Hi there, !
Today Sat 12/19/2020 Fri 12/18/2020 Thu 12/17/2020 Wed 12/16/2020 Tue 12/15/2020 Mon 12/14/2020 Sun 12/13/2020 Archives
Rantburg
533576 articles and 1861547 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 56 articles and 196 comments as of 6:16.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
Sudan officially removed from U.S. terrorism list: embassy
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 16:19 Glenmore [2] 
3 15:13 JohnQC [3] 
1 09:33 JohnQC [4] 
2 16:24 Glenmore [8] 
1 10:40 Anomalous Sources [2] 
0 [10] 
5 15:17 Ulavirong Omeager2818 [] 
1 21:14 trailing wife [7] 
0 [2] 
1 02:37 Ulavirong Omeager2818 [5] 
12 15:41 Ulavirong Omeager2818 [8] 
6 16:24 M. Murcek [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 12:43 Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 [3]
0 [11]
8 16:11 Betty Clusosing8971 [8]
5 22:01 Rob Crawford [4]
2 11:18 746 [11]
0 [6]
0 [7]
0 [8]
0 [10]
0 [3]
0 [12]
2 11:58 Dron66046 [3]
0 [7]
5 09:39 Vespasian Ebboting9735 [3]
0 [9]
3 16:18 M. Murcek [4]
1 10:08 Dron66046 [10]
0 [8]
1 11:29 b [5]
1 09:41 Javiter Dark Lord of the Faith7963 [7]
0 [18]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [5]
0 [2]
0 [12]
0 [6]
2 21:44 Frank G [11]
Page 4: Opinion
3 17:26 NN2N1 [11]
9 14:37 JohnQC [4]
15 18:35 Besoeker [6]
6 19:41 daniel [6]
3 15:25 JohnQC [7]
Page 6: Politix
6 22:01 Besoeker [3]
2 07:11 Clem [3]
2 10:02 Victor Emmanuel Peacock4822 [1]
2 16:26 Cesare [2]
4 17:19 Don Vito Guelph6182 [11]
14 16:38 Glenmore [4]
5 23:03 Pearl Smiter of the Veal Cutlets8568 [5]
6 09:00 JohnQC [7]
2 08:57 JohnQC [2]
13 14:23 SteveS [4]
11 15:43 Warthog [1]
5 09:09 Unomp and Tenille2788 [7]
21 22:13 Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 [10]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
High-Profile Fashion Mogul Peter Nygard Indicted For Epstein-Like Sex Trafficking Ring
[Red State] It appears that yet another high-profile individual has been busted for trafficking minor children for sex. Peter Nygard, a prominent Canadian fashion retailer, has been indicted on charges of sex trafficking and other crimes involving women, many of whom were underaged.

Prosecutors stated that Nygard, 79, is accused of "a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct" in the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, the authorities arrested the fashion mogul in Winnipeg on Monday at the request of the United States under an extradition treaty.

Nygard is being accused of using the influence of his company and its employees to "recruit and maintain adult and minor-aged female victims" over a 25-year period. These minor females were sexually abused by himself and his associates. The victims were assaulted or drugged "to ensure their compliance with his sexual demands," according to federal prosecutors.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/16/2020 06:34 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sex crimes? Release of the Kracken?
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/16/2020 9:33 Comments || Top||


Would-be Florida burglar dies after window slams down on him
[NYPOST] A thief’s burglary attempt backfired when the window of the Florida home he was trying to climb through abruptly crashed down on his neck, killing him, police said.

The freak incident unfolded Saturday when the convicted felon with facial tattoos and piercings, 32-year-old Jonathan Hernandez, attempted to break into a residence in Lehigh Acres, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.

"When Hernandez was trying to work his way through the window, it unexpectedly closed on top of him, pinning him and keeping him suspended in the air," Lt. Russell Park, a front man for the sheriff’s office, said Monday.

Hernandez was dead by the time deputies arrived, according to Park.

The would-be crook was "no stranger to law enforcement," said Park, who explained that Hernandez was busted in 2014 "for his involvement in a murder case."

