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ISIS to choose Iraqi jihadi successor of al-Qurayshi, analysts
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
A coyote snarls: Video shows woman arrested for human smuggling lunging toward border patrol officers after she's arrested at US Customs agents in Texas
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Human Trafficking

#1  Beware the Guatemalan Insanity Pepper.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 02/11/2022 17:36 Comments || Top||


-Great Cultural Revolution
Dozens of physicians censored by Big Tech over COVID 'misinformation'
[WND] Major technology companies and social media platforms have removed, suppressed or flagged the accounts of over 800 prominent individuals and organizations, including medical doctors, for COVID-19 misinformation, according to a new study from the Media Research Center (MRC).

MRC’s Free Speech America CensorTrack, an initiative that monitors acts of censorship across online platforms, identified over 41 instances between March 2020 and February 2022 in which doctors, scientists and medical organizations were censored, according to the results of a study shared with Daily Caller News Foundation.

Instances of censorship included Facebook’s decision to flag the British Medical Journal with a "fact check" and "missing context" label, reducing the visibility of a post, for a study delving into data integrity issues with a Pfizer vaccine clinical trial. Facebook also deleted the page of The Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter led by dozens of medical professionals, including Dr. Jay Battacharya, a Stanford epidemiologist, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a former employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which advocated for less restrictive measures to address the dangers of COVID-19.

"Big Tech set up a system where you can’t disagree with ’the science’ even though that’s the foundation of the scientific method," Dan Gainor, MRC vice president of Free Speech America, told the DCNF. "If doctors and academic journals can’t debate publicly, then it’s not science at all. It’s religion."

Big Tech also scrubbed podcast host Joe Rogan’s interviews with scientists Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, the latter of which was instrumental in pioneering mRNA technology. Twitter banned Malone from its platform permanently in late December 2021 over the virologist’s tweets questioning the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We tallied 32 different doctors who were censored, including mRNA vaccine innovator Dr. Robert Malone," Gainor said. "Censoring views of credentialed experts doesn’t ensure confidence in vaccines, it undermines faith in government COVID-19 strategies."

In addition to medical doctors, the study examined instances in which members of Congress were censored by tech platforms.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 06:29 || Comments || Link || [21 views] Top|| File under:

#1  New information;
Posted by: Dale || 02/11/2022 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Straight information: Swiss Policy Research's Facts About COVID-19:
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Try this link for Facts about COVID-19
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 7:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Release the dogs lawyers of war!

Let's see how deep pockets work, denying family members valid information that could have saved their loved ones.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2022 11:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Zuckerberg must be a really smart guy if he knows more about medicine than the medical doctors.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/11/2022 11:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Virtually everything these assholes claimed as false or "misinformation" has turned out to be true.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 12:22 Comments || Top||

#7  I keep waiting for those with money ("skin in the game") to punch back with lawsuits.

And I keep waiting. What ever happened to the "greedy capitalists" that we were warned about growing up?
Posted by: Crusader || 02/11/2022 22:31 Comments || Top||

#8  Virtually everything these assholes claimed as false or "misinformation" has turned out to be true.

Two weeks ago, it was a conspiracy theory. Today, it is settled science. Our position has "evolved". Also, shut up.

It is a good thing covid wasn't Black Death serious because we have done a rather crappy job dealing with this on multiple levels. A serious After Action Report would be scathing.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2022 23:15 Comments || Top||


Project Veritas Video Exposes Racism and Toxicity at ESPN
[PJMedia] Project Veritas released a video exposing the workplace of ESPN as being toxic and openly laden with racism. Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe connected with an ESPN studio operator named Trevor Adams, who sought to blow the whistle on the "discrimination" and "racism " he witnessed at ESPN as an employee.

Adams says he not only witnessed such behavior but experienced it personally. Once through a headset, a director called Adams "just another white Trump supporter" and said that "if there were more women in this building things would get done a lot better and quicker."

Other ESPN employees were recorded detailing experiences similar to that of Adams.

Alyssa Lang, an on-air talent for ESPN, who by appearance is a white female, characterized conversations held around her and comments made directly to her as "Just blatantly racist sh*t." In one instance, colleagues of Lang were verbally disgruntled about the fact that Lang and her two co-hosts were each white, the suggestion being that if a show is hosted exclusively by white people, it is somehow unfit to exist.

