ends through minoritarian pressure campaigns.
It would be impossible, however, to find a single person or entity directing both the protests and the violence. Rather, the two are linked by the concept of “diversity of tactics,” an activist doctrine that holds that a movement should welcome the use of coercion methods as part of the whole range of the radicalization spectrum—from conventional, nonviolent marches to riots, property destruction, and violence—within their strategic program.
Diversity of tactics encourages activists to take advantage of a clever ruse: the public-facing flank of the movement presents the image of nonviolent resistance, while the behind-the-scenes infrastructure supports and occasionally engages in violence. One creates strategic opportunities for the other, with any connection hidden behind a veil of plausible deniability.
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Diversity of tactics encourages activists to take advantage of a clever ruse: the public-facing flank of the movement presents the image of nonviolent resistance, while the behind-the-scenes infrastructure supports and occasionally engages in violence.
[IsraelTimes] Course at Branham High School in San Jose included discussion of Israel as a ‘settler colonial state’ and ‘Genocide of Palestinians,’ without offering a pro-Israel perspective
A Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, school’s ethnic studies curriculum that included discussions of Israel as a "settler colonial state" was found to have discriminated against Jewish students.
The California Department of Education issued the ruling last Friday following an investigation into a September complaint by the Bay Area Jewish Coalition — Education and Advocacy, which is affiliated with the local Jewish federation.
The advocacy group said teachers at Branham High School, in San Jose, had presented "biased" content about the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict in a 12th-grade ethnic literature curriculum.
The investigation found that a lesson discussing whether Israel is a settler colonial state and a teacher’s response to a student presentation on the "Genocide of Paleostinians" had been discriminatory to Jewish students.
In the lesson, according to the state DOE ruling, the teacher showed students two videos about the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict, but didn’t offer students a pro-Israel perspective. After the first video, a Vox explainer called "The Israel-Paleostine conflict: a brief, simple history," the topic of whether Israel is a "settler colonial state" was discussed, according to the report.
"In this lesson, in order for the information to be unbiased, there would have needed to be a video that reflected a pro-Israel perspective," the ruling said. "This would have encouraged students to create authentic answers regarding the questions provided in the lesson."
In another instance, a student group presented a project with a slide titled "Genocide of Paleostinians." The investigation found that the teacher in that case did not respond adequately to the presentation to ensure the classroom wasn’t "hostile" to Jewish students.
"By [the teacher] not commenting on the slide regarding Paleostinian genocide, it could have been interpreted by the student audience as approval of the presented thesis," the report said.
The ruling is the latest development in the years-long fight over ethnic studies in California. The state requires that high schools teach the subject — an effort to reflect the experiences of minority communities — but a model curriculum draft in 2019 drew widespread outcry from Jewish groups.
Critics said the draft included antisemitic and anti-Israel statements, and that it neglected to include the Jewish experience. Subsequent drafts also splintered the Jewish community. Some praised the revisions for including material on local Jewish communities, while others criticized them for promoting a "narrow political ideology."
Since then, Jewish watchdogs have been on alert for schools opting to use the original model curriculum, or a version of it. One Orange County school district has stopped teaching the curriculum altogether following a lawsuit alleging the district concealed its development of the material. In a February settlement, the Santa Ana Unified School District was required to stop teaching ethnic studies courses until they underwent revision.
Last week, in response to critiques of California’s curriculum, the American Jewish University announced the launch of a free online course designed to fulfill the ethnic studies requirement.
To correct the discrimination found in the San Jose investigation, English language arts and social studies teachers at the school will be required to do a one-hour training before the next school year and to discuss instruction on "controversial topics" as part of their anti-bias training.
[IsraelTimes] Israel is “very optimistic” about deconfliction talks with Turkey, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
Jerusalem is even open to Turkey maintaining a “limited” military base in Syria, adds the official.
“The talks were held in good faith,” says the official, adding that there would be further discussions after the sides met this week in Azerbaijan.
A Turkish official offers a similar message of conciliation.
“Turkey’s concerns have always been the cross-border terrorist threat from Syria to Turkey,” the official tells The Times of Israel, pointing at ISIS and the Kurdish PKK
“Other than that, we do not want any conflict with any country.”
A different judgement than the CIA? How very interesting.
[KhaamaPress] The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) warns that Iran’s nuclear program has reached an "extremely dangerous" stage.
The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) has raised alarms about Iran’s nuclear program, labeling it as "extremely dangerous." The institute warns that Iran’s activities could swiftly transition to military applications at any moment.
In its report titled "The 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... Threat Geiger Counter: Extreme Danger Grows," released on April 12, 2025, ISIS highlights a significant escalation in the perceived threat level since February 2024. This assessment underscores the growing urgency surrounding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The report emphasizes Iran’s lack of transparent cooperation with the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), particularly concerning the production of thousands of advanced centrifuges beyond IAEA oversight. This secrecy fuels suspicions about Iran’s intentions and capabilities.
Reflecting this heightened concern, ISIS has increased Iran’s nuclear threat rating from 151 to 157 out of a possible 180 points, indicating a state of "severe danger." This marks the second consecutive time the threat level has reached this elevated status.
The report uses the metaphor of a Geiger counter, a device measuring radioactive decay, to symbolize the escalating nuclear threat. Just as a Geiger counter’s alarm intensifies with increased radiation, the report suggests that the international community should respond with growing alarm to Iran’s nuclear developments.
[KhaamaPress] Nearly 45,000 Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistain in ten days amid a sharp rise in forced deportations, UNHCR reports.
Since the second phase of the forced deportation campaign began, the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 44,900 Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistain to Afghanistan in just ten days, from April 1 to April 11.
The report states that this figure marks a 31 percent increase compared to the first ten days of the original deportation wave in November 2023. Among the 44,900 returnees, 14,100 were forcibly expelled by Pak authorities, primarily through the Torkham and Spin Boldak border crossings.
The UNHCR expressed serious concern, highlighting that many of these refugees had originally fled to Pakistain due to economic collapse, insecurity, and human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... restrictions in Afghanistan. Forced deportation, especially of women and kiddies, exposes them to heightened risks including poverty, homelessness, and lack of access to basic services.
International human rights groups and the UN have repeatedly urged Pakistain to halt mass deportations and uphold international refugee protections, particularly the principle of non-refoulement. Despite this, Pakistain defends its stance by citing economic strain and security concerns as the main justifications for the crackdown.
The report also noted that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other humanitarian partners have provided immediate assistance to 2,614 deportees. Nonetheless, challenges related to shelter and basic services for the large influx of returnees remain pressing.
[KhaamaPress] The U.S. has denied reports of military presence at Bagram Air Base, rejecting claims of aircraft landing there.
In a recent report, the United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) has firmly denied rumors about a U.S. military plane landing at Bagram Airbase in Parwan province. A Pentagon official, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP that the U.S. does not have any military presence at Bagram, dismissing these reports as baseless.
Earlier, the Taliban has reportedly handed over control of the strategic Bagram Air Base to the United States, signaling a shift in regional power dynamics. U.S. C-17 aircraft are said to have landed at Bagram, delivering military equipment, vehicles, and senior intelligence officials, including the Deputy Chief of the CIA.
Bagram, once the largest U.S. military hub during the Afghanistan war, was taken over by the Taliban after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal, marking a major geopolitical change.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban regime, also responded to these claims last week. He rejected the allegations, labeling them as “propaganda” aimed at “misleading the public.” According to Mujahid, Bagram Airbase remains fully under the control of the Taliban, and no foreign forces are allowed to operate there.
The rumors about U.S. activity at Bagram resurfaced after some media outlets, without credible evidence, claimed that a U.S. C-17 Globemaster had landed at the base. However, flight tracking data indicates that on April 5, a C-17 flew near the Afghan airspace over Tajikistan, but there was no evidence it landed in Bagram.
Before the U.S. military’s withdrawal in June 2021, Bagram Airbase served as the primary hub for NATO and U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban regained control, the base has remained under their management. With its advanced infrastructure, including a 3.6-kilometer runway capable of supporting complex military operations, Bagram remains strategically important.
Despite these denials, the rumors about Bagram reflect ongoing tensions and uncertainties surrounding U.S. military engagement in Afghanistan. The area’s continued importance highlights the geopolitical challenges that both Afghanistan and the international community face.
In light of these developments, the international community remains cautious, particularly regarding the future role of foreign military forces in the region. Many are closely monitoring the situation to assess whether these rumors signal a shift in foreign policy or are merely a product of misinformation.
The resolution of the situation surrounding Bagram is critical for both Afghanistan and global security. With significant attention from international stakeholders, clarity on military operations and the role of foreign forces in the country will be essential to ensuring stability and peace in the region.
[IsraelTimes] Source close to terror group says it has withdrawn from 190 of 265 military positions ‘identified’ south of the Litani River
Most military sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... have been placed under Lebanese army control, a source close to the terror group said Saturday.
A November 27 ceasefire that ended more than a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war, stipulated that only United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... peacekeepers and Lebanon’s army should be deployed in the country’s south.
The deal required the Iran-backed terror group to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure in the south and move its fighters north of the Litani River, which is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Israeli border.
"Out of 265 Hezbollah military positions identified south of the Litani, the movement has ceded about 190 to the army," the source said on condition of anonymity.
The stipulation was also part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, but Hezbollah never adhered to the obligation and continued to build up its forces and positions to an unprecedented degree in recent years.
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah began launching near-daily rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel in support of the Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... terror group, a day after its massive, deadly assault on southern Israel. Israel hit back with Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s, and by September 2024, the conflict escalated into open war, during which Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and stockpiles. The war ended in a late November 2024 ceasefire, which has largely held despite mutual accusations of violations.
Under the agreement, Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon while Hezbollah was to remove its military infrastructure from the area. Troops remain in five points deemed "strategic" by the Israeli military. Israel also maintains the right to strike targets that pose an imminent threat.
A source in the Iran-backed terror group told AFP Saturday that it has handed over most of its territory in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese military. Citing diplomatic sources, Channel 12 reported the Lebanese military is getting better and better under US oversight, but that it’s still too weak to take full responsibility of regional security, despite the backing of France.
Hezbollah has reportedly shown readiness in recent days to discuss disarmament with US-backed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who has vowed to maintain a state monopoly on arms. However, the terror group has reportedly continued to smuggle arms from Iran.
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Hezbollah has reportedly shown readiness in recent days to discuss disarmament with US-backed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who has vowed to maintain a state monopoly on arms. However, the terror group has reportedly continued to smuggle arms from Iran.
Ok, so Iran still seems to have money to burn. When do we stop that?
[IsraelTimes] Ex-chief of Lebanese intel agency says he helped negotiate return of remains of terrorist who killed 5 Israelis, Bulgarian bus driver in Burgas
The Lebanese-French national who was accused of detonating explosives in a 2012 attack in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists was buried in a cemetery designated for fallen Hezbollah terrorists, said a former Lebanese security official who negotiated the return of his remains.
The bomber was identified as Mohammad Hassan El-Husseini, 23. On July 18, 2012, he struck a group of Israeli tourists at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, killing five Israelis, a Bulgarian bus driver, and injuring nearly 40 others, authorities said.
The explosion occurred shortly after the tourists, arriving on a charter flight from Tel Aviv, boarded a bus en route to their hotel. Israeli and Bulgarian authorities blamed the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah.
El-Husseini was eventually identified through a DNA analysis by Bulgarian Sherlocks working with Israeli, US, and European intelligence agencies.
The former head of the Lebanese General Security intelligence agency, Abbas Ibrahim, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that he helped negotiate the return of the remains on Thursday on behalf of El-Husseini’s family, who hired a lawyer in Bulgaria to handle the legal proceedings. He was buried Friday, Ibrahim said.
El-Husseini had entered Bulgaria days before the bombing using a fake Michigan driver’s license. He was part of a three-man Hezbollah cell operating across Europe, according to Sherlocks. His alleged accomplices — Meliad Farah, an Australian-Lebanese, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Canadian-Lebanese — were charged in absentia in 2016. Both remain on the lam despite international arrest warrants.
Investigators said the men traveled through Poland, Romania, and Germany, using fake identities to gather materials for the attack. Intelligence officials believe Hezbollah coordinated their training and logistics.
[IsraelTimes] Age and make of landmine that detonated not clear; explosion marks second military accident in as many days after Golani soldier in Gaza apparently wounded by misfire
An Israel Defense Forces reservist was seriously maimed after being struck by a landmine when his unit mistakenly entered an Israeli minefield during operations on the 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.... border, the military said, adding that the incident was under further investigation.
The soldier was taken to a local hospital, which reported that his condition had improved and stabilized after he underwent surgery for his wounds.
It was unclear on which side of the border the earth-shattering kaboom occurred, nor whether the minefield was laid in the war against Hezbollah, which ended with a November 27 ceasefire that saw Israel withdraw from all but five points in south Lebanon.
It was also unclear if the mine in question was anti-tank or anti-personnel. Israel, along with several major powers, is not a signatory to the 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning the use of anti-personnel mines, but in 2011, it formed a governmental Mine Clearance Authority to clear minefields deemed unessential to state security.
Mines in Israel include Jordanian and Syrian ones laid mostly in the fifties and sixties, and Israeli ones that were mostly laid after the Six-Day War of 1967, as well as mines that drift over from Egypt, according to the Authority’s website, which says mines stay dangerous decades after they are laid.
[ToloNews] The Afghanistan War Commission held a session in the US Senate to assess the presence of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2008.
In this session, General David Barno, the former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, criticized the lack of coordination between US political and military strategies during that period.
Barno said: "I arrived in Afghanistan in October 2003, almost six months after the invasion of Iraq. Afghanistan was governed at that time by an interim government under Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ...Mugshots/hamid_karzai_shh.jpg... , but very much still in the grip of warlord armies who controlled more tanks, more rockets, more artillery and more heavy weaponry than the central government."
Additionally, Henry A. Crumpton, former head of the CIA's mission in Afghanistan stated during the session that widespread corruption and failure to address fundamental reforms were the main causes of the US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... mission's failure in Afghanistan.
Crumpton said the US approach not only failed to develop Afghanistan but increased its dependency.
He stated: "The systemic corruption grew at rapid speed, and I’m sure you’ve read the Inspector General’s report, the SIGAR report 164-pages, was incredibly damning, where tens of billions of dollars the US government basically siphoned off. And it's not just about the money; it’s about creating dependency."
Andrew Natsios, former head of the US Agency for International Development, also noted that a large portion of Washington's financial aid to Afghanistan was spent on infrastructure and construction projects, but due to a lack of expertise and financial corruption, it had little impact.
Natsios added: "No more than 25 percent of the cabinet ministers were fit to be ministers in the cabinet. The other 75 percent were tribal leaders appointed as cabinet ministers to build political alliances and to keep an eye on them in Kabul."
US forces and their allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the banner of fighting terrorism. After two decades, the last American soldier left the country on August 31, 2021.
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Some comments posted around the net by others that I collected during the O'BIDEN Hose over of Afghanistan.
The Senate would do well to extend the timeline of it review from start to finish.
a quick sample of various author comments follow:
#1 First, keep in mind all of our current political bull__t is because the Biden Administration really wants you to forget that they just caused the biggest military ______up in American history. There are still Americans trapped in Afghanistan because we ABANDONED them there. (something that would normally be inconceivable). Our friends are dead, or soon will be. America has never looked weaker. We have never looked like a worse ally. Nobody is going to be foolish enough to trust us again, all because of how badly this administration sucks.
#2 Note. I don’t even say how badly Joe Biden sucks, because he’s clearly a meat puppet they trot out to babble what he’s told, and then mute and rush offstage before he ____s his pants.
#3 There were hundreds of individual events/images during the Afghanistan ______ up, any of which would have dominated a month-long super outraged 24/7 news cycle if a Republican had been in charge. They impeached Trump for a phone call and bitched about shirtless buffalo hat guy for months, but images of people literally falling off of airplanes vanish from the news in the blink of an eye. Our evil news media and big tech is doing everything in its power to get America to focus on anything other than the fact Biden made our country look like weak, pathetic, inept, cowardly, losers.
#4 Leave no man behind was our thing. Abandoning people should be ______ing unconscionable. It is against the fundamental moral basis of who we are, but not to these ______ers. But they certainly can’t let the public focus on that.
Report claims IDF ‘Devil’s Advocate’ intel unit, days before October 7, backed assessment that Hamas wanted continued calm
[IsraelTimes] Two weeks before Hamas’s October 7 invasion, the IDF’s Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman reportedly asked the Military Intelligence Directorate’s research division to question the widespread assumption that the Gaza-ruling terror group was deterred from attacking Israel and that the ongoing disturbances Hamas was organizing at the border fence were merely designed to attain improved terms for ongoing calm.
Channel 12 News reports tonight that a team was indeed set up in the division’s “Devil’s Advocate” (“Ifcha Mistabra”) unit, headed by a Col. S.
“Several days” before October 7, 2023, the team reported back with the conclusion that Hamas was indeed fueling disturbances at the fence solely in order to gain better terms for ongoing calm, an apparent reference to provisions for work permits in Israel, eased import restrictions and so on.
“There is no other scenario,” the check reportedly concluded. “Hamas is very interested in an arrangement,” rather than an escalation.
In short, the report says, the Devil’s Advocate team “accepted the stance” of all the other military and security echelons.
Channel 12 gives no source for the report. The IDF’s published probes surrounding the October 7 failures have made no mention of any such check of the catastrophically false assessment regarding Hamas’s intentions.
“A month and a half before the surprise war, the area was hot. The entire chain of command came to the brigade for tours, from the chief of the [Southern] Command to the defense minister. I recommended all of them, launch a proactive and aggressive operation. The clear message I received from all was ‘Hamas is deterred. This is its way of gaining civil benefits .. we don’t want another round’,” Cohen says at a handover ceremony.
Cohen announced his resignation last month for his failures on October 7, during which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists captured IDF bases and Israeli border communities under his responsibility.
