[IsraelTimes] Nael Obeid, a former Palestinian prisoner who was freed to East Jerusalem in last week’s hostage-prisoner exchange, has died after falling from high altitude near his home in Issawiya, according to local Palestinian outlets.
He was pronounced dead in Hadassah Medical Center near Mount Scopus.
Obeid was sentenced to seven life sentences and 30 years for partaking in a 2003 suicide bombing at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem.
[IsrelTimes] The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in southern Lebanon a short while ago.
One of the targets was a Hezbollah military site containing rocket launchers and other weapons, where the military says it identified activity by the terror group.
The military says Hezbollah’s activity at the site is a “violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Additionally, the IDF says it struck several more Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, “which posed a threat to Israeli civilians.”
[IsraelTimes] Lebanese media reports a series of Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon, near the towns of Qlaileh and Zebqine, close to the coastal city of Tyre.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
The strikes come ahead of the funeral for assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his intended successor Hashem Safieddine.
مراسلة «الأخبار»: سلسلة غارات إسرائيلية تستهدف وادي العزية في أطراف زبقين وأطراف جناتا في جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/V9gZ3xUol4
Israel carried out a series of airstrikes in Lebanon on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said, as the country prepared for the mass funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
According to Lebanese reports, the strikes occurred near the towns of Qlaileh and Zebqine, close to the coastal city of Tyre; near the village of Brissa in the Hermel District of northern Lebanon; near the town of Bodai in the Baalbek District; and near al-Ahmadiya in southern Lebanon.
The IDF later confirmed the strikes, saying they targeted Hezbollah sites containing rocket launchers and other weapons, and additional rocket launchers threatening Israeli civilians
[IsraelTimes] Beirut is gearing up for the funeral of Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> later today, with throngs expected to pack the city to send off the terror chief killed by an Israeli bomb in late September.
Since Saturday, roads into Beirut have been clogged with carloads of Hezbollah supporters travelling in from the movement’s strongholds in south Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... and the Bekaa Valley.
The funeral for Nasrallah, and his successor Hashem Safieddine, killed by Israel in early October, is set to take place at Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium on the outskirts of the capital, where giant posters of the two have been hung.
The stadium has a capacity of around 50,000 but Hezbollah organizers have installed thousands of extra seats on the pitch and many more outside, where mourners will be able to follow the ceremony on a giant screen.
The funeral is due to start at 1:00 p.m. and will include a speech by current leader Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... .
Hezbollah’s al-Manar television says the group is deploying 25,000 stewards for crowd control and 4,000 more to supervise the event.
A security source says 4,000 troops and security personnel will also be deployed to the area.
Hezbollah, a terror group which is also a major player in Lebanese politics, has invited top Lebanese officials including President Joseph Aoun to attend.
Its longtime backer Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... is to be represented by the speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iranian media reported.
Representatives of Iraq’s main pro-Iran factions are also expected to attend and additional flights have been scheduled between Baghdad and Beirut.
A single flight from Tehran was also given permission to land before dawn on Sunday, though service from Iran has been suspended over the threat of Israeli strikes on attempts to smuggle weapons or other goods to Hezbollah.
"It is only one flight, carrying official delegations from Tehran to participate in the funeral," airport chief Fadi al-Hassan tells AFP.
Civil aviation authorities say Beirut airport will close exceptionally from midday until 4:00 pm.
The US embassy has urged Americans to avoid the area.
[IsraelTimes] Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s 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 launched surface-to-air missiles at an American fighter jet and MQ-9 Reaper drone this week, but did not hit either, two US officials tells Rooters.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, do not specify if the attacks occurred over the Red Sea or Yemen itself.
One says the incidents could suggest the Houthis were improving their targeting capabilities.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, who leads the Iran-backed group, said in a televised speech on Feb. 13 that the Houthis would intervene with missiles and drones and attack vessels in the Red Sea if the United States and Israel tried to remove Paleostinians from Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... by force.
US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... has infuriated the Arab world with a plan to permanently displace Paleostinians from Gaza and take over the enclave to turn it into a beach resort.
The Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships off Yemen since November 2023 in support of Gaza’s Palestinian terror groups fighting Israel, disrupting global shipping.
The Iran-backed movement, which controls northern Yemen, has also frequently fired missiles and drones at Israel over the past year.
#1
I guess they don’t understand yet that the next attack will not include a week’s warning and a flight plan.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/23/2025 9:23
Comments ||
Top||
#2
One says the incidents could suggest the Houthis were improving their targeting capabilities.
I dunno, Anonymous Guy. Being 0 for 2 is generally not the sign of an upward trend. I can understand missing the fighter. They are fast, maneuverable, and have counter-measures. Drones are slow and defenseless, but they still missed.
This "could suggest" journalistic idiom is becoming both tiresome and over-used.
#3
Wouldn’t this be a great place to send the Paleo’s in Gaza? It is already a shithole so they’ll feel right at home and the locals are crazy loco so they’ll fit right in. It’s a worthless place no one wants full of people no one cares about…perfect!
#7
They’re both taking Iran’s money — they’ll be fine. And if they’re not, that’s fine with me. Maybe both will learn something useful from the experience.
#8
The Iran dollars may be hard to come by based on what Trump and Musk are doing. The USAID spigot is mostly shut. There is a large amount of State Dept “anti-terrorism” funds going weekly to the Taliban, but if Trump cranks down on the Iranian sanctions again, the Mullah’s will have a tough time making payroll on the home front, yet alone for the exterior jihadi enterprise.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/23/2025 14:46
Comments ||
Top||
#9
What would hurt Iran even harder is if we can get oil back to around $60.barrel again.
If everything goes right oil production in the USA ought to go up 1M bar/day by late summer. Depending on demand and OPEC action, that might do it.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/23/2025 16:27
Comments ||
Top||
The details are vile. If you want to know, dear Reader, go read them at the link.
[IsraelTimes] Hamas made 2 hostages not going free watch release ceremony from a vehicle near the stage; Omer Shem Tov, abducted from Nova festival, was held alone in a tunnel for some 450 days
Four Israelis — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen — who were freed from Hamas captivity on Saturday after more than 500 days in the Hamas terror group’s captivity were chained in the dark, starved, and psychologically abused in Gaza, they and their family members said upon their return.
Two further hostages — Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — who, suffering from mental illness, each entered the Gaza Strip of their own accord some 10 years ago — came home Saturday bearing evident psychological scars from their captivity, and were described by relatives as largely unresponsive upon their return.
The terror group paraded five of the six captives on stages in propaganda-filled ceremonies in two locations in Gaza, before handing them over to the Red Cross, while al-Sayed was released separately to the humanitarian organization later in the day, without a ceremony.
They are the last six living hostages scheduled to be released as part of the first phase of the three-part hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group, which in January stopped fighting in the Gaza Strip after fifteen months of war sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people and dragged 251 people into Gaza as hostages. A final four phase one hostages, all believed to be dead, are set for release on Thursday.
[IsraelTimes] Ohad Yahalomi was injured in gun battle with terrorists; Tsahi Idan saw his daughter die in his arms; Itzik Elgarat told his brother ‘This is the end’; Shlomo Mantzur was murdered on Oct. 7
After the release of six living hostages on Saturday, only four of the 33 hostages set to be freed during the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... remain in captivity in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , with it being widely believed that they are dead.
The four are Ohad Yahalomi; Tsahi Idan; Itzik Elgarat; and Shlomo Mantzur, 85. All four were kidnapped during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel.
The four are set to be released on Thursday, according to the agreement mediated between Israel and Hamas by Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and the US.
According to Hamas’s past statements, the six hostages released on Saturday were the last to be returned under the first phase of the ceasefire deal who are alive, leading to the conclusion that the remaining four are dead. Israel has indicted that its own information matches the Hamas claims.
Israeli authorities announced earlier this month that Mantzur was killed on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken to Gaza.
OHAD YAHALOMI
Yahalomi, 49 at the time of his kidnapping, was taken captive by Hamas bandidosLions of Islam from Kibbutz Nir Oz after he engaged in a shootout with button men in his house and was shot in the leg.
As the door handle to the family’s safe room was not locking properly, Ohad decided to protect his wife and children by sitting outside the door with a handgun.
After he was shot, the button men hurried wife Batsheva and their three children out of the house and onto mopeds, along with a foreign worker from the kibbutz.
Ohad told his family that he loved them, and to go with the terrorists.
Batsheva, 10-year-old Yael and the almost two-year-old toddler sat on one moped with a terrorist, while 12-year-old Eitan and the foreign worker sat on the other moped with another gunman.
As the bandidosLions of Islam headed toward Gaza, they saw two IDF tanks appear up ahead and the two mopeds veered away from one another. Batsheva lost track of Eitan on the other moped.
At some point, Batsheva and her two daughters were able to run, in their pajamas and flip-flops, for more than three hours. Batsheva eventually made it back toward the northern end of the kibbutz, which was less damaged than the other section.
"We were sure that Ohad would be there, but he wasn’t," she said.
Eitan Yahalomi, 12, was released on November 27 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel.
TSAHI IDAN
Idan, 49 at the time of his kidnapping, was taken captive by Hamas bandidostitle='insurgents '>Lions of Islam from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, after his oldest daughter, Maayan, 18, was shot and killed through the safe room door.
The family of five had run into their safe room early in the morning of October 7, as sirens sounded and an "endless round of rockets" kept falling, said Gali Idan, Tsahi’s wife, in a Channel 13 interview.
The family began hearing bandidosLions of Islam in their house, and Tsahi held the safe room door shut, with help from Maayan.
The bandidosLions of Islam shouted, "Open the door" in English, and then a shot rang out, and Gali realized that Maayan had been shot and killed, falling into Tsahi’s arms.
In an emotional interview with newscaster Lucy Aharish on Channel 13, Gali and her younger daughter, Yael, recounted the traumatic events of that day.
At the time, Gali did not realize that the bandidosLions of Islam were filming the entire attack on their family.
When Maayan was shot, Tsahi let the door fall open, and he was broken, unable to function, Gali said.
Her two younger children were screaming and crying and somehow, she held it together.
"I was on automatic," Gali told Aharish. "I had to protect my other two children and Tsahi was broken."
In the Hamas video, the two younger children ask if the bandidosLions of Islam are killing them, and throughout, said Gali, "Tsahi doesn’t say a word."
"He’s very cool, he’s our support column, but this wasn’t him, it was a shadow of his usual self," she said.
The bandidosLions of Islam told the family to leave the room. At a later point, they took Tsahi. His younger daughter, Yael, asked the bandidosLions of Islam not to take him and kill him.
"They turned around and said, ’He’ll be back, he’ll be back,’" said Gali. "They promised Yael that he would return."
ITZIK ELGARAT
Elgarat, 69 at the time of his kidnapping, was in his Kibbutz Nir Oz home on the morning of October 7 when Hamas bandidosLions of Islam attacked his house, shooting him through his safe room door, injuring him, and taking him captive.
"I spoke to him at 10:30 in the morning," said his brother Danny Elgarat, a former Ashdod police commander. "He was hysterical and hurt in the hand."
Itzik had gone to lock the safe room door when the bandidosLions of Islam shot at the door. Danny, his brother, was on the phone with him at the time and could hear yelling in the background.
Itzik said, "Danny, this is the end, this is the end."
At 12:10, Danny Elgarat saw that his brother’s phone was located in Gaza.
Danny went down to Nir Oz days later, where he described smelling the burning plastic throughout the kibbutz and seeing the ruins of his brother’s home, which had been vandalized and torn apart.
Itzik Elgarat’s nephew, Ben Danzig, whose father Alex Danzig was also taken captive from Nir Oz, described Itzik as a good man who likes to work with his hands.
Itzik Elgarat has citizenship from Denmark and two children who live there.
SHLOMO MANTZUR
Mantzur was killed and taken captive by Hamas bandidosLions of Islam who broke into his Kibbutz Kissufim home on October 7, the IDF announced earlier this month. He was 85.
At least eight Kissufim residents and six Thai laborers were also murdered on October 7, and around four people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
Mazal, Mantzur’s wife of 60 years, was miraculously able to escape.
Mantzur was born in Iraq, and lived in Kissufim for most of his adult life, with Mazal.
He managed the kibbutz chicken coop for many years.
Mantzur was known as a modest man with a big heart and golden hands, who loved making things for his grandchildren.
He was beloved by his family and Kissufim community, a small, quiet kibbutz.
[IsraelTimes] French authorities had tried 10 times to deport Algerian-born suspect in attack, in city of Mulhouse, but home country refused to accept him, says French interior minister
It’s time for France either to start playing hardball with Algeria and other recipient countries or bring back the death penalty for radical Islamists,ie everyone on those watchlists. And shut down all the radical mosques — freedom of religion cannot mean the freedom to encourage believers to viciously break the law.
One person was killed and two coppers were seriously injured Saturday in a knife attack in eastern La Belle France that President Emmanuel Macron said was an "Islamist terror act."
Prosecutors said three more officers were lightly maimed in the attack in the city of Mulhouse, carried out by a 37-year-old suspect who is on a terror prevention watchlist, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told AFP.
The suspect was in jug.
La Belle France’s national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT), which has taken charge of the investigation, said the suspect first attacked the municipal coppers, shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).
Witnesses confirmed to AFP that the suspect had several times shouted the words in Arabic that are used by Moslems as an exclamation of their faith.
A civilian passer-by who intervened was fatally injured, the PNAT said in a statement. According to Mulhouse prosecutors, he was a 69-year-old Portuguese national.
Macron said there was "no doubt" that the incident was "a terrorist act," specifically "an Islamist terrorist act."
The government was determined to continue doing "everything to eradicate terrorism on our soil," Macron added.
The terror watchlist, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on individuals with the aim of preventing "terrorist" radicalization. It was launched in 2015 following deadly attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo ...Pix/charlie1100719-264x350.jpgA lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... ’s offices and a Jewish supermarket.
One of the seriously maimedcoppers sustained an injury to the carotid artery, and the other to the thorax, Heitz said.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was expected to travel to the scene of the attack later Saturday.
Police established a security parameter after the attack that happened shortly before 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) during a demonstration in support of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... in a busy part of Mulhouse, a city of around 110,000 inhabitants.
Military units were sent to the scene as backup and forensic scientists searched for evidence, working hurriedly to examine blood stains before rain could wash them away.
FRANCE TRIED TO DEPORT THE SUSPECT 10 TIMES
The suspect was born in Algeria and has been under judicial supervision and house arrest, with an expulsion order from La Belle France.
Retailleau told French broadcaster TF1 that La Belle France had tried to expel him 10 times, with the Algerians refusing each time to accept him.
"Horror has seized our city," Mulhouse mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but "this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary."
The PNAT said it is investigating the attack for murder, and attempted murder "in connection with a terrorist enterprise."
#1
Drop him from 25,000 feet over Algeria. He's returned
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/23/2025 5:29
Comments ||
Top||
#2
One method to reduce police officer stab wounds would be to explode his head with some hollow points at distance and then binge Netflix on some administrative leave.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/23/2025 9:26
Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Netanyahu demands guarantee that Hamas end ceremonies in which hostages are paraded in front of crowds before freeing inmates, nixing planned release of 600 prisoners Saturday
Israel said early Sunday that it was delaying the release of hundreds of Paleostinian prisoners who had been slated to go free Saturday until Jerusalem receives assurances regarding the end of "humiliating ceremonies" staged by Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... when hostages are handed over.
The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office came after over 600 inmates had reportedly already boarded buses to leave Ofer prison, in the largest single-day release of the first-stage of the ongoing 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... ceasefire. Instead, the inmates were told to disembark, their release on indefinite hold.
The prisoners had been slated to be let go as part of a deal for the release of six hostages who were freed by Hamas earlier in the day. But with Israelis fuming over the handling of the transfer of the bodies of mother Shiri Bibas and her two small children murdered in captivity, and new anger sparked by a propaganda video showing hostages being brought to a ceremony where other were being freed, Netanyahu said Israel would demand an end to the gauche fanfare before resuming freeing prisoners.
"In light of the repeated violations by Hamas — including the ceremonies that demean our hostages’ dignity and the cynical use of our hostages for propaganda purposes — it has been decided to delay the release of gunnies planned for yesterday until the next release of hostages is guaranteed, and without the humiliating ceremonies," read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office sent just after 1 a.m. Sunday.
Israel’s announcement abruptly put the future of the truce into further doubt.
The Paleostinian Authority’s commission for prisoners’ affairs confirmed the delay "until further notice." News Agency that Dare Not be Named video in the West Bank showed prisoners’ families, waiting outdoors in near-freezing weather, apparently dispersing. One woman was shown walking away in tears.
Israel’s government didn’t respond to questions about the delay in releasing prisoners. Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal, with spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanou accusing Netanyahu of "deliberately stalling."
Five of the six hostages freed Saturday had been escorted by masked, armed Hamas members in front of a crowd — a display that the UN and Red Thingy have criticized as cruel after previous handovers.
The six — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — were the last living hostages expected to be freed under the ceasefire ’s first phase, with a week remaining in the initial stage. Talks on the ceasefire’s second phase are yet to start.