Details about that case were not immediately available.

Local jail records show that Hernandez, also known as Jonathan Hernandez-Zuluaga, had multiple prior arrests on his record including for marijuana possession, grand theft and probation violations, the News-Press reported.

Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, the pastor had finally been wrestled from the pulpit.
Y'got the wrong guy! he yelled just before Sergeant Malone's billy club landed...

Hernandez’s loved ones were convinced that police were not providing the full story.

"Soon as I got there I’m like, there’s no way. This isn’t what happened," Hernandez’s fiancée, Patricia Duarte, told NBC2 News.

"When I first met him, I was like man he looks like he has a rap sheet like El Chapo," said Duarte. "And he’s the complete opposite of that. He’s the sweetest person you’d probably ever meet and has the biggest heart."

Duarte said she will continue to push for more answers surrounding Hernandez’s death.

"I just need something to be done the right way. I need a proper investigation," Duarte said. "I need the actual truth to come to light."
You NEED a brain enema
Tyson Lane defended Hernandez, saying, "He is not a burglar. He’s not a thief. He’s not a bad guy."
"He was liberating some physical items, man. Like Robin Hood"
"That’s not what he is. If he had a roof over his head and you didn’t, he would give you a roof over your head, bring you in his household," Lane told the news outlet. "That’s something that he did for a lot of people, including myself."
Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Window CASE CLOSED.


Sorry everyone... it was begging to be said...
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/16/2020 7:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Unlike Epstein he really did hang himself
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/16/2020 7:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Reminder folks, this is a good time to sharpen your window sashes.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/16/2020 8:17 Comments || Top||

#4  A paneful ending indeed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/16/2020 8:36 Comments || Top||

#5  To your room, B
Posted by: Frank G || 12/16/2020 9:25 Comments || Top||

#6 
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/16/2020 9:54 Comments || Top||

#7  You've heard of in vitro birthing. Now there's dying in vitro
Posted by: Don Vito Snavising5346 || 12/16/2020 10:13 Comments || Top||

#8  My eyes glaze over at the thought of another perp being lionized when his life of miscreancy comes to a quick end.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/16/2020 11:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Perhaps he can be memorialized in a stained-glass window?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/16/2020 12:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Some say freak accident; others say the window was prejudice. Others say justice was finally done.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/16/2020 14:41 Comments || Top||

#11  Explains that glassy look in his eyes...
Posted by: Warthog || 12/16/2020 15:31 Comments || Top||

#12  It's better this way. He had "prison bitch" written all over his face.
Posted by: Ulavirong Omeager2818 || 12/16/2020 15:41 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
US Soldiers singing "Amazing Grace".
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/16/2020 09:55 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At this Holiday Time, thank God for our soldiers, sailors, Marines, and Airmen.

"A Soldier's Memoir" PTSD Song by Joe Bachman OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/16/2020 10:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Great harmony at the 3:20 mark.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 12/16/2020 11:00 Comments || Top||

#3  #1 Echo that!
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/16/2020 15:13 Comments || Top||


Lamar Jackson denies pooping during 'Monday Night Football'
[NYPOST] The Ravens won 47-42 on Monday night, and despite much speculation, Lamar Jackson says he did not take the Browns to the Super Bowl in the process.

During the fourth quarter, Jackson, 23, jogged to the locker room for what was described by the ESPN broadcast as "cramps."


But Jackson’s sudden departure, captured by the broadcast, led fans on social media to speculate that he needed to go for two.

Jackson returned a series later to throw a touchdown on fourth down to Marquise Brown that gave the Ravens a 42-35 lead with 1:51 to go in the game before eventually leading Baltimore on a game-winning drive in the final minute.

"I didn’t pull a Paul Pierce," Jackson said in reference to the former Boston Celtics star, who was carried off the court in a wheelchair for an apparent bathroom break during the 2008 playoffs.

Instead, Jackson said, he had run to the locker room to get treatment for cramps because of the cold and required intravenous fluids.

But before Jackson’s explanation, fans on Twitter ran wild with speculation.

