Hi there, !
Today Sun 12/25/2022 Sat 12/24/2022 Fri 12/23/2022 Thu 12/22/2022 Wed 12/21/2022 Tue 12/20/2022 Mon 12/19/2022 Archives
Rantburg
534807 articles and 1865162 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 59 articles and 190 comments as of 5:47.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion    Local News    Politix   
Five members of the Islamic State die in airstrike in NInevah
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
10 20:13 Frank G [17] 
4 15:49 Super Hose [9] 
21 16:31 M. Murcek [9] 
4 15:35 Skidmark [9] 
12 14:54 NN2N1 [14] 
1 06:03 Super Hose [7] 
0 [8] 
1 18:50 Rex Mundi [18] 
0 [4] 
10 21:07 Frank G [13] 
2 08:11 Besoeker [15] 
3 09:38 Warthog [4] 
2 11:27 M. Murcek [12] 
3 08:27 M. Murcek [15] 
6 20:08 Whusoger Shavish7113 [9] 
13 21:05 Frank G [12] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
6 18:43 Deacon Blues [17]
1 08:37 Frank G [13]
0 [24]
0 [12]
0 [20]
0 [19]
0 [10]
0 [17]
0 [10]
0 [9]
0 [11]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [10]
0 [12]
0 [8]
4 11:57 M. Murcek [10]
0 [4]
0 [9]
0 [20]
0 [16]
Page 4: Opinion
6 13:22 Besoeker [17]
5 14:54 Super Hose [12]
0 [6]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
2 20:33 Anomalous Sources [10]
5 23:15 Nero [15]
1 19:22 Whusoger Shavish7113 [14]
0 [8]
0 [8]
6 15:31 Super Hose [10]
0 [12]
2 12:39 M. Murcek [13]
0 [9]
1 16:00 magpie [13]
0 [10]
0 [14]
11 13:57 M. Murcek [23]
Page 6: Politix
5 18:32 Rex Mundi [26]
13 20:59 Frank G [12]
6 10:45 Procopius2k [9]
11 15:06 magpie [5]
7 11:54 swksvolFF [18]
3 16:05 M. Murcek [13]
2 07:47 M. Murcek [9]
3 20:37 Anomalous Sources [19]
-Obits-
Rudi, oldest male orangutan in North America, dies at 45 in Houston
HOUSTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Rudi Valentino, the oldest male orangutan in North America, died at the Houston Zoo on Tuesday at the age of 45.

Reuters visited the Houston Zoo four days before Rudi’s death to highlight his advanced age and distinction. The zoo celebrated his birthday earlier this month. (Video)

Rudi was taking medication for advanced heart disease, but behaved normally earlier in the day on Tuesday, said Houston Zoo spokeswoman Jessica Reyes. The orangutan spent time outside in his exhibit and showed no signs of slowing down. His keepers found him unresponsive at closing time, she said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 13:26 || Comments || Link || [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Off to the 'long nap' after some milk and a cookie. What's not to like about that ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 13:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Same hair stylist as Sheila Jackson Lee
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2022 14:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Couldn't get it to wear a Federica Wilson sequin cowboy hat...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 14:21 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought mean Joy Behar was tweeting that she had finally gotten her Guliani wish. Saw the age and knew they were talking about a simian.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 14:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Was he vaxed?
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/22/2022 15:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Do they vax them for monkey pox?

Sorry
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 15:43 Comments || Top||

#7  knew they were talking about a simian.

And that ruled out Behar how?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 15:53 Comments || Top||

#8  ^LOL
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 16:06 Comments || Top||

#9  I thought Behar was bovine.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/22/2022 18:46 Comments || Top||

#10  Paid in Premium Cud?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2022 20:13 Comments || Top||


Navy: SEAL Team 1 commander found dead in San Diego County home
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — An investigation is underway after a commanding officer of Navy SEAL Team 1 was found dead at his home in San Diego County earlier this week.

The body of Cmdr. Robert Ramirez, 47, was discovered at his home on Monday, Dec. 19. Navy officials say no foul play is suspected at this time.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ramirez family. Bobby was an outstanding leader, devoted husband, and father, and a good friend to us all," said Capt. David Abernathy of, Naval Special Warfare Group 1.

"This is a devastating loss to our community and all who knew him. We will remain in support of Bobby’s family, friends, and teammates during this extremely difficult time."