All but al-Sayed, who like Mengistu had been held in Gaza for around a decade, were handed over in staged ceremonies. In one, Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen were posed alongside Hamas fighters. A beaming Shem Tov, acting under duress, kissed two button men on the head and blew kisses to the crowd.
The hostages were dressed up in fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when kidnapped.
The army later said al-Sayed had been released. The Bedouin Israeli entered Gaza in 2015, a year after Mengistu. Both had suffered from mental illness, according to their families, and were largely unresponsive after returning to Israel.
Israel had been slated to free 602 inmates, including 50 prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis, and 60 serving long prison terms.
The roster included the longest-serving inmate likely set to be freed: Nael Barghouti, who has spent a total of 44 years in Israeli custody for killing 27-year-old Israeli bus driver Mordechai Yekuel in his vehicle near Ramallah in 1978. After 33 years in prison, Barghouti was freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, but was arrested three years later and convicted on terrorism charges.
In total 47 Paleostinian prisoners re-arrested after the Shalit deal were set to be freed in this exchange.
Also set for release was Ammar Zaban, a prominent figure in Hamas who headed the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades during the Second Intifada.
Zaban, who will be deported, was sentenced to 27 life terms for his involvement in numerous terror attacks, including the 1997 suicide kaboom in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, which killed 16 people.
Nearly 100 of the ex-inmates were slated for deportation upon their release. An additional 11 prisoners detained before the war’s outset would be sent to Gaza, while 43 will return to their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Another 445 inmates who were detained in Gaza following October 7 but were never charged were set to be free.
Ahead of the release, Israel Prison Service chief Kobi Yaakobi instructed guards to dress Paleostinian prisoners slated for release with shirts sporting a verse from Psalms written in Arabic: "I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back until their destruction."
Prisoners were also made to wear bracelets that read, "The eternal people do not forget. I pursued my enemies and overtook them."
Twenty-three minors and one woman detained in the Strip were also set to be released in exchange for the bodies of Shiri Bibas, and her young boys Ariel and Kfir, according to Haaretz.
Israel says Ariel, 4 when he was kidnapped, and Kfir, who was 10 months old, were murdered by their captors in November 2023 after being kidnapped from their Nir Oz home on October 7. Shiri Bibas was also killed, though her body was only returned to Israel late Friday after Hamas initially sent the remains of a Gaza woman instead. Husband and father Yarden Bibas was kidnapped separately and released alive earlier this month.
Netanyahu had vowed Dire Revenge for "a cruel and malicious violation" after it was discovered that Shiri Bibas’s body had not been returned as promised. On Saturday evening, he lauded the release of the 6 living hostages today, calling it a "moment of joy and relief" for their families and Israel, but said Israel "will not forget and will not forgive" the murders of the three members of the Bibas family.
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the murders will "not be taken lightly."
On Thursday, Hamas had put the Bibas’s coffins on a stage in Khan Younis in front of a giant poster of Netanyahu as a vampire, alongside the coffin of octogenarian peace activist Oded Lifshitz, also killed in captivity, as they paraded the four victims before cheering crowds, drawing widespread revulsion at the display.
Israeli officials had said Saturday night that the release of the prisoners would be delayed until Netanyahu finished holding security consultations regarding the return of the remaining Israeli hostages. An official said the meeting was focused "on the goal of returning all our hostages, alive and dead."
Under the ceasefire deal’s current first stage, Hamas is still slated to hand over four bodies of hostages killed in captivity in exchange for more prisoners. Some 2,000 inmates in total are set to be released as part of the first stage, a price that some in Israel, including far-right allies of Netanyahu, has said is too high, especially given the large number of terror convicts serving time for deadly attacks.
A second stage of the ceasefire, which would involve the release of remaining hostages for yet more prisoners, has yet to be worked out, with Israel indicating it could instead resume fighting in Gaza.
Hamas has said it won’t release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu, with the backing of US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... ’s administration, says he’s committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capacities and returning all hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive.
Families and others rallied Saturday night in Tel Aviv to pressure Netanyahu’s government for a deal.
Witkoff was slated to meet Saturday night with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the Walla news site reported.
[IsraelTimes] Families and supporters decry ‘psychological torture’ of dragging Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal to handover ceremony; pair beg for deal to free them in likely coached remarks.
Hamas’ evil depravity knows no bounds. The inhumane treatment of innocent Israeli hostages forced to watch others return home while they were then taken back into captivity further exposes that this is a war is between good and evil.
…that the video was released, I was sitting a row in front of two brothers of the hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Eviatar David who saw this video at the exact moment that President Trump was speaking and acknowledging the hostages and their families.
We must continue to stand with these families and hostages who have been through the unthinkable and the unimaginable. Under President
@realdonaldtrump
, we will not rest until ALL the hostages are home and Hamas is eradicated.
“Hamas’ treatment of hostages, including its brutal murder of the Bibas family, further illustrates their savagery and is yet another reason why we are saying these terrorists must release all of the hostages immediately or be destroyed,” Rubio says on X.
#1
I won't believe Rubio or Trump until I see ALL the puppies, baby ducks, women and children single filed out of Gaza first! Netanyahu is bluffing, in his fury!
[IsraelTimes] October 7 captives Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen back after over 500 days in Hamas captivity; Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed return after decade in Gaza
Hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed were released from Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... captivity and returned to Israel on Saturday, in the largest single day of releases since the current hostage-ceasefire deal took effect. They are believed to be the final living hostages scheduled for release in the current first phase of the deal, with only four more hostages, all believed to be dead, set for release on Thursday.
The terror group paraded five of the six freed hostages on stages in propaganda-filled ceremonies in two locations in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , handing them over to the Red Thingy, while al-Sayed was released separately to the humanitarian organization later in the day, without a ceremony.
The men all looked frail and many had noticeably suffered dramatic weight loss.
Shoham, Shem Tov, Wenkert and Cohen were all taken captive on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas-led attacks and massacres, and had been held as hostages in Gaza for over 500 days.
Mengistu and al-Sayed both entered Gaza on their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and had been held captive by terror groups in Gaza for around a decade each.
The releases came hours after Hamas finally returned the body of Shiri Bibas; Israel said she had been brutally murdered by her captors along with her two small sons, Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir, whose bodies were returned on Thursday.
The first of three handovers took place on Saturday morning in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, during which the terror group handed Shoham and Mengistu over to the Red Thingy after parading the two on a stage decorated with a propaganda poster featuring images of terror leaders and Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed in 2014 and whose body is held by Hamas.
There was also a waving guns Hamas said had been taken from Israel on October 7.
Shoham and Mengistu were then taken by the Red Thingy to Israeli forces inside Gaza, who escorted them to an IDF facility inside Israel, near the border.
After brief medical checks and reunions with family members, the two men were taken via helicopter to hospitals in central Israel.
CIVILIANS IN UNIFORMS
Later in the morning, at a second Hamas ceremony in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, Shem Tov, Wenkert and Cohen were paraded on stage holding certificates and gift bags, and wearing approximations of IDF uniforms as if they were soldiers.
The three civilians were kidnapped from the Nova music festival, and are not active members of the military. Hamas considers Israeli men under 50 to be soldiers.
It appeared that Cohen was made to wave by the button men flanking him, while Shem Tov seemed to be directed by a Hamas cameraman to also kiss two of the masked button men on their heads.
They, too, were taken by the Red Thingy to Israeli troops before they were brought to the IDF facility near Re’im for medical checks and emotional reunions with close family members before they were transported to hospitals.
Later on Saturday afternoon, the Red Thingy notified the IDF that Hamas had handed over the sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed.
He was released by the terror group without a ceremony, which Hamas said was out of "respect" for the Arab community in Israel, despite having held him for nearly a decade, as well as murdering and abducting several Arab Israelis during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.
Al-Sayed was then handed over to Israeli forces inside Gaza.
Avera Mengistu, 37, spent 3,821 days in captivity before his release.
Mengistu, who suffers from mental illness, crossed into northern Gaza from the beach at Zikim in September 2014.
The then-28-year-old was spotted by IDF security cameras but made it through the fence before troops could reach the scene. He was picked up by a Hamas patrol and was not heard from until the terror group released a video of him in early 2023.
Mengistu’s family has struggled over the years to rally public support or pressure the government to negotiate his release, with some relatives alleging racism.
Reports following the October 7, 2023, massacre indicated that one of the ways Hamas lulled Israel into complacency ahead of the onslaught was by feigning serious interest in a deal for Mengistu and al-Sayed.
Tal Shoham, 39, a dual Israeli-Austrian citizen from the northern town of Maale Tzviya, was taken hostage by Hamas hard boyz on October 7 while visiting his wife’s family on Kibbutz Be’eri for the Simhat Torah holiday.
His wife, Adi Shoham, his daughter, Yahel, 3, and son, Naveh, 8, as well as his mother-in-law Shoshan Haran, his wife’s aunt Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam, 12, were also taken hostage, but released in November 25, 2023.
His father-in-law Avshalom Haran was killed during the attack, as were his wife’s aunt and uncle Eviatar and Lilach Kipnis, who lived next door in Be’eri.
The extended family had been hiding in the Haran family home but were forced to flee after Hamas hard boyz set it on fire.
There had been no sign of life from him ahead of his release. It was not known if he was aware his wife and children had also been taken hostage, or that they had survived.
Eliya Cohen, 27, was with his fiancee, Ziv Aoud, at the Nova desert rave when Hamas button men attacked.
The two tried to escape but were chased by hard boyz and both were shot.
They sought safety at a roadside kaboom shelter, but it was attacked by hard boyz and Aboud later said she felt Cohen being pulled up and then placed on a pickup truck and driven away. He was taken along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Or Levy and Alon Ohel.
Earlier this month, the family said they heard from recently released captives that Cohen has been chained up throughout his time in captivity and gets very little food or daylight.
A bullet wound in his leg has yet to be properly treated, the freed hostages said.
Omer Wenkert, 23, was also taken captive by Hamas hard boyz at the Nova festival on October 7.
He was in touch with his parents that morning, telling them he was "scared to death." Their last communication with him was at 7:50 a.m.
They later saw a Hamas video of Omer, tied up on the flatbed of a white pickup truck, in his underwear, confirming that he had been taken hostage in Gaza.
Omer Shem Tov, 22, from Herzliya was at the Nova festival with his friends Itay and Maya Regev, who were also taken hostage but were freed in November 2023.
He last spoke to his parents around 10 a.m. on October 7, as he sounded increasingly panicked about what was happening around him while Hamas hard boyz shot hundreds and kidnapped dozens.
After getting into a friend’s car, he sent his family his live location, but they eventually noticed that it was headed toward Gaza, and contact with him was lost.
Hisham al-Sayed, a 37-year-old Bedouin Israeli from the village of Hura in the Negev desert, entered the Strip near the Erez Crossing in April 2015.
Like Mengistu, al-Sayed suffers from mental illness.
According to his father, this was not his first time going into Gaza, but in this case, he was stopped by Hamas and taken into its custody.
By the time he was released on Saturday, he spent nearly 3,600 days in the hands of the terror group.
According to Human Rights Watch, in the years prior to his entering Gaza, al-Sayed was "diagnosed with schizophrenia and a personality disorder, among other conditions" and was repeatedly institutionalized.
Al-Sayed was not heard from until 2022, when Hamas released a video showing him looking sick and depleted in a bed and hooked up to an oxygen tank.
In a statement Tuesday, al-Sayed’s family said they had been waiting for him for a decade, and added that their happiness would not be complete until all hostages returned home.
"It cannot be that the fate of other hostages will be a decade in captivity," they said.
The six hostages released Saturday were the final living hostages slated for release under phase one of the deal. The last four phase one hostages are set to be freed on Thursday.
Of the four, only one has been confirmed by Israel as dead, Shlomo Mantzur, but it is believed that the other three, Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgarat and Tsahi Idan were also killed.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 63 hostages, including 62 of the 251 kidnapped by Hamas-led hard boyz on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 36 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas has so far released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of four slain Israeli captives — Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz — during a ceasefire that began in January. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war.
Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 41 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
The body of another soldier killed in 2014, Lt. Hadar Goldin, is still being held by Hamas, and is counted among the 63 hostages.
[IsraelTimes] On the stage prepared by Hamas in Rafah are the usual placards with messages including “We are the flood,” as well as military weapons and equipment the group claims were stolen from the IDF on October 7, 2023.
The strap of one of the guns is branded with the word “Ravshatz,” the Hebrew acronym for the head of a community’s local security team, indicating it was taken from such an individual killed by terrorists during the October 7 attack.
مصادر صحفية: على منصة الإفراج.. أسلحة إسرائيلية لجنود الاحتلال اغتنمتها كتائب القــــسام في عملية طـــوفان الأقصى. pic.twitter.com/La5y6Z82b1
All the living from this round, anyway. From another article posted today:
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 63 hostages, including 62 of the 251 kidnapped by Hamas-led hard boyz on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 36 confirmed dead by the IDF.
So about 25 should still be alive. They are, I believe, all male and started out healthy — one of the objectives of the negotiations was to get out those most at risk first.
[Rudaw] The United States killed a big shot of an al-Qaeda affiliate in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in northwest Syria on Friday, the military announced on Saturday.
"On Feb. 21, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, killing Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a big shotship controller of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an al-Qaeda affiliate," read the statement.
"The airstrike is part of CENTCOM's ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by snuffies to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond," the statement added.
Hurras al-Din, or Guardians of Religion, broke away from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) in 2018. HTS led the Syrian rebel coalition that toppled Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... ’s regime and established a transitional government.
The two groups have vied for influence and territory with HTS periodically arresting Hurras al-Din members, particularly in 2020. Efforts have been made to reconcile their differences.
"We will relentlessly pursue and destroy terrorist threats, no matter their location, in order to protect our homeland and our allies and partners," said CENTCOM commander General Michael Erik Kurilla.
CENTCOM, which oversees American troops in the Middle East, has carried out several strikes against Hurras al-Din members and leaders, viewing the group as a threat to its allies and American presence in the region.
[Rudaw] Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i on Saturday confirmed an agreed end to the mission of the United States-led Global Coalition against 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) and emphasized a shift toward bilateral relations with coalition member states.
"Through responsible dialogue, we have completed the mission of the Global Coalition Against ISIS," Sudani said, using an Arabic term for ISIS.
He said that Iraq has transitioned to a framework of "bilateral relations and security coordination" with individual coalition members and is navigating a carefully calibrated path to insulate itself from "the repercussions of decisions that disregard our national interests."
After the fall of the regime of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... in neighbouring Syria, there were reports that Baghdad may ask US troops to stay in the country past the agreed upon deadline of September 2025.
Sudani made his remarks during a speech at the Baghdad International Dialogue Conference, a two-day event that began today under the theme "Communication for Development and Regional Stability." The conference was attended by key figures, including Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Mohammed El Hassan, acting head of the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The prime minister highlighted Iraq’s role in regional diplomacy, noting Baghdad’s efforts in facilitating the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and Iran. Additionally, he reiterated Iraq’s commitment to the Development Road, a major railway and highway network designed to link the Persian Gulf to Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... via The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... . He described the project as "an economic pillar for strengthening regional stability" and "a catalyst for fostering exchange between nations across multiple areas."
The US-led Global Coalition Against ISIS was established in 2014 to support Iraq in its fight against the terrorist group, providing military assistance, intelligence sharing, and training for Iraqi forces. While the territorial defeat of ISIS was declared in 2017, coalition forces have remained in Iraq at Baghdad’s request to assist in counterterrorism operations.
[Rudaw] The interim government in Damascus has begun receiving over 15,000 barrels of oil daily and as much as one million cubic meters of natural gas from Kurdish-controlled fields in the northeast, an official told Rudaw on Saturday.
"We have reactivated the same contract and crude oil is being supplied from northeast Syria to the refineries in Homs and Banias," said Ahmad Sulaiman, the head of the Syrian oil ministry’s public relations office.
The "same old contract that was previously in effect has been reviewed and amended," he added.
The oil ministry had said earlier in February that they would be reviewing and assessing the legal validity of all oil agreements and contracts signed by the toppled regime of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... "The [crude oil] is being transferred by tankers and more than 15,000 barrels of oil are being transferred each day, in addition to [liquefied petroleum] gas used in homes and natural gas. Between 500,000 to 1,000,000 cubic meters of natural gas are being transferred to electric power generation plants," Sulaiman said.
Earlier this month, Sulaiman had told Rudaw that before the start of the civil war, Syria produced about 385,000 barrels of oil daily and production from Damascus-controlled areas now stands at 10,000 barrels per day.
The new leadership in Damascus is currently engaged in talks with the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) about the future of the areas they control.
Answering the unasked but important question. Especially given that in surveys in the years before the invasion something like three quarters of Gazan young people wanted to leave the Strip, but were not allowed to by Hamas. President Trumo’s proposal is answering a deeply felt need over there.
[RichardPollock] About half of all Paleostinians — six million - voluntarily live outside of 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... and the West Bank. This inconvenient fact is ignored when we discuss where Paleostinians call home. Some choose to live in the Paleostinian territories, but at least half have shunned these lands - and for a very long time.
