Hi there, !
Today Fri 01/03/2025 Thu 01/02/2025 Wed 01/01/2025 Tue 12/31/2024 Mon 12/30/2024 Sun 12/29/2024 Sat 12/28/2024 Archives
Rantburg
558515 articles and 1926332 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 57 articles and 106 comments as of 9:02.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News    Politix    Main Page
UN agency says 2 killed as Gaza aid convoy looted; Hamas claims organization ‘fully responsible’
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
2 23:41 Skidmark [11168] 
2024-12-31 01:51 0 [11153]
2024-12-31 01:48 0 [11188] 
2024-12-31 01:48 0 [11168] 
2024-12-31 01:39 0 [11153]
2024-12-31 01:39 0 [11152] 
2024-12-31 01:25 1 12:50 Crusader [11160]
2024-12-31 01:25 0 [11146]
2024-12-31 01:25 3 16:31 Super Hose [11179] 
2024-12-31 01:25 0 [11155] 
12:20 0 [11162] 
11:25 0 [11161]
01:35 1 11:41 Super Hose [11155]
01:32 1 11:43 Super Hose [11154]
01:07 8 14:06 Regular joe [11170]
00:00 2 22:45 Elmaper+McGurque1612 [11167]
00:00 3 13:04 badanov [11147]
00:00 6 12:15 Super Hose [11142]
00:00 3 21:38 Crusader [11158]
00:00 5 12:50 Skidmark [11158]
00:00 2 12:33 trailing wife [11151]
00:00 0 [11156]
00:00 2 14:36 NoMoreBS [11160]
00:00 0 [11166] 
00:00 1 12:43 Crusader [11153]
00:00 2 02:02 Grom the Reflective [11167] 
00:00 4 22:43 Elmaper+McGurque1612 [11156]
00:00 0 [11147]
00:00 0 [11158] 
00:00 0 [11160] 
00:00 2 07:12 Deadeye Elmotch3393 [11161] 
00:00 0 [11178]
00:00 1 08:10 Frank G [11147]
00:00 0 [11160]
00:00 6 11:25 Grom the Reflective [11160]
00:00 0 [11159]
00:00 0 [11145]
00:00 3 16:28 Skidmark [11155]
00:00 0 [11148]
00:00 0 [11162]
00:00 1 10:37 Fat Bob Elmuter5510 [11150]
00:00 0 [11159]
00:00 8 19:00 Frank G [11160]
00:00 1 03:44 Randy Wranglebert% [11146]
00:00 0 [11143]
00:00 2 14:34 trailing wife [11160]
00:00 4 13:56 Regular joe [11160]
00:00 1 13:22 Skidmark [11142]
00:00 4 10:34 Crusader [11148]
00:00 0 [11155] 
00:00 6 12:35 DarthVader [11153]
00:00 3 12:37 alanc [11142]
00:00 6 22:49 Elmaper+McGurque1612 [11159]
00:00 7 18:02 Super Hose [11162]
00:00 1 04:11 NN2N1 [11151]
00:00 0 [11141]
00:00 5 13:33 swksvolFF [11165] 
Good Morning



Democrat-Run Chicago: Nearly 2,800 Shooting Victims in 2024
Tuesday 12/31/2024

HazelBrooks_01
Arabia
US launches multiple strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen
Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Netanyahu goes against doctor's orders,
appears in Israeli parliament after surgery
--Tech & Moderator Notes
New Zealand%u2019s Auckland is the first
major city to welcome 2025 with fireworks and light show
Iraq
Iraq again repatriates nearly 100 nationals from Syria
Iraq
Iraq pays salaries to over
2,000 Yazidi ISIS survivors: Official
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
SDF claims Turkey building two military bases near Manbij
Jan. 6 fugitive from 'justice'
applies for political asylum in Canada

Posted by: Fred || 12/31/2024 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11168 views] Top|| File under:

#1  East Coast DRONES??

“The document, codenamed DEFUSE, was submitted by Fauci’s EcoHealth Alliance to DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and outlined plans for the deployment of aerosolized immune modulators, chimeric spike proteins, and self-spreading vaccines—over large human populations via drones.”

https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/leaked-docs-expose-faucis-plan-to-spray-self-spreading-vaccines-on-population-centers-by-drone/
Posted by: Old Salty || 12/31/2024 20:06 Comments || Top||



Iraq
Iraq again repatriates nearly 100 nationals from Syria
[Rudaw] Iraqi government on Sunday returned another batch of nearly 100 nationals, who had fled to Syria due to the Islamic State (ISIS) war, through Turkey, announced the migration ministry.

"The Ministry has received a new group of voluntarily returning Iraqis, totaling 96 citizens. These individuals returned from areas including Tal Abyad [Gire Spi], Ras al-Ain [Sare Kani], Idlib, and Azaz on the Syrian-Turkish border to their homeland," said the ministry in a statement.

The individuals were returned through Ibrahim Khalil border crossing, which connects Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province to Turkey’s Sirnak province.

Iraq repatriated 126 nationals from the same places and through the same border crossing on Thursday.

It is not clear why Baghdad chose to return them through Turkey rather than its al-Qaim border crossing with Syria - which has been closed to movement since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8. It was reopened a few times for the passage of humanitarian aid and return of Syrian soldiers who had fled war.

"This is the final group of returning Iraqis from Syria this year, through Turkish territory via the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing," the Iraqi ministry’s statement cited Safaa Hussein Ahmed, a director at the ministry, as saying.

Following the collapse of Assad’s regime, the ministry asked Iraqi citizens residing in Syria who wish to return, to contact the embassy and register their names.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11153 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Iraq pays salaries to over 2,000 Yazidi ISIS survivors: Official
[Rudaw] Over 2,000 Yazidi women who survived the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) genocide a decade ago are receiving salaries from the Iraqi government under the Yazidi Survivors Law, enacted over three years ago, a federal official said on Sunday.

"So far, 2,228 Yazidi girls and women receive salaries," Sarab Ilias, head of the Yazidis affairs office at the Iraqi ministry of labor and social affairs, told Rudaw.

"Now we have only about 30 pending applications from Yazidi women," he added, noting that each survivor receives a monthly salary of 800,000 Iraqi dinar ($615).

The Yazidi Survivors Law, passed in March 2021, seeks compensation for Yazidi survivors of the ISIS atrocities against them when the group attacked the Yazidi heartland of Shingal (Sinjar) in 2014. It kidnapped thousands of people and some two thousand remain missing.

Though the jihadists no longer control any territory, they continue to pose a security risk by carrying out kidnappings, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings.

Thousands of Yazidis who fled Shingal to the Kurdistan Region have chosen not to return due to security concerns and lack of basic services at home.

Each returning family is given four million Iraqi dinars (about $3,050) along with some basic household items including a fridge, stove, and television.

Ali Abbas, spokesperson for Iraq's migration ministry, said in November that around 10,000 Yazidis had returned to Shingal this year.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:48 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11168 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
SDF claims Turkey building two military bases near Manbij
[Rudaw] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday said they destroyed several Ottoman Turkish military vehicles and radar systems in one of two allegedly under-construction bases near the northern Syrian city of Manbij.

"The Ottoman Turkish occupation has continued to exploit the prevailing conditions in Syria. This includes the establishment of new occupation bases within Syrian territory, notably two new bases in Manbij and west of the Euphrates River," the SDF said in a statement.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
has not confirmed the existence of the bases.

In the statement, the Kurdish-led force also said they carried out an operation that "resulted in the destruction of two portable radar systems, a radar-jamming system, and an armored vehicle" belonging to Ankara near Qere Qozaq bridge, south of the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane.

The conflict in northern Syria intensified late last month when Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) gunnies launched an operation against Kurdish forces, taking control of the northwestern Shahba region and Manbij in succession. The SDF launched a counterattack last week, claiming to have regained control of several villages near Manbij.

The SNA has sent scores of troops to strike the crucial Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River and seize it from Kurdish forces. They are also threatening Kobane, where Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) with US backing famously repelled a brutal Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) offensive in January 2015.

But Ankara considers these Kurdish fighters as terrorists. It accuses the YPG of being the Syrian front for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a 40-year-long conflict with the Ottoman Turkish state.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor, reported that 11 people were killed on Monday in festivities between the SDF and SNA as the Kurdish-led force infiltrated the outer neighborhoods of Manbij city.

On Monday, Turkey claimed it killed two YPG fighters in an Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
in northern Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:48 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11188 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Iraq
Over 600 terrorism suspects, three tons of narcotics seized in 2024: Asayish
[Rudaw] Kurdish security forces in Sulaimani (Asayish) revealed their yearly figures for 2024 and said they have arrested over 600 terrorism suspects and seized over three tons of narcotics.

"One of the main duties of Kurdistan Region’s Asayish is counter-terrorism. This year 257 operations were conducted for arresting terrorists," Salam Abdulkhaliq, head of the Sulaimani Asayish media team, said in a presser. The operations resulted in the arrest of 636 terrorism suspects.

There were 126 joint operations between Asayish and the Iraqi forces, Abdulkhaliq noted.

Kurdish security forces intensified their anti-terror operations almost a decade ago when the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) seized control of swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014. To combat the group, Iraq requested assistance from the US and international allies, three years after Washington withdrew its troops from the country.

The US-led global coalition provided both the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga with air and ground support, as well as training and equipment, as they fought to retake the country from the hard boys, ultimately declaring the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2017.

Iraqi officials have said that the threat from the terror group is now contained, though it continues to carry out regular operations against suspected ISIS bully boys.

"Regarding the threat of narcotics which is not less than the threat of terrorism," Abdulkhaliq noted that 1,019 suspects were arrested for using and selling illicit substances, and over three tons of drugs - approximately half of all Iraq’s drug confiscations in 2024 - were seized.

On Saturday, Iraq’s counter-narcotics directorate announced that security forces seized over six tons of drugs and arrested more than 14,000 suspects on drug-related charges in 2024.

Drug trafficking and use have risen in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The Kurdistan Region has increased efforts in combating narcotics.

In October 2023, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that the region is intensifying its efforts to combat the threat of drugs, calling on Kurdish and international communities to cooperate with Erbil to eliminate what he described as an "endemic" problem.

The Kurdistan Region and Iraq, especially along their borders with Iran, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
, and Syria, are also major transit routes for illicit drugs into Europe.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11152 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq to repatriate over 500 from Syria camp: MP
[Rudaw] Iraqi authorities are preparing to repatriate over 500 nationals from the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) housing people with links to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) in the coming days, an Iraqi politician said on Monday.

"Over 500 people will be returned. It is the 18th batch. They will arrive at the al-Jada [rehabilitation] camp in southern djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
in the coming days," a member of Iraq’s parliamentary committee for migration affairs told Rudaw English on the condition of anonymity.

According to the politician, 10,142 people - or 2,640 families - have been repatriated from al-Hol so far, while 2,350 families - consisting of 8,710 individuals - have left al-Jada in Mosul and returned to their homes in Sunni-majority provinces like Nineveh and Salahaddin which fell to ISIS in 2014.

Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) office for internally displaced persons and refugees, told Rudaw English on Monday that the Iraqi families have left al-Hol camp and are being prepared to be returned in the coming days.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the new round of repatriation late Sunday.

Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at the camp in Hasaka province since the military defeat of ISIS in 2019. The camp has been described as a humanitarian disaster and a breeding ground for terrorism by security experts.

Iraq repatriated over 700 nationals from the camp in October.

Iraqi main border crossing with Syria, al-Qaim, has been closed since the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
’s regime on December 8. It was temporary opened for humanitarian purposes and to allow Syrian soldiers who had sought asylum in Iraq to return to Syria.

Iraq has also returned over 200 nationals from several Ankara-held areas in northern Syria in recent days through the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing, which connects the Kurdistan Region to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11153 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkey-SDF ceasefire in northern Syria ‘holding’: Pentagon
[Rudaw] The Pentagon emphasized on Monday that the ceasefire the US recently brokered between its NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
ally The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and Kurdish partners in northern Syria is "still holding" despite reported festivities in the region.

"There is a ceasefire that is still holding in the northern part of Syria. And we're going to continue to monitor that," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told news hounds.

Earlier this month, the United States brokered a ceasefire between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey, though Ankara denied agreeing to the arrangement.
Oh?
There have been reports of continued festivities between the SDF and the Ankara-based Syrian National Army (SNA) which has recently launched expanded attacks on the SDF, particularly near the strategic Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River.

On Thursday, SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said that they had killed more than 450 SNA snuffies in the last three weeks while repelling their attacks.

Hours after Singh’s remarks, the SDF said in a statement that Turkey-backed "mercenaries" shelled their forces in southeast Manbij with "heavy artillery."

There is also fear of a Ottoman Turkish offensive in Kobane city, which is known as the symbol of Kurdish resistance against ISIS.

Convoys of US troops have been spotted in Kobane in recent days. But this has not stopped SNA attacks there.

"I'm not tracking any increase in US personnel outside of what we already have in Syria," Singh added.

Earlier this month, Pentagon front man Major General Pat Ryder acknowledged that nearly 2,000 United States troops are currently stationed in Syria, more than double earlier official numbers. He attributed the discrepancy "to temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet shifting mission requirements" while maintaining that there is a "core 900 deployers" on longer-term deployments.

Singh reiterated that the US’s mission in Syria is "to ensure the defeat of ISIS."

The US has carried out frequent strikes against ISIS to prevent the group from exploiting a security vacuum after the fall of the regime.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11155 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa greenlights elections for forming government in Syria
The man is smooth.
[KhaamaPress] Ahmad al-Shara, the leader of the ruling group in Syria, has expressed a different view from other Death Eater factions that are skeptical about elections and forming a government with public participation. In his first statements, he said that drafting a new constitution and holding elections to establish a government in Syria will require time.

In a recent interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, December 29, Mr. al-Shara emphasized that the ruling government in Syria, under his leadership, is focusing its efforts on the country’s economic development. According to him, "A free Syria is the guarantor of regional security and the stability of the Gulf for the next 50 years."

The leader of the ruling body in Syria gave the green light for holding elections to form a legitimate government but stressed that drafting a new constitution could take up to 3 years, and organizing the elections might take another 4 years.

He further stated that the rebel group under his command, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
, will be dissolved, as the "new authority" in Syria should be built on a mentality of "tolerance," unlike other Death Eater factions, which not only disregard the constitution and the will of the people but also rely on a mentality of "suppression" instead of "tolerance."

Mr. al-Shara confirmed to Al Arabiya, "Certainly, this group (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) will be dissolved, and its dissolution will be announced during the national dialogue conference." According to him, the new authority will govern the country with a civic mindset, and Syria will never be a source of harm or discomfort to anyone.

Previously, Mr. al-Shara had referred to Afghanistan under the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
as a "tribal" and "primitive" society, asserting that Syria would not turn into a second version of Afghanistan.

Mr. al-Shara, who has reportedly become a hero and statesman among Syrians, clarified that after the formation of a provisional government, no one has the right to restrict the personal freedoms of the people.

According to his guidelines, interfering with women’s dress or imposing any demands regarding their attire or appearance is strictly prohibited. Mr. al-Jolani explained that personal freedom is guaranteed for all, and respect for individual rights forms the foundation of a civilized nation.

Despite the challenges and the complex dynamics in Syria, Ahmad al-Shara’s statements signal a potential shift toward a more structured and governed Syria, focused on legal frameworks and economic development. His emphasis on the dissolution of Death Eater groups and commitment to tolerance presents an alternative vision for the country’s future, one that could ultimately foster stability and peace.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
the roadmap he outlines, including a new constitution and elections, will require considerable time, resources, and international cooperation. Whether his leadership can successfully transition Syria toward this envisioned future remains to be seen, but his rhetoric offers a glimpse of hope for those seeking a more inclusive and stable Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11146 views] Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)


Europe
German Chancellor candidate promises to deport criminal refugees to Afghanistan and Syria
[KhaamaPress] Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and candidate for Chancellor of Germany, has called for fundamental changes in Germany’s immigration and asylum policies. He emphasized that deporting criminals from Syria and Afghanistan should be prioritized, even amid instability in these countries.

In an interview with the German news agency, Merz stated, "We know that Syria and Afghanistan remain highly unstable. However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
we in the party have long believed that deportations to these countries are fundamentally possible and necessary. We will do this." His remarks highlight his strong stance on tackling immigration issues.

Merz also stressed the need for reforms in Germany’s asylum and immigration policies. He promised significant changes in these areas if he were to win the upcoming election. His focus would be on creating a more controlled and sustainable immigration system.

According to Germany’s Interior Ministry, approximately 975,000 Syrians currently live in Germany. Most arrived after the Syrian civil war began in 2015, with over 300,000 receiving "subsidiary protection" due to the ongoing conflict.

Merz is a proponent of labor migration and opposes the current asylum system. He stressed the importance of distinguishing between asylum seekers and labor migrants colonists. He argued that Germany has already provided significant support to refugees, but the number of asylum seekers has become unsustainable, and the capacity of cities and communities is reaching its limit.

To address labor migration, Merz’s party has proposed creating a digital agency called "Work and Residency" to streamline and regulate the process of labor migration separately from asylum applications.

The ongoing refugee crisis in Germany has sparked intense debate about the future of asylum policies. Merz’s calls for reform reflect a growing concern over the social and economic impact of large numbers of refugees on Germany’s infrastructure and public services.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  "To address labor migration, Merz’s party has proposed creating a digital agency called "Work and Residency" to streamline and regulate the process of labor migration..."

This pre-supposes that Germany has an actual shortage of labor. ALL importations of labor (planned or otherwise) press downward on wages, particularly so if there is not an ongoing shortage of existing labor.
Posted by: Crusader || 12/31/2024 12:50 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Suicide attack in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa injures four Security Personnel
[KhaamaPress] Pak media reported that four security personnel were maimed in a suicide kaboom on a joint police and security forces base in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

On Monday, December 30, Dawn newspaper, citing informed sources, reported that the attack took place at a security checkpoint on the Dera-Tang route.

According to the report, the suicide attacker targeted the security checkpoint using a vehicle, resulting in four security personnel being injured and significant damage to the post.

No group has grabbed credit for the attack so far, but the Pak Taliban
...Arabic for students...
(TTP) has consistently targeted security forces, particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

This attack comes amid a rise in armed assaults in Pakistain, especially in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
provinces, in recent months.

Just last week, 16 Pak security personnel were killed, and eight others injured in a clash with murderous Moslems in the Makin area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

According to statistics from Pakistain’s National Assembly, at least 924 people have been killed, and 1,353 others injured in terrorist attacks across the country in the past ten months.