According to the navy, the family is requesting privacy as they mourn the loss of Ramirez.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2022 06:21 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Prayers to the Family

He was a serious solider, earning 5 Bronze Stars, including 2 for valor and acts of heroism.






Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/22/2022 7:20 Comments || Top||

#2  ...no foul play is suspected at this time.

How muck longer in the future before the 'jab' is considered foul play?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/22/2022 7:38 Comments || Top||

#3  ...This isn't the first one, is it?

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/22/2022 9:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Regardless of cause, sorry to see you go Rammer.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/22/2022 15:35 Comments || Top||


-Great Cultural Revolution
University deletes race requirement for fellowship program - Had required participants to be 'black, indigenous, people of color'
[WND] A University of North Carolina (UNC) nutrition fellowship program scrubbed criteria that made the fellowship exclusive to black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students after a civil rights complaint was filed alleging the program violated federal anti-discrimination laws, the program’s website reveals.

UNC’s Fellowship for Exploring Research in Nutrition originally claimed students must be a "Racial/ethnic background of [BIPOC] that is historically marginalized in academia and the field of nutrition in the United States" to be considered, according to a Dec. 19 snapshot of the website. However, the current website appears to have removed the criteria from the list.

The fellowship also updated its mission by claiming that it seeks to "enhance" rather than "increase" diversity in the nutrition field. The revised mission clarifies that the fellowship is open to all undergraduate students and includes "those from groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in health-related research."

"Obesity disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and other historically marginalized communities; yet people from these communities are traditionally underrepresented among researchers working to develop, research, and evaluate food and nutrition policies to address obesity," the website reads. "Increased representation in food policy research is critical for developing effective, equitable, comprehensive, and culturally competent policies that address nutrition-related health disparities."

Do No Harm Senior Fellow Mark Perry filed his Dec. 19 complaint with the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on the basis that UNC’s program discriminated against non-BIPOC students. He claimed that the eligibility standard violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race-based discrimination.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 02:51 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The UNC gobbldygook: "At the Gillings School, diversity and inclusion mean we welcome, value and learn from individual differences and perspectives. By cultivating inclusion within the School, we better prepare our students, faculty and staff for the diverse world that awaits them. A globally-interconnected world needs culturally competent people to serve as its leaders. Diversity and inclusion are assets that contribute to our excellence."
Posted by: Slavising Unineting5672 || 12/22/2022 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  diversity and inclusion mean

anyone but a white male
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/22/2022 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Attention LSD's .
The Race Card has expired.
The days of racial atonement are long over

We are now 56 years, almost 3 generations past Jim Crow laws and any official discrimination.

The 56 years of the LSD State /Federal $$$$ dumps and cuddled treatment clearly is not working. It is only promoting and perpetuating the issues that existed 60+ years ago, just using a different process and methods to control Black Americans.

Simple rule in life.
Man up, own up, and learn to live with the choices you made in life. Because the path you chose in life is what you reap from it.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/22/2022 7:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Nailed at #2 by P2k.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 8:05 Comments || Top||

#5  I'll never forget. In 1980 I applied for a job with the Cobb County FD. The chief stood up and walked over to me, he put his hand on my shoulder and guided me to the door. He said, and I'll never forget, "Son, if you were a woman, a black or better yet a black woman I'd hire you, but you're not".
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed || 12/22/2022 8:35 Comments || Top||

#6  The disease that inflicts Fulton County has been migrating to Cobb for years.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 9:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Dying to hear about all the outside money being lined up to pay off her campaign debts.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 9:19 Comments || Top||

#8  What if I’m a white male but I identify as an Eskimo during the summer with the exception of the chewing raw blubber and no oral hygiene parts or do I just have to wear a poodle skirt an high -heels? Asking for a friend.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 11:05 Comments || Top||

#9  I self-identify as rich. I may have to sue the banks to get that working for me...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 11:23 Comments || Top||

#10  #8 Steer clear of the stink heads as well.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 12/22/2022 11:55 Comments || Top||

#11  Deleting the written bias against white men will not change the actual selection decisions, it just removes the obvious for remediation. Think anything will change? Reverse racism is the new Jim Crow game.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 12/22/2022 12:44 Comments || Top||

#12  Given, the Crow in Jim Crow is used because it refers to a Black colored bird.

When we see reverse discrimination clearly aimed at innocent Whites, shouldn'twe use our own mocker?