Even his teammate, and regular backup Robert Griffin III, added fuel to the fire.


After Cleveland, kept in touch with the world by Obamaphone,
...was ruled by a Democrat machine from 1942 through 1971. After the river caught fire during the administration of Carl Stokes they tried a Republican, then went back to being Democrats when the party hacked up Dennis Kucinich ...
tied the game later, Jackson led the Ravens back down the field, setting up Justin Tucker for the go-ahead field goal with two seconds left. A kickoff, a series of laterals and a safety later the Ravens moved to 8-5, a game behind the 9-4 Browns
Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Both Lamar Jackson and NFL ratings are in the toilet.
Posted by: Ulavirong Omeager2818 || 12/16/2020 2:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Who Gives a S___T about the NFL?

Until we get an Equal Time Apology.
I and many others have quit watching
the Kneeling Whining Millionaires Club.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/16/2020 7:20 Comments || Top||

#3  They still play football?
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/16/2020 8:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Seems like a rather strange and pathetic way to drum up interest in your sport. They must really be getting desperate
Posted by: Goober Thud2046 || 12/16/2020 9:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Wheelchairs to the loo ? Cramps from cold and ...IV fluids?

Are these supposed to be uhh... athletes?

Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/16/2020 10:22 Comments || Top||

#6  That story doesn't pass the smell test. Sounds like a load of crap to me...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/16/2020 16:24 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
GOP gubernatorial candidate in Virginia calls on Trump to declare martial law
(The Hill) State Sen. Amanda Chase (R), a Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, called on President Trump to declare martial law to keep Joe Biden from being sworn in as the next president.

Writing in a Facebook post early in the morning on Tuesday, Chase said Biden is "not my president and never will be," while linking to a New York Times story detailing how the Electoral College had certified Biden’s election victory.

She echoed Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that Biden had "cheated to win" and said she and many other Americans will "never accept these results."

"Fair elections we can accept but cheating to win; never. It’s not over yet. So thankful President Trump has a backbone and refuses to concede. President Trump should declare martial law as recommended by General Flynn," Chase wrote.

The U.S. has never declared martial law, which gives the military broad powers in a time of crisis, at the federal level. But it has been used in some instances at state and local levels during disasters or times of unrest, such as in Hawaii following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It’s a legal grey area and any effort by Trump to use the military to overturn the election results would be immediately thwarted by Congress or the Supreme Court.

Trump’s legal challenges to the election have been broadly dismissed by the courts, including the Supreme Court. The president and his campaign have not been able to prove the wild accusations they’ve made on social media and cable news.

The Electoral College and the states have certified Biden the winner. Congress will confirm the Electoral College vote count on Jan. 6 and Biden will be sworn in on Jan. 20.

But Chase’s remarks reveal how a segment of Trump’s most fervent supporters insist the election was stolen and are proposing increasingly radical solutions to avert the outcome.

Chase says she’s working with pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell "to expose what I and others believe is extensive fraud here in Virginia."

Virginia county Republicans condemn GOP congressman for considering...
Progressive group backs Foy in Virginia governor's race
Chase and Del. Kirk Cox are seeking the GOP nomination for governor in Virginia to replace outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.), whose term expires in November.

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe , state Rep. Jennifer Carrol Foy, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and state Sen. Jennifer McClellan are seeking the Democratic nomination.

Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie by about 9 points in 2017. Biden carried the state by 10 points this year.
Posted by: 746 || 12/16/2020 01:39 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:


Founder of vaccine safety website, ex-pharma insider found dead
(lifesitenews.com)December 15, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Brandy Vaughan, a former sales executive for the pharmaceutical company Merck and the founder of learntherisk.org, a website dedicated to educating people on the risks associated with vaccines, was apparently found dead by her nine-year-old son on December 8.

According to Children’s Health Defense, Vaughan is reported to have died of "gallbladder complications," although the source of the report has not been cited, nor has it shared the specific cause of the complications (such as a gallbladder rupture).