Up to 300,000 Paleostinians currently reside in Europe. A half million live in Chile and hundreds of thousands more live throughout South America. More than 200,000 are in the U.S. and influenced the 2004 election of Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... In the Middle East, more than 2 million live in Israel as full fledged citizens who can vote and have representation in the Israeli Knesset, the country’s parliament. Others have found successful livelihoods in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... , Bahrain, the UAE, and Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... and Jordan.
Having established themselves for half a century or more in their adopted homes, few consider going back to the West Bank or Gaza. So living outside of the Gaza Strip isn’t unthinkable. In fact, it has been thinkable for quite some time.
And there is another special kind of Paleostinian expat that has been a well-kept secret. This group consists of fabulously wealthy Paleostinians who are derisively called by the Paleostinian man-on-the-street as the "exiled bourgeoise of Paleostine."
Pamela Ann Smith, writing for the progressive Middle East Research and Information Project in 1986 first described this group of wealthy Paleostinians as the exile Bourgeoisie of Paleostine.
Smith wrote then that the rise of the Paleostinian’s Black September terror organization and the radicalization of its population "led to the emigration of substantial numbers of the Paleostinian middle class, to Cyprus, Amman, Gay Paree and London. As the (Lebanese) war dragged on, many began to build more permanent ties in their new places of refuge. Today Paleostinian firms play a leading role within the Arab community in London and, to a lesser extent, in Gay Paree as well."
As the Washington producer for ABC’s "Good Morning America," I once personally met hundreds of these well-heeled Paleostinians at a 1993 grand soiree in Washington, DC. I’ll never quite forget the experience. They screamed of unspeakable wealth and contrary to Moslem law, enthusiastically crowded the hotel’s well-kept bar.
These Paleostinian expats didn’t reside in the dusty West Bank or in Gaza or in other parts of the Middle East. These exiles called home in places like London, Gay Paree, Geneva, Milan, or Florence. The largest expat community outside of the Middle East was there too, from Santiago, Chile.
Far from the media’s gaze, these are wealthy and highly successful Paleostinians. They are largely invisible, and many have little interest in living in Gaza or in the West Bank.
One wealthy Paleostinian who did attract some media attention about his unseemly riches was the Paleostinian Liberation Organization leader, Yassar Arafat. Just before his death, CBS "60 Minutes" estimated his personal wealth to be between $1 and $3 billion.
CBS reported that a large portion of Arafat’s wealth came from corruption and from secret sweetheart deals that were hidden from the Paleostinian people. They reported, "part of the Paleostinian leader's wealth was in a secret portfolio worth close to $1 billion -- with investments in companies like a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ramallah, a Tunisian cell phone company and venture capital funds in the U.S. and the Cayman Islands."
His wife, Zuha Arafat, a Paleostinian Christian, married the PLO leader when he was 61 and she was 27. She was already living in Gay Paree, where Arafat eventually died.
The average Paleostinian apparently despised Zuha. The Times of Melbourne reported in 2004," On the streets, Suha is more often condemned as a scheming minx who bewitched the leader and ripped off vast sums of public money to finance a lavish lifestyle in Gay Paree."
Their only child was daughter Zahwa who was born in 1995 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, La Belle France.Neuilly-sur-Seine is one of the most affluent areas of La Belle France and it’s the wealthiest and the most expensive suburb of Gay Paree.
Zahwa is estimated by Israeli sources to be worth as much as $8 billion. Although highly secretive, she reportedly lives in luxury with prime real estate in London, Gay Paree and Malta. Despite this, she is still considered a "refugee" and is eligible for UNRWA funds — welfare payments from the highly corrupt United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... Relief and Works Agency.
In 2024, President Biden, along with a dozen other countries, halted payments to UNRWA after it was discovered that members of the relief organization enthusiastically took part in the October 7, 2023 Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... -led slaughter, killing 1,200 and seizing 250 hostages.
Many years earlier, in 1993, I had the opportunity to meet and socialize with many of the Suha Arafat’s affluent contemporaries. In September of that year, Arafat traveled to DC to sign a peace accord with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. They did so on the South Lawn of the White House. A beaming Bill Clinton ...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of the word is... stood beside them.
To celebrate the event, thousands of the wealthy Paleostinians filled a deluxe DC hotel then called the "ANA Hotel," named after the Japanese airline.
The ANA was an exclusive, four diamond-rated hotel. When you entered, you faced a three tier Italianate fountain. The ninth floor was a secure floor, isolated from the rest of the hotel for security. There, Arafat and his PLO staff resided.
The Presidential Suite, where Arafat likely stayed featured portraits of George and Martha Washington. The hallways were decorated with portraits of previous First Ladies.
I was asked by my "Good Morning America" bosses in New York to try to book Arafat or one of his top advisors on our morning show.
So, I showed up at the hotel in DC’s affluent Foggy Bottom. The hotel was bustling with the Paleostinian elite’s "beautiful people." They mobbed the hotel’s lobby, bar and restaurant. They were elegant. The women wore sexy haute couture dresses that hugged them. The men wore custom tailored suits.
I knew Hanan Ashwari, the PLO’s central spokeswoman who resided in one of the PLO’s ninth floor suites. She was more modestly dressed than those socializing in the hotel. And she was on her game with American news hounds: friendly, articulate and energetic.
As a news hound and producer, I wanted to understand: who are these well-dressed people swarming throughout the hotel? I spent several afternoons and evenings to meet as many Paleostinian as possible. At first, I naively asked them where they lived in the Paleostinian territories.
One well-dressed young Paleostinian at the bar sneered at me when I mentioned, "The West Bank." He retorted, "I haven’t been to the West Bank in ages." His parents were originally from Ramallah, the West Bank’s capital. Home as it turned out was in London. He was born there.
From then on, I didn’t ask where in the Paleostinian territories they called home. I simply asked where they lived.
As it turns out, they were living in Gay Paree, Florence, Milan, Stockholm, New York, Geneva and Santiago, Chile. Santiago has the largest diaspora community with today more than a half million Paleostinians living there.
And while most Paleostinians are regarded as leftists, in Chile the Paleostinians were opposed to the socialist government of Salvadore Allende and welcomed the military coup that installed Gen. Augusto Pinochet, according to Paleostine studies.org.
The idea of population transfers to other countries isn’t new. In fact, it’s what the United States has been built on. Many have added value to other countries and to their families, translating a near-disasters into success stories.
The movement of populations isn’t unique. In fact, it’s the story of our modern time.
As Sadanand Dhume, a Wall Street Journal columnist recently wrote, "Many population transfers have taken place over the past century. In the 1920s, Greece and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... member, but not the most reliable... agreed to a forced population swap: Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey moved to Greece, while Moslems in Greece moved to Turkey. After World War II, millions of Indians and Paks were forced to find new homes, as were ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. In the 1970s, Uganda expelled Indians. Only in the Paleostinian case has the refugee question festered endlessly.
So, I salute the exiled bourgeoise Paleostinians. They are a roaring success to their expat communities and proud members of their adopted countries.
[IsraelTimes] More than 40,100 have fled their homes amid Operation Iron Wall, according to UNRWA; many say they were told to leave by IDF, which denies issuing evacuation orders.
By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers’ sight lines, tens of thousands of Paleostinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — allegedly the largest displacement in the territory since the Six Day War in 1967.
It comes amid an Israel Defense Forces crackdown, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, on local terror groups in the West Bank, launched on January 21, days after a ceasefire agreement was reached 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, and following recent activity against terror groups by the Ramallah-based Paleostinian Authority.
The operation began in the terror hotbed of Jenin, which has seen dozens of raids since the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel from Gaza, which sparked the ongoing war in that territory, as well as a renewed effort to combat terror groups in the West Bank. Israeli forces have since pushed deeper and more forcefully into several other nearby towns, including Tulkarem, Far’a and Nur Shams.
Humanitarian officials say they haven’t seen such displacement in the West Bank since the Six Day War, when Israel — under threat from Jordan, Egypt, Syria and other Arab countries — captured the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, displacing 300,000 Paleostinians.
"This is unprecedented. When you add to this the destruction of infrastructure, we’re reaching a point where the camps are becoming uninhabitable," said Roland Friedrich, director of West Bank affairs for UNRWA, the UN agency created in 1948 to assist Paleostinian refugees, which still takes responsibility for those refugees’ descendants — and classifies them as refugees themselves — many generations later.
"This is our nakba," said Abed Sabagh, 53, using the Arabic word, meaning "catastrophe," that Paleostinians use to refer to the mass displacement of some 700,000 Paleostinians in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Sabagh bundled his seven children into the car on February 9 as sound bombs blared in Nur Shams camp, where he was born to parents who fled that war.
More than 40,100 Paleostinians have left their homes since the launch of Operation Iron Wall, according to UNRWA. Israel recently banned the agency from operating inside the country, amid revelations that Hamas operatives, including senior commanders, had been employed by the agency in Gaza and its buildings had been used as command centers.
Last week, the IDF said troops have killed more than 60 Paleostinian terror operatives and detained more than 210 amid the major ongoing counter-terrorism operation. The IDF has also acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler and a pregnant woman, and is probing both incidents.
Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache... US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... ’s calls for the mass transfer of Paleostinians out of Gaza has emboldened Israel’s far right to renew calls for annexation of the West Bank.
"The idea of ’cleansing’ the land of Paleostinians is more popular today than ever before," said Yagil Levy, head of the Institute for the Study of Civil-Military Relations at Britannia’s Open University.
The army denies issuing evacuation orders in the West Bank. It said troops secure passage for those wanting to leave on their own accord.
SEVEN MINUTES TO LEAVE HOME
Over a dozen displaced Paleostinians interviewed by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named in the last week said they did not flee their homes out of fear, but on the orders of Israeli security forces. AP journalists in the Nur Shams camp also heard Israeli soldiers shouting through mosque megaphones, ordering people to leave.
Some displaced families said soldiers were polite, knocking on doors and assuring them they could return when the army left. Others said they were ruthless, ransacking rooms, waving rifles and hustling residents out of their homes despite pleas for more time.
"I was sobbing, asking them, ’Why do you want me to leave my house?’ My baby is upstairs, just let me get my baby please,’" Ayat Abdullah, 30, recalled from a shelter for displaced people in the village of Kafr al-Labd. "They gave us seven minutes. I brought my children, thank God. Nothing else."
Told to make their own way, Abdullah trudged 10 kilometers (six miles) on a path lit only by the glow from her phone as rain turned the ground to mud. She said she clutched her children tight, braving possible snipers that had killed a 23-year-old pregnant woman just hours earlier on February 9.
Her 5-year-old son, Nidal, interrupted her story, pursing his lips together to make a loud buzzing sound.
"You’re right, my love," she replied. "That’s the sound the drones made when we left home."
HOSPITALITY, FOR NOW
In the nearby town of Anabta, volunteers moved in and out of mosques and government buildings that have become makeshift shelters — delivering donated blankets, serving bitter coffee, distributing boiled eggs for breakfast and whipping up vats of rice and chicken for dinner.
Residents have opened their homes to families fleeing Nur Shams and Tulkarem.
"This is our duty in the current security situation," said Thabet A’mar, the mayor of Anabta.
But he stressed that the town’s welcoming hand should not be mistaken for anything more.
"We insist that their displacement is temporary," he said.
STAYING PUT
When the operation started on February 2, Israeli bulldozers ruptured underground pipes. Taps ran dry. Sewage gushed. Internet service was shut off. Schools closed. Food supplies dwindled. Explosions echoed.
Ahmad Sobuh could understand how his neighbors chose to flee the Far’a refugee camp during the military’s 10-day incursion. But he scavenged rainwater to drink and hunkered down in his home, swearing to himself, his family and the Israeli soldiers knocking at his door that he would stay.
The soldiers advised against that, informing Sobuh’s family on February 11 that, because a room had raised suspicion for containing security cameras and an object resembling a weapon, they would blow up the second floor.
The surveillance cameras, which Israeli soldiers argued could be exploited by Paleostinian terrorists, were not unusual in the volatile neighborhood, Sobuh said, as families can observe street battles and army operations from inside.
But the second claim sent him clambering upstairs, where he found his nephew’s water pipe, shaped like a rifle.
Hours later, the earth-shattering kaboom left his nephew’s room naked to the wind and shattered most others. It was too dangerous to stay.
"They are doing everything they can to push us out," he said of the IDF, which, according to the UN, has demolished hundreds of homes across the four camps this year.
The army has described its ongoing campaign as a crucial counterterrorism effort to prevent attacks like October 7, and said steps were taken to mitigate the impact on civilians.
A CHILLING RETURN
The first thing Doha Abu Dgehish noticed about her family’s five-story home 10 days after Israeli troops forced them to leave, she said, was the smell.
Venturing inside as Israeli troops withdrew from Far’a camp, she found rotten food and toilets piled with excrement. Pet parakeets had vanished from their cages. Pages of the Koran had been defaced with graphic drawings. Israeli forces had apparently used explosives to blow every door off its hinges, even though none had been locked.
Rama, her 11-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, screamed upon finding her doll’s skirt torn and its face covered with more graphic drawings.
AP journalists visited the Abu Dgehish home on February 12, hours after their return.
Nearly two dozen Paleostinians interviewed across the four West Bank refugee camps this month described army units taking over civilian homes to use as dormitories, storerooms or lookout points. The Abu Dgehish family accused Israeli soldiers of vandalizing their home, as did multiple families in Far’a.
The Israeli army blamed terror operatives for embedding themselves in civilian infrastructure. Soldiers may be "required to operate from civilian homes for varying periods," it said, adding that the destruction of civilian property was a violation of the military’s rules and does not conform to its values.
It said "any exceptional incidents that raise concerns regarding a deviation from these orders" are "thoroughly addressed," without elaborating.
For Abu Dgehish, the mess was emblematic of the emotional whiplash of return. No one knows when they’ll have to flee again.
"It’s like they want us to feel that we’re never safe," she said. "That we have no control."
BROAD CRACKDOWN ON TERROR GROUPS SINCE OCTOBER 7
Tensions ratcheted up in the West Bank after the Hamas terror group invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault, sparking the ongoing war.
Since then, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas. In that time, the IDF have carried out more than 100 Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 900 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or Lions of Islam carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 48 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Glad to see there’s a process, but why more aid for Gaza, when it only goes straight into Hamas warehouses without stopping to be delivered to the unconnected languishing in tents in the south?
[IsraelTimes] Included in $5.3 billion of unfrozen US aid funds is $78 million in aid for Strip and $56 million for the Red Cross related to hostage-ceasefire deal
The Trump administration recently released $5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, mostly for security and counter-narcotics programs, including $78 million for non-food humanitarian assistance in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , and $56 million for the Red Thingy related to the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... , according to a list of exemptions reviewed by Rooters that included only limited humanitarian relief.
US President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on January 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe.
The freeze sparked a scramble by US officials and humanitarian organizations for exemptions to keep programs going. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... , who has said all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s "America First" priorities, issued waivers in late January on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the top US allies in the Middle East, and for life-saving humanitarian aid, including food. The waivers meant those funds should have been allowed to be spent.
Current and former US officials and aid organizations, however, say few humanitarian aid waivers have been approved.
Rooters obtained a list of 243 further exceptions approved as of February 13 totaling $5.3 billion.
The list provides the most comprehensive accounting of exempted funds since Trump ordered the aid freeze and reflects the White House’s desire to cut aid for programs it doesn’t consider vital to US national security.
The list identifies programs that will be funded and the US government office managing them.
The vast majority of released funds — more than $4.1 billion — were for programs administered by the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military affairs, which oversees arms sales and military assistance to other countries and groups. Other exemptions were in line with Trump’s immigration crackdown and efforts to halt the flow of illicit narcotics into the US, including the deadly opioid fentanyl.
More than half of the programs that will be allowed to go forward are run by the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, or INL, and are aimed at helping fight drug trafficking and illicit migration to the US, according to the list.
Those exemptions were worth $293 million and included funds for databases to track migrants colonists, identify possible Death Eaters and share biometric information.
A State Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Rooters could not determine if some exemptions had been granted but were not on the list.
Trump has long railed against foreign aid, which has averaged less than 2 percent of total federal spending for the past 20 years, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Trump has described the US "foreign aid industry" as "in many cases antithetical to American values."
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has led an effort to gut the United States Agency for International Development, the main delivery mechanism for American foreign assistance and a critical tool of US "soft power" for winning influence abroad.
In contrast to security-related programs, USAID programs received less than $100 million in exemptions, according to the list. That compares to roughly $40 billion in USAID programs administered annually before the freeze.
Exempted USAID programs included $78 million for non-food humanitarian assistance in Gaza, which has been devastated by war. A separate $56 million was released for the International Committee of the Red Thingy related to the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the list showed.
The list did not include specific exemptions for some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, including Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... , Syria, Ukraine, Myanmar and Afghanistan, which means funds for those places appeared to remain stopped.
Security exemptions included $870 million for programs in Taiwan, $336 million for modernizing Philippine security forces and more than $21.5 million for body armor and armored vehicles for Ukraine’s national police and border guards, the list showed.
The biggest non-security exemption was $500 million in funding for PEPFAR, the flagship US program fighting HIV/AIDS, which mainly funds healthcare services in Africa and is credited with saving millions of lives. That compares with PEPFAR’s annual budget in 2024 of $6.5 billion. PEPFAR is administered by the State Department’s global health bureau.