Doreen Murray, a graphics specialist, described ESPN as being an environment where accusations of racism are thrown around in retaliation for even the mildest bit of conflict. "This company has it set up where you can’t say anything because immediately they turn it around and scream racism."

This toxic and racialized work environment was felt by both white and black employees at ESPN.

And all this comes just months after ESPN’s racial fiasco involving Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols, where Nichols was caught on tape describing how she felt pushed out of an on-air role that was contractually assigned to her, so that the darker-skinned Maria Taylor could ascend to the position, theoretically improving ESPN’s visual diversity posture.

Here is the entire exposé as posted on the Project Veritas YouTube channel.

Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who still watches ESPN
Posted by: Chris || 02/11/2022 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  ..I understand that airports have unused tv monitors in their waiting areas.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2022 11:08 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Fighter jet crashes during training mission near Phoenix air base: Pilot escapes with only minor injuries after safely ejecting moments before impact
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • The French-made Mirage F1 was performing a routine training mission Thursday

  • It crashed at 11am near the city of Buckeye, about 15 mi from Luke Air Force Base

  • The plane was owned by military contractor Airborne Tactical Advantage Co.

  • 'The pilot is safe and doing well,' said a representative from the company

  • A Mirage F1 operated by a different contractor crashed in Las Vegas last year, killing the pilot
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 08:40 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mirage F1? Louis Gossett Jr. flying these things?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2022 13:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Contractor OPFOR?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2022 13:45 Comments || Top||

#3  If that’s what this bit from the article means, Procopius2k:

Airborne Tactical Advantage is one of a growing number of contractors that fly aircraft to help train military aviators. The company provides aggressor aircraft to help military fighter pilots learn their trade as well as other services to the military.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2022 14:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Is the Mirage F1 a bit obsolete these days.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/11/2022 16:49 Comments || Top||

#5  ^ First flew in late 1966. In service 1973-1992 with the French Air Force. Retired 2014. 720 built. Also used by the Iraqi, Spanish and Hellenic air forces.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2022 17:08 Comments || Top||

#6  For vs. private air force/training private air force? Or some Heinlein style teaching where you learn to down a Mirage, passing a level to take on a more modern frame?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2022 17:22 Comments || Top||

#7  When you have a hard time keeping pilots, someone forms an contracting business, hires those pilots at a higher pay scale then the government can pay and retain the skills. Zoomies don't like desk jobs nor momma the constant rotations(reassignments).
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2022 18:32 Comments || Top||


Pakistani woman pregnant with a girl has two-inch nail hammered into her HEAD by faith healer so she can give birth to a BOY
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dawn performed journalism:

Man says nail in wife’s head has nothing to do with faith healer

PESHAWAR: The husband of a woman, who had a nail hammered into her head allegedly by a faith healer some days ago, claimed on Thursday that she was suffering from mental health issues.

He said that the nail hammered into her wife’s head had nothing to do with any faith healer.

The nail was removed from the woman’s head at the Lady Reading Hospital some days ago. The news went viral on social media platforms after it was leaked from the hospital, prompting police to launch an investigation into the matter.

Earlier it was alleged that a fake faith healer smote the nail into her head to make her bear male offspring. However, on Thursday, her husband Ahmed Sabir, an Afghan national, appeared before journalists at the police lines and denied the assertion that an alleged faith healer hammered a nail into his wife’s head.

He claimed that his wife was suffering from mental health issues for quite a long and was also treated by psychiatrists. He also denied desiring a son, stating that he had 11 children including six sons from two wives.

Mr Sabir also questioned the media outlets for running the news without checking with the family. He said that the incident had nothing to do with any faith healer or desire for male offspring. “You people would not believe this, but she is possessed by spirits,” he added.

He said that the woman was his second wife whom he had married in 2012. He said that she was mother of three including two sons. From the first marriage, he has eight children including four sons and four daughters.

Mr Sabir said that his wife had in the past thrown herself from the third storey of his residence to kill herself.

SSP Haroon Rashid said on the occasion that police traced the family during the investigation. Regarding the nail in the woman’s head, he said that it might have been result of some accident. However, he said that police were planning a psychiatric evaluation of the woman.

The SSP said that the woman told investigators that she lost consciousness while removing a wall mounted heater and found the nail in her head upon regaining consciousness.