Soon after learning of her death, a friend of Vaughn’s, Erin Elizabeth, shared screenshots of a Facebook post Vaughan had written in December of 2019, in which she assured readers that she was not suicidal and did not take any drugs that would cause her to die suddenly."The post I wish I didn’t have to write.... But given certain tragedies over the last couple of years, I feel it’s absolutely necessary to post these ten facts... please screenshot this for the record," wrote Vaughan.

"I have a huge mission in this life. Even when they make it very difficult and scary, I would NEVER take my own life. Period," she continued.

Referring to her son, Vaughan wrote, "Bastien means everything to me and I would NEVER leave him. Period. She added that she hadn’t taken pharmaceuticals for ten years. "In other words, I’m not on anything that could kill me unexpectedly or suddenly," she wrote.
"Like death"
"If something were to happen to me, it’s foul play and you know exactly who and why — given my work and mission in this life," she continued.Vaccine safety has come under scrutiny during the coronavirus outbreak, with pro-lifers expressing concern about the connection of vaccines to abortion, among other concerns.

Elizabeth also shared a screenshot of a text she received from Vaughan in which she expressed worry about being poisoned and apparently referenced the death of Dr. Ben Johnson, M.D., D.O., NMD in January of 2019.

"So odd! I worry sometimes about poisoning. Was Dr. Ben ever married? Lived alone? Sorry for all the questions. I’m just so upset about this, especially since he wasn’t even taking on the vaccine issue but mammograms, which one would think was a ’safer’ issue."Vaughan, who used to work as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Merck, explained how she got started as an activist exposing the dangers of vaccines and pharmaceutical industry in a video shared in 2015. She begins by revealing that she used to represent Merck’s drug Vioxx.

"When it came out that Merck had falsified safety data and Vioxx actually had twice the increase in heart attacks and strokes [for] people taking it, it really made me realize that there was a lot of corruption behind the scenes and that just because a drug is on the market doesn't mean it's safe," Vaughan said in the video.

She explained how later, during a wellness visit for her son, a doctor "stormed out of the room" when she asked to see a vaccine insert.

"That was a huge red flag for me, knowing what I knew from being a pharmaceutical sales rep before. And I started to do my research into vaccines and the ingredients and the flawed safety data."

Part of what she discovered is that aluminum is a major adjuvant in vaccines, which was another big "red flag" for her. When her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, the doctor found high levels of aluminum in her tissues. He told her that the aluminum found in traditional deodorant was linked to breast cancer.


"The more I dug into this, what I realized was vaccines are not for public health. It’s really about pharmaceutical company profit. It’s basically playing Russian Roulette with our children," continued Vaughan.

"I really got motivated to get more into this fight when I realized the mandatory vaccination bills that were sweeping the country[.]"

Vaughan went on to found Learn The Risk, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, "in response to one of the nation’s first mandatory vaccination for education laws — SB277 in California," according to her website. SB277, which was signed into law in 2015, "barred parents from citing their personal beliefs as a reason for not vaccinating their children" for school.

It was when Vaughan returned from a rally protesting SB277 in Sacramento that she first began to experience acts of intimidation, she explained in a video shared in 2015.She described how she came home from Sacramento to find a key to her house, which she had previously hidden in her bushes, out on her doorstep. "That day I had my locks changed and I installed a $3,000 alarm system two days later," said Vaughan.

She was later informed by her alarm company that someone had set off her alarm at 3:45 in the morning and immediately disarmed it with the master code, which Vaughan said no one had but her. Whoever entered proceeded to walk down her hallway, setting off the monitor sensor, and opened and shut her dining room window before leaving the house at 3:49 a.m.

"After the incident I talked to some security experts who have actually done intimidation for corporations, and they said, they were probably tapping your place."

Vaughan described how only days later, she found her computer moved from its hiding place above her microwave to the middle of her kitchen floor. After leaving town for a couple of weeks, she returned with a friend to find her ladder, which she had kept in her garage, just outside a bedroom window of her house — the only window with the blinds kept open. A neighbor informed her that she hadn’t seen the ladder there the day before.