On the morning of October 7, Cohen remained in his war room at the Gaza Division base near Re’im. His counterpart, Col. Asaf Hamami, the commander of the Southern Brigade, was killed fighting Hamas terrorists near Nirim, and his body was abducted to Gaza.
Cohen was not promoted by former chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. New IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, on March 5, already appointed a replacement for Cohen, Col. Omri Mashiah, who entered the role today.
For those who prefer to listen to their news, the Israel Times has a podcast:
IDF Oct. 7 probes reveal heroism amid terror ToI’s military reporter goes deep into the investigations published recently into battles in Kibbutz Nirim, Sderot, Kibbutz Re’im, and the Nova music festival where 380 were killed
In today’s episode, military reporter Emanuel Fabian makes a guest appearance, stepping in for Berman.
We take a deep look into the IDF probes into the failures leading up to and on October 7, by first taking a step back and discussing the goals of the investigations and their overall general findings.
We then dive into a cluster of probes that were released in the past week, including the investigations into Kibbutz Nirim, the city of Sderot, Kibbutz Re’im and the Nova open-air music festival.
At the festival alone, some 380 out of 3,500 people attending the party were slaughtered by Hamas and another 44 were taken hostage to Gaza. On this second Passover since the onslaught, 17 of those taken from the rave party are still in captivity, including 11 living and six declared dead.
In a very tough, at times graphic conversation, Fabian guides us through a handful of the dozens of battles on October 7, 2023.
[IsraelTimes] A charity founded by Britannia’s Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has halted donations to a Moslem woman’s group over anti-Israel comments made by its founder, NewsNation reports.
According to the report, the Archwell Foundation ceased its contributions to the Milwaukee Moslem Coalition on Thursday after NewsNation made it aware of a February 2024 op-ed written by founder Janan Najeeb, a known pro-Paleostinian activist.
"Israel’s 75-year occupation of Paleostine and the genocide 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... are a grave injustice. We demand a permanent ceasefire, an end to arming the apartheid state of Israel and the liberation of Paleostine. From the river to the sea, Paleostine will be free. From the sea to the river, Paleostine will live forever!" the piece for the Wisconsin Moslem Journal read, using a slogan many understand as calling for the elimination of Israel.
A source familiar with the situation tells NewsNation they were "not aware" of the post, and confirmed that they sent a letter to Janan that "the Archewell Foundation has zero tolerance for hate speech, and we let them know the foundation will no longer be making any further donations."
"As soon as the blog post was brought to our attention, we took immediate action and acted swiftly to remove MMWC from our network and communicate no additional grants would be made to MMWC."
"Janan, we’ve recently been notified of a blog post you wrote that goes against the values of the foundation. As a foundation, we celebrate different perspectives and backgrounds but we have zero tolerance for hateful words, actions or propaganda," the letter to Janan reads, as quoted by NewsNation.
"When we started the welcome project, we did so to support Afghan women in finding community, and we are proud of the work we have done to support women in Milwaukee. We remain committed to fostering partnerships that reflect and reinforce the values our foundation stands for."
"We will be removing MWC from our network effective as of today. At this time, the foundation will be making no additional grants to MMWC."
The report, citing the foundation’s 2023 tax returns, says it gave a $27,960 donation to the Moslem charity, adding that a similar contribution was given in 2024.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it has bolstered the West Bank division with six additional companies, whose troops will operate in the area over the Passover holiday.
Over the past week, the IDF says 85 wanted Palestinians were detained in the West Bank.
[GBnews] John Piekos spent three months tracking gangs in Bradford before threats
A former senior police officer has claimed that he was threatened with arrest after he presented a lengthy investigation into child sexual exploitation in Bradford.
John Piekos, a retired detective chief inspector, told GB News that a senior member of social services in the West Yorkshire town made the threat next to a uniformed officer.
Piekos started working for an anti-trafficking charity in 2008 after leaving Greater Manchester Police, where he had dealt with exploitation in Oldham.
In an exclusive interview with the people’s channel, he said that he staked out a children’s home with a colleague in Bradford for three months, where he recorded multiple incidents of grooming and children going missing.
"Sometimes these girls would just be gone for a few hours, but quite often they didn't come back that night or even the next morning," he said.
"We'd see police cars parked up, you know, at 1 and 2 in the morning, late at night, clearly taking reports of missing children."
GB news has spoken to his work partner from this period who reaffirmed Piekos’s testimony.
In an emotional exchange, Piekos explain how on one occasion, they followed a car after it had collected a girl from the children’s home late at night.
"We couldn't see the girl in the passenger seat of the vehicle. We thought that she had got out and walked down on the opposite side of the road. There were no shops, there was nowhere to go. Yet the girls wasn’t in the car.
"I walked straight past. And as I walked back, I saw her head pop up from the driver's side of the vehicle, her little head came up from his lap."
After regaining his composure, Piekos said: "I was really incensed because I'd missed something really obvious there."
Piekos said that his church-funded charity reached out to contacts in the area, including the Bishop of Bradford, to organise a meeting with charities and coppers where they could share their findings.
The Diocese of Leeds said it was unable to find out more details from anyone who worked for the then-bishop at the time.
The retired copper told GB News that the day after he attended a meeting with a senior member of town’s social services, where she was joined by a "uniformed Chief Inspector."
Describing him as a threat, Piekos claimed that she said: "If you continue to follow our children, I'm going to have you arrested."
The former DCI said: "I just couldn’t believe what was going on. I couldn’t believe that I was being told by this person, who’s supposed to be looking after the children... that she was going to arrest me."
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "We have searched our systems and can find no meeting or report of child sexual exploitation made by this person.
"Since the publication of the Jay report in 2014, West Yorkshire Police has taken a proactive stance in exploring previous incidents and disclosures relating to non-recent child sexual exploitation and abuse.
"This work has been underway over the past decade, resulting in hundreds of perpetrators now serving lengthy prison sentences totalling thousands of years. Many investigations are still underway, with trials scheduled throughout 2025 and 2026.
"Alongside our complex investigative work, we’ve shaped our policing response through working with survivors, charities, and safeguarding partners. We also work closely with the national Hydrant Programme to continually review and develop our approach, ensuring victims and survivors are at the forefront of everything we do. Protecting children is our primary focus."
Bradford Council was contacted for comment.
John Piekos’s bombshell interview comes amid a fierce political debate over the grooming abuse gangs scandal in Westminster.
Robbie Moore MP said: "These revelations are utterly sickening and demand an immediate response from the very top of government. No one, especially not a decorated former officer investigating the abuse of children, should ever be threatened with arrest for simply doing their job.
"The Home Secretary must act today. She has the statutory powers to order a full, independent inquiry under the Inquiries Act — and she must now use them. No more delay, no more excuses.
"I urge the Home Office to see through the culture of denial from big shots and authorities in Keighley and Bradford who cannot be allowed to block the truth any longer. We owe it to victims and survivors, past and present, to get to the bottom of what happened — and who tried to cover it up. The British public will not accept anything less."
There is a Twitter thread discussing the story here.
[IsraelTimes] White House calls meeting ‘a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome’; Iran’s top diplomat says US wants to reach a new agreement ASAP but ‘that will not be easy’
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met briefly with 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... Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shortly after their two countries held their first round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in Oman and agreed to hold a second round next week.
The first known meeting between US and Iranian officials in years appeared to be a way for both sides to save face after US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... announced at the beginning of the week that the talks would be direct, while Araghchi insisted that they would be indirect.
Regardless, both the over two-hour-long session mediated by Oman — with the US and Iran delegations in separate rooms — and the subsequent minutes-long conversation between Witkoff and Araghchi represented a potentially major tipping point in ties between the US and Iran.
Trump has warned that the failure of these talks could lead the US to strike Iran’s nuclear program. The US president said earlier this week that Israel would participate in such a strike, if not lead it.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
But initial comments from Iran indicated that the sides were trending toward de-escalation. "After the end of more than 2-1/2 hours of indirect talks, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes in the presence of the Omani foreign minister as they left the talks," Araghchi posted on his Telegram channel.
He said the talks — a first between Iran and the Trump administration, including his first term in 2017-21 — took place in a "productive and positive atmosphere."
Araghchi later told Iranian state TV that the next round of talks will take place on April 19. He added that the location of next weekend’s talks may not be in Oman, but will still take place under Omani intermediation.
"Neither we nor the other party want fruitless negotiations, discussions for discussions’ sake, time-wasting, or talks that drag on forever," Araghchi clarified.
He also said the US wants an agreement on a new nuclear deal "as soon as possible."
"That will not be easy and will require a willingness on both sides," he said.
American officials did not immediately acknowledge the Iranian reports, which Tehran likely sped out to its public ahead of a possible Trump post on social media. But declaring that the two sides spoke face-to-face — even if briefly — suggests the negotiations went well.
The White House later put out a statement that characterized the discussions as "very positive and constructive."
While noting the "very complicated" issues at hand, the White House said Witkoff’s "direct communication" with Araghchi "was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome."
The White House statement also confirmed that the sides "agreed to meet again next Saturday" and thanked Oman for hosting the talks.
Witkoff told Araghchi "that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible," according to the the White House statement.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated Saturday’s talks, tweeted they were held in a "friendly atmosphere" and launched a quest for a "fair and binding agreement."
Talks between Iran and the US were focused on de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges, and limited agreements to ease sanctions in exchange for controlling Iran’s nuclear program, an Omani source told Rooters.
The talks began at around 3:30 p.m. local time. The two sides spoke for over two hours at a location in the outskirts of Oman, ending the talks around 5:50 p.m. local time. A convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff returned to Muscat, the capital of Oman, before disappearing into traffic around a neighborhood that is home to the US Embassy.
AP journalists saw Witkoff’s convoy leave the Omani Foreign Ministry earlier Saturday afternoon, speeding off into the outskirts of Muscat where the indirect talks were held at an undisclosed compound. A few minutes later, Iranian Foreign Ministry front man Esmail Baghaei wrote on the social platform X that the "indirect talks" had begun.
"These talks will be held at a location planned by the Omani host, with representatives of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran and the United States seated in the halls and sides, conveying their points of view and positions to each other through the Omani Foreign Minister," Baghaei wrote before the meeting.
About an hour later, Baghaei appeared on Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and acknowledged the talks had been going on all that time.
"The objective of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran is very clear — we have only one goal, and that is to safeguard Iran’s national interests," he said. "We are giving a genuine and honest opportunity to diplomacy, so that through dialogue, we can move forward on the nuclear issue on one hand, and more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions."
Baghaei added: "Look, this is just a beginning. So it is natural that, at this stage, both sides will present their foundational positions through the Omani mediator. Therefore, we do not expect this round of negotiations to be lengthy."
Araghchi also spoke earlier to Iranian journalists.
"If there is sufficient will on both sides, we will decide on a timetable. But it is still too early to talk about that," Araghchi said in an audio clip published by IRNA. "What is clear now is that the negotiations are indirect, and in our view only on the nuclear issue, and will be conducted with the necessary will to reach an agreement that is on an equal footing and leads to securing the national interests of the Iranian people."
Trump and Witkoff both had described the talks as being "direct" in the days before the meeting..
"I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today," Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal before his trip. "That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries."
He added: "Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability."
That red line indicated a degree of flexibility in the Trump administration’s position and a potential break with Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that he will only accept the full dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Iran "can’t have a nuclear weapon," Trump said ahead of high-stakes weekend talks over the state’s nuclear program.
"I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon," the US president told news hounds aboard Air Force One, hours before Witkoff’s meeting in Oman.
While the US side can offer sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran could only maintain a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67%.
Today, Tehran’s stockpile could allow it to build multiple nuclear weapons if it so chooses, and it has some material enriched up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Judging from negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%.
One thing it won’t do is give up its program entirely. That seemingly makes Netanyahu’s proposal of a so-called Libyan solution — "you go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution" — unworkable.
Iranians, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> , have held up what ultimately happened to the late Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest...> , who was killed with his own gun by rebels in the country’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, as a warning about what can happen when you trust the United States.
[IsraelTimes] Clip is second sign of life from lone soldier since he was taken captive on Oct. 7; his parents say Passover ‘not a holiday of freedom’ until he and the other captives come home
Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... on Saturday evening published a propaganda video showing signs of life from hostage soldier Edan Alexander, as Jews gathered in Israel and across the globe to mark the Passover holiday and its theme of freedom.
The three-minute-long video is not dated, though Alexander states that he has been held for 551 days, indicating it was filmed very recently.
Alexander, a 21-year-old US citizen, is a lone soldier who was stationed near 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 on the morning of October 7, 2023, when he was taken captive by Hamas bully boyz along with 250 other hostages. Hamas killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during that attack, which sparked the ongoing war that the Israeli military is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.
It is the second video Hamas published of Alexander. In November, Hamas released the first video of the hostage soldier.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.
Alexander’s family asked Israeli media not to share the latest video but authorized the publication of a still image.
"As we begin the holiday evening in the USA, our family in Israel is preparing to sit around the Seder table," Alexander’s relatives said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. "Our Edan, a lone soldier who immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the Golani Brigade to defend the country and its citizens, is still being held captive by Hamas."
"So when you sit down to mark Passover, remember that this is not a holiday of freedom as long as Edan and the other 58 hostages are not home."
Born in Tel Aviv, Alexander grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. He returned to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from high school in 2022.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the premier phoned Alexander’s parents Yael and Adi after "the cruel propaganda video" of their son was published.
"The prime minister told the family he empathizes with their pain and updated that currently tremendous efforts are taking place to return Edan and the rest of the hostages," said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
The release of the video came after a recent US push to secure Alexander’s release, including both unprecedented direct talks with Hamas and indirect negotiations by mediators, failed to bear fruit. Israel has since resumed fighting in Gaza, ending the de facto truce that prevailed after the end of the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal that was signed in January.
The direct talks with Hamas angered Israel, and news of them was leaked the same day US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... addressed a joint session of Congress. According to a report this week in The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , the administration was hoping to reach a deal to free Alexander before Trump’s speech.
Beyond the problematic aspect of breaking with the established American policy of not dealing directly with Hamas, which the US proscribes as a terror group, the notion of hostages with a specific dual nationality receiving preferential treatment would be highly problematic in Israel.
Egypt, which along with 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... and the US is serving as a mediator, is now pushing a new proposal that would see eight living hostages released as part of a restored ceasefire.
Including Alexander, there are believed to be 24 living hostages still in Gaza, as well as 35 confirmed by Israel to be dead.
[PJMedia] Former Jan. 6 prisoner Jake Lang, having survived years in jail without trial and much of it in solitary confinement, is now running for Senate in Florida.
Lang declared in exclusive comments to PJ Media that his Senate run is part of "the beginning of a new era of politics that Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... started," as he was also an "outlier, being the one who broke through the political mold as a political outsider, and paving the way for the next generation of American patriots, and not your typical political candidates, to run."
Such candidates, Lang emphasized, "have been through persecution like myself and President Trump, that have had our own government turn against us to try to destroy us, the Deep State apparatchiks." The American people, Lang said, are tired of the "establishment, Uniparty hacks that the GOP has put forth for decades and decades that have worked hand in hand with the 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... to nearly destroy our country. And people want to see ... drastic, revolutionary change, which is what the MAGA movement is about."
The Jan. 6 protestors originally meant their protest at the Capitol, which was not intended to be violent mostly peaceful, as "a cry out for change." Lang believes his four years in abusive prison conditions prepared him to run for office, and "poignantly marks that change in America, and I can't wait to be a part of this new golden era that Donald Trump had proclaimed during the State of the Union address." He hopes other Jan. 6ers will "answer the call to public service and to change this country."
Lang and I also discussed parallels between "the weaponization of our government" under the Biden administration that threatened our constitutional republic and the sentencing of popular right-leaning leader Marine Le Pen in La Belle France. Donald Trump narrowly escaped being "incarcerated for the rest of his life, along with myself and many of his supporters, not just Jan. 6ers, but other people they would have dragged into [it], including" Trump’s co-defendants. This "political persecution that almost marred America and made us like the third world banana republics," nearly turned us into "the despotic regimes that we see all across the world that try to silence and persecute political adversaries," Lang argued.
Lang reflected on his time in "prison for four years and six days, two and a half years, of solitary confinement, just five miles away from the United States Capitol in the DC jail. That was a blemish ... on the American way of life and our justice system." Thus, his campaign promise is "to end the era of political persecution, to re-establish the rule of law that is non-selective, non-prejudicial, non-biased, but even and equally applied and fairly applied across the board."
He slammed RINOs such as Mitch McConnell and John Thune, who have spent too long collecting a paycheck while not fulfilling their promises to voters. Some Republican senators have even at different points promoted "woke nonsense that villainizes Donald Trump and his supporters," while weaseling out on condemning "violent mostly peacefulgunnies on the Black Lives Matter and the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... and the Antifa ...the armed wing of the Democratic Party... movements."
Strong senators are needed, Lang told me, to fight the "Marxist cultural shifts that they've tried to push upon us, including the [Covid] vaccine, the transgenderism, the increas[ing] prostrating before the raci[st] elements of our country," which occasionally infects even the Republican Party. He vows "to back President Trump's agenda 100% and to stand by him loyally and to show fidelity and strength," unlike some senators, "as a firebrand ...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments... , as the new era of MAGA Republicans."
Lang sees his duty as representing the American people against the Deep State, with "patriotism and conservatism in the halls of Senate and all of Congress." In the past, the Senate has had even more RINOs than the House, unfortunately.
The arrest of Le Pen in La Belle France is "a warning" to Americans, Lang said, "if you follow along this path, this is where you will end up with the despotic government bringing down its power upon your ability to even control and pick who are your leaders. And we almost saw that in America." Fortunately, in America, the "will of the people superseded the worst contortions of the Deep State and of the demonic entities that would like to see our country destroyed," but for a while under Biden and Harris our fate hung on "a very thin thread."