The surge in terrorist attacks in Pakistain, particularly in the tribal regions, reflects the growing challenges faced by the country’s security forces in maintaining stability. While the government has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of providing safe havens for Pak Talibs, these claims have been rejected by the Afghan Taliban.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2024-12-31 01:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11179 views] Top|| File under: Pak Taliban (TTP)


#2  The Taliban attitude is explained by understanding nukes to be very big, poisonous bombs that will only go off if Allah wills it, and knowing they are Allah’s most beloved.

And in the meantime we get to enjoy both parties being killed off.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 12:38 Comments || Top||

#3  In the middle of the offense I’ve, Trump is liable to cut off the weekly shipments of cash going to the Taliban leaders.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 16:31 Comments || Top||


Arabia
US launches multiple strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen
[NY Post] The US military fired multiple strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the latest escalation against the Iran-backed terror group plaguing the Red Sea.

American navy ships and aircraft targeted Houthi command posts and weapons depots on Monday and Tuesday, destroying the facilities that have been attacking military and merchant vessels in the region, according to US Central Command.

The strikes were focused on the capital city of Sana’a and coastal locations around the Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, including "advanced conventional weapon (ACW) production and storage facilities."

"These facilities were used in Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," CENTCOM said in a statement.

US Navy and Air Force aircraft also destroyed a Houthi coastal radar site and seven cruise missiles, the statement added.

CENTCOM said the strike was part of the US military’s efforts to crackdown on the Houthi’s attacks in the region, which began last year in solidarity with Hamas following Israel’s incursion in Gaza.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/31/2024 12:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11162 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Netanyahu goes against doctor's orders, appears in Israeli parliament after surgery
[FoxNews] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in the hall of the Israeli parliament on Tuesday for a crucial budget-related vote, despite the objections of doctors following prostate surgery on Sunday night, the Israeli news agency Tazpit Press Service (TPS) reports.

Netanyahu, 75, was accompanied to the Knesset Plenum by his personal physician, Dr. Tzvi Berkowitz and appeared in good spirits as he took his seat for a brief appearance. The Israeli leader went under the knife on Sunday to have his prostate removed after suffering a urinary tract infection, which had reportedly "stemmed from a benign enlargement of his prostate," according to Netanyahu's office.

Two parties in Israel’s governing coalition are threatening to vote against the "Trapped Profits Law" if their demands are not met.

The bill would allow the government to tax so-called "trapped profits," earnings retained by corporations and multinationals for reinvestment in business growth, infrastructure, and research. Until now, trapped profits were tax-exempt to encourage investments.
Is that what American tax code calls unrealized profits, and does //not tax?
Failure to pass the bill could jeopardize approval of the state budget, which must be passed by March 31 or the government will automatically fall, triggering national elections.

The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, which controls seven Knesset seats, said it would vote against the bill as a warning over the government’s failure to advance legislation exempting Haredim, or Orthodox Jewish citizens, from military service.

The issue of exempting Haredim has sparked heated debate in recent months. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began making plans to draft yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in June that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal, per TPS.

UTJ leader Minister Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf insists that the party will maintain its opposition without progress on the draft exemption law.

The Otzma Yehudit party, which also controls seven seats, is dissenting too.

Its leader, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, is demanding an increased budget for the police, prison service and firefighting agencies and has vowed to vote against the bill until his demands are addressed, according to TPS.

Netanyahu’s government is made up of seven parties with 68 of 120 seats.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 11:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11161 views] Top|| File under:


Government Corruption
U.S. Attorney named in Hunter Biden IRS whistleblower testimony to resign
[JustTheNews] When then-Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss sought to bring charges in D.C., Graves declined to partner with him on the case.

Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia whose name surfaced in testimony by IRS whistleblowers about political interference in the Hunter Biden tax case, will resign in early January, the Department of Justice confirmed Monday.

“Serving as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has been the honor of a lifetime,” Graves said. “I am deeply thankful to Congresswoman Holmes Norton for recommending me; to President Biden for nominating me; and to Attorney General Garland for placing his trust in me.”

Graves featured in the testimony of whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, the IRS agents who went public about alleged political interference by Biden-appointed officials in the Hunter Biden tax probe.

When then-Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss sought to bring charges in D.C., Graves declined to partner with him on the case, according to the whistleblowers' testimony.

That declination was among the key points the whistleblowers addressed in contradicting Attorney General Merrick Garland's statements that Weiss had full authority to pursue charges against Biden.

Graves's declination prevented the investigators from pursuing charges related to the 2014 and 2015 tax years, when Biden was on the board of the Ukrainian gas firm Burisma.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 01:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11155 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Graves is a chief practitioner of the two tiered justice system. Hopefully, Harmeet will knit him a beanie and send him a subpoena.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 11:41 Comments || Top||


Nunes vows oversight of U.S. intel from White House panel
[JustTheNews] "I believe the reason that he chose me to do it is because I was, you know, I saw the corruption up front and personal," he said on the "Victor Davis Hanson Show."

Trump Media and Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes this week, highlighted the importance of depoliticizing the U.S. intelligence agencies as he gears up to chair the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

President-elect Donald Trump tapped Nunes, the former House Intelligence Committee Chairman, for the post earlier in December.

"I believe the reason that he chose me to do it is because I was, you know, I saw the corruption up front and personal," he said on the "Victor Davis Hanson Show." "And so when, when things go wrong, this board is there to have a fresh set of eyes, a fresh look into what these agencies are doing or have done."

"Yeah, so it's, I've described it Victor as something that's very similar to my role when I was chair of the House Intelligence Committee, where I effectively reported to the United States Congress, to the legislative branch of government," he went on. "Here I report directly to the to the President. So it has, it has very extensive powers, and obviously the President can increase those authorities or decrease those authorities, as he see fits. But, you know, look, I feel like he has the confidence in me that that if I see something wrong, that we're going to get to the bottom of it."

Nunes further outlined what he believed to be the root cause of the intelligence community's expansion, politicization, and left-ward shift.

"I believe it's, it's pretty simple as to what's what's happened," he said. "Even though the defense and intelligence industrial complex is bigger than I think Eisenhower ever imagined it could be, and more dangerous. But there's only one word. It's been politicized, and it was politicized on purpose, and the people that live in Washington, D.C., that mostly are part of the left, but as we have found out, it's pretty easy for people who you would think are hard right, that if there livelihood is threatened, they somehow move and team up with the left i.e. the Cheney family."

"I know that the President wants to have a DOJ and FBI and DOD and CIA that America can be proud of," he insisted. "And it's, you know, it's pretty the President sees this pretty simply. And he, he actually campaigned on it. What did he campaign on? Make America safe again, it's not complicated. But in order to do that, you have to have a de-politicized intelligence agency."
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 01:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11154 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good to have a filter between the intelligence folks and the president. They have proved to be up to no good one too many times.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 11:43 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
CIA whistleblower reveals government 'gaslighting' that Americans should be terrified of
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A CIA whistleblower has said that Americans should be 'terrified' of alleged government gaslighting of former intelligence employees who believe they have been struck down by 'Havana Syndrome'.

The medically-retired CIA officer spoke with investigative journalist Catherine Herridge about her experience with the debilitating mystery disorder, and how the authorities have treated her since.

Speaking under the pseudonym Alice, the former CIA employee said she spent two decades in government service and began experiencing 'Havana Syndrome' - also known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs).

The syndrome is a disputed medical condition experienced by a cluster of US and Canadian government officials who were based in around a dozen overseas locations, which started among employees in Havana in 2016.

Symptoms include dizziness, cognitive problems, insomnia, and headaches. The most prominent theory is that it is caused by pulsed electromagnetic energy and ultrasound emanating from sonic weapons.

Alice told Herridge her injuries are so debilitating that she relies on a service dog. She needed several breaks during the interview and wore dark-tinted glasses to shield her eyes from the studio lighting.

'I was serving in Africa and I experienced an anomalous health incident in my home on a Saturday night,' Alice told Herridge.

'I heard a weird noise. It was a really weird sound that I'll never, never forget it… and after about a second or two, I felt it in my feet, kind of like the reverb from a speaker.'

Alice said she went to the master bedroom to ask her partner whether he could hear the off-putting noise too.

'I said, "Hey, do you hear that weird noise?" And the first sign that something was off, I should have known, was when he said, "what noise?"

Alice went back to where she heard the noise. 'Immediately, as soon as I reentered the space, I heard the noise again,' she said.

'My ear started hurting. I started having vertigo.

'The room was spinning, my head started pulsing. It hurt so badly and I had a ton of pain in my left ear and my ears started ringing and I thought I was going to pass out.'

Alice said she believes several different, concealed weapons could be behind the strange symptoms experienced by herself and many of her colleagues, adding that she thinks Moscow is to blame.

'I think there are weapons that can be fit in backpacks, ones that can be fit in the trunks of cars, ones that can be planted at a position with line of sight to people from across the street,' she said.

'I believe the Russian GRU (Russian military intelligence) came to my house late at night and took me off the battlefield,' she added.

Asked if her old self died the day she experienced an AHI, Alice responded, 'A little bit. I was paid for my brain. I was paid for my ability to write well and to write for the president.

'I was paid to meet with foreigners and to get information that would help advance US security objectives …and I can't do that anymore the way I used to and it's really, that's one of the hardest parts.'

But Alice said the CIA has been gaslighting her and other AHI survivors in the years since by making them 'question our own injuries'.

'We swore this oath and every day I watch them really continue to deny people's humanity and their injuries,' she told Herridge.

'People that put themselves and their families on the line in horrible, horribly dangerous places and situations to protect this country.'

Speaking about the intelligence agencies, she added: 'If they're politicizing this, what else are they not telling the president?'

'It's a coverup and it's terrifying and it should be terrifying to all Americans.'

Herridge said the Labor Department does list Alice's Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI as a 'work injury', and she qualified for some compensation through the Havana Act - but nowhere near enough to cover her medical expenses.

'It is a full-time job to try to get medical treatment and is another full-time job to try to handle the bureaucracy of trying to access benefits,' she said. 'I've gone over a hundred thousand dollars out of pocket.'
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 01:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11170 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Moscow Signal

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Moscow_Signal
The Moscow Signal was a reported microwave transmission varying between 2.5 and 4 gigahertz, directed at the US Embassy in Moscow from 1953 to 1976
Posted by: Glusomp Spealet4328 || 12/31/2024 6:05 Comments || Top||

#2  The syndrome is a disputed medical condition experienced by a cluster of US and Canadian government officials who were based in around a dozen overseas locations

So, what the common factor?
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 12/31/2024 6:30 Comments || Top||

#3  ...they all eat highly processed food? /jk
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/31/2024 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Great place to work was it? Until....
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/31/2024 9:45 Comments || Top||

#5  You mean the CIA that gaslit America for the last 8 years over Trump? The ones that propagated the lies about where the COVID came from? And then ended anyone that said otherwise forcing all but the rich to lock themselves away? That CIA? The CIA that created the Virus that got out, even though the president had a directive banning weaponization of said viruses? Just making sure the snowflake ICA agent that let us all get gaslit is talking about the right agency...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/31/2024 10:16 Comments || Top||

#6  /\ Yes Pan, same bunch of global shi* disturbers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/31/2024 10:40 Comments || Top||

#7  It would be funny to see if we could get AIC to go on a tirade about the environmental impact of gaslighting.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 12:10 Comments || Top||

#8  This bitch needs a good slap -- Doug Emhoff
Posted by: Regular joe || 12/31/2024 14:06 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Mufti who supported polygamy is to be awarded an order, the Human Rights Council reports
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Russia, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, may be awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st degree, Kirill Kabanov, a member of the Human Rights Council and Chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, reported with reference to an informed source.

Gainutdin had previously said that the decision of the council of ulemas (theological scholars) of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate to allow Muslims to enter into up to four religious marriages allegedly does not violate secular law, and that some other violations of the law are also associated with representatives of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate, Kabanov noted.

"I would like to remind you that it was the religious organization headed by Ravil Gainutdin that gave our country the largest number of extremists, its spiritual leaders, about which the Investigative Committee was recently notified. It is his students who actively and publicly advocate for wearing niqabs and polygamy, for which the prosecutor's office has already issued them four official warnings," Kabanov wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to some reports, the initiative to award the mufti may be connected with Gainutdin's recent anniversary (he turned 65), but awards of this level are given not for length of service, but for merit, added the head of the National Anti-Corruption Committee.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 19, the Ulema Council allowed Muslim men to enter into up to four religious marriages (nikahs). After the Prosecutor General's Office issued a representation due to the fatwa, which contradicted Russian legislation and the principles of state family policy, the decision was revoked.

Kabanov had previously called the reaction to the revocation of the fatwa on polygamy too positive. He noted that the provocateurs had carried out a relatively successful anti-Russian information campaign and had received only a warning instead of a criminal investigation for their attempts to change the country's constitutional order.

In September, Islamic scholar Roman Silantyev asked the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, to initiate a ban on the Council of Muftis of Russia and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims. The expert noted that the structures controlled by Gainutdin are the most criminalized religious organizations in the country.

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11178 views] Top|| File under: Devout Moslems


--Tech & Moderator Notes
New Zealand’s Auckland is the first major city to welcome 2025 with fireworks and light show
[X]

Auckland has become the first major city to welcome 2025, with thousands of revelers counting down to the new year and cheering at colorful fireworks launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, and a spectacular downtown light show.

Thousands also thronged to downtown or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point, and a light display recognizing Auckland’s Indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests over Māori rights in the nation of 5 million.

Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York. Other cities around the world are readying with celebrations highlighting local cultures and traditions, after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability.

In Australia, more than 1 million people are now expected at Sydney Harbor for the traditional fireworks. British pop star Robbie Williams will lead a singalong and Indigenous ceremonies and performances will acknowledge the land’s first people.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11165 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A nice start for the day!
Posted by: Bobby || 12/31/2024 8:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Pope Gregory XIII introduced a revised calendar in 1582. In addition to solving the issue with leap years, the Gregorian calendar restored January 1 as the start of the New Year. While Italy, France, and Spain were among the countries that immediately accepted the new calendar, Protestant and Orthodox nations were slow to adopt it. Great Britain and its American colonies did not begin following the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Before then they celebrated New Year’s Day on March 25. - www.britannica.com
Posted by: Goober Sputer9323 || 12/31/2024 9:42 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ oops was me
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/31/2024 9:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Before then they celebrated New Year’s Day on March 25.

I would have thought March 17 was more appropriate.

The world welcomes 2025 with a bang! Spectacular fireworks light up Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong and Bangkok as millions celebrate New Year - while Brits brace for torrential rain and 70mph winds
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 13:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Should have a giant face diaper bonfire.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/31/2024 13:33 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Syrian Kurdish officials have contacted Israel to establish line of communication
[IsraelTimes] Syrian Kurdish officials have reached out to Israel to establish a channel of communication, The Times of Israel has learned.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has been vocal about the imperative of supporting the Syrian Kurds. According to his office, he brings up the issue in all of his meetings with Western diplomats.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11147 views] Top|| File under:


Soldier killed in northern Gaza; IDF airs clip of Hamas planting bombs near hospital
[IsraelTimes] Death of Sgt. Uriel Peretz from anti-tank missile brings ground op toll to 395; 8 injured, 3 seriously, in the same incident in Beit Hanoun; 3 rockets fired from Strip at Israel

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed and eight were maimed during fighting in the northern 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 Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said, as the military continued its intensified operations in the territory’s north.

The slain soldier was named as Sgt. Uriel Peretz, 23, of the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, from Beitar Illit.

The Beitar Illit municipality mourned Peretz, "who fell... while risking his life for the people of Israel and the Land of Israel." The mayor of the ultra-Orthodox settlement, Meir Rubinstein, said "the whole city is mourning and sending condolences to the beloved family."

According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers, who were inside a building in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, were hit by anti-tank fire. Peretz was killed and eight others were maimed, including three at death's door. The other five were listed in good and moderate condition.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip rose to 395. Another soldier was killed in northern Gaza’s Jabalia on Sunday.

Also on Monday, the military said three rockets were launched from Gaza toward Israeli border communities. One was fired from the central Gaza Strip at the border community of Kissufim, striking an open area and not causing injuries or major damage. A few hours later, two more rockets were launched from northern Gaza at Israeli border communities, and were intercepted by air defenses. Sirens had sounded in Netiv Ha’asara, Karmia, and the Zikim beach amid the attack. There were no reports of injuries in this attack either.

In recent days there has been an uptick in rocket fire from northern Gaza amid the ongoing IDF offensive there.

Separately, the IDF released footage obtained from cameras belonging to Hamas operatives, showing them planting roadside kabooms next to the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. According to the army, the bombs were planted just 45 meters (nearly 148 feet) from the medical center in Jabalia.

The army said it had operated last week at the Indonesian Hospital, with troops killing several terror operatives who tried to flee from the medical center. Dozens of members of terror groups were also detained, and several bombs planted by them in the area were neutralized, the military said.

The video taken by the Hamas operatives, and later found by the IDF in Gaza, showed them planting bombs next to the hospital. The video was not dated.

"This is another example of the Hamas terror organization’s cynical use of the population and civilian institutions in the Gaza Strip for terror activity in blatant violation of international law," the military added.

The IDF said scores of terror operatives were killed overnight in ambushes led by the military’s 162nd Division in Jabalia. According to the IDF, troops spotted and killed "many dozens of terrorists" with gunfire and tank shelling.

The IDF has been operating in the Jabalia area since early October, facing relatively fierce resistance by remaining Hamas cells in the area, military sources said. The return of civilians to northern Gaza has reportedly been among the contested points in ongoing ceasefire-hostage release talks between Hamas and Israel.

On Saturday, the army said it had wrapped up an extensive raid that began early Friday at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, just outside Jabalia, in which it arrested hundreds of terror operatives.

The IDF said Sunday that its forces had killed 19 Paleostinian terror operatives and apprehended "240 terrorists" in the raid, calling it one of the largest operations it has conducted in the territory.

Kamal Adwan Hospital was described by the IDF as "Hamas’s last bastion in Jabalia," after hundreds of terror operatives allegedly used the medical facility as a shelter from Israeli strikes. According to the military, the operatives returned to Kamal Adwan after the IDF last operated in the medical center in late October.

Before launching the operation, the IDF said it had enabled the evacuation of 350 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel to other hospitals, in an effort coordinated by the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
The head of the World Health Organization called on Monday for the immediate release of Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan, who was being held by the IDF following its operation at the facility.

WHO also said that the IDF operation in Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahiya left northern Gaza’s last major health facility out of service and emptied of patients.