’VERY DYSFUNCTIONAL’
A current USAID employee, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... , described the process for requesting exemptions as "very dysfunctional" and said the agency’s remaining staff have sought clarity on what criteria are being used. Rubio has said the Trump administration reached out to USAID missions overseas to identify and designate programs that will be exempted.
J. Brian Atwood, USAID’s administrator from 1993 to 1999, said reducing foreign aid to a narrow set of exemptions was shortsighted. "When people are starving or feeling desperate, they are going to become a security problem eventually," he said. "They’ll migrate or become an immigration problem, or they will be more inclined to move to terrorism."
The foreign aid that was paused by Trump had previously been approved by Congress, which controls the federal budget under the US Constitution. As a candidate and as president, Trump has said he opposes foreign aid for "countries that hate us" and would prefer to instead spend the money at home.
The exemptions in the list were granted before a federal judge last week ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for foreign aid contracts and awards that were in place before January 20. Rooters was unable to establish what exemptions, if any, had been granted since February 13.
Many of the unfrozen programs reflect Trump’s focus on drug trafficking, including funds supporting fentanyl interdiction operations by Mexican security units and efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations. Trump’s aid freeze has thrown a wrench into those efforts, however.
Rooters reported last week that the pause halted anti-narcotics programs funded by the INL Bureau in Mexico that for years had been working to curb the flow of synthetic opioids into the United States.
More than $64 million was released to support Haitian police and a UN-approved international security force that is helping Haiti’s government fight escalating gang violence that has displaced more than one million people.
The money covers supplies of small arms, ammunition, drones, night vision goggles, vehicles and other support for the force, according to the list. The force is led by Kenya and includes personnel from Jamaica, Belize, the Bahamas, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, focused on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, received 17 exemptions worth more than $30.4 million, the list showed.
Also released was $397 million for a US-backed program in nuclear-armed Pakistain that a congressional aide said monitored Islamabad’s use of US-made F-16 fighter jets to ensure they are employed for counterterrorism operations and not against rival India.
Some of the released funds were for small expenditures — including $604 for Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system to run biometrics registration programs in the Darien Gap, a treacherous 60-mile route linking South and Central America used by US-bound illegal migrants colonists.
#1
but why more aid for Gaza, when it only goes straight into Hamas warehouses without stopping to be delivered to the unconnected languishing in tents in the south?
I don't see how this decision could have any effect that wasn't bad. The Trump administration is rewarding atrocious behavior.
If there's any real humanitarian need, Qatar should pick up the tab.
If the US left was smart they'd attack Trump for being a weak appeaser.
Why doesn't he pressure Qatar into making a one sided deal on minerals, to compensate the world for a century of unprovoked MB aggression, they should ask.
#2
but why more aid for Gaza, when it only goes straight into Hamas warehouses
A mischievous person might take advantage of that fact. A lot of aid going every which way is hard to keep track of. With only a few loads, the task becomes smaller. Especially if every pallet has its own radio tracking beacon.
An electronic sniffer van drives through a neighborhood searching for telltale signals. The Brits already do a similar thing looking for unlicensed TV sets. Now you have a map with targeting coordinates for later, but in the meantime, places to set up CCTV to do facial recognition on passersby. Did you know that you can train a neural network to recognize people by their gait as well as their face?
Put up a Reaper drone for overwatch and on-demand interdiction, and Robert is your Dad's brother.
#3
Bless your devious mind, SteveS — I feel so much better now. I was very upset by the articles I posted overnight, though all that was predictable given what Hamas has always been.
[Rudaw] An advisor for Yazidi affairs to the Kurdistan Region Presidency on Saturday criticized authorities at Syria’s al-Hol Camp for their "lack of collaboration" in facilitating the release of the large number of Yazidis being held in the camp that houses suspected 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) family members.
No rescue operations have taken place since the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... ’s regime at the end of 2024, Khairi Bozani told Rudaw.
"We don’t even know who to negotiate with at this point... But I hope we can find a way to do something," he said.
ISIS murderous Moslems kidnapped more than 6,000 Yazidis, mainly young women and kiddies, when they seized control of Shingal in 2014. About 2,600 are still missing and Bozani said most are believed to be in al-Hol camp.
The camp houses tens of thousands of displaced people, including families of ISIS fighters, and has long been a source of security and humanitarian concerns. The sprawling facility is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but is difficult to secure and has been dubbed a breeding ground for terrorism. Bozani accused the SDF of not cooperating in efforts to locate and release Yazidi captives.
When ISIS swept through the Yazidi heartland of Shingal in northern Iraq, it killed more than 5,000 people in the space of a few weeks, mainly men and older women, and buried them in mass graves. Iraqi authorities are exhuming the graves and identifying the remains.
On Friday, the remains of 32 Yazidi genocide victims were handed over to their families at djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... ’s forensic office, ahead of a funeral ceremony scheduled for Saturday.
Bozani said that the exact number of Yazidi remains still awaiting identification in Baghdad remains unclear due to the lack of sufficient DNA testing facilities.
"DNA tests are one of the biggest obstacles in identifying the victims," he said.
"There is only one DNA laboratory in Iraq that the government relies on and it is not exclusively dedicated to Yazidi victims but to all atrocities committed in Iraq."
Speaking about Iraq’s new general amnesty law, Bozani expressed concerns that people who committed atrocities against Yazidis could be released.
"We are suspicious that people involved in the Shingal genocide will be acquitted," he said. "Even though the Federal Supreme Court has stated that those responsible for the Shingal atrocities will not be pardoned, we have no transparency on how the law is being implemented or which criminals might ultimately walk free."
The amnesty law provides opportunities for prisoners to request a retrial under certain conditions, but many critics say that loopholes could allow perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to evade justice, further deepening the wounds of Iraq’s genocide survivors.
[ShabelleMedia] Government forces, along with local militias from the Shabelle region, have successfully destroyed and seized all military vehicles used by al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... bully boyz in an attack on the Ceel Cali Axmed area.
This operation confirmed the defeat of the murderous Moslem group, with the forces destroying their weapons and vehicles, allowing the Somali National Army and local forces to fully control the area.
In addition, al-Shabaab leaders and bully boyz were killed during the operation, and it was reported that the retreating forces are being pursued by the Somali army, which is carrying out heavy operations across various parts of Hirshabelle region.
This victory is part of ongoing efforts to secure peace and stability in the region.
Key figures of the murderous Moslem group, including notorious figure Hassan Abdwaahid Abd Dhiicisoow (Hassan Gureey) and other military commanders such as Daahir Buuxsade, Khaalid Jiis, Anas, and Casaam, were confirmed dead in the confrontation in Ceel Cali Axmed.
The combatants have also been showcased in the media, highlighting the significant success achieved by the Somali forces and the local community.
[ToloNews] Pakistain shut down the Torkham crossing last night, halting all movement.
Abdul Jabbar Hikmat, the Torkham commissioner, told TOLOnews that the Pak side closed the gate after Islamic Emirate forces on the Afghan side were engaged in construction activities.
Regarding the issue, the Torkham commissioner said: "Whenever we build facilities, they close the route. We tell them, if you don't allow us to construct facilities, then you shouldn't build them either."
However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... some passengers and traders are calling for an immediate resolution to the issue and the reopening of the crossing.
Noor-ul-Haq, who is with a patient at Torkham, told TOLOnews: "One of our patients is here, and we are not allowed to take them to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire... for treatment. Another one of our patients has passed away on the other side, and Pakistain is not permitting us to bring back the body because the gate has been closed since yesterday."
Abdullah, one of the travelers stuck at Torkham, told TOLOnews: "We arrived at Torkham at 8:30 in the morning. We have a bride with us. Half of our family is stuck here, and the other half is on the other side because the gate is closed."
Anwar Khan, a resident of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, said: "Our request is for both sides to sit down and resolve this issue through dialogue. There are many children and women facing difficulties here; they should be allowed to pass."
Previously, due to festivities between Pak military forces and Islamic Emirate forces, not only the Torkham crossing but also the Ghulam Khan crossing in Khost and the Kharlachi crossing in Paktia have been repeatedly closed and reopened.
[KhaamaPress] The Deputy Commander of the Northeast Ground Forces of the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s Army announced that 100 more kilometers of the necessary infrastructure for the continued border closure project between northeastern Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and Afghanistan have been completed.
Sadegh Noori added that despite the challenging weather conditions throughout different seasons, the project has made significant progress.
Iranian media reported on Friday, February 21, that this announcement came during Noori’s visit to the Iran-Afghanistan border assistance project. The report highlighted his remarks on the ongoing progress of the strategic border closure plan.
He emphasized that over the past year, during the initial stages of this strategic project, 50 kilometers of wall construction has been completed as part of the first phase.
According to the deputy commander, the closure and wall construction along the northeastern borders of Iran and Afghanistan is one of the most significant active projects in the country. It is being built based on the latest scientific, technical, and engineering methods by the army’s engineering forces.
This official further clarified that despite the difficult weather conditions throughout the year and the region’s unsuitable soil, significant progress has been made on the project.
The report mentioned that the overall project spans 953 kilometers, with over 300 kilometers already under construction in the first phase in the Khorasan Razavi region.
The border closure plan, which covers 300 kilometers between Afghanistan and Iran, was launched by the Islamic Theocratic Republic a year ago to prevent the illegal entry of migrants colonists and the smuggling of drugs into the country.
The ongoing construction of the border wall reflects Iran’s firm stance on controlling its borders and tackling illegal migration and drug trafficking. While the project faces challenges due to harsh environmental conditions, the progress made so far highlights the commitment of the Iranian military in implementing this key security initiative. The success of this project could set a precedent for future border management strategies in the region.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF releases images showing Israeli Air Force fighter jets flying low over the funeral ceremony for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the Lebanese capital Beirut earlier today.
Additional footage circulated online by Lebanese media shows the flyby.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the move was a message to Hezbollah.
[X]
As the terrorists chant “death to America, death to Israel”
Israeli war planes do a low flyover the Nasrallah funeral.
Israel DM on flyover: “Those who threaten and attack Israel will meet the same fate.
مرور الطائرات الإسرائيلية فوق المدينة الرياضية أثناء التشييع المهيب لسيد شهداء الأمة السيد حسن نصرالله والسيد الهاشمي الشهيد السيد هاشم صفي الدين#إنا_على_العهدpic.twitter.com/mGi219hmy8
The passage of Israeli planes over the sports city during the majestic funeral of the martyrs of the nation, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, and Mr. Hashemi, the martyr Sayyid Hashem Safi Al-Din
The videos are revealed after Nasrallah is buried earlier today in the Lebanese capital.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets had dropped 82 heavy bombs on the terror group’s main underground headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh, bringing down several buildings.
According to the IDF, in addition to killing Nasrallah, the strike eliminated more than 20 Hezbollah commanders, including Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front.
#1
I think I previously recommended a hypersonic low-level flyover by the IAF. I'm pleased the Juice are taking my directions thinking similarly, LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/23/2025 17:19
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Q: Do Turbans have customary containment for head explosions?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/23/2025 18:44
Comments ||
Top||
#3
In the parts of the world of interest to the IDF, Frank G, the smart money has been investing in construction hard hat liners for when the building falls in.
[DW] Early projections say Germany's conservative bloc has secured some 29% of the votes, emerging as the largest party ahead of the far-right AfD with around 19.5%. Follow DW for live updates.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Polls opened at 8 a.m. (0700 UTC) and closed at 6 p.m.
Exit polls put CDU/CSU at 29%, the right-wing populist AfD at around 19.5%, and Chancellor Scholz's SPD at 16%
The AfD is shunned by other parties and expected to be left out of government
The snap election was triggered by the collapse of a three-way coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz' center-left SPD
CDU candidate Friedrich Merz could become the next chancellor and choose to form a coalition with the SPD and/or the environmentalist Greens
Here are the latest developments on Germany's parliamentary election on Sunday, February 23, 2025, along with the essential background and explainers.
Update courtesy of Fred at 2:30 p.m. ET
[X]
🇩🇪 Germany exit polls:
- Incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD had its worst-ever result and received approx 16.5% of the vote
- Friedrich Merz’s CDU party are projected to win with approx 30% of the vote
#2
The 16.5% for the SPD is the worst they've done post WWII, i.e., in the Bundestag era where they were over 40% in 1998.
It is also worse than they ever did in the pre WWII Reichstag era.
However, in the pre WWI era they were below 16.5% in 1887 and prior years.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/23/2025 14:50
Comments ||
Top||
#3
They can leave out the AFD this time if they want, but if they don’t change policy to what the people want, they are renting their leadership position.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/23/2025 15:27
Comments ||
Top||
#4
^^^^
They don't care. They are practicing the definition of insanity.
[IsraelTimes] With the party deeply divided over support of the Jewish state and poised to take 20% of the national vote Sunday, its past — and ongoing — record of antisemitism looms largest
Like Marine LePen, the pro-Israel side is going to have to break with the Jew-haters if they want to have a chance to govern.
As millions of German voters head for the polls on Sunday, pollsters predict historic success for the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party. Since its inception in 2013, the AfD has been plagued by antisemitic incidents and the leadership appears to be split over its attitude towards Israel and the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... This struggle within the AfD came to light in October last year, when parliamentarian and AfD co-chair Tino Chrupalla criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his ongoing support for Israel in the form of weapons exports to the Jewish state.
"With your delivery of weapons to Israel you accept the dehumanization of all civilian deaths on both sides," accused Chrupalla. "You are not contributing to de-escalation, but instead you throw oil on the fire."
The AfD chairman criticized "exclusive declarations of solidarity" towards Israel and "one-sided party standpoints." Yet in the same speech, Chrupalla declared himself to be a supporter of Israel’s right to self-defense.
His remarks led to a storm of indignation within the AfD itself. The right-wing populist party has from the get-go presented itself as a strong ally of Israel. In 2019, it demanded a complete and enforceable ban on all Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activity in Germany. After the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... -led terror onslaught in southern Israel, the first blurb by the AfD in the Bundestag stated: "Israel and the Jewish people can count on our full solidarity."
However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt... geopolitical developments seem to have caused a break from this self-proclaimed solidarity. The AfD distinguishes itself from the governing social democrats, greens and liberals as well as from the opposition Christian democrats by being strongly pro-Moscow. Since 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... is allied with Israel’s archenemy Iran, some in the AfD leadership are now pivoting away from their traditional pro-Israeli stance.
This in turn has led to harsh criticism from fellow AfD brass. On the basis of anonymity, several high-ranked party officials attacked their chairman in Welt magazine.
One anonymous AfD parliamentarian called it "left-wing pacifist nonsense" (German link). "It would be refreshing if Chrupalla just once would take a position on foreign policy that differs from Moscow’s," they added.
Other AfD members wondered whether it would be smart to take a line on the Israeli-Arab conflict that is almost identical to that of the German extreme left.
But Chrupalla is not the sole AfD voice with anti-Israel views on the war in Gaza. Jurgen Pohl, a member of the federal parliament in Berlin from the eastern German region of Thuringia and often a mouthpiece of the white nationalist wing of the AfD, supported his chairman in words that are virtually indistinguishable from those used by the European anti-Zionist left: "Israel is allowed to do anything, the others nothing, and we are supposed to support that." Pohl also said that "the genocide" in Gaza needs to be stopped.
A LONG HISTORY OF ANTISEMITISM
The split inside the AfD is one between a conservative wing that wants to free itself from accusations of antisemitism — not unlike Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party in La Belle France — and a white nationalist faction that is rooted mostly in the eastern regions of the former communist German Democratic Republic. Many of the hardliners have a history in other extreme right-wing and neo-Nazi ...adherents of a philosophy that was seen even at the time as pure evil, which makes them either consciously purely evil, or attention-seeking ratbags. Pick one, or both.... organizations.
AfD has a long list of antisemitic incidents since its founding in 2013. One of many examples is Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, who since 2016 has been a member of parliament in the eastern region of Sachsen-Anhalt. In 2018, Tillschneider said that the Central Council of Jews in Germany is "using Islam to bring about multicultural relations." Most instances of this replacement migration theory aren’t quite as explicitly anti-Jewish; often dog-whistles such as "globalist elites" are used instead.
In 2021, Bavarian AfD activist Stefan Bauer compared coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... vaccines to the Zyklon-B gas used by the Nazis to exterminate European Jews during the Holocaust. While Bauer was unceremoniously kicked out of the party, Tillschneider is still a member of the Sachsen-Anhalt regional parliament. He recently compared Israel’s methods in its war against Hamas in Gaza to the Holocaust.
The most well-known antisemitic incident within the AfD is the infamous "Dresden speech" that Björn Höcke delivered in 2017. Höcke leads the AfD faction in Thuringia’s regional parliament and is seen as a powerhouse within the party. In a speech in the eastern city of Dresden, he spoke about the Memorial for the Murder Jews of Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... in Berlin. "Germans are the only people in the world that have planted a monument of shame in the heart of its capital," said Höcke, who later tried to convince the outraged German press that he used the word "shame" to describe the Holocaust, not the monument.