Only days after that, she found a duck figurine on one of her outdoor tables. "When I talked to the security experts, I said, I don’t understand the duck. And then it came to me that I had been on my phone having a lot of conversations [with] people asking me, are you staying at your house? What are you going to do? And I use the term repeatedly: I’m not staying at my house. I feel like a sitting duck, because they can get in at any time."

"So that was actually quite disturbing to come home to. It’s just a clear message that, again, they are watching me."

"It’s quite scary. After all these intimidation tactics it's very hard to feel safe and secure, but I am not gonna go away — I mean I’m not gonna be silenced, because these are important issues, and we need to expose what’s really going on behind the mandatory vaccination bills."

"I hope that we can continue this fight. We may have lost the battle but we still have a war to win," Vaughan concluded.

In her 2019 Facebook post, Vaughan wrote, "If something were to happen to me, I have arranged for a close group of my friends to start a GoFundMe to hire a team of private investigators to figure out all the details."

"There have been many on this mission or a similar one that have been killed and it’s time this b------- stopped. The darkness cannot win."
Posted by: 746 || 12/16/2020 01:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Died or Murdered?

We'll never know with Acting President Harris in office.

Heck given the way the FED's have been operating lately... even if Trump stayed in office.

Posted by: NN2N1 || 12/16/2020 7:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Soon to be investigated by Barr types.
Posted by: Dale || 12/16/2020 13:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks, not to worry, the FBI will get right on this. Where did you say you were writing from? (sarc)
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/16/2020 15:05 Comments || Top||

#4  "gall bladder complications"

What, did they quit citing COVID already?
Posted by: Clem || 12/16/2020 15:11 Comments || Top||

#5  The gall bladder did not hang itself.
Posted by: Ulavirong Omeager2818 || 12/16/2020 15:17 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Rights body accuses S. Sudanese security of torture, killings
[SUDANTRIBUNE] A human right body has accused South Sudanese authorities of failure to investigate the appalling abuses committed by the country’s National Security Service (NSS).

The accusations are contained in a 78-page Human Rights Watch report, entitled "’What Crime Was I Paying for? ’Abuses by South Sudan’s National Security Service" released on Monday.
"Hey, it's what we do"
The report details numerous abuses by the national security services between 2014 and 2020, and at the atmosphere of fear it creates.

Since the outbreak of the civil war in December 2013, the security service has reportedly carried out arbitrary and abusive detentions, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and illegal surveillance, with little to no accountability or justice for victims.

In the report, Human Rights Watch research identified the obstacles to justice for these abuses, including denying due process for detainees, the lack of any meaningful judicial or legislative oversight of the agency, legal immunity for NSS agents, and ultimately a lack of political will to address widespread practices.

"All that is needed is a political will to rein in South Sudan’s notorious security service and ensure redress for years of abuses," said Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, adding "Instead, the agency remains the government’s preferred tool of repression, promoting a culture of impunity and leaving victims and their families with little recourse for justice."

According to the rights body, at least 85 people, including former NSS detainees, family members of detainees, activists, policy analysts, civil servants, former military, security, and intelligence personnel, family members of victims of NSS abuses, representatives of domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, diplomats, and United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
officials were interviewed.

Security agents are also accused of regularly targeting journalists, activists, opposition and critics who are detained and tortured.
Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
The Strategic Competition We've Neglected: Confronting China in Mexico
( realcleardefense.com )"Thank you China!!!," Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard posted on Twitter several weeks ago.[1] Ebrard’s effusive message followed China’s delivery of medical supplies to combat Mexico’s novel coronavirus outbreak. While somewhat striking, given China’s own complicity in the pandemic’s spread, Ebrard’s statement captures the effectiveness of China’s medical diplomacy in Latin America. Like all forms of its soft power in the region, China uses medical diplomacy to challenge U.S. predominance in the Western Hemisphere. The United States faces strategic competition far closer than the South China Sea or Eastern Europe. With the U.S. long focused on terrorism, China’s footprint in Mexico has grown considerably. Wielding soft-power influence, China has established its ability to undermine U.S. interests across our Southwest border.