“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X. “Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza is out of service following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director. His whereabouts are unknown. We call for his immediate release.”

The IDF said Sunday it had detained Abu Safiya, suspecting him of being a Hamas terrorist. When asked if he had been transferred to Israeli territory for further questioning, the military did not offer an immediate comment.

Tedros said the patients in critical condition at Kamal Adwan had been moved to the Indonesian Hospital, “which is itself out of function.”

“Amid ongoing chaos in northern Gaza, WHO and partners today delivered basic medical and hygiene supplies, food and water to Indonesian Hospital and transferred 10 critical patients to Al-Shifa Hospital,” he said. “We urge Israel to ensure their health care needs and rights are upheld.”

Tedros said seven patients along with 15 caregivers and health workers remained at the “severely damaged” Indonesian Hospital, “which has no ability to provide care.”

“Al-Ahli Hospital and Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Gaza City also faced attacks today and both are damaged,” Tedros added. “We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid.”
The NY Post has more on the good (?) doctor:
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has repeatedly criticized the Israel Defense Forces’ actions, including in opinion pieces he wrote for the New York Times.

“Dr. Abu Safiya has dedicated his life to protecting the health and lives of children in Gaza, providing care under conditions no medical professional should have to endure,” MedGlobal, the humanitarian NGO providing healthcare in disaster areas that Safiya works for, said in a statement.

Safiya’s last guest essay from the Times was published earlier this month and centered on him being one of the last doctors working at the Kamal Adwan hospital, pleading for help.

Hamas has called on the United Nations to investigate the arrests and shut down of the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

“We demand the sending of international observers to these facilities to ascertain the truth of what is happening and to refute the lies and claims of the occupation regarding their use for military purposes,” the terror group said in a statement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Six shot, including 12-year-old girl, in Bronx as cops search for suspect: NYPD
[NYPOST] Cops are searching for a man who shot six people, including a 12-year-old girl, in the Bronx on Monday afternoon, sending all of them to the hospital.

The shooting happened around 4:50 p.m. at 3544 White Plains Road — roughly a block from Marcus Garvey Square in Olinville, according to the NYPD.

It's unclear what sparked the gunfire, but cops said they found three men, two women and the maiden of tender years with bullet wounds when they arrived.

The precise ages of the other victims is currently unknown.

The maimed were brought to area hospitals, where they are in stable, pH balanced condition, cops said. The 12 year-old's injuries are not serious, according to police.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Kinnison began his slow infiltration of the sewer system...
police are searching for the suspect, who fled wearing all black except for a blue surgical mask covering his face.
Posted by: Fred || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Townhall:

According to a report by the New York Post, President-elect Donald Trump made waves in the political arena in the Bronx, one of New York’s most blue districts.

In 2020, only 15.9 percent of voters supported Trump, while 83.4 percent favored outgoing President Joe Biden. However, in 2024, that number saw unprecedented support, signaling a dramatic shift in party affiliation early on.

While 72. 1 percent of people favored failed Democrat candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, 27.1 percent of Bronx residents supported Trump— performing 22 points better than he did four years ago.

The Post found that out of the entire state, only two New York counties, Seneca and Yates saw a voter shift toward Harris.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 2:17 Comments || Top||

#2  The perp was a germaphobic ninja.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 12:19 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm kinda doubting this happened since New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation...
Posted by: Crusader || 12/31/2024 12:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Marcus Garvey Square? The name says old school shithole neighborhood more than any inner city MLK Blvd.
Posted by: Regular joe || 12/31/2024 13:56 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Joe Biden Announces $2.5 Billion for Ukraine, Says He Will Continue ‘Surging' Aid While in Office
[Breitbart] President Joe Biden announced Monday a military aid package of $2.5 billion for Ukraine and vowed to continue “surging” aid for the remainder of his time in office.

“Today, I am proud to announce nearly $2.5 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, as the Ukrainian people continue to defend their independence and freedom from Russian aggression,” he said in a statement.

He said the aid consisted of $1.25 billion in U.S. military equipment and $1.22 billion from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which is a fund for additional training, equipment or advisory efforts for Ukraine’s military.

Biden said the $1.22 billion is the last of the USAI funds appropriated by Congress for 2024.

Biden has approximately three weeks left in office, but said he has directed his administration to “continue surging as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” and that the Department of Defense is “in the process” of delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armored vehicles.

“At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office,” Biden said.

The DOD provided more detail on the aid. It said the $1.25 billion in U.S. military equipment included missiles for air defense munitions for rocket systems and artillery, and anti-tank weapons, and that the $1.22 billion in USAI would provide Ukraine with additional air defense, air-to-ground, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and other capabilities.

Specifically, the aid included:

• Munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);
• HAWK air defense munitions;
• Stinger missiles;
• Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (c-UAS) munitions;
• Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
• 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;
• Air-to-ground munitions;
• High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);
• Unmanned Aerials Systems (UAS);
• Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
• Tube-launched, Optically guided, Wire-tracked (TOW) missiles;
• Small arms and ammunition and grenades;
• Demolitions equipment and munitions;
• Secure communications equipment;
• Commercial satellite imagery services;
• Medical equipment;
• Clothing and individual equipment; and
• Spare parts, maintenance and sustainment support, ancillary equipment, services, training, and transportation.

The Pentagon said this was the 73rd delivery of military equipment provided to Ukraine since August 2021, and the 23rd USAI package.

The Pentagon added, “The United States continues to work together with some 50 Allies and partners through the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and its associated Capability Coalitions to provide the support Ukraine needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression.”
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11158 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The song for the first 19 days of January is Closing Time.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 11:58 Comments || Top||


#3  Until Biden and Obama, I didn't know that Presidents could snap their fingers and magically *billions* of dollars would magically appear, to be disbursed without any congressional oversight.
Posted by: Crusader || 12/31/2024 21:38 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Get biological men out of women's prisons — NOW!
[NYPOST] Mozzy Clark, a female former Washington state prison inmate, alleges she was brutally victimized by her cellmate, convicted domestic abuser and child molester Christopher Scott Williams.

She's suing the state Department of Correction.

Williams, a hulking, 6-foot-4 thug, was convicted of his heinous crimes as a man, then identified as female to exploit the wokism that rules in the Evergreen State and get transferred to a women's prison.

There, per the lawsuit, he proceeded to threaten, stalk, harass and assault Clark for months: ''Mr. Williams — would hover menacingly over Ms. Clark's bunk with an erection while touching himself. He would also display his erection to Ms. Clark against her will, and gesture towards it, saying how much he wanted her.''

And: ''One night, Ms. Clark woke up and saw inmate Williams sitting on the floor next to her bed with his arm under her blanket, rubbing her genitals.''

Nor was she the only victim, nor he the only abuser: Another alleged Williams abusee came forward in August and claimed some of the other 11 trans inmates in the facility also victimized her.

Men are bigger and stronger than women in general; it's absurd enough that they are allowed to compete against women in sports thanks to trans ideology.

But the idea that biologically male criminals should be allowed in women's prisons is transparently insane.

It's obvious that sex criminals like Williams view the chance to change gender ID as no more than an E-ZPass into a land of available sexual prey.

It's not rocket science: Keep men out of women's prisons, no matter what they ''identify'' as.

That woke ideologues (and compliant public officials) refuse to admit that their approach is an outright license for abusers just shows the depths of their own derangement.
Posted by: Fred || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11148 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Remove their prostate before housing.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/31/2024 7:20 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ with a butter knife
Posted by: Frank G || 12/31/2024 8:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Sorry Frank, I think a rusty cork screw would be more appropriate.
Posted by: alanc || 12/31/2024 10:25 Comments || Top||

#4  That we have to even say any of this shows how lost as a society we are. That we allowed someone to become a Supreme Court Justice who claimed to not know what a woman is shows how broken and corrupt the system is.
Posted by: Crusader || 12/31/2024 10:34 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF downs ballistic missile from Yemen, triggering sirens across central Israel
[IsraelTimes] Large fragment of debris crashes into residential neighborhood in Beit Shemesh as Houthis claim responsibility for seventh late night attack in under two weeks

Air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched at Israel from 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...
that triggered sirens across central Israel late Monday night, the military said, in the seventh such nighttime attack in less than two weeks.

The missile was intercepted before it crossed into Israeli airspace, the military said, and sirens sounded across the center of the country shortly after 11:00 p.m. due to protocol for fear of falling debris.

There was no major damage as a result of the missile debris, although a large fragment crashed in the Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, close to Jerusalem.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said that it did not receive any reports of injuries directly caused by the missile launched from Yemen, although a number of people were being treated for acute anxiety or for minor injuries sustained while running to bomb shelters.

The missile launch also caused brief interruptions at Ben Gurion Airport, the Ynet news site reported, with arrivals and departures briefly halted due to fears of falling debris.

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 in Yemen later took responsibility for the missile launch, and a top leader of the Iran-backed group vowed that similar attacks would be forthcoming.

"The pounding of the entity (Israel) continues and the support to 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...
continues," Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthis’ supreme revolutionary committee, said in a post on X after the Israeli military announced the missile interception.

The launch came shortly after Houthi-controlled media in Yemen reported that a US-led coalition had struck targets in the At Tuhayat District, south of Hodeida.

The Houthis, a rebel group at the center of Yemen’s civil war that has dedicated itself to the destruction of Israel and Jews, have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The vast majority did not reach Israel or were intercepted by the military or Israel’s allies in the region.

Rocket and drone alert sirens triggered by attacks from Yemen have sent millions of Israelis running for shelter in the middle of the night almost every night for the past 12 days. In the past month, the group has fired 11 ballistic missiles and at least nine drones at Israel.

On Monday, UN Ambassador Danny Danon issued what he called a final warning to the group, and cautioned that they risked the same "miserable fate" as fellow Iranian allies Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
, Hezbollah and the fallen regime of Syria’s Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
if they persisted.

"Israel will defend its people," Danon told news hounds before the meeting. "If 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) is not enough to separate our children from the terror, let me assure you, it will not be enough to protect their terror from our strengths."

Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11155 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Government Corruption
Three senior DOJ officials leaked non-public investigative information 'days before an election,' inspector general finds
[NYPOST] Three senior Justice Department officials violated internal policies and engaged in ''misconduct'' when they leaked details about a non-public investigation to the media ''days before an election,'' the agency's inspector general revealed Monday.

The DOJ's Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which has been run by Michael Horowitz since 2012, launched a probe after it received a complaint alleging that a ''politically motivated'' disclosure related to ''information about ongoing matters'' was made in the runup to an unspecified election.

''The OIG investigation found that three then Senior DOJ Officials violated DOJ's Confidentiality and Media Contacts Policy by leaking to select news hounds, days before an election, non-public DOJ investigative information regarding ongoing DOJ investigative matters, resulting in the publication of two news articles that included the non-public DOJ investigative information,'' the DOJ OIG said in a brief investigative summary.

''The OIG investigation also found that one of these three then Senior DOJ Officials violated the Confidentiality and Media Contacts Policy and DOJ's Social Media Policy by reposting through a DOJ social media account links to the news articles,'' the summary continued.

The three officials were no longer DOJ employees when the investigation began and declined or did not respond to interview requests, according to the OIG, which does not have the authority to compel testimony from former employees.

''The OIG has completed its investigation and provided its report to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and, because the report contained misconduct findings against attorneys, provided its report to the Professional Misconduct Review Unit for appropriate action,'' Horowitz's office said, adding that a report was also provided to the US Office of Special Counsel for potential Hatch Act violations to be investigated.

It's unclear what investigation the former DOJ employees are accused of leaking to media outlets.

In September, Sen. Chuck Grassley also wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray that was also forwarded to Horowitz, accusing the DOJ and FBI of ''leaking material and information to the media'' about an ultimately closed probe into President-elect Donald Trump
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets...
Posted by: Fred || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11153 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Shouldn't they face fines and/or jail time, Or at the least a permanent BAN from any Court/Legal System or Government employment?

Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/31/2024 5:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Our unelected minions in almost all agencies are out of control. Releasing info like that was intended to change or affect an election, treason and certainly lines with RICO, if you can charge a government official with RICO>
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/31/2024 10:20 Comments || Top||

#3  ... if you can charge a government official with RICO

It depends on the difference between "organized crime" and "government", which is to say, what the meaning of "is" is.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/31/2024 10:40 Comments || Top||

#4  I would take the all the IGs, make them a Department, give them a building near Leavenworth and add ample prosecutors. All their cases would be tried in Kansas. I would then impeach every judge in the DC circuit, give mandatory immediate retirement to any judge who makes it through the gauntlet, and replace none of them.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 11:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Leavenworth is pretty Blue. Cottonwood Falls would be a better place, or Beloit, or Medicine Lodge which already has a stockade. Not Wichita or Topeka which are controlled by the NEA.
Posted by: bman || 12/31/2024 12:21 Comments || Top||

#6  A public hanging of these people would help limit this type of nonsense. Just saying.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/31/2024 12:35 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Jan. 6 fugitive from 'justice' applies for political asylum in Canada
[WISHtv] A Jan. 6 riot defendant from Indiana who escaped his prison sentence is applying for refugee status in Canada.

Antony Vo in November told I-Team 8 he still believes President-elect Donald Trump will deliver pardons to all Jan. 6 riot defendants once he’s back in the Oval Office on Jan. 20. But, for now, Vo is waiting for that day in Canada as he goes through the country’s asylum process.

Vo said his immediate plans include skiing.

He and his mother, Annie Vo, were both charged as nonviolent participants in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Antony was convicted but never served his nine-month sentence.

“The majority of Jan. 6 people have been held more than accountable,” Antony Vo said.

Vo says he’s already gone through medical evaluations but canceled a refugee eligibility hearing with Canadian authorities. He’s waiting for assurances that he won’t be detained and sent back to the U.S.

Vo’s application for political refugee status makes sweeping claims that he’s the victim of a government conspiracy, writing that his conviction is “purely political persecution.”

The application, which Vo provided to I-Team 8, states a legal fund set up for Jan. 6 riot defendants is helping Vo pay for an attorney.

He has no plans to turn himself in.

“Our country, ourselves, we have a long history of standing up for our rights, what we believe in.”

Canadian officials say that, due to privacy legislation, the government cannot comment on specific refugee cases. But, one of the factors officials will use to evaluate a refugee claim is whether that person has committed a serious crime.

The U.S. Marshals Service by Friday afternoon had not responded to requests for an update on the search for Vo.
Posted by: Elmaper+McGurque1612 || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11167 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Someone ought to warn him about Canada using pig Latin or by blinked Morse code.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 12:12 Comments || Top||

#2  If Antony Vo comes down with sniffles or a cold while in the Great White North, Canada has a convenient MAID policy to dispose of him very quietly.
Posted by: Elmaper+McGurque1612 || 12/31/2024 22:45 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas said refusing release of 12 out of 34 hostages Israel wants freed in first stage of deal
[IsraelTimes] The Hamas terror group has partially rejected a list of hostages that Israel insists must be released during the first phase of any ceasefire deal, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the report, which cites an unnamed Palestinian source, Hamas is willing to release 22 of the 34 hostages on the list but is refusing to agree to the release of the other 12.
One possible conclusion is that only 22 of the hostages are still alive. Another possible conclusion is that the Gazans are enjoying their torture play too much to let it end, even to stop the rubble bouncing around them.
Instead, the report states, the Gaza terror group offered to release 22 living hostages and 12 bodies during the first phase of a deal.

Israel turned down the idea and made it clear that it will only accept living hostages during the initial stage of a hostage release and ceasefire deal, the report adds.

The report did not provide further details on the hostages Hamas is reportedly refusing to release, although earlier this month, Egypt’s Al-Ghad outlet reported that Israel requested the inclusion of 11 men considered by Hamas to be soldiers on its list of hostages to be released in the first phase of a potential deal.

The terror group classifies all Israeli men of fighting age to be soldiers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11151 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  NAILED IT
"One possible conclusion is that only 22 of the hostages are still alive."

As has been clearly shown and demonstrated already. HAMAS leadership (what there still is of it) does not have full control of the hostages or their locations.

NEXT, I expect the HamAsses to try and blame the IDF for any previously claimed and now missing hostages.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/31/2024 4:11 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Two High-Class X-Ray Flares Recorded on the Sun
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Sun is experiencing one of the strongest bursts of activity this year. Two powerful flares were registered on the morning of December 30, the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported.

It is noted that two flares of the highest X-ray class occurred on the Sun at 7:14 and 7:31 Moscow time. The explosions were observed in the western part of the solar disk, in a zone that does not exclude an impact on the Earth.

"Overall, the Sun is registering one of the strongest bursts of activity this year. The previous two bursts were observed in May and October," the scientific organization said in a statement on its website.

Solar mass ejections will likely reach Earth in the middle of the day on December 31 and cause auroras. The closer to evening the main plasma masses arrive, the higher the chances that the European part of Russia will fall into the polar oval, the laboratory added.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, a powerful X-class solar flare was recorded on the morning of December 29. The event began at 10:08 Moscow time and lasted for about half an hour, with the peak radiation observed at 10:18 Moscow time. Scientists explained that they had been observing an increase in solar activity for about a week. During this time, the number of solar flares has almost doubled, but now they have reached their highest level.

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11155 views] Top|| File under:



#3  Puts me in the mood for a NYE disaster movie.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 16:28 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany says Musk trying to influence election after he backs far-right party
[IsraelTimes] In opinion piece published in major newspaper over weekend, world’s richest person writes Alternative for Germany is ‘last spark of hope’ for country

The German government accused US billionaire Elon Musk on Monday of trying to influence its election due in February with articles supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, even though it suggested they amounted to "nonsense."

Musk, who is set to serve Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
’s new US administration as an outside adviser, endorsed the AfD as Germany’s last hope in a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest.

"It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election" with X posts and the opinion piece, a German government spokesperson said.

Musk is free to express his opinion, the spokesperson said, adding: "After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense."

Musk, the world’s richest person, has defended his right to weigh in on German politics because of his "significant investments," and has praised the AfD’s approach to regulation, taxes and market deregulation.

His intervention has come as Germans prepare to vote in a parliamentary election on Feb. 23 after the collapse of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Musk also called for Scholz’s resignation after a car rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market on Dec. 20, killing five people.

The AfD is currently in second place in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservatives, and might be able to thwart a center-right or center-left majority in the election. Germany’s mainstream parties have pledged not to work with the AfD at the national level.

The government spokesperson said Musk’s endorsement of the AfD was "a recommendation to vote for a party that is being monitored (by domestic intelligence) on suspicion of being right-wing hard boy and which has already been recognized as partly right-wing hard boy."