Photos of the lady at the link. Note the tasteful cosmetics, pretty colours, and fitted but modest styles — nothing at all like the Moving Black Objects of Saudi Arabia and ISIS or the eyeless, faceless blue gauze sacks of the Taliban. She is a perfect match for her husband’s Smoothe Moderne version of the caliphate.
[KhaamaPress] Syria’s First Lady, Latifa al-Droubi, made her debut at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum,
…apparently a Turkish thing…
engaging in talks on women’s and children’s welfare.
Latifa al-Droubi, the wife of Syria’s interim president,
…that’s “interim” with scare quotes, because the only thing to follow will be more of exactly the same. But it serves to calm the frogs while the water is coming to a boil…
attended the 4th Antalya Diplomacy Forum in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... on April 11-13, where she met with Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdogan.
The event, which gathered bigwigs, diplomats, and political figures from various countries, served as an opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation and discuss global issues. However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... Latifa al-Droubi’s notable presence at the conference drew significant attention from Arab media outlets.
Al-Droubi, who had previously maintained a low public profile and was often seen wearing long black traditional Arab attire, appeared at the Antalya Forum in a different style of dress, similar to that of her Ottoman Turkish counterpart.
That makes it sound like someone styled her for her new role, rather than displaying her own taste and style. But she suddenly has a job to do in support of her husband as head of state. If Mr. Wife suddenly became a head honcho, I’d hire a stylist to shop for me, too. I have clothes for ladies who lunch and mid-level supportive spouse, but I definitely don’t have a senior wife wardrobe, not having any need for it.
After meeting with Mrs. al-Droubi, Emine Erdogan shared on social media that they discussed joint projects aimed at improving the lives of Syrian women and kiddies, expressing hope that these steps would lead to lasting peace and stability in the region.
Arab media have reported that al-Droubi’s appearance at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum marks her first official presence at an international event since her husband, Ahmad al-Shara, assumed the role of Syria’s interim president.
Latifa al-Droubi, born in 1984 in Homs, Syria, and from the prominent Droubi family, holds a master’s degree in Arabic language and literature and is the mother of three sons. Her increasing visibility, particularly at international events, reflects a shift in her husband’s approach toward public relations.
This change is also reflected in Ahmad al-Shara’s efforts to present himself in a more moderate light, having previously been known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani and the leader of the al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front. By including his wife in official functions, he seeks to present a modern, balanced image of Syria’s transitional government.
Al-Droubi’s presence at international gatherings, wearing traditional yet more freely styled clothing, further solidifies al-Shara’s stance on not imposing compulsory veils or social restrictions on women, demonstrating his commitment to a more liberal approach.
While the Taliban ...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan... , who once welcomed the victory of the al-Sham group led by Sharaa, have now excluded women and girls from all social spheres in Afghanistan.
This stark contrast in social policies, particularly regarding women’s rights, raises renewed questions about the Taliban’s international legitimacy and the contradictory positions of some regional Islamist factions.
Ooooohhhh, smack! from an Afghan news site left over from the pre-Taliban days.
[KhaamaPress] The U.S. has issued a 7-day deadline for thousands of Afghan refugees to leave, sparking concerns over their safety.
Reports indicate that the U.S. government has given Afghan refugees with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and others who entered the country through various programs a seven-day ultimatum to leave the United States.
Shawn VanDiver, President of AfghanEvac, an organization that supports the resettlement of Afghan citizens in the U.S., announced on Friday, April 11, via a post on X that this "warning" had been issued to Afghan migrants colonists residing in the U.S.
According to VanDiver, the notice has been delivered in writing to an unspecified number of Afghan refugees who arrived in the U.S. in recent years, particularly after the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) allowed certain Afghan migrants colonists to legally reside in the U.S. and protected them from deportation to a country facing unsafe conditions. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... recent reports indicate that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has decided to terminate this program for about 14,600 Afghan refugees.
This decision follows the suspension of the refugee resettlement program under former President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... in January 2025, which led to around 1,660 Afghan refugees who had been approved for resettlement being removed from the flight lists.
VanDiver has described this move as "unacceptable" and warned that deporting these individuals to Afghanistan, where the Taliban ...Arabic for students... considers them "traitors," could result in their detention, torture, or even death.
REACTION AND CONCERNS OVER THE NEW U.S. DECISION
AfghanEvac, which has played a key role in relocating and resettling around 200,000 Afghans to the U.S. since the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, has strongly criticized the new decision. VanDiver emphasized that many of these refugees include the families of U.S. military personnel, judges, prosecutors, and female pilots from the former Afghan army, who are at risk of Taliban retribution due to their collaboration with the U.S.
He urged refugees to consult with immigration attorneys before taking any action and to avoid leaving the country, as doing so may jeopardize their chances of pursuing legal status.
Human rights organizations and some members of Congress have also condemned this move. The 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... on the House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a statement calling the decision a "betrayal of Afghan allies" and labeled it "shameful."
Additionally, the U.S. Refugee Assistance Afghan Coalition has sent an open letter to the President and Congress, requesting the reversal of this decision and continued support for those who fought alongside U.S. forces.
According to The Washington Post, the termination of TPS for thousands of Afghan refugees and the seven-day deadline for departure has put the lives of these refugees, who were in the process of rebuilding their lives in the U.S., in serious jeopardy.
The media outlet also reported that many of these individuals had arrived in the U.S. after years of waiting and undergoing complex security vetting, hoping for safety and a better future. Returning to "Taliban-controlled Afghanistan" is nearly impossible, especially for women and those who collaborated with the previous government or U.S. forces, as the Taliban imposes severe restrictions on women and suppresses their opponents.
#2
Candidly actions like this will make it much more difficult to get local translators to help in the future. Guess that reliance on AI translation devices will be the option of choice. No need to provide protection for them after we withdraw / lose
[Townhall] A Navy veteran who successfully proved CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... defamed him in a highly publicized lawsuit is now taking legal action against the News Agency that Dare Not be Named, accusing the media outlet of falsely portraying him as a "smuggler." The veteran, whose reputation was damaged by misleading reports, claims that the AP's coverage echoed similar defamatory narratives, further tarnishing his name and career. This lawsuit underscores the growing concerns over media outlets spreading false and damaging information without accountability.
On Friday, U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young filed a defamation lawsuit against the AP for "an article that went even further than CNN’s falsehoods." CNN accused Young of illegally profiting by assisting individuals fleeing Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's chaotic military withdrawal in 2021. However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... in January, a jury ruled in Young's favor, finding the network guilty of defamation. As a result, CNN was ordered to pay Young $4 million in lost earnings and $1 million in personal damages, including pain and suffering.
Now, Young is going after the AP.
In January, while covering the CNN trial, AP news hound David Bauder wrote that "Young’s business helped smuggle people out of Afghanistan" and "worked exclusively with deep-pocketed outside sponsors like Bloomberg and Audible." The veteran’s lawyer said that the outlet has "blatantly accused Mr. Young of engaging in criminal human smuggling."
"Rather than restore Mr. Young's good name, the media coverage of his court victory created new libel," Daniel Lustig and Michael J. Pike, the attorneys representing Young, wrote in the complaint, adding that the AP "knew or recklessly disregarded the truth."
"Describing Mr. Young’s lifesaving evacuations as ’smuggling’ is not only grossly misleading, it charges Mr. Young with a serious crime. Human smuggling is a grave felony under U.S. law, and it is condemned as a serious crime under international law," the lawsuit added. "By accusing Mr. Young of human smuggling, AP effectively branded him a criminal."
The lawsuit alleges that the News Agency that Dare Not be Named has failed to issue a correction or retraction of the story, which they claim has damaged Young’s reputation and harmed his business. He seeks damages exceeding $50,000, excluding interest, costs, and attorney’s fees.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/13/2025
06:47 ||
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#1
Unfortunately a B61 is more likely to actually have an "impact" on the Iranian program than the GBU57's. The fallout from that option would be significant.
#3
#1 Unfortunately a B61 is more likely to actually have an "impact" on the Iranian program than the GBU57's. The fallout from that option would be significant.
Posted by: Clem+Elmish4239 2025-04-13 10:06
#1
It would help if you knew the difference between Guinea (Africa), which has ceased to be French in 1958, and French Guyana (South America) which very well prefers to be a French department.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/13/2025 8:33
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#2
It would help if EUropeans focus on tending to their own business - instead of trying to run the World. Hint, the next Russian autocrat might not be a p*ssy like Putin.
[Jpost] Yemen's government is reportedly preparing to launch a massive assault to recapture Hodeidah Port in western Yemen from the Houthis, according to a Friday report in Emirati state media.
Yemen's internationally recognized government is preparing to mass nearly 80,000 troops for what would be the largest offensive of the civil war, according to statements by Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center based in Saudi Arabia, on Friday.
"To my best knowledge, there is a preparation of almost 80,000 soldiers from the legitimate Yemeni government in different locations in order to take over [Hodeidah]," Dr. Sager said.
80,000 soldiers would represent a majority of all non-Houthi forces in Yemen. This would constitute the largest offensive of the civil war and would also set the stage for an assault on the capital city Sana'a, which has been under Houthi control since 2014.
AIRSTRIKES PAVING THE WAY
Emirati state newspaper, The National, reported on Friday that renewed airstrikes on the Houthis generally, but in particular on Hodeidah, had helped pave the way for an upcoming assault, with reports indicating that strikes had killed several key Houthis.
Hodeidah is considered one of Yemen's key ports and was a major source of food imports before the war.
Dr. Sager pointed to the meeting between US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla and the Chief of Staff of the Yemeni Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Sagheer Hamoud Ahmed Aziz in Saudi Arabia last week. Kurilla visited several Middle Eastern countries in the first week of April, including Israel, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
He continued by saying that the US would be providing air cover and drone surveillance to the Yemeni government forces.
"I think we might be at the stage of counting down the end of the Houthis," Dr. Sager said. "They've had every chance for a political discussion and be a part of a government that would save Yemen from all this suffering."
He warned, however, that the assault on Hodeidah would face serious challenges in the form of international scrutiny.
UN INTERVENTION
The previous assault in 2018 involved a coalition of Yemeni, Saudi, and Emirati troops who encircled Hodeidah and began cutting off supplies to Houthi fighters trapped in the port city.
The UN and several states became concerned that this would lead to a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which would have led to a famine.
Significant pressure was applied to the coalition forces and the Houthis, leading to the signing of the 2018 Stockholm Agreement in which all military forces were to withdraw and allow for humanitarian corridors to be opened.
By at least 2019, the Houthis had violated this agreement with separatist troops present in Hodeidah; by 2021, they had retaken the entire city and expelled all non-Houthi forces.
Dr. Sager warned that any new assault on the port will be met with similar pressure and that due to the recent cuts to the American and British foreign aid budgets, it may be more difficult to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
#3
That’d be the puppet government supported by the Saudis, Mercutio. It’s not good for much, and I wouldn’t trust the 80,000 man army to number anything close to that, or be of much use even on the parade ground.
#5
I remember the Saudis used to be at war with the Houthis, but after years of the US trying to "help" the Saudis eventually wound up going with a truce brokered by China. The next year the war between Israel and Gaza broke out, and the Houthis started sinking random traffic going through the Bar-El-Mandeb if they thought the ships' noses were too big. Including some ships carrying Saudi traffic. But by then the operations by the Saudis had been wound down.
#6
As an old friend named Frank once said, "We're going to have a Frank and Earnest discussion. I'm going to be Frank and you're going to be very very Earnest..."
The Yemenis and their Inshallah targeting is a way for the Russians/Chinese/Iranians to turn anti-Israeli sentiment in the middle east into Anti-European-and-other-western shipping action. Yes, they're supposedly doing it for the people in Gaza, but all they seem to affect is European shipping for the most part. It's another way for Putin to put pressure on Europe to not support Ukraine, while his idiots say they're fighting Israel.
While they occasionally hit a Russian black-fleet tanker or Chinese ship, for the most part they're affecting Europe. (And Egypt, which is strangely OK with the damage to their economy.)
#7
The Saudis (and the UAE and Iraq and Kuwait, etc) _may_ be finally sick of their so-called truce where a lot of their seaborne traffic gets cut off.
Or maybe someone in the US government finally did something. Is anything different about the US since roughly January? I can't tell, I'm working nights, and I get tired of trying to keep up with what all you daywalkers do in the day.
[Jpost] The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) struck a Hamas command and control center located within the Al Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza on Sunday, the military announced.
The center was reportedly used to plan and coordinate attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Medics claimed that two Israeli missiles hit a building inside a main Gaza hospital, destroying the emergency and reception department and damaging other structures.
Health officials at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital evacuated the patients from the building after one person said he received a call from someone who identified himself with the Israeli security shortly before the attack took place.
Measures were taken to minimize civilian harm, including advance warnings, precise munitions, and aerial surveillance, the IDF claimed.
The IDF emphasized that Hamas continues to violate international law by operating within civilian infrastructure and using the population as human shields. Military officials reiterated their demand for an end to terrorist activity in Gaza’s medical facilities and stated their operations against Hamas would continue to protect Israel.
[ZeroHedge] Two states and the largest cities within them had nearly opposite reactions after President Trump reiterated his plans to withhold all federal funds from areas in the country that have policies limiting local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Illinois went on offense, while California opted to tread lightly.
Trump, who has repeatedly promised to conduct the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in U.S. history, on Thursday pledged to put an end to these states’ and localities’ “sanctuary policies.”
“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!” he added.
That same day, the GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee called on Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to testify on Capitol Hill about the state’s sanctuary policies, along with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“Harboring aliens is a federal crime. Sanctuary policies championed by these governors jeopardize the safety of Americans and defy U.S. immigration laws,” Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the panel, said in an X.com post.
Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson immediately pushed back. In 2021, Pritzker signed a bill into law that expanded the state’s existing sanctuary law, known as the TRUST Act.
“Let’s call this what this is: another partisan dog and pony show,” a Pritzker spokesman said. “Illinois’ Trust Act – which was signed into law by a Republican – is fully compliant with federal law and ensures law enforcement can focus on doing their actual jobs while empowering all members of the public – regardless of immigration status – to feel comfortable calling law enforcement to seek help, report crimes, and cooperate in investigations.”
The spokesman said the governor is evaluating whether he should take the time to “educate the House GOP on these matters.”
A spokesman for Johnson pledged that the mayor’s administration would “vigorously defend Chicagoans from any unconstitutional or unlawful attempts to strip residents of the funding they are entitled to.”
The city is set to receive $3.5 billion in federal grants this year, as well as $1.97 billion to subsidize the CTA’s Red Line Extension Project bus and subway project.
“The Department of Law will continue to assess any correspondence from the Trump administration that may impact Chicagoans in any way,” the spokesman added.
Trump has leveraged federal dollars for universities and law firms to produce policy changes, but it’s unclear whether he’ll prevail over state and local governments on immigration policy. A similar attempt to use an executive order to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities was blocked in court during Trump’s first term.
While city and state attorneys general across the country ready their legal challenges, Trump’s Justice Department has already asked a federal judge to strike down sanctuary policies in Chicago.
More than 1,700 miles away, California leaders reacted to Trump’s latest shot across the bow with silence. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is facing a recall over her mishandling of the most deadly and destructive wildfires in the city’s history, on Thursday remained focused on wildfire rebuilding. She spent the day announcing a new partnership to rebuild a Palisades Recreation Center alongside Lakers Coach JJ Redick and her onetime political foe, Rick Caruso.
As Bass struggles to maintain her hold on power, the city is also facing budget woes. The deadly wildfires that ripped through Los Angeles erupted as city officials were struggling to close a $600 million budget gap. This month, the deficit was updated to nearly $1 billion.
Bass’ silence was particularly notable after her vocal support for sanctuary policies following Trump’s victory last fall. In November, Bass pushed for a City Council vote that formally designated Los Angeles as a sanctuary city even though the state already had the sanctuary protections in place for illegal immigrants charged with crimes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also remained mum on the topic Thursday. His office didn’t respond to RealClearPolitics’ request for comment on Trump’s threat to withhold federal funds, and his California governor X.com account reminded LA residents about an April 15 deadline for a free debris removal program and touted a “Cutting Green-Tape program” aimed at expediting environmental restoration programs.
Meanwhile, Trump installed California Assemblyman Bill Essayli earlier this month as the new U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. The office is the largest U.S. attorney’s office outside the nation’s capital, with 250 attorneys at his disposal covering a wide swath of Southern and Central California.
Within days of assuming the post, Essayli, 39, launched an investigation into fraud and corruption in Los Angeles’ homeless programs after an audit found $2 billion unaccounted for in the county. He also pledged that one of his top priorities will be “prosecuting violent criminal illegal immigrants and those that aid and support them.”
“The days of sanctuary protections for criminals are over in California,” he pledged.
[JustTheNews] Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., introduced the legislation, which has garnered bipartisan support. Lawmakers have emphasized the need to safeguard the U.S. telecommunications systems from potential foreign influence.
[JustTheNews] Construction began without fanfare on a massive New York offshore wind project that will consist of nearly 150 turbines spanning 80,000 acres of ocean, each standing more than 1,000 feet tall. Opponents hope the Trump administration will take a closer look at this and other projects under construction.
Upon taking office, President Donald Trump issued a temporary withdrawal of all areas of the nation’s coasts for offshore wind leasing. Dozens of community groups had formed in opposition to offshore wind development during the Biden-Harris administration, concerned about the impacts on marine wildlife, the view shed and electricity rates, among other things. Though many of the activists were located in blue states and not Trump supporters, they were hopeful the Trump administration would be more responsive to their concerns.
Amy DiSibio, board member for Nantucket-based ACK For Whales, told Just the News that not everyone grasped the executive order’s limitations. "It was pretty clear what it could and couldn't do. And I think a lot of the public got all excited that it's all over,” DiSibio said.