THE PARTY’S NEW ’MODERATE’ FACE
Enter Alice Weidel, AfD’s top candidate in Sunday’s election. Unlike her co-chairman Chrupalla who hails from the relatively less well-off eastern region of Saxony, Weidel was born in Baden-Wurtemberg, a wealthy southwestern region of Germany.
Weidel has helmed the AfD since 2017, when she became co-chair alongside Alexander Gauland. Seen as another member of the krazed killer white nationalist wing of the party, Gauland, who was born in the eastern city of Chemnitz, supported Höcke after his Dresden speech but lost his parliamentary immunity in 2020 when he was indicted for tax fraud.
Weidel leads the AfD’s more moderate wing, which includes ongoing support for Israel, as she expressed in an interview with Elon Musk, who has been promoting the AfD on his social media platform X. "Only AfD can save Germany," Musk wrote in December.
Weidel expressed her ongoing support for the Jewish state, but at the same time was criticized for what many Germans labeled "historical revisionism." Addressing claims that her party was a National Socialist reincarnation, Weidel declared that the AfD is the opposite of the Nazi party, since according to her 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... was a "socialist." Historians were quick to point out that Hitler imprisoned tens of thousands of communists, social democrats and trade unionists in concentration camps.
The apparent conflict between Weidel’s pro-Israel stance and Chrupalla’s Moscow-aligned dalliance with anti-Zionism has likely come too late to persuade German voters to turn away from the AfD. For months the party has been hovering at around 20% popularity in the polls, double what it achieved in the 2021 federal elections. Garnering one-fifth of the electorate would make the AfD the second-largest party in parliament, behind only the center-right Christian democrats, whose leader Friedrich Merz has ruled out working together with the AfD in a coalition government.
It would be a historic result; not since the Nazis in the 1930s has a far-right German party achieved such a substantial share of the vote — the reason for the Central Council of Jews in Germany to label both the AfD and the radical left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Coalition, or BSW party, "a danger" (German link) to the Jewish community. Council president Josef Schuster complains that "right-wing antisemitism and left-wing Israel-hatred find a home in the AfD and BSW."
BSW, which split from another far-left party, Die Linke, hovers around the electoral threshold of 5% in the polls.
That Schuster’s warning can hardly be regarded as excessive is confirmed by findings of the Bundesambt fur Verfassungsschutz, or BfV, Germany’s national intelligence service.
Since 2021, the BfV has put the AfD under suspicion of right-wing extremism, both because of its ideology and its contacts with known neo-Nazis. One report by the BfV consisted of 52 pages listing antisemitic incidents within the party. The intelligence service labeled Der Flugel ("The Wing"), a white nationalist group within AfD led by Björn Höcke, as a "certified right-wing krazed killer attempt against the free democratic order" in Germany.
The same label was attached to the Junge Alternative fur Deutschland, the AfD’s youth movement. Only in January this year did the party leadership disassociate itself from the party’s krazed killer youth in an attempt to present itself as more socially acceptable.
Judging by the poll numbers, Weidel and the more moderate wing of AfD have succeeded in offering themselves as a viable alternative for voters worried by mass immigration and a looming economic crisis.
[Yahoo] The thieves stealthily board eastbound freight trains, hiding out until they reach lonely stretches of the Mojave Desert or high plains far from towns. They slash an air brake hose, causing the mile-long line of railcars to screech to an emergency stop.
Then, they go shopping.
These tactics are often employed by transnational criminal groups that consist primarily of Mexican citizens from Sinaloa, she said.
That’s the modus operandi described by investigators in a string of at least 10 heists targeting BNSF trains in California and Arizona since last March. All but one resulted in the theft of Nike sneakers, their combined value approaching $2 million, according to investigators.
New sneaker releases may have touched off at least some of the recent incidents. In Perrin, Ariz., thieves allegedly cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train on Jan. 13 and unloaded 1,985 pairs of unreleased Nikes worth more than $440,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix. Many were Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which won’t be available to the public until March 14 and are expected to retail at $225 per pair, the complaint states.
Theft crews typically scout high-value merchandise on rail lines that parallel Interstate 40 by boarding slow-moving trains, such as when they are changing tracks and opening containers, said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisk’s CargoNet and a deputy sheriff in Arizona.
Lewis said the thieves are sometimes tipped off to valuable shipments by confederates working at warehouses or trucking companies. Other times they simply look for containers with high-security locks, which they cut with reciprocating saws or bolt cutters, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent said in affidavits filed in federal court.
Once the desired loot is found, the thieves alert “follow vehicles,” which track the train. The stolen goods are tossed off the train after it comes to a halt — either for a scheduled stop or because an air hose has been cut or control wires inside signal boxes have been sabotaged, said the federal agent, Brynna Cooke.
The cargo is then loaded into box trucks, or hidden in nearby brush until they arrive — provided the surveillance crews that are following the train don’t detect law enforcement, Cooke said. These tactics are often employed by transnational criminal groups that consist primarily of Mexican citizens from Sinaloa, she said.
Tied to the Sinaloa Cartel? That makes it Page 1: War on Terror, not merely an interewsingly lurid crime
There were at least 65,000 railroad cargo thefts last year, a 40% increase from 2023, according to industry estimates compiled by the Assn. of American Railroads. The thefts — which are typically classified as burglaries because they don't involve directly confronting victims, as with robberies — are believed to have cost the nation's largest rail companies more than $100 million, according to the trade group.
Those figures may be an undercount, because railroads don't publicize all thefts, Lewis said. Details typically emerge publicly only when arrests are made and criminal complaints are filed.
[MAIL] A public blame-game has erupted over who's responsible for leaving two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) for over eight months.
Last week, Elon Musk blamed NASA's choice to extend Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore's ISS mission on 'political reasons' during a FOX News joint interview with President Donald Trump, who added that Biden was going to 'leave them in space.'
Rudy Ridolfi, a respected former Space System Commander in the US military, told DailyMail.com that 'the Biden administration's vitriolic hate for Elon' may have influenced how NASA handled the situation.
Williams and Wilmore embarked on what was supposed to be an eight-day ISS mission aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft last June. But their capsule was plagued by thruster issues and helium leaks before, during and after the launch.
These numerous technical issues drove NASA to postpone the astronauts' return flight, but the agency still entertained the possibility of using Starliner to bring them home and gave Boeing more than 12 weeks to try and fix the issues from the ground.
In late August, NASA officials decided there was still too much uncertainty about Starliner's performance and tapped SpaceX to bring Williams and Wilmore home instead, sending Starliner home uncrewed the following month.
But 'Elon coming to the rescue was not in the cards,' Ridolfi said. He suggested the reason NASA did not tap SpaceX sooner may have been due to the Biden administration's contentious relationship with its CEO, Musk.
'The Biden Administration relying on SpaceX to return the astronauts would put its decisions on Starliner into question,' he said. 'In their world, Boeing was the leading space company.'
[NYPOST] The cafeteria in a top federal department resembles a ghost town after remaining empty and closed for years under the Biden administration, Fox News Digital has learned.
''You have federal workers showing up to protest President Trump's plan to make government work for the people on a federal holiday, but they refuse to show up to work when they are collecting a paycheck courtesy of American taxpayers. It's just nuts,'' a source close to the situation told Fox News Digital.
The Department of Interior (DOI) cafeteria was initially closed during the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... pandemic, but the lunchroom remained shut down for several years because the Biden administration did not require federal employees to work in person.
A photo taken on Feb. 20, 2025, reveals that five years after the pandemic, the lunchroom remains empty and unmanned, which ''shows you exactly what's wrong with the mindset of far too many federal workers,'' the source tells Fox.
''President Trump is keeping his promise to the American people about having a government that works hard and responsibly for the people. Under the Biden administration, there were so few people in the Interior office that the cafeteria closed!'' Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2025
09:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11145 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I can't help but wonder how much food has been ordered and 'served' in this unused facility over the last five years.
[FoxNews] Two young police officers in Virginia are dead after a late-night traffic stop ended in a fatal shooting.
Officers Cameron Girvin, 25, and Christopher Reese, 30, were pronounced dead at hospitals after the shooting, according to Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate.
The pair, who were riding together Friday night, pulled over a car for an expired license plate at about 11:27 p.m., Neudigate said during a news conference Saturday.
The traffic stop happened near the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Wendfield Drive in Virginia Beach, next to an apartment complex.
Both officers approached the vehicle, and the male driver, later identified as convicted felon John McCoy III, was immediately argumentative and refused to get out of the car.
At some point, he got out of the car, and there was a "tussle" between the officers and McCoy.
McCoy pulled a pistol from his pocket and immediately shot the two officers.
While they were on the ground "defenseless," he shot them each a second time, according to Neudigate.
Officers found McCoy in a shed directly behind the apartment complex with a fatal gunshot wound to the head less than an hour after the shooting.
The gunshot wound appeared to be self-inflicted, according to authorities.
While officials are still sorting out the motive, they said McCoy may have acted because he had a gun, a criminal offense as a felon.
"We do know from his criminal history, he has one felony conviction from 2009, so it's not recent, but it does make him a felon," Neudigate said. "A felon with a firearm would be a new felony charge."
While there was another person in the car with McCoy at the time of the traffic stop, no one else will be charged in the shootings, he said.
More fully, “Stay on your meds and don’t eat nobody else.”
[FoxNews] An institutionalized man who confessed to the 2011 killing of a homeless man in Connecticut in which he also ate the victim's body parts in a cemetery was granted a conditional release.
Tyree Smith was granted a conditional release by the Nutmeg State’s Psychiatric Security Review Board on Friday, allowing him to leave Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, although he will remain under supervision and will continue to receive mental health services, according to WFSB.
Smith's doctor said the cannibal killer has been rehabilitated and is taking medications to help with psychosis and voices in his head, the outlet reported. Like that's a problem.
"To quote the director there, he is a joy. He is considered a support to the other people there," forensic psychiatrist Caren Teitelbaum said. "Once he was stable, he was a really calming presence for other patients."
"He has maintained clinical stability. Adhered to the medications and continued to engage in group and substance abuse treatment," Teitelbaum added. "He also denied visual hallucinations and a desire to harm others or himself."
But others, including GOP state Sen. Paul Cicarella, contested that Smith should remain under close watch in a hospital.
"Murder and cannibalism and release in the same sentence. That’s a problem. That's concerning to me," he told WFSB.
[KRQE] According to Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB), an incident occurred early Saturday morning that left one person dead and another hospitalized. They say members of the 377th Security Forces Squadron responded to the call at around 2:00 a.m.
Officials say the incident resulted in shots fired and an Airman being struck with a nonfatal gunshot wound to the hand. He was transported to UNM Medical Center. He has since been released.
The other Airman was found dead at the scene. The cause of death and what led up to the death are currently under investigation. The Kirtland Truman Gate Pass office was closed for most of the day Saturday but shortly after 6:00 p.m., the gate was reopened.
This story is developing and News 13 will provide an update when it becomes available.
[FoxNews] Houthi rebels for the first time fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at a U.S. F-16 fighter jet on Feb. 19, three senior U.S. defense officials tell Fox News.
The jet was flying off the coast of Yemen over the Red Sea when the SAM was fired. The missile did not strike the jet.
Houthis fired another SAM at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone that the U.S. was flying over Yemen outside Houthi-controlled areas on Feb. 19.
This is the first time the Houthis have fired a SAM missile at an American F16 fighter jet, a significant escalation in the ongoing military interactions between the Iranian-backed group and the U.S. Navy and Air Force, according to senior U.S. defense officials.
Under the Biden administration the U.S. military defended its warships patrolling the Red Sea and Bab al Mandab Strait, escorting and preventing attacks on commercial ships by the Houthis following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel by Hamas.
The Houthi attacks began shortly after the Israeli military responded to Oct. 7 in Gaza. U.S. Central Command then escalated its attacks on the Houthis to degrade infrastructure and weapons-storage facilities.
Now there is a policy debate at the highest levels of the U.S. military about what is the best way to counter the Houthis, which the Trump administration has put back on the State Department’s terror list.
The debate now is whether to carry out a more traditional counterterrorism approach to the Houthis, with persistent strikes targeting the individuals planning and carrying out the ongoing attacks, or whether to take a more defensive approach and keep going after Houthi infrastructure and weapons-storage facilities.
The third option being Shock and Awe. Can I vote for all three, as soon as possible?
"Minerals deal nearly done"
[FoxNews] Asked whether US can trust Putin, Retired Army Lieutenant Gen. Keith Kellogg said that 'all wars end through negotiation'.
It is in the US national security interest to get the Russia-Ukraine war resolved, Gen. Kellogg says.
#5
If you can't name five productive thingsyou did in 40 hours last week, you should be unemplyed
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/23/2025 12:00
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Well, I was a computer programming instructor for 40 years. Many of the classes I taught were 1-5 weeks, so all I would say for last week would be something like "Taught Java programming."
I suppose I could split it into 5 bullet points, but really all I did was teach.
Building the coursework plan
Creating and submitting advancement metrics
Reviewing and selecting teaching materials
Building the course and labwork research
Mapping the coursework plan to a calendar schedule
Scheduling, executing and evaluating metrics
Preparing individual improvement plans and metrics
Success activity scoring [grading]
Dragging the thankless little bastards to a qualified endpoint ... priceless.
Update (1118ET): After panic swept through Washington over Elon Musk's email requiring all federal employees to send an email by Monday at midnight with five bullet points explaining what they got done last week, Musk explained the reasoning behind the last minute demand: "immense fraud."
"The reason this matters is that a significant number of people who are supposed to be working for the government are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all!" Musk wrote on X. "In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks. In other words, there is outright fraud."
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/23/2025 15:52
Comments ||
Top||
#9
So "ghost employees" are now being flushed out.
#12
are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all!"
Oh! This is analogous to the musician contract that as a final point requires a fresh bowl of M&Ms in the dressing room each night, said bowl to contain no blue M&Ms whatsoever. Not because the musicians care, but if that point is not noticed and acted on by the site managers, who knows what other, much more important, points are also being missed?
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 20:43 The Russian Armed Forces are expanding their bridgehead in the Kupyansk direction. Fighting is underway in Golubovka, which is several kilometers north of Kupyansk –MAP. 20:38 “BARS” units received more than 50 sets of unmanned aerial vehicles and over 200 units of weapons and military equipment to carry out combat missions on the line of combat contact.
19:48 Strike by Geranium-2 on enemy target –MAP.
18:52 The calculation of unmanned aerial vehicles of the Dnepr group of forces identified and destroyed temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region.
18:16 Calculation of the Lancet loitering munition destroyed ZRPK "Tunguska" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Sumy region.
17:45 Drones on fiber optics have multiplied the number of targets hit far from the front line. Thus, on the Dvurechansky section of the front, there was destroyed the Ukrainian 122mm self-propelled gun "2S1 Gvozdika" that was hindering our advance towards Kupyansk.
17:21 Ukrainian T-72M1, which tried to enter Constantinople, was destroyed by the drone "Prince Vandal Novgorodsky" –MAP.
17:19 Around 16:20 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of Kursk region.
17:06 The Russian Armed Forces crossed the border and occupied the village of Novenkoye in the Sumy region –MAP.
16:56 An enemy tank was destroyed in the Zaporizhia direction using a fiber optic drone –MAP.
16:46 RF Armed Forces are moving forward in all areas of the Kursk Front.
Russian paratroopers continue to fight in the southern part of Sverdlikovo, in the area of the state border and in the northern part of Lebedevka.
Airborne units are also pushing the enemy out of Pogrebki.
16:45 RF Armed Forces started to build on their success and entered the territory of Sumy Oblast towards Basovka with the aim of cutting off the main supply road of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk salient.
On this section of the Yunakovka-Sudzha highway, drone operators of the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet are destroying all Ukrainian equipment, and what the Ukrainian soldiers pulled into Sudzha is now more difficult to hide due to the activity of our drones.
15:35 Russian tanks T-72B3M and T-90M in serial production are equipped with active protection systems (APS) "Arena-M".
13:30 Drone operators of the 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Southern group of troops are finishing off scattered enemy groups remaining in Ulakly.
12:37 Around 11:20 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Belgorod region.
12:11 As a result of decisive actions by units of the West military group released the settlement of Novolyubovka, Luhansk People's Republic.
12:09 Russian army regains control east of Cherkasskaya Konopelka in Kursk region –MAP.
12:02 GrV "Vostok" breaks through towards Burlatsky -MAP.
11:48 Russian Armed Forces approached Skudnoye from Novoocheretovatoye –MAP.
11:45 OTRK "Iskander-M"are applied strikes on the concentration sites of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reserves. One launcher launches two missiles. Depending on the task, you can choose either a ballistic or cruise munition. They cannot be destroyed by air defense systems due to their hypersonic speed.
The Iskander-M line of munitions includes high-explosive fragmentation, concrete-piercing, cluster, incendiary and nuclear charges. The missiles are guided to the target via a satellite system, and the homing head operates at the final stage.
During the SVO, Iskander-M missiles hit more than 1,400 targets.
11:32 Russian Armed Forces approached Constantinople from the eastern side –MAP.