German politicians have excoriated Musk for his endorsement of the AfD, with the co-leader of Scholz’s Social 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...
(SPD) comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
"Both want to influence our elections and specifically support the AfD’s enemies of democracy. They want Germany to be weakened and plunged into chaos," Lars Klingbeil told the Funke news group on Monday.

Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats and current favorite to succeed Scholz as chancellor, told Funke that Musk’s comments were "intrusive and pretentious."

Musk’s guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag — a sister publication of POLITICO owned by the Axel Springer Group — published in German over the weekend, was the second time this month he supported AfD.

"The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country," Musk wrote in his translated commentary.

He went on to say the far-right party "can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality."

The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the country’s condition.

The AfD is polling strongly, but its candidate for the top job, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.

An ally of Trump, the technology billionaire challenged the party’s public image in his opinion piece.

"The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing hard boy is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like...
to you? Please!"

Musk’s commentary has led to a debate in German media over the boundaries of free speech, with the paper’s own opinion editor announcing her resignation, pointedly on Musk’s social media platform, X.

"I always enjoyed leading the opinion section of WELT and WAMS. Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. I handed in my resignation yesterday after it went to print," Eva Marie Kogel wrote.

The newspaper was also attacked by politicians and other media for offering Musk, an outsider, a platform to express his views in favor of the AfD.

Musk’s opinion piece in the Welt am Sonntag was accompanied by a critical article by the future editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Jan Philipp Burgard.

"Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong," Burgard wrote.

Responding to a request for comment from the German Press Agency, dpa, the current editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Ulf Poschardt, and Burgard — who is 2xdue to take over on January 1 — said in a joint statement that the discussion over Musk’s piece was "very insightful. Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression."

"This will continue to determine the compass of the ’world’ in the future. We will develop ’Die Welt’ even more decisively as a forum for such debates," they wrote to dpa.
German government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann on Monday said billionaire Elon Musk was trying to exert influence over the German election due to take place on February 23.

However, she also sought to downplay the sway that Musk's interventions might have after declaring his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

"It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election through his statements," said Hoffmann.

"He is free to express his opinion. One does not have to share this opinion. Freedom of expression also includes the greatest nonsense," she said.

Hoffmann stressed that the elections were a German matter to be decided by the voters at the ballot box.

"In Germany, elections are decided by voters at the ballot box," she said, adding that the country's "elections are a matter for Germans."

The spokeswoman also pointed out that the AfD was under investigation by the German domestic intelligence service on suspicion of being a far-right extremist organization. At the state level, in some cases, it already has been.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  The nicest thing that can be said about his "opinion piece" is that Musk has no clue. If the AfD had anything to say, Musk would not have been able to build his Tesla factory in Brandenburg (the party was the fiercest opponent of this project).

The AfD doesn't want less state (hear that DOGE?), it wants more.

The AfD prefers Putin's Russia to America (whoever the president may be).

The most ridiculous comment is about Alice Weidel. He just failed to say that Hitler built autobahnen and was a vegetarian.

Last spark of hope? Good help us.
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/31/2024 5:56 Comments || Top||

#2  ^You have anything better?
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 12/31/2024 6:11 Comments || Top||

#3  As a ranking member of the Bavarian CSU, yes of course.
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/31/2024 6:27 Comments || Top||

#4  The CDU’s Friedrich Merz is making some pretty promises. Can he keep them?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 7:23 Comments || Top||

#5  The AfD doesn't want less state (hear that DOGE?), it wants more.

The AfD prefers Putin's Russia to America (whoever the president may be).


These statements are true.

However this is also the position of the CDU's ally and regional coalition partner BSW (which is a political reorganization and offshoot of the Communist Party of East Germany.)

The CDU is also regionally cooperating with the rump CPEG.

The CSU leader Söder is a political weather vane who has for years obsequiously kowtowed to the Greens and their disastrous economic policies literally debasing himself as a tree hugger (Image search "Soeder Baum Umarmen).

Ironically this makes him the lesser evil since, as an opportunist, he doesn't have an iron commitment to climate socialist suicide.

IOW Germany is screwed.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 12/31/2024 11:05 Comments || Top||

#6  ^The rest of EUrope is OK, though.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 12/31/2024 11:25 Comments || Top||


Iraqi couple charged in Germany with physical, sexual abuse of enslaved young Yazidi girls
[IsraelTimes] Germany’s federal prosecutor charges an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture and war crimes, alleging they kept two young Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them.

The man and the woman, identified only as Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested in Bavaria in April.

The were members of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group in Iraq and Syria between October 2015 and December 2017, the prosecutor said in a statement. They allegedly kept a 5-year-old Yazidi girl as a slave starting in late 2015, and a 12-year-old from October 2017.

Prosecutors alleged that the man raped both girls repeatedly and that the woman prepared the room and put makeup on one of the girls.

The couple also exerted "harsh physical violence" on the girls, who were prevented from practicing their own religion and coerced into household work and childcare, prosecutors said.

The man on one occasion allegedly hit the older girl with a broomstick, the woman is accused of scalding the younger girl’s hand with hot water and both children were repeatedly forced to stand on one leg for half an hour as punishment.

Before they left Syria in November 2017, the suspects handed the girls over to other members of IS, the prosecutor’s statement said.

"All of this served the organization’s objective to destroy the Yazidi religion," the statement said.
According to the prosecutor, the couple bought the two children in a bazaar in Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11161 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1 
Posted by: Grappling Ironside284 || 12/31/2024 3:29 Comments || Top||

#2  ^^ this dumb fkg twat ^^

violence against chidren isn't a political scoring oppertunity
Posted by: Deadeye Elmotch3393 || 12/31/2024 7:12 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
From jihadi group to gov’t, cont’d: New regime HTS in Syria said to appoint some foreign Islamist fighters to military
[IsraelTimes] Prominent Uighur, Jordanian, and Turkish foreign fighters given military ranks, as Islamist rebel group at core of de facto new government in Syria arranges formal armed forces

Syria’s new rulers have installed some imported muscle including Uighurs, a Jordanian, and a Turk in the country’s armed forces, as Damascus tries to shape a patchwork of rebel groups into a professional military, two Syrian sources said.

The move to give official roles, including senior ones, to several jihadists may alarm some foreign governments and Syrian citizens fearful about the new administration’s intentions, despite its pledges not to export Islamic revolution and to rule with tolerance toward Syria’s large minority groups.

A Syrian government spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment on the thinking behind the appointments.

The sources said that out of a total of almost 50 military roles announced by the Defense Ministry on Sunday, at least six had gone to foreigners.

Rooters was not able to independently verify the nationalities of the individuals appointed.

Thousands of Sunni Moslem foreigners joined Syria’s rebels early in the 13-year civil war to fight against the rule of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
and the Iran-backed Shiite militias that supported him. Some imported muscle formed their own gangs while others joined established formations such as Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
as it rampaged across Iraq and Syria, briefly declaring a so-called caliphate before being routed by US and Iran-backed forces.

Other groups of foreign jihadists joined Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS), which disavowed previous links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State and fought bloody battles against them before going on to spearhead the lightning advance that toppled Assad on December 8.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the HTS-leader-turned de facto ruler of Syria, has purged dozens of foreign jihadi fighters as part of a campaign to Syrianize and moderate his group.

In remarks broadcast on Sunday, Sharaa said the new Syria "cannot be run by the mentality of groups and militias."

Syria’s new rulers, drawn mainly from HTS, have indicated that imported muscle and their families may be given Syrian citizenship and be allowed to stay in the country because of their contributions to the fight against Assad.

The Defense Ministry on Sunday announced 49 appointments to the army that included leaders of key Syrian armed factions. Among them were several imported muscle, three given the rank of brigadier-general and at least three others the rank of colonel, a Syrian military source said.

’TOKEN OF RECOGNITION’
"This is a small token of recognition for the sacrifices Islamist jihadists gave to our struggle for freedom from Assad’s oppression," an HTS source told Rooters.

Chinese Uighur Abdulaziz Dawood Khudaberdi, also known as Zahid and the commander of the separatist Turkistan Islamic Party’s (TIP) forces in Syria, was appointed a brigadier-general, a TIP statement said and the Syrian military source confirmed.

Two other Uighur fighters, Mawlan Tarsoun Abdussamad and Abdulsalam Yasin Ahmad, were given the rank of colonel, said the TIP statement published on its website, congratulating them and the Uighur community on the appointments.

All the names appear in Sunday’s Defense Ministry announcement, though the nationalities are not included.

The TIP is thought to have hundreds of fighters in Syria and aims to establish an Islamic State in parts of China and central Asia, where there is a large Uighur Moslem population.

Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uighurs, a mainly Moslem ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the mass use of forced labor in camps. Beijing denies any abuses.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese foreign ministry.

China labels the TIP a terrorist organization responsible for plots to attack overseas Chinese targets. Beijing has said TIP "gravely threatens" China’s interests and security overseas and that combating the group was China’s "core concern" in its counter-terrorism effort.

Ottoman Turkish citizen Omar Mohammed Jaftashi and Jordanian citizen Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Khatib were also made brigadier-generals, the Syrian military source and the HTS source said.

Abdul Jashari, an ethnically Albanian fighter also known as Abu Qatada al-Albani, was appointed colonel, the military source said. Jashari heads the Albanian jihadist group Xhemati Alban and was designated a terrorist by the US Treasury in 2016.

Egyptian Alaa Mohammed Abdel-Baqi was also given a military rank, the source said.

Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xhemati Alban: Albanian Snipers in Syria
December 8, 2024
Excerpted from a much longer post witht he usual Grey Dynamics information.
[GreyDynamics] Xhemati Alban is a Sunni jihadist militant group operating in the Idlib Governorate in Syria. Garnering attention for its formidable “sniper squad”, they have been active in spreading propaganda detailing the unit’s exploits. Linked to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) they have been involved in several operations together. Comprised of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and North Macedonia, the group’s current membership numbers are unknown but believed to not exceed two dozen members. Despite claiming establishment in 2012, the group’s earliest piece of propaganda dates back to 2017.

The group’s fighters are relatively unadorned when compared to contemporary modern fighting forces and their propaganda pieces are usually without patches of any kind. However, the group does have one patch of note which is that of Albanian Tactical which is a further subgroup within Xhemati Alban. Albanian Tactical offers tactical training in line with other mercenary or contract organisations in the region such as Yurtugh Tactical and Muhojir Tactical. This has allowed them to frame themselves as a contract enterprise and not simply a militia/terror group.

Xhemati Alban, which translates to “Albanian Group,” comprises ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, and the Presovo Valley in Serbia. Although the group claims to have originated in 2012, reports indicate that its active operations began around 2017, coinciding with its involvement in conflicts such as those in Ras al-Ayn, Abu al-Duhur Airbase, and Jisr al-Shughur.

Under the leadership of Abu Qatada al-Albani (Abdul Jashari), born in 1976 in Skopje, North Macedonia, the group appointed its military leader, as designated by former Jabhat al-Nusra leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani in 2014. Al-Albani’s association with Jabhat al-Nusra led to his inclusion in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List in late 2016. Notably, al-Albani also serves as a close military advisor to the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

HTS appoints Maysaa Sabrine to lead central bank, first woman to hold position
[IsraelTimes] Syria’s new rulers have appointed Maysaa Sabrine, formerly a deputy governor of the Syrian central bank, to lead the institution, a senior Syrian official says.

Sabrine does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

She will be the first woman to lead the institution in its more than 70-year history, replacing Mohammed Issam Hazime who was appointed governor in 2021 by now-toppled president Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian FM says he accepted invitation to visit Saudi Arabia
[IsraelTimes] Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, appointed by the new rulers, says on X that he has accepted an invitation from his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah to visit, in what would be his first foreign trip.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)


WSJ says inflation and sanctions are hampering Syria's economic recovery
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] High inflation, Western sanctions and loss of control over oil fields are preventing the new Syrian authorities from restoring the country's economy, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) observers noted in their publication on Monday, December 30.

The new Syrian authorities intend to build a free market, restart the oil industry and establish international cooperation, but this will not be easy, the article says. Journalists recalled that the Syrian pound to dollar exchange rate has fallen 260 times during the military actions in the country.

"We need knowledge and experience to do business, we need technology, we need a lot of things. We especially need sanctions to be lifted, so that the banking system can work properly and move forward," Mohammad Hallaq, vice president of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, told the WSJ.

The publication estimated the costs required to restore Syria at $400 billion.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov previously stated that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was unable to cope with social problems in the country, including due to the destructive actions of the United States, which occupied the resource-rich northeast of Syria.

The minister stressed that it was the strangulation of the Syrian economy that contributed to social tensions in the country, and Damascus was forced to resort to unpopular measures, including reducing subsidies for socially significant goods and services.

On December 8, Assad resigned as president of Syria and left the country, ordering a peaceful transfer of power. He and his family arrived in Russia, where they were granted asylum. Two days later, the armed Syrian opposition ordered its forces to withdraw from the captured cities so that internal security units and police could enter.

Russia has supported the Syrian government led by Assad in its fight against terrorist forces for several years. Moscow has pledged to provide support as long as the fighting is carried out by the Syrian state itself, President Vladimir Putin noted. Back in 2015, he emphasized that “we are not going to be more Syrian than the Syrians themselves.”

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11147 views] Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)

#1  "See? These are good guys we can do bizness with if the US would just help nation-build by paying them"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/31/2024 8:10 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China’s Population Only 600 to 800 million?
I happened across this analysis last night, which responds to a comment yesterday from Fat Bob Elmuter5510, who wrote, China is going to re take these lands [Russia] and Putin is paving the way creating weakness.

https://x.com/KyivPost/status/1873653760947564823.

This one is for Rantburg’s numbers and analytical types. Enjoy!
[BattleswarmBlog] We’ve previously covered that China’s demographics are in severe decline and that China’s GDP may be overstated by 60%. Now a researcher says that China’s population could be overstated by 37-50%.

(Before we dig in, two caveats: First, the channel is Lei’s Real Talk, from someone who came over from communist China and was a stu7dnet in the U.S. when the Tiananmen Square, but she doesn’t use her full name, which she says is to protect her family back in China. Second, she’s using AI to answer some of her questions. Still, the math-based questions don’t seem conducive to the “AI hallucinations” we see elsewhere, but some caveat lictor seems in order.)

  • “We know China is facing a series of economic challenges. Weak consumer, confidence falling real estate prices, high debt, industrial overcapacity, sluggish exports, and so on and so forth. But the underlying issue of the faltering economy, in my opinion, is a severe population crisis.”

  • “China’s actual population is far below than the official figure of 1.4 billion.”

  • “I want to compare China and India’s population between the 30-year period from 1990 to 2020. Let’s also compare their average fertility rate between the two countries and their medium age.” If you run those very basic numbers, things don’t add up.

  • “In 1990, China’s population is over India is by about 270 million [1.14 billion vs. 870 million], and 30 years later China’s population is still over India by 30 million [1.41 billion vs. 1.38 billion].”

  • “However, if you look at the fertility rate, India’s average fertility rate [2.97%] during the 30 years years is so much higher than China’s [1.70].” All these are the official published rates.

  • “With that kind of fertility rate in India consistently over 30 years, India’s population should be larger than China’s. Mathematically it’s impossible that China’s population is still greater than India’s.”

  • I’m skipping over a detailed breakdown of the two country’s respective fertility rates by decades.

  • “I asked GPT to apply the fertility rates for each country and give me the total population in 2020 for India and China respectively, and this is the results it generate. In 2020 population, India’s population was 1.38 billion, China’s was only 890 million.” India’s number is off the official figure by 4%. China’s number is off by 37%, or 520 million people. And this is at a time when life expectancy for China has been increasing.

  • Analysis of various other population factor considerations snipped.

  • “I asked AI to recalculate everything by replacing the official fertility of 1.7 and 1.5 from the year to 2000 to 2010 replaced them with Dr. Yi Fuxian [University of Wisconsin Madison demographic researcher whose work we previously mentioned here] fertility assessment of 1.1. It came up with a shocking total population of 695 million, and that’s less than half of the announced population of 1.4 billion.”

  • We didn’t see a huge drop in economic output because China’s economy is investment driven.

  • “Population loss took place over 30 years, and particularly started since 2000, and this reduction in population didn’t show up as reduction in consumer spending until this generation reached the age of 18, or even older, when they started to spend money. So now we start to see the impact on consumer spending because there’s a time lag.

  • Plus Flu Manchu deaths.

  • “China suddenly saw a wave of kindergarten closures, so in some cases private kindergartens have been shrunk by 20% in some regions.”

  • “So for all these factors combined, I think China’s real population may be between 600 million and to 800 million.”

Given the GDP overstatement estimates, this enormous overstatement of China’s population seems plausible. It also makes all those wild claims of “China will soon overtake the US economically” look even more ridiculous.

China’s “one child per couple” policy will be seen by future generations as one of the greatest self-inflicted catastrophes in history.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11159 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Commies always overstate their numbers, performance and metrics.

There are other ways to estimate a metric with a large disparity by looking at correlated metrics like food produced or consumed or single use essentials…. Sort of the same way the IRS catches business’ laundering money or cheating on their taxes.
Posted by: Airandee || 12/31/2024 7:49 Comments || Top||

#2 
Just tossing it out there....

Interesting 40 years for CCP
Covid-19, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Asian Flu, SARS, Avian Flu...
China demo's 100's of unused Apartment complexes ...etc etc etc

Question: If CCP is broke and underpopulated.
How did they come to increase their purchases of US Nation Debt from $105.6 Billion to $749.0++ Billion?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/31/2024 8:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Commies always overstate their numbers, performance and metrics.

We've had Commies stats here for the last four years. I'm not sure we're ready for the rectification of that in order to move forward. Cause our fiscally spendthrift addicted Left is going to fight to the death.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/31/2024 8:11 Comments || Top||

#4  How did they come to increase their purchases of US Nation Debt from $105.6 Billion to $749.0++ Billion?

Because the Chinese play the long game, which includes increasing their control over other nations' or groups' economies.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/31/2024 8:33 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm not confirming or disputing the stated facts and conclusions of this article, but relying on AI in such matters is a bad idea IMHO.

AI just isn't good with facts and prone to heavy hallucinations.