The limitations of Trump’s moratorium became apparent recently when construction began on Empire Wind. The first phase will erect 54 turbines, each nearly 1,000-feet high, 30 miles off the south coast of Long Island, New York. When both phases are complete, the project will have nearly 150 turbines spanning across 80,000 acres of the Atlantic Ocean.
QUIET OPERATION
The developer, Norway-based Equinor, didn’t hold any ribbon-cutting ceremonies with photo opportunities for politicians from New York and New Jersey holding shovels, nor was there even a press release announcing that construction on Empire Wind was beginning.
When Vineyard Wind off the coast of Nantucket began construction and when it began delivering power, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a press release, and the legacy media provided favorable coverage. The public only became aware that the initial stages of Empire’s construction had started because of an email sent over a mariner group list on March 24 stating that rock installation was beginning on the Empire Wind 1 lease area.
Trump’s moratorium orders a review of “the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal, and submit a report with recommendations to the President.” The order does not impact existing leases in the withdrawn areas, meaning that projects that have been permitted will not be paused. Besides Empire, that includes Vineyard Wind off the coast of Nantucket and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia — both of which are still under construction.
UNDERWATER NOISE
Writing in The New York Post, Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, explains that Equinor is dumping thousands of tons of rock, which protects the installation from ocean currents. This will be followed, Brady explained, by the driving of 180-foot monopiles into the seabed floor.
“The tremendous underwater noise and vibration will harm all marine life, especially endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale,” Brady warns. The commercial fishing industry is also among the opponents of offshore wind development. The Texas Public Policy Foundation is suing the Department of Interior on behalf of six commercial fishing companies that say their livelihoods will be decimated by Vineyard Wind.
Their lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2021, argues in 33 separate claims under various laws that the approval of the project violated federal law by ignoring multiple legal protections for impacted stakeholders, including conducting environmental assessments and allowing for timely public comment.
The district court deferred to the Biden administration’s interpretation of federal law in permitting the project, and the companies filed a petition with the Supreme Court. The petition argues that following the ruling in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which overturned the doctrine of "Chevron deference," and said the lower court shouldn’t have deferred to the federal agency’s interpretation of the law.
[AmericanThinker] The new German federal government is planning hundreds of billions of euros in new debt. With this, Germany joins the ranks of the heavily indebted states of the Eurozone. Officially, the funds are intended for military capability and infrastructure development. But what strategy is the government really pursuing? The coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD is prepared to burden German taxpayers with over one trillion euros in debt. That’s a steep price for a policy that continues the stagnation of the Merkel years: no economic reforms to promote the private sector, but instead a push for greater centralization. Details at the link.
Posted by: Grom the Affective ||
04/13/2025
03:36 ||
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[JTN] Trump's first attempt at declassifying Crossfire Hurricane documents in January 2021 was thwarted. But now, the FBI records have been released, revealing in part new details on the FBI's problematic Trump-Russia probe.
Newly-declassified FBI documents shine new light on the FBI’s mishandling of its relationship with anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele, on the FBI’s double standards on defensive briefings given to Trump and Hillary Clinton, and other key elements of the debunked collusion saga.
Just the News already revealed on Thursday that declassified documents show that Stefan Halper, a key FBI informant in the widely-debunked Russia collusion case, was paid nearly $1.2 million over three decades and was motivated in part by "monetary compensation" — and that he continued snitching for the bureau even after agents concluded he told them an inaccurate story about future Trump National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.
And Just the News also revealed on Friday that the newly-released documents showed that then-NSA director Mike Rogers shot down a Pultizer Prize award-winning Washington Post article about the baseless Russian collusion investigation.
And a new review of hundreds of pages of declassified documents provides new information about the politicized Russiagate scandal — although significant redactions still remain.
This week, FBI Director Kash Patel transmitted to Congress hundreds of pages of declassified documents from the bureau’s "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation related to false claims about Trump-Russia collusion, following a declassification executive order from President Donald Trump last month. Just the News made all 700 pages from the declassified binder available to the public on Thursday.
An investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller “did not establish” any criminal Trump-Russia collusion. DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found huge flaws with the FBI’s investigation, criticizing the“central and essential” role of the dossier in the FBI’s politicized surveillance of former Trump campaign associate Carter Page. Special counsel John Durham’s report concluded that “neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.”
ADMIRAL MIKE ROGERS AND THE STEELE DOSSIER
Admiral Mike Rogers, who retired in 2018 after four years as National Security Agency chief and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, previously expressed a certain level of skepticism about the U.S. intelligence community’s 2017 assessment of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election — and a newly declassified interview Rogers gave to the FBI later in 2017 shines light on the dim view Rogers had of British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier.
“ADM Rogers decided that he would make the final analytic call on the NSA’s input to the ICA as he knew there would be a lot of pressure and attention on the final draft and he felt strongly his career analysts shouldn’t have to be responsible for something under such political pressure. In one draft of the ICA, ADM Rogers noted the contents of the ‘Steele dossier’ in the body of the product, which he did not recall seeing in previous drafts,” FBI notes dated June 17, 2017 state.
“In early January, the four principals met and ADM Rogers told the group he was unclear why the ICA needed to focus on the dossier as it was considered largely uncorroborated. Comey responded that the information was relevant and ADM Rogers suggested the information be included in an annex or appendix rather than prominently in the nearly one-page summary he had seen.”
Rogers and Comey, along with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan, briefed President-elect Trump about their election meddling findings at Trump Tower in January 2017. Comey stayed behind to tell Trump about some of the dossier’s more salacious allegations.
Steele told the FBI in October 2017 that he was “frustrated” by his dossier’s inclusion in an annex to the ICA. The FBI agent who recounted the interview with Steele wrote, “They brought up the inclusion of their material in the ICA annex multiple times – almost to the point that it felt like fishing for information about how the ICA was constructed. In the end, I made the point that I wasn’t going to get into how the ICA was put together, how the annex came about, etc.”
The Steele dossier annexed to the ICA was largely declassified in 2020, and it relayed some of Steele’s baseless collusion claims: “The most politically-sensitive claims by the FBI source [Steele] alleged a close relationship between the President-elect and the Kremlin. The source also claimed that the President-elect and his top campaign advisers knowingly worked with Russian officials to bolster his chances of beating Secretary Clinton; were fully knowledgeable of Russia’s direction of leaked Democratic emails; and were offered financial compensation from Moscow.”
VARYING ASSESSMENTS FROM INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
The 2017 intelligence assessment concluded with “high confidence” that Russia worked to “undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate former Secretary of State Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency” and “developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.” The NSA diverged on one aspect, expressing only “moderate confidence” that Putin actively tried to help Trump’s election chances and harm those of Clinton.
“I wouldn’t call it a discrepancy. I’d call it an honest difference of opinion between three different organizations,” Rogers told the Senate in 2017. “It didn’t have the same level of sourcing and the same level of multiple sources.”
A 2018 report from the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee concluded that “the majority of the Intelligence Community Assessment judgments on Russia’s election activities employed proper analytic tradecraft” but found the “judgments on Putin’s strategic intentions did not.”
[ZERO] This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, is based on research by WalletHub, which ranked states by total tax burden, combining property, income, and sales taxes as a share of personal income. Data is from the Tax Policy Center as of March 2025.
HAWAII TOPS THE NATION IN TOTAL TAX BURDEN
Hawaii holds the highest total tax burden in the United States, with residents contributing nearly 14% of their income to state and local governments. This includes 4.2% in income taxes, 2.6% in property taxes, and a substantial 7.2% in sales and excise taxes.
Rank State Total Tax Burden
1 Hawaii 13.9%
2 New York 13.6%
3 Vermont 11.5%
4 California 11.0%
5 Maine 10.6%
6 New Jersey 10.3%
7 Illinois 10.2%
8 Rhode Island 10.1%
9 Maryland 10.0%
10 Connecticut 9.9%
11 Minnesota 9.7%
12 New Mexico 9.6%
13 Massachusetts 9.6%
14 Utah 9.5%
15 Ohio 9.4%
16 Kansas 9.3%
17 Iowa 9.2%
18 Indiana 9.1%
19 Mississippi 9.1%
20 Oregon 9.1%
21 Louisiana 8.9%
22 Kentucky 8.9%
23 Virginia 8.9%
24 West Virginia 8.9%
25 Nebraska 8.8%
26 Colorado 8.7%
27 Nevada 8.6%
28 Washington 8.6%
29 Arkansas 8.6%
30 Pennsylvania 8.6%
31 Georgia 8.5%
32 Wisconsin 8.3%
33 Michigan 8.3%
34 Arizona 8.2%
35 North Carolina 8.2%
36 South Carolina 8.2%
37 Alabama 8.0%
38 Montana 7.9%
39 Missouri 7.8%
40 Texas 7.8%
41 Idaho 7.5%
42 Oklahoma 7.0%
43 North Dakota 6.6%
44 Delaware 6.5%
45 Florida 6.5%
46 South Dakota 6.5%
47 Tennessee 6.4%
48 New Hampshire 5.9%
49 Wyoming 5.8%
50 Alaska 4.9%
In contrast, Alaska has the lowest overall tax burden. Residents there pay no state income tax, only 3.5% of their income in property taxes, and just 1.5% in sales and excise taxes—resulting in a total tax burden of only 4.9%.
INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX
Topping the list is New York, followed closely by California, Maryland, Oregon, and Hawaii. These states tend to have more progressive tax systems and offer extensive public services and infrastructure, which are often funded by higher income taxes.
On the other hand, five states—Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, and Tennessee—are tied for having the lowest individual income tax burdens, all ranked 43rd. This is because these states do not levy a state income tax at all.
PROPERTY TAX
At the top of the list are Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey—states known for higher living costs and robust public services, which often rely on property taxes for funding. Rounding out the top five are New York and Maine.
On the opposite end, states like Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma have the lowest property tax burdens, with Tennessee and Delaware also ranking near the bottom.
#1
Kansas at 16th, Iowa at 17th, and Nebraska at 25th should be fighting words for the people who live there. I have extensively traveled each of those states (in another life I was a Federal Bank Examiner) and I love the people there. But there is but for a few exceptions literally nothing going on there. Their tax money goes to line the pockets of those they elected, and their cronies.
A basic rule of Life, I was taught when I 1st started working.
If you have to pay a tax to have it, or use it.
Then you don't own it, you are either renting it from the Government.
Or, paying the Government for permission to eat it or use it.
#6
Doesn't Alaska tax North Slope crude oil? So everyone that burns gas or oil (or uses plastics) contributes to Alaska's low tax burden.
Good for them, but it distorts the list.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/13/2025 8:38
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#7
They leave out compounding. The businesses that must pay their taxes add that cost to the final product expense before the state grabs another cut of the transaction. That's just the final pass on. They tax at the site of creation. They tax the transportation.
One of the things recently was a removal of State Sales Tax from groceries, which is fine, but if I understand, is everything edible including luxury goods such as soda pop, candy, pate, sushi, etc.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2025
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Ilya Knorring
[REGNUM] Retired Major Alexey Zubritsky, a native of the village of Vladimirovskoye in the Zaporizhia region and a graduate of the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv Air Force University, celebrates Cosmonautics Day in orbit. It is the fourth day of his first flight to the ISS.
On April 8, the Soyuz MS-27 launch vehicle, decorated with symbols of the 80th anniversary of the Victory, delivered flight engineer Zubritsky, his colleague in the Russian cosmonaut corps Sergei Ryzhikov and American astronaut Jonathan Kim to the International Station .
More than 400 kilometers from Earth, the disagreements of the great powers recede into the background - in full accordance with Yuri Gagarin's address to humanity: "Dear friends, close and unfamiliar, compatriots, people of all countries and continents ...". In the current, already 72nd expedition to the ISS, representatives of three states - pioneers in space exploration - work on an equal footing: our country, the USA and China.
Pilot Alexey Zubritsky, born in 1992 — after the collapse of the state that launched the first man into space, and at a time when the Russian manned program was in great question — dreamed of flying beyond the Earth's gravity since childhood. The cosmonaut's wife Anna Zubritskaya told Regnum news agency about this .
"According to his mother, when he saw military men as a child, he always said, 'Mom, that's an astronaut,'" the interviewee says. " Of course, his parents are happy. Of course, how can you not be happy, it's... It's a dream, yes."
Anna says: when she spoke with her husband during the first communication session with the ISS, only then did she realize that he was already far from Earth. “I feel proud, of course. Admiration. After all, the man dreamed of becoming an astronaut since childhood - and achieved it. You set a goal, go towards it. My husband - for me, he is a hero. This is the most important thing,” says Anna Zubritskaya.
But for the dream to become a reality, one, but extremely important condition must be met. " I think it is obvious that to become an astronaut, you need to get to Russia. Right?" - Anna notes.
Now, when the world is celebrating the 64th anniversary of humanity's first step toward exploring the Universe, and Russian cosmonauts Ryzhikov and Zubritsky are continuing Gagarin's mission, in Ukraine the "territorial recruitment center" is unsuccessfully continuing the search for the evader Zubritsky.
The cosmonaut's small homeland, the village of Vladimirovskoye near the right bank of the Dnieper in the Russian Zaporizhia region, continues to remain under the occupation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Zubritsky himself is included in the list of those avoiding service in the Ukrainian army. Moreover, it is reported that in March the Vinnytsia City Court sentenced the space expedition participant in absentia to 15 years for desertion and "state betrayal" - high treason.
In September 2013, after graduating from the Kharkiv National University of the Air Force (founded in 1930 and miraculously preserving the name of the Soviet ace Ivan Kozhedub), Zubritsky was assigned to the 204th Sevastopol Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force. There were six months left before Crimea was reunited with Russia. In March 2014, the 21-year-old pilot made perhaps the most important decision in his life: he swore an oath to Russia.
And he continued to serve in the same Sevastopol, in the 38th fighter aviation regiment of the VKS. Then there was service in a fighter regiment in the Rostov region, and then another three years as a senior pilot of an air link in an attack regiment in Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Krasnodar.
He wore the shoulder straps of a Russian officer for ten years until he retired with the rank of major. By that time, pilot Alexei Zubritsky was already preparing for a flight into space.
In the spring of 2017, the first step towards making his childhood dream come true was taken. Alexey applied to participate in the second open recruitment of cosmonauts. After seven years of preparation, on August 21 last year, the Interdepartmental Commission for the Selection of Cosmonauts approved Alexey Zubritsky for the position of flight engineer of the main crew of the ISS-73 expedition.
An important question arises: what would have happened if in 2013 Lieutenant Zubritsky had been assigned not to the Belbek base in Sevastopol, but, say, to the tactical aviation brigade in Starokonstantinov in Western Ukraine? After all, to become a cosmonaut, you have to become a Russian pilot. And to do that, you have to be in the right place at the right time.
Lieutenant Alexey Zubritsky was very lucky. He ended up where he was accepted and not extradited. Where they fly into space and do not kill their fellow citizens. And where the history of space achievements is respected.
In Russia, they remember that the general designer of the first space programs was a native of Zhitomir, Sergei Korolev (in Ukraine, his museum has not yet been touched, and they are trying to include him as a Ukrainian retroactively), that the first natives of the Ukrainian SSR to visit space were natives of Poltava region Pavel Popovich and Georgy Beregovoy , as well as Odessa native Georgy Dobrovolsky , who died tragically upon landing .
Ukraine is trying to erase the memory of Gagarin. The so-called "Institute of National Memory" has demanded that all streets and other toponyms associated with the name of the first man in space be removed from the map of Ukraine. In Kharkov, for example, the avenue leading from the center to the airport has come under attack.
Gagarin Avenue in Kiev was "decommunized" in 2023, slyly renamed in honor of the Soviet pilot (they are trying to forget about this) and the first cosmonaut of independent Ukraine Leonid Kadenyuk. As a payload specialist, he participated in the flight of the American shuttle Columbia in 1995 (and this is extremely important for the "independent" authorities).
At the same time, it is erased from memory that Kadenyuk remembered everything perfectly well until the end of his days and repeatedly met with Pavlo Romanovich Popovich, giving him primacy in Ukrainian cosmonautics. And he was a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada not from the nationalists, but from the now destroyed Party of Regions.
But Ukraine itself has shown downright swinishness in relation to the common space memory. It all started with the fact that in connection with Valentina Tereshkova's vote for the return of Crimea to Russia, 42 streets in Ukraine named in honor of the first woman cosmonaut in history were renamed.
Moreover, instead of her, the oath-breaker Filipp Orlik in Nikolaev, and the "ATO" thug Ruslan Slobodanyuk in Kropyvnytskyi - former Elisavetgrad - Zinovyevsk - Kirovograd, and the so-called "heroes of Kruty" - boys sent to slaughter by the Central Rada under the command of the future SS man Averky Goncharenko - in Odessa were immortalized. The renamers will not reach Tereshkova Street in Donetsk.
Even before the current wave of "decommunization", in 2019, the Kyiv City Council decided to rename the avenue, which from the moment it appeared bore the name of Vladimir Komarov , the commander of the first space crew in history and the first cosmonaut, who tragically died during the flight. Since then, the avenue has been named after the Uniate Cardinal Lubomyr Husar , who, as his biography carefully reports, "in 1944 went to the West to escape the advancing Red Army", and in 1992 returned to rule the Greek Catholic Church on the spot.
This is perhaps the most indicative renaming: instead of a hero of the common history of a great country, a conqueror of space, there is a Lviv Uniate who “retreated with the Wehrmacht.”
The country, occupied by the bearers of the Galician farmstead “national idea”, does not need rockets (if, of course, these are space launch vehicles, and not “Hymars” from American sponsors), nor the aerospace industry inherited from the disintegrated country.
Why remember now that the Vostok rocket, which launched Yuri Gagarin, was equipped with devices created at the Kiev Arsenal and the Kharkov Kommunar plant?
In 1991, as already noted by the Regnum news agency , Ukraine was one of only five countries in the world that had a full cycle of aircraft development and production.