11:24 The Russian army entered the village of Topoli on the other bank of the Oskol –MAP.
11:11 FPV drone calculations at Rubicon Center struck armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Ugledar direction.
10:49 Units of the 39th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 68th army corps of the "South" group destroyed fortified enemy positions and personnel in the area of the settlement of Ulakly in the Donetsk direction, -video.
8:42 Russian fighters destroy armored vehicles and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, –video.
After the liberation of the settlement of Sverdlikovo in the Kursk region from the Ukrainian occupiers, the Northerners continue to press the enemy in the Sumy direction, destroying enemy armored vehicles and Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower already on Ukrainian territory.
8:20 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS crews of the 25th Combined Arms Army of the West Forces Group destroyed pickup trucks, mortar crews, hexacopter takeoff points, UAV control points and concentrations of Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower, –video.
7:07 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of the Rostov and Voronezh regions.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov and Mikhail Kucherov
[REGNUM] A militarist, a counter-revolutionary, a man who wanted to usurp power, a Denikinite and "Kerensky's bastard" who "surrendered the Left Bank". With such terrible accusations, the enemies of the colonel of the UPR army, the commander of the "Black Zaporozhians" Petro Bolbochan led him to execution on June 28, 1919, at the station near the village of Balin in the Khmelnytsky region.
And he, poor fellow, realizing that his own people would become his executioners, fell into a state more akin to madness.
Four months before the execution, Bolbochan, while waiting in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) for Symon Petliura's decision on his fate, wrote in an open letter: "I hoped that I was in a state governed by the rule of law. But Ukraine will still have to endure a lot to get on the legal path."
And he added, addressing the Chief Ataman, the prophetic words: “When the most difficult times come, you will flee abroad.”
According to contemporaries, Bolbochan, who until recently was the hope and support of the government, joked: “We fought so hard that we have Ukrainian land only under the government’s wagons.” And the train of the UNR Directory, which had lost everything, was heading further and further to Poland, to emigration.
This whole story somehow intersects too piercingly with today's Ukraine; if desired, one can even easily select suitable contemporaries. And the choice of the colonel himself, a Moldavian by nationality, in the past an officer of the Russian Imperial Army, easily coincides with the choice of the current commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: he decided to become an ideological Ukrainian of his own free will.
Became “obsessed with the idea of creating a Ukrainian army.”
And he gained his late insight after he had devoted himself to an idea that was unable to explain what, in fact, one should fight for. It was clear who to fight against, but it turned out that the Bolsheviks explained what for better. Nevertheless, Bolbochan was not embarrassed by anything, and, proving the theory of the cyclical nature of history, in the winter of 1918 he announced a military draft for men aged 18–21 in Slobozhanshchina.
GERMAN BORDER
"The mobilization is ordered to be carried out by December 10. Officers, sub-seniors, cadets and soldiers who do not report to military commanders for mobilization are to be brought to a military field court as traitors to the Ukrainian People's Republic. The conscription of soldiers born before 1899 in the Kharkov local brigade is to be carried out by November 29," the order, published in the newspaper in pure Russian, with pre-revolutionary spelling, noted.
We know about the advanced methods used to conduct the conscription from another archival source - the memoirs of a former officer of the tsarist army, Colonel Dmitry Tikhobrazov, who was ordered to report to Bolbochan's headquarters in Kremenchug:
"Have you joined us voluntarily?" the chief of staff asked me. "If you want, then voluntarily, after the Koshevoy Ataman's statement that if I escaped, I would be caught and hanged," I answered with a slight smile.
And without forced mobilization, it would hardly have been possible to engage in any actions - the regiment of "Black Zaporozhians" suffered heavy losses in battles with the Red Army in Starodubshchina, in the Bryansk region, where the border was then drawn between Soviet Russia and... Germany. More precisely, the German occupation zone established by the Brest Peace Treaty.
Formally, the statehood of the Ukrainian State of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky was depicted on the German bayonets. However, gratitude for the "excellent behavior" in battle was announced to Bolbochan's soldiers by the commander of the German 41st Reserve Corps, General Hans von Gronau. After all, the "Zaporozhian" regiment was sent to reinforce three Saxon regiments of the German 47th Landwehr Division.
But, for example, the Bogunsky regiment under the command of Nikolai Shchors (also an officer of the Russian Imperial Army), which acted against the "Zaporozhians", went to fight precisely with the Germans, and not "against Ukraine". And here is another characteristic nuance: when the "Ukrainian army" was transferred to Bryansk in July 1918, a group of 200 Russian officers left the regiment, who from the beginning of 1918 took part in the battles for Kiev and in the campaign against Crimea.
They preferred to go to the Don rather than help the enemy. Many Ukrainians also deserted, the hundreds were undermanned - 50-90 Cossacks in each. Centurion Nikifor Avramenko recalled that each of the four kurens of the regiment had no less than 350 Cossacks, and after the battles in Chernigov the regiment "numbered no less than 1,500 bayonets and sabres." Which is why forced mobilization was necessary.
It's just the situation with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in its purest form.
In November 1918, the German occupation forces left the territory of Ukraine, leaving Hetman Skoropadsky without protection, who in a panic appointed the commander-in-chief of the "first saber of Russia", cavalry general Count Fyodor Keller. And he immediately announced a call-up in Kiev.
True, it did not concern Ukrainians, but the same Russian officers who were fleeing from the Bolsheviks. As a result, less than a third responded: out of 20 thousand soldiers in the city, only six thousand responded to the call of the Ukrainian authorities. The future writer Mikhail Bulgakov also fell under this comb ; on the last day of Skoropadsky's hetmanship, he was taken as a military doctor to the cadet units.
And in February 1919 he was called up again, but this time by the Petliurites who had fled from Kyiv.
“I was mobilized yesterday. No, the day before yesterday. I spent a day on an icy bridge. At night, 15 degrees below zero (Reaumur) with wind. There was a whistle in the spans all night. The city was ablaze with lights on the other bank. The village was on this one. We were in the middle. Then everyone ran to the city. I have never seen such a crush. Horsemen. Footmen. And the cannons were riding, and the kitchens. In the kitchen, a nurse. They told me that they would take me to Galicia. Only then did I guess to run. All the shutters were closed, all the entrances were boarded up. I ran near the church with plump white columns. They shot at me. But they missed. I hid in the yard under the canopy and sat there for two hours. When the moon disappeared, I went out. I ran home along the dead street,” the writer reflected on the events he experienced in the story “The Extraordinary Adventures of a Doctor.”
But the troops of the UNR Directory, which replaced Skoropadsky, also experienced major problems with replenishment.
"THERE IS TERRITORY UNDER THE CARRIAGE"
Contrary to the modern myth about some kind of single organism, at the hands of the Kiev leaders there was a network of disparate units, each of which, for various reasons, was subordinate to Petliura or his comrade-in-arms Vladimir Vynnychenko, who, by the way, was a convinced socialist.
It included the Sich Riflemen, assembled from former Austrian soldiers, the same Zaporizhian Corps of Bolbochan, the Northern Group of Forces of Vladimir Oskilko, and even the division of Nikifor Grigoriev (which went over to the side of the Ukrainian Soviet Army in February 1919) and the division of Danila Terpilo (ataman Zeleny), who became “red” already in January.
Everyone had their own mind, everyone tried to challenge the authority of the central government. “Our only active military force was the intelligent youth and part of the nationally conscious workers… who understood the statehood the same way we understood it,” Vynnychenko admitted.
In such a situation, it would be necessary to rely on the Ukrainian population, to convince them to “fight for Ukraine.” But most often they simply wanted to defend their property from everyone, creating their own armed units, without delving too much into any slogans.
The White Guard commander Andrei Shkuro, who passed through the territory of the Yekaterinoslav province, reflected the mood of the peasants in his memoirs:
“They decisively and unanimously condemned Hetman Skoropadsky.
“It was the king of the lords,” they said, “who gave away land to the lords, but nothing to us.”
They did not share Petliura's separatist ideals at all and were not interested in him at all, considering him to be some kind of eccentric, a psychopath. "We are not Ukrainians, we are Russians," they declared, "only we are Cossacks." The fact is that the Left Bank crests - direct descendants of the Zaporozhian Cossacks - were proud of their nickname "Cossacks" and dreamed of restoring the Zaporozhian Cossacks."
Well, those who were mobilized by force easily fled their units at the first sign of trouble.
Although the former Minister of War of the UPR, General Alexander Grekov, with childish pathos tells how “in Kremenchug, the reservists at Petliura’s first call came with their weapons and even machine guns and lived in the open air for five days, since due to the incompetence of the local authorities they were not given quarters, and it was mid-December according to the new style, and there were already severe frosts.” But still, no one left, no one wavered, and everyone waited to be sent to the front.
In fact, by the end of the Civil War, several times more ethnic Ukrainians served in the Red Army than in the UPR and the Ukrainian Galician Army that had been created by that time: five to seven times, according to the most optimistic estimates.
And Colonel Bolbochan, the hero of the Crimean campaign, the defender of the "Ukrainian-Russian border", the conqueror of the "Moscow Bolsheviks", the mainstay of the UPR army was accused of preparing a coup d'etat and arrested. Because he allowed himself to express the opinion that the government was filled with cretins leading everyone to destruction.
Ironically, during his first arrest he was guarded by Galicians from the Sich Riflemen Corps of Yevhen Konovalets, former Austrian subjects who saw Ukraine for the first time as occupiers. And as a thank you for all his services, he received an article entitled "A Viper is a Viper!", published in the central magazine of the UPR army, "Ukrainian Cossack": the former hero was called a representative of landowner-bourgeois circles who were striving to seize power. And he was shot unconscious.
“The poor fellow could not accept with his normal mind the madness that led to his death not from an enemy bullet, but at the hands of the Ukrainian government, to the creation of which he had done so much in critical times…” as the former fighter of the Zaporizhian Corps and the army of the UPR Boris Antonenko-Davidovych wrote.
By the way, for some reason he did not flee to Poland after Petliura, but chose to join the Communist Party and the status of “Ukrainian Soviet writer and translator, researcher of the problems of development and culture of the Ukrainian language.”
Probably, for the same reason: there was a practical meaning and a clear perspective in this. Unlike the fantasies of the "fighters for Ukrainian independence", who were ready to burn any number of people for only one purpose: to preserve their personal power.
Just like their ideological followers in modern Ukraine.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mikhail Zakharov
[REGNUM] On February 20, information appeared that the Investigative Committee of Russia (SK RF) began preparations for an investigation into the murder of the poet and writer Mikhail Lermontov. This was stated by People's Artist of Russia, State Duma deputy Nikolai Burlyaev.
"There was a response from the Investigative Committee, the work is possible within the framework of the fight against the falsification of history in the cultural sphere, including in relation to famous cultural figures of Russia," Burlyaev said. "Specific joint preparation for the investigation has begun, including technical ones, we will report on its progress and results."
Earlier it became known that Burlyaev sent an appeal to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation with a request to investigate the circumstances of the death of the great Russian poet. "I earnestly ask you to conduct a modern, honest, unbiased investigation using modern technologies available to the Investigative Committee of Russia," the document says.
According to the State Duma deputy, the investigation conducted immediately after Lermontov's murder almost two centuries ago was unfair. As Burlyaev notes, serious questions are raised by the fact that the bullet that hit the poet's body passed from the bottom up, at an angle of almost 40 degrees - such a trajectory is difficult to imagine on a level dueling ground.
However, Russian law enforcement agencies almost immediately denied the information about the start of an investigation: “The information disseminated by one of the agencies about the investigation into Lermontov’s murder does not correspond to reality,” the Russian Investigative Committee noted.
DUEL BY THE RULES
Mikhail Lermontov was killed by his old acquaintance, retired major Nikolai Martynov, in a duel on July 27 (July 15, old style) 1841 at the foot of Mount Mashuk near Pyatigorsk.
According to the official version, Lermontov shot upwards, and Martynov shot into the poet's chest. As for alternative versions of the death of the classic of Russian literature, such as the idea that the poet could have been shot by a person from an ambush, experts are very skeptical about them.
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Deputy Director for Research at the State Museum-Reserve of M. Yu. Lermontov in Pyatigorsk Elena Krivetskaya notes that there is no detective background to the poet's death. She doubts the need for a new investigation due to the availability of published and studied documents.
"It is on them and the results of the ballistic examination of Soviet researchers that the version is based, which we consider the only correct one, " says Krivetskaya. " Despite many information gaps, it is unlikely that anything new can be discovered in this matter."
According to literary scholar and associate professor of the journalism department at Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov Yegor Sartakov, there is no need to re-investigate the causes of the famous poet's death. According to the expert, the duel was conducted in accordance with the rules in force at the time, which is supported by written evidence.
“If they [the seconds] had even the slightest suspicion that the duel was not conducted according to the rules, and that it was not Martynov who shot Lermontov, but someone allegedly from the other side, then this would be a gross violation of the duel, and, of course, they would have intervened,” Sartakov said.
According to criminologist Mikhail Ignatov, it will not be possible to obtain new serious information during the proposed investigation, and today there are more serious and pressing problems in the country.
"History has already reached a fat point, why look for a black cat in a black room if it is not there?" Ignatov said. We will never find out who the third person could have been, besides the duelists and seconds, who could have hidden behind a tree and fired a shot. Everyone just wants to become participants in a world sensation and rewrite history a little."
SUSPICIONS ARE CONSTANTLY BEING BORN
On the one hand, Nikolai Burlyaev's interest in history from the distant past can be explained by personal motives. 40 years ago, he made a film about Lermontov (with himself in the leading role), but the film was not released.
According to the director, those in charge at the time “did not like the image of Lermontov, cleared of the layer of lies and slander that followed his tragic death in a duel.”
However, Burlyaev was not the first to draw attention to the circumstances of the poet's life and death. Back in 2007, British scientists suggested that Lermontov's descendants conduct a DNA analysis to answer the question of whether our compatriot had Scottish roots.
Researchers have suggested that the Lermontov surname was derived from the Scottish one. The poet himself was also interested in the origins of his family and even dedicated the poem "Desire" to possible distant ancestors from Scotland.
However, Mikhail Lermontov is not alone in the company of famous writers and poets whose biographies are periodically attempted to be clarified and supplemented. In particular, examinations have been conducted more than once on the subject of the authorship of anonymous libels with insults addressed to Alexander Pushkin, which became the reason (or pretext) for the fatal duel between the classic and Georges Dantes.
Sergei Yesenin's suicide was disputed, there were rumors that Maxim Gorky had been poisoned, and the hand of the OGPU was seen in Vladimir Mayakovsky's death. Abroad, the controversy over whether Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's death was natural continues to rage. The circumstances and reasons for Edgar Poe's death are still the subject of speculation.
However, it is hardly worth reducing such theories and searches to conspiracy theories: serious scientists have hope for new discoveries in archives and the help of advanced technologies.
Just the other day, artificial intelligence was used to decipher crossed-out fragments of Pushkin's draft manuscripts. And who knows, maybe in the future it will be possible to shed light on the secrets of great people that have long excited the minds.
[NYPOST] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency teamed up with the Department of Government Efficiency to put the kibosh on more than $67 million in grant money once earmarked to push ex-President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... 's ''environmental justice'' mandate, The Post has learned.
The EPA and the Elon Musk-led DOGE this week flagged 21 grants totaling $77.1 million previously awarded to 20 lefty nonprofits and universities, and the Trump administration will withhold $67.4 million in payments yet to be made, officials said.
The biggest loser is Vermont-based Institute of Sustainable Communities, which has yet to receive $12.4 million of the $16 million it was promised under two separate Biden-era grants to serve as a ''National Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center.''
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11155 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
90% of what the EPA does involves screwing us over.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/23/2025 1:01
Comments ||
Top||
#2
^^^^^
And padding the pockets of the chosen people.
The more that comes out from DOGE leaves me believing that almost the *entirety* of government spending includes a significant diversion of funds to the pockets of those who thought up the scheme to begin with.
#5
Trump says Elon Musk should be 'more aggressive' on DOGE cuts
This could suggest a schism between Trump and Musk, according to media sources. Or not. "Faster, faster, moar!; Sir, yes, sir!" is not what most people would call a disagreement.
#6
a drop in the bucket when you consider....
"The average American will pay $524,625 in taxes throughout their lifetime — that’s a third (34.7%) of all estimated lifetime earnings ($1,494,986) spent on taxes.
I want DOGE to find things that a Fire Hose can't handle.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The criminal case against 19 defendants in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall has been separated into a separate proceeding. Information about this is contained in court materials.
It is noted that among them are both the perpetrators and their accomplices.
“Currently, 10 criminal cases have been combined into one proceeding, with 27 individuals charged,” TASS quoted the excerpt as saying.
The above-mentioned defendants will soon begin familiarizing themselves with the materials. Over 1,300 different forensic examinations were ordered for the criminal case. These include forensic medical, ballistic, molecular genetic and other examinations. The investigation period was extended until May 22, 2025.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall occurred on the evening of March 22. A group of terrorists opened fire in the concert hall filled with people, and then started a fire. As a result of the terrorist attack, 144 people were killed and 551 more were injured. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened several criminal cases, including under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist attack").