Making some basic assumptions and doing simple back of the envelope calculations would be far more reliable.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 12/31/2024 16:35 Comments || Top||

#6  AI = Artificial insanity
Posted by: Elmaper+McGurque1612 || 12/31/2024 22:49 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Reports: IDF troops advance in Syria buffer zone, search government buildings in Madinat al-Baath
Looking for weapons stashes to destroy and useful files full of interesting information, no doubt.
[IsraelTimes] IDF troops operating in southern Syria reportedly advanced into the town of Madinat al-Baath in the Quneitra Governorate.

Local Syrian media outlets say that Israeli forces entered several government buildings in the town to search them.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Madinat al-Baath is located within a buffer zone between Israel and Syria, which the IDF entered following the fall of the Assad regime.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11166 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
UN agency says 2 killed as Gaza aid convoy looted; Hamas claims organization ‘fully responsible’
[IsraelTimes] Two people have been killed in northern Gaza, as gunmen attacked an aid convoy, the World Food Program says, prompting Hamas to accuse the UN agency of having failed to coordinate security.

The World Food Program says in a statement that “a coordinated movement to bring in 40 trucks on behalf of humanitarian partners” on Sunday “was faced with violent, armed looting, resulting in the deaths of two.”

“During the armed looting, five trucks of commodities were lost,” it adds.

Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that runs the Gaza Strip, says in a statement that “a catastrophic mistake” by the WFP “claimed the lives of two citizens and injured dozens with bullets.”

“We hold it fully responsible and demand that it not violate the protocol followed regarding coordination to secure aid trucks,” the statement says.

The WFP says in its statement that, for the past two weeks, “nearly every movement of aid through crossings in south and central Gaza has resulted in violence, looting, and tragic deaths, due to attacks and the absence of law and order along convoy routes inside Gaza.”

The organization says that it is still following “procedures of coordination set in place in previous months,” and that it has “repeatedly warned of the dangers of movement in the absence of law and order” in the Palestinian territory.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11167 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


#2  A parent-child fight.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 12/31/2024 2:02 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Houthi-controlled ports reportedly out of service since Israeli strikes on December 18
[IsraelTimes] Three ports on Yemen’s west coast under Houthi control have been out of service since Israeli strikes against them on December 18, according to sources quoted by Al Arabiya.

Ships anchored in the ports of Hodeida, Salif, and Ras Issa have been unable to leave, the Saudi news outlet reports, cutting off an essential lifeline for the regime.

The harbors were again targeted in IDF strikes last week, as part of Israel’s campaign to destroy infrastructure used by Houthis for military activities. The ports of Ras Issa and Hodeida also include fuel storage facilities, making them vital economic hubs for the terror group.

A strike on the Hodeida port in July reportedly cost the Houthis over $300 million in material losses and lost port revenue, as the Iran-backed rebel group struggles to find resources, given Yemen’s dismal economic crisis and international isolation.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11156 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Khat imports will be expensive.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 12:22 Comments || Top||

#2  I think Yemen produces its own khat.
Posted by: Rambler || 12/31/2024 19:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Yemen used to, but it needs a lot of water. I think Somalia is now supplying the stuff, though I could be wrong.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 21:14 Comments || Top||

#4  As best I can tell, the Houthis are still offloading supplies from ships in some of their port facilities, still accepting deliveries by truck, still having aircraft landing & taking off from their airfields, and still have something resembling an electric grid. Article doesn't mention how many ports under Houthi control continue to operate.
Posted by: Elmaper+McGurque1612 || 12/31/2024 22:43 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria’s long-ruling Baath party on way out after collapse of Assad regime
[IsraelTimes] New leaders turn Baath headquarters in Damascus into a location for former security officials, soldiers to hand over their weapons; many party members have gone into hiding or fled

A few days after Death Eaters in Syria overthrew President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
, his ruling Baath party announced it was freezing its activities, marking a stunning change in fortunes for the political group that had ruled for more than six decades.

Many members of the party’s leadership have gone into hiding and some have fled the country. In a symbolic move, Syria’s new rulers have turned the former party headquarters in Damascus into a center where former members of the army and security forces line up to register their names and hand over their weapons.

Calls are on the rise to officially dissolve the Arab Socialist Baath Party that had ruled Syria since 1963.

Many Syrians — including former party members — say its rule damaged relations with other Arab countries and aided in the spread of corruption that brought the war-torn nation to its knees.

"The party should not only be dissolved, it should go to hell," said Mohammed Hussein Ali, 64, who worked for a state oil company and was a party member for decades until he quit at the start of Syria’s anti-government uprising in 2011 that turned into civil war. He never left the country and said he is happy the Baath rule is over.

An official with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
, or HTS, the group that led the Death Eater offensive that overthrew Assad, said no official decision has been made on what to do with the Baath party.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, noted that HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said that officials who committed crimes against the Syrian people over the past decades will be brought to justice and hinted that they include party members.

The Baath party, whose aim was to unify Arab states in one nation, was founded by two Syrian Arab nationalists, Michel Aflaq and Salaheddine Bitar, in 1947 and at one point ruled two Arab countries, Iraq and Syria.

A rivalry developed between the Syrian branch under Assad and his late father, Hafez, and the one in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, who was removed from power by a US-led invasion in 2003.

In Syria, the Baath party became inextricably associated with the Assad family, which took power in 1970. For decades, the family used the party and its pan-Arab ideology to control the country. Many senior military jobs were held by members of the family’s minority Alawite sect, and party membership was used as a cover to give it a nationalist rather than a sectarian nature.

A former soldier and decades-long Baath party member who came to party headquarters to cut his military ties, Abdul-Rahman Ali, said he had no idea it was founded by Aflaq and Bitar. He had always thought that Hafez Assad was the founder.

"I am happy. We have been liberated from fear," said Ali, 43. "Even the walls had ears. We didn’t dare express opinions with anyone." He was referring to the dreaded security and intelligence agencies that detained and tortured people who expressed criticism of Assad or government officials.

Many Syrians were required to join the Baath Vanguards, the party’s youth branch, while in elementary school, where Arab nationalist and socialist ideology was emphasized.

It was difficult for people who were not party members to get government jobs or join the army or the security and intelligence services.

In 2012, a year after Syria’s uprising began, a paragraph of the constitution stating that the Baath party was the leader of the nation and society was abolished, in a move aimed at appeasing the public’s demand for political reforms. In practice, however, the party remained in control, with members holding majority seats in parliament and government.

Another former soldier, who gave only his first name, Ghadir, out of fear of reprisals as a member of the Alawite sect, said he came from a poor family and joined the party so he could enter the military for a stable income.

"You could not take any job if you were not a Baathist," he said.

While few are mourning the party’s fall in Syria, some are concerned that the Sunni majority that now controls the country could carry out a purge similar to the one in Iraq after Saddam’s fall.

A de-Baathification committee was formed in Iraq and its main job was purging Saddam loyalists from government and military institutions. The Sunni minority considered it a means of sectarian score-settling by Iraq’s Shiite majority. The Sunni resentment and disenfranchisement that followed helped to drive the rise of bad boy groups in the country including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
in Iraq.

In Syria, a Baath party statement issued three days after Assad’s fall called on all members to hand their weapons and public cars to the new authorities.

On December 24, party member and former army colonel Mohammed Merhi was among hundreds who lined up at the former party headquarters and handed over weapons.

Merhi said the Baath party should be given another opportunity because its principles are good but were exploited over decades. But he said he might want to join another party if Syria becomes a multiparty democracy in the future.

He handed over his Soviet Makarov pistol and received a document saying he can now move freely in the country after reconciling with the new authorities.

"I want to become again a normal Syrian citizen and work to build a new Syria," he said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11143 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Indian workers slowly replacing Palestinians in Israeli construction industry
[IsraelTimes] 16,000 laborers have come to Israel from India in the last year, but analysts say it still does not make up the shortfall caused when most Palestinians were barred after Oct. 7

Wearing a safety belt, helmet and work boots, Raju Nishad navigates the scaffolding, hammering blocks that will form part of a building in a new neighborhood in central Israel’s town of Beer Yaakov.

While he and other Indians working alongside him do not look out of place on the expansive construction site, they are relative newcomers to Israel’s building industry.

They are part of an Israeli government effort to fill a void left by tens of thousands of Paleostinian construction workers barred from entering Israel since Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.

If that attack had not happened, this site, with its slowly emerging high-rise towers, homes, roads and pavements, would have teemed with laborer’s speaking Arabic — unlike the Hindi, Hebrew and even Mandarin of today.

The Hamas attack, which saw bully boyz kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and take 251 hostages, triggered the deadliest war yet between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip.

It later spread to include other Iran-backed groups including Hezbollah in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel...
and 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...
rebels in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, and even direct confrontation with the Islamic Theocratic Republic itself.

None of this deterred Nishad, 35, from coming to Israel.

"There’s nothing to be afraid of here," he said, despite several air raid warnings that have sent him running for the shelters.

"Once it (the siren) stops, we just resume our work," he told AFP.

High earnings in Israel, where some workers can make three times what they would back home, are the key to why people like Nishad flock here, thousands of kilometers (miles) away.

"I’m saving for the future, planning to make wise investments and do something meaningful for my family," Nishad said.

He is just one of around 16,000 workers who have come from India over the past year — and Israel has plans to bring thousands more.

NEW RECRUITMENT DRIVE
India is the world’s fifth-largest economy and one of the fastest growing, but it has also struggled to generate enough full-time jobs for millions of people.

Indians have been employed in Israel for decades, thousands as caregivers looking after elderly Israelis, while others work as diamond traders and IT professionals.

But since the war in Gaza escalated, recruiters have launched a drive to bring Indians in for Israel’s construction sector also.

Samir Khosla, chairman of Delhi-based Dynamic Staffing Services, which has sent about 500,000 Indians to work in more than 30 countries, has so far brought more than 3,500 workers to Israel, a new market for him.

Khosla himself arrived for the first time a month after the October 7 attack, after the authorities appealed for foreign workers in the construction industry, which ground to a halt when the Gaza war broke out.

"We didn’t know much about the market, and there wasn’t an incumbent workforce from India here," Khosla said.

"We really had to move around and understand the needs," he said, adding that he believed India was a natural choice for Israel given their "excellent relations."

He now hopes to bring in up to 10,000 Indian laborer’s, as he has a large pool of skilled Indian workers across all trades.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS POSSIBLE
In nearby Tel Aviv, a group of Indians live in a small flat where, in addition to the construction skills they brought with them, they have also learned to cook the familiar spicy dishes they miss from home.

"In a short time, one can earn more money" in Israel, said Suresh Kumar Verma, 39. Like Nishad, he is from India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. Verma works on a construction site north of Israel’s commercial capital.

"Making money is also necessary... It’s important to continue working hard for the family’s future."

Israeli researchers believe the number of Indians working in construction still does not match the number of Paleostinians who did so before the war, and this is hampering the sector’s overall growth.

Before the Hamas attack, around 80,000 Paleostinians, mostly from the West Bank, were employed in construction, along with some 26,000 foreigners, Eyal Argov of the central Bank of Israel said.

Now there are about 30,000 foreigners employed, far fewer than the previous overall workforce figures, he said, adding that activity in the current quarter of 2024 is about 25 percent below pre-war levels.

"These numbers (of Indians) are still very low," Argov said.

While this does not create an immediate "shortage of housing, it may cause delays in the supply of new housing," he said.

"Israel has a growing population, increasing by two percent annually, and this delay might lead to some shortage in the future."
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At present there are more than 30,000 Philipinos
employed in Israel. Expat workers must be more than 100,000.
Posted by: Glusomp Spealet4328 || 12/31/2024 5:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Some number of Thai guestworkers, too. Both nations were represented in the early release of Hamas captives after 10/7.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 14:34 Comments || Top||


Israeli spy network uncovers Hezbollah commander's plans to marry his 4 mistresses
[FoxNews] Israel's spy network penetrated Hezbollah, learning intimate details of terror group's top commanders

Israel Defense Forces troops uncovered an underground tunnel complex used by Hezbollah to store weapons in southern Lebanon.

Israeli spy agencies have uncovered information about Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr's plans to marry his four mistresses over the phone, according to a report.

The New York Times reported this week about its investigation into how deeply Israeli spies had penetrated Hezbollah leading up to the assassination of its top leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as other commanders in the Iran-backed terror group.

Israel announced in July that its forces had killed Shukur during what was, at the time, a rare and provacative strike in Beirut.

It came in response to Israel assessing that the Hezbollah commander was behind the rocket attack days earlier in the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 people, including schoolchildren.

The United States had also long blamed Shukur for staging and planning a bombing of a Marine Corps barrack in Lebanon in 1983 that killed 241 American service members.

Leading up to the strike that killed Shukr, Israeli intelligence agencies had identified four of his mistresses, according to the Times.

Shukr – apparently uneasy about his affairs – earlier this year reached out for help from Hashem Safieddine, one of Hezbollah’s highest religious clerics, to have the four women wedded, two Israeli officials and a European official told the Times.

Safieddine, in turn, reportedly arranged four marriage ceremonies conducted over the phone.

The intimate and sometimes mundane details of Shukr's personal affairs point to how closely Israeli intelligence agencies managed to track the moves of Hezbollah's leadership.

Beyond tracking meetings with mistresses, the Times report revealed how Israeli spy agencies recruited human sources within the terror group to plant listening devices in bunkers and expose hideout locations.

After a pager attack that had been orchestrated by Israel's Mossad for years, and increased strikes that killed Hezbollah leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while en route to New York City to speak before the United Nations General Assembly, finally ordered the killing of Nasrallah, according to the Times. Nasrallah, who headed Hezbollah for the past three decades, was killed in an Israeli air raid that leveled six apartment buildings in Beirut on Sept. 27.

The Times reported that Nasrallah had brushed off warnings from his commanders to change locations from his 40-foot underground Hezbollah bunker before the attack.

Unaware of the methodical Israeli intelligence providing clear visibility of his every move, he apparently believed that the Jewish state had no interest in an all-out war with Hezbollah.

Israeli F-15 jets soon after destroyed the bunker by dropping thousands of pounds of explosives, and Nasrallah, found locked in an embrace with an Iranian general who was based in Lebanon, reportedly died of suffocation underground.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11151 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


#2  In other words, Israel spent as much time as Hamas did — or more — studying the problem, and in the end to much better effect. Truly, the Lord has blessed Israel with its enemies.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 12:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Jimmy Carter the terrible, distorting reality in Gaza and other commentary
[NYPOST] CARTER THE TERRIBLE
Jimmy Carter ''was a terrible president but an even worse former president,'' thunders National Review's Philip A. Klein. His ''true legacy is one of economic misery at home and embarrassment on the world stage.''

''He left the country in its weakest position of the post-World War II era'' and ''spent the rest of his life meddling in U.S. foreign policy'' in a ''manner that could fairly be described as treasonous.''

And that's to say nothing about his ''obsessive hatred of Israel.''

We'll see ''an effort to rewrite history and claim that the 39th president was underappreciated and that people have been too harsh on him. But the truth is that historians have not been harsh enough.''

CONSERVATIVE: GOOD RIDDANCE TO GEC CENSORSHIP
By denying it funding, Congress has forced ''the Global Engagement Center, an office housed within the State Department .%u2009.%u2009. to close up shop,'' cheers the Washington Examiner's Gabe Kaminsky.

''The taxpayer-backed GEC,'' created in the name of thwarting misinformation, ''violated its mandate to work only overseas and devolved into a partisan enabler of speech suppression in the United States'' by granting funds ''to the British Global Disinformation Index, which created a blacklist of'' right-leaning US-based websites (including The Post) that reported on such stories as ''the Hunter Biden laptop story and COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis.''

The GEC ''even circulated internal guidance with the aim of discrediting'' critical reporters such as Kaminsky and Matt Taibbi. Its defunding ''is a further vindication of our reporting on its seemingly unlawful activities.''

MEDIA WATCH: DISTORTING REALITY IN GAZA
''Nothing is as it seems'' in Gaza, fumes Commentary's Seth Mandel. Take the Kamal Adwan Hospital and its medical director, Hussam Abu Safyia. The New York Times mentioned ''dismissively'' that Israel ''claims'' Hamas was using the hospital, and Safyia penned an opinion column griping about conditions. But a recent IDF raid on the site revealed it was in fact hosting 240 suspected terrorists, ''including Safyia.''

Many tried to flee. ''It's easy to see through the mainstream press's smokescreen'' around ''medical staff and patients who aren't medical staff or patients, trying to flee the hospital that isn't a hospital.''

''Journalists who aren't journalists,'' ''teachers who aren't teachers'' and ''aid workers who aren't aid workers — who are these folks even trying to fool?''

FROM THE LEFT: UNCOVERED STORY OF THE YEAR
Racket News' Matt Taibbi notes that ''2024 was the year in which people we used to call 'elites''' fell back on ''trying to bullshit their way through crises holding no cards at all,'' with ''over-covered pseudo-stor[ies]'' like ''the politics of joy'' and ''ostentatious non-coverage of big, real questions, many still unanswered.''

For one: ''Who's running the county?''

''We now know America hasn't had a functioning president for at least this year and probably longer, which means someone other than the president has been making presidential decisions.''

Indeed, ''this real-world Dave script involves someone not named Biden steering presidential authority to approve billions for shooting wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, while handing out pardons in record numbers, among God knows how many other things. Is there even a word for fraud on that scale? A lot of people need to go to jail behind this caper.''

URBAN BEAT: DEMS VS. 'LIVABLE' CITIES
The horrific video of a ''woman burning to death'' on a Big Apple subway ''is a snapshot of the city's problems: crime, mentally deranged and intoxicated vagrants, undocumented migrants and unsafe subways,'' observes The Wall Street Journal's Allysia Finley.

Though New York City's ''subways are a microcosm of its disorder,'' it ''seems to be an epidemic in big Democrat-controlled cities like Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.''

While ''Democrats love to talk about making cities 'livable,''' it's ''their high taxes, crime and chaos'' that have made them ''unbearable.''

''When Christmas dinner conversations turn to a poor soul burned to death on a New York subway, Democrats have a five-alarm fire on their hands.''

Posted by: Fred || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11162 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jimmy Carter remembered as 'hero' that sparked craft beer industry
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 10:58 Comments || Top||

#2  If we're going to commemorate Carter, how about we also commemorate the 8 US servicemen who lost their lives at Desert One while trying to unscrew Carter's Iran folly?