After almost 20 years of fighting terrorism, the Department of Defense is transitioning. The 2018 unclassified synopsis of the National Defense Strategy (NDS) states starkly, "Inter-state strategic competition, not terrorism, is now the primary concern in U.S. national security."[2] Naming China and Russia first among our strategic competitors, the document identifies two alliance networks as a means to maintain our strategic advantage: Indo-Pacific alliances and NATO. A strong network of U.S.-allied states in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe will support U.S. efforts to balance against a rising China and a revanchist Russia. These alliances, from bilateral relationships to multinational organizations, help deter Chinese and Russian aggression and would prove critical in the event of conventional war with either. But in understanding the value of alliances in today’s inter-state strategic competition, we must not only gaze across an ocean. We must also gaze across our Southwest border.

The NDS addresses United States-Mexico relations indirectly. "The U.S. derives immense benefit from a stable, peaceful hemisphere that reduces security threats to the homeland. Supporting the U.S. interagency lead, the Department will deepen its relations with regional countries that contribute military capabilities to shared regional and global security challenges."[3] Violence on our Southwest border poses a persistent threat to the homeland. Criminal organizations regularly conduct drug trafficking and human smuggling into the U.S., with weapons flowing in the other direction. The United States maintains great interest in bilateral security cooperation with Mexico. China’s growing soft power in Mexico should concern us.

Mexico’s ongoing economic crisis will likely exacerbate friction points like Southwest border violence and U.S-bound migration if the 1980s and ’90s provide any indication.[4] A failure to reach a resolution on these fronts could herald worsening tensions with the U.S., especially if Washington maintains a confrontational stance toward Mexico beyond 2020. Eager to gain ground at the U.S.’s expense, China certainly sees an opportunity in Mexico.

In President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), China likely hopes to cultivate a receptive partner despite the Mexican economy’s close integration with the U.S. A left-leaning nationalist, AMLO has openly objected to perceived U.S. heavy-handedness. Even in the security realm, AMLO appears wary of his northern neighbor, stating his opposition to U.S. "intervention" on fighting drug cartels.[5] The specter of U.S. encroachment still looms in Mexican politics and civil society. Moreover, popular sentiment toward the United States has deteriorated over the past few years, with 65% of Mexicans expressing unfavorable views in 2018.[6] In early 2020, Mexico figured among several countries worldwide expressing more favorable views of China than the U.S.[7] This declining popular support captures the erosion of U.S. soft power in Mexico.

Boasting the world’s second-largest economy, Beijing is poised to gain ground the U.S. has lost in Mexico. With its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), formally inaugurated in 2013, China has quickly expanded its investment in the developing world. While ambitious in itself, the BRI’s official mission to "promote the connectivity of Asian, European, African continents and their adjacent seas," has already proven an understatement.[8] Beijing has extended BRI invitations to Latin America as well, with U.S. partners like Peru and Chile joining. While Mexico has not formally joined the BRI, AMLO has concluded several BRI-related agreements and sent delegates to attend the 2019 Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.[9] Moreover, AMLO has vowed to diversify Mexican exports away from the U.S., especially amid the threat of sanctions. At a 2019 G20 meeting, Foreign Minister Ebrard stated plainly, "What we’re interested in is increasing Mexico’s presence in China, Mexico’s capacity to export to China. And China’s investments in Mexico."[10] At last year’s Forum of Economic Cooperation and Investment between Mexico and China, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Luz Maria De la Mora opined, "Mexico is a friend and partner to China. We know that with China, Mexico can be stronger, and with Mexico, China can be a stronger country too."[11] Indeed, China enjoys the status of Mexico’s second-largest trade partner and third-largest export market.[12] Despite U.S. attempts to dissuade Mexican officials from doing business with China, the AMLO administration appears welcome to Beijing’s overtures.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson observed that China "is using economic statecraft to pull [Latin America] into its orbit; the question is at what price."[13] Indeed, by growing its economic footprint in Mexico, China seeks to challenge U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere. Fervently opposing U.S. intrusion in what China deems its backyard, e.g., the South China Sea, Beijing may intensify its activity in Latin America. Driven by economic opportunity and geopolitical competition, China has little interest in helping Mexico with its deepest structural problems. The U.S., on the other hand, does.