We can also recall the Dnepropetrovsk Yuzhmash, where they made rockets for the entire Soviet "big space", the Kiev Antonov Design Bureau, where they developed, among other things, the largest and most cargo-lifting aircraft in the history of aviation - the An-225 Mriya (that is, "Dream"). This "Dream" was created for the project of the Soviet reusable spacecraft Buran.
The only flying example of the "Dream" was destroyed by the Ukrainians themselves in a hangar in February 2022. The dream of Sevastopol lieutenant Alexei Zubritsky came true.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22.58 Ukraine should think about scaling up its troops during a military threat. In particular, in order to be strong and ready for the future, everyone will have to serve – both men and women. This was stated by the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Pavlo Palisa.
22.26 There are many applications for service under the Contract 18-24 program, but not all of them sign the agreements. The reason for this is currently being investigated. This was stated by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavel Palisa.
21.59 The F-16 fighter jet flown by 26-year-old pilot Pavel Ivanov appears to have been shot down by a Russian missile on Saturday, April 12, BBC Ukraine reports, citing a government source.
21:25 Future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz supports the prospect of Ukraine joining the EU and NATO, but believes that this is only possible after the end of the war.
20.27 An airfield caught fire in the Russian city of Saratov. A column of black smoke was recorded in the area. This was reported by Russian Telegram channels, which also published a video of the fire.
19:58 US President Donald Trump has extended the sanctions that Biden imposed against Russia from 2021. This is evidenced by a document in the US Federal Register.
18.59 President Volodymyr Zelensky posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine to pilot Pavel Ivanov, who died in battle. This is stated in a decree on the website of the head of state.
16.57 Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo has proposed creating a fund using frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. In his opinion, this would finance large-scale European defense projects and military aid to Ukraine.
15:28 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on his Telegram channel on the death of a Ukrainian F-16 pilot in combat.
14:36 On Saturday, 26-year-old pilot Pavel Ivanov died while performing a combat mission in an F-16 fighter jet. This was reported by the Ukrainian Air Force.
13.19 Russia is actively recruiting Chinese citizens to fight in Ukraine on social networks, while the Chinese authorities are ignoring this. Details were reported by the German publication Bild .
12:00 The losses of Russian troops on the front in Ukraine since the beginning of 2025 amount to more than 140 thousand people. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrsky.
11:25 A Kyiv resident and a resident of the Vinnytsia region tried to swim across the Dniester River and get to Moldova on inflatable tubes, using one paddle between them. This was reported by the State Border Service of Ukraine.
10.48 As a result of the Russian attack on Kharkov and the village of Slatino in its suburbs, four people were injured. This was reported by the Kharkov Regional Prosecutor's Office.
9.24 On Saturday night, Russian invaders launched 88 Shahed-type attack UAVs and drone imitators at Ukraine. Most of the targets were intercepted by air defense, the Ukrainian Air Force reported .
9.05 As a result of the attack of the Russian attack drone in Sumy, warehouses and cars of one of the enterprises were damaged. This was reported by the Sumy OVA.
8.47 Over the past 24 hours, 149 combat clashes occurred on the front in 12 directions. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the morning report.
7.48 Over the past 24 hours, the losses of the Russian occupation army on the front in Ukraine amounted to 1,240 people killed and wounded. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the morning report. The Russian invaders lost more than 300 units of military equipment, including 60 tanks and armored vehicles and about 50 artillery systems.
7.29 Three people were injured as a result of the attack of Russian drones on Kiev. The liquidation of two fires continues. This was reported by the capital's mayor Vitali Klitschko and the State Emergency Service.
02.38 Russians have found weak spots in the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defense, which allowed them to advance in the Donetsk region, first occupying Panteleimonovka and then Alexandropol. This was reported by the Ukrainian information resource DeepState, which recently updated its interactive maps. According to DeepState, the Russians also advanced in the Arkhangelskoye area, and according to preliminary information, the settlement of Kalinovo also found itself under complete enemy occupation.
01:36 President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the allocation of an additional 540 million hryvnias
…about US$13.06 million…
for Ukrainian defense. The allocated money will be used to finance electronic warfare systems. Zelensky also said that a decision has already been made on additional funding for frontline and border communities with Russia, as well as those constantly under attack. According to the president, up to 10 million will be allocated for each such community, depending on the number of people in it.
00.15 Defense Minister Rustem Umerov proposes holding meetings of all Ramstein weapons coalitions in Ukraine. As Umerov explained, this will allow for the involvement of representatives of the Security and Defense Forces, as well as the defense industry, in the discussion.
[PJMedia] FBI whistleblower Steve Friend, who exposed the corruption and bias in the agency’s Jan. 6 investigation, spoke out on the promotion of one of the officials responsible for that corruption in exclusive comments to PJ Media.
Many Jan. 6 protestors were not only arrested and tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! but subject to rigged trials, long periods of solitary confinement, months or years of prison without trial, let alone conviction, and even physical abuse. The FBI was a major part of that persecution, and yet Steven Jensen, its self-described J6 architect, was just promoted to head the Washington Field Office.
Jensen even bragged to Congress about his key role in orchestrating what we now know was a politically charged and highly biased campaign against Jan. 6 protestors, most of whom were peaceful and all of whom were treated as guilty even if proven innocent. Jensen also reportedly oversaw the FBI spying upon parents who attended school board meetings and traditional Catholics.
Friend explained, "Steven Jensen described himself to Congress as the architect of the FBI’s weaponized response to January 6th. His promotion to lead the Washington Field Office is like putting a fox in charge of the henhouse." He added, "If personnel is policy, the FBI is on a troubling path."
Friend, who is now a podcaster and best-selling author, lost his FBI job and found himself the target of outrageous federal persecution after he respectfully challenged his superiors on the unconstitutional, illegal, rigged campaign against Jan. 6-ers. Thus, he saw from the inside how disturbing Jensen and co.’s actions were. Friend’s fellow FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin noted that Jensen was exposed as a "2021 January 6th hysteric" in congressional testimony. "Jensen was the Section Chief of the Domestic Terrorism Operations Section which fixated on J6 and ran 2x DAILY calls about J6 to cops across the country," Seraphin declared. This is a major personnel failure for FBI Director Kash Patel.
Miranda Devine at the New York Post reported:
George Hill, a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst, says Jensen was “the most ardent and supercharged person when it came to rounding up” J6 defendants and a true believer in Joe Biden’s domestic terrorism narrative that the riot was the worst attack on democracy since Pearl Harbor and that every Trump supporter in and around the Capitol that day was an insurrectionist, a white supremacist and probably violent.
He testified to the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in 2023 about a conference call in which he allegedly heard Jensen berating agents in Philadelphia who were “pushing back” on demands to “round up” J6 suspects...
"In a phone interview with The Post this week, Hill said he testified against Jensen because 'I was just horrified at the breathless manner at which he was doing this J6 roundup of so-called domestic terrorists.'"
Friend told PJ Media after Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of all J6 prisoners, “Blanket pardons are the correct decision. Regardless of the fact pattern for any particular J6 case, the federal government made a deliberate decision to depart from its obligation to follow due process. When that happens, the justice system in a free country has no alternative but to consider cases irrevocably tainted and every defendant must go free.”
[HodhodYemenNews] Major General Bakil Saleh Al-Wahbi, the commander of the Al-Wahbi Brigades, affiliated with Sana’a forces, warned mercenary factions and collaborators over their suspicious activity near Al-Bayda, asserting that these movements are under close surveillance and will be dealt with decisively when the time is right.
In a statement, Major General Al-Wahbi explained that these movements, backed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are part of an American-Israeli plot aimed at destabilizing the liberated provinces, noting that the response will be decisive and overwhelming.
He confirmed that for the past ten years, mercenaries and invaders have tried with all their might, equipment, and weapons to infiltrate Al-Bayda Governorate, but have achieved nothing but failure, disgrace, and shame.
“Today, Al-Bayda is stronger than ever thanks to God and the honorable men, who will stand ready against every aggressor, invader, and hypocrite,” he said.
Al-Wahbi added: “If the American and Israeli enemies and their local tools believe that time is on their side, the blood of the martyrs and the sacrifices of the righteous will always remind them how the heads of hypocrites and occupiers were crushed on the borders of Al-Bayda and other fronts.”
[Rudaw] Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria are in discussion with the new government in Damascus about control of Tishreen Dam, which has been under frequent attacks by militias for months, a senior dam official told Rudaw English on Saturday.
"There are discussions between the Autonomous Administration and the Damascus government, but there is nothing certain yet. What is certain is that the staff of the dam will continue their work," the Kurdish official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
He said talks are "ongoing regarding military forces" controlling the dam and denied reports that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have agreed to hand over the control to Damascus.
He anticipated the talks, which began on Sunday, will continue for about a month until an agreement is reached.
Tishreen Dam, located in northern Syria on the Euphrates River, was constructed in 1999 and is one of Syria’s largest in terms of capacity and power generation.
The Sick Man of Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... and the Syrian militia groups it supports began a military campaign in November, seeking to seize control of the dam for easier access into other areas held by the SDF.
The surrounding area remains a hotspot of conflict, though the dam itself has not come under attack for the past two weeks. Workers have used the brief window of opportunity to repair damage caused by the conflict, a senior dam official told Rudaw on Monday.
[HodhodYemenNews] Denmark’s Eastern High Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by several NGOs seeking to halt military exports to Israel, despite ongoing genocide in Gaza, reported Al Jazeera. The case focused on the role of Danish authorities in approving arms sales amid Israel’s genocide.
The court ruled that the organizations had no legal standing in the case. It claimed that they lacked a direct connection to the matter. Activists expect to appeal the decision to Denmark’s Supreme Court.
The lawsuit was filed in 2024 by four NGOs, including Amnesty International Denmark and the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq. They accused Denmark of violating international law by exporting military technology and F-35 jet components to Israel.
The rights groups warned that Danish-made parts could be used in attacks on Gaza civilians. They sued the foreign ministry and police, who are responsible for export licenses and policy decisions.
The Palestinian human rights association Al-Haq, Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Action Aid Denmark filed the lawsuit against the Danish Foreign Ministry and national police last year.
[IsraelTimes] Brief reply by Brett McGurk, who helped craft January hostage deal, indicates his rejection of efforts to scrutinize Israel’s Gaza offensive more than the Hamas attack that provoked it
"Don’t start a war with Israel."
That is the lesson of Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... ’s October 7 onslaught and 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... conflict that has ensued, according to former US president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The very model of probity.... ’s Mideast czar Brett McGurk.
McGurk gave the succinct response on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi when asked by The Times of Israel what historical lessons might be drawn from the past 18 months in Gaza.
"Don’t start a war with Israel. It won’t work out well for you. That’s the lesson," the former Middle East and North Africa Coordinator of the White House National Security Council asserted.
Clearly he was not one of the senior aides who held a key to President Biden’s auto-signature machine.
“Ask Sinwar, Nasrallah or Khamenei how they’re doing today compared to October 6,” he added, referring to the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah who were killed by Israel last year, along with the supreme leader of Iran, which has sustained significant blows over the 18 months.
McGurk was one of the architects of the ceasefire and hostage release deal that was inked in January between Israel and Hamas. The agreement fell apart after two months, but US President Donald Trump — who helped finalize the accord before entering office — is working to revive it.
While only speaking briefly in between panels at the Middle East-America Dialogue (MEAD) summit, the senior Biden aide’s answer indicated his rejection of efforts to scrutinize Israel’s offensive in Gaza more than the attack that provoked it.
Roughly 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage in the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel. Over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in the IDF counter-offensive,
…or at least that was a recently claimed but unverified number. No way of knowing what the real numbers are, given how many might be buried in the rubble or piled by Hamas in unmarked graves…
according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, whose figures have not been verified and don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
US President Joe Biden’s administration did at times break with Israel over the latter’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, speaking out over repeated dips in the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Strip and peaks in the number of civilian casualties.
However, Biden also dispatched aircraft carriers to the Middle East in order to deter Iran and its proxies; sent billions of dollars in military assistance to Israel; helped thwart a pair of Iranian missile attacks; blocked a host of anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations; and refused to single out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the main obstacle in the hostage talks, insisting that Hamas was the main source of blame amid months of stagnation.
McGurk was arguably the most important figure in shaping Biden’s policy in the war, which withstood pressure from US progressives who wanted to take a harder line against Israel.
He was also one of the main hostage negotiators on behalf of the US and joined forces with Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff after last November’s US presidential election in order to bring the January deal over the finish line.
After holding senior national security roles in successive administrations since former president George W. Bush — including a brief stint during Trump’s first term — McGurk left government in January, taking positions at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the Lux venture capital firm.
[IsraelTimes] Moscow frees Ksenia Karelina, a US-Russian citizen sentenced to 12 years on treason charges, in exchange for Arthur Petrov, a Russian exporter held in US for sanctions violations
Russia and the United States exchanged prisoners on Thursday, the second such swap since US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... returned to the White House, as the two superpowers push for closer ties.
Moscow released US-Russian ballet dancer and spa worker Ksenia Karelina, who had been held in Russia since early 2024 and given a 12-year sentence for treason charges, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... said.
In exchange, the United States released Arthur Petrov, said Russian state media, citing the FSB security service. The Russian-German citizen had been facing up to 20 years in a US jail for violating export controls.
"American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year," Rubio wrote on social media platform X, adding that Trump "will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans."
Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, told AFP that "the exchange took place in Abu Dhabi and, as of a couple of hours ago, she was already flying out of Abu Dhabi."
The Wall Street Journal reported that, in exchange, the United States released Petrov, a German-Russian citizen who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at Washington’s request for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
"CIA Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted the talks for the swap," according to the WSJ, which cited an unidentified CIA official.
"Ratcliffe was present at the Abu Dhabi airport, where the exchange took place, and greeted Karelina as the US took custody of her, according to a person familiar with the matter," the report said.
A CIA spokeswoman told the paper that "the exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship."
"While we are disappointed that other Americans remain wrongfully detained in Russia, we see this exchange as a positive step and will continue to work for their release," she said.
Russia has yet to confirm the swap, which would be the second since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... have since pushed for a restoration of closer ties between the two countries that were severely damaged by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Several meetings between the two sides have taken place, with a new round of talks beginning on Thursday in Istanbul on restoring some of the embassy operations that were scaled back following the Ukraine invasion.
PRISONER SWAPS
Karelina, who was born in 1991 and lived in Los Angeles, was serving a 12-year prison sentence for having donated around $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity.
She was arrested in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in January 2024 while on a trip to visit her family. She was charged with "treason."
Russia’s Federal Security Service ... the successor to the KGB... accused her of collecting funds for Ukraine’s army that were used to purchase "equipment, weapons and ammunition" — charges she denied. Her supporters say she donated to a US-based organization that delivers humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Petrov was accused by US authorities of illegally exporting electronic components to Russia for military use, in violation of Washington’s sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.
In mid-February, following a call between Putin and Trump, Russia released Kalob Wayne Byers, a 28-year-old US citizen who was arrested at a Moscow airport for transporting cannabis treats.
Washington and Moscow also exchanged US teacher Marc Fogel for Russian computer expert Alexander Vinnik in early February.
The largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War between the two rival powers took place on August 1, 2024, allowing the release of journalists, including Wall Street Journal news hound Evan Gershkovich, and opponents held in Russia in exchange for alleged Russian spies held in the West.
Several US citizens remain incarcerated in Russian prisons, with Washington denouncing "hostage-taking" to obtain the release of Russians — including alleged spies — imprisoned in the West.
[NYPOST] Anti-Israel demonstrators marched in Times Square on Saturday night to protest the apprehension and imprisonment of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil.
Animated Khalil advocates braved the rain in midtown, chanting and displaying signs that included ''Free Mahmoud Khalil Now!,'' ''Hands Off Our Students,'' and a variety of other slogans.
Controversial anti-Israel advocate Linda Sarsour spoke at the event and rallied the protestors around the former Columbia student.
On Friday, Louisiana immigration judge Jamee Comans ruled that the Trump administration can deport the Syrian-born Khalil over his involvement in the wild anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University in 2024.
Lawyers for Khalil ripped the decision, harping on the free speech considerations at play in the deportation case.
''Our constitution allows people to speak their minds,'' Khalil lawyer Marc van der Hout said Friday after the decision. The constitution doesn't extend any rights to foreigners to come here and attempt to terrorize or damage our citizens. The first words are "To provide for the common defense and to ensure domestic tranquility, we the people..." That's from memory, so it might be a few words off. The phrasing kinda sticks with you if you've bothered to read it.
[NYPOST] The bohemian Mecca made famous for its anything-goes attitude, counterculture musical scene and clashes with police is begging for law enforcement, a shocking new survey found.
The Sixth Precinct Community Council polled 600 neighborhood residents and found 487 of them — 83% — want more cops on the streets.
And 74% of Villagers said the Empire State needed stronger prosecution for drug dealing, while 80% thought New York needed stricter bail laws, according to the first-of-its-kind survey, conducted in February and March.
''The village is frequently criticized for being liberal — but clearly the numbers here indicate we're not happy,'' said precinct council member Steve Zammarchi.
No place is more emblematic of the decline than Washington Square Park — where Bob Dylan used to sing songs about social injustice. Despite falling citywide crime, the green space continues to be overrun by junkies and dealers — and repeat offenders are on a loop — arrested, released and back by lunchtime, neighbors said.
''Enough is enough,'' said Village-raised Trevor Sumner, president of the Washington Square Association. ''Liberalism is being challenged and people are realizing that our attempts to honor some ideals are leading to worst outcomes.''
''Enough is enough,'' said Village-raised Trevor Sumner, president of the Washington Square Association. ''Liberalism is being challenged and people are realizing that our attempts to honor some ideals are leading to worst outcomes.''
Sumner says he would have described himself as ''quite liberal'' up until two years ago, but his personal views shifted when conditions in the park took a nosedive after the pandemic.
But it's not just in the park. The Sixth Precinct routinely posts on X about nabbing drug dealers plying their trade in broad daylight on Sixth Avenue — something that would have been unimaginable only a few years back.