He said that police also checked the record of telephone calls of her husband, who was outside his home at the time of occurrence.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2022 18:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Dawn performed journalism

Truly, we live an an age of miracle and wonder.
Good catch, tw!
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2022 18:44 Comments || Top||

#3  I still suspect the Piranha Brothers.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/11/2022 18:53 Comments || Top||


-War on Police-
Police shot dead a record 1,055 people last year - the highest number in seven years: Black people killed at twice the rate as white
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • The Washington Post on Thursday released the latest analysis from its database of fatal police shootings in the United States

  • The number of people killed by officers was the highest since they began keeping records seven years ago, with 1,055 dying in 2021

  • In 2020 the figure was 1,021, which criminologists say is not a statistically significantly change with 2021

  • The most affected people were young black men, and 14 percent had known mental health struggles

  • Three quarters of those killed were armed with a gun or a knife - 632 had a firearm, and 154 had a knife

  • California had the most fatal police shootings, with 141, while Rhode Island only had one
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 08:34 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Mob Rule

#1  Oh, my! But crime rates are up, too, so maybe defunding the police is not such a good idea.

But wait! Isn't it true that police in the UK do not carry firearms? How's that working out across the pond?

Or do the WaPo and Daily Mail not believe in our second amendment?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/11/2022 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Beagles are twice as likely to be used for rabbit hunting than Saint Bernards.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 8:58 Comments || Top||

#3  WAPO - need we say more?

Bigger Question:
How many were found to be Good Shoots vs. Bad Shoots?

BTW: When will the FBI release its long overdue Crime Tables for 2020, or will they just skip 2020 and publish 2021 in a few years☻?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/11/2022 9:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Black people killed at twice the rate as white

Blacks commit serious crimes at 8 times "whites". "Whites" in FBI crime statistics includes non-black Hispanics. So who are getting the benefit of doubt from the police?
Posted by: Snusoting Omains7589 || 02/11/2022 10:07 Comments || Top||


#6  Beagles and St. Bernards vs. rabbits?

A problem of prejudiced bunnies
And speciesist dogs. Unleash unease!
Address the bad habits
Of underserved rabbits
By redistribution of monies!
Posted by: Omomock Lumumba4849 || 02/11/2022 15:40 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
CIA Secretly Operated 'Bulk' Data Collection Program on American Citizens
BLUF:
[Red State] In the letter, Wyden and Heinrich reiterate Congress’s intent to limit/prohibit "the warrantless collection of Americans’ records, as well as the public’s intense interest in and support for these legislative efforts." Knowing that, the CIA "secretly conducted its own bulk program [redacted]" and "has done so entirely outside the statutory framework that Congress and the public believe govern this collection" and without oversight.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 06:03 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wyden and Heinrich reiterate Congress’s intent to limit/prohibit "the warrantless collection of Americans’ records

A worthy but meaningless reiteration, and one that fails to recognize who is actually in control.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 6:14 Comments || Top||

#2  They are spying on Congress and you cowards still put up with it.
Posted by: Airandee || 02/11/2022 6:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Other three-letter agencies already do this "wittingly" so it seems repetitive, onless it is targeted by Humint sources and methods from CI's in the DNC? Asking for a friend, and just spitballing here.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/11/2022 11:55 Comments || Top||

#4  so its like cheaper than brand name data like K MART perms?
Posted by: Greng Black3494 || 02/11/2022 12:18 Comments || Top||

#5  CIA is a branch of organized crime.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 || 02/11/2022 12:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Just a wave to those assigned to read at the Rant. o/
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2022 13:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Yes, extremely well organized, funded, and very criminal.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 13:55 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian situation - Things you need to know (video), Territorial Defense Units..... and more
[Aljazeera] NATO allies, fearful of a potential ground invasion by Russia, have stepped up support for Kyiv by sending additional troops and military equipment to Ukraine.

The alliance says its move is in response to Russia’s continued military buildup along the Ukraine border.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 08:46 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Putin: Russia is preparing a response to the US and NATO on security guarantees
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[RIA Novosti] Negotiations between Russia and NATO on security guarantees continue both in open and closed regimes, Vladimir Putin said.

"We are preparing a response to both NATO and Washington," Putin said after talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev .

In recent months, relations between Russia and the West have become even more tense, and the situation around Ukraine has worsened. Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of preparing an "invasion", declaring that Russian troops are being pulled up to the border with a neighboring state. Against this background, the North Atlantic Alliance is strengthening its presence in Eastern Europe : it is sending additional forces and military contingents there.

The Kremlin denies these allegations and claims they are a pretext for increasing the bloc's military presence near Russia's borders.

At the end of last year, Russia handed over to NATO and the United States draft documents on security guarantees, the main requirement was the non-expansion of the alliance to the east, but it was its Western partners, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, that they ignored in their written response.

Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Contemplating the next chess move.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2022 7:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Consider Prime Minister Klain's calculations: Magoo's SOTU speech is two weeks from Monday. The midterm elections come just six months after, so this speech is effectively the start of the campaign.

Klain no doubt wants SOTU to be a victory lap re COVID -- Magoo's version of W's "Mission accomplished!" bullshit. IE.e. claiming victory when in fact the 'vaccine' failed, the lockdowns and masks caused enormous damage for next to no benefit, and the horrors of all the side effects are now being made public in a slow drip that will continue for years.

Why would Klain/Magoo want to announce more troop movements & other preparations for war in Ukraine? How would that possibly help the Democrats this fall? Do any voters actually give a shit about shithole Ukraine?

Much more likely that Magoo will announce he's negotiating a deal with Putin. There's no benefit and a huge potential cost if he lets this remote, almost totally irrelevant conflict pre-empt his big SOTU address claiming Happy Days Are Here Again.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 7:45 Comments || Top||

#3  The two "highlights" of the SOTU will be the announcement of a "deal" with Iran that will involve the US directly supplying Iran with nukes, (because equity!) and the finding of an obscure clause in NAFTA that allows for the US military to help the Canadian gummint crush the trucker's protests.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2022 8:08 Comments || Top||

#4  The trucker issue is becoming scary. This could be the spark that sets off civiI w@r if Magoo and Jolson don't rein in their attack dogs
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 11:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Predictably, the "conservatives" in the Canadian gummint are stabbing the truckers in the back now.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2022 11:30 Comments || Top||

#6  It's not right vs left or "conservative" vs "progressive." This is the traditionalist commonsensical People vs the incompetent, corrupt globalist-COVIDian Wokerati elites.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 12:06 Comments || Top||

#7  If a critical mass of people come to the conclusion that a gummint of self-appointed "elites," sitting around telling everyone else what to do or not do isn't cutting it, there's gonna be quite a show.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2022 12:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Afraid this one could get kinetic. Didn't end well for Gage's redcoats when they confronted the Sons of Liberty.

Maybe not the RCMP but reports are many of the police and tow truck drivers are defecting to the Freedom Convoy's side.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 12:16 Comments || Top||

#9  Now the coke-head premier of Ottawa says they are "working on a plan" to end the vaxx passports. Really. They couldn't, you know, just announce on their state-run media that the passports are now invalid and people should toss them in the trash.

Bunkum and lies.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2022 12:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Doug Ford?! Canada's Hunter Biden is Lremier of its largest province? YGBSM
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 13:16 Comments || Top||

#11  #9 toss them in the trash

Your grandfather's card for the draft?
He burned it. Okay, so he's daft...
But you're taking your war
On this cold pretty far,
Are you not, Covid kids? [Yeezus laughed]
Posted by: Omomock Lumumba4849 || 02/11/2022 16:54 Comments || Top||


Kiev must pay for 7 years of war
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] An additional condition for the implementation of "Minsk-2" should have been the payment of compensation by Kiev to Donetsk and Lugansk for seven years of the war, said Mikhail Demurin, a REGNUM observer, on Thursday, February 10, commenting on the statements of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.

As previously reported, Kuleba said that Kiev "will not implement the Minsk agreements on Russian terms, in the Russian interpretation."

"But this does not mean that we will not comply with the Minsk agreements in principle," he added.

"There are no 'Russian conditions' for the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements. There is a German formula for their implementation, the Steinmeier formula, but it did not work either. Didn't work because of Kiev.

In all other respects, the Minsk agreements exist in the form in which they were approved by the UN Security Council back in 2015, and this is how they should be implemented, adjusted for the delay in their implementation by Kiev for 7 years.

For these 7 years of the continuation of the war in the Donbass, Kiev must pay. This should be made an additional condition for the implementation of Minsk-2. It should have been put forward by Donetsk and Luhansk, and Russia should have supported it. But so far, unfortunately, such a condition has not been put forward," said Mikhail Demurin.

Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So basically Ukraine will be independent in name only while Vlad gets to collect taxes?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/11/2022 11:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Wish in one hand and piss in the other. See which fills first, Mikhail.
Posted by: Snusoting Omains7589 || 02/11/2022 11:40 Comments || Top||


Britain will never recognize Russian sovereignty over Voronezh
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin

[ColonelCassad] The British Foreign Secretary told the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry about the need to withdraw Russian armed forces from the Ukrainian border. Sergei Lavrov replied that the military is on the territory of his country. Liz Truss repeated that they should be withdrawn. To this, the Russian minister again objected that the military is not violating anything, since they have the right to conduct any maneuvers on the territory of the Russian Federation.

After that, he himself addressed a question to his British colleague: "Do you recognize the sovereignty of Russia over the Rostov and Voronezh regions?"

"Great Britain will never recognize Russian sovereignty over these regions,” the Foreign Minister replied after a short pause.
British Ambassador to the Russian Federation Deborah Bonnert had to intervene in the situation, who delicately explained to Mrs. Truss that we were really talking about Russian regions.

The British Embassy in Moscow did not comment on the situation.

Recall that during a press conference following the meeting, Sergei Lavrov said he was disappointed with the negotiations and noted that he and his colleague did not hear each other. Liz Truss said that no one undermines Russia's security. She also stated that she considers it necessary to withdraw Russian troops from the border with Ukraine.

Zakharova: The West should not confuse the territories of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, these mistakes can be fatal

[NewsFrontInfo] The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the West should not confuse the territories of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, since such a mistake could be fatal, she made this statement on the air of the Evening with Vladimir Solovyov program.

This is how the diplomat commented on the mistake of British Foreign Minister Liz Truss, who, answering a question from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said that the Rostov and Voronezh regions do not belong to Russia. British Ambassador to Moscow Deborah Bonnert intervened and explained to Truss that they were talking about Russian regions.

Soon the diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in the Russian Federation published Truss's explanations regarding the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over these areas.

"She commented on it herself, she said that she confused Ukraine with Russia. The main thing is that this simply does not happen again, because they talk about Ukraine so often, and they so often recommend Russia what to do on its territory, that such mistakes can become simply fatal for them," Zakharova said.

Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Coming soon: Biden will never recognize US sovereignty, anywhere.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 || 02/11/2022 2:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Foreign Minister Liz Truss, answering a question from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said that the Rostov and Voronezh regions do not belong to Russia.

Jesus... ROSTOV? She's never heard of Tolstoy's characters in War and Peace? FFS, this is one of the West's foreign ministers. They're supposed to be our intellectual policy-makers -- the cosmopolitan worldly ones, those with a deep grasp of other nations' geography at a minimum and preferably their history and culture.

Claiming that Rostov and Voronezh aren't part of Russia is like claiming that Swansea and Bristol are not part of Britain. Or saying that El Paso is not part of the US.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 5:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Claiming that Rostov and Voronezh aren't part of Russia is like claiming that Swansea and Bristol are not part of Britain. Or saying that El Paso is not part of the US.

Top.People
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2022 7:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Have you been to El Paso recently? Like El Centro or National City, CA it certainly seems pretty alien if you are from Ohio...
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/11/2022 11:58 Comments || Top||

#5  ^ OK then it's like saying St Louis is not part of the US. Rostov is one of the most famous and ancient Russian cities.

This woman's supposed to articulate Britain's foreign policy and negotiate a successor to the Minsk Accords.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 12:12 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm surprised that Lavrov offered her a field goal from the ten yard line:

"Do you recognize the sovereignty of Russia over the Rostov and Voronezh regions?"

"Just as you recognize the sovereignty of Ukraine over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions!"
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/11/2022 14:23 Comments || Top||

#7  The Russians could solve all their problems with the UK by establishing grooming gangs in Britain. That would shut the limeys right up.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2022 14:28 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Satellite images show North Korean missile base capable of storing weapons with range to strike US
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Satellite images have revealed a newly-constructed missile base in North Korea
...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...
that could store weapons capable of striking the United States, a think tank has warned.