On February 22, lawyer Igor Trunov noted that 93 victims received access to case materials, which number more than 200 volumes.
[Regnum] Almost 100 victims of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk were given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the case materials. This was reported on February 22 by lawyer Igor Trunov.
His panel represents the interests of 93 victims.
“Next week, the victims and their defense attorneys will begin familiarizing themselves with the materials of the criminal case, of which there are more than 200 volumes,” TASS quoted the lawyer as saying.
Trunov noted that the victims’ lawyers participated in hearings on extending the preventive measures for those accused of terrorism throughout the past week.
Earlier, on February 6, the lawyer of one of the accused, Oleg Vlasov, reported that the Investigative Committee of Russia had completed its investigation of the criminal case on the terrorist attack in the concert hall. The lawyer noted that the victims would be the first to get acquainted with the materials. Due to their large number, it is unlikely that the case will be sent to court in the near future, he emphasized.
On March 22, 2024, terrorists broke into Crocus City Hall and opened fire on visitors and employees of the concert hall. They also started a fire. Their actions killed 144 people, and injured 551 more. The Investigative Committee opened several criminal cases, including under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist attack"). In January, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported that 27 people had been charged in the case of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall.
[X] From?? Trying to hide another Steele Dossier, guys? Bad, bad idea — this time President Trump controls the bureaucracy instead of being controlled by it, so they won’t be helping you — or want your help to undermine their boss.
According to Politico, U.S. Allies in Europe in addition to NATO are looking for ways to safeguard Top-Secret Information from the Trump Administration, due to fears by some European Intelligence Officials that certain Officials in the Administration, specifically recently… pic.twitter.com/Ydj35gScxX
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Israeli military attacked the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, explaining their actions by the need to prevent the smuggling of weapons for the armed formations of the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah. This was reported on February 21 by the press service of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“Some time ago, the Israel Defense Forces attacked border crossings on the Syrian-Lebanese border, through which the terrorist organization Hezbollah was attempting to smuggle weapons into Lebanon,” the statement said.
The IDF said the smuggling attempts were a "gross violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon." The Israeli military warned that it intends to prevent any threat to its state and to thwart any attempts by Hezbollah to rebuild its forces.
Earlier, Regnum news agency reported that, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, the Shiite movement Hezbollah must be disarmed by the Lebanese army.
In September 2024, mass pager explosions began in different parts of Lebanon. The country's Health Minister Firas Obyad later reported that 12 people were killed, two of whom were children, and about 4,000 people were injured. Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson called Israel a terrorist state after this operation. Netanyahu admitted for the first time on November 10 that he was involved in the pager operation in Lebanon. He said that he approved the September attack on Hezbollah.
On February 4, Netanyahu presented US President Donald Trump with a gold-plated and a regular pager as a gift in memory of the Israeli intelligence operation to detonate explosive devices belonging to Hezbollah members.
Hey Mexico,
pay attention.
[TWZ] The latest Bamboo Eagle exercise reflects plans for ever-larger air combat exercises as part of preparations for a high-end fight with China.
At least 20 U.S. Air Force tanker aircraft, 10 KC-46s and an equal number of KC-135s, supported the first day of the latest Bamboo Eagle exercise off the California coast, according to online flight tracking data. The first Bamboo Eagle occurred last year, as you can learn more about in this past TWZ feature. The large force exercise series has quickly become one of the most important for the U.S. military, as well as key allies, and has a clear eye on preparing for a future coalition fight in the Pacific with China.
The U.S. Air Force announced the start of Bamboo Eagle 25-1 yesterday. Like all previous iterations, the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada has been leading the exercise, but units spread across many other bases, predominantly in California, are also participating. U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy units are known to be taking part, but other branches have also been included in past iterations of Bamboo Eagle. Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have also returned, and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has joined the exercise for the first time.
As already noted, online flight tracking data showed a large force of KC-46 and KC-135 tankers supporting day one of Bamboo Eagle 25-1. At least one RAF Voyager, the British name for the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Transport Aircraft (MRTT), was also tracked in the area.
At least a dozen tankers have also been tracked now supporting the second day of Bamboo Eagle 25-1.
U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry and RAAF E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft were also present yesterday. It’s interesting to note here that the U.S. Air Force, the RAF, and NATO are in the process of acquiring Wedgetails to succeed their Sentry fleets.
.. Red Flag is the U.S. Air Force’s premier air combat exercise series and recent iterations have been increasingly focused on operations in the Pacific. This in turn has put new emphasis on the range complexes off the coast of southern California, which offer larger areas in which to train on physically broader and otherwise more complex scenarios, and do so over water.
Red Flag is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and the RAF and RAAF, among other key allies, are often participants. Other aircraft, including Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles and B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, as well as RAAF Growlers, took part in Red Flag 25-1, which flowed directly into Bamboo Eagle 25-1.
[Breitbart] Companies that prefer migrants and H-1B visa workers over Americans will face federal investigations and discrimination lawsuits, says Andrea Lucas, who President Donald Trump picked to serve as acting chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
"The EEOC is putting employers and other covered entities on notice: if you are part of the pipeline contributing to our immigration crisis or abusing our legal immigration system via illegal preferences against American workers, you must stop," Lucas said in a February 20 notice.
"The law applies to you, and you are not above the law. The EEOC is here to protect all workers from unlawful national origin discrimination, including American workers," she added.
"Guardedly optimistic," civil rights lawyer John Miano responded after Breitbart News asked for his assessment.
If the EEOC follows through, it could force companies to curb their hiring of migrants over Americans, said Miano, who is now suing more than 30 Chicago companies for advertising jobs to foreign H-1B workers, but not to Americans.
The move was also welcomed by Amanda Louise, a Missouri-based former tech worker who has begun filing lawsuits against companies that recruit H-1B workers over Americans.
The policy shift is important because many major companies in the United States have foreign-born managers to fill up many jobs with foreign workers, such as mixed-skill H-1B workers, instead of accomplished American graduates.
Nationwide, roughly 1.6 million professional jobs have been filled with foreign workers carrying H-1B, J-1, TN, L-1, TN, OPT, or CPT documents. There are no caps on these programs, nor any requirements that employers try to hire Americans first.
These foreign workers are recruited by hiring managers, many of whom are themselves migrants. This job selection process is critical for Americans’ careers, yet it has been largely exempt from the nation’s anti-discrimination laws.
Those laws bar discrimination against women, racial minorities, and also against American citizens.
However, many Americans and visa workers have told Breitbart News that hiring managers prefer to award jobs to co-ethnic foreign workers, usually in a deal for kickbacks, such as a percentage of a worker’s salary. This concealed process allows each company’s clique of immigrant managers to profitably sell jobs held by accomplished American graduates, regardless of the damage to their company’s long-term profitability.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/23/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11157 views]
Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
[FoxNews] Farage applauds Vance's comments to Munich Security Conference as 'ahead of his time'.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, believes a "political revolution" will sweep through Europe as it did the U.S. with the re-election of President Donald Trump.
In answer to questions about controversial comments made by Vice President JD Vance during the Munich Security Conference last week, Farage told Fox News Digital in an interview he "loved every word of what he said" and argued Vance was "speaking ahead of his time."
"He was talking to an audience of a European political class who are on the way out," Farage said at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London this week. "It’s a political revolution, and it swept through America. And it's going to sweep through the rest of Europe too."
Vance, who argued the biggest threat facing Europe was not from Russia or China, but rather from alleged government efforts to silence freedom of speech, drew international rebuke from some who argued his comments were misleading or inaccurate. Others praised his comments, including those who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, where he was reportedly given a standing ovation.
Farage said Vance reminds him of where he was a decade ago when he served in the European Parliament and remembered "getting up and giving speeches and being screamed at and shouted at and hated."
Farage left the European Parliament in 2020 after the UK’s decision to leave the European Union under the 2016 Brexit referendum, which he ardently supported as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).
He then launched the Brexit Party in 2019, before renaming it Reform UK, which he told Fox News Digital has leaped in popularity over the last seven months and is "leading consistently in the national opinion polls."
"It is quite remarkable. It's a reflection, I think, on what we call the Uni-Party," he added, arguing there are no differences between the UK’s Labor Party, which is currently in power under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the Conservative Party.
"We're upbeat, we're optimistic, we've got a good vibe, and we believe, with the right leadership, we can and will turn this country around," he said.
According to a report by Reuters, Reform UK has just five members of parliament out of 650. But members of the party came in second place in roughly 100 races during the last election in July 2024.
The report noted the party was "benefiting from a growing anti-establishment" sentiment rising across Europe by which both far-right and far-left parties are seeing increasing support.
"We're in societal decline," Farage said, pointing to statistics relating to knife crime, immigration and the economy. "Now, can it be fixed? Not under this government."
"They're talking us into a recession. We're in for a couple of very, very tough years, but the turnaround will come at the next election," he added.
The U.K. has been dipping in and out of technical recessions since 2023 and has struggled to economically recover from the coronavirus pandemic, a fact that likely cost the Conservative Party its 14-year reign to the Labor Party in July.
[TWZ] Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will soon sign a minerals agreement with the United States potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said Friday. That move is part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to end the war with Russia and a deal the American leader says will recoup billions in military aid provided to Kyiv.
“Here’s the bottom line: President Zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term,” Waltz said during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), according to The Guardian.
During his evening address on Friday, Zelensky hinted that a deal could be close.
“Today, teams from Ukraine and the U.S. are working on a draft agreement between our governments,” he said. “This is an agreement that can strengthen our relations, and the key is to work out the details to ensure its effectiveness. I look forward to the outcome – a just result.”
An agreement could be signed as soon as Saturday, “although it is not yet complete, people briefed on the talks said,” The Wall Street Journal reported. The exact terms could not be learned. Asked if this would go through, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday: “I think they want it. They feel good about it.”
U.S. and Ukrainian officials negotiated all night into Friday morning to ink an agreement and end the souring Zelesnky-Trump relations, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official and a source with direct knowledge of the issue.
The pending deal would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s deposits of critical minerals including aluminum, gallium and titanium, Waltz said. As we previously reported, Ukraine possesses materials that are essential components of microchips and electric vehicle batteries and have significant military value. Trump has been touting this as a way to reduce the burden for supporting Ukraine, with Waltz claiming US aid to Kyiv has exceeded $175 billion, The Guardian reported.
That figure, as we have explained before, contradicts information compiled by the Kiel Institute For The World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker, which shows that the U.S. has provided Ukraine with a little less than $120 billion from the U.S. More than half – $66.5 billion – was for direct security assistance in the form of donated weapons, according to Pentagon figures.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was “very upset” with Zelensky over the deal, claiming the Ukrainian leader misrepresented the outcome of a meeting he had with Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Zelensky said he wanted to make the deal but needed the approval of his legislature, Rubio said.
However, “I read two days later that Zelensky is out there saying ‘I rejected the deal. I told him, No way that we’re not doing that.’ Well, that’s not what happened in that meeting,” Rubio explained. “So you start to get upset by something. We’re trying to help these guys.”
As we previously noted, it’s one thing to strike a deal, but something else entirely to extract and process the resources.
A little more than half of Ukraine’s mineral resources are contained in the four regions Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed in September 2022, and of which his army occupies a considerable swathe, The Independent reported earlier this month. That includes Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, though Kherson holds little value in terms of minerals, the publication added. The Crimean peninsula, annexed and occupied by Russian forces in 2014, also holds billions in mineral wealth, The Independent added.
[TOWNHALL] Dozens of Christians were found beheaded in a church last week after they were kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... by an Islamist murderous Moslem group.
Members of the Allied Democratic Forces ...established in the early 1990s through an agreement between portions of Uganda’s Salaf Tabliq Islamic sect and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU), who said they had been sidelined by Museveni’s policies. At the time, the rebels staged deadly attacks in Ugandan villages and the capital, including a 1998 attack in which 80 students were massacred. A Ugandan military operation later forced the ADF into eastern Congo. The ADF has since established ties with the Islamic State group. The ADF has received funding from the Government of Sudan, which has also provided supplies and training. The ADF may also have received funding from the illegal mining and logging industries of the DRC.... , a group that reportedly has ties 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.... , came to the homes of Christians demanding they ''get out and don't make any noise.'' About 20 Christians were captured in this incident, but it's believed another 50 were captured when people from the community gathered to devise a plan to get those being held captive back. According to Open Doors, ADF then surrounded the village and captured them.
"All 70 of those kidnapped were taken to a Protestant church in Kasanga where they were tragically killed.
Muhindo Musunzi, director of the Kombo primary school [which belongs to the CECA20 church], says that prior to this incident, churches, schools and health centres had all shut their doors because of the chaotic security situation. ''We had to move all activities towards Vunying,'' he said.
Field sources report that, until yesterday (Tuesday 18 February), some families had not been able to bury their dead because of insecurity in the area. Many Christians have now fled the area for their safety.
''We don't know what to do or how to pray; we've had enough of massacres,'' says an elder of the CECA20 church. ''May God's will alone be done.''
This latest awful incident is a continuation of the escalating threat posed by ADF faceless myrmidons in the country's north east region. In 2014, the group intensified attacks in Beni territory in North Kivu province, and since then attacks have spread to the territories of Irumu and Mambasa in Ituri province, and now it's affecting Lubero. In the last month alone, the group have killed more than 200 people in Baswagha chiefdom, according to a local news website. (Open Doors).”
[PJMedia] Newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel is on fire. After his swearing-in, he gave a not-so-subtle speech, showing that he’s ready to handle the media’s smears.
"I know the media's in here, and if you have a target, that target’s right here," he said, pointing to himself. "It's not the men and women at the FBI."
"You've written everything you possibly can about me that's fake, malicious, slanderous, and defamatory," he continued. "Keep it coming — bring it on. But leave the men and women, the FBI out of it. They deserve better."
He also promised that a new day at the FBI has started. "I promise you the following, there will be accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI, and we will do it through rigorous constitutional oversight — starting this weekend."
Kash continued, "I am living the American dream, and anyone that thinks the American dream is dead, just look right here. You're talking to a first-generation Indian kid who's about to lead the law enforcement community, the greatest nation on God's green earth."
He wasted no time turning his bold rhetoric into action. Following his blistering speech on Friday, he ordered the transfer of 1,500 agents and staff from the bureau’s Washington, D.C., headquarters to field offices across the country.
Roughly 1,000 will be sent to high-crime cities that the Trump administration designated, where they can focus on fighting crime instead of political games. Another 500 will be reassigned to Huntsville, Ala., which is widely seen as D.C.’s version of exile.
This is just Patel’s first move, and if any 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... want to shed a bunch of tears over the move, they can, but they can’t claim they shouldn’t have expected it. As the Washington Post reported, Patel made this plan known during his confirmation hearings.
Patel, in his 2023 book, vowed to shutter the Hoover headquarters building and turn it into a "museum to the Deep State." He’s made similar recommendations at his confirmation hearing and in appearances on conservative TV news shows.
"One of my biggest personal recommendations is ... you send those 7,000 agents in the headquarters building down range to chase down rapists, to chase down murderers, to chase down narcos and let the cops be cops on the streets across America," Patel said during an August appearance on "Stinchfiled Tonight."
During his confirmation hearing last month, Patel was asked about his previous comments suggesting he wanted the FBI’s headquarters emptied out and shuttered. His responses did not directly address whether he would actually shut the building down or seek to transform it into a museum, but suggested that he believes the FBI’s workforce in Washington should go out into the country.
"A third of the workforce for the FBI works in Washington, D.C.," Patel said. "I am fully committed to having that workforce go out into the interior of the country, where I live west of the Mississippi, and work with sheriff’s departments and local officers."
It's day one and he’s already making changes. It’s glorious to see.
🚨New: Kash Patel delivers a new statement on becoming the FBI Director:
“I promise you the following: there will be accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI, and we will do it through rigorous constitutional oversight starting this weekend.” pic.twitter.com/nlT6t8oPJ1
#4
Only about 40% of the Hoover Building is office space.
Some of it is already a museum with corridors and elevators separate from the rest of the building and used by tourists. It is not easy to get a tour, most people have to go through their US Representative to get one.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/23/2025 9:33
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Former Deputy Director Coulson of the FBI was just on Fox saying he thinks the ATFE additional duty presages the folding of the ATFE into the Bureau, and supports the idea.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Army General Valery Gerasimov visited the command post of the Russian troop grouping "South" and set new combat tasks for the military unit. This was reported on January 22 by the Russian Defense Ministry.
“At the command post, Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, heard a report from the commander of the “Southern” group of forces, Colonel General Alexander Sanchik, and the commanders of the formations on the current situation in the area of responsibility and the progress of combat missions,” the department said.
Afterwards, Gerasimov noted the successes of the units and military units of the Southern Group and gave instructions for further actions.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 21.59 A new air raid warning system has been launched in Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region. This was reported on Saturday, February 22, by Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov. Now the signals are clearly divided: separately for the city and separately for the region.
21:36 In one day, the President of Ukraine held telephone conversations with the heads of government of four countries: Albania, Britain, Greece and the Netherlands. During all the negotiations, the partners' contribution to Ukraine's security was discussed.