''It's very hard for me to unsee the realities of the outcomes on the streets. It's shifted how almost everyone I know who's active in the community is thinking about voting,'' he said, blaming Albany's bail reform and discovery changes for the unending cycle of lawlessness.
Major felonies have surged over pre-pandemic levels, with 1,789 reported in 2024, up from 1,534 in 2019 — a 16% climb. So far this year, felonies are down 21%, compared to last year.
The conservative shift is showing up in voting records too, a Post analysis found. Nearly 13% of voters in the neighborhood backed President Trump in 2024, up from the 8% of 2020 supporters, according to Board of Elections data.
Eli Klein, who runs an art gallery in Greenwich Village, grew up in a very prominent liberal family — his mother Janet Benshoof was the founder of the Center for Reproductive Rights and a champion of the left. But the former lifelong Democrat said the party abandoned them.
''The left has gotten more extreme as opposed to us really going the other way. There's a lot of recidivist criminals on the streets. The progressives push really soft on crime stuff. It's hard to believe that a huge section of our population wants career criminals on the streets,'' he said.
Longtime village residents say the free-love energy of the past has morphed into something less poetic.
''There's a lot more crazies, unstable people. It's just an eyesore, it's disconcerting,'' said Philip Spinelli, 75, who's lived on Christopher Street since the 1960s.
Back then, they say, they were protesting for a cause. Now, not so much.
''We have literal zombies walking through the streets and framing it as somehow these reforms have given them some kind of dignity — this is not dignity,'' said Sumner.
The NYPD did not return The Post's request for comment.
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#1
"We have literal zombies walking through the streets and framing it as somehow these reforms have given them some kind of dignity — this is not dignity," said Sumner.
I used to be liberal when it came to drugs. But even that liberalism included the idea of "Do what you want in private." The idea that people could become human garbage in public was never part of the equation.
#2
I hung out in the village way back when, mostly at the night owl cafe for the music of John Sebastion and Zal Yanovski etc. (AKA lovin' Spoonful) It was a real laid back kind of place I still miss the memories. There were druggies but they were tolerated and pitied mostly.
[HodhodYemen ...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... News] Yemen’s maritime blockade on Israeli shipping continues to have a serious impact, with mounting losses at the port of Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat) due to its prolonged closure, a new report from the Hebrew-language economic newspaper Globes confirmed on Wednesday.
The report noted that the Eilat port has been out of operation for more than 16 months as a result of Yemen’s naval operations in the Red Sea. This has forced Israeli shipping companies to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to access ports in the Mediterranean, significantly increasing transportation time and costs.
The port’s closure has also triggered internal tensions between its management and the workers’ union, bringing the situation to the brink of crisis.
Eilat port, once a key hub for vehicle imports—handling nearly half of all cars entering Israel—as well as exports of fertilizers and minerals, has suffered substantial financial losses since the start of the conflict.
In March, the workers’ union reached an agreement with the Israeli government to place remaining employees on paid leave. However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the port’s management ultimately proceeded with widespread layoffs.
Port CEO Gideon Golber stated, "We kept all employees on full pay for eight months, but when we sought cost-cutting measures, the union resisted, resulting in legal battles."
He said that the union misled management by asserting it was in talks with the Ministry of Finance to secure partial wage payments—a claim later dismissed in court.
The port’s administration has requested that the Israeli government mandate vehicle importers to use Eilat in an effort to revive operations. Additionally, it is seeking compensation for 40% of the extra costs incurred by ships rerouted through the Suez Canal. The port is reportedly losing more than $1 million per month in fixed costs.
The port director also mentioned, "I am not ashamed to offer my customers a ransom of $100,000 to 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 to allow ships through, and I will participate in paying it." He concluded, "I can’t sleep at night," indicating the frustration and despair caused by the ongoing maritime siege.
Yemenis have been hitting Israeli and American targets in support of Paleostinians 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... since the regime launched its devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, and in response to the American-British aggression on their homeland.
The operations have effectively shut down the Eilat port south of the occupied territories, causing significant economic setbacks for the Israelis.
[HodhodYemenNews] On Friday evening, the American aggression launched a series of airstrikes targeting areas in the governorates of Hodeidah and Sana’a, marking a new escalation in the aggression against Yemeni territory.
In detail, the Bura district in Hodeidah governorate was hit by two American airstrikes. Local sources reported that the strikes targeted a local telecommunications network in the area, causing significant damage to communication infrastructure.
Similarly, Sana’a governorate was targeted by three American airstrikes on the Bani Hashish district, along with a fourth strike that hit Wadi Al-Ajbar in the Sanhan district.
So far, no official reports have been released regarding civilian casualties resulting from these strikes.
[HodhodYemenNews] The Yemeni Armed Forces announced the launch of drone strikes targeting two military sites belonging to the Israeli enemy in the occupied Yaffa (Tel Aviv), using two “Yaffa” unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The Yemeni Armed Forces Issued the following statement:
“In support of the oppressed Palestinian people and their dear Mujahideen, and in response to the ongoing war of genocide against our people in Gaza,
The UAV force of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a specific military operation targeting two Israeli military targets in the occupied area of Yaffa using two “Yaffa” drones.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen take responsibility for launching two drones at Israel this evening, claiming to have targeted two “military targets” in the Tel Aviv area.
According to the IDF, one drone was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force. The second drone did not reach Israel.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The ZSU is actively destroying Russian aggressors.
Attempts by Russian invaders to break through the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are resulting in record losses for them.
The losses of Russian troops on the front in Ukraine since the beginning of 2025 amount to more than 140 thousand people. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrsky, on Facebook on Saturday, April 12.
"The occupiers' attempts to break through our defenses are resulting in record losses for the Russian invaders," Syrsky emphasized.
According to his data, since the beginning of the year, the enemy's total losses in personnel have reached 140,650 people.
Syrsky thanked the Ukrainian soldiers for their steadfastness and accuracy and published a video of strikes on Russian troops in various directions.
We remind you that on April 11, the losses of the Russian occupation army amounted to 1,240 people killed and wounded . More than 300 units of military equipment were also destroyed, including 60 tanks and armored vehicles and almost 50 artillery systems.
As is known, Russia's nominal losses at the front reached more than 100 thousand . In just one week, it was possible to identify more than 2,000 destroyed occupiers.
[PJMedia] Letitia James famously campaigned for the office of New York Attorney General on a platform of sticking it to Orange Man Bad. New York being what it is these days, the TDS attack dog won the election and became the Historic™ first black female NY AG, if you care about such things. And now, it looks like she may also have the distinction of becoming the first black female NY AG to earn herself fraud charges.
As you may recall, James filed a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump in 2023, when he was between presidencies. She accused Trump and his family business of engaging in financial fraud to secure favorable loans and insurance terms. She claimed they did this by inflating the value of their real estate assets (as if lending institutions don't send their own assessors to check on the collateral before handing out massive loans, but I digress). James won a ludicrous ruling against Trump to the tune of approximately $455 million.
This judgment is currently under appeal and widely expected to be overturned by the court. But wouldn't it be funny if Tish James were the one who committed real estate fraud to obtain better loan terms?
A word about my source for what you are about to read: Sam E. Antar was one of the biggest fraudsters of the 1980s. In his role as CFO of the ubiquitous Brooklyn, N.Y.-based electronics chain Crazy Eddie, Antar was convicted of multiple federal fraud-based felonies in 1991, although he scored a plea deal that kept him out of prison.
Antar now describes himself as "a former certified public accountant whose career trajectory took a remarkable turn from perpetrator to investigator of financial fraud." According to his website, White Collar Fraud, "Following his criminal conviction, Antar redirected his expertise toward forensic accounting, leveraging his firsthand knowledge of financial fraud to help combat white-collar crime."
Antar has unearthed an interesting document bearing the signature of the heroine of our story, Tish James. It's a Specific Power of Attorney she signed for her relative, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, to be able to complete a real estate purchase on her behalf. The property in question is a modest residence in Norfolk, Va., which the two women purchased jointly. But the potential legal problem for James is a claim she made on the POA she signed on Aug. 17, 2023:
"I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence," swore James. But did she? Since she went on to conduct her infamous fraud suit against Donald Trump two months later, it seems highly unlikely. But if she didn't move to Virginia, that would mean she fraudulently signed the document.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/13/2025 6:04
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Interesting the frequency of (LSD's) accusing others of doing bad things. Only to later find out they are the ones that need to get their own house in legal order.
ONCE AGAIN - The Same Old Question heard a 100x's a week. Will we ever see them brought to trial?
#8
^^^^^
Somewhere in that convoluted story of very wealthy,influential,political heavy-weight clients, and their private appetites and choices, there is a thread that leads back into blackmail and an allied intelligence agency whose name might begin with "M".
[NYPOST] A deranged Texas couple pleaded guilty to forcibly tattooing their two young children while they were restrained, gagged and blindfolded — and then laughing about the abuse when the ink was discovered.
The mother and stepfather, Megan and Gunner Farr, admitted to using a staple to do the tattooing to the 5 and 9 year old, and then frantically trying to remove the markings by scraping and scrubbing the children's skin so hard that ''flesh was removed'' after Child Protective Services was notified, KTRE reported.
''There were visible injuries on the child at the specific location of the tattoo and it appeared that the flesh was removed from the body at the tattoo location,'' interim Zavalla Police Chief Lt. James Denby said when the unhinged couple was arrested on April 24, 2023.
''This happened about the time that CPS got involved in the allegations of the child abuse.''
Police said that Megan, 27, and Gunner, 23, tied the youngster's up with rope, blindfolded them with a rag and covered their mouths with tape before pushing the pointed needle into their skin.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2025
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[NY Post] President Trump suggested the US may boycott the G-20 summit in South Africa over a “Land Confiscation” law and “Genocide” talk in the formerly white-ruled nation.
“How could we be expected to go to South Africa for the very important G20 Meeting when Land Confiscation and Genocide is the primary topic of conversation?” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday night.
“They are taking the land of white Farmers, and then killing them and their families,” the president claimed. “The Media refuses to report on this.”
Trump’s post alluded to South Africa’s Expropriation Act of 2024, a law intended to undo the consequences of the 46-year-long system of apartheid that non-white South Africans were subjected to until 1994.
The law allows the government to seize land in specific instances, ostensibly when it is not being used or it is in the public interest, and redistribute it.
Trump included a compilation of Julius Malema, a radical left-wing South African politician, making disturbing speeches that called for “killing” people in furtherance of a “revolution.”
For the last several years, racial tensions between white farmers and non-white citizens in South Africa have been boiling.
AfriForum, a group that promotes the rights of South Africa’s white minority population, has long expressed concern that the government has underreported murders of white farmers, insisting that the rate is far higher than the general murder rate.
Crime figures in South Africa are not broken down by race. Of the 6,953 people murdered in the country between October and December, the latest figures, only 12 were killed in farm attacks, according to the BBC. It’s unclear how many of those were white.
Trump noted in his post that his administration has already “held back all contributions to South Africa,” referring to his February executive order directing US aid to the country be frozen over the land redistribution law.
The president has also offered “any farmer” fleeing South Africa a “rapid pathway” to US citizenship.
“Is this where we want to be for the G20?” Trump’s post continued. “I don’t think so!”
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The G-20 summit, a meeting of the heads of state from the countries with the 20 largest economies, will be held in Johannesburg from Nov. 22-23. The gathering will be the first G-20 summit ever held on the African continent.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] President Donald Trump is considering offering every resident of Greenland an annual cash payout as part of his campaign to win over the island.
His administration has moved forward on a formal plan to acquire the Arctic island from Denmark, the New York Times reported, outlining the public relations campaign and other incentives the White House is considering.
One of those options is replacing the $600 million in subsidies that Denmark gives the island with an annual payment of about $10,000 per Greenlander.
Denmark insists the island is not for sale and cannot be annexed.
So the Trump administration is focusing on persuasion over coercion and working on a public relations campaign to convince the population of 57,000 that they should ask to join the United States.
That is likely to include advertising and social media campaigns to sway public opinion.
The administration is also looking at emphasizing Greenlanders' shared heritage with the native Inuit people of Alaska, nearly 2,500 miles away. The island's Inuit population is descended from people who migrated from Alaska hundreds of years ago.
And Trump officials believe what ever costs are spent to woo the islanders would be offset from new revenue extracted from Greenland’s natural resources, which include rare earth minerals, copper, gold, uranium and oil.
The president could have an uphill battle. Public opinion polls have been clear that Greenlanders don't want to be part of America. In last month's election, the winning party was one that favored total independence for the island.
[Breitbart] In the latest act of immigration-related lawfare against the Trump administration, a federal judge blocked the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants with temporary protected status (TPS) after it was revoked.
As Breitbart News reported in March, the Trump administration removed the legal status of more than 500,000 migrants who entered the U.S. through a Biden administration parole program, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warning impacted migrants that they will have 30 days to self-deport before law enforcement authorities go searching for them.
“DHS has determined that a 30-day wind-down period provides affected parties sufficient notice while also preserving DHS’s ability to enforce the law promptly against those CHNV parolees lacking a lawful basis to remain in the United States,” the notice reads. “Accordingly, DHS is opting not to increase the wind-down period to more than 30 days.”
Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of the District of Massachusetts ruled Thursday that she would issue a stay on the order, which was set to cancel the TPS for approximately 532,000 migrants on April 24, the Associated Press reported.
“The nub of the problem here is that the secretary, in cutting short the parole period afforded to these individuals, has to have a reasoned decision,” Talwani said, arguing that the justification for ending the parole program was “based on an incorrect reading of the law.”
“There was a deal and now that deal has been undercut,” she added later in the hearing.
While the ruling is “significant,” the AP noted that it could be just a “temporary setback” for the Trump administration as they work to undo former President Joe Biden’s open-border policies.
The judge just stops the administration from enforcing it, not the illegals from choosing to quietly leave.
In a not-so-shocking twist, Talwani also happens to be the judge who ruled in June 2023 that a 12-year-old Massachusetts boy could not wear a shirt stating “THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS” to school, concluding that it infringed on other students’ “rights to be ‘secure and to be let alone’ during the school day.”
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 12.04.2025 to 00:00 13.04.2025.
A total of 30 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of two civilian deaths.
DAMAGED:
Two residential buildings,
Two passenger cars.
A total of 29 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction,
One armed attack in the Yasinovataya direction.
A total of 77 units of various ammunition were fired.
21:19 FPV drone operators of the "Southern" group of forces destroyed Ukrainian RAK-SA-12 MLRS launcher manufactured in Croatia.
20:25 Assault groups advance near Green Field, –MAP.
19:16 In the area of the settlement of Turya in the Sumy region, the Fearless have uncovered the position of the M-777 howitzer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The operator of the GV Sever strike UAV immediatelyinflictedprecise strike on target.
16:23 Advance of the Russian Armed Forces in the landings southwest of Rozovka –MAP
16:22 Pokrovskoe (Krasnoarmeyskoe)direction. Right flank (Mirnogradske)
Not only the Aleksandro-Kalinovskoye direction became active, but also the adjacent right flank of Krasnoarmeyskoye.
North of Novotoretskoye, our units have driven the enemy from their positions beyond the Kazenny Torets River and are fighting for the Ukrainian fortified area in the direction of Malinovka and Mirny.
Fierce fighting continues for Elizavetovka and Tarasovka, as well as in the area of the Malinovskaya junction.
16:09 In the South Donetsk direction, supporting the offensive on Bogatyr, FPV drone operators of the Vostok group destroyed another tank and armored vehicle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
16:08 Kalinovo liberated by Russian army –MAP
15:06 Aleksandro-Kalinovskoye direction
Units of the South Group of Forces continue to eliminate the Kalinovsky salient.
Northeast of Novoaleksandrovka, our units advanced east in the direction of the enemy’s defensive area north of Kalinovo.
The enemy's flank of the Kalinovo-Sukhaya Balka defensive line is collapsing.
14:29 Summary The Russian Ministry of Defense on the progress of repelling the attempted invasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces into the territory of the Russian Federation in the Kursk region as of April 12, 2025
During offensive operations, units of the North group of forces inflicted losses on formations of two mechanized brigades, a tank brigade, three airborne assault brigades, a naval infantry brigade, two territorial defense brigades, and an assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Gornal and Oleshnya.
✈️Strikes by operational-tactical and army aviation and artillery fire damaged enemy manpower and equipment in the areas of the settlements of Belovody, Miropolye, Mogritsa, Sadki, Shalygino, Yunakovka and Yablonovka in the Sumy region.
Over the course of 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 175 servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, an armored personnel carrier, seven vehicles, a 155mm M-777 howitzer, and three mortars were destroyed.
13:46 Summary Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation as of April 12, 2025
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct a special military operation.
💥Units of the North group of forces in the Belgorod direction inflicted defeat on formations of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Malaya Rybitsa, Mikhailovskoye, Miropolskoye, Krasnopolye and Ugroedy in the Sumy region.
📍In the Khar'kov direction, the manpower and equipment of the mechanized and motorized infantry brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were damaged in the areas of the settlements of Kazachya Lopan and Volchansk in the Khar'kov region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 75 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, five vehicles and five field artillery guns.
📍Units of the "West" group of forces improved their position along the front line. They defeated formations of two mechanized, mountain assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Kupyansk, Radkovka, Novaya Kruglyakovka in the Khar'kov region, Novoye, Yampol, Kirovsk in the Donetsk People's Republic and Makeyevka in the Lugansk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 250 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, eight cars and three artillery pieces. Three electronic warfare stations and three ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the "Southern" group of troops improved their tactical position. They defeated the manpower and equipment of two mechanized, mountain assault, artillery brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a territorial defense brigade, a national guard brigade and the special forces brigade "Azov" in the areas of the settlements of Nikiforovka, Tarasovka, Slavyansk, Chasov Yar, Belaya Gora, Verkhnekamenskoye, Konstantinovka and Shcherbinovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost over 310 militants, eight combat armored vehicles, including three US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, 18 cars and four field artillery pieces. An electronic warfare station and two ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Center group of forces took up more advantageous lines and positions. They defeated formations of three mechanized brigades, a brigade of unmanned systems, an assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a marine brigade and a national guard brigade in the areas of the settlements of Zverevo, Kotlino, Krasnoarmeysk, Kotlyarovka, Bogdanovka, Udachnoye and Alekseyevka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 440 servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, including an American M113 armored personnel carrier, five pickup trucks and five field artillery pieces, including 155mm self-propelled artillery units "Paladin" made in the USA and "Caesar" made in France.