Like Joe Snow or something.

To point of the Lefts open discriminatory tactics, which are just as bad and racist?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/22/2022 14:54 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
88-year-old Man Has WWI Cannon Shell Removed From His Rectum ... wait, what?
[PJMedia] Alternative headlines: “Great Artillery Aim” and “Now He Wants It Out?”

An 88-year-old French man somehow walked into a hospital with a WWI artillery shell sticking out of his keister. The unfired round is eight inches long and more than two inches wide.

Part of the hospital was evacuated in case the man’s buttocks exploded, but bomb disposal experts arrived and declared the shell was a relic and not likely to go off.

Doctors made an incision in the elderly man’s abdomen (ouch!) and removed the collector’s piece from his back door.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/22/2022 08:27 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ok DV, you had me thinking it was a hidden BB, so I bypassed it.

Given, the guy would have to be 126+/- years old to be in WWI.

But saw it in other blogs.

Still, how did it get where it was at in an 88 y/o no less?



Posted by: Threaper Peacock7708 || 12/22/2022 14:46 Comments || Top||

#2  I’ve been told that older men sag as the years go on, not that I would have experience with that myself. I had not heard of sagging at the back end. Perhaps he overdid the fiber rich idea for five decades or so.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 15:27 Comments || Top||

#3  /\ I think you waited on me last week. I was the guy who ordered the OEM F-150 radiator.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 15:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Hopefully, I convinced you to buy the 2 year maintenance plan. Got to keep up my average to stay off of corrective action.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 15:49 Comments || Top||


Kim Kardashian roasted for 'ridiculous' outfit at Paris Hilton's Christmas party
[PAGESIX] That’s not hot.

Kim Kardashian seemed to miss the sartorial memo at Paris Hilton’s Christmas party over the weekend, showing up wearing a cropped concert T-shirt and studded black leather pants while everyone else in attendance appeared to be sporting festive looks in red and green.

The Skims founder, who seemed to have come straight from nephew Mason Disick’s bar mitzvah, stuck out like a sore thumb next to the “Simple Life” star, who wore a red lace Self-Portrait dress and silver crystal-encrusted Miu Miu high heels.
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Typical and predictable.
Why expect anything better of her or from her?

She is just another 42+ old aging actress, trying to save a slowly dying career, by having a SEE ME, SEE ME, I DID SOMETHING STUPID AGAIN for a staged Photo Op moment.

Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/22/2022 8:02 Comments || Top||

#2  File this under "Made you look, dummy"
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/22/2022 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  When Paris Hilton is the classy one.

-takes a chaw, spits on own foot-
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 10:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Paris got serious. You really don't hear or see much about her these days. Gonna guess she grew up.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 11:26 Comments || Top||

#5  The word "Kardashian" is actuallly quite useful. It tells me I can stop reading the article right then and there.
Posted by: Tom || 12/22/2022 14:30 Comments || Top||

#6  The Kardashians/Jenners are billionaires. They know something we don't.
Posted by: Whusoger Shavish7113 || 12/22/2022 14:54 Comments || Top||

#7  I am an aging white dude with hair growing on my ear lobes and a body built to be behind and auto parts counter. They tell me that I have some kind of magic special privilege that guarantees my success. I must have missed my invite to the soirée.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 15:39 Comments || Top||

#8  They know something we don't.

How to win a dick sucking contest.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 18:41 Comments || Top||

#9  A skill always in demand. Kinda like HVAC.
Posted by: Whusoger Shavish7113 || 12/22/2022 19:27 Comments || Top||

#10  ^ Whaaaa? LOL!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2022 21:07 Comments || Top||


Bombshell: Man with WWI explosive lodged in his rectum
[Twitchy] While this explosive headline sounds like it could almost apply to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill being rammed through the Senate, it’s actually exactly what it sounds like. Yep, some French guy loaded a WW1 era artillery shell into his aft mortar ... on purpose.

We mostly comment on politics, but sometimes we all just need to laugh, and this story was the perfect setup for Twitter users to have a ... umm ... blast.
As you may imagine the man became the butt of many jokes. Read them at the link.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He's French.
It's a "bangette".
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/21/2022 14:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Tell your kids that this is why you should never swallow your gum.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 1:32 Comments || Top||

#3  An old German General, lonely,
Seeks cover and cronily, pronely
Attempts to survive
The French 75
Bar at Arnaud's (for gentlemen only!).