Marines: Sgt. John D. Harvey, Cpl. George N. Holmes, Jr., and Staff Sgt. Dewey L. Johnson

Air Force: Capt. Richard L. Bakke, Capt. Harold L. Lewis, Tech. Sgt. Joel C. Mayo, Capt. Lynn D. McIntosh, and Capt. Charles T. McMillan II
Posted by: Matt || 12/31/2024 11:57 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ Amen, Matt
Posted by: Frank G || 12/31/2024 12:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Add to #2 the seldom discussed folly of political "Jointness"(multi-service) participation in what resulted in a complex mission becoming a tragic kluster@ok. Also seldom discussed was the successful clandestine infiltration and exfiltration of extremis forces into Tehran.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/31/2024 13:47 Comments || Top||

#5  As I recall, Operation Eagle Claw was an early, if not the first, actual 'joint' deployment of the RDJTF. As such the fielded operators were subject to the poor integration and conflicting interests of their respective commands as well as failures due to unprepared equipment and environment assessments.

Correct me if I'm in error.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 16:52 Comments || Top||

#6  /\ Not wrong.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/31/2024 17:17 Comments || Top||

#7  It was one of the first missions of Delta and the Night Stalkers did not exist. A sandstorm dramatically changed the terrain after the Air Force had done recon. It was the beginning. Much better than the Mayaguez Incident in that we didn’t accidentally leave a machine gun crew behind inadvertently.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 18:02 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Democrat-Run Chicago: Nearly 2,800 Shooting Victims in 2024
[Breitbart] Numbers released by the Chicago City Government show there were nearly 2,800 shooting victims in the city from January 1, 2024, to December 30, 2024.

According to Chicago.gov, the total number of shooting victims–fatal and non-fatal combined–was 2,794 for the time frame in view.

The total breaks down to 512 fatal shooting victims and 2,282 non-fatal shooting victims.

At the time of the writing of this article, there are roughly 36 hours left in 2024, which means the total number of shooting victims could increase. But as of right now, the total is about 150 fewer than in 2023. However, “human trafficking victimizations” rose 141.7 percent in Chicago in 2024 versus where they were in 2023 and “aggravated battery victimizations” increased by 5.5 percent.

Breitbart News reported at least 100 people were shot in Chicago during the Fourth of July weekend alone. Seventeen of the shooting victims from that one weekend succumbed to their wounds.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11158 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
HEYJACKASS.COM & SOME ADDITIONAL CHICAGO GUN VIOLENCE DATA

Now compare Chicago's a Democrat run metro Demographics & Gun Violence.
Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2022: 17.2% (note: no 2023-24 data, I wonder why?)

Racial Breakdown of the 17.2%
9.3% are White Non-Hispanic residents,
28.7% are Black residents,
14.8% are Hispanic or Latino residents.

For more info see: https://www.city-data.com/city/Chicago-Illinois.html


Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/31/2024 5:12 Comments || Top||

#2  ..but, but, they have gun control laws!
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/31/2024 7:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Class-V (ammo) shortage.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/31/2024 10:04 Comments || Top||

#4  2,800 shooting victims and all the news talks about is the modern Al Capone getting shot in the back and how bad the shooter was. In other news United is posting record profits this year, a record even for the robber barons of the insurance world. 2,800 in one city...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/31/2024 10:23 Comments || Top||



-Short Attention Span Theater-
Communists from the USA sends humanitarian aid to Donbass
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Representatives of the American Communist Party sent 55 boxes of humanitarian aid to Donbass. This was reported on December 30 by American journalist Jackson Hinkle.

“We, the communists, fully support the special military operation,” Hinkle said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

He noted that the party members' contribution is still small, but they want to improve people's lives and help them "in the fight against NATO aggression." The humanitarian aid shipment included dry milk, children's toys, as well as New Year's gifts, canned meat, and medicine.

The journalist recalled that in the past Russia helped the United States, including during the Civil War, and the current situation in Donbass is perceived in the party as an opportunity to thank Russia.

The delivery took place in coordination with the Russian Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, in September, representatives of the People's Front brought humanitarian aid to the Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions for large families who had fled their homes due to shelling of the regions by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Residents received food, bed linen, dishes, clothes, toys for children and household appliances.

In 2024, activists of the Luhansk regional branch of the United Russia party joined the work of providing humanitarian aid to residents of the LPR and participants in the special operation. They handed over more than a thousand units of tactical equipment to military personnel, food and warm clothes to residents of frontline territories.
Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11159 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Taliban order all NGOs in Afghanistan to stop employing women or face closure
Unexpectedly.
[IsraelTimes] The Taliban says it will close all national and foreign nongovernmental groups in Afghanistan employing women. It comes two years after they told NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they didn’t wear the Islamic headscarf correctly.

In a letter published on X Sunday night, the Economy Ministry warns that failure to comply with the latest order will lead to NGOs losing their license to operate in Afghanistan.

The ministry says it is responsible for the registration, coordination, leadership and supervision of all activities carried out by national and foreign organizations.

The government is once again ordering the stoppage of all female work in institutions not controlled by the Taliban, according to the letter.

“In case of lack of cooperation, all activities of that institution will be canceled and the activity license of that institution, granted by the ministry, will also be canceled.”

The Taliban have already barred women from many jobs and most public spaces. They have also excluded them from education beyond sixth grade.
Tolo News adds:
Abdul Rahman Habib, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, said that currently 853 non-governmental organizations, including 175 foreign and 678 domestic organizations, are operating in the country.

The spokesperson told TOLOnews: "At present, there are a total of 853 non-Emirate (non-governmental) NGOs, including 175 foreign and 678 domestic organizations, whose budgets for individual projects are registered in the Ministry of Economy’s system, and they operate in various sectors with project-based activities."

On Sunday, the Ministry of Economy once again issued an order to stop women from working in non-governmental organizations. The ministry stressed that if these organizations do not cooperate in this regard, all their activities will be suspended, and the licenses they have obtained from the ministry will be revoked.

Related: Taliban Ministry of Economy gave 10,000 Licenses to Women Entrepreneurs Over Past 3 Years

Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under: Taliban/IEA

#1  The NGOs should just pull their services. In truth, they never should have been there to begin with.
Posted by: Crusader || 12/31/2024 10:35 Comments || Top||

#2  This one is even better, no windows, because women should not be seen in houses!

https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/taliban-window-ban-women-home-b2672070.html
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 12/31/2024 14:36 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
THIS Engine Flaw KILLS Airlines!
[YouTube]


Mentour: WHAT's Going on with Pratt & Whitney!? Some airlines are having problems with HUGE numbers of grounded jets. Is there something fundamentally wrong with their turbo engines?
Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11142 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The miracle seats of Jeju Air flight 2216: Crucial factors that helped two cabin crew survive South Korean plane crash inferno that killed all other 179 people on board

'Smoke came out of one of the plane's engines and then it exploded.'
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 13:22 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Washington Free Beacon 2024 Man of the Year: Lily Tang Williams
If you ever wanted to know what the spousal unit sounds like when she is mad at me, here you go:
[FreeBeacon] America is drowning in bullshit, and few dare to call it out. Take Jake Sullivan’s wife, for example.

Life isn’t easy being married to Sullivan. He's balding. His face is weirdly bony. And as Joe Biden's national security adviser, he's responsible for some of the worst foreign policy disasters in modern American history. Yuck.

It was only fitting, then, that Sullivan's wife packed her carpetbags, left her loser husband in Washington, D.C., and traipsed off to New Hampshire, where she rented a place to stay and sought employment as a congresswoman of the Granite State.

She already owned a (vacation) home in New Hampshire. But living there and bearing the Sullivan family name wouldn't do. No, to the voters, she would be known as Maggie Goodlander, a humble, working-class renter who understands the plight of the common man.

"I am a renter, and there should be more renters in Congress," Goodlander told the New York Times in May.

Bullshit. But the voters didn’t know that until Goodlander came face to face with her Republican opponent, Lily Tang Williams, one fateful evening in late October.

Being a survivor of communist China who immigrated to the United States in 1988 with just $100 in her pocket, Tang Williams knows bullshit when she sees it. And boy, did she spot a heaping pile of it on the debate stage that evening.



"You are wealthy! You are worth 20 million to 30 million dollars!" Tang Williams unleashed in a torrent of broken English and righteous indignation. "How do you know about regular people suffering? Do you go shopping, go to Walmart and buy food? I talk to those people, and you pretend to be renter in Nashua a few months ago moving back to run for this open seat with millions of dollars from Washington, D.C., insiders."

Phew. But Tang Williams wasn’t finished.

"Your husband Jake Sullivan, national security adviser, is causing world on fire because he's incompetent," Tang Williams said with beastlike authority. "He should get fired."

Fact check: true on all counts.

The voters granted Tang Williams’s wish, firing Jake Sullivan and the rest of the Biden administration in November amid a groundswell of Republican support from Asian immigrants fed up with Democratic bullshit.

"We drink sweet tea! We don’t drink socialist Kool-Aid!" one freedom-loving Asian immigrant roared outside a Trump rally in August.

For her part, Tang Williams put up a good fight, but the electoral odds were stacked against her. Goodlander will go on to serve in Congress in January, where she will carry on her husband’s legacy of failure and disappointment.

It's a disappointing result for America. Tang Williams, however, won something better than a seat in the House of Representatives that October evening: a Washington Free Beacon Man of the Year award.

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11147 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 11:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Zoolander says there should be more renters in Congress. I agree, but I would rather see them rent in DC and own in their district, not vice versa.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 12:05 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 13:04 Comments || Top||


Europe
German minister: ‘Striking signs’ that deadly car-ramming suspect is mentally ill
[IsraelTimes] Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser says there are indications that the Saudi suspect in a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market 10 days ago is mentally ill.

“There are striking signs of a pathological psyche,” Faeser tells reporters, adding that lessons must be learnt on how to track potential “perpetrators who are psychologically disturbed and… driven by confused conspiracy theories.”
So what the lady is saying is that Dr. Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, 50, the drug-using, German-trained psychotherapist from Hofuf in the Shiite region of Saudi Arabia, treated German patients for eighteen years — since his arrival in 2006 — despite becoming dangerously mentally unstable himself. A mental instability that was reported to various authorities a number of times over the years, and an equal number of times brushed off — possibly because no one wanted to be seen as racist, the other possibility being that no one cared that the welfare of the masses receiving government health insurance was placed in the hands of a dangerous monomaniac who spent all his free time tweeting about German unfairness to non-Syrian refugees and whether he ought to commit mass murder to punish them for it. Top men and women are assuredly running that country. February elections can’t come soon enough.

Police Were Warned of Gaps in Christmas Market Security Weeks Before Attack, Says Leaked Email
[Breitbart] Investigation into how the Germany Christmas market attack was allowed to happen descends into bickering and finger-pointing, as newspaper reveals the car-sized gaps in security were known about weeks in advance.

A representative of the Magdeburg city municipal company that runs its annual Christmas market had written to local police three weeks before December’s fatal attack to point out problems, an alleged leaked email said to have been seen by the Volksstimme newspaper claims. The publication states the email refers to the security plan made for the Christmas market, given German authorities know well their annual festivities are a prominent target for attacks, and states the police side of arrangements wasn’t being adhered to.

Referring to the security plan having emergency vehicle accesses to the centre of the market to allow access for police, ambulance, and fire engines in case of an incident but those routes having to be closed off by a parked police vehicle otherwise, the council employee states those police vehicles are frequently absent.

They are reported to have written: “In the area of ​​Hartstrasse, the vehicles are sometimes parked in the wrong position,… I spoke to my colleagues politely and they told me that they had no information about the operation here.”

The email is said to have received no response. It is further stated the market’s security concept was inspected prior to the event opening, but that inspection failed to notice deficiencies, including car-sized gaps between the so-called ‘diversity barriers’ ringing the site not being secured with thick steel chains. Volksstimme stated: “when the market opened, there were wide gaps between the concrete barriers that were supposed to protect the entrances and escape routes.”

In the event, access to the market had been left so wide-open the alleged attacker was able to drive in the market at one end, and then straight out of the other — at the Hartstrasse mentioned in the leaked email — without being stopped, and after having killed five and injured over 200, dozens of them critically.

Damning as the email may seem, Germany’s Bild notes a Magdeburg police representative totally rejected responsibility for the Christmas market, a situation the paper characterised as “everyone is blaming each other”.

The police spokesman told Bild: “The organizer is fundamentally responsible for security at the Christmas market” and that if the city had wanted to be able to control access to the market at four emergency access points, they should have erected lockable security gates rather than rely on the police.

As previously reported, the police being involved in blocking those entrances was nevertheless part of the plan police had agreed to and their own security documents referred to “mobile police barriers” being in place.

Protests by the police they are innocent in the matter appear to have already been dismissed as being potentially without foundation, however, as the local state government has already laid criminal charges against the local force and market organiser for an alleged failure to stop a preventable attack.
Criminal charges against the police? That’s not good.

Magdeburg attack: Over €600,000 donated to victims, families
[DW] The city’s administration said there have been over 5,600 donations after the deadly attack at a Christmas market. “All donations prove that our city is sticking together,” said city mayor Simone Borris.

The city administration in Magdeburg, Germany said that €615,227.91 ($641,313.57) had been donated to the victims and relatives of the Christmas market attack.

On December 20, a man originally from Saudi Arabia who came to Germany in 2006 drove a car through crowds at the city's Christmas market, killing five people and injuring as many as 235. A 9-year-old child was among those killed.

"The willingness of the population to donate is impressive and another sign of the great solidarity, the broad support and the sense of community that we are currently feeling in many places in Magdeburg,” said Magdeburg Mayor Simone Borris.

"My thoughts are also with the five fatalities, the bereaved and the many injured, as well as the countless relief and emergency services," Borris said in a statement.

"All donations prove that our city is sticking together. This gives us strength and confidence for the future," the mayor said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11156 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli who allegedly spied for Iran accused of stalking Gantz’s home, torching cars
[IsraelTimes] Petah Tikva resident Alexander Granovsky accused of spray-painting messages supporting founder of Islamic Republic, in latest in over a dozen such plots foiled in recent months

A resident of the central city of Petah Tikva has been arrested for carrying out missions on behalf of "foreign elements," the Shin Bet security agency and police said Monday, the latest in a series of plots involving civilians apparently recruited by 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
that security agencies say have been foiled in recent months.

Alexander Granovsky, 29, was detained over suspicions he was "committing security offenses after he was suspected of being involved in several vehicle arsons on behalf of foreign elements," the Shin Bet and police said.

According to the investigation, Granovsky has been in contact with "terror elements" from abroad since November, and carried out "a large number of different security tasks for them" for monetary gain.

The Shin Bet said Granovsky had known that the tasks had the "potential to harm national security."

The agency did not explicitly say that Iran was behind the plot, but the tasks bore similarities to previous alleged Iranian attempts.

The tasks that Granovsky carried out, according to the Shin Bet, included setting fire to eight vehicles across Israel, as well as graffitiing "Children of Ruhollah" — referring to Ruhollah Khomeini, the first supreme leader of the Islamic Theocratic Republic — on one of the cars.

He also allegedly photographed a state-owned facility in central Israel, took a photo of the entrance to the neighborhood where former defense minister MK Benny Gantz resides, and sent the latter image to his handlers.

Granovsky is also accused of sending his handlers information about an Israeli civilian for the purpose of examining his recruitment for various tasks, purchasing military fatigues for a video in which he would be seen burning them, and more.

An indictment was set to be filed against Granovsky within a few days.

The incident marks at least the 13th alleged Iranian espionage plot revealed by Israeli authorities in recent months.

Since September, Israeli authorities have announced arrests in many cases involving individuals or cells suspected of spying or plotting attacks on behalf of Iran. In some, Tehran tried to trick Israelis online into carrying out missions on its behalf. In other cases, individuals are alleged to have knowingly operated on its behalf for money.

Earlier this month, an Israeli resident of Jerusalem, Erdler Israel Amoyal, 23, was arrested for allegedly carrying out missions on behalf of Iran and planning a terror attack.

Before that, police said that Artyom Zolotarev, 33, was detained in November over suspicions he was committing security offenses related to contact with Iranian intelligence officials. He is suspected of graffitiing anti-government and pro-Iran slogans in several northern cities and setting fire to cars in Haifa on separate occasions.

In September, seven Jewish Israelis were arrested on suspicion of spying on security figures and IDF bases for Iran.

On October 14, a Ramat Gan man and his 18-year-old partner were arrested on charges that they carried out various acts of sabotage and vandalism on behalf of an Iranian agent.

On October 16, the Israel Police and State Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of a man from central Israel who allegedly acquired a weapon to kill an Israeli scientist on instructions from an Iranian agent, after performing several smaller tasks on the agent’s behalf.

On October 22, seven East Jerusalem men, six of them Israeli citizens, were arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran and plotting attacks in Israel.

Those cases came after authorities in January uncovered a scheme involving Israelis who were allegedly recruited to gather intelligence on high-profile figures.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11158 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Without victory the problem cannot be solved. Will Donetsk be given water for the New Year?
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

One young woman in the Donbas I follow on V Kontakte speaks of having to use a soup ladle to collect enough water to bathe in. Her situation won't improve until Slavyansk is under Russian control.

by Kirill Velesov

[REGNUM] One of the main gifts for the residents of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) for the New Year should be water, which will finally flow uninterruptedly into the homes of the frontline region of Russia around the clock during the holidays.

In any case, this is the promise made by the First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Republic, Andrei Chertkov, during a direct line.

According to him, the residents of the DPR have to make do with a quantity of water that is two or even two and a half times less than what is needed for normal life. And if during the year the situation with water supply was more or less tolerable for the war-hardened residents of Donbass, then by the end of December the water supply schedules had been reduced even more.

Currently, water reaches the districts of the republic's capital every other day at best.

The main operator of the republican water supply, the State Unitary Enterprise "Voda Donbassa", warned Donetsk residents about this in an SMS the other day, although residents of some areas of Donetsk report that their already meager water supply was cut off even earlier. At the same time, local authorities are calling on residents of Donetsk and Makeyevka to urgently stock up on water.

As Aleksandr, a resident of Donetsk's Kalininsky district, told a Regnum correspondent, his district now receives water on even days starting at 17:00. However, the brown liquid that flows in a thin stream from the taps can only be called water conditionally.

The whole point is that during the downtime, the pipes oxidize without regular pressure in the system and primarily produce an aqueous solution of rust.

Those lucky enough to live on the first floors of apartment buildings have every chance of draining the cloudy substance and waiting for relatively clean water.

According to Alexander, in his building, residents of the fifth and sixth floors may not receive water at all. Although the established schedule provides for water supply from 17:00 to 22:00, the weak pressure does not reach the upper floors.

However, as previously reported by IA Regnum, residents of the mining village of Lidievka in the Kirovsky district have been living without water for two years, relying on rain and volunteers who do not allow them to die of thirst.