19.25 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed information that units of the Security Service of Ukraine, in cooperation with other components of the Defense Forces, on February 20, 2025, struck the Novovelichkovsk oil pumping station in the Krasnodar Territory of Russia, which services the Tikhoretsk-Novorossiysk-2 oil pipeline.
11.18 The administration of US President Donald Trump has asked Ukraine to withdraw its draft UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russian aggression and replace it with a "softened statement," The Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources.
17.44 Since the beginning of the day, 54 combat clashes have occurred. In particular, in the Pokrovsk direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have made 23 attempts to push our defenders from their positions, 21 attacks have been repelled, two combat clashes are ongoing, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.
17.20 The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President, have formed proposals for an "all for all" exchange in the event of negotiations with the Russian Federation. This was reported in an interview with Ukrinform by the head of the secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Bohdan Okhrimenko.
11/16 Activists of the Yellow Ribbon partisan movement held another action in occupied Sevastopol and Simferopol to remind that Crimea is Ukraine. This was reported on Saturday, February 22, by the partisan TG channel.
15.44 Russian troops dropped seven bombs on Kostiantynivka: at least two people were killed, three were injured. There may be people under the rubble, the search operation continues. Police paramedics are rescuing the victims. This was reported on Saturday, February 22, by the press service of the National Police of Ukraine.
15.22 DNA matches have been confirmed for the remains of nearly 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war out of 62 bodies handed over by Russia allegedly from the Il-76 plane that crashed in January 2024 in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. This was reported by the head of the secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War Bogdan Okhrimenko, Ukrinform writes.
15.02 In Odessa, law enforcement officers detained a man who caused bodily harm to a serviceman of the TCC. This was reported by the National Police.
14.44 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not yet ready to sign an agreement with the United States on the development of mineral resources, Sky News reports , citing a "Ukrainian source." The draft agreement currently does not reflect a partnership, but only contains unilateral obligations on the part of Ukraine, the article states.
14.05 The city of Konstantinovka was subjected to another blow from the Russian invaders. At least two civilians were killed and four were wounded. The details were reported by the head of the Donetsk OVA Vadim Filashkin.
13.10 In the city of Kupyansk, a Russian drone attacked a civilian car. Two people were injured, the National Police Department in the Kharkiv region reported.
12:46 The United States has prepared an alternative draft resolution on ending the war in Ukraine. The United Nations will consider it on Monday. This was announced by US Secretary of State Mark Rubio.
12.19 At the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP), one smoldering cell still remains at the Shelter facility after the Russian drone strike. This was reported by the State Emergency Service. The station is under constant monitoring using UAVs with thermal imaging cameras and hand-held thermal imagers.
11.44 Ukrainian drones have cut off power and stopped the operation of the Novovelichkovskaya oil pumping station in the Krasnodar region of the Russian Federation. This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine , citing sources in the SBU. Oil is supplied through this station to the Afipsky and Ilsky oil refineries.
11.15 American satellite internet Starlink is not being switched off in Ukraine. This was written by the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Kovalenko in Telegram. According to him, in any case, the order of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "has alternative things."
10.31 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce a new aid package for Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia. The Telegraph reported this yesterday, citing sources. It is a "triple blow" to Russia.
09.47 Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky met with Inspector General of the Bundeswehr General Carsten Breuer, who arrived in Ukraine on a visit. They discussed the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for weapons, ammunition, equipment, as well as the training of Ukrainian military personnel.
08.55 Over the past 24 hours, 90 combat clashes were recorded on the front in nine directions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the details in the morning report .
08.20 On Saturday night, Russian invaders launched 162 Shahed-type attack UAVs and various types of drone imitators into Ukraine. Almost all of them were either destroyed or affected by electronic warfare, the Ukrainian Air Force reported .
07.31 The aggressor country Russia lost 1,180 servicemen killed and wounded on the front in Ukraine over the past 24 hours. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the morning report . The total number of Russian losses is approaching 870 thousand.
04.39 The US threatens Kiev to cut off access to the vital Starlink satellite internet system if it refuses to sign the fossil fuel deal.
02:25 A new stage of US-Russia talks will begin in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Donald Trump said. He also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin need to meet to discuss a settlement to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
01.17 A 60-year-old man was killed in a UAV attack at a railroad crossing in the Boryspil district. A fire also broke out in a warehouse.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Ukrainian defenders bravely hold the line.
In the Pokrovsky direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have made 23 attempts to push our defenders from their positions, 21 attacks have been repelled, two clashes continue.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published operational information on the Russian invasion as of 16:00 on Saturday, February 22.
According to the General Staff, 54 military clashes have occurred since the beginning of the day.
"Border settlements, in particular Yanzhulovka and Nikolaevka in the Chernihiv region, are suffering from cynical shelling from the territory of the Russian Federation. In the Kharkov direction, the enemy attacked four times, in the direction of Vovchansk, Figolovka and Zapadnoye, one clash is currently ongoing. In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy attempted to advance near Zagryzovoye, and was repulsed. In the Liman direction, the invading army attacked three times near the settlements of Ivanovka, Yampolevka and in the Serebryansky forest, Ukrainian defenders repelled the enemy's attacks," the report says.
It is also reported that the Defense Forces repelled attacks by invaders three times in the Belogorovka area in the Seversky direction.
"Six attacks by Russians in the area of Vasukivka, Stupochki and Belaya Gora in the Kramatorsk direction have been repelled by Ukrainian defenders. Three clashes are currently ongoing in the Toretsk direction; today, the enemy has attacked seven times near Toretsk and in the direction of Dilievka. Konstantinovka was subjected to an air strike. In the Pokrovsk direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have made 23 attempts to push our defenders from their positions in the areas of the settlements of Vodyanoye Vtoroye, Novotoretske, Yelizavetovka, Luch, Dachenskoye, Kotlino, Udachnoye, Novoalexandrivka, Andreyevka and Ulakli. The defense forces are holding back the enemy's onslaught and have repelled 21 attacks; two clashes are still ongoing. The enemy's losses are being clarified," the General Staff added.
In addition, Russian terrorist forces carried out airstrikes on Mirolyubovka, Zverevoye, Pokrovsk and Novopavlovka.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the enemy attacked four times near the settlements of Konstantinopol and Burlatskoye.
In the Orekhov direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled an attack in the Pyatikhatki area.
"In the operational zone in Kursk region, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled two attacks by Russian invaders within 24 hours. The enemy launched 12 air strikes, dropping 19 UABs, and carried out more than 200 attacks, including seven from multiple launch rocket systems," the General Staff noted.
Let us recall that on February 21, Russia lost 1,180 servicemen killed and wounded at the front. The total number of Russian losses is approaching 870 thousand people.
[SpikedOnline] The German elites were wrong about everything.
As Germany’s federal elections approach this weekend, chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democrats (SPD) are bracing for their worst results since 1887. The SPD is battling with its equally unpopular coalition partner, the Green Party, for a humiliating third place, behind the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the right-populist Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The coming bloodbath for Scholz’s government speaks to far more than the haplessness of his leadership or the unpopularity of his party. Germany has just endured two years of recession — the longest economic slump in its postwar history. Industry is in freefall, shedding almost a quarter of a million manufacturing jobs since the start of the pandemic. A series of terror attacks by Islamists and asylum seekers has made many Germans wonder if the state can do its basic duty to keep them safe. Talk of German efficiency and punctuality now sounds like a sarcastic joke, as roads and bridges fall into disrepair, trains are routinely late and infrastructure projects are plagued by delays and cost overruns. One in five German children lives in poverty. Germany is not merely in an economic downtown — it faces a profound structural crisis, largely of its elites’ own making.
None of these problems began in earnest in the Scholz era. The chancellor is merely the current frontman for a long-running ’consensus’ that has now become unsustainable and unsupportable. Tellingly, at the last federal elections in 2021, Scholz campaigned as the continuity candidate following the long reign of CDU chancellor Angela Merkel, under whom he served as vice-president and finance minister in a ’grand coalition’. He even aped her signature ’Merkel rhombus’ hand gesture to ram this point home. The accusation that ’politicians are all the same’ rings far truer in Germany than elsewhere. Every mainstream party is implicated in this crisis.
Foreign admirers of Germany praise the ability of its politicians to form a consensus, rather than squabble or try to score partisan points. This is what makes Germany a ’grown-up country’, as John Kampfner puts it in his staggeringly poorly aged 2021 book, Why the Germans Do it Better.
A less charitable interpretation of contemporary German politics would be that its leaders are gripped by groupthink. Policies, ideologies, ways of doing things become easily entrenched. The result is that when the ideas of the day are bad, they are shared not only across parties, but also by the broader elites, in business, media and culture. The main challenge to this received wisdom comes from the fringes, and so it can comfortably be ignored. Not even a change of governing party will necessarily lead to a change of course. Long read at the link...
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed ||
02/23/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11168 views]
Top|| File under:
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] During a court hearing in Sri Lanka, gang leader Sanjeeva Kumar Samararatne was killed by a representative of a rival group posing as a lawyer. This was reported by the BBC, citing local police data,
The incident took place in Colombo. Samararatne was accused of several murders and had been under arrest since September 2023. He was brought to the court hearing accompanied by a large number of guards, but this did not save the gang leader. After the assassination attempt, the man was taken to the hospital, but the doctors' efforts were useless.
According to preliminary information, the weapon was given to the fake lawyer by a woman. She carried the revolver in a book. The shooter fled the scene of the crime, but was caught. The identity of his accomplice was found out, the search for the woman continues, a reward was announced for information about her.
In addition, law enforcement officers detained a policeman and a van driver. They are suspected of assisting in the assassination attempt. It is noted that recently a series of murders have occurred in Colombo during the struggle between gangs.
The channel also reported that Sri Lankan authorities are considering changes to court security protocols following Samararatne's murder, including the introduction of armed guards, which had not previously been allowed, according to a report published on February 21.
Just whatever I happened to see as I made my way around the internet, following the War on Terror and related concerns. President Trump is having an impact on public anti-Israel/anti-Jewish protests already, I believe. Those who work in academia are generally not stupid, whatever foolishness they might choose to posture about, and are sensitive to incentives.
The largest teachers' union in Massachusetts was caught red handed sharing blatantly anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist propaganda to their members to "educate" them on the "conflict."
Maura Finkelstein — the subject of eight antisemitic incident reports at Muhlenberg University — was accused by students of pushing anti-Israel bias in class, mocking her school’s Hillel on Instagram, and even saying she was “heartbroken” over the Jewish organization’s presence on campus.
Hillel, founded in the late 1920s, was established to support Jewish students at a time when being Jewish was a liability on campus and Jews were seen as a threat to “white” students’ academic opportunities.
Since her firing in 2024, Finkelstein pledged to appeal her termination, and Finkelstein is still appealing, she told me in a Friday email. Meanwhile, she has taken her anti-Zionist and anti-Israel sentiment to the American Anthropologist.
That’s the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), where she now serves as an Associate Editor, overseeing and editing the publication of academic research.
In an email to me, she noted she does not get paid.
“I don’t work for AA - associate editors are volunteer positions that most academics pick up from time to time (part time) throughout their careers. This is not a paid position nor is it a job. I work with a collective of other anthropologists,” she said.
In an interview with Electronic Intifada, she said this about her role at the APA.
“I’m writing, I’m editing. I am working with students who are doing really important anti-Zionist work across the country, and it’s my honor to witness the work that they’re doing,” Finkelstein said.
Further, when asked about her calls for the “dismantling of the Zionist entity” Finkelstein said this by email Friday. “For clarity, I believe Palestine should be free, not an apartheid state. And since Israel is an apartheid state, peace is not possible in the region.”
The AAA is the largest single publisher of anthropological journal in the world through its partnership with Wiley Periodicals, according to their recent non-profit tax forms. Some AAA members’ academic research is funded by the U.S. government by way of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Student protesters have accused CWRU president Eric Kaler of aggressively punishing campus activists for their political affiliations. When campus police issued arrest warrants in January, the Students for Justice in Palestine group characterized Kaler’s pursuit of student protesters as a “politically-motivated attempt to silence Palestine advocacy.”
Meanwhile, in Washington state, police are investigating another vandalism incident tied to pro-Palestinian protesters. As The College Fix reported, the home of the University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce was targeted Nov. 14, with the perpetrators causing $7,000 in damages.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, the Sever Group of Forces hit formations of two territorial defence brigades close to Izbitskoye and Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU lost up to 40 troops, an armoured personnel carrier, an artillery gun, and an electronic warfare station.
As a result of decisive actions, the Zapad Group of Forces liberated Novolyubovka (Lugansk People's Republic).
Russian units hit manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, an assault brigade of the AFU, and a national guard brigade close to Topoli, Kondrashovka, Golubovka, Novay Kruglyakovka, Borovaya, Shiykovka (Kharkov region), Yampol (Donetsk People's Republic) as well as Serebryansky forestry.
The enemy's losses amounted to more than 200 troops, a U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, five motor vehicles, and five field artillery guns, three of them manufactured by NATO countries. Three electronic warfare stations and an ammunition depot were neutralised.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops engaged manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, an airmobile brigade, two assault brigades of the AFU, and foreign legion units near Seversk, Reznikovka, Slavyansk, Vasyukovka, Kramatorsk, Novomarkovo, Belokuzminovka, Chasov Yar, Stupochki, Konstantinovka, and Ulakly (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 220 troops, an infantry fighting vehicle, nine motor vehicles, and six field artillery guns including a U.S.-made 155mm M-777 howitzer. One electronic warfare station and one ammunition depot were neutralised.
Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces improved the tactical situation. Ten mechanised brigades, a jaeger brigade, an airmobile brigade, two assault brigades, an assault regiment of the AFU, a naval infantry brigade, and a national guard brigade near Shcherbinovka, Dimitrov, Krasnoarmeysk, Udachnoye, Uspenovka, Novoandreyevka, and Andreyevka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The enemy lost more than 375 troops, four armoured fighting vehicles including a U.S.-made MaxxPro armoured vehicle, five motor vehicles, and seven field artillery guns including a U.S.-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. A mechanised brigade, an air assault brigade of the AFU, and three territorial defence brigades were hit near Konstantiopol, Bogatyr, Burlatskoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Temirovka, and Gulyaypole (Zaporozhye region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 160 troops, two tanks including a German-made Leopard tank, three motor vehicles, and two field artillery guns.
The Dnepr Group of Forces engaged manpower and hardware of a mountain assault brigade of the AFU and two territorial defence brigades close to Malaya Tokmachka, Shcherbaki, Lobkovoye (Zaporozhye region), Sadovoye, and Dneprovskoye (Kherson region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 85 troops, six motor vehicles, an artillery gun, three electronic warfare stations, and an ammunition depot.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged the infrastructure of military airfields, strike drones stocking and training sites, ammunition and fuel depots of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as well as temporary deployment areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 157 areas.
Russian air defence systems shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 aircraft, two French-made Hammer guided bombs, two U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, and 58 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 656 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 44,190 unmanned aerial vehicles, 596 anti-aircraft missile systems, 21,698 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,521 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,948 field artillery guns and mortars, and 32,033 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region.
During the offensive, the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on units of a tank brigade, a heavy-mechanised brigade, seven mechanised brigades, five air assault brigades, a naval infantry brigade, four territorial defence brigades, and three assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Gologlevka, Goncharovka, Guyevo, Zaoleshenka, Kazachya Loknya, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Loknya, Makhnovka, Novaya Sorochina, Nikolskiy, Oleshnya, Rubanshchina, and Sudzha. Three enemy counter-attacks were repelled.
Operational-Tactical, Army, and Artillery strikes engaged AFU manpower and hardware close to Bondarevka, Zamostye, Kositsa, Malaya Lokya, Martynovka, Melovoy, Mirny, Starya Sorochina, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as Basovka, Belodody, Veselovka, Zhuravka, Novenkoye, Obody, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.
Within the past 24 hours, the AFU lost more than 190 troops, three tanks, six infantry fighting vehicles, four armoured personnel carriers, 15 armoured fighting vehicles, 17 motor vehicles, an artillery gun, three mortars, two electronic warfare stations, three UAV control posts, and an ammunition depot.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 62,650 troops, 376 tanks, 286 infantry fighting vehicles, 237 armoured personnel carriers, 1,977 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,129 motor vehicles, 465 artillery guns, 51 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 22 anti-aircraft missile launchers, nine transport-loading vehicles, 113 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, seven air defence radars, 49 units of engineering and other materiel, including 19 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers, one engineering reconnaissance vehicle as well as 14 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka 
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
Light of the Alawites...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...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 
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
...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 
...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...
...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family...
...established in the early 1990s through an agreement between portions of Uganda’s Salaf Tabliq Islamic sect and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU), who said they had been sidelined by Museveni’s policies. At the time, the rebels staged deadly attacks in Ugandan villages and the capital, including a 1998 attack in which 80 students were massacred. A Ugandan military operation later forced the ADF into eastern Congo. The ADF has since established ties with the Islamic State group. The ADF has received funding from the Government of Sudan, which has also provided supplies and training. The ADF may also have received funding from the illegal mining and logging industries of the DRC....
...every time you hear the phrase 