Not really my kinda place... not that there's anything wrong with that.
Posted by: Muggsy Omuter9925 || 12/22/2022 3:28 Comments || Top||

#4  A man’s got to understand his limitations- The Outlaw Josie Wales
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 3:33 Comments || Top||

#5  ^^ Inspector Harry Callahan though Josey had plenty of good lines like ohh.. Dying aint much of a livin' or You gonna pull them pistols or whistle Dixie?
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 12/22/2022 5:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Not sure how he drove to the ER. Probably chose his route very carefully.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 6:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Guy was a little too literal when someone told him to shove it up his ass.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/22/2022 7:00 Comments || Top||

#8  It was just a war souvenir he had in his bathroom and I lost his balance on his 3 am toilet trip and fell on it?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/22/2022 9:53 Comments || Top||

#9  The war team actors have gone too far this time
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 10:31 Comments || Top||

#10  Old Steven Wright routine:

"They call this product 'The gentle laxative.' I don't know about you, but when I need a laxative, I want something that works like a bomb."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 11:25 Comments || Top||

#11  All these years the old man's been walking crooked, and no one knew why.
Posted by: KBK || 12/22/2022 17:52 Comments || Top||

#12  When a game of "Hide the Mortar" goes wrong.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 12/22/2022 20:35 Comments || Top||

#13  ^ SNORT
Posted by: Frank G || 12/22/2022 21:05 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
US life expectancy falls to lowest levels since 1996 due to COVID, drug overdoses: CDC
[ABC] Life expectancy in the United States has fallen to the lowest levels seen in 26 years, new federal data shows.

Two new reports, published early Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, found the death rate increased 5.3%, from 835.4 per 100,000 people to 879.7 per 100,000 in 2021.
Death rate is now on a par with interest and inflation rates. Eight percent appears to be the short-term central planning goal.
This means that life expectancy decreased in 2021 for the second year in a row to 76.4 years, down from 77 years in 2020, and is the lowest figure recorded since 1996.

While the drop of 0.6 years is not insignificant, it's smaller than the drop of 1.8 years that occurred between 2019 and 2020.

The authors of the report said the drop was primarily due to COVID-19 and drug overdose deaths.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 08:15 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No worries! Replacement people are arriving in record numbers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 8:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Can anyone tell me where is the source of both Covid-19 and fentanyl? China Joe? Beuller?
Posted by: Whusoger Shavish7113 || 12/22/2022 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Older people no longer buy much cheap, plastic, Chinese made stuff. Aging pensioners and non-consumers must go.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 8:37 Comments || Top||

#4  US life expectancy falls to lowest levels since 1996 due to COVID, drug overdoses, CDC

Fixed the punctuation for you ;)
Posted by: Warthog || 12/22/2022 9:12 Comments || Top||

#5  US life expectancy falls to lowest levels since 1996 due to Government's Response to COVID

FIFY
Posted by: Angstrom || 12/22/2022 10:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Does part of drug overdoses include COVID-19 booster shots? ;-)
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/22/2022 10:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Thank you Angstrom.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 12:02 Comments || Top||

#8  In related news, noted LifeStyle expert Sean Penn declares that not only will Covid Boosters save your life, they will trim unwanted fat from your body.

Or you should go to jail.

I'd guess, preferably, one of them Chinese models having difficulties burning bodies at a fast enough rate.

Rulence by Pop Culture is Exciting!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 12:07 Comments || Top||

#9  Penn is beyond moron.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 12:13 Comments || Top||

#10  It is really the worst parts of the soda pop wars stewed with sour milk.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 12:15 Comments || Top||

#11  Clown World:

Covid Boosters are Fat Shaming!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 12:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Rationing children's medicine is some real shithole country stuff.

I think CSV is taking point on this one.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 13:33 Comments || Top||

#13  I see men's life expectancy declined to 73.5....uh oh, I'm already past that! Look out!

Seriously, they are being dishonest when they say that covid is the third leading cause of death. The CDC gave the game away when they published the comorbidity tables. For example, of all the covid deaths, over 200,000 had heart attacks/cardiac arrest. Another 111,000 had sepsis. An incredible 510,000 also had influenza and pneumonia. But none of these diseases killed anyone. Their deaths are all included in the covid statistics. Here's the link if you'd like to peruse: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#Comorbidities
Posted by: Tom || 12/22/2022 14:36 Comments || Top||

#14  Your doctor asks about your guns and tells you your next cancer screening has been postponed.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 14:38 Comments || Top||

#15  The CDC has about the same credibility as all the other tax-fattened agencies that are full of quacks who can't make it in the private sector.
Posted by: Regular joe || 12/22/2022 14:53 Comments || Top||

#16  Died with a Covid positive test.