Surprisingly, Donetsk residents say that there are places in their city where water flows regularly.

The reason for this is that houses in such "anomalous" zones are located near main water supply systems. But this is an exception that does not affect the overall sad picture.

WHERE IS THE WATER?
According to the official version, the reason for the water crisis was that during the summer-autumn period, not enough water accumulated in the reservoirs of Donbass.

And until the territory of the DPR is liberated from the Ukrainian occupiers up to Slavyansk, where the main water pipeline of the region, the Seversky Donets-Donbass Canal, created back in the 50s of the last century, begins, water will not be able to flow to Donetsk.

The Don-Donbass Canal, built in record time, in four months, is 194 kilometers long and has a capacity of about 300,000 cubic meters, although it helps Donbass not to finally turn into the dehydrated planet Arrakis from Frank Herbert's science fiction saga "Dune", but it cannot fully satisfy the needs of the republic.

Meanwhile, the waterways of Donbass, which have not seen repairs for a long time, continue to burst.

On December 28 alone, utility workers eliminated 258 accidents in water supply and sewerage networks. Unstable pressure in the system is detrimental to pipelines.

And it is not possible to eliminate accidents immediately. The reason is the lack of human resources.

The issue of a shortage of skilled labor in the republic is acute, even despite the patronage assistance of Russian regions, said Yuriy Leonov, deputy of the People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic and chairman of the People's Council committee on agro-industrial complex and land relations, in a commentary to IA Regnum.

Rusty water also hits the pockets of Russian citizens in the DPR.

As previously reported by IA Regnum, people whose houses are not equipped with meters have to pay for water that is not available. The moratorium on water supply payments, introduced by the head of the DPR in March 2022, was lifted in August of this year. After that, consumers began to receive bills with astronomical amounts.

Donetsk resident Olga, whose parents live in Svetlodarsk, 30 kilometers from Artemovsk, told the Regnum news agency that they are forced to pay for dirty water, which is already supplied irregularly, as if it were drinking water.

The DPR authorities acknowledge the problem.

The current standards are excessively high, and Donetsk officials should review them as early as January next year, Chertkov assured. Currently, the water standard per person per day in apartment buildings can reach 300 liters.

Heavy fighting is taking place on the territory of the republic. And it is especially difficult with water in the cities and towns of Donbass recently liberated from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

For example, in Avdeevka, where about a thousand residents remain, people were saved throughout the war by wells in the old part of the city, said volunteer and journalist Yulia Andrienko.

In Selidovo, the Ukrainian Armed Forces mined wells and approaches to water wells before retreating. As a result of an explosion near one of them, according to local residents, 12 people were killed.

There will be water. Alas, not for everyone.

Despite all the difficulties, residents of the republic will hear the long-awaited hissing in the taps on New Year's Eve. According to Andrey Chertkov, the head of the DPR ordered utility workers to provide round-the-clock water supply on December 30 and 31 of this year, as well as on January 1, 2025.

"Perhaps a small reserve will be formed now and there will be enough water during the New Year holidays. But, unfortunately, not everyone will have water. The problems are caused by the fact that many utilities have not changed for decades. In some places, the technological opening is several millimeters. It is necessary to apply high pressure so that the water reaches the upper floors, and because of this, it begins to burst in other places," explained Yuri Leonov.

However, major repairs were carried out in some areas, but the volume of work required throughout the republic is enormous. The deterioration of water supply and sanitation systems is 90%.

"The employees of the water utility, who work as dispatchers, are now taking on a large portion of negativity. But this is the situation, and the mobilization of society must be colossal. There is no way to tell people that everything will be fine. But it is also impossible to claim that the authorities of the republic are doing nothing," noted the deputy of the People's Council of the DPR.

The Donbass industry has been absorbing water resources in huge quantities since the beginning of industrial development of the region in the 19th century. In Soviet times, the problem of water supply was generally solved, now, after all the trials and tribulations, the residents of Donbass need to wait for the final liberation of the region so that the water problem becomes a thing of the past.

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11148 views] Top|| File under:


Current information on the situation on the front line: December 30 (updated)
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:58 Official summary of the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC from 00:00 12/30/2024 to 00:00 12/31/2024.

A total of 13 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded by the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC over the past day.

There were reports of 4 civilians being injured.

DAMAGED:
Civil infrastructure facility,
Vehicle.

A total of 13 artillery attacks in the Gorlovka direction.

A total of 43 units of various ammunition were fired.

21:10 The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked Lgov in the Kursk region; there is currently no information about casualties or damage – Khinshtein.

19:26 A large fortified area of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Uspenovka area of the DPR has come under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

19:09 Advance of the Russian Armed Forces to Sudzha:

War correspondent Timofey Ermakov reported that Russian fighters were able to move from the settlement of Cherkasskaya Konopelka to the village of Makhnovka, breaking through the enemy's defenses. The fighting is taking place directly in the settlement. There are 2.5 kilometers left to Sudzha.

18:12 Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange according to the formula 150 for 150, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

Following the exchange, Russian servicemen are now in Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary assistance, the Russian Ministry of Defense noted.

18:00 Kyiv has five times refused to allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to withdraw Ukrainian servicemen holding positions in Velyka Novosilka in the DPR, which is almost completely surrounded by Russian troops, Rogov reported.

17:20 Russian air defense forces shot down the third Ukrainian missile since the beginning of the day in the skies over Kursk Oblast, the regional operational headquarters reported.

16:21 Footage of the destruction of a Ukrainian Armed Forces pickup truck by an FPV drone crew of the North military group in the Khar'kov region.

15:30 Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 310 servicemen in Kursk direction in 24 hours — Russian Defense Ministry

15:21 Armed Forces of Ukraine attack using a drone hit a hospital in the Kherson region, seriously injuring the head doctor and killing his deputy, Saldo reported.

14:19 Russian Armed Forces approach Sudzha in Kursk region.

After the Russian fighters consolidated their positions in the village of Cherkasskaya Konopelka, a comprehensive firefight was inflicted on the Ukrainian terrorists. Up to 50 fighters of the 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fled from their positions in the vicinity of the Agronom farm. After that, assault units of the Russian Armed Forces broke into the settlement, and battles with Ukrainian Armed Forces reinforcements are underway.

14:04 A Ukrainian Armed Forces missile was shot down in the border area of Kursk Oblast, the regional government reported.

13:59 Footage of liberation of the settlement of Novoolenovka in the DPR by units of the Center group of troops in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.

13:46 As a result of Ukrainian armed aggression, a civilian resident of Gorlovka in the DPR was wounded, said the city's mayor Ivan Prikhodko.

13:28 Another German Leopard 1A5 tank was destroyed in the Shevchenko area (south of Krasnoarmeysk) –video.

13:05 UAV operators are destroying equipment and personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Operators of the strike FPV reconnaissance drones of the 132nd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 51st Guards Army effectively destroy personnel and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including the German IFV "Marder", in any terrain and in any weather conditions. All attempts by the enemy to hide from retaliation are unsuccessful.

12:44 The Ukrainian Armed Forces have pulled back a significant portion of their troops to the main line of defense near the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region, southwest of Krasnoarmeysk. According to Russian security agencies, this is the vicinity of Novoalexandrivka, Novosergeevka, and Nadezhdinka.

12:30 In the Boguslav direction, fighting has intensified on the eastern outskirts of Glushkovka.

The enemy, holding back the advance of our forces, launched a counterattack, which resulted in the destruction of up to 15 militants from the Kyiv Troops.

12:21 The Russian Armed Forces have liberated the settlement of Novoolenovka in the DPR, the Ministry of Defense reported.

12:19 From 10:00 to 12:00 Moscow time, two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defense systems on duty. One UAV was intercepted over the territory of the Bryansk region and one over the territory of the Krasnodar region.

11:20 Russian air defense forces destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region. There were no casualties or damage, the region's governor Bogomaz reported.

11:00 Russian military hoisted the tricolor on one of the multi-story buildings in the Yuzhny microdistrict in Kurakhovo –video.

10:25 The situation in Chasov Yar at this hour:

Today, since early morning, the fighting has intensified with renewed vigor. The enemy's territorial defense units are "notably battered." The Russian Aerospace Forces are delivering lightning strikes on enemy positions, destroying the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, writes "Frontovaya Ptichka." The enemy continues to mine the area as it retreats.

10:08 In the Kursk region, paratroopers evacuated to the rear of the almost undamaged M-113 VSU. The vehicle hit a mine and lost a track.

09:18 The Russian Armed Forces struck a hangar with Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment in the Poltava region, a drone warehouse in Sumy, and also near a temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Dnipropetrovsk region, there are wounded there. This was reported by representatives of the pro-Russian Mykolaiv resistance.

09:11 Army aviation crew on a Ka-52M helicopter destroyed manpower and a stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the border area of the Kursk region.

08:50 Over the past week, the airspace defense and electronic warfare system "Dome of Donbass" detected and intercepted 168 enemy UAVs over Donetsk and Makeyevka.

Increased activity of enemy reconnaissance UAVs has been recorded over technical water junctions in the Budyonovsky and Leninsky districts of Donetsk. In Makeyevka, an enemy aircraft-type drone aimed at attacking the Makeyevka Machine-Building Plant has been suppressed.

08:19 A Ukrainian Armed Forces missile was destroyed this morning over the Kursk region, the regional authorities reported.

08:15 Air defense forces destroyed one Ukrainian UAV over the Belgorod region overnight, the Defense Ministry reported.

08:09 Artillerymen stopped rotation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnoarmeysk direction, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

08:07 Ukrainian soldiers in Selidovo changed into uniforms without insignia and were shot by local residents, said city resident Marina Kovaleva.

08:01 Pokrovskoe direction: Russian Armed Forces advanced in the village of Shevchenko to a depth of up to one km from the direction of Starye Terny.

In the area of Novoelizavetovka, Russian Armed Forces advanced along a number of forest belts in a section up to 2.5 km wide and to a depth of up to 1.6 km. Clashes continue in the northern and eastern parts of the village. Near Novovasilyevka, Russian Armed Forces advanced to a depth of up to 350 meters

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11162 views] Top|| File under:


Cyber
China Hacks the U.S. Treasury
Key information. The rest devolves into a serious rant, as the writer is seriously offended by the whole situation.
[PJMedia] On Monday, a report was released that a Chinese hacker gained access to the U.S. Treasury Department. According to the report, this was a state-sponsored attack, and the hacker was affiliated with the Chinese government. Although the announcement was made on Monday, Fox News said officials learned about the breach on December 8. A spokesperson for the department said:

Once Treasury was alerted by the service provider, we immediately contacted Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and have worked with law enforcement partners across the government to ascertain the impact of this incident. The compromised BeyondTrust service has been taken offline and there is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information.

The Post Millennial reports that in a letter to politicians, the department explained that the hacker infiltrated Treasury's system through "access to a key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service used to remotely provide technical support for Treasury Departmental Offices (DO) end users. With access to the stolen key, the threat actor was able to override the service’s security, remotely access certain Treasury DO user workstations, and access certain unclassified documents maintained by those users." In that same letter, the department said that it takes threats against its systems and data "very seriously," adding that it has bolstered its cyber defense systems over the last four years. Really? Define "seriously."

The breach is being referred to as a "major incident."

Are we expected to believe that the same government that could have found and arrested a hypothetical J6 grandmother playing shuffleboard at The Villages could not have foreseen this potential attack? The same government that did track down people who were at the Capitol that day and did nothing wrong and were still brought to the Biden administration's brand of justice? No one thought to put in safeguards against this eventuality?

Inevitably, someone will bring up Biden's potential connections to China. The truth is that we will likely never know the extent of the family's corruption, at least in part because multiple people likely benefited from it.

That said, this is what you get when DEI and CRT become national policy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11142 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Out: Russia, Russia, Russia
In: China, China, China

Get who besides China would want to access data [like the kind that forensic analysis may lead to Deep State perps]?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/31/2024 7:19 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ Microsoft?
The hacking skillset is readily offshored.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 11:07 Comments || Top||

#3  I guess the Biden transfer mechanism out of the Treasury will stop soon so China needed another way in.
Posted by: alanc || 12/31/2024 12:37 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran confirms it arrested Italian journalist, says she’s being held for ‘violating the law’
[IsraelTimes] Iran confirms that it had arrested Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for “violating the law,” state media reported, a move that has been decried by Italy as “unacceptable.”

“Cecilia Sala, an Italian citizen, travelled to Iran on December 13, 2024 with a journalist’s visa and was arrested on December 19, 2024, for violating the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the official IRNA news agency says, citing a statement by the culture ministry without elaborating.

Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11153 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  We can pretend otherwise, but its foolishness for a woman to travel to Iran, "journalist" or not.
Posted by: Crusader || 12/31/2024 12:43 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian Perspective: Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (30 December 2024)
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of two territorial defence brigades near Kazachaya Lopan, Velikiye Prokhody, and Liptsy (Kharkov region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 65 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, one motor vehicle, one 152mm D-20 gun, two 122mm D-30 howitzers, and one electronic warfare station.

Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades, one assault brigade of the AFU, two territorial defence brigades, and one national guard brigade near Dvurechnaya, Zapadnoye, Glushkovka (Kharkov region), Ivanovka, Shadrigolovo, Torskoye, Terni (Donetsk People's Republic), and Serebryansky forestry. Eight counter-attacks launched by AFU armed formations were repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to more than 530 troops, one tank, one infantry fighting vehicle, four armoured personnel carriers, including three U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carriers, one armoured fighting vehicle, eight motor vehicles, one German-made 155mm Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery system, one 152mm Giatsint-B gun, one 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, three 122mm D-30 howitzers, and one U.S.-made 105mm M-119 gun.

Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and inflicted losses on formations of two mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, and one airmobile brigade of the AFU near Dalneye, Chasov Yar, Kurakhovo, and Razliv (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to more than 295 troops, one tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, one U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carrier, one Kozak armoured fighting vehicle, and two pickup trucks. Two electronic warfare stations and two field ammunition depots were destroyed.

As a result of decisive actions, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces liberated Novoolenovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

Losses were inflicted on manpower and hardware of three mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one mountain assault brigade, two assault battalions of the AFU, one naval infantry brigade, and one assault brigade of the National Police of Ukraine near Dzerzhinsk, Vozdvizhenka, Dachenskoye, and Peschanoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Eleven counter-attacks launched by the AFU armed formations were repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 420 troops, two tanks, including one German-made Leopard tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, one armoured personnel carrier, one UK-made Snatch armoured fighting vehicle, five pickup trucks, one 155mm Bogdana self-propelled artillery system, two 152mm D-20 guns, one 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, three 122mm D-30 howitzers, and one electronic warfare station.

Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of the enemy's defences and inflicted losses on formations of three mechanised brigades of the AFU and one territorial defence brigade near Dneproenergiya, Bogatyr, Zelenoye Pole, and Neskuchnoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Two counter-attacks launched by the enemy's assault detachments were repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to more than 175 troops, three motor vehicles, one 152mm D-20 gun, one U.S.-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery system, and one U.S.-made 105mm M-119 gun. One electronic warfare station and one field ammunition depot were destroyed.

Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of three territorial defence brigades near Antonovka, Mikhaylovka, and Yantarnoye (Kherson region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 75 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, four motor vehicles, and two field ammunition depots.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces struck power infrastructure that ensured operation of Ukrainian defence industry enterprises, infrastructure of military airfields, ammunition depots, attack UAV command posts and launch sites, as well as engaged AFU manpower and hardware clusters in 143 areas.

Air defence systems shot down four U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and 65 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 650 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 38,878 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20,103 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,504 MLRS combat vehicles, 20,093 field artillery guns and mortars, and 29,644 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.

More from the Russian Ministry of Defense
Russian Defence Ministry reports on repelling AFU attempt to invade Russian territory in Kursk region (30 December 2024)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.

In the course of offensive operations, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of one heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, three air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, two territorial defence brigades, and one assault battalion of the AFU near Daryino, Kurilovka, Leonidovo, Loknya, Maryevka, Makhnovka, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Novaya Sorochina, Cherkasskaya Konopelka, and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye. Five counter-attacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on AFU manpower and hardware near Aleksandriya, Viktorovka, Guyevo, Kazachaya Loknya, Kruglenkoye, Lebedevka, Nikolsky, Rubanshchina, Russkoye Porechnoye, Sverdlikovo as well as Basovka, Belovody, and Zhuravka in Sumy region.

Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 310 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, ten armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, and one artillery gun.

Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 45,530 troops, 262 tanks, 204 infantry fighting vehicles, 142 armoured personnel carriers, 1,359 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,237 motor vehicles, 337 artillery guns, 42 MLRS launchers, including 11 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 13 anti-aircraft missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 83 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 28 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, seven armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.

The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11150 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Putin is just ruining modern Russia with his attempts to protect Russia's founding myths in Ukraine.

https://x.com/Tendar/status/1874116268376076609
Posted by: Fat Bob Elmuter5510 || 12/31/2024 10:37 Comments || Top||


Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: December 30, 2024
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

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 Ukrainian soldiers had the opportunity to use both Soviet and American tanks in combat and, in their opinion, the Abrams is superior to Soviet and modern Russian equipment.

22:27 The country's top military leadership has simplified the procedure for soldiers and sergeants with combat experience to obtain officer ranks. This was stated in the evening video address of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

20:49 Residents of the Kursk region in Russia complained about explosions in the city of Lgov on Monday evening, December 30. This was reported by the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein.

20:26 The prisoner exchange took place on December 30 - 189 Ukrainians were released from Russian captivity. Among them are soldiers from Azov. This was reported by the commander of the 12th special forces brigade Azov, Hero of Ukraine Denis "Redis" Prokopenko.

20:23 Operators of the 412th Nemesis regiment destroyed a self-propelled launcher 9A310M1-2 Buk-M1-2 SAM system in the Zaporizhia direction. The corresponding video of the destruction of the enemy air defense was published by the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook on Monday, December 30.

18:58 A new $1.25 billion package of military aid from the US to Ukraine will strengthen the air defense and firepower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Pentagon reported details .

18:43 On the night of December 30, Ukrainian partisans in the Moscow region at the Dmitrov station and the Lobnya depot damaged two Russian locomotives that were supposed to be sent to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

18:29 The commander of the 211th pontoon bridge brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleg Poberezhnyuk, has been chosen as a preventive measure - detention with the possibility of posting bail of more than UAH 12 million. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

18:05 President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree appointing Olha Reshetilova (Kobylinska) as the Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Family Members of Soldiers. The main task now is to prepare a bill on the military ombudsman and all the necessary systemic foundations for the work of this institution, the president noted.