As the two state stakeholders on our Southwest border, the U.S. and Mexico both hope to stem the region’s unrelenting violence and crime. Washington has long sought to combat narco-trafficking into the U.S., while Mexican officials continue struggling with alarming homicide rates. Deep-rooted corruption and the limited rule of law, however, cripple Mexican governance. Weak governing bodies have ceded swaths of territory to cartels. Mexico needs a more robust security strategy than AMLO’s "abrazos, no balazos" (hugs, not bullets) approach to the cartels. The United States and Mexico should expand their security and law enforcement coordination, with continued close involvement from agencies like the FBI, DHS, and DEA. Increased intelligence sharing and technical assistance will likely help both Mexican and U.S. authorities target criminal organizations, as well as the drugs, money, and weapons they traffic. Such cooperation will continue to prove critical in establishing security on our treacherous shared border.

China, for its part, will surely continue challenging U.S. interests in the region. Its playbook includes reinforcing anti-U.S. regimes like Venezuela and Nicaragua, ingratiating itself with traditionally pro-U.S. states like Argentina and Chile, and applying diplomatic pressure to target Latin American political officials.[14] An established China in Mexico can more freely exploit vulnerabilities on our Southwest border as well.

Restoring our standing in Mexico will help us confront our most formidable strategic competitor in the Western Hemisphere - China. Mexico’s value to the United States exceeds any contribution of "military capabilities to shared regional and global security challenges."[15] We need Mexico to secure the homeland - first on the list of our defense objectives.[16] Beijing wants nothing less than a weakened United States to achieve global predominance. We ignore a rising China in Mexico at our peril.
Posted by: 746 || 12/16/2020 01:14 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Not so much neglected as prioritized as less urgent than other more urgent situations.

And anyway, the most urgent Mexico issue from our side of the border was Mexican eagerness to facilitate the migration across our border, which President Trump has done much to fix. Granted, President Biden, should he be sworn into office, will do his best to unfix the fixes, but the new wall that has been built across the busiest sectors will remain, funneling the traffic to less salubrious sectors.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/16/2020 21:14 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
International Criminal Court won't investigate China's oppression of Uighurs
[Washington Examiner] International Criminal Court officials won’t open an investigation into China’s repression of Uighur Muslims due to a lack of jurisdiction in the case.

"Not good news for us," World Uighur Congress President Dolkun Isa told the Washington Examiner before acknowledging that "the ICC is not in a position to review China."

ICC officials affirmed their position by rebuffing a request from a different Uighur Muslim diaspora group known as the East Turkestan Government in Exile, or the ETGE. Lawyers for the plaintiffs hoped that the court would mobilize against forced deportation of Uighurs from neighboring Cambodia and Tajikistan, which are ICC member-states, but ICC officials maintained that those deportations fell below the threshold of an international crime even if they are a "precursor" for the abuses in mainland China.

"While the conduct of such officials may have served as a precursor to the subsequent alleged commission of crimes on the territory of China, over which the Court lacks jurisdiction," the ICC report said. "The conduct occurring on the territory of States Parties does not appear, on the information available, to fulfill material elements of the crime of deportation under article 7(1)(d) of the Statute."

The diaspora group hopes to convince the court to reconsider by gathering more information about the forced deportations.

"The prosecutor will be receiving further evidence of the rounding up of Uighurs abroad by the Chinese Government, and forcing them back into occupied East Turkistan (Xinjiang)," the ETGE wrote on Tuesday in response to the ICC announcement. "The Complaint makes clear that the crimes committed against the Uighur people have been widespread and systematic."
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/16/2020 06:30 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  China is the only country that knows how to treat its muslims right.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/16/2020 9:43 Comments || Top||