Then discovered the tests are notoriously false-positive.

Even better was when it was discovered how to create a false positive test to get out of school/work. I'm just sure nobody used that trick to collect Covid Dollars too...
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/22/2022 14:59 Comments || Top||

#17  All that's fun, but some just don't care to live longer. It's a feature, not a bug.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/22/2022 15:33 Comments || Top||

#18  My 95 year old cousin Helen, Christmas 2018. She and Earl were both gone within 10 months:

"I'm ready to go! Earl is 100 and we just don't know anybody around here anymore."

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 15:45 Comments || Top||

#19  If I make it to heaven, maybe Shamu will be there. I’dpet his tongue in heaven as I am sure management will be lenient regarding that type of fraternization . It will be a nice place because the ducks won’t be able to take a dump on my freshly hosed pavement. It will be a good place to wait for the five people that have to check in with me on that weird heavenly scavenger hunt.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 16:05 Comments || Top||

#20  The CDC forgot to count the aborted. Remember the unborn!
Posted by: Bubba Hupereck8440 || 12/22/2022 16:28 Comments || Top||

#21  Miscarriages and stillbirths up over 4000%
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 16:31 Comments || Top||


Facing an energy crisis, Germans stock up on candles
[NPR] It's a great time to be a candlemaker in Germany.

"Candle demand is very strong right now," says Stefan Thomann, Technical Director of the European Candle Manufacturers Association.

The candle boom began during the pandemic, after the government imposed lockdowns and Germans began spending a lot more time at home. The industry expected the boom to end once the nation opened back up, Thomann says. "But then the war (in Ukraine) started."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Vespasian Ebboting9735 || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "If you go to a store and try to buy anything that you could burn in your oven, you are not going to find anything."

Try Bitcoin
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/22/2022 10:20 Comments || Top||

#2  How's those "almost full" gas reserves doing?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 11:27 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Mistrial in US gun case against Proud Boy who discussed attacking ADL
[IsraelTimes] Jury can’t reach verdict on US Navy reservist Hatchet Speed charged for 3 unlicensed gun silencers; he is separately indicted for allegedly storming US Capitol

A federal judge in Virginia has declared a mistrial in a firearms-related case against a US Naval reservist who is separately charged with storming the US Capitol.

US District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff declared the mistrial on Friday after a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, failed to reach a unanimous verdict on charges that Hatchet Speed illegally possessed unregistered silencers for guns. The Washington Post reports that Justice Department prosecutors intend to retry the case against Speed.

Speed also faces charges in Washington, DC, that he joined a mob’s attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. For that case, a bench trial without a jury is scheduled to start on February 6.

Speed was charged in Virginia with owning three unregistered silencers after FBI
...Formerly one of the world's premier criminal investigation organizations, something for a nation to be proud of. Now it's a political arm of the Deep State oligarchy that is willing to trump up charges, suppress evidence, or take out insurance policies come election time...
agents found the devices during a search of a storage unit that Speed had rented in Alexandria.

Speed’s lawyers said he never modified the devices to convert them into functioning silencers. Defense attorney Courtney Dixon told jurors that Speed was a gun enthusiast who was stocking up on scarce items 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.

Before his arrest in June, Speed told an undercover FBI agent that he stormed the Capitol with members of the far-right Proud Boys Death Eater group, authorities said. Speed also said he had contemplated using violence to further his antisemitic beliefs and discussed using violence against members of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization, according to prosecutors.
Jew-hate appears to make people as stupid as jihadis. So does playing at it in an attempt to appear edgy.
The FBI said Speed was a petty officer first class in the US Naval Reserves and was assigned to the Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office, an agency that operates US spy satellites used by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

After the Capitol riot, Speed bought at least 12 firearms over the span of a few months and spent more than $50,000 at firearm and firearm-part retailers, a prosecutor said in a court filing.
Lots of shopping happened during the lockdown.
"This firearm-buying spree is alarming in light of statements that Speed has made in which he has espoused the use of violence to further his anti-government and anti-Semitic ideologies," Assistant US Attorney Alexis Loeb wrote.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  $50,000? Hold me Martha!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 12/22/2022 18:50 Comments || Top||