Units of the "East" group of forces continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense. They inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of the mechanized, airborne assault, mountain assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the marine brigade in the areas of the settlements of Bogatyr, Poddubnoe, Otradnoe, Shevchenko, Volnoe Pole of the Donetsk People's Republic, Vovchye and Filiya of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 155 servicemen, two combat armored vehicles, four cars and four field artillery pieces, including a US-made 155mm howitzer M-777. A fuel depot was destroyed.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces occupied more advantageous lines and positions. They defeated the formations of the mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Novodanilovka, Pavlovka in the Zaporizhia region, Dneprovskoe and Antonovka in the Kherson region.
✈️Up to 60 servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, five vehicles, an electronic warfare station, two ammunition depots and a military-technical equipment depot were destroyed.
13:06 From 11:30 to 12:10 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the airplane type over the territory of the Kursk region.
12:53 Most of Kalinovo is under Russian control. The enemy has retreated beyond the Kalinovka River –MAP
12:23 Crew of the 152mm 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled artillery unit of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the West group destroyed a stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Svatovsko-Kupyansk direction
12:21 Russian Armed Forces crossed the Kazeny Torets River north of Novotoretskoye –MAP
11:20 Krasnolimanskoe direction
Units of the West Group of Forces continue to develop the offensive in the area of the Ivanovo and Makeyevka bridgeheads and in the Torskoye area.
Fighting continues in the eastern and north-eastern parts of Novy.
Counter battles are underway for a stronghold between Yekaterinovka and Redkodub.
Our units are attacking in the area of Yekaterinovka and in the direction of Novomikhaylovka, east and south of Novoye in the direction of Zelenaya Dolina.
In the Makeyevka area, the group's units are trying to expand the zone of control in the direction of Grekovka (Petrovskoye).
There are fierce counter battles on the outskirts of Kolodez.
In the northern part of Torskoye there are counter battles in the area of the fish farm, and our units are also attacking to the east, in the area of the Bakai ravine.
Our units are not yet consolidated in Torsk itself.
11:06 Our UAV operator caught the rotation of the enemy, destroying the personnel and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The reconnaissance UAV of a serviceman of the 41st Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 44th Army Corps captured enemy armored vehicles. The enemy was attempting to rotate its units in the Khar'kov region.
09:46 During an air patrol of the Khar'kov region, the FPV operator of the 6th Airborne Forces "Sever" tracked movement of Ukrainian military personnel.
08:20 FPV drone operators of the Vostok group destroyed a tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the village of Bogatyr in the DPR.
07:06 During the period from 20:00 Moscow time on April 11 to 06:30 Moscow time on April 12 of this year, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type:
– 18 UAVs – over the territory of the Kursk region,
– 13 UAVs – over the territory of the Rostov region,
– Two UAVs – over the territory of the Oryol region,
– Two UAVs – over the territory of the Belgorod region,
– One UAV – over the territory of the Krasnodar region.
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Belgorod direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces engaged formations of two mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and two territorial defence brigades close to Malaya Rybitsa, Mikhailovskoye, Miropolskoye, Krasnopolye, and Ugroyedy (Sumy region).
In Kharkov direction, Russian troops inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of one mechanised brigade and one motorised infantry brigade of the AFU close to Kazachya Lopan and Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 75 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, five motor vehicles, and five field artillery guns.
The Zapad Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation along the front line. Russian troops hit formations of two mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade of the AFU, and one territorial defence brigade Kupyansk, Radkovka, Novaya Kruglyakovka (Kharkov region), Novoye, Yampol, Kirovsk (Donetsk People's Republic), and Makeyevka (Lugansk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were more than 250 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, eight motor vehicles, and three artillery guns. Three electronic warfare stations and three ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Yug Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation. Russian troops launched attacks on two mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade, one artillery brigade of the AFU, one territorial defence brigade, one National Guard brigade, and the Azov special forces brigade near Nikiforovka, Tarasovka, Slavyansk, Chasov Yar, Belaya Gora, Verkhnekamenskoye, Konstantinovka, and Shcherbinovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were more than 310 troops, eight armoured fighting vehicles, including three U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carriers, 18 motor vehicles, and four field artillery guns. One electronic warfare station and two ammunition depots were neutralised.
The Tsentr Group of Forces' units took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on formations of three mechanised brigades, one UAV brigade, one assault regiment, one naval infantry brigade, and one National Guard brigade near Zverevo, Kotlino, Krasnoarmeysk, Kotlyarovka, Bogdanovka, Udachnoye, and Alekseyevka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 440 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, five pickup trucks, and five field artillery guns, including U.S.-made 155mm Paladin and French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery systems.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. Russian troops hit manpower and hardware of one mechanised brigade, one air assault brigade, one mountain assault brigade of the AFU, one naval infantry brigade near Bogatyr, Poddubnoye, Otradnoye, Shevchenko, Volnoye Pole (Donetsk People's Republic), Volchye, and Filiya (Dnepropetrovsk region).
The AFU losses were more than 155 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, and four field artillery guns, including one U.S.-made 155mm M-777 howitzer. One POL depot was destroyed.
The Dnepr Group of Forces' units took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops hit formations of one mountain assault brigade of the AFU and two territorial defence brigades near Novodanilovka, Pavlovka (Zaporozhye region), Dneprovskoye, and Antonovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were up to 60 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, five motor vehicles, one electronic warfare station, two ammunition depots, and one materiel depot.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged the aviation enterprise of the Ukrainian military industry, the infrastructure of a military airfield and an air harbour of the AFU, workshops for repair of armoured vehicles and assembly of unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition and missile depots as well as temporary deployment areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 153 areas.
Air defence systems shot down six JDAM guided bombs, five HIMARS MLRS projectiles, and 154 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 660 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 51,128 unmanned aerial vehicles, 601 anti-aircraft missile systems, 22,811 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,534 MLRS combat vehicles, 23,518 field artillery guns and mortars, and 34,010 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.
Units of the Sever Group of Forces hit formations of two mechanised brigades, one tank brigade, three air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade of the AFU, and two territorial defence brigades near Gornal and Oleshnya.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and artillery strikes engaged AFU manpower and hardware close to Belovody, Miropolye, Mogritsa, Sadki, Shalygino, Yunakovka, and Yablonovka in Sumy region.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses were over 175 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, one armoured personnel carrier, seven motor vehicles, one 155mm M777 howitzer, and three mortars.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 73,820 troops, 405 tanks, 332 infantry fighting vehicles, 302 armoured personnel carriers, 2,264 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,678 motor vehicles, 602 artillery guns, 53 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and seven of MLRS made by the USA, 26 anti-aircraft missile launchers, one self-propelled anti-aircraft system, ten transport-loading vehicles, 123 EW stations, 18 counter-fire radars, ten air defence radars, 57 units of engineering and other materiel, including 23 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers, one engineering reconnaissance vehicle as well as 15 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The leadership of the Rylsky district of the Kursk region, together with the Bars-Kursk volunteers, is evacuating residents of border settlements due to shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This was reported on the Telegram channel the acting governor of the region, Alexander Khinshtein.
"More vile crimes by the Ukrainian junta. Over the past two days, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have attacked the bridge across the Obesta River in the village of Kozino in the Rylsky district, 2 km from the border with Ukraine, several times. The bridge was partially damaged," Khinshtein wrote.
It is noted that the residents of Kozino had previously left their homes, but some villagers remain in Gorodishche and the Ryaza farm. The acting governor explained that four had already been evacuated.
"Unfortunately, despite all the threats, some residents refuse to leave. We do not have the right to forcibly evict them, so the authorities record people's refusals on video, explaining the danger they are exposing themselves to," Khinshtein added.
In any case, the acting governor of the Kursk region assured, the task of the authorities is to ensure the possibility of leaving and to help everyone. The work on evacuating the population continues, said Alexander Khinshtein.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, air defense units destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones in the skies over five regions of Russia on the night of April 12. Over the Kursk region, 18 Ukrainian drones were detected and shot down.
On April 11, Alexander Khinshtein reported that Ukrainian drones had attacked 16 houses, six cars, and a school in the Kursk region. There were no casualties or serious damage. The acting governor called on residents of the region to observe safety measures and remain vigilant.
[FoxNews] USS Stockdale to join at least 2 other Navy warships deployed to border in March
The Navy recently deployed another warship, which successfully repelled multiple Iranian-backed Houthi attacks, to secure the southern border.
USS Stockdale, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, left Naval Base San Diego on Friday to support U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) southern border operations, in accordance with President Donald Trump's recent executive orders.
The executive orders included a national emergency declaration and clarification of the military’s role in protecting the territorial integrity of the U.S.
"Stockdale’s departure reinforces the Navy’s role in the Department of Defense’s coordinated efforts to comply with the order," according to a statement from the Navy.
The ship will continue operations with an embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment.
In February, Stockdale returned to San Diego after a seven-month independent deployment to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation.
It joined the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and remained in 5th Fleet following the departure of the ABECSG.
While in the 5th Fleet, Stockdale "successfully repelled multiple Iranian-backed Houthi attacks" during transits of the Bab el-Mandeb strait and escorted operations of U.S.-flagged vessels in the Gulf of Aden, according to the Navy.
It also engaged and defeated one-way attack uncrewed aerial-ship cruise missiles, according to officials.
Stockdale will join the USS Spruance and USS Gravely, two other Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, which were sent to the border in March, Fox News Digital previously reported.
"As the DoD’s lead for implementing border-related executive orders, USNORTHCOM continues to support critical Department of Homeland Security capabilities gaps, with Stockdale making a vital contribution to these efforts," the Navy said.
[NYPOST] With every day that passes with progress toward a Ukraine cease-fire stalled, it's ever more obvious that Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... is the obstacle to peace, not Volodymyr Zelensky and not the Ukrainian people
US envoy Steven Witkoff had his third sitdown with Putin on Friday, to no more apparent success — even as 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... pointedly posted, ''Russia has to get moving.''
So how to get Russia — Putin — moving?
For starters, up the recognition — privately and publicly — that Vlad is the problem.
Trump himself has signaled his growing frustration with Putin, especially after Russia tanked negotiations in the first week of April with last-minute demands.
But our president has multiple other issues to focus on, from tariffs to tax cuts to Mideast diplomacy, even as a forceful and official pushback to Putin is needed.
For starters: Why not a barnburner speech from Veep JD Vance?
He’s been one of the loudest doubters about the wisdom of US support for Ukraine, even as he’s rightly warned of the very real authoritarian threat to European values from within Europe, via its own intrusive governments.
So he’d be the perfect vehicle to deliver a message of equal clarity around external versions of those threats — disabusing Putin of any idea that surrendering Ukraine has real support at the highest US levels.
Trump has also rumbled recently about big-time sanctions on Russia if a peace deal fails to materialize; on Friday the administration bruited the same idea if Putin doesn’t cave by month’s end.
What new sanctions? One move would be a push to dramatically cut the Biden-era price cap on Russian crude sales, now set at $60 per barrel, especially since global oil prices have fallen anyway — and to hit trade partners who try and sneak around Russian energy sanctions with their own sanctions.
Then there is the dead-right idea, also part of the administration’s general theory of the case, of getting Europe to take a bigger hand in defending Ukraine.
Every nation that talked big about boosting Ukraine support in the days after the Feb. 28 Zelensky-Trump-Vance blowup should be now delivering that much and more.
Washington can help by avoiding clear snubs like having Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth participate only virtually in a gathering of his European colleagues on the Ukraine situation even as Witkoff went to Moscow.
That kind of half-hearted approach hobbles getting Europe more seriously onside for defense by injecting uncertainty about the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2025
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#1
Its not our issue. Let Europe deal with it.
Spoiler Alert: They won't.
2nd Spoiler Alert: It doesn't matter to the United States.
#3
For example: A former employee of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and a former executive of a green energy nonprofit have been arrested and charged with vandalizing Tesla vehicles in Washington, D.C., according to a report by the Washington Post.
[IsraelTimes] Post-Assad Syria needs a strong country to help it out of the chaos, and Turkey wants in; with America backing Erdogan, there’s little Israel can do beyond insisting on red lines
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... ’s growing involvement in Syria recently reached a flashpoint with Israel, following Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in early April that targeted three Syrian airbases Turkey was reportedly looking to make use of. The incident prompted rare official statements from Ankara regarding its operations in Syria: Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Rooters after the strikes that "Turkey has no interest in fighting any country on Syrian soil."
A week after the conciliatory statement, Fidan revealed in an interview with CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... Turk that Turkey and Israel are holding technical-level talks to avoid "military confrontations" in Syria, as the new leadership seeks to establish itself following the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... Despite growing concern in Israel over Turkey’s entrenchment in Syria, Jerusalem appears to be left with few options to counter it.
"Ultimately, when it comes to Syria, Turkey simply cares more about it than Israel does, and invests accordingly. Israel’s interest in Syria is purely security-oriented," Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), told The Times of Israel. "That gives Ankara the upper hand."
She added that US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... ’s backing for Ottoman Turkish leader His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... further limits Israel’s maneuverability.
"President Trump made it clear in the last meeting with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in Washington that while he’s willing to help Israel with Turkey, Israel must make ’reasonable demands,'" Lindenstrauss said.
"He’s pushing Israel to adopt a minimalist approach in Syria. To prioritize, Israel will have to insist only on its most critical red lines, like preventing Iranian arms transfers to Hezbollah through southern Syria."
A HISTORY OF SUPPORT FOR REBELS
Ankara’s ties with Syria’s new leadership date back several years.
"Turkey was a friend to Syria and supported it from the start of the revolution — Syria will not forget this," the country’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa said on December 22, 2024, during a joint presser with Turkey’s foreign minister at the presidential palace in Damascus.
Before declaring himself president, Sharaa led the jihadist rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... , formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... — an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. Sharaa cut ties with al-Qaeda several years ago and has sought to portray himself as a moderate since taking power, though Israel has expressed serious doubts.
While Turkey officially designates HTS and al-Qaeda as terrorist organizations, following US policy, and has never maintained formal diplomatic or economic ties with them, it has long been thought to offer varying degrees of support to Syrian rebel factions since the early days of the civil war in 2011.
President Erdogan turned on his closest domestic supporters, the Gulenists, because one of them reported seeing his son supervising the smuggling of funds and supplies across the border to ISIS in Syria at his behest, as I recall. It was a great scandal at the time.
"Turkey supported the full spectrum of Syrian rebel groups shortly after the civil war began, once it gave up hope for reform under the Assad regime," said Lindenstrauss.
That was when President Erdogan turned on his former BFF Bashir Assad….
"Anyone who fought against Assad received some level of Ottoman Turkish backing — logistically, medically, and in some cases, militarily.
"While Jabhat al-Nusra wasn’t the main beneficiary, Turkey did have closer ties with other rebel factions," she said. Such support was primarily coordinated by Ottoman Turkish intelligence, led at the time by Fidan — now Turkey’s foreign minister.
"In [Fidan’s] recent December meeting with Sharaa, you could see that these people have known each other for years," Lindenstraus said.
Turkey’s backing became very public following the swift success of the coup that ousted Assad. Turkey was the second country visited by Sharaa in his new role, following a trip to 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... . According to a study by the Washington Post Institute, during the early months of the new government in Syria, Turkey led the pack in diplomatic engagement, holding 93 meetings, including official, business and humanitarian contacts. The second most active country, Saudi Arabia, had only 34.
Turkey’s interest in Syria has been clear since the outbreak of the civil war: to ensure a stable, friendly regime on its eastern border, one that could even potentially support Ankara’s security interests.
"Turkey has vast ambitions regarding Syria," Lindenstrauss said. "It wants to block jihadist and Kurdish terrorism originating from Syrian territory. It even envisions Syria as a strategic outpost. On the economic front, Turkey doesn’t want to bear the cost of Syria’s reconstruction,
…given that Turkey has been flirting with bankruptcy for decades. they can’t afford to …
but it does want Ottoman Turkish companies to rebuild the country and reap the rewards.
"And then there’s the refugee issue: Syria hosted millions of refugees during the war, which has become a burning issue in Ottoman Turkish domestic politics. A stable Syria is key to Ankara’s goal of returning those refugees."
SYRIA SEEKS SUPPORT AMID ECONOMIC RUIN
As Syria emerges from over a decade of devastating civil war, its new leader finds himself ruling a nation that is exhausted, economically and socially. Sharaa rose to power quickly following the fall of Assad, but he now leads a country that is desperate for external support to maintain stability and rebuild.
One of Sharaa’s most consequential moves so far has been a public decision to end Syria’s primary source of income under Assad — the production and export of the drug Captagon — citing religious and moral reasons, as Islam prohibits narcotics.
Did ISIS know that? They lived on the stuff…
According to a 2023 study by the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, a Canada-based research institute run by Syrian expats, the Captagon trade had in recent years generated up to $10 billion annually for the previous regime.
Now, with that revenue gone, Sharaa is seeking financial backers and strategic allies to keep the economy afloat and maintain military control, especially given Syria’s complex sectarian landscape, and the fact that his ascension to power did not come through democratic means.
Israel, however, remains concerned about the military aspect of Turkey’s deepening involvement.