The Hoejung-ni missile operating base in the north-eastern province of Hwapyong boasts underground bunkers and powerful weapons capable of mounting nuclear warheads, reports the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

There are also two huge shelters used for the arming and fuelling of weapons, known as 'missile checkout facilities', while trees, bushes and other vegetation covers much of the entrances to the base.

'The Hoejung-ni missile operating base will, according to informed sources, likely house a regiment-sized unit equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM),' the CSIS warns.

'Each... shelter measures approximately 35 metres (114ft) long, has a 25-metre (82ft) opening at each end, and is covered with soil and rocks with vegetation planted on top,' the report adds.

The new base, which has also raised alarm bells due to its close proximity to the Chinese border, has sparked the interest of international observers and US intelligence.

Security sources estimate that construction at Hoejung-ni first began more than two decades ago, and is among 20 or so bases which have never been publicly acknowledged by Kim Pudge Jong-un
...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished...
's administration.

The new unit contains a reinforced underground bunker that is at least 1,200ft long, while also being able to accommodate ballistic missiles known to be used by Pyonygang.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Better start a war, then. No other choice.

Wait, does North Korea have oil?
Posted by: Sheter the Lesser9291 || 02/11/2022 1:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Hell no, or we would already own that shit.By proxy of course.
Posted by: Chris || 02/11/2022 2:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Let the South Koreans handle it.

Listen to Barry Posen. Time to retrench.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 5:17 Comments || Top||

#4  NK...How deep are your BombShelters?
Just asking....☺
Posted by: NN2N1 || 02/11/2022 8:41 Comments || Top||

#5  imagine the idiocy in building a missile base where you can store your fucking missiles give the sat bitches promotions and raises the gadget and magoo team put another one in the intel win column!
Posted by: Greng Black3494 || 02/11/2022 12:24 Comments || Top||

#6  "...could store weapons capable of striking the United States, a think tank has warned."

Hi, think tank. Quick question: Might it also be used to store anything else? Or (assumably) ICBM's only. Asking for a friend.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 02/11/2022 23:46 Comments || Top||


Economy
Government hiring is behind Biden's job growth
[Washington Examiner] In addition to the seemingly political motivated annual adjustment to the base seasonal employment numbers.
If you watched President Joe Biden’s remarks on the January jobs report, you could be forgiven for believing that a great feat that "never happened before" had just actually happened. You could be forgiven for believing all his platitudes about working families getting more of what they need, despite inflation not seen since the early 1990s. The problem for Biden and his plummeting approval rating is that his remarks are, at best, a rose-tinted view of reality.

A closer look at the jobs report reveals some concerning data. As the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 lockdowns, we would expect that smart government policy would foster growth in private sector jobs. Unfortunately, this jobs report shows a reduction in private employment of some 300,000 jobs. Despite this administration’s claims to be laser-focused on "buy American" and repatriating the supply chain, this is a serious blow to the recovery.

In fact, the drop in private employment from December 2021 to January 2022 in this report is the largest decline in private employment during the recovery. This might explain White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s bizarre comment that 9 million workers had called in sick during January and thus there would be fewer people employed. They knew the private employment numbers were going to look bad.

So what explains the increase of 467,000 jobs in January trumpeted by Biden?

A massive, unprecedented increase in government jobs at all levels. Federal, state, and local governments hired nearly 768,000 new employees between December 2021 and January 2022. With the exception of massive government hiring in July and August of 2020 thanks to the CARES Act, there has not been an increase in government employment this large going back to May 2002, when the data became available.

This is not to say that government jobs are not important or that there are not generally good reasons for an increase in government jobs at times. Especially at the state and local levels, government jobs provide vital services to the public. However, the decline in private employment, coupled with high inflation, is indicative of some serious problems with economic fundamentals. Piling on more government jobs will only further burden the struggling recovery.
Added Lord Garth:
as has been discussed before, a lot of housing price increases are baked in for 2022; also petroleum futures signal higher prices on gasoline for the spring and summer so, at least for the next 6 months, things look pretty bad - however, the yield on Treasury instruments is still pretty low, e.g. 10 year T bond is below 2%
Posted by: Hupavish Speaking for Boskone8393 || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not hard to have job growth when you have put a shitload of people out of work and can fudge the numbers. I don't give a shit who is up ext, I can't wait to see this son of a bitch die and I hope it's painful. Take that scraggly ass bitch of a wife with you too.
Posted by: Chris || 02/11/2022 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  You really do have to wonder about a governmental system that permits something like a 'Biden' presidency to happen.

Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 4:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Prices are sticky. No way that inflationary pressures can be reduced now without either stagflation or a reprise of Paul Volcker's famous "root canal" monetary policy.

Buckle your seatbelts
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 02/11/2022 5:14 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't understand the Wash Examiner articleshows approx stability in govt jobs.. If you look at table B-1 in the Jan 2022 BLS report,

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Certainly the BLS has lots of problems in doing seasonal adjustment during the pandemic and this accounts for not only the difference between the Jan 2022 ADP and BLS reports (ADP showing job loss, BLS showing job gains) but also early months where ADP showed large gains and BLS showed small gains.

Also, the Wash Examiner doesn't seem to understand that the BLS report does not measure 'hiring', only people with jobs. Thus people 'recalled' from layoffs (which happens a lot in manufacturing) or switched from temp to permanent (which happens a lot in local govt education employment) are not really 'hiring' in the sense that most people use the term.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 02/11/2022 7:54 Comments || Top||

#5  By 1920, 5.4 million people worked for the govt.There were twice as many officials as there were workers in Soviet Russia...from Orlando Figes "Revolutionary Russia".
Posted by: Omiting Theting7288 || 02/11/2022 8:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Re #4: Upon closer examination, this article is comparing the 1 year rise in government employment, with the 1 month drop in private sector employment.

You can see approx those numbers on page 23 of your BLS PDF where 1 year government sector jobs (non seasonally adjusted) increased by 679,000.

The one month private sector jobs shows a several hundred thousand decrease. I leave it to you to add up all the private sector job categories.
Posted by: Snusoting Omains7589 || 02/11/2022 9:36 Comments || Top||

#7  Also your BLS PDF pg 23 shows 1 month government sector employment increased by 354,000. Hardly a sustainable model.
Posted by: Snusoting Omains7589 || 02/11/2022 9:41 Comments || Top||

#8  /\ If the five counties surrounding Washington D.C. can be used as a model, that's roughly 350,000 more democratic voters.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2022 10:35 Comments || Top||

#9  government sector jobs (non seasonally adjusted) increased by 679,000.

So that's where the illegals are going.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 12:18 Comments || Top||

#10  the household survey which generates those big govt employment increases is based on a pretty small sample and subject to a lot of misunderstanding by the people surveyed

I was looking at the employer (aka establishment) survey where the employers themselves report. In that survey, govt employment is pretty stable although the employment of teachers (a pretty large percentage of local govt) has been disrupted by pandemic related issues.

I wouldn't be surprised if the household survey also was messed up by this when, say a person goes from teaching remotely to teaching on site they change their answers about whether they are employed or not. Similarly the various auxiliary functions of education, e.g., kitchen workers, maintenance, health and safety, etc. have been filtering back to on site work over the past year.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 02/11/2022 12:56 Comments || Top||


Europe
Polish Energy Officials Set To Meet U.S. Officials About Small Nuclear Reactors
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Armed clashes between locals and security forces in Erbil during a campaign to tackle encroachments


Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that the locals were not pleased with the progress of the campaign and quarreled with the security officers.

The brawl unfolded into armed confrontations between the locals and the officers but casualties were reported, according to our correspondent.

Yesterday, a group of citizens reportedly assaulted the head of Maysan's municipality with sticks and batons while he was overlooking a campaign to tackle encroachments to state property.

The incident took place in conjunction with the visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, to the precarious southern governorate in the aftermath of an anti-narcotic magistrate killing last weekend.

Sources told Shafaq News Agency that the local official was transferred to a nearby hospital after sustaining multiple blows to different body organs.

On August 10, 2021, a citizen encroaching on state-owned land was seen killing Karbala Mayor Abeer Salim al-Khafaji, who had led a campaign to remove encroachments.

On November 23, 2021, the official in charge of removing encroachments in Basra, Makki al-Tamimi, was killed as a result of a campaign to stop such violations.

Significant takeovers of and encroachments onto public land have been taking place in Iraq since 2003. Political parties and militias, and individual supporters protected by political and armed groups, have taken control of such properties. Some of these violations have become a fait accompli even when those involved don't have the force of arms behind them.