This National Guardsman tore through Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault schools in a single year
[Task and Purpose] Pfc. Cooper Hayes has had a busy year. In the past 11 months, he has graduated from the U.S. Army’s Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault schools while assigned to C Company, 2-116th Combined Arms Battalion — the sole infantry company in the Idaho Army National Guard.
As I have mentioned here before, I have never served in the military. I'm interested to see what the commenters have to say about this story.
Hayes, currently enrolled as a student at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, enlisted in the Guard in October 2021. He took a semester off from school to complete his One Station Unit Training (OSUT) as a light infantryman at Fort Benning, Georgia, graduating on June 17. While there, he was offered the chance to attend Ranger School after OSUT.

"I wanted to challenge myself and be the best Soldier I can be," Hayes said in a recent press release. "So I decided to take another semester off and go to Ranger School. It sucked in the moment, but it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life."

After completing six weeks of pre-Ranger training, he started what is widely considered one the toughest schools the Army offers. On average, less than 50% of candidates make it past the first phase of the school, which is headquartered at Fort Benning. From 2016 to 2018, the overall graduation rate was between 36.8% and 41.9%.


Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mods - looks like my first comment wasn't posted so I tried from another computer. Please select which ever one you prefer and just post one. Gracias.
Posted by: Hupinemble Spolump1639 || 12/22/2022 6:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Guys who went to Ranger school before Airborne usually had "profiles", physical difficulties which excused them from our various physical training FUN. Wrong order. Airborne first, you got jump pay in Ranger school.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 12/22/2022 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Idaho Guard is no joke...BTW as my moniker might allude, I love seeing the A10s patrolling around the Boise area
Posted by: Warthog || 12/22/2022 9:38 Comments || Top||


Texas withdraws appeal to court order blocking gun law that banned adults under 21 from carrying firearms
[FoxNews] The state of Texas has withdrawn its appeal of a district court order that declared a state law preventing adults under 21 from carrying a handgun unconstitutional.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw withdrew the appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals without opposition Tuesday, the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) said. The FPC was a plaintiff in the case, along with two teenage gun owners who had challenged the Texas law.

"We applaud Texas for doing the right thing and accepting the district court’s ruling against its law prohibiting 18-to-20-year-old adults from carrying firearms in public," said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPC's senior attorney for constitutional litigation. "Not only do young adults have the same constitutionally protected right to bear arms as all other adults, they are also among the reasons we have a Second Amendment, Constitution, and Country in the first place."

Texas law permits gun-owning adults to obtain a license to carry their weapons in public. However, legal handgun owners under 21 were prevented from obtaining a license.

In August, a Texas court found that the age barrier was unconstitutional.

Pittman noted the Second Amendment does not contain any mention of age as a restriction, unlike other portions of the Constitution.

"To start, the Second Amendment does not mention any sort of age restriction," he wrote. "This absence is notable—when the Framers meant to impose age restrictions, they did so expressly."

The firearms Policy Coalition is leading similar lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Minnesota, California and Georgia.
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "To start, the Second Amendment does not mention any sort of age restriction," he wrote. "This absence is notable—when the Framers meant to impose age restrictions, they did so expressly."

Indirectly, they did when the passed the first Militia Act of 1792.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/22/2022 7:47 Comments || Top||

#2 

Simply put
Old enough to drive, vote, decide your sex gender, have an abortion, and join the military.

Then should be old enough to do anything else.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/22/2022 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Old enough to drive, vote, decide your sex gender, have an abortion, and join the military.

Well, dems want to:

Lower voting age to 16
Decide gender at pre-K
Have an abortion at any age

Q.E.D...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/22/2022 8:27 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt says it found large natural gas deposit in eastern Mediterranean
It would be helpful if Egypt required less outside support just to remain viable economically. Especially when world supplies of natural gas and petroleum are under strain.
[IsraelTimes] Petroleum minister tells parliamentary committee well in Nagris block still being evaluated; energy newsletter reports its size as 3.5 trillion cubic feet

Egypt has formally announced it discovered a large reserve of natural gas in one of its eastern Mediterranean Sea offshore blocks.

Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla told a parliament committee last Thursday that the well — located in the Nargis block — is still being evaluated, Rooters reported Monday.