17:52 Metropolitan of the UOC MP Oleg Ivanov (Elisey), who blessed the occupiers to seize Izyum, has been given an in absentia charge. He is currently hiding in Russia, the SBU reported.

17:41 189 Ukrainians, including defenders of Azovstal and Zmeiny Island, have been returned from Russian captivity. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

17.18 Since the beginning of the current day, 104 combat clashes have occurred on the front in nine directions. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the most intense fighting continues in the Pokrovsk area.

16.50 The US authorities have decided to transfer $3.4 billion to Ukraine as direct budget aid. This is the last payment to Kiev for the money that the US Congress allocated for these purposes for 2024.

16.21 Russian invaders continue continuous bloody assaults in Donetsk region, suffering record losses. Details were reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky.

15.43 President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law providing for the liquidation of medical and social expert commissions (MSEC). This was reported by the press service of the Verkhovna Rada.

14.53 Kyiv has sounded 500 air raid alarms in 2024. During this time, Russian troops have carried out about 200 strikes on Kyiv, using more than 1,600 weapons. This was reported by the Kyiv City Military Administration.
14:45 Law enforcement officials have reported the deputy commander of the 110th separate mechanized brigade (OMBr) as a suspect. He created a scheme to extort money from soldiers evading military service, the State Bureau of Investigation reported .

13:55 US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of $2.5 billion to Ukraine for defense needs. According to him, the Pentagon is currently supplying hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, thousands of missiles and hundreds of armored vehicles that will strengthen Ukraine's positions in the winter.

11:15 Russian military attacked utility workers in Kherson with a drone. Some of the utility workers have minor injuries. The equipment needs repair.

10:40 A series of explosions thundered in the village of Chernomorskoye in the temporarily occupied Crimea on the night of December 30. This was reported by the Telegram channel Krymsky Veter.

The explosions were heard from 4:00 to 7:00. In particular, they sounded in the area of ​​Uzkaya Bay, where Ukrainian sea drones had previously visited, attacking boats and ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

10:31 Ukrainian defenders destroyed the enemy headquarters together with Russian occupiers in the Zaporizhia region. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate and a video of the attack was released.

9:35 At night, Russia launched 43 Shahed-type attack UAVs and other drones at Ukraine, air defense destroyed 21 of them. Enemy drones were shot down in the Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Odessa, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

9:17 In the Razdelnyansky district of the Odessa region, as a result of falling debris from downed Russian attack drones, five residential buildings were damaged.

8:15 Over the past 24 hours, 186 combat clashes have been recorded at the front. In particular, in the Pokrovsk direction, the defenders stopped 43 assault and offensive actions of the Russian invaders.

7:20 As of December 30, the total combat losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine were approximately 787,940 people (2,010 per day).

02:30 The Armed Forces of Ukraine have eliminated former Russian national football team player Alexei Bugayev, who fought against Ukraine. He was convicted of drug trafficking and, in order to avoid punishment, signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry in the fall. However, Bugayev's military career did not last long.

01:22 On Sunday evening, December 29, Russian occupiers dropped explosives from a drone on a suburb of Kherson. As a result of the attack, an elderly couple was injured.

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11159 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Violent mob seen smashing, grabbing and robbing more than $600k in jewelry on yesterday morning in Dallas, TX.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11160 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Damn White Supremacists!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/31/2024 3:14 Comments || Top||

#2 
When will stores start deploying Long Lasting Dye systems, with Loss Prevention controlled roll up or down steel gates?

Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/31/2024 4:28 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ that will drive up product prices even more.

Remember when 6 people became ill from product tampering? That created an entire industry of secondary sealant waste.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 10:48 Comments || Top||

#4  This is what happens when the Mexican cartels take over local drug distribution territory from local gangs. You have to make payroll as best as you can.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 12:17 Comments || Top||

#5  The locking rotary door and/or 'airlock' system has been tried; the problem arises in something like this scenario where there are multiple perps, and if any are trapped inside with customers, and start to panic or worse, go hostages.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/31/2024 13:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Armed men with rifles will sort this out quick.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/31/2024 18:44 Comments || Top||

#7  That has to be some chain store, not a primary jewelry store or those fools would be on the floor bleeding. I'll be money that clerk wasn't allowed to be armed.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/31/2024 18:46 Comments || Top||

#8  ^ Or Company lawyers prevented them from acting (more likely?)
Posted by: Frank G || 12/31/2024 19:00 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas gathered intel, footage from Gaza border towns for 7 years before Oct. 7 slaughter
[IsraelTimes] Channel 12 airs surveillance recordings, lists of southern communities with attack plans for each, gathered by terror group since 2016

Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
was monitoring local Israeli leaders, security officers, and individual communities near the border with 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 for at least seven years before carrying out its brutal October 7, 2023, massacre, a television news report revealed on Sunday evening, airing for the first time surveillance camera footage and sensitive documents seized from computers used by the terror group.

Among the material showcased in the Channel 12 news report, one document dated November, 2020, showed that Hamas had the IP addresses and serial numbers of all of the security cameras in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council and the Ashkelon beach areas, including Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the worst-hit communities on October 7.

Another document featured in the report showed a semiofficial list of security guards working in the Sha’ar Hanegev area, with their phone numbers, including those from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Kibbutz Nahal Oz and Kibbutz Mefalsim.

In a particularly grim finding, the report showed six pages of case files on each community with assessments of the status of the attack plan for each, which the terror group eventually put into action on October 7, 2023, sending some 3,000 holy warriors across the border into Israel. Some 1,200 people were murdered and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza by holy warriors that day.

The vast majority of those killed as button men seized border communities were civilians — including babies, children, and the elderly. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 360 people were slaughtered at an outdoor music festival, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Some of the public places raided by Hamas on October 7 were seen in the materials seized from the terror group’s computers dating back to 2016, including the health clinic and kindergarten in Kibbutz Be’eri, and the cop shoppes in the cities of Ofakim and Sderot. There were also lists of libraries and synagogues, according to the report.

Alongside the intelligence effort, the Hamas holy warriors involved in the devastating attack were reportedly selected from among hundreds of elite commandos from all over Gaza, and underwent training for several years along with continuous testing to gauge their skills.

"We see very, very precise and very detailed intelligence from an army, an army for all intents and purposes, the Hamas military wing in the Gaza Strip that is collecting information on targets for attack and essentially preparing intelligence target files," Shalom Ben Hanan, a former top Shin Bet official, told Channel 12. "The resolution, the details that are all so precise, and the very, very wide deployment of many intelligence assets is what is so surprising."

In particular, the report said that the Paleostinian terror group was tracking local leaders and security officials in southern Israel well before the 2023 massacre, including Sdot Negev Regional Council’s chief Tamir Idan and security officer Rafi Babian, of whom Hamas was found to have a photo at the Gaza border fence.

Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council chair Ofir Libstein, also presumably in the terror group’s crosshairs, was killed during fighting with Hamas infiltrators on October 7, while Idan was saved from an RPG attack, according to the report.

Former Eshkol Regional Council head Gadi Yarkoni said that his home had been "marked" to be attacked amid the onslaught.

"It seems that they’d checked [my address] some time ago... because I moved houses around three years before the event, and [the terrorists] showed up at my old house," he told Channel 12.

The Israel Defense Forces has conducted several internal investigations to understand what went wrong before and during the Hamas onslaught, but the government has refused to appoint a state commission of inquiry and has opposed any probes that could include looking at political failures surrounding the devastating surprise attack last year, its lead-up, and its aftermath.

The latest Channel 12 report was one of many outlining the extent to which the Israeli intelligence establishment failed to realize that Hamas was capable of mounting a large-scale attack on Israel and was preparing to do so.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11146 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Nothing to worry about.

This sort of thing could never happen anywhere else
— a college campus like Columbia or UCLA or MIT;
or a city like Austin or Ann Arbor or Philadelphia.
Posted by: Randy Wranglebert% || 12/31/2024 3:44 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
The secret US soldiers who trained for WWIII by free-falling with a NUKE between their legs
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] It was a warm, clear night in 1983 when about a dozen elite Green Berets jumped down from the back of a two-and a-half-ton truck at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina.

They were met by two mysterious men in black flight suits. No patches or insignia indicated what branch of the military they represented, but they were clearly in charge

‘This is a classified operation,’ one of them told the special ops team. ‘From this point forward, we have command and control.’

As they finished briefing the group, another vehicle pulled up, containing a box the men were more than familiar with. They had been training for one like it for many hours; or at least, an inert version of it. This time, however, they were about to use the real thing. The SADM (Special Atomic Demolition Munition) was a top secret nuclear weapon no different from the one dropped on Hiroshima, but with one crucial difference: it was small enough to fit inside a rucksack.

In his new book We Defy, about the lost chapters of Special Forces history, Jack Murphy reveals the US military's special nuclear program - called Green Light - was developed in 1962, in preparation for World War III, and remained an active part of its training until 1986.

Three hours into their flight, the Green Berets were informed of their target: one of the largest hydroelectric dams in Cuba. Its destruction was intended to disrupt the country’s power supply, cripple the economy and cause widespread chaos. Only once they had parachuted to the target and were preparing to detonate the bomb were they suddenly informed this was just a training exercise. It turned out they were on a drop zone somewhere in New Mexico, more than a thousand miles from Cuba.

‘The Green Berets were still reeling, their adrenaline pumping,’ writes Murphy. ‘They had assumed they were deep behind enemy lines until moments previously.

‘“It was absolutely real,” a team member said.’

Jumping with the SADM was no easy task. Its operators may have played it down as a mere ‘backpack nuke’ but, after various iterations, it weighed in at close to 70 pounds and was extremely unwieldy.

‘Really experienced jumpers had a really hard time flying that bomb properly,’ said Tommy Shook, a team sergeant in the mid-1970s.

‘You didn't jump the bomb; it jumped you.’

Murphy writes: ‘In about 90 percent of his team’s freefall jumps with the weapon, [Shook] and his teammates missed the drop zone and ended up in the woods.’

Add to that the complicated logistics and it was not a mission for the faint hearted.

‘When infiltrating the SADM by parachute, one man jumped in with the bomb and another jumped in with the planewave generator that would detonate it,’ writes Murphy.

‘A third team member carried a conventional shaped explosive charge to destroy the SADM to prevent it from falling into enemy hands if the team were compromised.

‘Each Green Light team also had to carry a 23-pound shaped charge to destroy the SADM before it could fall into enemy hands,’ he writes.

‘Using the emergency destruction charge would spread uranium and plutonium across the environment, causing a far greater ecological disaster than a low-yield nuclear detonation.’

Don Alexander, who spent a decade training on the program, told Murphy: ‘It was so in-extremis, that their concern was more the destruction of the technology than the localized contamination that would happen.’

Many of those involved also believed they were being trained for a one-way mission - they saw no plans for their escape to safety after detonating the bomb and, as one member said: ‘You were under the impression that you were expendable.’

One conspiracy theory had it that the timer didn't work, and at the moment it was detonated, it would wipe out the Special Forces team with it.

Some even joked, darkly, that, when they unlocked the SADM to arm it for real, along with the bomb they would find 12 Medals of Honor and a bottle of Jack Daniels inside.

‘The rationale for this theory was that the US government would not want a handful of operators who could be captured running around behind enemy lines with knowledge about a nuclear bomb that was ticking down.’

If they survived, their orders were to ‘remain behind enemy lines, attempt to recruit Soviet military deserters, raise a guerrilla army and wage unconventional warfare.’

The SADM went into development in 1960, writes Murphy, ‘but the specifications were amended the following year to include a waterproof pressure case so that the device could be emplaced by frogmen.'

It entered military service in April 1963 with the Army eventually stockpiling nearly 300 by the mid 1960s.

Highly trained soldiers practiced swimming, kayaking and skiing with the nuke. The most dreaded training exercises were those that combined both parachuting and scuba - requiring the soldier to jump not just with the weapon but also carrying two oxygen tanks. And, while no SADM was ever activated, almost all of those involved said that, at times, they fully believed their training exercises were genuine.

Former NCO Mike Taylor recalled one particular episode that occurred during the Reagan administration.

‘His team got called in and put into an isolation facility to begin planning for a mission to Europe, parachuting in straight from a flight from the United States,’ writes Murphy.

‘They were not told what country they were going to. The entire team thought it was the real deal, but after four days the team was sent home with no explanation.’

Did the DoD ever really intend to use nuclear weapons on key targets during the Cold War? At least one person close to the program was convinced he would never see active combat.

‘I always thought that this was a psychological tool that was used at much higher levels just to let the Russkies know that they had weird dudes and Green Berets running around with a nuke in their pocket,’ said Captain Bill Flavin.

Others, though, were not so sure, pointing to the detailed targets outside Europe as evidence that the US was targeting enemies closer to home than Russia.

One veteran said his team would regularly review slide decks and aerial photography of targets in Latin America.

‘I can tell you where every intersection on the Cuba highway, where every military base, where every naval port was, where every dam was,’ he told Murphy.

Another suggested that the Panama Canal had been in their sights.

‘I'm just glad we never had to do it for real,’ said Scott Wimberley, who swam the bomb into position during an exercise in the mid-1970s. ‘It was going to be a suicide mission.’

Decades on, some of those who served on Green Light are still convinced that was the case.

Mike Adams, who was a young sergeant when he took part in a mission in 1985, retired as a Sergeant Major and was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 50. He believes he was exposed to radiological material during his service, and filed a claim with Veterans Affairs only to have it denied.

‘My doctor at Yale wrote a letter [to Veteran's Affairs] stating that there is no reason on planet Earth why a person as young and healthy as you are,’ should have certain types of cancer, Adams told Murphy.

‘He was adamant that we should have known to tie that to [Green Light].’

After a decade long fight with cancer, Mike Adams died on August 18, 2024.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11142 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some mini nuke additional data

BTW: is/was a certain 8" nuke round in the 90's that disassembled and the pancakes flipped 180 and reloaded could be detonated with a small explosion
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/31/2024 4:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Presumably they rode the 70# unit in (no quick release before PLF). Had to be rough on the knees.
Posted by: Gloluns Turkeyneck4904 || 12/31/2024 6:37 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: Warthog || 12/31/2024 9:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Call me a sissy, but hand me that low porosity chute and lowering line.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/31/2024 9:49 Comments || Top||

#5  NYPD operating in 'heightened threat environment' in advance of New Year's Eve celebration

Last year, the NYPD had about four drone teams inside the "bow tie" and "frozen area" around Times Square for New Year's Eve. That will increase to six drone teams – four inside the bow tie and two on the outer perimeter – this year, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said, adding that mobile drone teams will also operate around Manhattan and the rest of the city and monitor activity over the water as well.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/31/2024 10:56 Comments || Top||

#6  A smart bomb of sorts, depending on the ASVAB scores.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/31/2024 12:15 Comments || Top||


Government Corruption
Recent Colonel Douglas Macgregor interview
[YouTube] Col Douglas Macgregor tells TRUTH about Trumps next move! Colonel Douglas Macgregor and Stephen Gardner discuss Biden stupid move of ordering attacks on Russia from Ukraine with USA weapons.
Streamed live on Dec 20, 2024
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11141 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian company STG Engineering has suspended wheat supplies to Syria
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Russian company STG Engineering has suspended wheat supplies to Syria after the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad, TASS reports,citing the company's CEO Dmitry Trifonov.

"We supplied wheat to Syria for three years, the monthly volume of deliveries was 1.1 million tons. Now the deliveries have completely stopped," the agency's source said.

According to Trifonov, wheat supplies to Syria will resume after establishing contacts with the new authorities of the country. He explained that the reason for the suspension of exports is the debt of the Syrian side to the Russian company, which amounted to 116 million dollars.

The leader of the new Syrian government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said in an interview with Al Arabiya TV that Syria has strategic interests related to Russia. He also added that Damascus does not want Moscow to leave Syria to the detriment of relations between the two countries.

In September, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said at a visiting meeting in the Saratov Region that the situation in the Russian agro-industrial complex remained normal, despite the worsening weather during spring field work. At that time, almost 64 million tons of wheat had been harvested.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 8, the former leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, announced his resignation as president and left Syria amid the offensive of the armed opposition and the gradual loss of control over the cities. He and his family arrived in Russia, where they were granted asylum. Two days later, the armed Syrian opposition ordered its forces to withdraw from the captured cities so that internal security units and the police could enter.

Posted by: badanov || 12/31/2024 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11145 views] Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)



Who's in the News
25[untagged]
4Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)
4Hamas
3Houthis
3Islamic State
3Moslem Colonists
2Govt of Iraq
2Sublime Porte
2Commies
2Govt of Syria
1Devout Moslems
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1[untagged]
1Hezbollah
1Pak Taliban (TTP)
1Taliban/IEA
1Govt of Iran

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
Comments Spam
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
RSS Links
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio
Sink Trap

Alzheimer's Association
Day by Day
Counterterrorism
Hair Through the Ages







On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2024-12-31
  UN agency says 2 killed as Gaza aid convoy looted; Hamas claims organization ‘fully responsible’
Mon 2024-12-30
  Suicide bomber kills police officer, wounds another in Iran
Sun 2024-12-29
  At least 19 dead in Pakistan-Afghanistan border clashes
Sat 2024-12-28
  North Korean forces are experiencing mass casualties on the front lines of Russia’s war against Ukraine
Fri 2024-12-27
  Around 100 Israeli fighter jets took part in striking the Yemeni Houthis
Thu 2024-12-26
  Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
Wed 2024-12-25
  On this Christmas Day
Tue 2024-12-24
  Syria's new government has barred all Iranian planes, including civilian ones, from its airspace
Mon 2024-12-23
  A woman was burned alive on an F train in NYC. The suspect then sat to watch
Sun 2024-12-22
  Iraqi MP Habib Al-Halawi vows to massacre Americans
Sat 2024-12-21
  French court convicts 8 people of involvement in 2020 beheading of teacher
Fri 2024-12-20
  Several 20 60-80 Injured, 1 11 Dead In Christmas Market ‘Terror Attack' In Germany
Thu 2024-12-19
  IDF pounds Yemen, believes it paralyzed all 3 Houthi ports; missile fired at Israel
Wed 2024-12-18
  Pro-Palestinian Group in NYC Vows Support for Armed Resistance Against U.S., Israel
Tue 2024-12-17
  CNN was caught fabricating the story of a prisoner found in Assad's secret prison

Better than the average link...



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.
216.73.216.177
Paypal:
WoT Background (19)    Non-WoT (6)    Opinion (7)    Local News (7)    Politix (4)