Just a week after Assad’s ouster, on December 15, Turkey’s defense minister stated that Ankara was ready to provide military assistance to Syria’s new government if requested. During a visit to Turkey on February 4, Sharaa declared, "Syria and Turkey share a long history. Today, we announce that these ties are becoming a strategic partnership across all areas." On the same day, Rooters reported that the partnership would include a defense alliance, Ottoman Turkish-led training for the new Syrian army, and even Ottoman Turkish airbases on Syrian soil.
Despite these developments, there has yet to be visual confirmation of Ottoman Turkish troops inside Syria, unlike the Russian presence under Assad, which was well-documented and which currently endures, at a reduced scale, at Hmeimim Air Base.
Lindenstrauss noted that the full details of the Turkey-Syria agreement have not yet been released. "The fact that there’s talk of a security pact between Syria and Turkey, but no official publication of its terms, indicates sensitivity on both sides," she said.
AN ALLIANCE WITH CHALLENGES
Syria’s growing partnership with Turkey is proving to be a complicated balancing act domestically. A significant point of contention lies in eastern Syria, where Kurdish-led forces known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have controlled approximately 40% of the country’s territory in recent years. On March 10, Sharaa signed a landmark agreement with the SDF’s leadership to integrate their autonomous administration into Syria’s new government structures and military.
The move represents a significant shift but will likely stir friction with Ankara. Turkey fundamentally opposes any form of Kurdish autonomy in Syria due to fears it could embolden its Kurdish population and lead to internal unrest.
"Turkey wants ’good Kurds’ — those willing to cooperate," explained Lindenstrauss. "But the SDF maintains ties with the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey, which has long called for independence for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. That makes the arrangement problematic for Ankara.
"Even now, after the agreement was signed, it remains unclear whether the SDF will disband or continue operating with some level of autonomy. They’re a large, well-armed militia controlling significant territory. It’s not clear why they would give that up voluntarily."
Beyond the Kurdish question, Syria’s tilt toward Turkey has sparked anxiety among other minority communities. Some fear a resurgence of political Islam in the country, which now dominates in Turkey, and possible persecution of non-Sunni groups.
An Alawite citizen in Syria, a member of a sect that split from mainstream Islam and who requested anonymity due to concerns for his safety, told The Times of Israel: "This relationship with Turkey isn’t good. If Syria stays under Ottoman Turkish influence, it will lead to the spread of political Islam.
"I believe Erdogan has a vision to restore the Ottoman Empire and dominate the Middle East," he said.
Indeed.
"A closer relationship with Saudi Arabia, a more moderate Sunni Arab power, would be a better path for Syria."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/13/2025
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#1
Arabs, and Turks, and the degenerates of Western Europe will have to get used to Israel that no longer can be fooled with promises of Peace TM.
[AmMilitaryNews] New Intel CEO linked to Chinese military after investments exposed: Report
A new report claims that Intel’s new CEO has invested in hundreds of Chinese technology firms, including at least eight companies linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army.
According to Reuters, Lip-Bu Tan
…he was born Malaysian Chinese, educated in Singapore and then America. His entire career has been with American tech and investment/venture capital companies, through which he was involved with Asian companies; among his board memberships, he was on Intel’s board of directors from 2022 to 2024, so if he intended damage he could have started long since…
was appointed last month as the new CEO of Intel, the largest computer chip maker in the United States and a company that develops products for the U.S. Department of Defense.
A review of U.S. and Chinese corporate filings conducted by Reuters discovered that Tan controls over 50 Chinese companies and funds and has minority stakes in more than 600 others through various investment firms. Reuters noted that Tan shares his minority stake ownership of many companies with Chinese government entities.
Reuters reported that between March of 2012 and December of 2024, Tan invested at least $200 million into hundreds of Chinese chip and manufacturing companies. Reuter’s review noted that some of the companies Tan invested in included contractors and suppliers for China’s People’s Liberation Army.
According to Reuters, the outlet discovered 20 investment companies and funds that are jointly owned by Walden International and Chinese government entities. Reuters reported that Tan made multiple investments through Walden International, which is listed as a venture capital firm.
Reuters’ review also discovered that Walden International has investments in six Chinese tech firms connected to China Electronics Corporation, which is a supplier for the People’s Liberation Army, and that Tan invested in Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, which is currently sanctioned by the federal government due to its connections with the Chinese military.
According to Reuters, while an anonymous source with knowledge of the situation told the outlet that the new Intel CEO had divested from his positions in Chinese companies, a review of Chinese databases still listed multiple of Tan’s investments in Chinese firms as current.
Due to Tan’s reported connections with China, Andrew King, a partner at Bastille Ventures, told Reuters, “The simple fact is that Mr. Tan is unqualified to serve as the head of any company competing against China, let alone one with actual intelligence and national security ramifications like Intel and its tremendous legacy connections to all areas of America’s intelligence and the defense ecosystem.”
Despite concerns regarding Tan’s connections with Chinese companies, an Intel spokesperson told Reuters that the CEO had completed a director and officers questionnaire that requires individuals to notify the company of any potential conflicts of interest. The spokesperson said, “We handle any potential conflicts appropriately and provide disclosures as required by SEC rules.”
[NYPOST] Kamala Harris So Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong is trying to figure out her next chapter — and it might start with a think tank.
The former vice president, who lost to President Trump last fall, is weighing whether to launch an ''institute for policy and ideas,'' with longtime adviser Brian Nelson quietly reaching out to universities — including Stanford and Howard — about hosting the venture, according to multiple reports.
Harris, 60, ''jokes to friends that she is unemployed for the first time,'' the New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported. But time is ticking. Aside from public service pensions, former vice presidents don't receive the same post-office funding as ex-presidents, and Harris may soon need to line up new income sources—especially after burning through campaign cash during her failed 2024 run.
The idea of starting a policy institute — a common move for former politicians — has raised eyebrows even within her own camp. Allies warn that fundraising for such a center could expose her to political headaches down the line, especially if she chooses to run for Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, governor in 2026 or take another shot at the White House in 2028. Harris has told people she sees those two paths as mutually exclusive — and must decide soon.
While she's stayed largely out of the spotlight since November, she's made a few public remarks — including a speech earlier this month warning against ''capitulating'' to Trump's use of executive power. She also addressed Democratic activists in Wisconsin by Zoom ahead of that state's Supreme Court election, but local operatives declined her offer to visit in person, fearing it could become a distraction.
[NYPOST] Smartphones, computers and other electronics will be exempt from President Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs, the administration announced.
In a break for consumers, the United States will not collect the new duties on about 20 products listed in guidance issued by Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency tasked with collecting tariff revenues.
This list, published late Friday night, also includes routers and semiconductor chips. Since we no longer produce such things locally and we rely on them so heavily. Expect to see production re-start here too, and in the meantime reliance switch to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and other "ASEAN Tigers."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2025
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...A huge number of toy and hobby items also come out of China - for instance, I build plastic models and several major manufacturers (Trumpeter, Hobby Boss, ModelCollect, VeryFire)come out of there. Their stuff is expensive to begin with and this is going to put a serious crimp in things.
As it turns out, there's not much coming out of there now that I really want, and I get almost everything from IPMS shows anyways. On the other hand, there's only one major manufacturer left here in the states (Atlantis Models) and they specialize in repops of older kits. Will be interesting to see if somebody picks up the opportunity.
#2
It will take a while for old factories to restart. China will leverage Belt and road to cross dock their products. Investors will will be making bets on how long the China tariffs will be in place.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/13/2025 10:19
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#3
Unfortunately I only play regular chess, not 5D.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/13/2025 10:45
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.A huge number of toy and hobby items also come out of China
I have great regard for Tamiya Models, though they seem to stick mainly to aviation with some navy, Philippines product. Now, how they get their ingredients, I don't know.
[IsraelTimes] Syria’s finance minister, foreign minister and central bank chief are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC this month, four sources familiar with the plans say. "Give us money"
It will be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades and the first high-level visit by Syria’s new authorities to the US since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.
Two of the sources tell Reuters it is unclear whether Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh and Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh have yet received visas to the United States.
Spokespeople for the IMF, World Bank, Syrian foreign ministry, and Syrian presidency do not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The other two sources say a high-level meeting focused on reconstruction efforts for Syria could be held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings.
#1
The other two sources say a high-level meeting focused on reconstruction efforts for Syria could be held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings.
Its always a good idea to pour more money into a losing bet.
[FoxNews] A suspected member of the radical "Zizian" cult was forcibly removed from a California courtroom after claiming an officer said she should be killed for being transgender.
Alexander "Somni" Leatham, a 29-year-old trans woman
…who is distinctly unattractive from the perspective of whichever sex he’s claiming at the moment, poor thing, but crazy eyes are gender-free…
from Agoura Hills, California, was one of five alleged members of the group of radical vegans, many of whom identified as trans, who were in Solano Superior Court Tuesday.
Leatham alleged that an officer told her she "deserved to be shot for being transgender while he had a gun, and I was in chains," according to SFGate. Leatham, and others in the group, face charges in connection with a string of killings across the country that culminated in the January killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent along the northern border.
[NYPOST] A woman was killed early Saturday after allegedly pointing a handgun at state troopers who were responding to a reported domestic dispute, police said. She's dead now. So [snif!] sad!
The incident unfolded around 2:30 a.m. as state troopers arrived at a home on Forrest Drive in the Orange County town of Deerpark, in upstate New York near the Pennsylvania border. Me and m'wife and her old pap,
We all took a trip through the Cumberland Gap..."
Officers found a man on the front porch who told them a woman inside the home had a knife and a gun, and had stabbed him in the stomach. "She stabbed you?"
"Yeah. Wanna see?"
"Ew! Guts!"
When the woman, 69, emerged minutes later, she appeared to point a black handgun at cops — and two of them opened fire, state police said. It appeared the police shot back.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis and later died. She appears to be dead.
The man's non-life-threatening injuries were treated at the scene, authorities said. "Help him... uhhh... stuff his guts back in, Murphy!"
"Ew! Do I hafta, chief?"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2025
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The state of New York charges the officers in 3...2...1.
[NYPOST] New York's Parole Board is a patronage mill stuffed with leftist ideologues and political has-beens who each rake in an astounding $190,000 yearly — including at least one member who married a cold-blooded killer.
A Post examination of the 16 members — whose salaries have skyrocketed 87% since 2019, even as they freed 43 cop killers in the past eight years — is almost as disturbing as their pro-criminal decisions.
Heading the list is Tana Agostini.
She used her clout as a staffer of the state Assembly committee overseeing prisons in 2013 to engineer the parole of Thomas O'Sullivan — whose three-decade prison stint for the hired 1982 murder of a Queens drug pusher included an escape and biting off part of an inmate's nose.
Agostini fell in love with and married O'Sullivan while he was in prison and successfully pressed the Parole Board to free her husband.
In 2017, then-Gov. Andrew Sonny Cuomo tapped Agostini to serve on the board.
She’s among 11 Democratic cronies the NYC mayoral frontrunner appointed or re-appointed to the panel.
All are still serving as holdovers — some under terms that expired more than five years ago.
The current board is also filled with former lefty state legislators, Legal Aid Society lawyers, public defenders and other longtime prisoner-rights advocates.
A handful of ex-parole and probation officers and former prosecutors round out the group.
Cuomo “stacked the parole board with his leftist friends who have no appreciation for the sacrifice our police make, and it is just horrific and inexcusable that his board has released 43 convicted cop killers,” former Gov. George Pataki told The Post.
The Republican called Cuomo’s appointees another example of his “abject failure as governor to understand the impact of violent crime,” which also includes Cuomo signing controversial bail reform into law in 2019 widely blamed for New York’s rising recidivism rates.
“It’s hard for me to believe that anyone who cares about public safety or protecting the police who risk their lives for our safety could have allowed this to happen — but Andrew Cuomo certainly did,” Pataki said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2025
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This is another iteration of "Water is wet". Its New York. Of course its corrupt. The people who live there keep voting for this.
32 steps from now, Trump or Vance should decree that no Federal funding will be provided to states that don't meet certain "truth in funding" standards.
Saturday evening was the first night of Passover, when all good Jews stay up late eating unleavened bread, drinking wine, and discussing the exodus from Egypt. But apparently the IDF had other ideas about how to celebrate…
[LI] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday encircled Rafah, cordoning off the southern Gaza terrorist stronghold from the rest of the Strip, Israeli media reports say.
"The Israeli military said on Saturday it established effective full control over the southern Gaza city of Rafah following its completion of the Morag route, separating Rafah from Khan Younis," Israel’s i24NEWS reported.
The IDF is now in control of the Morag Corridor that separates Rafah from Khan Younis, and the strategic Philadelphi Corridor, the Hamas’ main weapons smuggling route from Egypt.
🚨 BREAKING: Rafah is sealed. The IDF just split Gaza in two. ⚡️Surprise assault: Golani from the east, 188th Brigade from the west. 🟪 Morag Axis secured. 🔵 Philadelphi choked. Hamas is now trapped—between sea, steel, and no escap. SHALOM HAMAS. pic.twitter.com/OfTfFKt0Q2
A rocket was launched from 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... at southern Israel on Saturday evening, Passover Eve, triggering sirens in several open areas near southern border towns.
The military said it successfully intercepted the rocket.
Following the launch, the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson called on residents of six neighborhoods in central Gaza’s Nuseirat area, from which the rocket was fired, to evacuate, saying strikes were incoming.
The practice has become standard throughout the war.
"This is a final advance warning before the attack!" Col. Avichay Adraee’s post said. "We will attack with great force every area from which rockets are launched... For your safety, you must move immediately south to the known shelters in Al Mawasi."
Earlier on Saturday, three rockets launched from Gaza at the border community of Nir Yitzhak were intercepted by air defenses. The rocket fire set off alerts in open areas but not in any towns. No one was hurt.
In response to the rocket fire, the IDF issued an evacuation order for the Khan Younis area.
Also on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had completed the seizure of the Morag Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip, cutting off the city of Rafah from Khan Younis.
The military said Rafah was now surrounded by its forces, with the 36th Division holding the Morag Corridor and the Gaza Division operating in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border area.
Defense Minister Israel Katz called on Paleostinians to "remove Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... and release all the hostages" before the military further expands its operations in the Strip.
"This is the final moment to remove Hamas and release the hostages and bring about an end to the war," Katz said. "Intensive IDF activity will soon expand to additional places in most of Gaza, and you will have to evacuate the combat zones."
Israeli strikes reported in central Gaza; hospital building said hit after warning to leave
[IsraelTimes] Palestinians in Gaza reported multiple IDF strikes in the enclave’s center overnight. Medics said two Israeli missiles hit a building inside a hospital, destroying the emergency and reception department and damaging other structures. The Command-and-Control Center Cafeteria was destroyed. It was a humanitarian outrage!
Health officials at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital evacuated the patients from the building after one person said he received a call from someone who identified himself with the Israeli security forces shortly before the attack took place.
”Knock, knock”
“Who’s there?”
“Avon calling. Can we interest you in our latest lipstick shade?
….Just kidding — it’s the IDF. You need to get everyone out of the building NOW!!!”
No casualties were reported, according to the civil emergency service.
Israel has made no comment on the strike as of yet.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/13/2025
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[NYPOST] He had a need for speed — and now, he needs a good lawyer.
Connecticut cops arrested a 22-year-old influencer this week for a risky and reckless motorcycle ride — at 192 mph — he took last year across two of the Nutmeg State's busiest highways.
Showboating YouTuber Brice Bennett would likely have gotten away with his death-defying joyride, had he not shared the frightening footage with his 220,000 subscribers, according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Post.
State police said they were tipped to the video's existence by Gov. Ned Lamont's office, which received an anonymous complaint about Bennett's YouTube channel in late December.
Bennett's self-incriminating video allegedly shows him weaving in and out of traffic on his Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade at speeds of up to 192 mph.
The video has been viewed over 4 million times since it was first posted to YouTube 11 months ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2025
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It's a shame evolution couldn't just take it's course.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/13/2025 10:38
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Point of order - Moe and Shemp were pretty sharp cookies who invested wisely, and Curly was a little loose with his money, but even after he became ill he had enough funds to keep his family secure.
[HodhodYemenNews] The United States has moved its war on Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... from the battlefield to social media, attempting to compensate for its military failures.
The Trump administration has pressured X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk—a key ally of criminal Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... —to suspend the accounts of several officials and military leaders from Sana’a’s government. This crackdown comes in response to their firm stance against Israeli massacres 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...
YEMENI MILITARY SPOKESMAN’S ACCOUNT SUSPENDED
According to media sources, among the targeted accounts was the official X account of Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e, the front man for the Yemeni Armed Forces. The platform abruptly shut down his profile, falsely claiming it violated its policies.
However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... Brig. Gen. Sare’e’s backup account remains active at:http:// https://x.com/army21yemen
The United States, a nation that loudly proclaims itself the global defender of "freedom of speech," has once again exposed its blatant hypocrisy—this time by strong-arming social media platforms to silence Yemeni voices that dare to challenge its oppressive policies.
The US launched an air campaign against Yemen, beginning on March 15, 2025, following Yemen’s decision to resume retaliatory attacks on Israel in response to Israel’s intensified operations in Gaza. Since the initiation of the Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s, US forces have targeted civilian infrastructure throughout Yemen, including communication networks, power plants, and water reservoirs, on an almost daily basis.
Washington justifies its airstrikes by claiming they are aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the waters around Yemen. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... Yemen has rejected these claims, stating that its military operations are specifically directed against Israeli-linked vessels and not international shipping.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a 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 
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...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....
...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 
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan...
...every time you hear the phrase 
[NYPost]
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
[NYPOST] A deranged Texas couple pleaded guilty to forcibly tattooing their two young children while they were restrained, gagged and blindfolded — and then laughing about the abuse when the ink was discovered.
[Breitbart] In the latest act of immigration-related lawfare against the Trump administration, a federal 
...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...
...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...
[NYPOST] Smartphones, computers and other electronics will be exempt from President Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs, the administration announced.
A suspected member of the radical "
...