However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
the Middle East Economic Survey newsletter earlier this month said the well contains 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The Nargis block is one of four offshore sites in which US energy giant Chevron has operating rights.

Egypt’s extensive natural gas facilities in the Mediterranean have stood largely inactive since the country’s 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
In recent years, the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi rehabilitated and modernized the facilities. In 2018, Egypt signed a $15 billion deal with Israeli company Delek Drilling and its US partner, Noble Energy, to transport natural gas there.

Egypt’s petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla arrives at the presidential palace for a meeting Nicosia, Cyprus, September 18, 2018. (Petros Karadjias/AP)
Egypt is aiming to position itself as an energy hub and the new Nargis find is expected to contribute to those efforts.

Chevron is also one of the partners in Israel’s Tamar natural gas reservoir, located some 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Haifa.

Last week, the operating partners announced they had okayed a final investment decision (FID) needed to proceed with the first phase of expanding natural gas production from the Tamar field to meet growing domestic demand and boost exports to Egypt.

Chevron provided details of a two-stage plan aimed at expanding production to about 1.6 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas from the Tamar field to meet Israel’s energy needs and export gas to Egypt and neighboring countries.

In June, Israel, Egypt and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
signed a memorandum of understanding that will see Israel export its natural gas to the bloc for the first time.

The landmark agreement will increase liquified natural gas sales to EU countries, which are aiming to reduce dependence on supply from Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

The agreement will see Israel send gas via Egypt, which has facilities to liquefy it for export via sea.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Gambia Foils Alleged Coup Attempt, Arrests Four Soldiers
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats

#1  I think I would need more guys for a coup of a fantasy baseball league. This is like some backyard chef trying to open his own barbecue joint. It was doomed to fail. If they get out of this alive, they need to contact Open a society and get a franchise.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/22/2022 6:03 Comments || Top||


Nigerian Government Launches Bidding For Seven Deep Water Oil Blocks
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
"BYOS - Bring Your Own Security teams"
Posted by: Fred || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


Government Corruption
GOP Rep. Comer Calls to ‘Halt' All FBI Funding Until Testifying on ‘Cover-Up of the Hunter Biden Laptop Story'
[Breitbart] Incoming Oversight Committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said Tuesday on Fox Business Channel’s "Mornings with Maria" that the Republican-led House must bring a "halt" all FBI funding until they come to Congress and explain their role in the Twitter, Hunter Biden laptop story.

Partial transcript as follows:
BARTIROMO: I know you have a lot of important work that you are focused on. What does this latest tranche of the Twitter exposé mean to you?

COMER: Well, it means a lot more evidence of wrongdoing. You know, in the beginning, I thought that there were probably two or three rogue employees who were orchestrating this cover-up of the Hunter Biden laptop story. But now we know the FBI had a division of at least 80 agents. We also know that the FBI paid Twitter over $3 million for their time, all the time they took over the past couple of years in telling them who to suppress, who to ban. You know, it’s just things that the government has no role in. The FBI was never granted the authority to create any type of disinformation task force that policed the social media sites.

Now, this we know with Twitter, we’ve heard similar stories from Zuckerberg. Who knows what went on at YouTube and Google? This is an agency that’s out of control. And the most frustrating thing for me right now, Maria, is the fact that in this omnibus bill, there’s increased funding for the FBI, plus a $1.75 billion headquarters facility for the FBI. We need to halt everything with the FBI, all funding, until they come forward and explain to Congress exactly what they were doing, why they were doing it, and who gave them the authority to do it.

BARTIROMO: That is just extraordinary that there is all of that money earmarked for the FBI despite all of this wrongdoing and evidence of collusion. I don’t know why your colleagues in the Senate are going along with this omnibus bill weakening you right before you take the gavel.

COMER: Mm hmm. It does. I mean, the one thing that we had the ability to do is. Is stop the spending. Stop the spending and, you know, we need an FBI. We really do. But this FBI is out of control. It’s doing things that Congress never granted the authority to do.

In no way, shape, or form should the government be in the business of censoring free speech, whether that be liberal speech or conservative speech. That’s just something the government shouldn’t do. But to dedicate a whole task force of at least 80 employees do nothing but communicate with social media sites and telling them what stories to suppress, who to ban. It’s just wrong. It’s a it’s a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars. It’s a violation of the Constitution. And to think that as we speak, the Senate sitting here giving them more money for the next 12 months, tying our hands and our ability to get the FBI in front of the committee.