Such property began to be seized following the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. Not all governments have been able to stop this phenomenon. As a result of the encroachments, sidewalks, streets, and other public spaces often look ugly and disorganized. The population growth and the large-scale control that armed parties and groups enjoy have increased and widened these abuses.

Citizens who have encroached on property have always clashed with the security forces that accompany the team in charge of removing these abuses. These teams refused to enforce any campaign of this kind unless they were accompanied by security forces. They know very well that their task is not easy. The many such cases involving violence have prompted some employees to request to be exempted from such tasks.

Abeer al-Khafaji's killing was the spark that ignited a Cabinet "revolution" to remove encroachments on state-owned land. On August 12, 2021, the governorate of Karbala launched a campaign named after the slain mayor, The Martyr Abeer al-Khafaji Campaign, to remove encroachments. The municipal team is backed by security reinforcements.

Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [17 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
New species of fan-winged parasitic found in the mountains of southwestern China
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] Chinese scientists have discovered a new species of fan-winged parasite in the Gaoligong Mountains in southwest China's Yunnan province, Xinhua news agency reported Feb. 10.

Their findings were published in the international journal ZooKeys. The scientists confirmed that the parasites found on two wasp species (Vespa velutina and Vespa bicolor) belonged to the same species. After combining mitogenome data and morphological characters, this species was identified as a new species of the genus Xenos.

“Currently, about 30 species of fan-winged parasites have been recorded in China,” said Li Xueyan , a junior research fellow at the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Combining three areas of biodiversity, including the Himalayas and the vast mountains of South Asia, the Gaoligung Mountains are home to about 17 percent of higher plants, about 30 percent of mammals and 35 percent of birds in China.

Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interesting.
Using DuckDuck I looked for fan-winged parasites.
The first two hits were from RantBurg.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  ...Kinda interesting when you remember that the largest single group of parasitic lifeforms on the planet is...wasps. Something like 14,000 species that lay their eggs in other critters.

Sleep tight. ;)

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/11/2022 11:15 Comments || Top||

#3  so our politicians law makers intel and military have grown gmo wings and are flying to china for their payoffs explains all the UAP and UFO sightings no wonder they want to keep it hush hush!
Posted by: Greng Black3494 || 02/11/2022 12:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Huntis Bidenus?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2022 20:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Eric Swalwell is interested
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2022 20:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Name them after Fauci? ...or Biden(doesn't matter which one).
Posted by: magpie || 02/11/2022 21:36 Comments || Top||


Elon Musk is helping reconnect Tonga to the internet using SpaceX Starlink satellites, after a giant volcanic eruption and tsunami cut off undersea cables
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] And he said it couldn't be done
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Are these the satellites which got zapped in a solar storm?

Maybe we should just take the hint about Tonga.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2022 11:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Subheadline: "9ornHub revenues dip owing to Tongonian giant volcanic eruption and tsunami."
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 02/11/2022 23:42 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2022-02-11
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Thu 2022-02-10
  French court sentences jihadist man of Yazidi origin to 12 years in prison
Wed 2022-02-09
  Russia has no reason to attack Ukraine says Ukrainian MP
Tue 2022-02-08
  Canadian Government Getting Very Upset Over Freedom Truckers, Declare State Of Emergency
Mon 2022-02-07
  Ukraine crisis: Macron says a deal to avoid war is within reach
Sun 2022-02-06
  25 ISWAP Fighters Fleeing Military Airstrikes Drown In Lake Chad River
Sat 2022-02-05
  Day 3: 50 US commandos encountered baby toys, suicide bomb during lethal raid on IS leader
Fri 2022-02-04
  Gunmen Burn Nigerian Army Personnel Along With Military Vehicle In Ebonyi
Thu 2022-02-03
  ISIS Leader Killed During Raid in Syria by U.S. Special Forces
Wed 2022-02-02
  Iraqi intelligence destroys 80 ISIS IEDs in Ninevah village
Tue 2022-02-01
  The leader of the Hamza Division eliminated in Aleppo province
Mon 2022-01-31
  Cairo court sentences 10 to death over terrorism charges; including Yehia Mousa
Sun 2022-01-30
  DR Congo sentences 51 accused of killing UN staff
Sat 2022-01-29
  Russia insists ‘we don’t want wars’ as it ponders Ukraine-NATO answer
Fri 2022-01-28
  Fighting Rages on Between Libyan Army and ISIS


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