#2  The Chinese region of East Turkestan has been non-Han and largely Muslim (much like Tibet was non-Han and largely Buddhist.) China has been oppressing the Uighur for decades using the excuse of Muslim extremism (true, to a point) to help them ethnically cleanse the province for the Han. When the Han reach critical population density in British Columbia expect a similar path.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/16/2020 16:24 Comments || Top||


Economy
Shocker: Insurers Refusing To Underwrite Portland Businesses For Some Odd Reason
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/16/2020 04:21 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No problem! Biden admin will underwrite on our dime.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 12/16/2020 10:40 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Riots at Apple supplier's India plant cause up to $7 million in damage
[NYPOST] Enraged workers reportedly caused millions of dollars in damage at an Apple supplier’s factory in India where they protested poor labor conditions over the weekend.Thousands of contract workers showed up at the iPhone factory run by Taiwan-based manufacturer Wistron to demand unpaid wages and better hours on Saturday.

The demonstration turned violent mostly peaceful after police arrived, with workers smashing windows, vandalizing cars and setting at least one fire, according to videos from the scene.

Wistron alleged in a police report that the demonstrators stole laptops and smartphones, smashed cars and golf carts and destroyed other office equipment.

Indian police arrested more than 100 of the workers, who allege that they have gone four months without full pay while being forced to pull extra shifts, the BBC reported.

In a statement to Taiwan’s stock exchange, Wistron estimated that the protesters caused up to $7.1 million in damages at the site despite initially telling police that the price tag was as large as $60 million.



Posted by: Fred || 12/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Q: Where would Apple be without their Communist slaves?
A: Running for their lives in India.
Posted by: Ulavirong Omeager2818 || 12/16/2020 2:37 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
AI Just Controlled a Military Plane for the First Time Ever
[Popular Mechanics] On December 15, the United States Air Force successfully flew an AI copilot on a U-2 spy plane in California, marking the first time AI has controlled a U.S. military system. In this Popular Mechanics exclusive, Dr. Will Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, reveals how he and his team made history.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/16/2020 10:23 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Skynet smiles
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/16/2020 11:30 Comments || Top||

#2 
"All stealth bombers are upgraded with Cyberdyne computers, becoming fully unmanned. Afterwards, they fly with a perfect operational record. The Skynet Funding Bill is passed..."

- Terminator 2 (1991)
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/16/2020 11:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Tesla on autopilot experience?
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/16/2020 15:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Already hacked by China...
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/16/2020 16:19 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
31[untagged]
5Sublime Porte
4Islamic State
3Antifa/BLM
2Govt of Sudan
2Govt of Iran
2Ottoman Proxies
2Commies
1Govt of Pakistan
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1Govt of Iraq
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Houthis

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
Wed 2020-12-16
  Sudan officially removed from U.S. terrorism list: embassy
Tue 2020-12-15
  Senior Jemaah Islamiyah Figure in Indonesian Custody
Mon 2020-12-14
  Bill Barr Resigns
Sun 2020-12-13
  Armenians Storm Capital Demanding PM Resign After Azerbaijan Victory Parade
Sat 2020-12-12
  Killer of Lebanon's Hariri sentenced to life in prison, remains at large: UN court
Fri 2020-12-11
  Trump hails Israel & Morocco establishing relations as 'massive breakthrough' — and recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over W. Sahara
Thu 2020-12-10
  Yet Another Muslim Country Joins Abraham Accords With Israel
Wed 2020-12-09
  Hooray! We're back!
Tue 2020-12-08
  Antifa super spreader in Portland.
Mon 2020-12-07
  Italian police round up migrant-smuggling ring, arrest 19
Sun 2020-12-06
  US Congress Moves to Block Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal
Sat 2020-12-05
  GNA Signs Military Agreement with Italy
Fri 2020-12-04
  Turkish-backed factions’ violations Al Hamza Division storms village in Ras al Ain countryside
Thu 2020-12-03
  Hezbollah's Nasrallah to move to Iran amid regional tensions - report
Wed 2020-12-02
  Appeal opens against reversal of Briton’s conviction in Daniel Pearl killing


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.
3.144.104.29
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (21)    WoT Background (5)    Opinion (5)    (0)    Politix (13)