You know, one way we could get the FBI in front of the committee really quickly is say, we’re not giving you a penny until you all come down here and explain to us what this task force was. Why you told Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story when you knew darn well it was true. And the Senate is counter to everything that we’re trying to do in the House from an oversight standpoint right now, especially with respect to the FBI.

In 2018 and 2020, Breitbart Senior Contributor and Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer published Secret Empires and Profiles in Corruption. Each book hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and exposed how Hunter Biden and Joe Biden flew aboard Air Force Two in 2013 to China before Hunter’s firm inked a $1.5 billion deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China less than two weeks after the trip. Schweizer’s work also uncovered the Biden family’s other vast and lucrative foreign deals and cronyism.

Breitbart Political Editor Emma-Jo Morris’ investigative work at the New York Post on the Hunter Biden "laptop from hell" also captured international headlines when she, along with Miranda Devine, revealed that Joe Biden was intimately involved in Hunter’s businesses, appearing to even have a 10 percent stake in a company the scion formed with officials at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Great Sound Bite for political attention.
But will we see any actual actions.

Remember, well over 90% of the FBI agents are actually doing their sworn jobs.

It's the rouge elements that need exposure, indictment and flushing , to restore the agency to a NON-Political and trusted Law Enforcement mission.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/22/2022 8:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Low area down by the creek was flooded. The corn will never amount to anything. Disc up the entire field and replant while there is still time in the growth season.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/22/2022 8:11 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Porsche is replacing gasoline with air and water
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/22/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  amazing
Posted by: 746 || 12/22/2022 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Currently produces about 100 gallons per day at $45 per gallon.

Whoopie
Posted by: Lord garth || 12/22/2022 10:41 Comments || Top||

#3  "but will be less than $8 per gallon by 2026."
Pretty much what we pay right now for gas made of oil.
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/22/2022 10:49 Comments || Top||

#4  ^^^
Then add the roads tax
Posted by: KBK || 12/22/2022 17:45 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm being priced out of the virtue signalling market. Gotta be racism.
Posted by: Whusoger Shavish7113 || 12/22/2022 19:55 Comments || Top||

#6  US wholesale gasoline is $2.28/gal ($0.602/liter) today. Think the euro governments will forgo taxes on this synfuel?
Posted by: Whusoger Shavish7113 || 12/22/2022 20:08 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
44[untagged]
3Islamic State
3Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
2Muslim Brotherhood
1Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
1Narcos
1Sublime Porte
1[untagged]
1Banditti
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Govt of Pakistan

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2022-12-22
  Five members of the Islamic State die in airstrike in NInevah
Wed 2022-12-21
  Terrorism Victims Sue Biden For Sending Money To Palestinian Government
Tue 2022-12-20
  Sudan protesters face tear gas, stun grenades on uprising anniversary
Mon 2022-12-19
  Russia launches fresh wave of 35 Iranian-made suicide drones hitting Kyiv energy hub in huge explosion
Sun 2022-12-18
  Bomb blast kills at least 9 Iraqi police officers near Kirkuk - sources
Sat 2022-12-17
  Iranians hit the streets in restive southeast as protests enter 4th month
Fri 2022-12-16
  Oberlin College pays $36.6 million judgement in full
Thu 2022-12-15
  DOJ Arrests Sam Bankman-Fried For Running Out Of Bribery Money
Wed 2022-12-14
  Ugandan army says 11 Islamists killed
Tue 2022-12-13
  Ukraine tightens the noose on Putin's armies: 'Saboteurs' destroy bridge in Melitopol choking off key supply route for Russia's troops
Mon 2022-12-12
  Lockerbie bombing suspect in US custody two years after being charged
Sun 2022-12-11
  Mass graves of 800 civilians found in Severodonetsk
Sat 2022-12-10
  Bulgaria will send military aid to Ukraine for the first time
Fri 2022-12-09
  A Russian couple were detained by Mexican law enforcement in Tijuana, Baja California with $587,550 in cash with them
Thu 2022-12-08
  Five electricity substations in Oregon and Washington are attacked just days after two in North Carolina were shot up causing widespread power outages


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.
18.225.149.143
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (11)    WoT Background (8)    Opinion (3)    Local News (13)    Politix (8)